Errors-To: owner-ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu Reply-To: ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu Sender: ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu From: ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu To: ecto-request@ns1.rutgers.edu Bcc: ecto-digest-outbound@ns1.rutgers.edu Subject: ecto #378 ecto, Number 378 Friday, 4 December 1992 Today's Topics: *-----------------* Ingrid Karklins / new Altan / Bel Canto / Mae Moore Exposure in the NorthWest Concrete Blonde questions HGP-got packages from... Top 10 of 1992 STNG fans glasses welcome nancy! HaPpY Birthday Happy in CDI/Boston female vocals Permit me, please, to introduce myself A Happy Welcome ======================================================================== Date: Wed, 2 Dec 1992 07:47:00 -0800 (PST) From: Neile Graham Subject: Ingrid Karklins / new Altan / Bel Canto / Mae Moore Hello everyone. Just a couple of quick responses. I read a review of Ingrid Karklins _A Darker Passion_ in _Options_ magazine and they made it sound interesting enough that a friend bought it unheard. He brought it over last night for us to have a quick listen. First response: I'm ordering it today. It is dark, noisy, all over the place and wonderful. There's some Laurie Anderson type moves, but it's mostly individual and a lot more dramatic than Laurie Anderson would ever be. I believe Ingrid Karklins is Latvian and there's a lot of eastern European influence to the music. In my book it's a must have, but as I said I only had a quick listen. I have the new Altan and it's very much like the previous ones. I really like their music, particularly the songs. It doesn't stand out as being particularly better than their previous collections, but if you like them you can count on liking this one. The songs especially are magic. As for Bel Canto, count me as one of the people who like _Birds of Passage_ best of all their work I've heard. It seems to me to be the most consistently good collection. I also like _White Out Conditions_ a lot, but it seems a little more uneven than BoP. Compared to them, _Shimmering Warm and Bright_, except for the title song, seems far blander, less passionate, less alive. It's not bad by any stretch of the imagination, it's just that when I reach for a Bel Canto cd I usually pass it over in favour of the other two. It seems the most Cocteau Twin-like of their collections--and I don't like the Twins very much. To me there seemed to be no individual edge to their music and that's the way I feel about SW&B. For those folk in a mellow mood, I'd highly recommend Mae Moore's _Bohemia_, which we picked up last weekend in Victoria (Canada). She has a lovely voice, and the music is good, if a little quiet for our usual tastes. She escapes being a bland pop singer, though, because musically she's more interesting than most, and I think her lyrics are good, too. My closest stab at a comparison would be to early Suzanne Vega, both musically and lyrically. Her previous album (I can't remember the name right now) is good, too. The title song of _Bohemia_ is haunting. Oh, and at the A&B Sound sales we also completed our cd collection of Patti Smith very inexpensively (particularly as the Canadian dollar is at a low right now), got 2 Kate & Anna McGarrigle cds (_Love Over & Over_ and the French Record), and finally picked up the copy of the Sarah McLachlan live limited edition that I'd had my father pick up a few weeks ago for us--it's not as good as hearing her live at all. Sigh. No more Martha & The Muffins. No used Dalbello around either. :( Oops, 8:04, time to get to work. --Neile neile@u.washington.edu ======================================================================== Date: Wed, 2 Dec 92 14:46:25 -0800 From: Michael G Peskura Subject: Exposure in the NorthWest Martin asks, and Vickie replies ... >> BTW, Northern Exposure is just starting here next week... do ectophiles >> recommend I watch it? I'm probably the most avid Twin Peaks fan in the >> southern hemisphere, and I've heard NE is similar in some ways. > Well, Martin, I'd vote yes. We think it's a wonderful show, even though > we keep forgetting to watch it. Get TP out of your mind though (hey, great > to hear that you're a fan, I had no idea!) because NEXP is *nothing* > like it. The only similarities are that both shows are offbeat and > quirky. Twin Peaks is to Diamanda Galas as NEXP is to Jane Siberry. > Get it? NEXP is sweet and funny and offbeat and full of wonderful > little slice of life glimpses that are by turns silly, metaphysical, > wise, weird, warm, human and interesting. The characters are worth > getting to know, the scenery is breathtaking, the music is great I suppose