Long Beach Led Zep

I initially viewed Long Beach Led Zep, a video piece showing at the Vancouver Art Gallery, with good humour. "Stairway to Heaven" and a sunset at Long Beach! How ironically droll!
It reminded me most of a time when I and a friend were filling in for a CiTR radio show (This Side of Monday) and we conspired to play the legendary classic rock song because we thoughtthis would be hilarious. Why would this be hilarious? Because it is a—no it is the—classic rock song and we were playing it on an indie rock radio show. This Side of Monday is dedicated to showcasing independent artists who (often) can't find financial success through traditional means. "Stairway to Heaven" was as out of place on this show as Miley Cyrus would be at Music Waste.
To accomplish this prank with maximum humour we had arranged for a fictitious classic rock radio DJ named Classic Rick to call in to the show. He was attempting to get his own show because the music he liked was lamentably underplayed on campus radio stations, particularly CiTR. So he called in stated his case and asked to dedicate the song to his old lady. We only played about half of it and we played it at 45 RPM to save time. If you bother to listen through This Side of Monday's archives you can find it, but I warn you that it's likely a better story than it was in actuality. The point of this whole stunt though was that it was delicious, delicious irony and we loved it and we all patted each other on the back a lot for pulling this off and then the host of This Side of Monday told me I was never allowed to host her show again, which was also funny. (She later relented.)
This is the spirit that I thought Long Beach Led Zep would embody when I walked into the darkened room where it was being projected onto a wall. In theory it sounded pretty funny. It featured the artist Kevin Schmidt standing on Long Beach during a beautiful sunset. He walks on screen, hooks an electric guitar into an amp and revs up a generator to get some power. Then, with his back to the surf, he rips into a solo instrumental version of the Led Zeppelin classic.
This sounded like a deliberate attempt to fuck with the art establishment by juxtaposing the high class VAG space with "low" art in the form of plebeian rock and roll and imagery that reminds one mostly of inspirational posters with words like "Hope" and "Perseverance" on them. Look at how terribly out of place this looks! Let's all laugh at it!
As I watched though it seemed less likely that this was Schmidt's goal. There was nothing to indicate a snide sense of irony. As I watched it gradually dawned on me that this was not a laughing at the irony of it all, but seemed very sincere. Maybe he was trying to point out that sunsets over picturesque beaches are beautiful and that "Stairway to Heaven," for all the cliches that surround it, is actually a stupendous song. Classic rock and inspirational landscape imagery together thumbing their nose at an art community that would never give them the time of day.
I might tend to listen to something obscure like tUnE-yArDs in my spare time, but that doesn't mean that Led Zep is any worse just because other people also appreciate it. A sunset is still beautiful even if it's the sort of beauty that everyone can appreciate—even snobs like me.
Image lifted from Kevin Schmidt's website.

Died Young, Stayed Pretty

I made an appearance on Tracy Fuller's Arts Report show on CiTR 101.9FM where I discussed the movie Died Young, Stayed Pretty, which is a documentary about concert posters. The episode was podcast and you can find it here. I speak with Tracy in the last 10 minutes, however there is a whole episode of goodness so you can listen to the whole thing if you want.

Also of interest to you, dear reader, last weekend was Discorder Magazine's production weekend. If you want to grab a copy of it, it should be around Vancouver at fine purveyors of music, beverages and education. I am the editor and I assure you, it is full of goodness. Also this month especially it is full of history.

Bob Wiseman and Collapsing Opposites at Western Front

On Friday I got into the Bob Wiseman Show at the Western Front by volunteering to work the merch table for CiTR. (woo free shows!)

Bob Wiseman, if you don't already know, is a musician/comedian/film maker from Winnipeg. He plays an accordion, piano and guitar and used to play with Blue Rodeo and the Hidden Cameras before going solo. I first caught him opening for Final Fantasy at the Norm Theatre and I've liked his music ever since. What is most impressive about Wiseman is the emotional range of his performance. Some musicians are really good at making funny music and some musicians are really good at making sad music, but few are good at being both. Wiseman is one of the few who can do both. He does a brilliant job of going back and forth between comedic moments (like a video he made featuring himself, Kids in the Hall actor Scott Thompson and some comedian I knew the face of but couldn't place deciding what Wiseman should do with a dead body) and tragic moments (like his duet with Leah Abramson who made a surprise appearance to sing "You Don't Love Me", so beautiful).

Though he's a musician, and a damn good songwriter, Wiseman is equally notable for his film making. Throughout the night he showed numerous videos that he had made which he played music overtop of or just watched. Though his videos are funny some of the most impressive were the ones where he integrated his performance with the video, such as one where Wiseman filmed himself performing four backup acapella tracks for himself to play along with.

If you haven't seen Wiseman yet, it is worth the effort.

Collapsing Opposites opened for Wiseman and it was the first time I'd ever seen them electric. (Past times I have seen them have been acoustic shows at the Shed and in bank machines) They played the same music, but it was nice to hear the electric versions of the songs.

I perhaps should have paid more attention to the show itself, but instead I spent a lot of my time chatting with the staff at the Front who were also working. Very nice people.

I stole that photo because it's the one the Western Front used to promote the show. I think it's one of Wiseman's press photos.

Julie Doiron Live from the CiTR Lounge

If you were lucky enough to have been tipped off by someone at CiTR you may have had the chance to sneak into the lounge to see Julie Doiron play a special live set for CiTR's live band radio program Thunderbird Radio Hell. Odds are you were not one of the people who caught it as only about 15 people were there. However, whether you did or not it was podcast for your listening pleasure here. Ms. Doiron was joined by her touring buddy and longtime collaborator Fred Squire who drummed and added banter. Speaking of banter Doiron is one hell of a talker. If you want to know when she last went to the dentist (14 years ago), what she's been dreaming about lately (her brother being mean to her after all her teeth fall out) or the state of her taxes (she's a little behind) you can find out all those things and lots more. She's funny, self-deprecating and charming so it's not an unpleasant listen though I do admit I would have enjoyed more music in the music:banter ratio.

The music she did play was special though as it was the first time she'd played some of the songs from her new album I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day live. Her album isn't due out in Canada until the 24th of this month, but as it's out in the States you can download it if you are impatient.

I didn't catch all the songs she played in the set, but "Tailor Song", "Heavy Snow", "Woke Myself Up", "Borrowed Minivans" and "Dirty Feet" all made appearances. In addition to the Doiron-based material they also played a rather nice Ewan MacColl cover and one of Fred Squire's songs, which I don't know the name of, but wish I did. It contained the lyrics "because I do not have a telephone with which to call" which I thought I would be able to google, but google has failed me.

Photo by Ben Lai