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 #450 ecto, Number 450 Sunday, 21 February 1993 Today's Topics: *-----------------* some notes my first day with equipoise equipoise alert! Silly Segue and OtherWords Vickie's story/another weak connection A Klaus from Denmark My Top 10 For 1992 Mouth Music - Mo-Di ======================================================================== Subject: some notes From: klaus@inphobos.w.open.de (Cosmic Vagabond) Date: Fri, 19 Feb 93 20:37:08 GMT Before I write about Equipoise, here's my backlog. Jim wrote about Laurie Freelove: > I love this album. I'll have to listen again, because I memory is that I > loved the whole album. I saw her do some songs on the Mountain Stage Radio Thanks to you and Kiri for reminding me about "Smell like truth" again. It was one of my favourites of '91 and I had not played it for quite a while. I've listened to it again a couple of times now, and I still like it as much as before. Jeff wrote: > there's a whole bundle of Canadians. Dunno of any folks in the Orient yet, > but hell _Equipoise_ is going to do so incredibly well that we're bound to > pick up folks from even more varied regions. There is an ectophile in Israel now. Hi NaaMa! :) Angelos wrote: > Just got two Annie Lennox singles ('Little Bird' and 'Walking...') which > both feature alternate takes on the title songs, and lots of unreleased > stuff. The LB one has 'Love Song for a Vampire' as has been discussed here > before, plus 3 songs from her Unplugged show, and the WOBG one has 4 > unplugged songs. All are great! Please let me know which unplugged songs are on those singles. The record company seems to put them everywhere. I've found a set of 3 CD5's name "Cold", "Colder" & "Coldest" and each of them contains the album version of "Cold" and 3 songs from the Unplugged show. On the other hand my "Little Bird" single also contains "Love Song for a Vampire" but no unplugged songs. Re: Dr. Who and his companions: Vickie> My favorite companion is the second Romana. ChrisB> I think I'll always like Sarah-Jane. Mind you I like Leela too. But I have to agree with both of you that Tom Baker was the best doctor (of those I had the pleasure to watch). On companions I liked Sarah-Jane very much as well (can't remember Romana), although I also liked Ace. Unfortunately Dr. Who was not very popular on German TV. A station only aired half a dozen episodes before they stopped it again. If only we had BBC. Oh, there were so many more Dr. Who mentions later. I think I leave it with the previous paragraph. :) Mitch about special cats: > The first time I heard "No One Here," I wondered if the cat was real or elec- > tronic. It's nice to know there may be electronic cats. Sometimes I wish > mine was electronic, when he gets into things and inconveniences me :-). And there are more. There is a british short story collection called "Digital Dreams" (among the authors are Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman), and one of the better stories is "Digital Cats Come Out Tonight". The cats are special programs which have the personality of cats and are living in computer networks, fighting against electronic mice. and > What would be the best name for an alternative, superior, faster delivery > ser vice for getting Happy's new CD into the hands of the likes of Klaus > and Claudia? I'm still undecided between Deutsche Equipost and Deutsche > Bundespoise :-). :-) Unfortunately changing the name doesn't necessarily improve performance. What has been Deutsche Bundespost has now been split into three independent companies for telecommunications, banking and mail. Bob asked: > Just thought of a question... Of course, this has probably > already been done as I'm rather new here, but I was wondering what > our age range was. At the Big concert in Philly (Harrison Aud.), A look into the Ecto birthlist (next complete posting on March 2nd) reveals (after removing ectophiles h.c., mailing lists and albums) an agerange from 19 to 60 with the average being 30 years. Did I remember correctly that there were no whalesongs on that voyager disc? What a pity. We all know that aliens like our whales, don't we? ___________________________________________________________ . * | "Tell me all the plans you have for the great beyond. | _ . * .