it is my patriotic duty to have watched both these series, as they were both produced in our 'neck of the woods' as it were. I never did get the TP bug, probably because i wasn't feeling like involving myself in a weekly series at the time. But NEXP is another story. Aside from my news fix, this is the only thing i try not to miss every week. This is the most enjoyable series i've seen in a long time, and i think you'll like it, Martin. It is refreshing to watch programming that assumes that you still have a brain there in front of the tube. The rural Washington town of Roslyn is used for the setting of Cicely, Alaska. Watch the show and you'll get some idea of what the country looks like in the Seattle corner of the US. (Tho' the skies are usually more Melbourne-grey :) Vickie, i happened to spy a new CD at Tower which seems to be music from NEXP, with a souvenir t-shirt wrapped around it... And, speaking of Roslyn -- > Just now, in the Pro-Am Figure Skating Challenge, we watched as > Rosalynn Sumners skated her program to Kate's "This Woman's Work." > Good for her!!! (Big day for TWW) Rosalynn always did have taste > in music that was generally more interesting than most skaters. > Last year she skated to Julia Fordham's "Happy Ever After." > Rosalynn, for those who don't closely follow skating, won the > Silver medal at the 1988 Olympics in Sarajevo (sob) coming in > second to Katarina Witt. Ms. Sumners is our own local hero from Edmonds, Washington! (Sez he, with hypocritical pride, from someone who hates being cold & wet :) ... The Great Sandy Desert sounds mighty appealing as winter returns to the NorthWest. - Mr. Geography Mp "where the heck is Broome?" ======================================================================== Subject: Concrete Blonde questions Date: Wed, 02 Dec 92 20:51:29 -0800 From: johnz@eaglet.rain.com jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu writes: > >On a completely unrelated note, I finally got a copy of the first _Concrete >Blonde_ album and I absolutely love it. Couple of questions for anyone >out there with answers: 1) "I'll Chew You Up and Spit You Out" is wonderful. >But what the hell is the _other_ version of the song which appears as >what would be the 4th track of the CD, between "Dancing On the Edge" (or >whatever it's called" and "Song For Kim"? When I copied the titles down >off my friend's CD, there was nothing else listed. I actually prefer the >lyrics to the first version (particularly the verse about the Queen of LA), >though I like the closing monologue of "Chew You Up". It's really a great >album, with lots of crunchy, tasty songs. Very much in line with _Free_, >and it's easy to see the roots of "The Sky Is A Poisonous Garden Tonight", >which is the harshest song they've recorded since some of the louder >tunes on _Free_ (such as "God Is A Bullet" (a superb song!). Anyway, >my next question: The liner notes thank Michael Stipe for "concrete >blonde." Did he coin the term? Is it from an old R.E.M. song? > 1. Track 4 (the _other_ version :) is titled "Still In Hollywood"; it was the first thing I ever heard or saw (video) from them. I agree with you about "God Is A Bullet" too. 2. Michael Stipe is credited with giving the band their name -- where he got it I don't know. John Zimmer johnz@eaglet.rain.com ======================================================================== Date: Thu, 3 Dec 92 1:52:29 EST From: WretchAwry Subject: HGP-got packages from... Martin Jens woj TimB Dirk Skaludy K&C I'll check the PO box again in a few days. Vickie ======================================================================== Subject: Top 10 of 1992 Date: Thu, 03 Dec 92 16:04:11 EST From: Angelos Kyrlidis Hi, Well, since there isn't *that* much happening around ecto anyway, I thought I'd post my as-of-this-moment list of the top 10 records of 1992. In no particular order: Peter Gabriel-US (obvious choice. No matter what the critics said, this is the PG album with the most punch, and is a great step towards truly world music. I think I like it better as a whole than any other PG album so far) Diamanda Galas-The Singer (And I tried to sell this in April... :) After seeing her live performance I realized how tame and restrained she is here, but still the songs have a tremendous impact. This is the album Sinead O'Connor should hear before she does any more covers. You want to do covers, MAKE THEM YOURS. This doesn't mean that I don't like AINYG) Sarah McLachlan-Solace (technically released in 1991, but hey it got out in the US in 92 so it counts. Sarah's songs have a great soothing feeling to them) REM-Automatic for the people (You might think that bands in the '60s did that stuff before, but the chemistry