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 #385 ecto, Number 385 Tuesday, 22 December 1992 Today's Topics: *-----------------* Gack! Today's your birthday friends... HGP/GWF/SNOW/NEWS/LSD/BC/POLL Birthday Greetings Snowy weekend America on snow TOYS and yet _more_ new tori ecto appreciation Tori and Jane on TOYS soundtrack Re: Best record of all time(final) Getting there... HGP-1992 Part 1 Oh my God(dess)!!! I forgot Michael! Greetings Dolby Ann Arbor Happy holidays Ashley Maher, Joan Baez, etc. One's on the way... male and female voices ======================================================================== From: meth@aol.com Subject: Gack! Date: Thu, 17 Dec 92 20:13:50 EST Hi! Sorry, I just noticed this. All the mail I get through this @#!* system takes at least a week to get here. I have no clue how long it takes things to arrive once I send them. So if any of my posts here are severely lagged, it's the fault of the good 'ole aolsys and the psinet it oozes through. So joyous Solstice and Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah and all that- for all I know it'll be '93 before this gets to y'all! Meredith Tarr meth@aol.com (mail gateway of the snails) ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 18 Dec 92 0:15:14 EST From: WretchAwry Subject: Today's your birthday friends... It is! It is here in Chicago! HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Laura & Dirk!! Vickie ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 18 Dec 92 1:29:46 EST From: WretchAwry Subject: HGP/GWF/SNOW/NEWS/LSD/BC/POLL Kjetil! Yay! Your package made it. Jessica, I got your package. Meredith, Jessica's package had your HBP tape in it. What about the HGP? Mitch, I can't believe it, but your second package still hasn't arrived. Argh! I'll check again tomorrow after work. Steve VanD, please let me know for sure what you want to do. Angelos, are you going to call? We won't be home tomorrow night. We're going out to dinner with an old friend from Kansas City, who moved to Austin, then to Los Angeles and we haven't seen him for years. The machine should be on. (Btw, Angelos, we finally had a chance to listen to the "Games Without Frontiers" remix on the b-side of the "Steam" cassingle, and it's *GREAT*!!! It's *completely* different. The best I could do to describe it would be to say.....uh... ...something like.... the "acoustic dub" mix. At first I thought that Kate was taken out altogether, but later in the song she comes in singing her part in a very soft, ethereal way. I'm sure it's not new vocals by either Peter or Kate, but I do think they are alternative recordings. You know Peter, he'll record something fifty million ways then choose which one to use. Oh to have free run of his archives!) Thanks for the East Coaster check-in. It was nice to hear from you all. I remember the blizzard of 1978 very well myself. Was that the one on New Years Eve & Day? I remember seeing a photo from Boston. A woman was standing next to her car. Normal, except that her feet were about even with the roof! I think it was from Boston anyway. If it's the same storm, it hit Kansas City & Leavenworth (where I lived at the time) on New Year's Eve. I worked at the Hilton Airport Plaza Inn, about 30 miles away from where I lived and I was due to work that night as a banquet waitress and bartender. I lived at my parent's house. They were smart and were in Florida at the time so it was just my brother, Adrian and I at home. 5 hours before I was due at work Randy and I began trying to dig a path for my car from the garage to the highway. 3 hours later, I was finally able to turn on the highway, but I couldn't go north, which is the way i was supposed to go. This was a double highway with a median strip in the middle and there was no way to get across to the northbound side because the crossing was packed with snow too. Drat! Just then a big snowplow came along heading south and I decided to follow him until I got to a crossing that was cleared off. An hour and... ...15 miles later, I found one and was finally on my way heading back north! When I passed by my parent's house again I was *SO* sick of driving in the mess. I should have just run my car off the road and hiked back to the house, but I was determined to make it to work. HA! I never did make it. I didn't even get halfway. My car slid off the road and I ended up walking 5 miles to my then-boyfriend's house, where I stayed for the next 2 days. I called Randy to tell him where I was and found out that 5 minutes after I'd left, my supervisor from the Hilton had called and said that everything was cancelled. All that work and danger for nothing! That was one *HELL* of a snowstorm! So there's my story...pfft! Now I don't drive anymore, I'd *love* to cavort in such a snowstorm. Alas, global warming, Mt. Pinatubo and mother nature conspire to keep it from happening. Here in Chicago anyway, where, so far, the ground is bare again. woj, I know what you mean! (As bad as this last storm was, I think it's appalling that the news about it totally overshadowed the