* . | Will you be physical again, or be a cosmic vagabond." | (_) . | --- Happy Rhodes --- | . . o | Klaus "cosmic vagabond" Kluge klaus@inphobos.w.open.de | <== ======================================================================== Subject: my first day with equipoise From: klaus@inphobos.w.open.de (Cosmic Vagabond) Date: Fri, 19 Feb 93 22:25:32 GMT The Adventures of one Cosmic Vagabond on Day 1 of the Arrival of Equipoise, otherwise known as Feb. 17th 1993 To my surprise I slept well the night before, although the knowledge of Equipoise being so near was bugging me. No surprise indeed was that I arrived at the post office at a time when I'm usually starting breakfast. There was no queue at the counter, so I received a box of CDs (first time not in a bag) after paying MWSt (read VAT in other areas) and customs fees very quickly. Seeing the box blew away my fearful vision of what would happen if you throw 13 CDs in a bag and trust this to the hands of postal clerks on two continents. An hour later I arrived at my office desk (no, I didn't take a day off) and the first action, before logging in and even before opening the box, was to plug my discman into the mains, under the surprised looks of my office cohabitant. I usually only bring in music when he is out, because otherwise I would risk that he plays me some AC/DC the following day. Next, of course, was to open the box and check its contents. Everything was there, without any damage, and 3 copies were signed by Happy as I had requested to give some people a surprise. These three also contained the business card sized promo which I read about on the list. The others were still shrink wrapped with the sticker on the back, warning about a possible fault in the print job. Decision time: start from the beginning or start with "Cohabitants" after some of you made me very curious about it. I started with the already familiar "Runners". The CD was playing a couple of times that day, and I even managed to get some work done, so I didn't have the chance to pay close attention. The sound quality also was rather LoFi, as I plugged in a pair of those cheap speakers instead of headphones. Still, the music was pleasant enough, not only for me, but Michael, another collegue whom I already helped to Warpaint, recognized Happy's voice and asked didn't I have a copy for him. On that very day steelworkers in Dortmund were doing a demonstration, and they were blocking a main road, where our office is, from 6pm to 9am, so this was a good excuse to leave work early. Arriving home I found a letter from Aural Gratification in my mailbox. The letterhead said it was from Kevin Bartlett, President. Apparently my phonecalls about the exact postage weren't very useful, as I misunderstood him on the phone and underpaid them. Oops. I either got to have my ears checked or call earlier (it always was midnight). This is settled by now, but I'm very glad he sent out the parcel immediately anyway. I don't know how I could have survived the additional two weeks. A couple of ectophiles might have treated me badly if my mistake would have delayed it that much. As Claudia wasn't at home at that time, I started packing those CDs other ectophiles had requested from me, but she also stopped working earlier, as she knew that Equipoise was waiting for her. My question "What do you want first? Dinner or Equipoise?" was obviously rhetorical. What are mere physical needs in the presence of a new Happy Rhodes release? So we were feeding our ears first, this time in HiFi quality and at a more suitable sound level, while the tape deck made my copy for the car. WOW!!! It's amazing how limited those $5 speakers are; now the CD revealed many more dimensions. When "Cohabitants" was running (sorry, I don't hear anything which sounds german, it must be an alien sound) Claudia remarked what a nice, little song it was. "Is it? Have a look at the lyrics.", what she did and I noticed that growing glow in her eyes. Meanwhile she declared this her favourite song on the album. Later that night, I browsed the album with headphones and its sound quality is really amazing. You can discover so many subtle things which get lost otherwise. It's a truly beautiful album (music & lyrics)! I don't know if it will become my favourite, but it definitely will come close. What a wonderful day! My favourite songs so far are "Runners" (we already have nice memories with this song (thanks again Vickie!)), "Save Our Souls" and "Closer". After so many "ups" my first "down": I don't like the bagpipes in "Out like a lamb". Musically they seem out of place in that song for me, which is unusual, because so far I thought that the instrumentation was always perfect. ___________________________________________________________ ( "Tell me all the plans you have for the great beyond. ) ) Will you be physical again, or be a cosmic vagabond." ( / --- Happy Rhodes --- \ / Klaus "cosmic vagabond" Kluge klaus@inphobos.w.open.de \ ======================================================================== From: depeche@cs.mcgill.ca (S. A. Ezust) Date: Sat, 20 Feb 1993 17:06:07 EST Subject: equipoise alert! Tower Records in Boston has several copies of Equipoise. I just picked up two. They have at least 3 more copies. Tower Records in Cambridge has ZILCH by her... -- | Alan Ezust depeche@cs.mcgill.ca McGill University Computer Science | |------------------------ Montreal, Quebec, Canada --------------------------| Chew your gum and close your eyes and nothing can annoy you. - E.Ka-Spel ======================================================================== From: r.lovejoy1@genie.geis.com Date: Sat, 20 Feb 93 20:58:00 EDT Subject: Silly Segue and OtherWords Hello Everybody! For some reason I thought of a really wierd segue today. Please don't kick me off Ecto, but - well, here goes: "Out Like A Lamb" to "Under My Thumb" by the Stones. (Still there?) Well, I guess you'd have to cut the bagpipes, but there's that xylophone riff thing, and the words are Polar Opposites, and... oh well! Guess that's why I'm in television now!\ Anyway, in a more serious vein, those were fascinating stories about Victoria Williams, of whom I was quite unaware. As WXPN carries Mountain Stage I hope I get to hear that show; I think it's on tomorrow, but I don't know if they're that recent. What an amazing night! Thanks Vickie! Jeff, regarding Live Happy Music: Susanne has told me that they would like to do a small, intimate concert and film it for video release. This is wishing and hoping, mind you, but I am doing everything in my feeble power to bring it to fruition! There are a Lot of obstacles to overcome, but I'm certain that someday it will come to pass. It may be that a performance video will happen before a concept video, then again nothing is certain. Watch this space for details as they become available! Boy, are they great live. The concert in Philly was simply the best I've ever been to! So many transcendent moments! I guess all of you have commented on that concert before I got here, but I was floored! I remember during Feed The Fire, Ray's bass line was new and wonderful! I had only heard _Warpaint_, so most of the songs that night were my first hearing, and I was most impressed! And here I am! It's nice to be amongst the Ectophiles! An inordinate amount of my computer time is now spent reading your posts and typing mine, and - well, this is great. Thank goodness for modems! Take care, everybody! Bob Lovejoy ======================================================================== Subject: Re: Silly Segue and OtherWords Date: Sat, 20 Feb 93 22:18:54 -0500 From: jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu Bob sez: >(Still there?) Well, I guess you'd have to cut the bagpipes, but >there's that xylophone riff thing, and the words are Polar >Opposites, and... oh well! Which reminds me of Klaus' comment that he doesn't like the bagpipe on "Out Like a Lamb". I think it sounds a bit out of place at the very end of the song, but the bits within the song sound really cool. >Anyway, in a more serious vein, those were fascinating stories >about Victoria Williams, of whom I was quite unaware. Try not to laugh when you first hear her. After you Get her, then it's okay to laugh. (I think "Happy" is an incredibly beatiful, heart rending song. The old woman is so _real_. This doesn't stop me from doing a VW impersonation and crying out "HAAPPPPY? HAAAAAAPPPY!" at random intervals...it's just so bloody absurd outside the context of the song!) >Susanne has told me that they >would like to do a small, intimate concert and film it for video >release. This sounds marvelous. How many Ectophiles remember the good ol' days when there was vague talk of a concert at...um...Jessica's, I believe, grandparents' place? And y'know? Happy would sound great on Unplugged. It's interesting--thanks to the live shows, we've heard the synthed-up full-band versions of stuff from the 1st4. Now try to imagine the solo acoustic guitar finger-picked version of, say, "Out Like a Lamb" or "Words Weren't made for Cowards." >Boy, are they great live. Ain't that the truth! It was a shock to see musicians of that caliber playing along with Happy, when I was expecting, I guess, some hodge-podge of locals who couldn't make it as a garage band. >I had only heard _Warpaint_, so most of the songs >that night were my first hearing, and I was most impressed! It was a lot of fun walking around during intermission and seeing all the folks staring at my Ecto t-shirt. And the looks on the faces when I explained that the picture/lyrics/word were from the title track of her *4th* album. Memories of the Philly show have started filtering back