in REM is different. They take songs that are simple and add magic to them) Prince and the NPG- O+> (There are still some brilliant moments left for Prince to expose, and O+> has a few. From funk to gospel this is an overall very good album, if you can skip past the annoying tracks) Arson Garden-Wisteria (Sonic beauty in its best. Haunting rhythms, and April's vocals combined with somewhat esoteric lyrics make for a great album. I can't believe MTV hasn't discovered them yet. They have all it takes to be the next Nirvana) Haris Alexiou-Di'Efhon (Haris makes a U-turn in her career, and explores more modern orchestrations and a brand new set of songs from a new composer. She has the ability to turn trash into diamonds with her voice, but in this case she started with gems) Annie Lennox-Diva (Annie breaks free. Forget about the eurythmics, and think about her as a solo performer. She has made the best pop album of the year) Nine Inch Nails-Broken (noise and anger go hand in hand for trent. The noisier the angrier, and this is as noisy as he's gotten. The hidden melodies are the brilliant parts in all the NIN songs, and this is no exception) Suzanne Vega-99.9 Fo (a gutsy move that alienated her folkie following but for me is great! Her melodies and intriguing mystical lyrics combined with a rough edge-which could be rougher-make for a great combination) Angelos +=====================================+ |'My ears have parasites'-hApPy RhOdEs| +=====================================+ ======================================================================== Date: Thu, 3 Dec 92 19:42:27 -0500 From: barry@gnu.ai.mit.edu (Barry Wong) Subject: STNG fans Just thought that all you Star Trek The Next Generation fans, Patrick Stewart is going to be on David Letterman tonight. Barry ======================================================================== From: depeche@cs.mcgill.ca (S. A. Ezust) Date: Fri, 4 Dec 92 02:29:16 EST Subject: glasses Glasses, by SAE 4 November 1992 you gave me a new pair of glasses clear as snow on a sunny day each flake dropping to the ground so distinctly you can hear the sound My world is in focus, crystal clear but now I see things as they are, so different from how they once appeared I find it hard to like you now never ask me to go back to wearing the glasses I had before they're old, foggy and smudged, I'm blind I'll wear them not, forever more Granted, I used them for quite a while I saw all I wanted to see in the world but ignorance as we know is bliss and this kind of sacrifice is pure denial you say that I can no longer see the things that aren't, but might be perhaps old glasses were better for that but I feel those views are worthless to me and what do you care, anyway so far from me, we're strangers now you gave me the glasses, went your way to cope with that, alone I learnt how -- | Alan Ezust depeche@cs.mcgill.ca McGill University Computer Science | |------------------------Montreal, Quebec, Canada (?)------------------------| | I'm not much of a night person. I'm *definitely* not a morning person. | | I'm not really an afternoon person either. Does this mean I'm a nobody? | ======================================================================== From: depeche@cs.mcgill.ca (S. A. Ezust) Date: Fri, 4 Dec 92 02:35:41 EST Subject: welcome nancy! welcome to Ecto, Nancy!! It's about time you finally made a post... And about Bel Canto - I never pick favorites!! If I had to live without one of the three CDs they put out, I'd be not as happy as I am now. But if you have only heard Shimmering and want to know which one to buy next, go backwards chronologically, and get Birds of Passage next. The difference between Shimmering and BOP is about as dramatic as the difference between BOP and WOC, imho... So this way you get the adjustments in small doses :-). -- | Alan Ezust depeche@cs.mcgill.ca McGill University Computer Science | |------------------------Montreal, Quebec, Canada (?)------------------------| | I'm not much of a night person. I'm *definitely* not a morning person. | | I'm not really an afternoon person either. Does this mean I'm a nobody? | ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 04 Dec 92 08:29:46 +0000 From: Terry Partis Subject: HaPpY Birthday Here's wishing a Happy brithday to Chip Lueck on December 5th. Have a great day Chip. Peace Terry =============================================================================== _ __ Jolly Hockeysticks _ __ / `-' ( ,,, / `-' ( ,,, | I I ||||||[:::] | I I ||||||[:::] \_.-._( ''' Terry (Tel Boy) Partis \_.-._( ''' _ __ (tgp@ukc.ac.uk) _ __ / `-' ( ,,, With a smile and a song / `-' ( ,,, | I I ||||||[:::] I'm HaPpY | I I ||||||[:::] \_.-._( ''' \_.