While the beginning of December acts as a starting pistol of sorts for things like advent calendar chocolate decimation, it’s also a special time for the magazine. Contradictory to the traditional 12-months-in-a-year model, December and January are one and the same for us.
You’re currently reading what we at Discorder affectionately dub the Jancember issue. Like most months throughout the year, everyone toils away throughout November and then a nirvana befalls the month of December—aptly so, because I can’t even imagine having to organize deadlines for volunteers around the festive behemoth called Christmas.
So what makes the Jancember issue so different than our regular installments of Discorder? Total transparency here: nothing that’ll blow your mind. We have the same amount of pages, maybe a couple more ads than usual, and it’s full of awesome content. We just push the best-before date back another month and let the issue sit on the shelves for double the time.
One notable aspect of the 2013/14 Jancember issue that’s different from Jancembers past is the absence of a year-end wrap-up article highlighting the year’s best music. I actually had quite a few people ask me why the issue was going to be list-less, considering it’s been such a favourable tradition in the past. Heck, last year the “Best Music of 2013” mindset not only dominated the Staff Sound-off but also scored a feature, with the picks coming from local musicians who’d been featured throughout the year. And to be fair, the accompanying family portrait–style picture still melts my heart in a gingerbread cookies and milk kinda way.
So why didn’t I include a roundup list this year? As unsatisfying as this answer may be, I think I’m just projecting my own viewpoints here. Not surprisingly, I really fucking love music — heck, if I didn’t then I probably wouldn’t be writing the “Editor’s Note” of Discorder for y’all — but I love it so much that even the thought of picking a single favourite album from the year gets my cranium throbbing. How other people manage to dissolve an entire 365 days’ worth of great music into one solid recommendation is beyond me.
In any case, you won’t find a cheat sheet to the year’s music anywhere within these pages. However, what you will find is a ton of other stuff about said music. Filling our size-related band name quota, we have pieces on both Little India and Little Wild, as well as features on Sabota, Phantoms Again, the up-coming Big Joy festival, and more.
As for the month’s cover story, join us as we look back on 30-years’ worth of Shindig, interview current organizer Ben Lai, and catch up with former Shindig participants on some of their experiences. Try to savour all of this fantastic content because you won’t be getting any more of it until February comes along.
What do I plan to do with my time off from Discorder in December? I’m going to gorge myself shamelessly on pomegranates, go to a bunch of shows, maybe spend some time with my friends and family, and I’ll more than likely get a head start working on the February issue. The funny thing about great music in Vancouver is it never takes a holiday; and in a sense, neither does Discorder.
So it goes,
Jacey Gibb