Xiu Xiu: The Polaroid Project: The Book
David Horvitz
- Page Count: 128
- Size: 6.75 x 7.75 inches
- Format: Casebound w/ Audio CD
- Publication Date: November 2007
- Price: $24.95
- ISBN: 978-0-9790486-5-4
David Horvitz, road manager for indie rock band Xiu Xiu, devised the idea to document the band’s tours by encouraging fans to bring Polaroid film to shows. Photographs of life on the road – from towering truck-stop beacons reaching out into huge blue sky to motel-room antics – were shot and returned to the fans, but not before Horvitz scanned them and compiled a visual diary that captures the non-musical, bare-naked zen of touring life. These images do more than share with fans the moments in between shows; they mirror the landscapes through which we all may travel, signposted with poignant boredom and sublime absurdity, of which we should all be aware.
Jamie Stewart, Caralee McElroy and Ches Smith, Xiu’s Xiu’s three touring members during the Polaroid Project, have all shared their thoughts about Horvitz and how his camera’s presence influenced their behavior. Also adding written contributions to the book are Xiu Xiu’s musical and traveling cohorts, including Greg Saunier of Deerhoof and Owen Ashworth, otherwise known as Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. Coupled with words from Horvitz, the project takes on a breadth that is at once a microcosm of the band, its fans and the world we all cohabitate.
Xiu Xiu: The Polaroid Project: The Book also includes a soundtrack recorded and re-mixed exclusively for the book by the likes of This Song Is a Mess But So Am I, Grouper and The Yellow Swans. The soundtrack also features field recordings made by Horvitz as the Xiu Xiu crew crisscrossed the United States, their call and response antics seen and heard here now.