lately. Tomorrow evening, I'm going to an organizational meeting for folks working at the Smithsonian Kite Festival and the annual workshop held a week before the festival. Last year I attended this meeting (and worked at the festival) but was unable to work at the workshop--it was held the same day as the Philly show!! And now, typing about that, I've just remembered calling the ticket place in Philly and ordering my ticket. Jeff ======================================================================== From: alan moorse Date: Sat, 20 Feb 93 23:48:54 -0500 Subject: Vickie's story/another weak connection In Part II, Vickie mentions the connection via Kelly, who she says worked at The Music Shack in Albany. When I hfirst heard Happy, I walked a couple of blocks and bought Warpaint at the MShack in Troy. When I bought myself the First4, the Troy store didn't have 'em, so I went to the Albany store. And when Equipoise finally arrived on store shelves, it was from that store's shelves that my copy came. Please pardon the tardiness of the above, I'm just now reading my mail from the 11th. Only a few hundred more messages to go to be caught up. alanm ======================================================================== Date: Sun, 21 Feb 93 00:17:40 GMT From: brage@sphere.home.id.dth.dk (Jens P. Brage) Subject: A Klaus from Denmark Well, I've finally caught up with more than a month's digests, so here's a klaus for you! (Thanks for the new term, Vickie! How do you feel about it, Klaus? :-)). Steve wrote: > We used to > have Finns & Danes on board too, but they've been a bit quiet > recently. Anybody from Scandinavia still participating? Sure, there are lots of Scandinavians about! ;-) I saw a message from Kjetil (Norway) a few digests back, and Perttu (Finland) posted around New Year's time... I haven't been active since the Eddi thread, but I think I pretty well used up my quota back then! ;-) Btw., thanks Mitch, for the info about Eddi's appearance on Laurie Freelove's album. Keeping in the Nordic vein, Kjetil mentioned Eva Dahlgren, a Swedish singer (and songwriter): > While we're on the subject of Swedish female vocalists, I'd like to > recommend Eva Dahlgren, "En blekt blondins hjaerta" (The heart of a > bleached blonde). I love her lyrics, but I guess that's of little > value to you. I love her percussions, but I'm a sucker for a beat. > There are naked ballads and up-tempo dance music. It's good, > intelligent pop. If you see it (about as likely as I will ever see a > "Love Spirals Downward" album :-/), give it a listen. I've got a couple of ED's older albums, and they are very good. In particular, I'd recommend `Ka"nn Mej', which is one of the best albums, I've got. Of course, the lyrics (which are part of the quality) are a problem for non-Scandinavians, but 7 of the 18 songs are in English (among these are "Jenny Mattress", which constantly reminds me of Brecht). Have you heard Eva Dahlgren, Vickie? Vickie, our mistress of female music, just wrote (yes, I *do* read new postings! :-)): > Angelos, I'm so glad you got your t-shirt. I guess that Rhondda had > turned over the mail-order stuff to one of the guys in the band and > he was behind. Jens, I'm still working for yours. Is anyone else > waiting for Psychowelders stuff? Please don't hassle Rhondda about my order! Both the CD and the t-shirt arrived yesterday, and I've played the CD quite a few times since... If you do talk to Rhondda, please thank her for the letter she included, and tell her that I like the Psychowelders' stuff a lot! Btw., I think the CD booklet is very nicely done too... [I liked your reply to Jon Drukman, btw! Way to go! ;-)] Talking about importing CDs, I finally sent off my Equipoise order Tuesday! Yeah! Just few more days to wait... And even though it's late, I'm pretty sure I'm going to be the first proud owner in Denmark ('cause the other likely buyers get their copies through me! ;-) The order was for 5 Equipoise CDs, a set of the 1st4 and a t-shirt). In connection with the rumors about Happy and Andreas Vollenweider, Jeff comments on Vollenweider's harp: > Vollenwieder plays the electric harp (yes, it _is_ weird). I believe > the instrument is of his own design (and possibly manufacture) and > is the only one extant. It's very pretty, though extremely different > from the harp we Loreena fans are used to. I once heard an interview with AW, where he talked about his harp. Yes, it is his own design and he has developed a speciel playing technique as well: He plays with the nails rather than the finger tips. As this rapidly wears down normal strings (catgut?), they are replaced by steel wire. Unfortunately, this wears