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 #373 ecto, Number 373 Sunday, 29 November 1992 Today's Topics: *-----------------* Happy's New Album! Late Night on CBC Stereo bday thanks! Today's your birthday friend.... NEXP & SV Re: all things Re: Dance Happy? Re: this'n'that (Includes Bel Canto info) ======================================================================== From: Martin Dougiamas Subject: Happy's New Album! Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1992 13:50:17 +0800 (WST) Scoop! I was talking to Kevin again yesterday and found out a few things about Happy's new (6th) album. a) They're working hard on it. b) They're about 40% of the way through it. c) It's due to be released around February next year. d) It's called ... (drumroll) ... Equipoise ! Wrap your brains around that little beauty! Martin -- ,-----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | I remember the time that you rained all night Martin Dougiamas | | The queen of Siam in my arms martin@marsh.cs.curtin.edu.au | | Remember the time that the islands sank Curtin University | | But nobody opened their eyes Perth, Western Australia | `=== Just One Kiss - The Cure ===============================================' ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 27 Nov 92 01:02:28 EST From: justin@campion.crim.ca (Justin Bur) Subject: Late Night on CBC Stereo I've been intending to mention this for a while... on CBC Stereo (Canadian national radio, 93.5 Montreal, 94.1 Toronto, 103.3 Ottawa, and other frequencies a mari usque ad mare) from 10 pm to midnight Monday to Friday is a music program called Late Night, hosted by Ross Porter. It's not really alternative, nor dedicated to female singers, but I've heard Jane Siberry, Loreena McKennitt, k.d. lang, Sarah McLachlan, Joni Mitchell, Suzanne Vega, Tori Amos, Kate Bush; and the music I don't already know is often worth looking up. The second hour seems to be more interesting than the first (or maybe that's just when I have the radio on more often :-). Tonight was the second time I heard a group called the Skydiggers on the program; both times they caught my attention... Anyone know anything about them? I think I shall go look for them in my CD rental store. Ah, and Late Night has a toll-free request line: 1-800-661-SONG. I just called to request Happy. justin ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1992 06:24:36 -0230 From: eperry@kean.ucs.mun.ca Subject: bday Happy Birthday Justin! Beth ======================================================================== From: depeche@binkley.cs.mcgill.ca (Acme Instant Dehydrated Boulder Kit) Date: Fri, 27 Nov 92 14:27:33 EST Subject: thanks! thanks for all the b-day wishes, everyone! I have been pretty silent lately, I know... I'd like to post more (in fact, I'd really like to be able to read all the messages flying by), but things are very hectic for me... cheers! -Alan -- | Alan Ezust depeche@cs.mcgill.ca McGill University Computer Science | |------------------------Montreal, Quebec, Canada (?)------------------------| | I'm not much of a night person. I'm *definitely* not a morning person. | | I'm not really an afternoon person either. Does this mean I'm a nobody? | ======================================================================== Subject: Today's your birthday friend.... From: klaus@inphobos.w.open.de (Cosmic Vagabond) Date: Fri, 27 Nov 92 21:36:39 GMT i*i*i*i*i*i *************** ***HAPPY******* ********BIRTHDAY*** ******************* ***** Justin Bur ****** *********************** -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Justin Bur Fri November 27 1964 Sagittarius Chip Lueck Thu December 5 1968 Sagittarius Henry Kilmer Wed December 11 1968 CallMeHank Shelby Sun December 13 1970 Roscoe the Frog Laura Clifford Tue December 17 1957 Sagittarius Dirk Kastens Tue December 17 1963 Sagittarius Uli Grepel Wed December 25 1968 Steinbock -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- _____ Klaus Kluge * klaus@inphobos.w.open.de * I'll be here, I'll be (in) Ecto! ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 27 Nov 92 19:31:27 EST From: WretchAwry Subject: Today's your birthday friend... HAPPY BIRTHDAY Justin! (Thoughts of London...after the Kate convention...in the basement of the youth hostel...bunch of us milling around waiting for the others to arrive before going out to eat at the Italian restaurant...playing Happy on my boom box for anyone who might be interested...you're there...it was *so* nice to meet you!) Vickie ======================================================================== Date: Sat, 28 Nov 92 6:10:17 EST From: WretchAwry Subject: NEXP & SV > BTW, Northern Exposure is just starting here next week... do ectophiles > recommend I watch it? I'm probably the most avid Twin Peaks fan in the > southern hemisphere, and I've heard NE is similar in some ways. Well, Martin, I'd vote yes. We think it's a wonderful show, even though we keep forgetting to watch it. Get TP out of your mind though (hey, great to hear that you're a fan, I had no idea!) because NEXP is *nothing* like it. The only similarities are that both shows are offbeat and quirky. Twin Peaks is to Diamanda Galas as NEXP is to Jane Siberry. Get it? NEXP is sweet and funny and offbeat and full of wonderful little slice of life glimpses that are by turns silly, metaphysical, wise, weird, warm, human and interesting. The characters are worth getting to know, the scenery is breathtaking, the music is great and the dialogue is listen-close-or-you'll-miss-something-interesting snappy. Tape it, because I wish we had taped it from the beginning. (If you don't like it after a few episodes, you can always re-use the tapes.) Vickie ps, ok, so TP isn't as serious as Diamanda, but it's nearly as dark and it's the closest analogy I could think of. pps, just the other night, I realized what "Bad Wisdom" is about. Was this song discussed earlier? I remember Alan raved about this song (I agree!) and I remember the lyrics to "Blood Makes Noise" and, more recently, "As Girls Go" being discussed. I'm still not sure if this is my favorite SV album. I have a *very* large soft spot for _Solitude Standing_, mainly because of that song, and "In the Eye." ======================================================================== Date: Sat, 28 Nov 92 6:31:49 EST From: WretchAwry Subject: Re: all things Steve VanD: > I finally got a chance to hear the "Women in Music" show on KAVE > again Monday. Of course, I called in a request for Happy--this > time, "Terra Incognita". Alright! > Hopefully I will work up the urge to go to the record store soon > and get some of these albums that have been leaping out at me. > The last two I have sworn to buy (but not gone out for yet) are > _Sheperd Moons_, and _Hunkpapa_ by the Throwing Muses. I got > exposed to _Hunkpapa_ while at a party, where I was over near the > stereo and got urged to pick a new selection. I looked through > the large stack of CDs, saw the familiar band with the unfamiliar > album title, put it on, and promptly started enjoying it. I also > greatly pleased one of my friends who lived there, who said > something to the effect of "Alright! It's about time we started > scaring people out of here." Alright!! :-) > The newsgroup alt.fan.tmbg recently popped up, reminding me that > I do indeed still enjoy They Might Be Giants. Someone > recommending TMBG-like groups even recommended Thomas Dolby--a > pick I found odd until he mentioned Dolby's _Aliens Ate My > Buick_, a decidedly off-the-wall album. Oh oh! Another group that belongs there is Boston's Hypnotic Clambake, which is somewhat of a cross between TMBG, Camper Van Beethoven, Boiled in Lead, and 3 Mustaphas 3. The CD I bought at the BiL show is called Square Dance Messiah and is very aptly described as "It's like a bar mitzvah on acid" and "...take their tradition with a grain of salt---quite likely some lemon and tequila, too." It's a *lot* of good, strange, fun, with songs like "Chef Mobie's Gumbo Gator" "Rasta Cyborg" "Bulgarian Boogie" and "Ant Man" and 12 more (it's 59:17 long.) I don't know if the band actually exists anymore. I know for sure that their fiddler (Josef Kessler) is now a permanent member of Boiled in Lead. An address for info is: Hypnotic Clambake P.O Box 121 Roslindale, MA 02131 Maury Rosenberg (accordian, keyboards, vocals, writer & producer) (617) 327-5927 Speaking of TMBG, the first time I saw them in concert was in a tiny little club in Kansas City called The Grand Emporium. It was Halloween night, 1988. The opening act was Poi Dog Pondering! I had *so* much fun that night! Vickie ps, Steve, I hope the good citizens of Oregon are staying on their toes and keeping a watchful, wary, paranoid eye on the Citizen's Alliance folks. They'll be back, and they'll be sneaky. ======================================================================== Date: Sat, 28 Nov 92 6:37:25 EST From: WretchAwry Subject: Re: Dance Happy? > Hi all. Was just perusing the latest issue of Tower _Pulse!