From: owner-ecto-digest To: ecto-digest@ns2.rutgers.edu Subject: ecto-digest V2 #66 Reply-To: ecto@nsmx.rutgers.edu Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Wednesday, 29 March 1995 Volume 02 : Number 066 The Ecto digest is now being generated automatically. Please send problems and questions to: ecto-owner@nsmx.rutgers.edu. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dkastens@titan.rz.Uni-Osnabrueck.DE (Dirk Kastens) Date: Tue, 28 Mar 1995 09:20:53 +0200 Subject: Re: Heather Nova in Stuttgart Hi! Uli wrote: > The show was more or less sold out (difficult to judge from 1st row center...) Hey, I hate those 2m tall people who are standing 1st row center ;-) - ---------- Dirk ______D.Kastens@rz.Uni-Osnabrueck.DE______ ------------------------------ From: elionwyr@onix.com (Lewars Dusti L.) Date: Mon, 27 Mar 95 18:41:40 EST Subject: response to Vicky Re: Toni Childs Glad to hear she's earned the Ecto title. And yeah, her "The Woman's Boat" did get a lot of air-play..but I have to confess to still preferring "Union." Don't know that I fully understand comparing Happy to her, but I guess in the search to find ways to describe or relate to music, anything goes, hmm? Re: Paula Cole I'm beginning to feel darned self-conscious about the whole question of her ancestry! (blush) It's just kinda funny, because I don't personally put a heckuva lot of importance on such issues except maaaaaaaaybe for the colour and flavour ethnicity can give a person. Re: Baudino's tape "For Martha" Yeah, I know the story behind it. I do love it, but I don't listen to it much. The fact that it exists, and the reason for its existance, has given me much respect for Baudino as a human being. --<--<--@ Elionwyr @-->-->-- "I have spread my dreams under your feet; tread softly, for you tread upon my dreams..." ------------------------------ From: mk59200@cc.tut.fi (Markku Kolkka) Date: Tue, 28 Mar 1995 14:56:07 +0300 Subject: Re: Varttina Chicago review >"Finland's Varttina puts rock beat on traditional folk tunes" >By Dennis Polkow (Reprinted without permission) :-) There are a couple of errors in the article I'd like to correct. >Varttina's three female vocalists take traditional Finnish folk tunes and >adapt them to their own sassy, sensual style. Were there really only three singers? I haven't heard about any of the quartet quitting or getting ill. >Not surprisingly, from a group living in a country where the sun is absent >for months at a time, This is quite a gross exaggeration. Only the parts of Finland north of Arctic Circle have a sunless period in winter (the members of Värttinä are from areas south of Arctic Circle), and it lasts only a few weeks. Besides, I think there are parts of the USA (not only Alaska) with colder and snowier winters than southern or central Finland. >much of the music emphasizes loneliness and anxiety, >along with the forbearance of Finnish women. This would fit better on the previous album, "Seleniko", than the latest material. Do the American versions of the albums have translations of the lyrics? "Loneliness and anxiety" doesn't really fit most of the lyrics. >Numerous comparisons have been made to the Mysterious Voices of Bulgaria, >but Varttina has more feminine sound to its staccato vocoalizings, >complemented by a six-member band that includes violin, winds and lute, >accordion, upright bass, acoustic guitar and drums. The backing band is really the part of Värttinä that needs fixing. The instruments and arrangements are just too conventional and boring. I recently borrowed from library a CD by a Swedish/Finnish band Hedningarna, who use the same Eastern Finnish musical tradition as their starting point but in a lot more innovative and exciting manner. Hedningarna started as an instrumental band and caused fear and loathing among folk purists by plugging their self-built medieval-style Scandinavian instruments into distortion boxes and Marshall amplifiers. Later they were joined by two Finnish female singers, and started digging into the same folk poetry archives Värttinä uses. - -- Markku Kolkka mk59200@cc.tut.fi ------------------------------ From: lakrahn@iw.net (Laurel Krahn) Date: Tue, 28 Mar 1995 08:26:11 -0600 Subject: Re: disagreements and bad television (Regarding Pamela Dean-- again, I missed the original message and just saw meth's response. Wish I had time to read all ecto stuff. ) meth: >>She's great, though I dearly wish she'd just let _Tam Lin_ be the brilliant >>coming-of-age novel it desperately wanted to be and left out the faerie >>stuff (which she almost did -- it was so much an afterthought it seemed >>completely out of place). Still, _Tam Lin_ remains one of the only books >>I simply could not put down until I had finished, which completely killed >>the day, but hey, I was traveling at the time