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IONMAGAZINE
FREE#54
4ION
Editor’s Letter A new hope.
Meet The Staff Finally we give you all the information you need to stalk and murder your favourite ION
employee.
Of The Month Movies about crazy French tightrope walkers, video games that star Prince, money saving
fashion tips and a cat named Water.
ION the Street Watch yourself!
Horoscopes Comedian Adam Pateman is this first of Ought Nine to offer up his own special and life
affirming version of the horoscopes for your reading pleasure.
Cartoons
Millburn It’s kind of like Obey. Except instead of Andre the Giant and Obama, you get owls and the
designer’s face.
People Don’t Dance No More... Fashion editorial shot by Andre Pinces and styled by Vanessa Leigh
Camilla d’Errico In Ought Nine, wearing a cephalopod as a hat will be all the rage.
Vantage Art Projects It’s about time you took those posters you got from Blockbuster for free off your
walls and at least pretend to be a little more sophisticated.
.
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart Oddly enthusiastic about you pirating their album.
Ladyhawke Introverted Kiwi by day. Radiant disco princess on Modular by night!
The Band Name Book Bootsauce are on page 177.
Album Reviews
Poster Art: Lil Tuffy There must be something in the poutine that makes people from Montreal great at
making rock posters.
8
10
14
16
47
48
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28
28
34
36
40
42
44
46
ART
FASHION
MUSIC
Volume 7 Number 1 Issue 54
ABOUT THE ION MOBILE GUIDE
This year ION is introducing a fun new mobile component that will helpenhance your experience with the magazine. Keep your eyes peeled for the IONMobile Flag on pages where there is further mobile content available.
For music related mobile content simply text IONMUSIC to 82442. You’llimmediately receive a text back with a link to a mobile website. If yourphone is compatible with iTunes, you’ll be able to preview and purchase allthe music featured in the current issue of ION. In future issues we’ll startrecommending a few choice tracks you should consider purchasing.
For fashion related mobile content text IONFASHION to 82442. For this you’llbe directed to a website that lists where you can purchase all the clothingfeatured in the current issue. To make it easy for you, there will be GoogleMap links for all the stores.
Some of our advertisements will also feature mobile content. In this issueyou can text BENSHERMAN to 82442. You’ll then be directed to a website whereyou can enter to win a fabulous Ben Sherman Mod chair.
This is still all really new for us so expect a lot of exciting new mobilefeatures to be added in the future. And apologies in advance, we don’t planon accommodating people who still only own a pager.
ION MOBILE
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6ION
ABOUT OUR COVERPERSONALITYCIRCLESQUARE
Cover Credits Photographer: Brenndan Laird. Photographer’s Assistant: Ronnie Abelada. Styling: Toyo Tsuchiya. Makeup: Jenny Kanavaros [Judy Inc} Circlesquare is wearing blue cardigan with coloured piping [Modern Amusement from Holt Renfrew], and a yellow button-up shirt [Paul Smith from Holt Renfrew.]
On our cover this month is Circlesquare. Currently a resident of Berlin by way of Vancouver, he made
time for us while in town shooting a music video for his latest album Songs About Dancing and
Drugs. He certainly knows about dancing. Circlesquare produces ethereal electronic soundscapes
that are enjoyed on dancefloors around the world and he’s also been known to DJ the occasional
ION party. As for drugs? Well he knows about that too. Not only an accomplished musician,
Circlesquare lives a dual life as Jeremy Shaw, an extremely successful and subversive artist. One
of his more noteworthy stunts involved drugging his friends with DMT, a powerful hallucinogen your
brain releases when you’re born and when you die, then recording the results for an 8-monitor
installation. This has been shown in major art centres around the world (he offers this tip if you’re
wondering where you can purchase DMT from, “Drug dealers.”). 2009 is going to be a busy year for
Circlesquare as he’ll be touring the eastcoast, Europe and Japan. On the gallery side of things, he’ll
be taking part in a year-long public poster project for the Olympics which resurrects old imagery
from Expo 86.
Publisher/Fashion Director Vanessa Leigh [email protected]
Editor in Chief Michael Mann [email protected]
Creative Director Danny Fazio [email protected]
Art Director Tyler Quarles [email protected]
Music Editor Trevor Risk [email protected]
Fashion Editor Toyo Tsuchiya [email protected]
Designer Leslie Ma [email protected]
Copy Editor Steven Evans
Editorial Interns Samantha Langdorf, Patricia Matos
Office Manager Natasha Neale [email protected]
Advertising Paul Ellis [email protected]
Jenny Goodman [email protected]
Writers Troy Sebastian Alden, Nojan Aminosharei, Bix Brecht, Gloria Chik, Stefana Fratila, Hayz Fisher,
Shallom Johnson, Sharon Ko, Samantha Langdorf, Danielle Munro, Adam Pateman, Kellen Powell,
Natalie Vermeer Photographers and Artists Ronnie Abelada, Toby Marie Bannister, Jenny Kanavaros,
Hubert Kang, Kalen Knauf, Kris Krüg, Brenndan Laird, Kate McLaren, Natahsa Ndlovu, Rebecca Padgett,
Mahsa Pazhouh, Andre Pinces, Jessica Steblyk
ION is printed 10 times a year by the ION Publishing Group. No parts of ION Magazine may be
reproduced in any form by any means without prior written consent from the publisher. ION welcomes
submissions but accepts no responsibility for the return of unsolicited materials.
All content © Copyright ION Magazine 2009
Hey PR people, publicists, brand managers and label friends, send us stuff. High-resolution jpegs are
nifty and all, but they’re no substitute for the real thing. Clothing, liquor, PS3s, CDs, vinyl, DVDs, video
games, and an iPhone can be sent to the address below.
New Address
#303, 505 Hamilton Street. Vancouver, BC, Canada. V6B 2R1
Office 604.696.9466 Fax: 604.696.9411 [email protected]
www.applebottoms.com
Songs About Dancing And Drugs is out now and is reviewed on page 44 in this issue. [www.songsaboutdancinganddrugs.com]
IONMAGAZINE
www.applebottoms.com
8ION
First issue of the most exciting year for ION
yet! We have some awesome new staff.
We have an awesome new look. We have
an awesome new office. We have some
awesome new mobile technology that’ll
enhance your experience with the magazine.
Guess how this year is going to be for us?
However all is not well in the world
today. To paraphrase economists, “2009 is
going to fucking suck.” For good measure,
I’ll throw in a quote from a friend of mine
about the problems the world is facing as
well, “I fear for the likes of a lot of people
once Peak Oil, food riots and hand-to-hand
street combat finally arrive. Not sure how
you dance, snort and Facebook your way out
of that one.”
I’ve dismissed my paranoid friend’s
rants for years. However, he is starting to
make sense as it would seem the world is
gradually taking a step closer to becoming
one of my all-time favourite movies, The
Road Warrior. My advice for coping with
these difficult economic times is to learn
some new skills. Not useless ones like being
really really good at marketing or knowing
a lot about various laws. Learn to make
fire, set a broken bone or which berries are
poisonous and which are delicious. These
will all be useful skills to have when we have
to burn all our money to keep warm at night
and we’re reduced to an economy based on
the bartering of skills and useful goods.
