(portrait by rstevens, of course)
zed equals zee is a site about indie music. I focus on local music, mostly in Boston and Seattle (about). Occasionally, it gets a little scholarly, sometimes it’s historical, and sometimes it’s just plain fun. Scroll down for some recent additions.
Some posts that DS fans might particularly like: The music nerd’s burden; Listen local: The Motion Sick; Amp up your air guitar; More on concert etiquette.
Thanks for coming by!
If you haven’t been spending any time in your local comic book store recently, you might not have heard of this series of comic books (or graphic novels, if you must), written and drawn by Bryan Lee O’Malley. They follow the adventures of twenty-something bassist Scott Pilgrim, who’s trying to figure out his life. Enter Ramona, a sexy courier who has access to shortcuts through space and time, closely followed by her ‘seven evil exes’, whom Scott must defeat in battle. The books follow Scott as he deals with the quotidian (getting a job, finding a place to live), the fun (his band Sex Bob-Omb’s rehearsals and live shows, hanging out with Ramona), and the surreally action-packed (fighting the evil exes, who draw on an arsenal of mind-bending weaponry). The books draw from anime, from videogames, and from the great tradition of indie comics about slackers. They’re amazingly well-written, and great fun. I also get an enormous kick out of the fact that they’re set in my native Toronto – it’s fun to see my old stomping grounds translated into comic-book form. There’s also (unsurprisingly) a movie in progress, and it looks at least somewhat promising – Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) is set to direct, and Michael Cera (Juno, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist) is in the lead role.
Four volumes are out, and the fifth one is scheduled for a February 2009 release (six are planned). Go check them out.
Woo! The Mountain Goats (and by ‘Mountain Goats,’ we mean ‘John Darnielle’) just recorded a four-song EP, Satanic Messiah. It’s available for download here; donations via PayPal or Google Checkout are encouraged ($3 for the ‘congregant’ level, $6.66 for the ‘disciple’ level, and $10 for the ‘acolyte’ level). Despite the title and Darnielle’s well-known obsession with black metal, it’s classic Mountain Goats with acoustic guitar, piano and vocals (albeit somewhat darker themes than the usual). It’ll also be available as a double 7″, but in an edition strictly limited to 665 (the 666th copy will be Darnielle’s own, of course).
Previously: A Mountain Goats sampler; John Darnielle plays with the Weakerthans; Upcoming: Mountain Goats + Kaki King EP
Sir Ben Kingsley (that’s him on the left) plays Minor Threat frontman Ian Mackaye (on the right) in a video of the band’s eponymous song. Produced by Mean Magazine, it’s elicited a collective ‘WTF?’ from the Internet. But I don’t know – the guy who played Gandhi playing the founder of the straight edge movement kind of works for me. Vimeo isn’t playing nice with WordPress, but here’s a link to the video.
I just watched Trainspotting again, for the first time in many years. It’s still a fantastic movie – somehow, it manages to be despairing and cynical while still being, well, fun (in contrast to, say, Requiem for a Dream, which is most emphatically not fun). But the other remarkable thing about the film is its soundtrack – not only are the songs great in and of themselves, but they are also perfectly deployed in the film – Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” plays while the lead character OD’s on heroin, another character sings an a capella snippet of New Order’s “Temptation.” Do yourself a favour – get your hands on the DVD and watch (and listen) to it again.
NPR has a lovely little music feature on music to have an office romance by – a five-song soundtrack for what is “sometimes, under a select set of circumstances,…not even a horrible, career-demolishingly tragic mistake.” Even (maybe especially) if you aren’t contemplating or embroiled in a torrid relationship with a co-worker, the set is great, including Belle and Sebastian‘s “Step Into My Office, Baby” and the Damnwell‘s “Kiss Catastrophe.”
One of my oldest friends just moved from New York City to Antwerp, its polar opposite in almost every way – quiet, clean, sleepy – and it seemed fitting to pull out LCD Soundsystem‘s “North American Scum.” It’s off their brilliant album Sound of Silver and is a tongue-in-cheek look at the differences between Europe and the US, as well as yet another homage to James Murphy’s beloved New York (that’s him, above, looking quite, well, European). And remember, ‘don’t blame the Canadians!’
MP3: LCD Soundsystem – North American Scum
Previously: Coverage: The Main Drag, “All My Friends”; Capturing the zeitgeist; 2007 in review: LCD Soundsystem
I’ve been fairly obsessed with the Freezepop song “Melon Ball Bounce,” a cover version of the 1963 Sprite jingle by electronic music artist Raymond Scott. And after a childhood watching Doctor Who, I still think that its theme music, created by Delia Derbyshire (pictured above), remains the coolest, creepiest musical intro ever. It turns out that I’m not alone. A recent article in the Guardian discussed the resurgence of interest in ‘library music’ – early electronic music experiments, in the service of advertising and TV soundtracks, from the 1960s and ’70s. Most of this music was never intended for release to the public, and it’s accordingly quite rare. However, the Glo Spot label has begun to reissue some releases (they are still pretty hard to get, it looks like – they seem to be sold out everywhere).
