Insight
Busy Doing Nothing! brings together The Evaporators, a remarkable group of guests and a good deal of Vancouver music history. Nardwuar’s years at CiTR, his record collecting, interviews and involvement in the local music scene are woven throughout the record, giving many of the songs a story beyond the recording itself.
Side Nard opens up that circle of connections. The Cribs cover The Dishrags’ ‘Death In The Family’, Kate Nash performs Cub’s ‘My Chinchilla’, and Franz Ferdinand record the Pointed Sticks’ ‘Real Thing’ at JC/DC Studios in Vancouver, with Nardwuar joining them on vocals. Fuad & The Feztones cover The Evaporators’ ‘Welcome To My Castle’, while Andrew W.K., Sage Francis, Xaul Zan and Megan Barnes appear with The Evaporators. In his liner notes, Nardwuar connects these recordings through CiTR, Vancouver clubs, Studio J, JC/DC Studios, local record collecting and even the Tomahawk restaurant in North Vancouver.
Side Wuar turns largely to The Evaporators themselves, with several songs growing directly out of stories Nardwuar had encountered over the years. ‘Bring It On Home’ revives a little-known 1975 British Columbia single by Doug Rutledge with Donna Woodward that record collector Ed Lasko brought to CiTR. ‘Milkshake Murder’ was inspired by a strange Vancouver murder story from 1965, while ‘Pig War’ deals with the San Juan Islands boundary dispute of 1859. ‘All The Bad Girls’ came from an unreleased Pointed Sticks song preserved on a tape of their September 17, 1978 performance at Vancouver’s Quadra Club with the Avengers and Subhumans.
The recordings have the same informal character. Most of The Evaporators material was recorded by Sheldon Zaharko at The Factory and produced and mixed by John Collins at JC/DC Studios. ‘Milkshake Murder’ was recorded separately at JC/DC by David Carswell. The Cribs recorded ‘Death In The Family’ in Ross Jarman’s garage in Wakefield and mixed it in Gary Jarman’s basement in Portland, while Fuad & The Feztones recorded ‘Welcome To My Castle’ at The Mummy’s Tomb.
The LP itself was given just as much attention. Issued on white and pink marbled vinyl, it came with a 40-page Nardwuar versus Bev Davies punk rock calendar featuring Davies’ photographs of artists including The Cure, Iggy Pop, The Slits, The Cramps, The Minutemen, Joan Jett, James Brown, Girlschool, The Dishrags, Pointed Sticks, New Order, U2 and Social Distortion. Her photographs and conversations with Nardwuar add another layer of Vancouver music history to the package. William R. Jans supplied the LP cover photograph, Robynn Iwata handled the lettering and band names, and Randy Iwata created the layout.
‘Busy Doing Nothing’ was also given its own video, directed by Joey McGarry, with photographs by William R. Jans and thanks to Zulu Records and the Khatsahlano Arts and Music Festival.
There is a lot packed into Busy Doing Nothing!, but it never loses the easygoing humour of The Evaporators. Old Vancouver punk songs sit comfortably beside new material, unusual pieces of local history and appearances by friends from well beyond the city. The music, photographs and liner notes all reflect the same curiosity about records, people and stories that has always surrounded Nardwuar and The Evaporators. It makes Busy Doing Nothing! an unusually personal record and a fine document of the Vancouver music community that grew around them.
