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 #588 ecto, Number 588 Tuesday, 25 May 1993 Today's Topics: *-----------------* Cranes 'Forever' Mr. Harris Re: Take four Vivaldi Last call for volunteers Cyndi Lauper in New York City Catching up is hard to do Re: A Slight Klaus ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 25 May 93 12:59:34 EDT From: Laura Frank Clifford Subject: Cranes 'Forever' >Meredith notes: >> The new Cranes album seems incredible, judging by the previewing I >> got to do today. Definitely worth checking out. >This album got a fine review in Politiken last week: The new reviewer >I mentioned a couple of weeks ago seems to have Ectoish tastes... I heard the first 30 minutes of this on the way to work this a.m. - it's just great!!! Not quite as 'hard' as 'Wings of Joy' (at least not the beginning). Robert Smith (The Cure) will be remixing one of their songs (the album title 'Forever' is named for a Cure song). Can't wait for them to hit Boston this summer! Laura ======================================================================== Date: 25 May 93 13:28:11 EDT From: Mike Mendelson Subject: Mr. Harris Jeff wrote on Ecto: > >If you're really into sad songs, check out the new > >Aimee Mann album "Whatever." Brilliant stuff, but I wish > >she'd write a couple of happy tunes once in a while just to mix > >it up. > > What's "unhappy" about about "Mr. Harris"? I think it's a lovely, > upbeat love song. [I'm moving this thread to Ecto because, hey, Ecto is just way cooler, ok?] Jeff, you're kidding, right? I find Mr. Harris to be just about the saddest song on the whole album. But maybe I'm missing something. It is, to me, a little cryptic. I mean, she starts off talking about, I presume, Mr. Harris, an aging gentleman who looks like James Stewart, etc., then the chorus shifts to, I presume, her contemporary who she's having (yet another) failing relationship with: "...you've waited so long and I've waited long enough for you." I take this to be referring to her own love interest, not Mr. Harris. Then, she talks about her mom saying maybe she's looking for a father figure (i.e. perhaps someone more like Mr. Harris than this other loser; but who *is* Mr. Harris?)... then it's back to the chorus, and ending with meeting someone (Mr. Harris? The loser?) raking leaves in a tiny yard. So my take on this song is she's using an esteemed elderly gentleman, who she likes and respects, etc., as a foil for her unsuccessful relationship with said loser, who is waiting for her, and she's waiting for him, and heck, she's waited long enough (very sad) and, hey, BTW, her mom thinks maybe she should go for someone more distinguished (or maybe she's *looking* for someone more) like Mr. Harris. Clearly, not a happy song to me. And you? (I guess maybe a transcription of the lyrics would help here, but I don't have CD with me.) -mjm ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 25 May 93 14:12:10 EDT From: heath@blaze.cs.jhu.edu Subject: Re: Take four "Dennis G Parslow" writes: >Actually, the same guy introduced me to both Suzanne Vega and Kate >Bush! He was a equal expletive employer her>, but I always forgave him for that reason. ??? What are you talking about? -dave ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 25 May 93 15:56:56 EDT From: kosky@saul.cis.upenn.edu (Anthony Kosky) Subject: Vivaldi I'm just trying to catch up with ecto digests, so this subject may have already been covered in depth and I haven't read it yet. Still I feel compelled to voice an objection: it would seem like a great disservice to ecto to let such a recommendation pass without comment... Yngve wrote: >Let's stop somewhat by the music of Vivaldi...You can say much about >Nigel Kennedy but he know how to make music become new again. I bought >his recording of The Four Seasons and the only thing I can say about >it is go listen to it...It's so very wonderful done. I quite strongly disagree. Nigel Kennedy's interpretation of The Four Seasons, and most everything else he's done recently that I've heard, is simply awful. I'm surprised that a violinist or classical musician could possibly like it. He covers the music with lots of embelishments and technical showing off, which simply doesn't fit in with the piece, but has no feeling for the soul of the music whatsoever. A good violinist plays with feeling, and his technical ability is used to express the emotions of a piece, not as an end in themselves. There are many excelent recordings of The Four Seasons around, including various authentic-insttruments recordings which give it a freshness and life it deserves. I'm particularly fond of the Christopher Hogwood/Academy Of Ancient Music recording myself. (God knows why Jackie couldn't run off with a decent violinist :-(). -Anthony ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 25 May 93 22:31:37 +0200 From: yngveh@stud.cs.uit.no (Yngve Hauge) Subject: Re: Vivaldi > I quite strongly disagree. Nigel Kennedy's interpretation of The Four > Seasons, and most everything else he's done recently that I've heard, > is simply awful. I'm surprised that a violinist or classical musician Maybe in some ears it will sound awful but as long as you can't compare a recording with another (like you can't compare an artist/group with another) I am not trying to either. Let's say it like this - The Four Seasons recording of his is the only one I really like cause of the way he uses the violine to express feelings that (IMHO) are not there in its original form. But that could be different from person to person and is not possible to discuss. When the other recordings of his is conserned I just can't think of him playing stuff like Beethoven's or Tchaikowsky's. Has someone of you heard Camilla Wicks' recording of Sibelius Violine Concerto or maybe Heyfetz's (sp?)