horrible news about the earthquake in Indonesia, which killed well over 1,500 people. I'm a born and raised American, but it embarrasses me how self-centered American News is.) OH! My friend Scott (who has lent me such things as Jarboe, Dark Orange and other cool things) left a message on the machine that Love Spirals Downward's new album is out. It's called _Idyll_ (that's what it sounded like he said) and he claims it to be "one of the most beautiful things he's heard in the last 30 years!!" Since the guy is in his early 20s, I think it's safe to say it's pretty beautiful. I can't wait! woj, have you heard it? Someone posted a fairly complete biography and discography of Bel Canto in rec.music.misc. If anyone one wants it and doesn't get News, let me know. I downloaded it and i can mail it to you. Hey, that Poll I posted about a while back...? It wasn't *my* Poll, I just forwarded it from rec.music.misc. I forwarded the replies I received and the final results were posted today. Since Happy got mentioned (yay) would anyone object if I posted the result here? If there aren't any major objections, I'll download it and post it in the next couple of days. Vickie ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 18 Dec 92 08:57:36 +0000 From: Terry Partis Subject: Birthday Greetings Here's wishing a HaPpY Birthday to: Uli Grepel on December 25th Karl Dotzek on December 30th Stuart Castergine on December 30th Marvin Camras on January 1st Jeanne Schreiter on January 3rd Euan Robertson on January 3rd AND A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL ECTOPHILES AND ALL AT AURAL GRATIFICATION. I'm Off on holidays on Monday so I've had to make all these good wishes a little on the early side. Hope you all have a great time over the Holiday and not too much booze!! Peace to all 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 ================================================================================ ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 18 Dec 92 09:45:00 est From: ajs@jloda.cci.com (Alan Sodoma) Subject: Snowy weekend NO MORE SNOW! Karen and I had a wonderful weekend, despite the snow. It was her birthday on Dec. 10th, so back in October, I decided to get her tix to the thing she's been hinting about for the last 6 months. The Phantom of the Opera. Since it was her b-day, I splurged and got 2nd row seats! The show was on Friday (12/11) at 8 and of course there hasdto be a big storm. People said we were crazy to go, but with all the $$ for those tickets, I said, "We're goin'!" It only took us 4 hours to get there from Rochester, but it was a 'white knuckle ride' if I've ever known one. We stopped at the hotel, walked over to the Hard Rock for a cold one, made some calls back home to ease our parents worry, and then walked over to the Pantages Theater. For those who haven't been there, this is THE nicest place I've ever been to. It's newly restored and they must have spent millions on it. Everybody was dressed up (as we were, also) and anticipation was in the air. I just wanted to know if it was going to be worth the $182 bucks I plopped down for our tickets. Well, it was! And worth even more!! Right from the start I was totally in awe. I was never one for plays, so I didn't know exactly what to expect. I was blown away. I won't spoil anything for those who haven't been yet, just that it was awesome. The show was so professional, the acting superb, the singing even better, and the sets so cool, I still can't believe it. I'd reccommend this to anybody to go see. It sounds expensive, but after it's over, you'll know why! Of course, another reason for going to Toronto last weekend was that my favorite band, Phish, was playing there on the 12th. These guys get better everytime I see them. They play 95% originals in a kind of rock/jazz/bluegrass/jammin' way. They're nothing like any of the artists talked about on this list, but they're getting bigger and bigger. They went from playing bars last year to playing 2-3,000 seat places now. On New Year's Eve, they'll be playing a 7,000 seat place. I'll be there! Happy Holidays! Al Sodoma ======================================================================== Date: 18 December 1992 16:24:11 CST From: Subject: America on snow Was the KC/New England blizzard on 12/31/78-1/1/79? The time spec in some- body's posting w2as ambiguous. There was also a substantial snow in Chicago those days, apparently to soften the masses up for The Great One a couple of weeks later, which helped to set a record for seasonal snowfall that remains unbroken to this day. Is the post office a closet subsidiary of America Online, or is it the other way around? After what they respectively did to my tapes and Meredith's email, they belong together. Off to a rump recording session, in the sweet name of being prepared for any old thing. Try to have a nice solstice anyway. Mitch ======================================================================== Subject: TOYS Date: Sat, 19 Dec 92 01:15:57 -0500 From: jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu Just