anyway. :> kiri: >Ya know, I had just the opposite reaction to Tam Lin. It mostly bored me. >My sister went to Carleton C. and I know the place well, and found the >book really cool in that respect, but for some reason I just could not get >into it.... oh well, can't love everything :) Of course the faery elements of _Tam Lin_ were kindof the point. It is one in Terri Windling's excellent series of Fairy Tales books. And Pamela based the book on the ballad. Tho I must admit the whole fey aspect is very subtle-- too much so for me. Or grafted on. Yet... I hear on repeated readings there's more to it. I probably just missed a lot of stuff. It was a "can't put down" book for me. As with most of Pamela's work. The college aspect was fun, the characters were memorable. At first I recall myself wondering where the fantastic element was, rushing through the book and counting pages. Then I let myself go and enjoyed it. Wished I'd savored it more. :) I can't really pick a "favorite Scribblie"-- too difficult. Pamela Dean, Steven Brust, Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, and Kara Dalkey are all really good. Patricia C. Wrede and Nate Bucklin are also fun, tho no longer with the Scribblies writing group. They're still around. Then there are other Mpls area folk such as John M. Ford (always a MUST read) and Joel Rosenberg. (blatant plug: Pamela's latest novel, _The Dubious Hills_, just came out in paperback this month.) Also, Pamela recently sold another novel to Tor. I have the title lying around here somewhere, but I don't recall details on the book. Bestest, Laurel Krahn /// lakrahn@iw.net Director of Operations /// 800.386.IWAY Iway Internet Services /// http://www.iw.net/ ------------------------------ From: Neile Graham Date: Tue, 28 Mar 1995 08:34:30 -0800 (PST) Subject: Baudino, Bull, Dean, and Hedningarna Sir Footah the Greg sez: > >So, in the end, i feel that Ms. Baudino's words don't quite fit > >together as well as I'd like. The characters and plot and harps and > >guitars and such kept me well entertained, but I wasn't, mm, > >transported quite as much as I was by Ms. Bull's book, for all that > >the latter was, perhaps, more naive and less ambitious... Meth sez: > Hmmm.. *exactly* the opposite of my perceptions of the two novels. This > is starting to get frightening. Greg's is my perception as well. I find Baudino's ideas better than her writing ability. I've read at least 5 of her books, and each time I find myself wanting a bit more character and bit more grounding. Maybe as a writer and editor I'm more critical than most, but I find Emma Bull's stuff both better written and more fully realized. I must admit I haven't read _War for the Oaks_ since it first came out in paper, but I did just finish _Finder_. > >Of all that scribbly bunch, my favorite remains Pamela Dean. > She's great, though I dearly wish she'd just let _Tam Lin_ be the brilliant > coming-of-age novel it desperately wanted to be and left out the faerie > stuff (which she almost did -- it was so much an afterthought it seemed > completely out of place). Still, _Tam Lin_ remains one of the only books > I simply could not put down until I had finished, which completely killed > the day, but hey, I was traveling at the time anyway. :> Here I agree about this book. The Tam Lin story seemed grafted on to a college novel. The fantastic elements in the story didn't fit for me at all. Here again I'm probably more critical than most because I LOVE Diana Wynne Jones's version of the Tam Lin tale, _Fire and Hemlock_, which I've probably read 10 times and each time I feel the magic in the story better. I did like _The Dubious Hills_ a lot, though. Markku Kolkka writes: > I recently borrowed from library a CD by a Swedish/Finnish band > Hedningarna, who use the same Eastern Finnish musical tradition as > their starting point but in a lot more innovative and exciting manner. > Hedningarna started as an instrumental band and caused fear and > loathing among folk purists by plugging their self-built medieval-style > Scandinavian instruments into distortion boxes and Marshall amplifiers. > Later they were joined by two Finnish female singers, and started > digging into the same folk poetry archives Vdrttind uses. Hedningarna has an album shortly to be released state-side by Green Linnet. I'll definitely be looking for it. I saw a review of it on the Dirty Linen web pages: http://www.dirtynelson.com/linen/ - --Neile neile@u.washington.edu ------------------------------ From: Mike Mendelson Date: 28 Mar 95 11:51:07 EST Subject: hello ecto! Great news about Val returning to Chicago... and what Meth says about artists not coming here is not true -- but they're all here this week... Laurie Anderson just came, Kirsty MacColl last night (I missed it -- did anyone go), Sarah and Paula