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 #258 ecto, Number 258 Saturday, 13 June 1992 Today's Topics: *-----------------* re: A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY Loreena's albums goin'south? Fw: Oranges and earwigs, among other things Class acts and mass acts Today's Your Birthday, Friend... (ok, tomorrow) how pleasant! Welcome back V/Arson Garden Yet another CD blunder I'm Officially Back, and more! I'll try to tape it The magic of music PLAYLISTS!!!!! ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 12 Jun 1992 07:28:11 -0500 From: kennel@herky.cs.uiowa.edu (Chris Kennel) Subject: re: A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY Subject: A_CASE_OF_MISTAKEN_IDENTITY Hello, [THIS WAS DELAYED AS SOME MAILER(S) ALONG THE WAY WON'T DELIVER IT FOR 3 (COUNT 'EM) DAYS] To Mitch (and, inevitably, to others...but, for now, primarily to Mitch) the posting regarding my concern that the posting regarding Electronic Fora would be out of date, by the time I got around to reading it....etc. This is CHRIS SAMPSON (not Chris, the woman with that name). ======================================================================= >>Sorry--This is CHRIS KENNEL, (female), and the above should not be attributed to this Chris either. (I have posted maybe 2 times, and NEVER in reference to those articles). Besides, I try to go by "chrissy" in order to avoid cases of "mistaken identity." I guess anytime I post, I will just have to tack on the last name! :) But I assure you, I was not that person, it must have been a different Chris. ======================================================================= I haven't been able to think of a pseudonym so as to avert future confusion....(cringe, cringe...) any suggestions? [I'm gonna regret that] ========================================================================== >>Same here. I thought using Chrissy would work, but I guess it hasn't. ========================================================================== For now, this is Chris Sampson, signing off....Good Day. =========================================================================== --Chris Kennel PS How many Chris's, male or female, are subscribed to this list? Just curious...... ======================================================================== Date: 12 June 1992 11:31:33 CDT From: Subject: Loreena's albums goin'south? The other day, _The Midnight Special_ played a song by Loreena McKennitt. Un- fortunately, it happened to come on just as I was entering the most notorious hot spot for multipath distortion in all of downtown Chicago. What little of it came through sounded pretty good, however. Anyone know whether this small bit of radio play is a harbinger of her album(s) becoming widely available in the States? Mitch Pravatiner (apparently at low risk of being confused with anyone else on this mailing list, judging from experience) ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 12 Jun 92 13:56:25 CST From: ("Chip" Lueck (Jeff)) Subject: Fw: Oranges and earwigs, among other things > ***When life hands you lemons, make Orangensaft.*** > --Mitch You're a stitch, Mitch! For all those Enya fans who may not already know this, she's released a new video with the following 5 videos on it: Orinoco Flow Exile Storms in Africa Evening Falls... Caribbean Blue I got a copy for $14.99 at Rose Records in Evanston. Also, if anyone is looking for a Japanese import of the Kate Bush box set, I saw one in Evanston at Chicago Compact Disc. It's about $200.00 and it's been there for at least two weeks. If anyone's interested I can get a phone number for you. Jeff "Chip" Lueck chip-l@nwu.edu ====================================================================== "My ears are lucky to hear these glorious songs of inspiration. And voices crafted from thunder, the power of life." -Happy Rhodes ======================================================================== Date: 12 June 1992 15:10:05 CDT From: Subject: Class acts and mass acts Late on a recent Saturday night, I was watching a local video show which happened to run the latest Genesis video, in which Phil Collins figured prominently. It occurred to me, for reasons still unexplainable, that Genesis--including Collins--in its earlier days, particularly when Peter Gabriel led it, is part of the canon of ecto, gaffa, and like-minded lists; whereas Collins' solo material, in great measure, is probably anathema to many of their subscribers. Later, the station ran videos by Paula Abdul and Mariah Carey, two artists who have come in for particular bashing in these pages on various occasions. I happened to enjoy these particular videos, and their underlying musical numbers, however un-PC of me that may have been. I could not say the same for many of the other videos, which at times actually seemed to validate the knee-jerk revulsion toward rock of all types that many in my parents' generation