_, and in the > article "The Best Records of 1992" under 'Dance Music' I found (along with > the expected R&B and hip-hop artists): > > "_Warpaint_ -- Happy Rhodes (Aural Gratification): sensitive singer/songwriter > with a brilliant debut album and a vocal delivery like Kate Bush." That is just too weird....! Too, too, too weird. I am speechless. I'm going to call H&K later and tell them, if they don't know. If they do, maybe they have a clue about it. Am-a-zing! Vickie ======================================================================== Date: Sat, 28 Nov 92 7:03:44 EST From: WretchAwry Subject: Re: this'n'that (Includes Bel Canto info) Klaus says: > Angelos: > > Syd Straw-Promise. What a brilliant album. I remember listening to it in > > Greg's car on some road-trip, and despite the skips (:) ) it made it to > > my to-buy-when-I-can-afford-to list. I am impressed by both the breadth of > > styles, and the vocals. Great CD!! > Hmm, I only know her album "Surprise" which I found quite boring. Oh no, not the song "Sphinx"! That's a *great* song! It's my favorite, anyway. Worth the entire album, which does tend to be uneven to me. I bought the CD just for that one song. (We didn't get to see her in concert last week, btw. Luckily we saw her a few years ago in Kansas City. She was top billed at that one. This one in Chicago was part of a performance art "thing" called Milly's Orchid Show put on my a highly overrated performance artist named Bridget Murphey. I can't stand "Milly" and would have had to put up with her part of the show to get to Syd. I'm not *too* upset about missing it. A little though...) > > The Story-Grace in Gravity. After all the raves here, and a brief (albeit > > disappointing) listen I decided to splurge. I still think they want to > > be Suzanne Vega when they grow up, but at least the songs are good enough > > to warrant their existence. Needs more time to get used to. > Now that's a great album!!! Although I don't see a similarity with S.Vega. I guess I agree more with Angelos, though I bet they are great live and I *am* sorry I missed them when they were here. :-( > Jeff: > > A friend just loaned me Bel Canto's _Birds of Passage_ and _White Out > > Condition_. Looks like I need to add another band to my 'favorites' list. > > Both albums are pretty spectacular. > And the latest "Shimmering warm and bright" is even better. I think > everyone I know and who knows them all agreed on that. Right? Right! > > So whose got some history of the band for me? > Sorry, I don't know anything about the band except of their norwegian > origin and their releases. I still hope that Claudia will write her > "Bel Canto" concert report. She just sticked the concert ticket on > her monitor screen to help remembering her. Good, I can't wait to hear it! Here are some posts that were in rec.music.misc a while back. I thought I'd deleted them and was very happy to find that I hadn't. ---------------------------- Article 48999 (22 more) in rec.music.misc: From: atman@ecst.csuchico.edu (Maxxam's on the horizon) Subject: Re: Bel Canto Date: 21 Nov 91 07:57:52 GMT Organization: California State University, Chico In article <1991Nov20.212559.29607@cbnewse.cb.att.com> mmxg@cbnewse.cb.att.com (mohsen.gamshad) writes: >I saw a disc on the Nettwerk label from a band called >Bel Canto (sp?). Does anyone have their stuff; what do >they sound like. They're Norwegian synth/goth stuff. Lead singer is a woman named Anneli Drecker, who has a fantastic voice. I know of two albums: White Out Conditions Birds Of Passage I haven't listened to White Out Conditions much, because I only have it on cassette. Birds of Passage is full of great songs, ranging from driving synth thump to high, clear, spare arrangements that remind me of icy wind on a mountaintop. Most lyrics are in English, one or two are in Spanish. All of it has a sort of somber quality about it, but Anneli's voice is high and clear, and very smooth. Hard to explain, but definately very good stuff. For hardcore Bel Canto fans, Anneli has another disc out, a collab. with Tsunematsu Matsui, who plays upright electric bass. I haven't listened to it much, but it has a very differnt flavor from Bel Canto. Well, very different isn't exactly right. It's hard to describe. Imagine that Kitaro wanted to make electronic soft synth rock, and had an ice angel sing. That kind of describes it. It is "Song Of Joy/Yorokobi No Uta" CRAMM 066 CD. I got my copy in Germany, but I've heard it is available domestically in the USA now, too. ----- Article 49001 (21 more) in rec.music.misc: Organization: William Rainey Harper