down the nails, so he has artificially reinforced nails! I've got a couple of Vollenweider CDs and, sorry, I'm not going to put them in a Hall of Shame. In fact, I haven't got a Hall of Shame... I can beat most of the offers in the Hall of Shame thread though: I *recently* bought a best-of Culture Club CD, in broad daylight! :-) I'm certainly not ashamed of my copy of "Shepherd Moons", either, but I generally consider "Shepherd Moons" a weak album (it simply fails to grab me, unlike "Watermark"). However, I have to agree with Drewcifer on this: > "How Can I Keep From Singing?" makes up for its melodic mediocrity by making > itself a possible anthem for Amnesty International. I actually read the lyrics before hearing the song, and liked it straightaway! Talking about Shepherd Moons, I'd recommend Cherryh's "Heavy Time" if you're interested in mining operations around Jupiter (ok, so I'd recommend it anyway! ;-)). Great story about the miners in the asteroid belt, the politics and the life about primitive space craft. Staying in space, John ('>>') and Finney ('>') writes in the Voyager thread: >> If I remember right, the Mozart piece has some INCREDIBLE >> female vocals. So maybe the aliens will want to come and >> here more of our great music?? :) > > Well, the aria of Queen of the Night is a very severe challenge to > sopranos. I have heard at least 8 different Magic Flute recordings, > only one or two are great. 1/3 is OK, and the rest only can be described as > "awful." Hopefully they picked up a correct recording, or those aliens > may just escape after they hear the song. ;) "Der Ho"lle Rache" is one of my favorite pieces of opera, for sheer vocal force... It's interesting to note, that probably the best known song by Dollie De Luxe is a mix of this aria and Rolling Stones "Satisfaction"! Quite a blend... [About "The Magic Flute": I recommend Ingmar Bergman's version (it was filmed, and is in all probability available as video). Beautifully photographed (of course!), fine singing, great settings. The only drawback is, that the opera is sung is Swedish...] I think I mentioned this some time last year, in connection with my concert report from Dollie De Luxe's "Which Witch". And so, in a slightly convoluted way, we get to Neile's suggestion about "The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music": Nice idea! I'm already keeping a similar log of "interesting" artists. It's far from complete, though, as I've only saved postings which seemed to match my taste. But we probably should wait and see about Jessica's indexing software. Congratulations on "Spells for Clear Vision", Niele! Nice to meet a recognized poet! Leonard Cohen is another Canadian, who's often termed a poet (by friendly reviewers. Not-so-friendly reviewers sometimes calls him the "living dead"!). Angelos writes about "The Future": > Some songs are > political with quite a bitter sarcastic note to them (the title song, and > 'Democracy' are good examples), while others are simple love songs, but > very moody and captivating. I know that Leonard Cohen's voice is a long way > from the ethereal female vocals that appeal to ectophiles, but intelligent > music is so hard to find these days, that it is worth checking out. Unless one is a purist (about female vocals), I'd recommend Cohen. He's usually not (obviously) political but, as you say, there's a lot of bite in his songs. For starters, get "So Long, Marianne": It can be found cheaply and contains lots of great songs. Another male singer who deserves mention is the Swedish songwriter Mikael Wiehe. Though most of you wouldn't benefit from his songs (the lyrics are in Swedish and pretty important), I'd love somebody to do an English version of his song "Titanic (the Last Song of the Second Class Passenger)". I suspect Happy could do it pretty well... This is one of the most depressing songs ever written (IMHO!), it was written as a commentary on the `incident' at Three Mile Island. And so we end up back in Scandianavia, for nice, equipoised posting (and a long one! Phew, this should do for a while... :-)). Jens P. Brage | Dance the circle dance of dreaming, brage@sphere.home.id.dth.dk | lonely by the crystal sea. /\ | Spin the web of mist and moonlight, \SphereSoft | come, beloved, and follow me. ======================================================================== Date: Sun, 21 Feb 93 7:04:45 EST From: WretchAwry Subject: Re: some notes Klaus writes: > Jim wrote about Laurie Freelove: > > I love this album. I'll have to listen again, because I memory is that I > > loved the whole album. I saw her do some songs on the Mountain Stage Radio > Thanks to you and Kiri for