-Robert Williston
Gallery
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Evaporators - Busy Doing Nothing - BEV DAVIES BOOKLET FRONT
Evaporators - Busy Doing Nothing - BEV DAVIES BOOKLET BACK
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Media
Videos
1 video
Credits
Musicians
The Evaporators:
John Collins: guitar
Stephen Hamm: bass, organ, vocals
Shawn Mrazek: drums, percussion
Nardwuar: vocals
Additional Musicians
Andrew W.K.: organ and vocals on ‘I Hate Being Late When I’m Early’; piano on ‘Bring It On Home’
Sage Francis: rapping on ‘Hot Dog High’
Xaul Zan: rapping on ‘Hot Dog High’
Megan Barnes: vocals on ‘Hot Dog High’, ‘Pig War’ and ‘All The Bad Girls’
Kurt Dahle: vocals on ‘Busy Doing Nothing’, ‘Milkshake Murder’ and ‘Bunk’
Jill Barber: vocals on ‘Bring It On Home’
Corinne Mundell: saxophone on ‘Milkshake Murder’
The Cribs on ‘Death In The Family’:
Gary Jarman: bass, vocals
Ryan Jarman: guitar, vocals
Ross Jarman: drums
Kate Nash on ‘My Chinchilla’:
Carmen Vandenberg: guitar
Fern Ford: drums
Emma Hughes: bass
Kate Nash: vocals
Franz Ferdinand: instruments on ‘Real Thing’
Nardwuar The Human Serviette: guest vocals on ‘Real Thing’
Fuad & The Feztones on ‘Welcome To My Castle’:
Fuad Ramses: guitar, vocals
Rich N. Ready: bass
Tipper Hazard: saxophone
Lew Dacts: drums
Qatar Slim: organ
Songwriting
‘I Hate Being Late When I’m Early’
Written by The Evaporators and Andrew W.K.
‘Death In The Family’
Written by The Dishrags
‘My Chinchilla’
Written by Cub
‘Real Thing’
Written by Pointed Sticks
‘Welcome To My Castle’
Written by The Evaporators
‘Hot Dog High’
Written by The Evaporators, Sage Francis and Xaul Zan
SOCAN / Sage Francis Publishing, ASCAP
‘Busy Doing Nothing’
Written by The Evaporators
‘Bring It On Home’
Written by Doug Rutledge
Published by Nu-Gen, BMI
‘Milkshake Murder’
Written by The Evaporators
‘Bunk’
Written by The Evaporators
‘Pig War’
Written by The Evaporators
‘All The Bad Girls’
Written by Pointed Sticks
All Evaporators songs SOCAN except where otherwise noted.
Production
The Evaporators recordings produced and mixed by John Collins at JC/DC Studios, Vancouver, British Columbia
The Evaporators tracks recorded by Sheldon Zaharko at The Factory, Vancouver, British Columbia, except ‘Milkshake Murder’
‘Milkshake Murder’ recorded by David Carswell at JC/DC Studios, Vancouver, British Columbia
‘Death In The Family’ recorded by The Cribs in Ross Jarman’s garage, Wakefield, England
Mixed in Gary Jarman’s basement, Portland, Oregon
Final analogue tweaks at Springtime Studios, London, England
“Thanks to Malkmus for the cassette deck.”
‘My Chinchilla’ produced by Bernard Butler
‘Real Thing’ recorded by David Carswell at JC/DC Studios, Vancouver, British Columbia
Mixed by John Collins at JC/DC Studios
‘Welcome To My Castle’ recorded and produced by Paul Scriver at The Mummy’s Tomb
Mastered by John Golden
Artwork
LP cover photograph by William R. Jans
LP centre artwork by Mitch Clem
Calendar and LP lettering, fonts and band names by Robynn Iwata
Layout by Randy Iwata at Mint-o-Shank
Calendar photographs by Bev Davies
Copyright
℗ & © Mint Records Inc., 2012
Licensed from Nardwuar The Human Serviette Inc.
Physical Release
Mint Records
Catalogue number: MRL-140
Vinyl LP, compilation
White / pink marbled vinyl
Canada
2012
33⅓ rpm
Free digital download included
40-page Busy Doing Nothing! A Nardwuar vs. Bev Davies Calendar included, covering 2012 through 2014
Barcode: 7 73871 01401 7
Contact
The Evaporators
P.O. Box 27021
1395 Marine Drive
West Vancouver, British Columbia
V7T 2X8
Canada
Liner Notes
Busy Doing Nothing! brought together new Evaporators recordings with contributions and cover versions by artists connected through Nardwuar’s radio work, record collecting and longstanding interest in Vancouver music history.
The Cribs perform ‘Death In The Family’, originally released by Vancouver punk band The Dishrags in 1980. Nardwuar recalled discovering The Cribs through Tyler Fedchuk’s Radio Zero program on CiTR, immediately before his own radio show.
