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Spinning out of control
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by JACK OATMON Korean folklore would have it that a fan, left running overnight, will suck all of the air out of the room it’s in and potentially kill any occupants. Despite the presumable ease with which one might debunk such a theory, Korean media outlets and medical professionals continue to tout the tale as fact, leaving Korean-manufactured fans with safety timers and official Korean Consumer Protection Board advisories. Former Montrealer Dandilion Wind Opaine, who frequently blew audiences away with her elegant, audaciously adorned and explosive electronic performances as Dandi Wind, admits that through her previous project, she never quite gained the inexplicable media circulation of the Korean fan death. That is, until her new act, Fan Death, evoked its name. “Like, I can’t figure it out,” shrieks the bubbly Wind over the phone from Vancouver. “Entertainment Tonight wanted to feature a photo shoot of us. I’m completely flabbergasted. I don’t know how they heard about us.” That’s certainly not to say that she questions the quality of her self-proclaimed more feminine, less aggressive new dance music project. But without a record label, and only having released one limited-edition single in the U.K., the mainstream attention seems somewhat less than warranted. “You can see the stress of it,” she says, oscillating instantaneously from mocking mirth to seriousness. “Spin is going to do something on us and NME did a big feature on us, but we still have no label. But we’ll get one soon and put our EP out.” Fan Death’s tracks evoke classic disco with epic string lines played by bandmate Marta Jaciubek-McKeever, as well as a nostalgic ’80s new wave flavour from longtime collaborator Szam’s synth twiddling. “It’s funny because Playboy asked us for photos,” continues Wind, in genuine surprise. “‘Bands to look out for in 2009.’ It’ll come out in February. They have a music section, I guess. So many men’s magazines have asked us! It’s really bizarre. I’m a skinny little indie girl in these huge, busty, softcore flash fashion magazines. There’s Arena, which is a bit more classy, and another one I can’t remember. Also, all these like middle-aged ladies’ fashion magazines as well. We’ll have Flair or In Style and stuff like that. The stuff you can get on the shelf at Safeway.” The Playboy interest might not surprise you as much as it does Dandi when you check out the retro, tropical, ’60s-style video for their first single, “Veronica’s Veil,” a dramatic, tacky disco gem set to images of the two lovely ladies tug-of-warring over a piece of fabric on the beach in Mexico. Sounds like men’s magazine material to this writer. “It’s a station of the cross,” she explains of the inspiration for the song. “It’s when Jesus is carrying the cross. He stumbles and he’s all sweaty. Veronica steps out, takes the veil and wipes his face, and his face has gone into the cloth. And she’s shocked. And the cloth becomes holy. And then there’s the tale of the shroud of Turin. They found Veronica’s veil, but it turned out to be fake. I have the image of the shroud of Turin in my bathroom and I’ve always wanted to do a song about that.” WITH LOOSE JOINTS DJS AND WHY |