I for one welcome a return to a system
of bartering. “You take this arrow out of my
arm and cauterize the wound. In return, I
will build you a device that can turn your
urine into fresh drinking water.” That’s
makes a lot more sense to me than trading
money for stock in a company.
Armed with this knowledge, and coping
with an office move over the holidays, we
put a bulk lot of a thousand promo CDs that
no staff member wanted on Craigslist. We
didn’t want it taking up space at our lovely
new office and no one would pay money for
all this dreck (stores can’t seem to sell CDs
and we wouldn’t fare much better). So the
catch was we stated we were only after
interesting trades.
We got about 50 responses in a week.
The offers ranged from the creative “I will
come into the office, and let everyone draw
additional stuff on my arm tattoos. That’s
right. Imagine making the dead Asian snake
lady on my arm saying ‘IM A STUPID,’” to
the extremely depressing: “I had to leave
an abusive husband who I am now in court
divorcing. This whole thing has crushed me.
I feel old. I feel broken… I cannot offer you
much as a trade because most of my stuff
is tied up in court, so I can offer you… two
empty fish bowls that are of no use to me
because I keep buying companion fish and
they keep dying.”
In the end we accepted the generous
offer of a three-litre bottle of Jack Daniels
and two really creepy paintings, as getting
really drunk and enjoying some art is a great
way to take your mind off the economic
turmoil (see the paintings on page 14 and
15). So fill up a shopping cart full of guns,
water, gasoline, canned food and gold, then
head for your bunker in the hills to ride it
out. No matter how fucked the world gets
you will still be able to get drunk so long
as you’re resourceful. Unless we’re reduced
to eating each other. If that happens, I’d
recommend staying sober.
MICHAELMANN
Hungry or Broke by Toby Marie Bannister
EDITOR’S LETTER
10ION
MEET THE 2009 TEAM
[01] Vanessa Leigh— Publisher
[02] Trevor Risk— Music Editor
[03] Toyo Tsuchiya—Fashion Editor
[04] Leslie Ma— Designer
[05] Paul Ellis— Advertising
[01] [02] [03]
[04] [05]
CONTRIBUTORS
ION 11
Photography: Kris Krüg [staticphotography.com]
[06] Tyler Quarles— Art Director
[08] Michael Mann— Editor-in-Chief
[09] Kris Krüg—Online Editor
[10] Natasha Neale—Office Manager
[11] Danny Fazio— Creative Director
[MIA] Jenny Goodman— Advertising
[07]
[09]
[08]
[10] [11]
12ION
The prize this month hums its way into your heart courtesy of
Wrighteous Designs (www.wrighteousdesigns.com). These eclectic
and gorgeous hand-crafted rosaries are made from Swarovski
crystals and glass beads custom made to your liking. All come
with a double-sided religious center, a mini bible locket and the
world’s smallest harmonica in the key of C. No two rosaries are
alike just like you. So hop, skip and jump your way into Sunday
mass and drop to your knees. The world’s holiest accessory has
arrived. To enter text IONTHEPRIZE to 82442
or go to www.ionmagazine.ca
Wrighteous Designs
Photo
graph
y: Hu
bert
Kang
. Styl
ing: T
oyo T
such
iya. H
air: J
enny
Kan
avaro
s [Ju
dy In
c.] M
akeu
p: Re
becc
a Pad
gett.
Mode
ls: Lo
renzo
[Liz
Bell]
and K
elly [
Jett
Mode
ls]
ION THE PRIZE
TEXT “IONTHEPRIZE” TO 82442ION MOBILE
HAVE YOUHEARD?
is the one stop shop for the
latest trends, all under one roof.
February 17–19, 2009 — 9am-6pm | Las Vegas Convention Center — C5 Entrance Register now at www.pooltradeshow.com
14ION
[1] We Have A New Address Hello people who send us creepy letters and promotional companies
that send us crappy CDs. Over the holidays ION has relocated to a lovely new office in a charmingly
cruddy area of town. Our new address is Suite 303, 505 Hamilton Street. Vancouver, BC V6B 2R1 .
Update your mailing list and send us office-warming gifts. Nothing under $100 in value please.
[2] Tough Economic Times Tips Have you heard the economy is in the shitter? It is apparently. 2009
is all about saving money wherever you can. Every month we’ll give you some great and fashionable
ways to save money as you’re probably about to lose your job. Our first tip of 2009 is to rock a
flask of delicious liquor with you wherever you go. Your friends may mock you hitting a flask but
they’ll have one the following week because not only is it an awesome look, this will help you save
money in two ways. Firstly, you’ll be spending less money on booze. Secondly, it will keep you out
of nightclubs that charge the most for alcohol when your flask is empty because they have metal
detectors. You could always use a leather tear-shaped bota bag, but those are tough to hide in your
pocket. [3] DVD—Sukiyaki Western Django Takashi Miike is insane. Not just for the content of his
films and that he never takes off his sunglasses, but also for the ridiculous rate at which he cranks
them. By the time you’ve finished reading this magazine, Miike will have already made three new
movies. Sukiyaki is Miike’s take on the Spaghetti Western genre (however they’re called Macaroni
Westerns in Japan, seriously). Watch a bunch of way too pretty Japanese cowboys who don’t
speak English attempt to deliver all their lines in English between over-the-top sword and gunplay.
There’s even a fun cameo from Quentin Tarantino. If you’re a real keener, you should rent the
original Django before viewing. Watch out for the surprise in the coffin. [4] ART SHOW—The Love
Letters Show There are going to be a lot of pissed-off former lovers come this February, The Love
Letters Show will be presented by grace-gallery at 1898 Main street in Vancouver in conjunction
with Queen & Shaw, a newly opened gallery in Toronto at 107 Shaw Street. The show will consist
of love letters that have been squirreled away in shoe boxes for years. The end result of this show
will likely be you drunkenly looking up all your exes on Facebook and friending them. Don’t do it!
www.grace-gallery.com www.queenandshaw.com [5] GAME—Prince of Persia The Prince is back.
Rich with gold and riding a donkey in the desert, a sandstorm blows him into a canyon. There he
unwittingly stumbles into a battle of good versus evil where he has to heal a tree of life. Didn’t
all this happen on a Peter Gabriel album? Jump, hop, climb, swing and stab your way through
exquisite landscapes in a massive open world. The Prince has a new look this time round as the
[1]
[5][4]
[2] [3]
We Have A New Address Tough Economic Times Tips [DVD] Sukiyaki Western Django [Art Show] The Love Letters Show [Game] Prince of Persia
OF THE MONTH
ION 15
game uses a fun new illustrative art style. He also has a new magical girlfriend named Elika who
saves your ass with magic when your ass inevitably falls into a pit. One of the best games of 2008.
