NBC Channel 17 Chapel Hill, NC June 8, 1996
For the evening news, NBC did a 2 minute piece on the ECD titled "CD's of the Future." They did an interview with me and showed excerpts from the interactive presentation. They referred to the "Hot" album as "a multimedia extravaganza."
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Orange County Register, Computer News, July 10, 1996
http://www.newstimes.com/archive/jul1096/cpd.htm
"Squirrel Nut Zippers' `Hot' is one of the best uses of multimedia
on a CD"
By Mark Brown
CD-ROMs and enhanced CDs have been primarily the province of established
stars, whether it's Bob Dylan or Sting giving a look at their histories,
Prince putting together an interactive game or Peter Gabriel using technology
to show you where and how he records his albums.
Few new bands have had the money or vision to use the new media as a way
to show you who they are. There's often little history there to show, and
what might be there isn't that interesting. So it takes a lot of talent
to put together something on virtual unknowns that'll hold up. Yet that's
what the Squirrel Nut Zippers have done. Don't know the name? Then it's
all the more reason for the band to try to get some idea out of what they
do.
``The Squirrel Nut Zippers Traveling Jazz Orchestra, taking the old-time
music to the people!'' is the first sound you hear out of their new enhanced
CD ``Hot'' (Mammoth, $15.98), which in a nutshell gives you an idea - albeit
misleading in some ways - of what the band does. ``Jazz'' is too confining
and prejudicial a word.
Think instead of something along the lines of the Brian Setzer Orchestra
or the Royal Crown Revue if they were fronted by a torch-singing woman.
The Zippers are more into jump blues, often played on acoustic guitar and
bass with plenty of rambling drums to back it up.
Their latest release, ``Hot,'' gives you the entire album, playable on any
CD player. But it also gives you a history of the band, including a look
and sound clips from its first (ignored) release, ``Inevitable.'' Not just
sound clips but short video clips of the band performing some of those early
songs live in a radio studio. Other early clips are accompanied by graphics,
lyrics and credits.
In fact, ``Hot'' is one of the best uses of multimedia to give a well-rounded
view of a band. The full album is there; nothing is taken away from the
music, yet the extra disc space is wisely used to give a more complete history
and biography of the band than any of the big-budget Sting or Prince CDs
have been able to do. Considering that Sting can't explain himself that
well in two CD-ROMs, it's testimony to the six-member Zippers that they
were able to do it well in one.
What's interesting from an industry point of view is that it looks like
the Zippers pretty much put this together on a shoestring budget. The photos
in the photo gallery and CD packaging were primarily taken at Kingsway Studios
in New Orleans, where the band was holed up late last year to record the
album. They wisely used that New Orleans backdrop to get some great band
art. Regular Zippers gigs were filmed to go on the disc, an NPR radio interview
was folded into the mix, and the interview footage was also filmed at the
gigs. Using a lot of smarts and relatively little money, the band was able
to put together an exhaustive, comprehensive look at itself.
You've got live clips of the North Carolina band performing nearly every
song on the album. Inside a framed photograph you can click on any member
of the band and pull up descriptions and up-close photos. There are plenty
of moody, nonband photos just thrown in for the atmosphere. Illustrations
from the band's first album as well as artwork from the second.
What's even more refreshing is what isn't here. No goofy games. No stupid
quizzes. No cutesy junk. Just a whole lotta music, a whole lotta history
and a whole lotta information packed into one spot. And, of course, you
have the entire album. If there's a future for multimedia and rock 'n' roll,
it's discs like this that will lead the way.
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Creative Loafing, Atlanta - August 31, 1996 - Volume 25, Number 15, p.
55
"Walker's efforts resulted in Hot becoming one of the first interactive
CD-ROMs released on an independent label (Mammoth Records), and one of the
more acclaimed music-based CD-ROMs yet released in that small but growing
field."
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Stereo Review, September 1996, page 114
"The enhanced CD can be ideal for getting to know a developing band.
Case in point: "Hot," which augments the Squirrel Nut Zippers'
mod swing-jazz with a generous, attractive multimendia program of photos,
video segments, song clips, lyrics, and National Public Radio interviews.
Special guest images: Conan O'Brien and O.J. Simpson. Nice job."
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Launch CD-ROM Magazine - Issue #8
"Through live performance clips on stage and in the studio, plus audio
clips culled from NPR interviews, the user gains rare insight into the minds
of these kooky artists who seem trapped (willingly) in the '20s and '30s.
This disc is fun and funny, rife with voodoo imagery and religious symbolism
that is both spooky and intriguing... The songs are treated with individual
care, varying the multimedia options to keep the rhythm fresh and interesting."
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Holiday, November 1996, "Ace Music," Lexington, KY p. 21
One aspect of Hot that stands out as particularly modern, is the fact that
in addition to being an audio CD, the disc is also an interactive CD-ROM.
Programmer Clay Walker approached the band with the idea of a CD-ROM and
proceeded to put together one of this year's most appealing computer-music
packages.
Clay really took the initiative on that, he siad 'I like your music and
I want to do this' [and] took the ball and ran with it," explains drummer
Chris Phillips.
"I think it's cool, because the music kind of takes inspiration from
older styles, and the CD-ROM is a really modern format, it's a great juxtaposition,
" adds Maxwell.
The package offers the listener/viewer a chance to hear the Zippers' NPR
interview, watch a slide show of black and white stills from the band, or
access one of the countless film clips of the band playing live, in the
studio, or talking about the various songs or influences.
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Utter Kiosk, p. 20
"...all of this strange technological anachronism for a band that's
more at home with Victrola than Sony.
'I didn't know what a CD-ROM was when we started this,' says Mathus, with
a hint of skepticism. 'The guy that did it all is Clay Walker. He came to
us after a show and said he was interested in doing this. I don't think
anyone was particularly excited about it, but Clay was persistent. When
we finally saw it , it just blew our minds: He totally understood our aesthetic.'
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CD-ROM Fan Magazine, December 1996, p. 97, Japan.
Being that I don't speak Japanese, I don't have the slightest idea what
this review says.
However, if you want see this article please click
here. It is very interesting.
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