have expressed almost continuously since 1956. Early last week, the _Chicago Tribune_ ran an article titled "Caught in generation pap: Wilson Philips puts its legacy in a blender once again." This was apparently pegged to the release of their second album that day; as was, presumably, NBC's rerun the night before of a made-for-TV movie in which Chynna Philips played Roxanne Pulitzer. The article's bottom line was that while the new album did have a few moments of real substance, WP's music as a whole could not hold a candle to that of their parents in terms of innovation or distinctiveness, and was unlikely to stand the test of time as well. The music's changing for the worse is implicitly pinned on an underlying change in the _zeitgeist_: The 60's pop sense of adventure and accent on distinctive songwriting has given way to an overly conservative, fussy approach where every note must be equalized, synthesized, sanitized and digitized. Perfection is the goal, rather than spontaneity or a sense of the performer's humanness. If this rather amorphous essay has a particular underlying theme, it probably is--to paraphrase the recent closeout sale advert of Round Records--that "Corporate rock sucks--but all the time?" We on ecto are justly proud of our status as a specialty market for specialty artists, who have so far been able to escape the tentacles of the commercial machine--albeit at the price of relative obscurity. (Readers who can see through the German syntax :-) of the last sentence will be aware that it refers primarily to our favorite artists, rather than to us as their consumers--though we should probably be proud to have escaped the same set of tentacles from the standpoint of its bamboozlement of the masses.) Granted that much of the music that comes out of said machine is driven first and foremost by corporate preconceptions of mass taste, rather than by the artist's own artistic vision--assuming that the latter does exist. At the same time, let us not succumb to a knee-jerk revulsion against anything promoted before the mass market, however much merit there may be to that revulsion a lot of the time. Sight should not be lost of the fact that the same commercial music establishment that now brings us Wilson Philips, New Kids on the Block, _et al._ once brought us the Beach Boys, the Mamas and the Papas, Laura Nyro, and others well-respected in both their time and this. (The fact that the business was in a different stage of mutation then does not totally invalidate this proposition, IMHO WIVH.) Closer to our own epoch, it should be remembered that it was the major labels that brought us Tori Amos, Sophie B. Hawkins, and, for that matter, Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel. So as we enter our second year of lending our moral and financial support to Happy Rhodes and her ilk as they steadfastly follow their own muses, let us remain open to the possibility that even the most massified of artists can come up with something good once in a while. Mitch Pravatiner ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 12 Jun 92 19:30 CDT From: katefans@chinet.chi.il.us (Chris n Vickie) Subject: Today's Your Birthday, Friend... (ok, tomorrow) i ************* *** HAPPY ******* ******** BIRTHDAY *** ************************* ******** !! ECTO !! ********* ********************************* =========================================================================== For me, June 13 is ecto's birthday. Here's why... 1. Date: Thu, 13 Jun 91 14:58:06 EDT From: gargoyle!cs.rutgers.edu!jessica Subject: Tada! (I hope :) Ok, here's my first experimental posting to this list. Vickie suggested ecto, but a bit late i'm afraid, it's already been called "ectoplasm" but at least that's pretty close! So our address is "ectoplasm@athos.rutgers.edu" and for signing up, etc, there is ectoplasm-request@athos.rutgers.edu I'll put *something* of possible interest in this posting, in case anyone doesn't already know. I've made a lyrics sheet for Rhodes Volume 1. It's on athos.rutgers.edu in I managed to fit both sides onto one page, *but* you probably shoudn't just cut out the outline and fold it in half - at least on our laserprinters, the black printing of the line down the middle cracks and comes right off in little flecks, very messy. So i'd suggest cutting it down the middle too, it shouldn't make much difference as you'll glue it together anyway. :) Lyrics sheets for the other three tapes will be coming.. RSN :) So anyway, welcome to the list! so far, we are: myself, Dave Steiner, Joseph Dembski, Jeff Burka, David N. Blank, art, Mitch Pravatiner, woj, Jeff Abbott, Albert Philipsen, Laura Clifford, chinet.chi.il.us (feel free to send me your name, if you want :) jessica ========================================================================== !!THANK YOU JESSICA!! Vickie ps: Yes, I'm back. I can't explain anything right now. It was hard enough just