[6] DVD—Man On Wire Impossible, entirely. Inspiring, without a doubt. 2008 documentary Man on
the Wire directed by James Marsh outlines the artistic display of high wire rope walker Philippe
Petit’s passionate dream to walk on a high-wire strung between the two World Trade center tow-
ers. Filled with the gumption of a criminal about to perform a legendary bank heist, Petit gathers
together a team of friends, family and misfits that are inspired by the challenge. Through various
successful attempts at rigging high wires to structures around the world and meticulous observa-
tion of the WTC inside and out, the team perfects the strategy of their ultimate day of imaginative
fruition. Witnessed by unsuspecting bystanders in the WTC and on the busy morning streets of NYC
on August 7, 1974, this single act of defiance and art changed lives around the world for planting
the seed that once in awhile, the impossible can happen. [7] PET—Water He will steal your soul,
your heart and your ankles all in one fell swoop. This kitten is a relentless snacker and attacker,
yet was caught here in a vulnerable act of relaxation. Perhaps it’s because his name is Water (the
vet thinks it is Walter, which is more ridiculous) or perhaps it’s because three seconds after this
picture was taken he threw an upside down peace sign at the camera. Whatever it may be, this
kitty rocks. We smell a LOLcat post in the near future for this frisky feline. Send pictures of your
cute critters to [email protected] to have them immortalized in print. [8] I Am Unlimited Marc
Ecko is at the forefront of promoting soical activism through the arts. The company is utilizing Marc
Ecko Watches as a platform to showcase individuals and projects from around the world that are
personally changing the lives of global communities. These individuals will be highlighted in 30-
second viral commercials with the tagline “I AM UNLIMITED.” Ecko distributors will be encouraged
to highlight activists and artists from their areas for future “I AM UNLIMITED” video spots. The
entirety of these video presentations will be shown in Spain in 2009. The first installment in the
series features the Canadian social activist Gavin Sheppard and his organization The Remix Project,
which encourages youths to get involved in urban arts. [www.marceckotime.ca]
[www.theremixproject.blogspot.com]
[2][8]
[2] [6] [7]
[DVD] Man On Wire [PET] Water I Am Unlimited
16ION
‘WATCH’ YOURSELF
Watches are no longer time pieces, but key staples of your outfit. We’ve noticed the trend on the street is to have a big, colourful, conceptual watch on your wrist.
Here are some watches we think you should add to your wrist and if you need the time, check your cell phone. [1] The Elite - Marc Ecko [2] The Deavaux - Nixon
[3] Skull by Marc - Marc Jacobs [4] Star Performer - Tokyo Flash [5] Neon Plasteramic Collection - Toy Watch [6] The Tribella - Nixon [7] Rosewood - Vestal
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Photo
graph
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oyo Ts
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Ass
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Hair a
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navar
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Siou
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ION MOBILE TEXT “IONFASHION” TO 82442
ION THE STREET
CLIENT: DOSEJOB NAME: Paris DOCKET #: P08-0829AD #: DO3604PUB: ION MagazineAD SPACE: col x lines
OUTPUT SCALE: NoneFONTS: Apex
TRIM: 8” x 8”SAFETY: NoneBLEED: 8.25” x 8.25”INSERTION DATE: NonePPI: 300
PROOF #: 1DATE: 8-18-2008 11:35 AM
Cyan Magenta Yellow Black
Studio WHIP:Volumes:Studio WHIP:DOSE:P08-0829_Celebrity_Art_Print:DO3604_Paris_ION.indd
chew them up.spit them out.
DO3604_Paris_ION.indd 1 8/18/08 11:35:35 AM
18ION
Who said that Canada doesn’t have an emerging streetwear
offering? Millburn by Owen Milburn is set to change that
notion. Owen brings garments to life with hand printed
graphics, paint-splattered effects, vibrant colours, an
abundance of personality… oh, and an owl.
Owen’s background stems from the hip-hop scene
in Victoria. He went on to study Interactive Art at Simon
Fraser University in Vancouver. There he pushed his creative
boundaries, focusing largely on installation and new media
art. His talents are evident in his new media art works, most
recently as part of an installation for Evan Biddell’s after-
party at L’Oreal Fashion Week.
After launching the short-lived but fashion-forward
clothing line A.D.D., Owen relocated to Toronto. Being the
entrepreneurial soul, he rebranded his designs in a rather
ironic way – this line had no name, but instead boasted a
stenciled image of his face as the logo. Owen launched this
project in the best way he saw possible – out of Kensington
Market, a community known to foster and grow local talent
organically. Renting space in the front yard of a Kensington
shop one summer, he made stenciled t-shirts with paint rollers
and a propane heater. Owen was a portable artist, carrying
his business home in a backpack when he was done.
His current line in the making, Millburn, is geared to
launch in Spring/Summer 2009. With it, he intermingles
urban culture and Canadiana themes like wildlife imagery and
First Nations influences. The line incorporates organic fibres
as well as environmentally friendly paints and dyes, keeping
in tune with the sustainable clothing movement. There’s a
touch of Owen in each item of clothing as they are hand
stenciled with love.
So what is it about Toronto that appealed to this
young designer and what is it that keeps him there?
“There’s something unapologetic about Toronto that I like.
I think Toronto’s fashion sense is really underrated, but it’s
interesting. Local stores are really open to supporting local
designers and I’ve seen some good success with boutiques in
Toronto.” A strong work ethic blended with a creative mind
is sure to see Owen Milburn to great successes – watch out
world, here comes the owl.
[Look out for the launch of the new line at www.millburn.ca]
STENCILS AND STYLEWords: Gloria Chik Photography: Natasha Ndlovu Styling: Toyo Tsuchiya
MILLBURN
Hair
and M
akeu
p:Jen
ny K
anav
aros [
Judy
Inc]
FASHION
ION 19
Mode
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People Don’t Dance No MoreThey Just StaNd There Like ThisPHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDRE PINCES [NOBASURA]STYLING BY VANESSA LEIGHStyling Assistant: Mahsa Pazhouh. Hair and Makeup: Jessica Steblyk [Judy Inc.]Models: Robyn and Bronwyn [Richard’s]
FASHION
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TEXT “IONFASHION” TO 82442ION MOBILE
28ION
Camilla d’Errico is an art factory. This
girl’s got an output like Andy, minus the
minions. Think wide-eyed girls in futuristic
cephalopod headgear, instead of Ms.
Monroe and Campbell’s soup. This prolific
Vancouver-based artist spends practically
every moment of every day creating, or
thinking about creating. Her body of work
spans many genres and mediums, and
has taken the form of video games, anime,
comic books, graphic novels, fine art, vinyl
and plushie toys, clothing, handbags and
anything else that she can get her hands on.
She and her older sister/manager AdaPia
make a formidable team, combining their
talents to make the most of each other’s
strengths. Camilla credits AdaPia with
helping ease the load, managing her many
projects and organizing her time, taking on
the business aspects of her ever-expanding
art empire.
After many years of taking every job that
came her way - paid or not - Camilla has
reached that enviable point in a successful
artist’s career where she can pick and choose
which projects she takes on. “If I ever did
a 9-5 job it would destroy me,” she says
with a sigh, when I ask how it feels to be
making a living from her art. It turns out that
- through a combination of hard work, luck
and stubbornness - Camilla has always found
some way of working in a creative field. And,
like many whose lives lead down imaginative
paths, she thrives on variety, treating each
aspect of her artistic practice as a new
adventure. Working in a variety of mediums
and genres serves as one of her many tools
for overcoming artists’ block. As a last resort,
she browses through photography magazines,
looking for striking visuals that just might
inspire her current work or send her spiralling
off in a new direction.