got back from seeing the new Robin Williams movie, _Toys_. Unfortunately, I can't say too much good about it. The friend I saw it with and I agree that it had some really great parts and some really wretched parts, and that it could have been *lots* better. So why am I posting? The music, of course! Like everything about _Toys_, the music had good moments and bad moments. One good moment was the use of Enya's "Ebudae" (from _Shepherd Moons_). Another good "moment" (so to speak) is the fact that during the ochestrated portions of the soundtrack, one of the focal instruments is the uillean pipe. Quite beautiful, really. And the most intersting (to me...) point about the soundtrack: New music from Tori! Well, sort of. I suspect it may have just been new vocals, because the song didn't sound like _anything_ I've heard from her. In fact, I didn't even realize who it was 'til I saw the credits (how embarassing!) I sat there during the entire time the song was playing trying to figure out who it was, knowing it was somebody I really liked but having no idea _who_. I attribute this to the arrangement and type of song, which was very electronic. Piano? We don' need no *steenkin'* piano! The soundtrack album is supposed to be available from DGC. Dunno whether or not it's available, nor if the Tori song is on it, though I'd guess it is. BTW, the name of the song is "Happy Workers". (I was so surprised to see the name "Tori Amos" appear on the screen during the credits that I didn't catch the songwriter, etc.) Jeff (who's feeling guilty that he can't provide more info) |Jeffrey C. Burka | "Show what you are / Be strong, be true | | | Time for you to / Be who you are." | |jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu | --Happy Rhodes | ======================================================================== Subject: and yet _more_ new tori Date: Sat, 19 Dec 92 10:44:22 -0500 From: jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu As if _Toys_ last night wasn't enough... I just heard a recording of Tori playing "The Little Drummer Boy" on WHFS. Apparently it's a recording from when Tori was in Baltimore a couple of weeks ago and the impression I got from the DJ was that this is not going to be released in any way, shape or form; the recording is part of the radio station's archives. Needless to say, I will have a blank tape sitting in the tape recorder for the next week so I can get a copy. At that point, I will forward it to someone for dubbing (since my dubbing capabilities are _very_ limited), most probably Vickie, as she's probably in the best position to put it onto some sort of compilation which could then be sent to Doug. This posting is being made only to Ecto. I've left off r.m.g and RDT because this is something that won't be widely available and I don't want to deal with tons o' people writing me about it. Apparently this sort of thing is nothing new to Tori; according to the DJ, she used to play at her father's church every year on Christmas. She's not going to be able to do it this year (or for a long time...) because of the ruckus it would create with all the horrible jews like me who don't give a hoot about xmas showing up to be entranced. That's right, it's all my fault. Jeff (who *really* hopes he can get a recording of it) |Jeffrey C. Burka | "Show what you are / Be strong, be true | | | Time for you to / Be who you are." | |jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu | --Happy Rhodes | ======================================================================== Date: Sat, 19 Dec 92 17:53:04 -0800 From: Michael G Peskura Subject: ecto appreciation This is not my favorite time of year, but i have been listening to my copy of the 1991 HGP tapes & my mood has improved considerably! Thanks to all of you who contributed (it was great hearing your voices and selections), to Vickie for all her work, and to Doug for the playlist and excellent dubbing. I should have ordered these tapes sooner! Happy Summer, Martin! Cheers, Mp p.s. and i discovered another reason i like Vickie so much, ... her favorite recording by the Ensemble of the Bulgarian Republic is the reason i wore out two vinyl copies of that original Nonesuch LP! :) ======================================================================== Subject: Tori and Jane on TOYS soundtrack Date: Sun, 20 Dec 92 04:35:10 -0800 From: johnz@eaglet.rain.com Just picked up the TOYS cd (even though I haven't seen the movie yet -- what can I say, I'm a Tori completist :) and was surprised to find that Jane Siberry is also featured in the artist lineup. Tori sings "The Happy Worker", and Jane reprises it at the end. John Zimmer johnz@eaglet.rain.com ======================================================================== Date: Sun, 20 Dec 92 18:09:01 EST From: vickie@pilot.njin.net (Vickie Mapes) Subject: Re: Best record of all time(final) karaki@jarthur.claremont.EDU (Kurt*z* S. Araki) writes: >By the request of someone (Simon, I believe), I'm posting a poll I conducted >in rec.music.cd and rec.music.misc. I heard this group has a bunch of >Kate Bush fans -- you will indeed be very pleased... >---- >(111) >The Sundays >(109) >Victorialand - Cocteau Twins >(108) >Suzanne Vega >(106) >Sensual World - Kate Bush >(103) >Bloodletting - Concrete Blonde >(93) Warpaint - Happy Rhodes >(86) The Lion and the Cobra - Sinead O'Connor >(78) Ecto - Happy Rhodes >(46) Days of Open Hand - Suzanne Vega >(45) In My Tribe - 10,000 Maniacs >(42) Security - Peter Gabriel >(41) Selling England by the Pound - Genesis >(36) Watermark - Enya >(31) Little Earthquakes - Tori Amos >(16) So - Peter Gabriel >(12) The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway - Genesis >(8) The Dreaming - Kate Bush >(4) Hounds of Love - Kate Bush Though I never, ever take anything, no matter where it appears or what the contents are, called "The Best of..." seriously, I have to say that I'm pleased with this poll final. (poll-the keyword) Vickie ======================================================================== Date: Sun, 20 Dec 92 18:54:00 EST From: WretchAwry Subject: Getting there... I'm working on the HGP and it's coming along fine. I just hopped on to see what was happening while listening to what I have so far. Thanks Michael!! You're so sweet! Wow, this is going to be a great HGP. Every one's selections are fantastic (DIRK! Where did you get that Bulgarian piece????) and the messages are really nice. As with last year, I have everything in a bag and I'm just pulling things out, so the order of the songs are totally random. I'm making "adjustments" here and there in the message parts. I'm not changing the messages themselves, just sometimes putting music underneath (I did that last year with Steve Fagg's message) just so they don't sound so "naked." I hope no one will mind. Unlike last year, I'm not doing any talking, except for my message, of course, but, like last year, I started the tape with Kate's "December Will Be Magic Again." (No, no Danielle Dax this year.) I'll post a complete list when I'm all finished. I'm *sorry* to the people who didn't make it this year, for whatever reason. I simply can't take responsibility for it. I will anyway, to an extent, because that's my nature :-) but the bottom line is that the deadline was posted in plenty of time for people to get tapes to me. That's it. Try again next year for the HBP1993. This is the only time I'll say this. The H*Ps should be done in a spirit of joy and fun, not a time of Guilt, Resentment or any negative feelings at all. To those who know what this paragraph is about, read it, then forget it, and let's start anew. Ooops, Claudia's song just finished....gotta go. Vickie ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 21 Dec 92 3:39:34 EST From: WretchAwry Subject: HGP-1992 Part 1 ========================================================= HGP-1992 Part 1 ========================================================= === Side A === 1. All Ectophiles Kate Bush December Will Be Magic Again 2. Jeff Burka Pamela Golden Normal Life 3. Dirk Kastens Alice Luce Della Sera 4. Stephen Thomas Sky Watching the Aeroplanes 5. Klaus Kluge Pete Bardens Man Alive 6. Claudia Spix Bel Canto Keena Mareme 7. Terry Partis Capercaillie Walk, My Beloved 8. Rob Woiccak (woj) Tel Basta Golden Chains 9. Jessica Dempski Talk Talk Desire === Side B === 1. Kjetil T. Homme Lilie-Ane Det S0te Liv 2. Vickie Mapes Steve Hackett Clocks/Angel of Mons 3. Doug Burks Bonzo Dog Band Intro/Outro/I'm the Urban Spaceman 4. Jens Brage Prefab Sprout Scarlet Nights 5. Kiri Hargie & Courtney Dallas Laurie Freelove Arms of a Dream 6. Tim Breitkreutz Daniel Amos Earth Household 7. Steve Potter (Skaludy) Moev Rotting Geraniums 8. Mitch Pravitiner Garrison Keillor The Hallalujah Patrol ================================================================== I will be making another tape, Part 2. I decided to send this tape on to Happy. The thing is, I only have a few selections for the 2nd tape. Still to come: Martin Dougiamas-I have the tape, but there just wasn't enough time :-( (I feel terrible...Martin was the 1st person to send his tape, too :-( ) ????People I've heard from, but their contributions are up in the air. Mike Mendelson-The Bobs (we missed each other, please try again) Angelos-??? (are you going to leave a message on the machine?) Meredith-??? (I have no tape) Steve Van Devender-??? (I have no tape) As long as I'm making a second tape, does anyone else want to participate? You don't even have to leave a message on the machine or send me a tape. *IF* I have something in my record collection that you would want to be included (and I have over 600 CDs) I can play it and say "this is **** and it was selected by *** from ***" because I did that with Jessica and Doug Burks, and I can do it for others too. Of course, the answering machine offer is still open. Send me a selection of songs, and I can see what I do have. Mark them "1st choice" "2nd choice" etc.. I hope more people will be a part of the second tape. I can always fill up the rest of the tape with extra songs provided by Ectophiles who are part of Pt. 1, and my own selections, but