getting up the nerve to post at all. I missed you. Thanks *SO* much to everyone who called and wrote. It meant so much to me. Hello to EVERYONE! pps: The CDs are so wonderful!! Did anyone else notice that 2 songs were cut down? "The Chase" and "When the Rain Came Down" are both much shorter than the original versions. ppps: Happy Birthday to everyone who had one while I was off-line. Thanks to Klaus for keeping the list up. ======================================================================== Subject: how pleasant! Date: Fri, 12 Jun 92 22:43:30 -0400 From: jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu Something, I'm not sure what, inspired me to pop on my CD of Hex's _Vast Halos_, which I haven't listened to in probably 4 or 5 months (quite possibly the same thing that inspired me to listen to Bob Mould's first solo album earlier today...;-) I'd forgotten what a lovely album _Vast Halos_ is, and why I'd been so inspired to buy it when I first heard it in a record store back at school a little over a year ago (I still think they saw me coming and exclaimed, "Jeff's on his way in to the store! Quick! Put on some ethereal female vocals!") Anyway, if any of you out there are bored and looking for a CD to buy, you might want to take a look at Hex. Kind of hard to describe; ethereal without really sounding like much of the other ethereal stuff. Lead singer with an interesting feminized name (Donette...I still want to see her do a duet with Johnette of Concrete Blonde...). Lots of guitar and synth. And while I'm here, I'll throw in another "Welcome back!" to Vickie... Jeff |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 | ======================================================================== From: kyrlidis@athena.mit.edu Subject: Welcome back V/Arson Garden Date: Fri, 12 Jun 92 23:14:39 EDT Hi, There couldn't be a nicer surprise than the message from Vickie! Welcome back! And now in typical fashion, I will brief you on things of ecto-interest. Arson Garden are taking Boston by storm. Not only are they playing in the Middle East on Wednesday, they are also going to play an acoustic set on Thursday June 18th, at 5pm in the Harvard Square Tower!! They have an ad in the Phoenix, sponsored by Vertebrae Records, and there is also a very favorable review of 'Wisteria' (which I find very good, but not as good as Under Towers-but then all I have been listening to are the 1st4 and so my opinion may change :) ) For the sake of completeness I post the review: ARSON GARDEN - Wisteria *** (photo of band with caption: a fiery strain of alternative guitar rock) Arson Garden's first release two years ago on the tiny community 3 label was good enough to catch the ear of British DJ John Peel, who invited the Bloomington-based band across the Atlantic for one of his legendary live in studio 'Peel Sessions'. Three of those four songs made it on to AG's Wisteria-including the disc's first single 'Impossible Space'- along with eight others recorded stateside at Minneapolis' Creation Studio. They prove that Peel was definitely on to something good. With a heavy emphasis on jarring rhythmic and dynamic shifts, and dark, hypnotic minor chord melodies, AG cultivate their own strain of alternative guitar rock. Joby Barnett's unusual drum patterns push and pull at the grooves. Meanwhile James Combs and Michael Mann set up a moan-and-drone guitar interplay whose melodic tension is perfect for the haunting, inspired vocals of April Combs-they twist, writhe and soar before cutting back to a dreamy whisper, as she spits out pieces of broken poetry like 'The water was an ocean of impossible space'. The daring mix of swirling guitars, off beat rhythms and April's alluring vocals may make AG's sophomore effort a bit of a challenge, but when the chemistry is right, as on the minimalist 'Kathy's in deep', and the aggressive 'Prerogative', it just seems that this is how music was meant to sound. Have a wonderful ecto-birthday weekend! Angelos ------- 'Heroes don't lose nerve, they find it'- Happy Rhodes ======================================================================== From: kyrlidis@athena.mit.edu Subject: Yet another CD blunder Date: Fri, 12 Jun 92 23:47:30 EDT I forgot to mention that 'Take me with you' clocks at '3:32' and *not* 5:45 as is printed on the cover... But I am not complaining, it's got twice the punch! :) Angelos 'My brains fall out, they're loosely wrapped'-Happy Rhodes [with all due respect, what *was* she thinking?? :) ] ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 12 Jun 92 23:55:44 EDT From: jessica@ns1.rutgers.edu (jessica) Subject: I'm Officially Back, and more! Hi! I'm back!!! Many many thanks to Dave Steiner for sending out digests while I was away. If i'd had just 300 less things to do before i left, i might actually have written up a little cron job to send 'em out automaticly :) but as it is it's nice having a real person look them