FACTORY GIRLThe Artwork of Camilla d’Errico
Words: Shallom Johnson Photography: Kris Krüg
ART
ION 29
30ION
AdaPia is not the only d’Errico sister to
be involved - all three of Camilla’s sisters
are the inspirations for The POOKS, a new
set of cute little characters who could
very well be the next Hello Kitty. Named
Poe, Kamel, Bean and Gawn-o, each one
is based on a sister’s unique personality.
As well there is a fourth “unofficial” sister,
opera singer Morgan Strickland, who’s
been an essential part of the d’Errico
family since they were kids. Camilla is
also collaborating with younger sister
Bianca on one of her “passion projects,”
Tanpopo, a unique graphic novel series
that takes advantage of what Camilla
sees as a huge opportunity for innovation
– merging two genres that typically don’t
mix - classical literature and comics.
Written by her sister and illustrated by
Camilla, Volume I was based on Faust and
Volume II will draw inspiration from The
Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
As is to be expected, Camilla has
always loved “drawing, doodling and
watching TV, especially cartoons.” Her
journey into the comic book world got
a kick-start back in 1998, when she
attended Comic Con International. “Most
people never find that thing that clicks,”
she says with a grin, “and that clicked
for me.” While attending Emily Carr she
worked for a small press company called
Committed Comics and found various
commercial illustration gigs. As always,
gaining experience outside of school
makes a world of difference - since then,
her career in comic books has taken off
and shows no signs of slowing down.
In 2004 she began development on a
six-issue manga series called Camilla
d’Errico’s BURN, a project that (like almost
all of her work) is multifaceted. Officially
launched at the 2008 Emerald City Comic
Con, BURN is slated for publishing in
2009 as a graphic novel, with publisher
Arcana Studio currently negotiating for
the series to be further developed into
an animation, a motion picture and a
video game. Her first collaboration
with Hellboy writer Joshua Dysart came
in 2007 for a two-part miniseries called
Avril Lavigne’s Make5 Wishes. She is again
collaborating with Dysart to develop
a graphic novel series based on her
signature Helmetgirls characters. “Joshua
has created a beautiful world, inspired by
what I wanted my girls to be,” she says.
An epic story set in a post-apocalyptic
world, this series is poetic and elegant
while also dirty, grimy and full of strange
technology. The two are meeting again in
New York in February to continue work
on the series. Camilla says that she feels
“truly honoured” that her artwork has been
able to “inspire and excite a writer like
Dysart who has been in the industry for
so long.” In addition to her work with
comics and video games, a large part of
Camilla’s current artistic practice falls
under the umbrella of Pop Surrealism,
a rapidly growing art movement which
is gaining acceptance in the fine arts
community at large. Her doorway into the
LA market and into fine arts in general
came as somewhat of a surprise. She
credits collector-turned-art-rep David
Freeman as providing the springboard
that launched this aspect of her career. A
phone call out of the blue led to a three-
hour conversation about the gallery scene,
which in turn led to her first ever solo
show at Gallery 1988 in San Francisco
that completely sold out before opening
night. Since then, the growth of this
genre has widened her fanbase. Feedback
from new audiences ranges from “pure
enjoyment” to some rather strange and
twisted interpretations, and often helps
Camilla to see her own work in a new
light. When asked for a “weird fan story,”
she tells of a guy who frequents comic
conventions asking his favourite artists to
add to his erotic “chocolate and fairies”
black book. “Some artists go crazy,” she
says, “A lot of the artwork is so explicit,
it’s shocking!” When he first approached,
black book in hand, Camilla was “terrified”
– but eventually she succumbed, adding
her own page into his fantasy fairy world.
Looking forward, Camilla will continue
the trend of bringing Pop Surrealists to
new audiences, and will be walking in
good company. She joins contemporaries
Ron English, Lori Early and Sas
Christian in having landed permanent
representation by Opera Gallery, one of
the most prestigious galleries in the world.
With branches in Singapore, Hong Kong
and Dubai, as well as closer to home in
New York and London, Opera juxtaposes
classic and contemporary works by artists
from many different periods in one space,
encouraging fans of more traditional art
forms to see the value in a genre that
they may have previously discounted.
Having finished off 2008 with a
showing at Art Basel and her “last
Vancouver show for a while” at El Kartel,
2009 will be a year of transitions, as she
settles into her new representation at
Opera. Along with a March show at Gallery
1988, she is planning a “final, goodbye
show” at LA’s Thinkspace Gallery before
she moves on to tackle the international
art scene. Also upcoming, she will be
included in numerous art books, notably
the 4th edition of Grafuck by Gallery
Nucleus, as well as Thinkspace’s Untitled
Love Project - in which her artwork is
accompanied by some cheeky answers to
a shockingly personal questionnaire about
love and relationships.
Camilla is also excited about the
upcoming launch of her own art book,
which will include fan favourites as well as
some never before seen works - sketches
from works in development, video games
and movies - that give old and new fans a
true look behind the scenes at her artistic
process, past and present. She’s traveled
a long and eventful road since that first
day at ComiCon, and she is nowhere
close to slowing down. As we sit drinking
coffee and talking about what lies
ahead, Camilla’s whole being practically
sparkles with excitement. With seemingly
boundless energy and a strong family
support system, it won’t be long before
this cheerful, charming artist wins over
the rest of the world.
The Artwork of Camilla d’ErricoART
ION 31
“If I ever did a 9-5 job it would destroy me”
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THE ART-VANTAGEVantage Art Projects
Words: Samantha Langdorf
During my first year of university my dorm room
looked like an Ikea catalogue photo, complete
with the framed print of Vincent Van Gogh’s
“Café Terrace at Night.” At three feet by four
feet, it was the largest and most impressive
piece of “art” I had ever owned, and I figured it
would give my dorm mates the impression that
I was arty. Thankfully, my tastes have evolved
since then and that Van Gogh print now lives
in my parents’ basement. However, despite the
fact that my interest in art has grown over the
years my knowledge is still fairly limited.
The art world can be a difficult place to
navigate, for both artists and art lovers alike.
There are lots of people who love art and who
are interested in collecting it. There are also lots
of people who make art and are interested in
selling it, but sometimes it can be hard for these
two groups of people to come together and do
business. Sherri Kajiwara and Jennifer Mawby
were concerned about this and decided to
create a way to increase the exchange between
artists and art lovers. In October of 2008, they
launched Vantage Art Projects with the motto
that “art is an essential service.”
“I believe that within the art world there
are two groups of people, content providers
and infrastructure providers,” says Jen. “And
if you’re not creating art, or providing content,
then it’s your role to provide the infrastructure
that’s necessary for the art world to grow.”
Vantage has a unique approach to providing
this infrastructure within the art world. Its
online presence serves as a forum where
emerging artists can showcase their work and
establish contacts, while art lovers can discover
new artists and begin building a collection of
affordable pieces. Twice a month, Vantage’s
“Fresh Picks” releases a limited edition fine
art print series available in three sizes which
range in price from $45 to $1,450. The website
also features artist bios as well as links to their
online portfolios.
“Our goal for the ‘Fresh Picks’ series was
to provide something that was immediately
accessible, but still met fine art standards,”
says Sherri.