? I haven't heard the first one but I've always loved the second. The first time I heard this concerto I was surpriced of how much feeling he was able to get into his playing. And I still don't understand how people are able to play some parts of this concerto. The funny thing is that everything Heyfetz did was faster than played than everyone elses recordings. (He always refused to play a something more than once when he recorded cause as he did very few mistakes he said they were a present to the listeners) Hope this will clear something out...... Regards, -- T ---- Only In Your Eyes Lies Your Soul.............. H | --- ----- ---- --- - -- - - - - - --- E |-- | | | | | | |__| | | |_ | | | | | |--- | | | | | --- --- - - ---- - - - -- - - - --- --- Yngve Hauge (yngveh@stud.cs.uit.no).....University of Tromsoe...Norway ======================================================================== Subject: Re: Mr. Harris Date: Tue, 25 May 93 17:37:46 -0400 From: jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu >Jeff wrote on Ecto: Actually, I wrote it in Love-Hounds... >> What's "unhappy" about about "Mr. Harris"? I think it's a lovely, >> upbeat love song. > >[I'm moving this thread to Ecto because, hey, Ecto is just way cooler, >ok?] Fine with me. We'd probably get flamed off Gaffa anyway. Hey, on that subject, what the hell is Jorn still doing posting to r.m.g? >Jeff, you're kidding, right? Not in the least. >I find Mr. Harris to be just about the >saddest song on the whole album. But maybe I'm missing something. I think you're looking a little too closely and missing the forest for the trees. >It is, to me, a little cryptic. I mean, she starts off talking about, >I presume, Mr. Harris, an aging gentleman who looks like James Stewart, >etc., then the chorus shifts to, I presume, her contemporary who >she's having (yet another) failing relationship with: > >"...you've waited so long and I've waited long enough for you." Bzzt. I think your problem is that the song, as far as I can tell, is about an intergenerational love affair, between the aged Mr. Harris and the younger protaganist. Sort of _Harold and Maude_ with the ages reversed. In this light, the chorus makes perfect sense. Mr. Harris has waited far too long to fall in love, and the younger protaganist has waited "long enough." >I take this to be referring to her own love interest, not Mr. Harris. Why do you assume that Mr. Harris isn't her love interest? >BTW, her mom thinks maybe she should go for someone more distinguished >(or maybe she's *looking* for someone more) like Mr. Harris. Her mother is, if anything, insulting her for falling in love with an older man. Or at least criticizing. "So he's retired Lives with his sister in a furnished flat he's got this suit that he'll never wear outside without a hat his hair is white but he looks half his age he looks like Jimmy Steward in his younger days. And honestly, I might be stupid to think love is love but I do and you've waited so long I've waited long enough for you. My mother's calling from where she's living up in Troy, Vermont she tries to tell me a father figure must be what I want I've always thought age makes no difference am I the only one to whom that's making sense? And honestly, I might be crazy to think love is love but I do and you've waited so long and I've waited long enough for you. The day I met him he was raking leaves in his tiny yard. Of course I know that we've only got ten years, or twenty left but to be honest I'm happy with whatever time we get depending on whichever book you read sometimes it takes a lifetime to get what you need. And honestly, I might be stupid to think love is love but I do and you've waited so long and I've waited long enough for you." --Aimee Mann If anything is sad about the song, it's that society won't readily accept such a relationship ("I've always thought age made no difference / am I the only one to whom that's making sense?"). And I guess that's made clear by your own misguided interpretation of the song. Jeff (who will admit that he's always been attracted to older men, though not usually ones quite so old as Mr. Harris is portrayed to be...;-) ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 25 May 93 17:36:03 CDT From: The 1993 HBP War Cabinet Subject: Last call for volunteers This is the last call for applicants to act as the coordinator/compiler for the 1993 Happy Birthday Project tape. As we mentioned in a post a few weeks ago, the job calls for an ectophile with high quality tape dubbing equipment, ideally including the capacity to record live through a microphone. People would send their musical interludes and spoken intros to the coordinator, who would then assemble them--inserting additional spoken bits as needed--into a final product, which would be sent to Happy in time for her birthday on August 