Kate Nash performs Cub’s ‘My Chinchilla’. The connection reaches back to a New Year’s Eve 1993 Cub performance at Studio J in Vancouver, where Pointed Sticks drummer Dimwit sat in with the band.
Franz Ferdinand perform the Pointed Sticks song ‘Real Thing’, recorded at JC/DC Studios by David Carswell and mixed by John Collins. Nardwuar contributes guest vocals. The recording links several generations of Vancouver music through the Pointed Sticks, Cub, JC/DC Studios and the artists appearing on the compilation.
Fuad & The Feztones contribute a version of The Evaporators’ 1992 song ‘Welcome To My Castle’. Their recording even includes a reference to Vancouver’s Tomahawk restaurant, another recurring thread through Nardwuar’s liner notes.
‘Bring It On Home’ is a cover of a 1975 British Columbia single by Doug Rutledge with Donna Woodward. Nardwuar first encountered the record when collector Ed Lasko brought a copy to CiTR. Lasko had acquired it almost accidentally in a mail-order collection of approximately sixty 45s and later described it as one of the unexpected discoveries in the lot.
‘Milkshake Murder’ grew from a piece of Vancouver history related to Nardwuar by author Aaron Chapman. The song concerns a 1965 murder involving a man who poisoned his wife with arsenic-laced vanilla milkshakes while taking part in a publicity stunt connected with Vancouver’s BowMac automobile dealership.
‘Pig War’ takes its subject from the 1859 San Juan Islands boundary dispute between Britain and the United States, an incident triggered by the shooting of a pig and eventually settled through international arbitration in 1872.
‘All The Bad Girls’ came from another piece of Vancouver punk history. On September 17, 1978, the Avengers, Subhumans and Pointed Sticks appeared at Vancouver’s Quadra Club. Grant McDonagh, then involved with the Vancouver fanzine Snotrag and later with Zulu Records, recorded the concert. Decades later, that tape gave The Evaporators the opportunity to record the previously unreleased Pointed Sticks song.
The album closes with ‘Nardwuar Vs. Franz Ferdinand’, an interview between Nardwuar and Franz Ferdinand.
Calendar
The LP was accompanied by a 40-page Nardwuar versus Bev Davies punk rock calendar featuring photographs from Davies’ extensive archive. Artists represented include:
The Cure
Iggy Pop
The Slits
The Cramps
Public Image Ltd.
The Minutemen
The Gun Club
Joan Jett
James Brown
Girlschool
Pointed Sticks
The Dishrags
New Order
U2
Social Distortion
The calendar also includes conversations between Nardwuar and Bev Davies about her photographs and memories of Vancouver concerts, including the Pointed Sticks at Rohan’s on June 7, 1979, The Dishrags at Gombadas on April 26, 1979, Joan Jett at the Commodore Ballroom on February 28, 1981, and New Order at the Commodore Ballroom on June 27, 1983.
Track Listing
Side Nard
- The Evaporators & Andrew W.K. – ‘I Hate Being Late When I’m Early’ – 2:08
- The Cribs – ‘Death In The Family’ – 2:46
- Kate Nash – ‘My Chinchilla’ – 2:28
- Franz Ferdinand – ‘Real Thing’ – 2:24
- Fuad & The Feztones – ‘Welcome To My Castle’ – 2:39
- The Evaporators featuring Sage Francis, Xaul Zan & Megan Barnes – ‘Hot Dog High’ – 2:00
Side Wuar
- The Evaporators – ‘Busy Doing Nothing’ – 1:45
- The Evaporators featuring Jill Barber & Andrew W.K. – ‘Bring It On Home’ – 3:18
- The Evaporators – ‘Milkshake Murder’ – 1:42
- The Evaporators – ‘Bunk’ – 1:38
- The Evaporators – ‘Pig War’ – 1:01
- The Evaporators – ‘All The Bad Girls’ – 1:37
- Nardwuar Vs. Franz Ferdinand – 3:44
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