Pitchfork

Is there anything more indie than the Polaroid? Okay sure, probably a lot of things [insert digression on multi-faceted definition of "indie" here], but that little square-shaped instant memorypiece with the white border has, one must admit, endeared itself to indie culture to a significant extent.

Indie Polaroids of indie artists, therefore, equals double the indie for your dollar-- and that's just what you'll get with Ashod Simonian's forthcoming tome Real Fun: Polaroids From the Independent Music Landscape. Simonian plays in Panty Lions and has lent his talents to Earlimart and Preston School of Industry, and this time spent amid the indie "landscape" has afforded him ample opportunities to catch indie America with its pants down, so to speak.

Real Fun hits bookshelves June 1 via PictureBox Inc. and includes candid Polaroid shots of such relatively well-liked bands as Pavement, the Shins, Spoon, Broken Social Scene, Sleater-Kinney, Jenny Lewis, Wilco, and Death Cab for Cheetos. Members of some of these bands and others also contribute anecdotes to supplement the sumptuous buffet of visuals.

Now you're probably thinking, "Whatever am I going to listen to whilst perusing the glossy pages of this exquisite volume?" Well Simonian's got you covered. All copies of Real Fun come bundled with an 18-track CD boiling over with all-exclusive cuts from everybody from Califone, Mt. Eerie, and Grandaddy's Jason Lytle, to Norfolk & Western with M. Ward, Slumber Party, Dios (Malos), Stereo Total, and Fuck. Preston and Panty also crop up.

Catch Simonian signing copies of his baby-- along with Preston School-boy/Pavement co-founder Spiral Stairs (aka Scott Kannberg) DJing-- at the official Real Fun book launch event, which goes down at Portland's OFFICE store on April 26. Party-goers will also have the opportunity to seek authentic merriment by purchasing prints of some of Real Fun's photos.

Real Fun bonus CD:

01 Califone - "My Sweetest Joe Brown"
02 All Smiles - "Our Final Roles as Birds"
03 Slumber Party - "Certain Alternate Versions"
04 Stereo Total - "Les Enfants Font des Enfants"
05 Pine Marten - "Pigeons"
06 Radar Bros. - "Gypsy Horse"
07 Flash Hawk Parlor Ensemble - "Put Up a Fence"
08 Jason Lytle - "Thee Everything"
09 Irving - "This Life Is a Lonely Place"
10 Katio - "Hard Times (Demo)"
11 Preston School of Industry - "Dundee Man"
12 Fuck - "San Diego Winter"
13 Panty Lions - "Go Get Em Tiger"
14 Dios (Malos) - "Me Can Explain"
15 Mt. Eerie - "Stop Singing (Black Wooden Version)"
16 Sleeping States - "You and Your Strange Ways"
17 Les Georges Leningrad - "N.O's Catacombs"
18 Norfolk & Western [ft. M. Ward] - "My Funny Valentine"