College; Palatine, IL 60067 Date: Thursday, 21 Nov 1991 00:54:30 CST From: Steve W Hill Subject: Re: Bel Canto >I saw a disc on the Nettwerk label from a band called >Bel Canto (sp?). Does anyone have their stuff what do >they sound like. There are two Bel Canto albums/CDs: White-Out Conditions Birds of Passage I think they are fantastic albums, I even put _Birds of Passage_ number four on my best albums of 1990 list, coincidentally right next to Dead Can Dance, who I think have a similar style. Bel Canto is more like a large dose of Cocteau Twins with small doses (certain songs, like "Dewy Fields") of DCD, but a little poppier overall. The band is from Norway and some of the songs are in Norwegian. The production is outstanding, _BoP_ is a great show-off CD. Now, I'm sure there will be people who disagree on my comparisons to CT and DCD, but I'm gonna stick with it. Oh, and Anneli Drecker (vocals) has a great voice. (I *think* it's Norway! Sheesh, I'm so uncertain about all this...) --- Steve Hill SHILL@HARPERVM.BITNET "Tear at flesh, rip at skin, smash at doubt..." -The Cure "The wine's Portugese and the bread's only bread" -Legendary Pink Dots ---------------------------------------------------(must dash)-------- Article 49012 (20 more) in rec.music.misc: From: vidarh@stud.cs.uit.no (Vidar Hanssen) Subject: Bel Canto background info Date: 21 Nov 91 12:52:02 GMT Organization: University of Tromsoe, Norway Nice to see some articles on Bel Canto! They are from Tromsoe, Norway. (Well, actually, the band is from my neighbourhood, and Anneli is a friend of mine!) Here's some bacground info: They started out in 87 as a trio (Anneli, Nils & Geir). They went on Interrail with some demo's in their bags, and got a contract on Crammed Discs. They moved to Brussels in the spring of 87, and recorded their first album, White-Out Conditions, released late 87 in Norway & the Benelux countries. A choir on the westcoast of Norway was also called Bel Canto, so they had to change their name to Bel Kanto for Norwegian releases. They kept a low profile in 88, no new releases, and some gigs in Europe. In 89, the debut album was released in England. The album had high positions on import charts in USA, and they got a licencing deal with Nettwerk/Capitol. They went for a promo-tour in Japan. Anneli got in touch with Itsunematsu Matsui, and did some vocals on his album. While not doing much with Bel Canto, they where involved in various house projects. Geir started his project Bleep, and released 4 singles and an album, The North Pole By Submarine. Nils released the single Change This Circus under the name Positive, and Anneli contributed on Y.B.U.'s Keep It Up. Their house involvement also influenced their new album. They start recording summer 89, and Birds Of Passage was released eary 90. A Canadian came all the way to Tromsoe to make a video for the title-track, and they had a wet experience in Ersfjorden, a fjord outside Tromsoe. In the summer, Anneli went to The New York Musical Seminar with a backing tape. She also met Manufacture, and did backing vocals on one track on their latest album. They also did music for a commercial for Mitshubitshi. Geir decided he had moved too far away from Bel Canto's style, and decided to quit to continue on his Bleep project. He has now gone more towards ambiant house, and has changed his name to Biosphere. An album is due this autumn. Bel Canto have just started their Europa tour here in Tromsoe, and played a lot of tracks from their next album, due early 92. They have a new "associated" member, Andreas Eriksen on percussion & synth. The departure of Geir's cold sounds, and the addition of live percussion have made Bel Canto more acoustic, and yet more exotic and moody. Anneli has developed her voice further. She sometimes sounds like Enya, sometimes like Sinead O'Connor, sometimes like Elizabeth Frazer, and sometimes arabian/indian. But all the time with her own personal touch. BTW, someone said that she sang on Norwegian on some tracks: That's not right. She sings on spanish on one track, and I think one is in latin too. I wouldn't mind some Norwegian vocals though! -- __ __ \ \/ / /////////////////////////////////////////////////////// \ / // Vidar Hanssen University Of Tromsoe, Norway /////// \/ // Email: vidarh@stud.cs.uit.no Phone: +47 83 44032 // control, I'm here /////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vickie ======================================================================== 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)