it would be great to have as many of the songs chosen by 'philes who aren't represented yet. Obviously, the second tape will not make it to Happy before the holidays, but there's nothing I can do about that. My son is coming to visit for the holidays, and I'm not going to be on the computer much while he's here, so if you don't hear back from me right away, don't worry. I did *not* get to the HBP tape, but I will. Really, it's so late already that a couple/few more weeks are not going to make a difference, now are they? :-) S'it for now...good night all you wonderful people. Vickie ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 21 Dec 92 5:19:31 EST From: WretchAwry Subject: Oh my God(dess)!!! I forgot Michael! I said: > I will be making another tape, Part 2. I decided to send this tape > on to Happy. The thing is, I only have a few selections for the > 2nd tape. Still to come: ...and listed everybody I could remember off the top of my head. I can't *believe* I forgot Michael Peskura! He sent a tape too, with a message. Michael, I'm so sorry!! You see, what happened was that I didn't put your tape in the bag with everyone else's. It was in my purse, because I was listening to the other music you put on there and it was in my Walkman. (Didn't I tell ya, that's why I had avoided opening any of the packages, so I wouldn't do exactly what I did with Michael's tape. I know myself too well, and how spacy I can be. Damn!) Michael, you will be on the 2nd tape. Michael, *THANK YOU* for the wonderful music and the book. Michael sent me a wonderful present, the book _She's A Rebel_ by Gillian Gaar, and even had her sign it! What's kinda funny, is that Gillian knows Chris and I, but I bet she had no idea the "Vickie" she signed the book to, was me Vickie. We lived in Kansas City, and knew her from BreakThrough, a late-great Kate Bush fanzine. At that time, Gillian had a Katezine of her own called "For the Love of Kate." We haven't been in contact since, oh..., probably 1984-5. The book is great! I've only flipped through it and read the index, so far. Nearly everybody female-musician-wise is in there (it's a history of women in music, mainly rock & roll, but touching on other genres, especially heavy touching on alternative) and there are quite a few mentions of Kate. Gillian even interviewed and talks about Jane Siberry. Happy's not in there (teach me to keep in contact with people...) but neither is Tori Amos, so the next edition...well, we'll have to work on that :-). The Introduction is by Yoko Ono! Thank you Michael! You didn't deserve to be forgotten, and I'm sorry. DidIdidIdidI forget anyone else?? Please let me know and please know that it wasn't anything personal. Back to bed...g'night Vickie ps, OH! Thanks to others who also sent music. I'll be listening, and will let you know what I think. I'm sure it's *all* good! ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 21 Dec 92 11:25:39 MEZ From: Dirk Kastens Subject: Greetings Hi there, Merry Christmas, a HAPPY new year and HAPPY winter holidays to all you Ectophiles. Well, it wasn't a great year, but it was my first year on the net and I enjoyed it very much. Thank you all for the warmth and kindness. A very special thank you to Klaus for leading me to this list :-) Saw the Michael Jackson concert in Bukarest on TV. What a show! What an expense! I don't like his music nor himself but the show was impressive. See you next year Dirk ======================================================================== Date: 21 Dec 92 09:23:03 EST From: Mike Mendelson Subject: Dolby Alan asks if anyone has heard the new Thomas Dolby album. Well, not yet, but I plan to buy it, come snow or flood, *today* so I, at least, will have some opinion come Monday. Aliens Ate My Buick is *still* growing on me. I've gone thru phases of loving the first 2 songs, and not caring about the rest, to loving the penultimate and pen-penultimate songs and only wanting to here those, to even loving the stuff in between (current). In fact, if I wasn't at work, I could easily digest the whole album right now. Thus, I can't wait to hear the new one. No matter what it is, I'm sure it will be great. (I don't feel that way about many other artists, either.) I wish he would tour. Has anyone seen him live? Is it anywhere near the album-quality? I know he plays in Calif. sometimes. I don't know if it is due to having seen her live or what, but Fat City has become just about my favorite 1992 release thus far (i.e. before hearing the Dolby album...) [that's Shawn Colvin folks, check her out]. Not far behind would have to be Suzanne Vega. I listened to US quite a bit when I first got it, but haven't had the urge much lately. It's a good album, but I think it kind of drags a bit, making it something of an effort to get thru the whole thing, though secret world is always easy, and so is Digging in the Dirt. -mjm ======================================================================== Date: 21 Dec 92 09:24:01 EST From: Mike Mendelson Subject: Ann Arbor Hello out there. Looks like I may be heading