MP3: Orbital – Dr ? (Doctor Who theme)
Voted on by an ‘even more expert group of experts’ (a quote from the live webcast), the winner of the 2008 Polaris Music Prize is the album Andorra, by Ontario’s Caribou (Dan Snaith). As well as being a fan of his music (I played the track “Melody Day” when I guest-DJ’ed on WMBR), Caribou also gets z=z love for being in the ranks of overeducated musicians – Dan Snaith holds a doctorate in mathematics from Imperial College London.
Speaking of the Weakerthans and awards, they just won the Verge Award for artist of the year. Verge is XM Radio’s Canadian alternative/indie station, and this is a fan-based award (something like 45 000 people voted for their favourites of the bands ‘in regular rotation’ on the channel). Like the Polaris Music Prize, the glory comes with a nice chunk of change – in this case, CDN$25 000. I’m not sure if Natalie Yanchak (of the Dears, who were also nominated in this category) considers the prediction in her rather catty blog post to be negated or fulfilled: “It’s gonna be a free for all, and some totally corporate band who hired a bunch of kids to vote everyday for them is going to win. And that’s what some bands want, which is great.” (despite her dismissal of the idea, she was nevertheless thoughtful enough to provide a direct link to the voting page for her readers).
I can, however, guess how Weakerthans’ frontman John K Samson’s former bandmates in Propagandhi might feel, given their account of Samson’s departure:
For the next 3 years, we rode the tail-end of the punk-rock explosion. When the smoke cleared and we were putting together Less Talk More Rock, it was becoming evident that Jordy and I, the rural metal-heads, were cut from an entirely different cloth than little John-John, the urbane poet. He just didn’t seem to enjoy getting attacked by nazi-skinheads or sleeping on piss-soaked mattresses in lice-infested italian squats anymore. Go figure.
So shortly after we recorded LTMR, we shook hands, performed a mutual culling of the herd and like all good revolutionary anti-capitalists, got into an argument about money. Eventually, we worked out our differences and helped John into his proverbial Golden Parachute, which he has apparently, thus far, rolled into $80,000 worth of pennies with which to buy gourmet peanut butter and bread made of gold. Weird!
Personally, I’m happy to see the Weakerthans get the recognition I think they deserve.
EDIT: Natalie of the Dears stopped by in the comments to say that she was ‘happy with the results.’ All’s right with the world.
Tomorrow (Monday) night is the announcement of the winner of Canada’s 2008 Polaris Music Prize. Modeled after the Mercury Prize, it’s given for the best Canadian album, ‘judged solely on artistic merit, without regard to genre or record sales.’ This year’s shortlist of ten albums includes Stars‘ In Our Bedroom After the War, Caribou‘s Andorra, Holy Fuck‘s LP, and the Weakerthans‘ Reunion Tour (a full list is here). As well as glory, the prize comes with $20 000 Canadian, which is real money these days. The awards ceremony is being held in Toronto, and will feature live or video performances by all the nominees. The whole thing is being being webcast on CBC radio 3, starting at 8 pm Eastern time. If you do happen to be in Toronto, the official after-party starts at 10 pm at the Drake Hotel, and members of nominee and z=z fave Holy Fuck will be among the DJs.
webcast link (8 pm Eastern on Monday, September 29th, 2008)
Ted Leo is, as ever, putting his music where his mouth is. In response to the protests at the RNC convention, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists recorded a digital-only benefit EP, Rapid Response. As the name implies, they got it out in a hurry, using their demo setup and mixing it in GarageBand. You can purchase it from Touch and Go records – actually, I think it’s more of a ‘premium’ (in the public radio pledge drive sense), since everything you pay for it will be donated to Democracy Now! and Minneapolis Food Not Bombs, and you can choose from a range of ‘prices’ (donation amounts). The EP includes two new songs, as well as an Amebix and a Cock Sparrer cover (click on the image above for a larger version of the tracklisting).
Donate for the EP here.
A Japanese toy company just introduced an electronic air guitar. It consists of the headstock and upper neck of a guitar, with buttons on the neck corresponding to chords. The ‘strings’ are infrared light; just strum the air guitar, interrupting the beam, to play music. It comes in an electric or acoustic version (but really, who’d go for the acoustic version?)
I’m a little torn – on the one hand, this is an awesome gadget. On the other, it’s hard not to feel that it is a violation of the fundamental philosophy of air guitar – isn’t this now just another instrument?
If you’re unconflicted, you can buy one here.