-._( ''' YYUR - YYUB - ICURYY4ME ================================================================================ ======================================================================== Subject: Happy in CDI/Boston female vocals Date: Fri, 04 Dec 92 09:30:16 EST From: Angelos Kyrlidis Hi, Browsing through the new CD International catalogue, I was pleased to see _Warpaint_ listed along with Happy and AG. No mention of the 1st4 though... :( And a general question. I was listening to the radio the oter night, and I heard this amazing song called _The real kiss_ by Laurie Geltman, who apparently is a local (Boston) singer. Does anybody know if she has any tapes/CD out? Maybe I should call WFNX and ask... Also recommended in terms of local talent is the CD _Rock for Wood_, whose profits will go towards saving Walden Woods. Featured are among others, Vision Thing (the band of PULSE! and Pheonix editor Ted Drozdowski, which has a female lead singer and isn't as bad as I expected a music reviewer's band to be) and Braindance (which no longer exist). Angelos +=====================================+ |'My ears have parasites'-hApPy RhOdEs| +=====================================+ ======================================================================== From: Alan E. Moorse Date: Fri, 4 Dec 92 11:16:36 -0500 Subject: Permit me, please, to introduce myself And if you say "no," I'll probably just do it anyway. I've just joined Ecto, having read about it in rec.music.gaffa and in a pair of messages from very nice people. Already, I like what I'm reading, especially news of and comments about new music and performers that I haven't heard yet. That's how I got here, sort of, I first heard of HR when I tuned into an interview with her on RPI's radio station (91.5 FM, Troy) just as the interviewer asked her how great an influence Kate Bush had had on her musical development. Having been a KTB fan of sorts since about 1980, I was hooked pretty quickly. I thought, though, that she was a local artist who just happened to have a CD out (and yes, I thought singular CD). Then when I got net access, found rec...gaffa, and read a comment about her there, I thought she might be internationally known, but with some local ties (and I had just been living in a cave here in Troy for the last four years, ignorant of her music). The messages that told me about Ecto also told me that HR has a lot more music out there for me that I just have to find and that when she does perform, she often does it in the Albany area. So now I'm watching local listings for a performance, listening to Warpaint repeatedly while plastering ceilings at home, and waiting for a fiscal crisis to pass so I can throw money atthe proprietor of my neighborhood record store. A bit of personal background: I burned out on what is typically called "Classic Rock" during the early '80s and began searching for new music -- more accurately just different music from what I was hearing on the radio. I began with what my friends and I had wandered into in '77-80: Shawn Phillips, Martha & the Muffins, Crack the Sky, John Prine, Tangerine Dream, the Tourists. From there, and with my wife's influend that's "influence" -- I've wandered further. Lately, I listen to a lot of folk and work by women artists (there are good radio shows of both hereabouts). And I keep a little pile of notes of music to try/buy next, waiting for the next available cash. My wife, Lori Doyle, and I are currently learning to play the mountain (Appalachian) dulcimer, having been inspired by David Massengill. We'rea We're also (sorry, I'm still new at this) rebuilding a house from the 1880s in Troy's industrial South End -- hence the plastering comment above. alanm ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 4 Dec 92 11:01:49 -0800 From: Michael G Peskura Subject: A Happy Welcome Greetings Welcome Alan E. Moorse (and Lori Doyle) to this fine, blue list! IHMO, ecto is supported by some of the finest cyber-people ever :) and you are a welcome addition. Subjective Observation Two songs have been running thru my head this week: 'Unicorn' by Bel Canto and (most unexpectedly, but quite pleasantly) 'Hot Blood' by Lucinda Williams. This seems to have been the year of _blood_ songs. Aside I see from the latest FAQ that the ecto-Ma PO Box is now fully operational. Hmm, let's see what i can send Ms Vickie ... Salutation Salute to you all on this chilly, December morning. Mp (the north-centric one, near latitude 47 N) ======================================================================== The ecto archives are on hardees.rutgers.edu in ~ftp/pub/hr. There is an INDEX file explaining what is where. Feel free to send me things you'd like to have added. -- jessica (jessica@ns1.rutgers.edu)