reminding me about "Smell like truth" again. > It was one of my favourites of '91 and I had not played it for quite a > while. I've listened to it again a couple of times now, and I still like > it as much as before. Chris is in Indianapolis on business, and I've been listening to all kinds of things on headphones. I listened to Laurie shortly ago and yes, it's so good. My favorite songs were treats to hear again (such as Heaven On Earth, White Hail and O My Heart) and I really paid attention to some of the other songs I tended to tune out before (such as Arms of a Dream and Haunted.) Quite nice! Her voice is so rough and raw a lot of the time but it fits the songs perfectly. For the first time I actually read the lyrics to the songs as they were playing, and I realized there are so many gems (personal to me) on here. I really couldn't specifically make out Eddi Reader's vocals, though whatever she does makes Heaven On Earth and O My Heart that much better. I also just listened to Eddi Reader's _Mirmama_ (I still have Charley's CD. He wants it back and it will be so hard to give up) and it's still brilliant! I can't believe it, I went to Tower to look for Fairground Attraction and Eddi. I looked in the regular section and the import section and had no luck. Now, Mitch found Fairground Attraction at Tower! I swear, they must have gotten it since the last time I was there. I did not ask about them either. I wonder...I just can't help but wonder if maybe a listener asked for them. It doesn't seem possible, *NObody* listens to my show. It must be just a weird fluke. Luckily, they had two, and Mitch picked up both of them, one for himself and one for me. (Lets be totally honest here, if there had only been one copy and Mitch had scarfed it up, I would have been really upset. Seriously. I'm still ouching from having turned Charley and his friend Avery onto Eddi Reader, and Avery having his dad pick up 2 Mirmama CDs when his dad was in London. Who got the CDs? Charley and Avery. Should I be mad about it? No. Am I? Damn straight I am! Avery knew I only had a dub of the album--thanks again Jens, I'm forever greatful--and *badly* wanted a CD. Bitchbitchbitch, I know.) Ooops, Psychowelders just got over. Jens, I'm *so* glad you finally got your stuff. Either Rhondda doesn't understand the power of the net, or else she failed miserably to impress it on Ken. I *still* want to have a talk with her (she's never home!) because I'm not interested in pushing their music if they can't deal with the orders they might get. (To continue this bitchy honesty, they've had a new CD out since before Christmas. Do I have a copy? No. Rhondda said she'd send it to me and I haven't gotten it yet. Do I have any right to complain? No, it's a promo, after all.) I listened to Ecto earlier, and Grace Darling, which is still too cool for words. When, oh when, are they going to come out with another one? (GD wouldn't appeal to everyone, it's pretty strange. Val has the most unusual voice, in the same category as Victoria and Betsy from Caterwaul. The music ranges from electronic dance to Weill-type ditties. I love it!) Right now I'm listening to Jean Michael Jarre's _Zoolook_, which, if it isn't the most interesting thing he's done, then I want to know about whatever else is out there that's better. It's the only thing I have by him. My friend Sue gave me the LP as a present a couple of years ago, but I just recently found the CD. It's just great! It's almost like listening to a dance version of the Blade Runner soundtrack, with bits of Laurie Anderson thrown in. I know it was mentioned recently which made me dig it out. (I'm sorry, I can't remember who mentioned it, but thanks!) > > there's a whole bundle of Canadians. Dunno of any folks in the Orient yet, > > but hell _Equipoise_ is going to do so incredibly well that we're bound to > > pick up folks from even more varied regions. > There is an ectophile in Israel now. Hi NaaMa! :) Yes, hi NaaMa!! > Mitch about special cats: >> The first time I heard "No One Here," I wondered if the cat was real or elec- >> tronic. It's nice to know there may be electronic cats. Sometimes I wish >> mine was electronic, when he gets into things and inconveniences me :-). > And there are more. There is a british short story collection called > "Digital Dreams" (among the authors are Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman), > and one of the better stories is "Digital Cats Come Out Tonight". The > cats are special programs which have the personality of cats and are > living in computer networks, fighting against electronic mice. I wish we had room to get all our books out. We've lived