9. Persons familiar with the 1991 Happy [solstice] Gift Project, the first of its kind, will already have some notion of what all this is about. Those interested in applying should email Doug Burks (dbx@olympic.atmos.colosta te.edu) or me (U15289@uicvm.uic.edu) by Tuesday, June 1 with a description of their technical armamentarium. We'll be in touch. Mitch and Doug ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 25 May 1993 20:41:16 -0400 (EDT) From: Suspended In Duct Tape Subject: Cyndi Lauper in New York City Hi! (I'm cross-posting this to the newly-formed Cyndi Lauper mailing list, although I don't intend to subscribe...) The current issue of the New Yorker has the following to say about Cyndi: "Less than a decade ago, Cyndi Lauper and Madonna were the two most dazzling SWFs of the dawning music-video age. But while Madonna went on to give new meaning to the phrase `world domination', Ms. Lauper- well, what *did* happen to Ms. Lauper? The singer's heady 1984 debut album, "She's So Unusual", spawned four hit singles and earned her Rolling Stone's Best New Artist and Ms.'s Woman of the Year awards. But her next two releases, "True Colors" (1986) and "A Night To Remember" (1989), generated progressive- ly diminishing returns. Worse, her image as a kooky but independent woman was eclipsed by poor career management and an unfortunate decision to hitch her star to the world of professional wrestling. "In the past couple of years, Ms. Lauper has quietly regrouped. She got married, to the actor David Thornton; she acted in the upcoming film "Life With Mikey", with Michael J. Fox; and she immersed herself in making a new album, "Hat Full Of Stars". Ms. Lauper's manager, Brian Avnet, says the singer was determined to exercise total control over the project, which took two and a half years to complete. She co-produced the album and co-wrote all the songs with artists like Mary-Chapin Carpenter and Nicky Holland. As in the past, she fearlessly traverses a range of styles, but the big departure here is an infusion of crisp, up-to-the-minute dance and hip-hop grooves. Ms. Lauper will preview this strong and confident new work at Irving Plaza on May 26. And this time, Mr. Avnet promises, `you're not going to see a lot of wrestlers around her.'" She'll be at Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place at 15th street on Wednesday, May 26, 1993. For more information, call them at (212) 249-8870. Yours from the Ministry of Information Retrieval, Meredith Tarr meth@delphi.com ======================================================================== Subject: Catching up is hard to do Date: Tue, 25 May 93 22:23:01 EDT From: Angelos Kyrlidis hmmm... being caught up in my writing activities, and a newly acquired cold has left me little time to add my voice to the current topics of ecto-interest. But, since I just downed my dose of faux-Nyquil and will soon start feeling the effects let me briefly comment on a couple of things. a) Ectophiles guide N,O,P. Can't believe Sinead O'Connor was left out... Let me say a couple of things about Elli Paspala though. She has a wonderful melancholic voice. She spent a great deal of time in the US growing up, and then moved to Greece to start a music career. She was discovered by Manos Hadjidakis, the only other Greek to win an academy award for the theme from 'Never on Sunday', and one of the two major innovators of Greek popular music (the other being Mikis Theodorakis). She sang in several of Hadjidakis works and in the late 80s went solo. Her most(?) recent album, 'the island of the lotus eaters' (to nisi twn lwtofagwn) has a jazzy, melancholic mood and was originally planned to be recorded in English too (since she is fluent and doesn't have an accent) with aspirations of an international release. These plans didn't work out, but the greek version remains one of the nicest albums released in the last 3-4 years in greece. b) Aimee Mann. What Jeff said. I think he hit 'Mr harris' right on the head :) c) MSG (not the food additive). I have mixed feelings about 'Suspiria'. Maybe if I had seen them live before EN I would have had a different opinion, but I still can't decide if I like it or hate it (sort of like my opinion about Bel Canto). d) Vickie. *HUG* That's all for now. Back ah, well, whenever. Angelos 'the harder the case is, the faster the race is, the harder and faster we fall' ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 25 May 93 21:36:49 AEST From: anthony@xymox.apana.org.au (Anthony Horan) Subject: Re: A Slight Klaus In apana.lists.rec.happy-rhodes, article <9305242349.AA10709@sphere.home.id.dth.dk>, you wrote: [This is both a test of the now-newsgated Ecto list here, and a question.] > was in Budapest, a guy stopped me on the street because he wanted > to read my t-shirt. And yes, I was wearing the AG t-shirt! :-) (Ears prick up!) T-shirt? Can I order one of these? It'd be great for puzzling the masses with at work.... :-) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anthony Horan, Melbourne Australia - anthony@xymox.apana.org.au "Something about this place makes me lose a grip on time and space..." - Saint Etienne ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ======================================================================== 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)