tomorrow, Victoria on Thu., Jewel for 2 more weeks, etc. Well, maybe Happy will come next month. (not) - -mjm ------------------------------ From: Jeffrey Hanson Date: Tue, 28 Mar 1995 09:43:44 -0800 Subject: Jewel Got mail from Jewel (or at least Jewel's e-mail address): Here's what it says: Jeff, Thank you!! Anyone you can get to call stations where ever they are in the US, or to buy from Tower or Warehouse records (that's how Atlantic keeps track) will really help me beat the odds! I'm on tour now and hope to do a mid-April S.D. show. Warmly, Jewel ------------------------------ From: Mike Mendelson Date: 28 Mar 95 12:49:30 EST Subject: HNIA CD -- King of Sweet |His Name Is Alive CD King of Sweet (out of print limited | edition) 72 minutes long. It's a limited-edition (2,000) CD of theirs put out by a small Chicago label called Perdition Plastics. Does anybody own this or has anyone heard it? I think it may pre-date Livonia. I may be able to buy this. What would *you* pay for this? Any info/recommendations appreciated. Please send email directly to me (of course you can Cc: ecto if you like, but I want to get email directly instead of waiting for the digest). Thanks in advance! - -mjm (mjm@zylab.mhs.compuserve.com) ------------------------------ From: justicek@edge.ercnet.com (Kim Justice) Date: Tue, 28 Mar 1995 11:52:07 -0500 Subject: ecto: taxonomy I'm not sure if this idea goes anywhere, but it's been running through my mind the past few days and it's mildly relevant to the list. Figuring out these categories has helped clarify my personal reactions to various ecto artists. Have fun. It occurs to me that ecto artists generally fall into one of three categories: 1. Singer/Songwriters This one's pretty obvious. These are folks who work very hard to hone their songwriting craft. In interviews, they often talk about songwriting and songwriters. When playing live, their preferred format is solo, just them and their guitar or piano. They seem to have a fair appreciation of their own voices, and enjoy singing a great deal. They can and do use technology, but don't enjoy it for its own sake. Their arrangements tend to be spare rather than lush or complex. Key words: earnest, serious Possible examples: Jewel, Sarah, Tori, Indigo Girls 2. Composers These people are interested in tonal structures, complex arrangements, and textures. They often ignore customary song structure. They are heavily involved in arranging their material, often composing entire albums in their own home studios. They tend to be fascinated with technology, especially sequencers and sampling machines. In interviews, they often relate a great deal of discomfort with their singing voices; one result of this is that they tend to tamper with their voices on record, running them through various distortion devices and harmonizers, speeding them up, slowing them down. Key words: cerebral, humorous Possible examples: Jane, Laurie, Kate, Happy 3. Chanteuses These folks tend not to do their own arranging or writing. Their sole strength is their voice, their ability to interpret and bring emotion to another's songs. Key words: involving, transparent Possible examples: Annie Lennox (Actually, this category was invented to account for AL's being discussed within the ecto list.) Does "Anal Retentive" have a hyphen? kj - -- justicek@edge.ercnet.com (Kim Justice) "We can play that song a lot better, only not tonight." -- John Linnell ------------------------------ From: krb@fluent.com (Ken Blake) Date: Tue, 28 Mar 95 13:37:11 EST Subject: Re: cats and lasers (non-ecto) Meredith writes: >A final note for the cat-owned in the audience: The best cat toy in the >known universe is the red laser pointer pen. It's remote-control: you can >sit in the center of your apartment and shine the little red dot off of any >surface in the place, and drive your cat absolutely NUTS. We did some >serious psychological damage to Puck yesterday ... A word of caution: I tried this sort of thing a number of years ago on a kitten. However after a few days of this I started to noticed a distinct change in the cat's behavior towards other (normal) objects. I became concerned that introducing something that can be seen but not felt, that could appear and disappear, was starting to cause irreparable damage to the cat's world view. An adult cat would probably just become extremely frustrated since it could _never_ catch it, but a kitten is still developing its concept of the world. So unless you intend to perform psychological experiments on your cats, I would avoid this with kittens. For those that are laser challanged, a flashlight (a penlight is best) will also work but doesn't seem to hold the cat's interest as long. Ken ------------------------------ From: Michael Colford Date: Tue, 28 Mar 1995 14:00:16 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: ecto: taxonomy On Tue, 28 Mar 1995, Kim Justice wrote: > > 3. Chanteuses > These folks tend not to do their own arranging or writing. Their sole > strength is their voice, their ability to interpret and bring emotion to > another's songs. > Key words: involving, transparent > Possible examples: Annie Lennox (Actually, this category was invented to > account for AL's being discussed within the ecto list.) All very interesting, and appreciated, but I just wanted to point out that Annie Lennox does indeed compose her own stuff (with the obvious exception being her new album of covers.) So I would have to move her into the Composers section. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael Colford | Reading Public Library | Reading, Massachusetts colford@noble.mass.edu | *North of Boston Library Exchange* -------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ From: Ulrich Grepel Date: Tue, 28 Mar 95 22:14:00 +0200 Subject: Re: Heather Nova in Stuttgart Hi again! I quoted Dirk: > > Hey, I hate those 2m tall people who are standing 1st row center ;-) > > Sorry, but neither ducking nor going to the back end of the hall is really > an option I like... :-/. I know, but at least the stage was about 1m high. > > Bye, > > Uli P.S.: I'm only 1.98m, so why do I feel guilty? ;-) - -- "Ein 32-Bit-Betriebssystem fuer uns?" - "Wozu? Wir haben doch zwei mit 16." [IBM ad promoting OS/2] ------------------------------ From: Ulrich Grepel Date: Tue, 28 Mar 95 21:29:58 +0200 Subject: Re: Heather Nova in Stuttgart Hi! Dirk wrote: > Uli wrote: > > The show was more or less sold out (difficult to judge from 1st row center...) > > Hey, I hate those 2m tall people who are standing 1st row center ;-) Sorry, but neither ducking nor going to the back end of the hall is really an option I like... :-/. I know, but at least the stage was about 1m high. Bye, Uli - -- "Ein 32-Bit-Betriebssystem fuer uns?" - "Wozu? Wir haben doch zwei mit 16." [IBM ad promoting OS/2] ------------------------------ From: itos@pavlov.psyc.queensu.ca (Steve Ito) Date: Tue, 28 Mar 95 18:24:07 EST Subject: Jewel transcription: JEWEL SPARKLES (cross-posted to Jewel mailing list) Sorry, this is a bit out of date, but here is a transcription of a review of Jewel: typos all mine. From the March 16 NOW (Toronto's Weekly News and Entertainment Voice) - -----------transcription begins------------------------------- JEWEL SPARKLES In the ongoing crop of new-and-improved young geniuses that major labels so conveniently discover each year, even the most cynical of cynics would be hard-pressed not to like Atlantic's newest, Jewel Kircher (sp.). The 20-year-old guitar playing, poetry-writing, van-living, idealism-spouting blond--a pretyy surfer of Swedish descent--certainly looks like an A&R dream (possibly even wet dream). But once she starts on her soul-baring songs, it's tough not to be disarmed by her genuine honesty and mature wit. Starting the first of a four-week Monday residency at the cosy C'est What pub, Jewel carries the mannerisms of a just-graduated teenager. But behind her shy laughs and shrugs she possesses a real talent for writing about boldly idealistic and universal themes. She's also one heck of a guitar player, forging through difficult fingerings without drawing attention to them. Sounding not unlike Tori Amos in her pleas for understanding and love, Jewel warms up as she recalls anecdotes from her paradoxical naive/experience persona. From cold-outhouse stories from her Alaska home to a retelling of a laughably surreal encounter with Ike Turner during her San Diego coffee-house days, Jewel's delivery is refreshingly free of irony. Imagine Victoria Jackson with some real songs. With a sense of humour, she'll start with achingly childlike songs and words and suddenly shift to parody, spoofing rock-babe images through acoustic riffs. But just when you think her cards are all revealed, Jewel wraps her hour-long set with some gentle sentiment about her dad's thick eyebrows and launches into an awesome display of yodelling worthy of the Von Trapp family. In a way, Jewel is Beck's free-spirited opposite, his folkiy female double--both are young, talented and on major labels. Let's hope they're wise enough to keep the preying vultures at bay long enough to fulfill their potential. Catch Jewel Monday at C'est What before she starts appearing on SPIN magazine covers. - - Andrew Sun JEWEL, at C'est What, Monday, March 13. Attendance: 50 Tickets: Free Rating: Highly Entertaining. - ----------transcription ends-------------------------- reprinted without permission. There is a picture accompanying the article (sort of a wierd shot up her nose), with the caption: Jewel's C'est What residency launch Monday suggested stardom is in the cards. I was at this show, and