over and send them out :) especially another ectophile! I'm still on vacation, no work 'til monday!! But first order of business was taking care of new ecto (and returning) ectophiles! Welcomes go out to Anthony Kosky, Geoff Parks, Dicke Locke (did i get that last name right? it's just a guess), Matt Wu, and Shelly!! Welcome to ecto, and enjoy! Do feel free to tell us a bit about yourself, where you're from, what you do, how you heard about happy, your hair color and birthday and last but not least and certainly most importantly, your shoe size!! (you'll just have read the archives for an explanation of that :) speaking of the archives, and digests, etc.. Anthony, Matt, and Shelly, a digest is available, just let me know if you'd like to switch over. I send 'em out somewhere between 500-1000 lines. Sometimes that's once a day, and sometimes it's more like 3 or 4 :) Welcome Back goes to Valerie and Vickie! (it's V-day i guess!) Valerie has moved to altanta, but is back on the net. YAY! And Vickie is simply "back" :) I know everyone is very happy :) most especially me! Without Vickie I may still have some day heard happy's music, but as it is, my life is changed and continuously full of new (and old) wonderful music (not to mention all sorts of great details and information) learned about from Vickie. So, since I'm still on vacation I'm gonna log out and go take a nice hot bath and not even *think* about the 500 important work mail messages waiting for me on monday! Instead I will look forward to tomorrow! Greg and I will be driving down to Philly for the record signing. I hope someone out there (bob??!) read about the radio interview on WXPN at noon tomorrow and can tape that!!! Eeeeeeeep i hope so! I can't get it here! I'll have to go sit in my car to listen to it :) jessica ======================================================================== Date: 13 Jun 92 00:38:22 EDT From: Bob Brown <74756.1557@compuserve.com> Subject: I'll try to tape it I'm looking forward to seeing Happy, Kevin and from what I read Jessica and Greg later today in Bryn Mawr. I will do my very best to tape the interview with Happy on WXPN at noon. I've got a bunch of running around to do and I don't have a timer I can trust so like I said... I'll do my very best. Been up to my eyeballs with work here so I haven't had a chance to say much but I've been keeping up with the posts. The 1st 4 are great as others have noted. They arrived just in time for me to grab my portable cd player and head for the airport for a business trip to St. Louis. Wonderful traveling companions! Welcome back Vickie! You were missed by all...hope you can stick around for awhile. Bob Brown 74756,1557@compuserve.com ======================================================================== Date: 13-JUN-1992 00:44:29.68 From: MTARR@eagle.wesleyan.edu Subject: The magic of music Hi! First, a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to ecto, or ectoplasm, or That Mailing List Jessica Set Up, or whatever the hell it was at this time last year. This is hovering around my first anniversary of ever hearing Happy's music (thanks woj :), so it's a milestone for me too. I dusted off the Albany show tape this evening, since the album versions are sounding normal to me again. :) Wow. I gotta see her live again. "Look For The Child" is amazing. Astounding. I might forgive her for not putting it on an album originally, but not for a while. But to the real reason for my posting: I just read a book by Gael Baudino called GOSSAMER AXE. It's about a Celtic harper from the 6th century who, through magical means, is living in 1987 Denver, trying to release her lover from the interdimensional prison they were both trapped in for centuries and from which only the harper was able to escape. She discovers the power of electronic music (specifically metal) is much more powerful against the spell holding her lover than just a harp, so she learns to play guitar and forms an all-female metal band called Gossamer Axe to get her lover out. It's a great book, rife with subtext. The characters are believable and interesting- there's a guitarist named Kevin in there, and I mentally pictured Kevin Bartlett through the whole thing. :) But what really hooked me was the premise: that music is magic, and if you know how to wield it you can literally control the world. It connects you to the past and future and into other dimensions, it can heal and destroy, and is all-powerful if incomprehensible. This, coupled with the fact that I just translated the German KEYBOARDS interview with Tori in which she goes on at length about the spirituality of music, specifically how when she plays she feels herself transported back a thousand years to the Celtic roots in her and in the music she's playing, struck me as particularly true. a.) If Tori really is a witch, she's got it right on, doesn't she? b.) I wonder if Happy has read this? (That's why