The desire for accessibility is definitely
a driving factor behind all of Vantage’s
goals. After many years of working in the
fine art gallery world, both Sherri and Jen
acknowledge how exclusive it can be. “In the
Redbeard Rides a House Grave of Green and Yellow by Sandra Lopuch and Ben Edmiston
ART
ION 35
end, it’s a luxury retail business,” says Sherri.
“You have to sell expensive art in order to
keep the doors open.”
Sherri and Jen envision Vantage as a way
of rethinking the gallery experience. “We want
it to be accessible, but in the right way,” Sherri
explains. “We’re not dumbing down art, we’re
just figuring out a way to offer high-quality
pieces that are still affordable.”
One of the ways in which this is
accomplished is through their printing method.
All of the “Fresh Picks” editions are printed on
archival paper by a fine art printer. It’s a digital,
print-on-demand process that eliminates
the need for storage of excess prints. It also
reduces the financial risk that artists often take
on when making prints of their work.
As Vantage continues to grow, Sherri and
Jen see many opportunities for reducing the
financial gaps, as well as the educational gaps,
that exist within the art world. “We want to
make it easier for people to collect art,” Sherri
says. “It’s not unrealistic for people to spend
thousands of dollars on their homes, but then
decorate the walls with ten dollar posters. For
a lot of people I think this has more to do
with a lack of education rather than a lack
of interest.”
For now, Vantage remains in its introductory
phase but there are many plans for future
growth. Sherri and Jen are currently working
on developing the Art Press, which is the
publishing division of Vantage. Art Press books
will serve as exhibitions in print, and they will
showcase the work of new artists. In addition
to publishing the work of artists within the
Vantage network, there will also be open calls
for submissions through the website.
While Vantage is unique to Canada, there
are a number of similar international models,
such as Visionaire and Jen Bekman’s 20x200,
which have experienced noteworthy success
in the last year. Considering that Vantage
is only four months old, Sherri and Jen are
excited to see how Vantage will grow during
the next year, and they anticipate that it is
going to be a busy one.
[www.vantageartprojects.com]
Meander by Angela Grossmann Phone Home at Midnight by Mark De Long
36ION
“Good bands will find a way to make it
work,” says an excited Kip Berman on the
telephone from his self-proclaimed “dirty”
home in Brooklyn. Kip is the kind of young
man you would dream about as a teenager
in the Nineties who would swoop into your
town with his collection of Sonic Youth
cassettes and his love of all things precious.
His band The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
is the kind of band you wished existed your
entire life, and he feels the same.
“I don’t ever want to be that guy in a
band who loves his music too much but I’m
probably like, the world’s biggest Pains of
Being Pure at Heart fan. If I wasn’t in this
band, this would be the band that I love.
This is the band that I would have loved
in high school when I was sitting around
with my friends (and we were sort of goth)
sitting in all night diners and talking about
anarchy all the time. This would have been
the band that I was totally in love with.
So it’s really cool to hear people respond
really positively. But I don’t want to say
how much I love my guitar sound because
I don’t want to be like that guy from the
Killers who got in trouble for saying that he
made the greatest album of all time.”
But it’s quite possible that he did. He
found a way to make it work. Drums heavy
on the fills, bass guitar that drives with
straight time, pretty keyboard pads, pretty
girl keyboard player, male/female vocals,
a guitar sound that’s a simple, punchy
Fender Jaguar referencing early jangle pop
from the UK (but with more definition) and
perfectly placed mini-solos. To a select
few, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart DID
make the greatest album of all time, and
Kip Berman knows who these people are.
“We started as kind of a joke, and we
played our first show at this warehouse
GROWING PAINSThe Pains Of Being Pure At
HeartWords: Trevor Risk Photography: Toby Marie Bannister
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MUSIC
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38ION
party and this dude who was a little older
came to it and he used to work A&R at
Elektra and he walked up afterwards and
was like ‘So.... do you guys wanna get
famous?’ and we were like ‘To twelve
people, yeah!’ and he was like ‘Then have
fun!’ and chuckled to himself. Our only goal
was, and still is, to be really important to
a few people. Given the choice between
being kind of well liked by a lot of people
or really loved by a couple of people we
always choose the couple because that
relationship is so special to me.”
“We’re a pop band and we write pop
songs,” our hero continues, “and even
though it’s easy to cite influences that we
have and different bands that we like a lot
(and that’s totally valid), you have to point
out that at it’s core it’s just pop music and
it’s not like this super heavy and elaborate
shoegaze stuff. I mean we rip off really
early My Bloody Valentine rather than later
My Bloody Valentine. What do all these
Brooklyn bands have in common? Well,
they all sound different but they all draw
on similar inspirations and we all have
similar record collections at home but they
kind of take it in different places. We don’t
really sound like Black Tambourine, but
we like Black Tambourine a lot so I can’t
help but think that there’s got to be some
element of their music in ours.”
Which of course makes it no surprise
that Mike Schulman, the drummer of Black
Tambourine and co-founder of Slumberland
Records gobbled up The Pains of Being
Pure at Heart pretty damn quickly. “It’s
really cool because other bands on the
label are bands we’re fans of, so it actually
feels like the label means something.
Slumberland has its own aesthetic, it’s
really strongly associated with a type of
music. Mike Schulman, who some people
refer to just as Mike Slumberland, is really
great. We’ll say ‘Can we do a seven inch
from the album?’ and he’s like ‘Yeah...’
‘Can we put it on blue vinyl?’ and he’s
like ‘Yeah.’ ‘Can we do another one on
red vinyl... like blue and red???’ and he’s
like ‘YEAH!’ He’s really supportive and he’s
really excited about us and he’s not sitting
there and trying to cut every corner.”
Good bands may always find a way to
make it work, but that may involve finding
an audience outside their home base. The
Pains of Being Pure at Heart have found
open arms of joy amongst the populations
of the UK and Sweden (not unlike
Canadian acts Martha and the Muffins
and Danko Jones respectively). Listen to
Kip Berman’s band and it will take only
a few moments to realize why. Fresh off
tours of both countries, Kip explains the
journey. “Sweden is such a bizarrely
alternate universe for pop music. Like, it’s
actually popular. The music we make is the
music there that normal people listen to
and not just what weird dirty people listen
to. It’s culturally receptive to The Pains of
Being Pure at Heart. It’s really cool that
there’s a place on earth where cool kids
in clubs go out dancing to Orange Juice
instead of Justice. Literally you’d go to a
club and everyone there is like 19 and cool
and amazing looking and totally stylish and
they’re dancing to like Orange Juice or
something like that. Not like what people
would dance to in Vancouver or New York.
The biggest show we’ve ever played was
in Stockholm. We’ve never played in front
of that many people before. It’s really
shocking to go halfway around the world
and find more of your fans than you would
20 minutes from your house. It’s really cool
how the internet allows people to find out
about stuff and helps bands that obviously
don’t have the resources to go out and tour
the world. It’s wonderful that people can
hear our music without having to special
order us or write us and ask us to make
a tape of it or something. Metallica gives
a hard time to people with the idea of
downloading music for free and depriving
musicians of whatever, but it’s totally the
opposite for a band like us. It enables such
a wider audience of people to enjoy us and
pass along the music to their friends. It’s
been really helpful to us that people even
care enough about us to leak our album.