to Ann Arbor for xmas and some surrounding days. Any suggestions on things to do there, record/cd shops to shop at, etc. would be appreciated. Also, if by chance *you* will be around that area and would like to meet some Chicago ectophiles (I'll be with a friend or two), I'd *love* to me you too. Send me email. -mjm (mike mendelson) (mjm@zylab.mhs.compuserve.com) ======================================================================== Subject: Happy holidays Date: Mon, 21 Dec 92 13:15:27 EST From: Angelos Kyrlidis Hi, Just a brief note to wish you all happy holidays! And to complain about HMV. We asked if they can special order the 1st4 for Efi, and they said with an attitude that can't be put in words:"We *only* special order things that are in our computer". Very open minded people... Tower for some reason also refused to order them, even though they had them around October... So, we mailed Happy a letter... Hope they have time with the recording and all to deal with orders! :) So, 1993 *will* be a Happy year!! Angelos ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 21 Dec 92 22:05:51 EST From: kosky@saul.cis.upenn.edu (Anthony Kosky) Subject: Ashley Maher, Joan Baez, etc. There are a couple of ecto-ish albums that I've been listening to lately and meaning to write something about for a while. The first (and most significant), by Ashley Maher, I mentioned briefly on rdt a while ago, but it required more writing up and she definitely seems like an ecto sort of artist, so I thought I should post something here. I know very little about her, other than she has two albums out called "Hi" and "Pomegranate", and would be grateful in anyone out there could tell me some more about her. A friend made me a tape of the first album a while ago. I've since failed to find any trace of either album in the US, and asked my brother to try and get copies of both of them for me in the UK. It may be a while before I get them or know how the second album compares, so in the mean time I'm making do with my tape of "Hi". The music on this album reminds me of a mixture of Rikki Lee Jones, Joni Mitchell and The Story mixed with a strong Afro-Carribean/Jazz flavour. (Actually that doesn't really fit, but is as close as I can think of in terms other artists, and should be sufficient to tell you if you'd be interested). It has some very catchy tunes rhythms together with some very interesting lyrics. The lyrics are mostly of the story-telling variety, in many cases giving small portraits of particular people and their lives. However the thing that really stands out about this album are the vocal arrangements. These are really wonderful: It's as though Manhatten Transfer were rolled into once person and then decided to go and make a folk album. This album may not have the emotive clout that I often seem to look for in music, but is one of the most interesting and certainly the most addictive album I've come across in a long time. Very highly recommended. Another album that well deserves mentioning is Joan Baez "Play Me Backwards". This was sent to me a while ago by WXPN because I sent in a "my three songs" set to them. I don't know Joan Baez's music well, but the things of hers that I've heard before this have struck me as rather self-centered and not terribly inspiring. This is alot better. The lyrics are generally much more outward looking, and the music has a strongly acoustic and folky flavour to it. Overall I'd rate this album as pretty good, but there are a couple of tracks on it which stand out particularly for me. The first of these is "Strange Rivers" which has a very simple production: the instruments are listed as acoustic guitar and weisenborn (though I've no idea what a weisenborn is). Anyway it features some very reflective, almost philosophical lyrics, and some wonderful guitar playing. Also "The Dream Song" in which the lyrics, not surprisingly, describe a dream. The music in this is provided by a string quartet (and is the only such track on the album), and seems to have a rhythm or a flow which draws you into the song and pulls the dream along in a very compelling fashion. Worth checking out. Onto some less ecto-ish music that I've bought recently, and feel like saying something about anyway. After several weeks of telling myself it was too expensive and I couldn't afford it, I finally gave up and bought the new Bob Marley collection a few days ago. Actually it's not bad value: $40 for four full CDs. So far I've only listened to half of it since, even though it's great music, I think I'd overdose if I tried to listen to 240 minutes of Bob Marley straight. The selection of tracks on the part I've listened to so far has been good, and it includes some unusual versions of songs which would make it worth getting even for someone who already has some of his music. For someone like me, who likes Bob Marley but has never got round to buying any of the albums, it's a great way to get an instant collection. Another brief mention for a non-ecto sort of album: I got Neil Young's Harvest Moon a while ago. While I