here 2 and a half years and our books are *still* in boxes. Not that there aren't plenty of books available, we live a block away from a branch library, and I work 2 blocks away from the main Chicago library. When we moved up here we had to give away so many books, hundreds! We kept particular favorites and ones we didn't think we'd be able to find easily again. One of my favorite books is still in a box, _The Best of Cordwainer Smith_, which contains a story "Mother Hitton's Little Kittens" (that's the correct spelling, which means it's wrong, be cause the original spelling was different) which is about a planet using cats to protect and defend its supply of an anti-aging drug. These are some *mean* cats, so I don't know why they popped into my brain, but they did. I don't believe in reincarnation (sorry Bob) but if it *were* true, Happy has either been a cat, or would be in the future. She's certainly very close to them (Kevin called them "our kids") and cats too have dark sides. (As Mitch and his horrifyingly scratched up arms can attest to.) Our cats are disgustingly friendly and affectionate. The Other One, in particular, is like a faithful dog in kitty clothing. They'd make lousy Hittonkittys, but wonderful "No One Here" kittys. > an age range from 19 to 60 with the average being 30 years. Isn't it great! And we all get along so well, at least in Ecto proper (even if there might be quarrels behind the scenes sometimes) and, I know I've said it before, it just makes me so proud. I love being a Happy fan, I love the fact that I brought so many of you to Happy, I love the fact that Ecto exists, and I love being an Ectophile. I love being around all of you. Weird, the CD of Zoolook started skipping and acting strange, and I didn't even notice it for a while. The album is so unusual-sounding that I thought it was normal! I finally realized that what I was hearing was something I'd not heard before and had to take it off :-(, but I replaced it with Dead Can Dance's _Spleen and Ideal_ so I'm not complaining too much. (Heaven on Earth is being able to hear Lisa Gerrard sing to me through headphones. ) Thank you Fate, for giving me ears that hear, eyes that see, good taste in music, my son, Chris, Ecto and Trazodone. Amen. And the song "Mesmerism" which just started. Wow! Vickie "You're back to counting blessing with the few who would know, that no matter how hard you're hit, you would never let go" Laurie Freelove ======================================================================== Date: Sun, 21 Feb 93 12:18:14 GMT From: GTP10@phx.cam.ac.uk Subject: My Top 10 For 1992 As another Pom still (im)patiently awaiting the arrival of a copy of "Equipoise", I thought I'd take the opportunity to post my list of the top 10 releases from 1992 - it's taken me till now to get hold of a couple of them. Anyway, here they are (in alphabetical order): Tori Amos "Little Earthquakes" Arrakeen "Mosaique" Asgard "Arkana" Maire Brennan "Maire" Chandelier "Facing Gravity" Echolyn "Suffocating The Bloom" Jadis "More Than Meets The Eye" Loreena McKennitt "The Visit" Sarah McLachan "Live" Sinister Street "The Eve Of Innocence" A pretty cosmopolitan collection - artists from Canada (2), the USA (2), the UK (1), France (1), Germany (1), Holland (1), Ireland (1) and Italy (1). My vote for the best reissue of 1992 (an easy choice): Happy Rhodes "Ecto" My predictions for my top 10 of 1993: the forthcoming releases from Happy, KaTe, Capercaillie, Clannad, IQ, Jadis, Kalaban, Pendragon... could be a vintage year! Geoff Parks ======================================================================== Date: Sun, 21 Feb 93 15:47:32 EST From: dtorok@nynexst.com Subject: Mouth Music - Mo-Di Hello all! Yes, I've been playing Equipoise *constantly* since I got it, but I just got the new Mouth Music disc and have played it through twice. First of all, it's at least a reasonable length - 50 minutes! There are 8 tracks, with the last one being live or semi-live (at Toronto). Impressions: I like it. One interesting thing is that the lyrics are at least half (if not most) in English! Martin Swan's vocals appear scattered throughout the disc as well. I'd reccommend the disc, especially if you enjoy the first Mouth Music disc. I only wish I'd been able to make their live show when they came around last year! -=$>Dave<$=- p.s. I realize how non-substantial this "review" is, but I'm at work, with the flu, facing doing a 1-week assignment in 2 days, and suffering from jet-lag after coming back from Calif. at 6:30 AM today! ======================================================================== 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)