One of my friends when we were over in
England was like ‘Your album leaked’ and I
was like ‘Coool!’ Someone cares enough to
actually leak our album!”
You heard the man. Get it, rip it, share
it, and love it with all your...er... heart.
[Catch The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
February 12th in Toronto at Neutral and
February 13th in Montreal at Il Motore and
then soundtrack your St. Valentine’s Day
with their self titled debut album out now
on Slumberland Records]
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Pip Brown is sitting in her hotel room in
Melbourne, waiting for another call. Today the
girl known as Ladyhawke is more like Rapunzel.
She waits for the phone to ring, and for a voice
to appear on the other end of the line, from
the other end of the world, and for it to ask
the same questions that until months ago, the
bashful singer had grappled to answer.
When Pip released her self-titled debut al-
bum, in September, she lit up the music in-
dustry’s radar. The more she was labeled The
One to Watch, the more she became the one
to talk to.
Her music, bombastic 80s-inspired pop,
has the confidence of a rock chick and the
playfulness of a pop princess. It’s this duality
that earned her the attention of both Courtney
Love and Kylie Minogue after the release of
“Paris is Burning,” a forceful dance single
that Pip wrote after a romp through the Paris
nightlife.
The dramatic synthesizers, the dance
beats, the catchy guitar hooks – all of which
she records by herself before enlisting the help
of a band for live appearances – betray Pip’s
meek personal manner. In person, she speaks
softly – and a little adorably – in her native
New Zealand accent. She punctuates her an-
swers with the occasional nervous chuckle,
which makes you feel like maybe she’s tell-
ing you a secret.
But when Pip laughs lightly, it’s not coquett-
ish. When she hesitates or struggles before an
answer, she’s not being demure. Pip is just shy
– genuinely, painfully shy. In September, she
revealed to The Guardian that she had recent-
ly been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome,
an autism spectrum disorder. It was a reve-
lation that helped her understand her lifelong
awkwardness.
And at first her awkwardness may look
like a hipster affectation. It makes her look like
she’s scowling in every press photo, or des-
ultorily slouching in every music video. But
in person, it’s surprisingly endearing, precise-
ly because it isn’t a belabored affectation, but
a normal and relatable reaction to her sudden
rise from obscurity.
A self-declared introvert, Pip, 27, says she’s
been waiting years to build the “air of confi-
dence” needed to be pop artist. Luckily, She is
nothing if not patient.
When Pip was eight years old, she would
play her mother’s old Beatles record on a bro-
ken record player, spinning the record patiently
with her finger to play her favourite songs over
and over. After her stepfather, a drum teach-
er at her school, introduced her to the drums
when she was 11, Pip started taking lessons.
From there, Pip says, “I played in a grun-
ge band, I played in a garage rock band, and I
played in a hardcore band.”
As part of the hard rock band Two Lane
Blacktop, Pip caught the attention of Nick
Littlemore, an Australian music producer and
one half of both the dance music duo Pnau,
and the electronic music duo Empire of the Sun.
When her band broke up two days prior to
a gig at South By Southwest, Pip made the un-
characteristically impulsive decision to relocate
from Wellington, New Zealand to Melbourne.
“There’s only one thing in my life that will
make me move, and that’s music,” says Pip,
who admits to being otherwise homey and un-
adventurous. “It was just something that I felt
needed to be done.”
Once Nick heard that Pip had come to
Australia, he asked her to join him in Sydney
for a pet project he called Teenager. Just as
she is today with the press attention she re-
ceives, Pip was flummoxed that Nick had even
heard of her. Flattered, she agreed to join
Nick’s project, and the two played together
from two years, the timid Pip alongside the ec-
centric and captivating Nick.
But for those two years, Pip furtively devel-
oped her own work.
“Teenager was Nick’s project, his baby,
and I felt like I wasn’t doing what I wanted to
do, which was my own music,” says Pip, who
avoided pitching her new songs for Teenager.
“I didn’t want them to be Nick’s, I wanted them
to be mine.”
When she did play her solo songs for Nick,
he encouraged her to develop them, and helped
her record a demo. Slowly, starting in 2005, Pip
started developing her work under the moniker
Ladyhawke, after the 1985 fantasy film.
“It’s not like I was inspired by the mov-
ie, I just thought the name was really cool,”
Pip laughs, adding, “I wanted to have a name
that sounded empowered and a little bit, I don’t
know, magical.”
In 2005, Pip was compelled to island hop
once more, moving to London, where her mu-
sic was getting more attention than it was in
Australia.
“But that’s changed now,” she says, with
her album topping at #16 in Australia and #47
in the UK.
Reviewers in both hemispheres have sung
her praises and compared her to Eighties
chart-toppers like Pat Benatar, Kim Wilde, and
Cyndi Lauper, although the last one, says Pip,
bemuses her.
“I love Cyndi Lauper’s music and I think
she’s great, but I can honestly say I can’t see
the similarity.” With a chuckle, she adds, “And
that’s the one that everyone quotes!”
So who would she want to be com-
pared to?
“I don’t see any reason other than I really
admire her, but I’d say Patti Smith.” With her
blonde mop of hair, and penchant for boy’s
clothes, Pip’s pick doesn’t come as much of
a surprise. Neither is it a surprise that the
timid Pip would admire the commanding
Godmother of Punk.
“If there’s anyone I’d love to be
like, it’s her.” She adds with a chirp,
“So, uh, yeah.”
SHE’S SO UNUSUALLADYHAWKE
Words: Nojan Aminosharei Illustration: Kate McLaren [www.kate-mclaren.com]
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42ION
THE NAME GAMEThe Band Name Book
Words: Kellen Powell Illustration: Calen Knauf
The Band Name Book by Noel Hudson is
exactly what it sounds like. The book breaks
its self up into several categories like,
“animals” or “death stuff”* and then lists
the bands that the author found relevant in
that category with a short blurb. I found that
if I scanned for a band I wanted to know
more about I’d usually see something I
wanted to know about before finding what
I was originally looking for. From there I’d
generally see something else funny and once
I exhausted one train of thought it was easy
to move onto another one.
The book advertises on Amazon as being
a reference book where you can have the
origins of every band at your fingertips. After
spending some time with it however, it’s
clear that Noel would rather regale you with
the thousands of stupid and often hilarious
names of bands you’ve never heard of, than
actually give you any substantial history
on the ones you know. Although I was
disappointed when bands I wanted to know
about were missing, to the book’s credit,
there was usually something amusing listed
alphabetically where “Pop Will Eat Itself” or
“Atari Teenage Riot” should have been
Although it’s disappointing and frustrating
to see that your favourite bands have been
missed, it’s also really clear that the author
doesn’t care. He’s way more psyched about
“Fake Shark Real Zombie” or “Crack Horse”
(because Crack Horse sounds like “crack
whores”) than he is about writing music
history. So maybe the best way of describing
the book accurately would be to say what it
isn’t, and it isn’t one of those Rolling Stone
compilation books or a companion to rock
documentaries. It’s not using band names
as an excuse to talk about the bands, it’s
actually about band names.