like this album alot in itself, it's worth mentioning that it's one of the best albums for playing harmonica along to that I've yet come across..... -Anthony ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 21 Dec 92 22:27:48 EST From: WretchAwry Subject: One's on the way... No, it's not the Loretta Lynn song ("Here in Topeka...") but rather, the state of the HGP-1992. It was sent via Priority Mail this evening along with a card and a cool blouse I bought Happy. (It's not fuzzy blue, it's black, but Happy looks *great* in black. The wrappings are fuzzy blue. I hope it fits.) I wrote on the note that Part 2 would be coming soon. Finally got Mitch's package! Pfft! :-) (Luckily he had brought his selection over on Saturday.) Vickie ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 22 Dec 92 13:06:55 +0100 From: Ulrich Grepel Subject: male and female voices Dirk said: > Uli said: > > only thing I could say to that was that she is right, and > > that in my humble opinion most (non-opera) male singers > > can't sing at all or don't have a pleasant voice. Take > Hey, you can't say that. There are lots of brilliant male > singers: David Sylvian, William Topley (The Blessing), > all of Toto's ex-singers, Andrew Strong (Committments), > Mick Hucknall (Simply Red), just to mention a few. OK, after almost starting my first flame-feast, I have to drop in a word or two: I really have a lot of albums with male singers on it, but normally I just prefer to listen to female voices. They make it up to more than 90 percent if I think about it. And the whole thing with male<->female preferences just came up into my mind when I heard - not for the first time - that statement of two female persons that they don't like female voices and prefer male ones. > > like them less, but not not at all. On the other hand, > > Happy's music is better for general use, Loreena is only > > recommended if you are in a special mood or if you are > > willing to enter that special mood). BTW: Why are there > I think Happy's music isn't proper for general > use. It is music to concentrate on and too good to be > played in the background. Yes, that's true if you already know Happy, but most of those mainstream listeners are seldom willing to LISTEN to music, they mostly have some music in the background. And Happy just works fine for those occasions. Surely you are not giving her what she deserves (in a positive way), but it is better than not having any opportunity to learn of her. Most people would stare at you: 'What? You wanna waste my time by only listening to music and not doing anything else?', so to introduce arbitrary people to any music you have to play it in the background, especially with those people that you already have overfed with you own musical taste. I have to admit that I have done exactly that with the people from whom I described the reactions to Happy. And - remember - they have not complained too much for a change in music and have listened (in two portions) through three of Happy's albums. That's more than most other things I bring along manage to survive. Remember - despite of them liking Kate's music before, I am not able to listen to more than half a Katesong when more than one person of that bunch is present. And only three or so when only one is present. And that's even in my own room with my own CD player... Dirk again, this time on Jean-Michel Jarre: > You're joking ;). He's one of the most popular (but not > one of the best) synthesists (from France). His first > album Oxygene was a milestone of electronic music in 1976 > (and still today). And he gave one of the most spectacular > open air concerts in Houston in 1986, where he used the > sky- scrapers as big screens for video and laser > projections. But his latest works were meaningless and > uninspired IMO. I can only second that. About spectacular open air concerts: They claim that they had about 2 million spectators in Houston, he once did a similar concert in Lyon (France). There they say he had 700'000 spectators. Isn't that the population of these cities? I think they count all inhabitants of the visited citie as spectator since you a) don't have to pay to watch and b) you cannot evade the concert if you are not willing to leave the city for that night. BTW: There is a video tape availlable from the concert in Lyon, it's really quite spectacular. About his latest works: He tends to put out one or two compilation records every year. Each one contains all exept one title from the last and one new title. That's two 'The Whole Story's every year, and that's really too much. And the new titles, even if you put them onto one album, aren't very inspired. Seems like he is burned out. Uli P.S.: I wish a happy holiday, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone now, since I am off the net for two weeks. Contact torsten@acryl.robin.de for messages that should reach me faster and convince Torsten to tell me about it. ======================================================================== 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)