Tag Archives: nardwuar

Records, Video Dim Sum

Rice Field Records: 3x video vinyl stories + 1 more to spark joy

Video

Background: Rolling back to March 2023 when Michael (txtr @mschool) – who i noticed online doing video tours of records shops in this minor provincial city of Okayama and then met at a used record fair in Ushimado (post coming) – came over for a visit to talk about records, records, and more more.

don’t click this, watch the vids below, but dang, what a pose :)

How it started: I met him at the parking lot near the Tsuchida cemetery and the camera was rolling from the hop. I don’t get to talk about *all of this stuff* much and he and i had so many common checkpoints (including Internet Service Providers in the modem days!) that our convo turned into a heavy jam session which was released as a 3 part’r – all shared below with his blurbs + a sorta”part 4″ i made while tidying up all the records pulled out during the frenzy.

So, hold onto your toques, sharp turns ahead! All the records, all the time, so much more to say but this will get you started. Many stories, digressions, non sequiturs, a few missteps, mistaken dates, changes in latitude, fogging out mid-sentence as I remember something else meant to tell you about another time.

nope, don’t click this either… just a little bit more then you an click and watch ≠ look at that mess of records eh

Really though, give all 3 a watch, ask me questions, tell me *I’m totally wrong*, tell me you were there, and do the whole click and subscribe for this affable gent Michael of Rice Field Records who let me ramble in my “show n tell” (PS vid from the great record fair in Ushimado where i met Michael).

Part 1: “a 150 year old Japanese barn, vintage audiophile gear, and a very eloquent and happy man”

“We meet Dave Olson, an EXPAT who is a music lover and record collector. Dave lives in Higashi (East) Okayama, in a Japanese home which has a 150 year old Kura (barn) that Dave has restored and repurposed to be his art studio and listening room. Featured is a 1980’s rare vintage Yamaha “Gigantic & Tremendous” GT-2000 turntable as part of his listening system.“

Part 2: “a fascinating entrepreneur with stories told through a vinyl journey, tales from around the world”

“A decades long vinyl collection journey that begins in Canada, Dave Olson moves to the Pacific NW. Then criss-crosses the USA. Goes to Japan, Bali, and Europe. Records recently shipped from various storage rooms abroad to this resident of Japan. A fascinating story of music with a first hand knowledge of many Seattle and Canadian, bands, promoters and independent labels beginning in the early 1990’s.”

Part 3: “a 1990’s dial-up Internet ISP, a world traveller, a fantastic record collection, a very happy man”

“Anyone who knows my work history has a big smile on their face the moment this video begins. While Dave was the engine behind OLYWA.NET, I was the the Internet Service Provider marketing manager for Ascend Communications, who was the market share leader of access technology for ISP’s. Dave and I were marketing some form of dial-up access, ISDN, frame relay, and T-1 lines at the same time. There was so much excitement in our first meeting. I don’t know if this video deserves any more introduction. You have to be smitten by this guy’s infectious enthusiasm in the first 30 seconds.”

Bonus

Tidying Up Vinyl Records in the Kura (find the right neighbourhood to *spark joy*)

All these records bring me joy so i am tidying up in the wake of a super enjoyable visit from Rice Field Records  and a used record fair in nearby Ushimado. I putter along talking about how i organize the records into “neighbourhoods” so they have pals to hang out with, pull out some box sets, try to find where i put that “one thing” and where *exactly* this one fits best while wearing an moth-eaten cardigan and noticing my beard is compensating for my thinning noggin (still cute :)). Finishes with flipping through some 7 inches while playing a live clip recorded at Ubud Jazz festival. 

So many name checks for fave artists including: Courtney Barnett, Bill Janovitz / Buffalo Tom, Buffalo Springfield, David Bowie, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Joe Jackson, Talking Heads, Lone Justice, Ramones, Pixies, Weakerthans, more more more… and extra affection for compilations and soundtracks from Nardwuar, Flipside, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Urgh a Music War, Life in European Theatre, Easy Rider, Times Square (movie) etc infinity.

More: Vinyl specific goodness from my Kura barn doing arts and craft

Choogle On

Punk Art Photog / bev. davies – Choogle On! #122

Audio 2 Comments

Punk Art Photog / bev. davies – Choogle On #122
Punk Art Photog / bev. davies – Choogle On #122

In-depth discussion with rock art photographer bev. davies including: hippie days with Neil Young and Joan Anderson (Joni Mitchell), shooting punk pioneers DOA and Subhumans, Motörhead in a park, David Bowie in a stadium, Brian Jonestown Massacre flipping off crowd and so many more.  Also stories from backstage with Iron Maiden and Twisted Sister, Nardwuar collaborations, Duran Duran posing at soundcheck, and remarks about various Vancouver venues.