There is an art to band names that I
never fully appreciated until I spent time
with this book. The author is a Canadian who
takes pride in having been in weirdly named
bands since he was 16, and is arguably
more enthusiastic about band names than
he is about music. A lot of the bands listed
will probably never be heard from in any
significant pop culture capacity, but certainly
deserve to have their names go on record.
The Band Name Book is available for
about twenty bucks after shipping on
Amazon and if you’re the kind of person who
likes to read the local music papers when
you’re visiting other cities, or you spend time
browsing MySpace for new bands and are
generally amused by indie music scenes
and music culture this book will be a good
thing to have kicking around. It’s nice to pick
up while you transit or to browse while you
eat your cereal or take shits or when and
wherever it is you do your casual reading
(you’re probably there right now reading this
magazine!).
[*ION stole the book back from me before I
finished writing this article so this probably isn’t an
actual category but you get the idea.]
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[1] Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion Domino By now you’ve probably read half a dozen 331 –
1,009 word reviews about this record. Including those very accurate word counts, I want to be specific.
Beginning with the cover art: its intensity will have you tripping balls from any distance (computer screen
or otherwise). The thumping bass will break the plates on your walls and the teeth in your mouth. My
friend hallucinated while listening to this record, although his notion of hallucinations is slightly askew,
you might also! On “My Girls,” Animal Collective responds to Madonna’s truthful reasoning that “we are
living in a material world.” This response is creating poppy pop with reflective lyrics like “I don’t mean
to seem like I care about material things… I just want four walls and adobe slabs for my girls.” Cute!
Now that Panda Bear has a family, it is interesting to hear a remarkably produced, more mature, yet still
experimental record. This is the one for 2009. And you knew that. So, things to do: attend a listening
party, strike up a situation in which you dance with a certain someone and smile and say, “I like this
song…” Then, buy a record player and the vinyl because it will, I promise, take you on at least one
unforgettable trip. 5/5 - Stefana Fratila
[2] Circlesquare Songs About Dancing and Drugs Boompa I’ve never liked dancing and I’m finished with
drugs, but Circlesquare’s Songs About Dancing and Drugs is tempting me to do both. They’ve encouraged
me down this dark path with the addition of guitarist Trevor Lawson and drummer Dale Butterfield. The
duo pulls Circlesquare away from the electronic lockstep of previous releases taking the album toward a
humanized avalanche of sound. This shines through on songs like “Dancers” and “Hey You Guys.” Guitar
parts start awkwardly, building toward something you’re not quite sure of, until it all comes together with
that single missing snare hit. Jeremy Shaw’s coolly detached vocals ride the edge of mechanical goose-
stepping and human emotion, with the tendency toward the emotional in songs like “Timely” and “Music
for Satellites.” While listening I kept finding myself singing along with Jeremy’s nah nahs and doot doos,
so much so that I was soon singing along without even knowing the words. Circlesquare has convinced
me to start snorting ones and zeros and grinding with guitar feedback.
4/5 -Troy Sebastian Alden
[3] Cut Off Your Hands You And I Universal Cut Off Your Hands’ debut album You and I is boring. This is the
first album I have had trouble reviewing because it’s just so… middling? Usually I can find something
either outstandingly good or bad to write about, but not so in this case. This album is fine for what it is;
an example of how, in a post-everything culture, it’s okay to reach back 20 years, pick out an already
bland style of music and bland it down some more so as to not appear retro. Lead singer Nick Johnston
sometimes sounds like he’s channeling Rick Astley, sometimes Robert Smith, but mostly he’s channeling
straight formulaic whatever-the-hell kind of music this is. Okay, seriously, I am listening to the album right
now as I type this and it just really inspires no response whatsoever and that might be all you need to
know about Cut Off Your Hands. 1/5 -Bix Brecht
[4] Faunts Feel.Love.Thinking.Of Friendly Fire Recordings There are advantages to being a band in Edmon-
ton, Alberta. You don’t get pigeonholed with your sound, you get to be remixed by Cadence Weapon (if
you’re lucky/any good) and you get to sound like the bleak winters (the sound of a bleak winter being
the only advantage to living through a bleak winter). Faunts’ third album doesn’t sound like anywhere
though and that’s what its first hook is. Taking shoegaze to a weird contemporary place is difficult, and
sometimes Feel.Love.Thinking.Of misses, but the record eventually finds a perfect place to live; somewhere
between an overcast November day and a poignant scene in a Darren Aronofsky feature. The more
adventurous listener will put it on for a late evening lovemaking session, and the casual listener can at
the very least appreciate the wide production. Add in that the standout track “It Hurts Me All The Time”
sounds like a perfect amalgam of a Lilys song, a Sega Genesis game and the Eric’s Trip tune “Happens
[1] [2] [3] [4]
44ION
REVIEWS
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Animal Collective [Merriweather Post Pavilion] Circlesquare [Songs About Dancing and Drugs] Cut Off Your Hands [You And I] Faunts [Feel.Love.Thinking.Of]
MUSIC
All the Time” and you’re left with an album that hits, misses, but comes out the of tunnel with a trophy
in hand. 3/5 -Trevor Risk
[5] Guns N’ Roses Chinese Democracy Universal Axl Rose kept the world waiting sixteen whole years for
the follow-up to Use Your Illusion I/II. Considering it took Guns N’ Roses my entire lifespan to create
this mindfully-titled record, I was expecting something a little better. Although when the 45-second intro
of actors and actresses ‘excitedly speaking about nothing’ came on, I wasn’t really that surprised. For
weeks, my friend told me how pumped his customers were about the anticipated release, answering
the phone with “Welcome to the Jungle! Guns N’ Roses out on November 23rd!” At that point, I didn’t
know very much about them (except that they existed). I actually told someone I was reviewing Guns
N’ Moses... a reference to my Civilization homework, right? No? Well, I ultimately asked myself “Who
is going to buy this?” and I realized it could only be two particular groups of people: those guys with
‘cahraaazy’ belt buckles and the parents of those teenagers that make out at steamy house parties (all
the time). Just like those parties you don’t go to anymore (but remember vividly because of their cheap
strobe lighting that got to your head), that’s what Chinese Democracy feels like. 0/5 - Stefana Fratila
[6] Love is All A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night What’s Your Rupture? It’s not hard to smile, you don’t
even need an excuse most of the time. Well, if you bought stock in Circuit City or you work (worked)
for GM or you’re getting generally fucked by the world you might. Or maybe you’re just not a very happy
person. Hey, some people aren’t. You might take drugs to make you think that you’re happy, but they don’t
work. Just a side effect to mask a symptom. You’re really better off removing all of the stuff in your life
that makes you unhappy like hate and violence and money and greed and Stephen Harper. Then what?