I asked that question about her and SF earlier). If not, she should- it deals with things I know she thinks about. If you come across this book, read it. That's an order. :> ======================================================================= |Meredith A. Tarr "Feel the yearning for peace and| |mtarr@eagle.wesleyan.edu happiness..." -Happy Rhodes| ======================================================================= ======================================================================== Date: 13-JUN-1992 01:28:20.33 From: MTARR@eagle.wesleyan.edu Subject: PLAYLISTS!!!!! Hi! Here are the long-awaited playlists for the even longer-awaited tapes I sent to Doug this morning. Champagne Jam comprises three sides of two 120-Minute tapes, and contains all or part of the following: THE LAST CHAMPAGNE JAM May 12, 1992 WESU-Middletown, 88.1FM Song Artist Album Scorpio Rising 10,000 Maniacs The Wishing Chair Trouble Tanita Tikaram 11 Kinds of Loneliness We Are Each Other The Beautiful South 0898 Beautiful South Blueprint Rainbirds Rainbirds White Hail Laurie Freelove Smells Like Truth Listen Sophie B. Hawkins Tongues and Tails An Old Sunday The Innocence Mission 12'' single Margot Known as Missy The Judybats Down In The Shacks... Steaming (Live) Sarah McLachlan Live 12'' single All Souls Night Loreena McKennitt The Visit I, Intrepid Ellen James Society The Survivors Parade God Is A Bullet Concrete Blonde Free C.I.A. Amy Denio Birthing Chair Blues Coldsweat The Sugarcubes Life's Too Good Troy Sinead O'Connor The Lion And the Cobra Dark Green Energy Robyn Hitchcock 12'' single Dear Madam Brown XTC Nonsuch Monkey Man David Byrne Uh-Oh I See You Juliana Hatfield Hey Babe China Tori Amos Little Earthquakes Flying Dutchman Tori Amos "Winter" CD5 Permafrost Area Between Purple And Pink The Moment Slipped Away Christine Lavin Beau Woes Everyman's An Island Jah Wobble Rising Above Bedlam Tavosz Tavosz Marta Sebestyen Apocrypha St. Genevieve's Dance Eden Gateway To The Mysteries Vox Sarah McLachlan Touch Don't Worry Ma Annabouboula In The Baths Of Constantinople If Love Is A Game... Happy Rhodes Ecto Phobos Happy Rhodes Warpaint The Walking Jane Siberry The Walking Still Thrives This Love k.d. lang Ingenue Best Friend Margie Adam Songwriter Blue Stones 17 Pygmies Welcome Seaside Big Hat Shimmer When You Don't Know... Mary Margaret O'Hara Miss America Marlene On The Wall Suzanne Vega Suzanne Vega In Hiding Happy Rhodes Warpaint The Morning Fog Kate Bush Hounds Of Love ========== THE (UN)OFFICIAL HAPPY SAMPLER This is the 100-Minute version, taped from the 5 CDs. However, since the tape I used was in fact a 99-minute tape, the final songs of both sides are missing the last ten or so seconds of them. It's nothing horrendous, since you probably will own the originals soon or already anyway, right? :> Side A Rainkeeper RHODES VOL. I Oh The Drears " Possessed " Case Of Glass " Step Inside " Come Here RHODES VOL. II Let Me Know, Love " Where Do I Go " Perfect Irony REARMAMENT The Issue Is " Friend You'll Be " Ally Ally Oxenfree " If Love Is A Game, I Win ECTO Would That I Could " Side B: Off From Out From Under Me ECTO Project 499 " Ecto " Ode " Poetic Justice " Waking Up WARPAINT Feed The Fire " Phobos " Wrong Century " All Things (Mia ia io) " Words Weren't Made For Cowards " When The Rain Came Down (Bonus :) ========== Enjoy them. Incidentally, if demand dictates I can send a copy of one of my earlier shows to Doug (if he doesn't mind :)- it's shorter and the recording is of infinitely better quality. Happy Listening!!! ======================================================================= |Meredith A. Tarr "Feel the yearning for peace and| |mtarr@eagle.wesleyan.edu happiness..." -Happy Rhodes| ======================================================================= ======================================================================== Date: Sat, 13 Jun 92 12:59 GMT From: Merow!! This is definitely my last post to Ecto.. sooo..let me send Vickies many happy returns and meows.. I want to wish everyone a good summer..i shall see you when i return in August!! I envy everyone thier Cd's and all..hopefully some of my hints to Andrew will mean that they are waiting for me for my birthday!*laugh* I want to second Meredith's endorsement of Gael Budinos works..I havent read _gowwaner Axe_ yet but her other book _Strands of Starlight_ has become a very important part of my life. (pardon my typos with the title..i am on a rather naff terminal here.) to everyone else all i can say it hello and goodbye..see you in August! *hugs to everyone* Courtney!! *meow* ======================================================================== The ecto archives are on hardees.rutgers.edu in ~ftp/pub/hr. There is a README file explaining what is where. Feel free to send me (or leave in the incoming directory, just let me know) things you'd like to have added. -- jessica (jessica@ns1.rutgers.edu)