Plus insights about role of photographer as artist, conundrums of accreditation and access, reasons for a long hiatus, crafting the perfect shot, shoes versus sneakers, origins of calendars and exhibits, and plans for a book. Recorded August 2010 in Strathcona, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Load your film for: Punk Art Photog / bev. davies – Choogle On #122 – (59:35, .mp3, 85MB) Continue reading Punk Art Photog / bev. davies – Choogle On! #122 →

TedX Van

Nardwuar – Courageous, DIY Interviews (Doot Doot)

Nardwuar - TEDx Vancouver 2010 - West Vancouver, BC

Dossier:

* Nardwuar in Granville’s TedXVan Preview and full interview with Nardwuar

* Nardwuar video interview on Vancouver is Awesome

* @Nardwuar on Twitter

* Mint Records

* Evaporators (site)

* Evaporators band (wikipedia)

* Nardwuar wikipedia

* Nardwuar CiTR show (profiled in Austin Chronicle) 

Intro: He’s the Human Serviette: CiTR radio guy, Evaporators front man, show promoter, Much Music correspondent, media hacker, mud racker, etc.

Topic: Dood doodle-doot-Do-it-Yourself

Anecdote: At CITR you are a writer, producer, operator – you can do whatever you want within CiTR guidelines. My vision to put on a show with Mudhoney (authour note: i was there!), and started handing out pennies, however the people threw them back, I didn’t know what to do so i asked the people to psit at me

Example: cue graphic video, not for squeamish

Anecdote: Photo opp with Snoop Dogg, (he says “Scchnoop Doggie Dogg”). N says, “The less you know the better… for interviews… I was wondering what to talk about it with SDD, … maybe he likes Redd Foxx?

Example: cue video, Snoop bidding up the Redd Foxx doll to $40

Anecdote: Nardwuar wit Kurt Cobain. How did i pull that off? I asked! Ergo (paraphrased): Showed up early at PNE, hid in bathroom, caught but left cassette tape hoping Kurt would find it. Went home empty handed. Next morning, call and learned Nirvana was at 4 Seasons. Saw Dave Grohl,.. got on guest list but couldn’t get in. Kurt and Courtney saw me, let me in. Next thing, backstage with Kurt… and it happend. There is a fine line how that works out… Each interview is different.

Example: Henry Rollins (cue video of manic barrage of questions to clearly unamused curmudgeonly Henry Rollins)

Anecdote: Nardwuar and Jay Z – “How? I Asked!”

Awesome: @Nardwuar and his vinyl #tnmh
 Nardwuar and Governator (in vinyl) by @johnbiehler

Example: cue video of NERD Pharrel sexpressing pleassure with Nardwuar’s interview.

Anecdote: Chretien and G2o rally – “Interviewers job is to make the interviewee exciting” So Nardwuar asks Chreiten about the fictional punk band “The Nomads” and their song “Suroharto Stomp” … While crowds were getting maced/pepper-sprayed outside, Nardwuar cut his hair and attended press conference and asked questions about whether the PM would consider being a protestor and participant in a punk band if he was 20+ years younger. Put JC in a squirmy situation, ergo:

Example: cue video of press conference, Nardwuar asked, “Does Mace = Freedom?” Baffled PM says, “This technique did not exist when i was young,” and (famously, “For me, the pepper goes on the plate.”

Anecdote: He bagan taking a “Hip Flip” (a participatory game in which two people work together to rotate a toy). First, N asked Paul Martin (did), then Jack Layton (he did + nice ‘stache), then Stephen Harper (he declined). Next, asked Stephane Dion (former Federal Liberal leader)…, security takes away the Hip Flip, and security says asks, “isn’t this embarrassing for you?”

Check the embarrassment and hack the town hall by asking Dion, “Why not Hip Flip?” to delight of the crowd.

Example: “When security is hauling you away, lift your legs so you are crowd surfing rather than being dragged.” Chretien did the hip flip too and called him a “dummy.”

Nardwuar!
Nardwuar and Bev. Davies by @jmv

Anecdote: Back to Snoop,… (Snoop hands blunts to cameraman), Nardwuar says, “The minute you think you know everything, is when you should stop doing it.”

Example: cue video of Snoop rolling a blunt and putting it in a microwave for :05 seconds. Snoop says N has “personality and courageousness.”

Note to self: Check the credits on Snoop Dogg’s album to see call out for Canuck Cousin, Nard “stay hard” Wuar.

Anecdote: Lady Gaga. Nardwuar says, “Who cares if you have an audience at all” … “the Internet never forgets” … “in 8 months Gaga went from Nardwuar to Larry King”

Remember: Doot-it-yourself And a stage dive … all the way up to the last row. DootDoot!

Nardwuar owns TedX. This is all.

Note to Nardwuar: Here are the artifacts from “Rock n Roll Photography” panel with Kris Krig and Bev Davies thought you’d enjoy.