[via Cool Hunting]
Here at z=z, we love covers. So when I read that CSS was covering the Breeders‘ 1993 hit “Cannonball” for a UK-only single B side, I went in search of it. One of the characteristics of a good cover is that it makes you reconsider the original – it’s a restatement, not a recapitulation. The CSS version of “Cannonball,” while serviceable, does a good job of illustrating this point, since it doesn’t bring much to the table except a faint Brazilian accent. Check it out for youself. Disagree? Feel free to say so in the comments.
MP3: CSS – Cannonball (Breeders cover)
Video: The Breeders – Cannonball
Indie record label Kill Rock Stars—home to Sleater-Kinney, The Decemberists, et alia—recently relocated to Portland, OR; back in the Pacific Northwest after a brief sojourn in New York City (they were founded in Olympia, WA). Its owner, Portia Sabin, was interviewed in Sound magazine, and she made this comment about the rise of digital music sales:
We definitely have seen a decline in physical sales, but, with that being said, iTunes has been unbelievable. In the old days, like three years ago, we would get four royalty checks a year. So it would be complete feast or famine. Now, because of iTunes, we get paid every single month, boom boom boom. I don’t have those, “Oh God, we can’t put out another record because we don’t get paid for another month” moments anymore.
This an interesting side effect of digital music—stabilizing the cash flow of independent record labels so they can get on with the job of putting out new albums.
The Barenaked Ladies has a new album out, bringing their trademark wit and sense of humour to children’s songs. This is especially apparent in the song “Crazy ABC’s,” which includes examples such as ‘q for qat,’ ‘g for gnarly,’ and ‘p for pneumonia, pterodactyl and psychosis.’ But closest to this blog’s heart, of course, is a discussion of ‘zed’ versus ‘zee’ (‘Zed, like Zed Zed Top’).
MP3: Barenaked Ladies – Crazy ABC’s
[thanks for telling me about this, Paul!]
Further evidence of Barack Obama’s good musical taste (or at least his campaign’s) – an instrumental version of The National‘s “Fake Empire” provides the soundtrack for the Obama ’08 campaign’s latest ad. And, conversely, The National is selling “Mr November” shirts to benefit the campaign.
[thanks for the heads-up, Brad!]
The Offspring are back with a new album, and they are playing Bumbershoot on Monday. I know they get a lot of flak, but I have a real soft spot for their early ’90s songs. While they can fairly be described as having brought punk to the masses, whether that’s a good thing or not is up to you. Despite the fact that Smash was the best-selling indie album ever (it came out on Epitaph, and is at 16 million and counting), I have to respect their DIY ethic of taking the profits and starting their own record label. Similarly, I have to respect a band who responded to their record label refusing to allow them to have free downloads by selling t-shirts with the Napster logo on them and donating a portion of the profits to founder Shawn Fanning (note to younger readers: this was when Napster was still a pirate, and not a privateer). While I could live without “Pretty Fly (for a White Guy),” I do generally appreciate The Offspring’s self-deprecating humour (check out the video for “Da Hui”). And, finally, they do have excellent taste in influences, and they get accolades from me for covering The Damned‘s “Smash It Up” for the otherwise forgettable Batman Forever (now happily replaced by The Dark Knight, of course).
More Offspring: website
More Damned: website
Labor Day weekend is upon us, and that means it’s time for the annual party under the Space Needle. The lineup for Bumbershoot 2008 features a number of zed equals zee faves, including The Weakerthans, !!!, Battles, Dan Deacon, Tapes ‘n Tapes, Band of Horses, and Death Cab for Cutie. After a few years of the Pitchfork Music Festival, it’s nice to only have to worry about getting rained on, and not also about getting sunstroke (sadly, the forecast looks a little mixed as of this moment).
MP3: !!! – Take Ecstasy With Me (Magnetic Fields cover)
It turns out that my perception of hip-hop lyrics—that they are all about butts and masculine self-aggrandizement—may not be entirely incorrect. Artists Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg analysed 10 000 songs, in a range of genres, and extracted all references to body parts. They then produced a nifty interactive graphic, “Fleshmap: Listen,” that lets you explore body-part mentions by genre [links are NSFWish]. In most genres, including alternative and electronic, the top five were ‘eyes,’ ‘head,’ ‘face,’ ‘arms’ and ‘hands.’ In hip-hop, though, not only are body parts are mentioned far more frequently than in other genres, but ‘ass’ leads the pack (it would have an even greater lead if ‘booty’ and ‘butt’ weren’t broken out separately). And ‘cock’ displaces ‘arms’ to take position #6.
I can’t help but notice the absence of ‘heart’ in the graphics, but I guess internal organs don’t count.
Personally, I’m interested in knowing more about the 0.05% of alternative songs that mention shins.
[via the Wired Music Blog]
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