Then you’re just an empty shell that used to be filled with shitty shit. Now you need LOVE... and that will
make you smile for sure. Now if Poly Steyrene’s voice didn’t make me want to stick sharp pencils in my
ears I would compare Love is All to Xray Spex, but the sax is the only real similarity. Oh well, I’m going
to compare them anyways. The Xray Spex make me hurt (in a good way) some of the time, Love is All
makes me not hurt (in a better way) all of the time. 5/5 Hayz Fisher
[7] Mr. Oizo Lambs Anger Ed Banger I can’t stop listening to this album… Mr. Oizo is electronic club
music for people who like their electronic club music goofy and weird. The only problem with his discog-
raphy up until this point was that there weren’t enough solid dance songs or party anthems. Even though
Mr. Oizo pretty much conquered mainstream dancefloors on his first try when he released “Flat Beat” 10
years ago, he never really followed it up with any other bangers (unless you count “Stunt” which is a little
too intense for most parties.) But now we have Lamb’s Anger and it’s filled to the brim with the dumbest,
silliest rave anthems and party jams imaginable. Dear Mr. Oizo, “Bruce Willis is Dead” is so awesome that I
forgive you for producing Uffie. My only fear is that I’ve preached the greatness of this album in print, when
it was supposed to be some sort of treat designed especially for my brain. This is my favourite collection
of Oizo’s work so far and I hope he keeps going in this direction. 5/5 Kellen Powell
[8] A.C. Newman Get Guilty Last Gang Records It’s hard to find fault in a Carl Newman-styled pop song. He
knows just what to do to make a song catchy and somehow, I always feel inspired when I listen. It also
helps that I feel like I’m listening to a new New Pornographers record. The album starts off with “There
are Maybe Ten or Twelve”, a similar song to the Peter Bjorn and John Writer’s Block album opener. Make
of that what you will! As you listen, you will subconsciously add kazoo on “The Heartbreak Rides”, start
chopstick coffee table drumming on “Like a Hitman, Like a Dancer” and “la la la la” along on “Submarines
of Stockholm.” Just sayin. I adore the closer, “You All of My Days and All of My Days Off,” as it confirms
that a clever title can prove a song wonderful too. Like Miranda July having a short film entitled “Are You
the Favourite Person of Anybody?” - obviously it’s going to be precious. Or, at the very least, perfect to
write on a mixtape tracklisting for someone you love. 4.5/5 -Natalie Vermeer
[7] [2][5] [6] [8]
ION 45
Guns N’ Roses [Chinese Democracy] Love is All [A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night] Mr. Oizo [Lambs Anger] A.C. Newman [Get Guilty]
46ION
Holy moly we’ve found such a gem in
Lil Tuffy this issue. Montreal has a
reputation (mostly due to Leonard Cohen
stories) of being more stylish than the rest
of the country and we will now solidify
that idea. If there were a Billboard chart
for poster artistry, Lil Tuffy would be
the equivalent of Rumours. “My style is
something that is constantly changing.
I don’t want to make the same thing
over and over again so I am constantly
experimenting. But there are some common
elements in the bulk of my work. A lot of
my work focuses on what you can’t see by
utilizing negative space and placing only a
portion of an image on the poster. I usually
work with a very limited palette.” Be certain
to check out http://lil-tuffy.com for more
graphic perfection.
LIL TUFFY
LIL TUFFY
POSTER ART
ION 47
PISCeS: Everything is about to go batshit
crazy, Pisces. Tomorrow morning, a section
of your torso will be missing and gravity will
have no effect on your body between 3:30 and
5pm. This week you will witness the seas part
and there on the exposed ocean floor will be
the original cast members of Saved By The
Bell nude and on fire. A ghost will appear in a
saucepan and convince you to join a pyramid
scheme, and Louis Riel will arm wrestle Cap’n
Crunch in your bathtub. Get a disposable
camera.
TAURUS: Everything you do is flawless and
brings us all toward a social Utopia that will
end world hunger and obliterate awkward
situations where you have to introduce
someone to a person who’s name you can’t
remember. All the other signs are shit. Gemini
is a sell-out, Sagittarius smells his fingers on
the bus and Cancer keeps burning erasers in
the attic with his “friends”. You rule, Taurus.
This is not a biased reading, I promise.
SAgITTARIUS: There has got to be a reason
why your inner thighs smell like mushroom
soup, Sagittarius. It’s time to go to a clinic.
And if liquid that you don’t recognize comes
out of your body , it’s never a positive thing.
Get a job with health benefits or stop only
eating food that comes from gas stations.
ARIeS: Remember when you would
flirtatiously chase someone you liked around
the schoolyard, and the pain you felt when
they didn’t reciprocate the flirtation, and
instead screamed and told on you? It wasn’t
because they thought you were ugly. It’s
because they were eight years old. And you
were 26. But you ARE ugly. And you will die
alone.
geMINI: Yelling “Bingo!” is only appropriate
in one place and under one circumstance. You
are confusing everyone at the bank. Although
I can see how you could mistake “B44” with
the triplet boy band, I do not understand why
every time you see a picture of Fred Savage
you punch the nearest person and take your
clothes off before singing “Eye of The Tiger.”
You are an enigma.
VIRgO: The tables of road rage will turn this
week when you accidentally jerk the steering
wheel and end up in a TGIFridays full of
schizophrenics who will think you are a time
traveler who wants to steal their hair. They
will be much more hostile than you when you
deliberately rear-ended a car because it had
a bumper sticker that read “My honour roll
student entitles me to boast publicly.”
LeO: Don’t listen to that meth dealer. There
are better ways to motivate yourself to clean
your house. Put on some upbeat music
and dance while you mop, or smoke a few
crack rocks and cast away your worries of
cleanliness and replace them with manic
motor skills and crippling paranoia.
CAPRICORN: Stop wearing ironic T-shirts,
tight pants, vintage pump-up high tops and
neck bandanas. You are wearing a uniform
for pretentiousness. And quit collecting black
velvet paintings and rare vinyl records before
going to coffee shops with your fake friends to
make loud belittling comments on how they
should watch indie films that you like. No one
likes you anymore. You are an empty husk of
self-congratulation.
LIbRA: Here are some life tips, Libra: 1)
Cheese tastes great with wine, but cheese
does not taste great in wine. 2) If you run out
of clean plates, simply turn them upside down
and pretend it’s a pedestal for your meal.
There is nothing wrong with being creative.
Go ahead and eat Ravioli out of the can with
a hair comb. You can do what you want,
because you are an independent woman.
SCORPIO: Drinking “the hair of the dog that
bit you” only works for hangovers. Don’t take
this literally. It does not cure rabies if you were
actually bitten by a dog and then drink it’s fur.
However, drinking a double Jack and Coke at
11 in the morning will also not cure the fact
that you are an alcoholic.
AqUARIUS: Hey Aquarius, it’s me, Adam. Why
haven’t you replied to any of my messages on
Friendster? Have you found a new socially
unifying website? And why don’t I see you on
ICQ anymore? Get back to me and hopefully
we can hang out in a chat room or share song
files on Napster. Also, please send help. I am
somehow trapped in 2002.
CANCeR: I will tell you exactly why you have
crabs. It’s not because that’s your astrological
animal. It’s because your astrological symbol
is a sideways 69. And that sexual position is
what caused this. Any time you get pubic
lice from someone’s face, you know they are
trouble. I already talked to Sagittarius. We’ve
made an appointment at the clinic.
Adam Pateman is a comedian based in
Vancouver. For more articles, videos, art,
and upcoming show info, go to
www.adampateman.com.
HOROSCOPESTHIS MONTH: ADAM PATEMAN
48ION
DINOSAUR COMICS BY RYAN NORTH www.qwANTz.COM
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