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Jasmine Star

A KOOP DJ challenged us today to decide for ourselves whether Jasmine Star's "cult" is real, manufactured or a hoax. I say it's a hoax: the grainy b&w photos of a faceless woman in a hospital gown artily posed with a guitar and tanpura resemble nothing so much as a ripoff homage to John Lurie's Marvin Pontiac schtick. The band's one-line Narcopop blurb doesn't convince me otherwise. And since I find no other web buzz for the band at all, the imputation of a "cult" sounds like the DJ's generosity to a new Austin band.

As for what the band sounds like, I hear nice but listless vocals, whiny slide guitar meandering and a not inappropriate drone from the tanpura. Something like Morphine's later slow numbers. Well done if you like that sort of thing, but not my cup of tea.

/ Usenet thread

As the dj in question, may I suggest a fan site that may deepen the mystery: www.jasminestar.org

Charlie Martin
local music acquisitions
and
Around the Town Sounds
Thursdays 1-3pm
KO.OP 91.7 FM

Thanks for the tip. Fascinating... or not, once you realize that the
jasminestar.org site includes 29 screensful of bogus "discussion" consisting largely of pastebombed screeds about mental illness, herbal remedies, Indian drone instruments and legal mumbo-jumbo.

There's also a lot of discussion about a "hidden cache" of photos of Z, all of which look like they came from the same photo shoot as the unhidden ones: 2 4 6 9a 12a 20 29 32a. Supposedly you can see needle tracks or self-mutilation in image 6, but I sure don't.

Possibly the "truth" is posted by Aaron R. at the bottom of page 27: "hi. I'm aaron, I created jasmine star and all the music on the album. for that matter, I created the content of this message board including the various characters on it. I also created the other fansite at www.jasminestar.net . and I created the official website at www.jasminestar.com. jasmine star is the first in a series of personal explorations into the meaning of things..."

Regardless of whether "Aaron R." is the real creator of Z and Jasmine Star, it certainly seems like a publicity stunt in the vein of the Blair Witch Project -- especially in the light of the claim that Jasmine Star postcards pointing to the website were circulated at South by Southwest.

fyi, the following message from aaron r. appears on the jasminestar.org message board:

2002-04-14 11:30:20 For the record... I don't know charlie martin personally but everything I know about him suggests he's a good guy. It seems to me that he has an interest in some of the topics discussed here and has been disappointed to learn that the characters that contribute to this message board are fictional. Of course, as many of you know, its never quite that simple. If Charlie was inclined to join in this discussion by posting a message here, his contributions would appear alongside all of ours, and he would thus become one of the "fictional" characters. Then again, maybe he has contributed and we don't know it. We are, after all, exploring the nature of reality here, so one might expect a few twists to this story. But I think I understand why charlie has reacted as he has. For those that can remember, Spinal Tap actually evoked some resentment too, believe it or not. Loyalists of the 'doc' form in film believed that it took advantage of the "truth claim" of that form and broke a contract of sorts with the audience. And pop culture critics accused the movie of being cynical-- that it mocked the documentary movement, which has historically been a noble one. And I suppose, like Spinal Tap, this 'mock-message board' serves to puncture a myth-- the myth of the genuine internet community. Its a myth that needs puncturing, I figure. But unlike SpinalTap or Blair Witch, the satirical component is very small here-- there is little cynicism. And the explorative/experimental component is much greater. Some very heavy stuff has been contributed to this forum. Much of this in response to the circumstances surrounding our primary metaphor, the schizophrenic artist referred to as z.

Way-ell, personally speaking, I just like music, especially the odder or non-mainstream stuff. It's all about how sounds move my psyche...the "goosebump factor", if you will. But an "imaginary" band, with an imaginary story? That is just disappointing. Oh well. Interesting theory though. Does art imitate life, or does life imitate art, right? siezures

"But an "imaginary" band, with an imaginary story?"

Yea, no sh!t. I'm so disappointed. I'm going back to listening to "real" stuff like Britney Spears. Oh, god, now I'm having a seizure. More LSD - Stat.

I was Jasmine's boyfriend years ago. The photos tel everything

hummm
Thats interesting...I was her girlfriend. She never mentioned you.

I am sorry to inform you I am the real Jasmine Star!! She has stolen my idenity. Why do you think she never shows her face. As for the music...every song sound the same. I am still recovering from discovering that my idenity was taken by her.

sweetie i miss you...
lucy

So I am so confused, is this jasmine girl real or not. I guess if shes not then who is actually doing the singing on the album? Whoever is has a beautiful voice. And whoever wrote the lyrics has some beautiful words. Well maybe someday we will all know the truth, and i guess for right now we can believe what we want.

the music is good, whether the band is real or not doesn't really matter
its like discussing whether or not GWAR are really from another planet
just enjoy the sound

hmm... i guess who cares right. by the way... so random- hey sarah steinfink!!! I KNOW YOU LOL (not like youre ever going to see this comment as you posted a year ago at this time... ranndom!) nice music to wind down to though for sure

I can remember when the name was Shai

SXSW 2007 Reviews: Jasmine Star. This was an odd one— due to what happened during the JS SXSW 2006 showcase, the SXSW review team had essentially banned the group from SXSW participation for life. Yet this decision was apparently not unanimous among SXSW management, as a contingent lobbied in favor of JS receiving an invitation in 2007, maintaining that the events of 2006 were not wholly the fault of JS. And this contingent pointed out that the enigmatic lead singer of JS did indeed show up for the 2006 showcase and made every effort to entertain the showcase attendees, and is thus is likely to do the same if invited to showcase again. A compromise of sorts was reached, whereby JS would be invited to showcase but it would not be publicized in any way. Thus there would be little risk that the events of 2006 would be repeated, yet the austin-based enigma with their tender despondent music would become part of the SXSW experience. The show was performed as offered, with very few in attendance. They performed about 10 songs, including the 4 that many have heard on their myspace page. Their patented slide show was cast upon a large white sheet draped behind the performers. The music was raw as anything, unique and lovely, if a bit sloppy in musicianship and technical details. G.H., 2007

just wanted to see any live pictures of this SXSW where they've played....

anyone?