the one after, and holy smoke did this review (and some radio play on a local radio station) ever increase attendance. While the first show was only half full, the second was packed to the rafters. Yesterday she got even more publicity, appearing on Canada's music television station, MuchMusic, and playing some songs live at CFNY, Toronto's "alternative rock" radio station. Unfortunately, I didn't catch either of these appearances, I was told about them by a friend who I'd turned on to Jewel. I didn't get to see her last night in Toronto, either, since I was at the Page/Plant concert, but I'll bet you couldn't even get in unless you got there really early. Steve - ----------------------------------------------------------------- Steve Ito, R.A. | "Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says Psychology Dept. | differently is selling something." Queen's University | -- The Dread Pirate Roberts Kingston, ON, Can. | ------------------------------ From: "Mitchell A. Pravatiner" Date: Tue, 28 Mar 95 18:51:22 EST Subject: Surfacing... After a week, the Carolina Toasternet has emerged from the latest crash, and so have I. At least I managed to get the backlog below 300 today :-). Condolences to Bob. I've been the pet-loss route before, so I know the feeling. WRT Veronica's query: Sandra Bullock was also in _Demolition Man_, opposite Sly Stallone, and _The Thing Called Love_, River Phoenix's last picture and well worth seeing for its own sake. What is Paula Cole supposed to be, ethnically? I always took Toni Childs for white. Off to slog thru the drizzle, a day after I lost my umbrella. Back one of these days or tomorrow, whichever comes first. Mitch ------------------------------ From: Greg Bossert Date: Wed, 29 Mar 95 0:57:39 EST Subject: Re: ecto-digest V2 #65 Amy (RedGtrGirl \--->:) (that's my stratocaster smiling ;) requests: > One more thing... someone please briefly explain WWW and FAQ to me - > I'm a little new at this Internet thang..... FAQ = Frequently Asked Questions (with a hopefully deliberate pun on 'fact'). this usually refers to a document that answers all the common questions about some topic, so that each newcomer to that topic doesn't waste their (and others) time going over old ground. the Ecto FAQ is maintained by Vickie Mapes and talks about Happy's background, discography, concerts, the history of Ecto, etc. i'm sending you a copy in a separate message :) the FAQ is also available via WWW: WWW = World Wide Web. [terse long answer] The Web is, according to originator Tim Berners-Lee and the unlikely lot of us attempting to standardize the thing, the information layer of the Net; it consists of all the informational elements available on the Net, and all the odd links and relationships in between them. In this model, mail messages and mailing lists (like Ecto), Usenet newsgroups (like alt.music.ecto or rec.music.gaffa), archives of electronic documents that can be retrieved remotely, interactive services that can be accessed remotely, and even all of us Ectophiles are part of the Web. The name comes from that fact that all these elements of information connect to one another (often in surprising ways) to form a web of associations that geographically and imaginatively spans the world. The Web's structure rests on top of the InterNet, which is the hardware and software that makes the Net run, the computers and wires and fiber-optic cables and satellite links and routers and name servers and such, and the physical and logical relationships between those things. [wordy short answer] The Web is the set of electronic documents and services that you can access over the InterNet using "Web Browser" software, such as NCSA Mosaic or Netscape Mosaic. You can (depending on the exact software and how well you are connected to the Net) view and download text, pictures, animations, play sounds, fill out forms, access databases of useful information, etc. Even better, you can follow links from one thing to another more or less related thing, simple by clicking on a a word of picture -- for example, click on the words "Ecto Home Page" on the Ecto Archives page (which lives on one of my machines here in new jersey) and you get whisked away to Neil's documents in vancouver. The Web is *much* bigger, and far more interesting, than commercial services like CompuServe or Genie, since it is more or less free and open to everyone. Anyone with the right equipment and connection to the Net can run their own server -- there is no central control or authority at all. It is very cool. Some Web buzzwords: Mosaic: the name for several brands of Web Browser software, available for PCs, Macintoshes, and various Unix workstations. The popular media and many people who should know better often confuse Mosaic (just one brand of Web client) with the Web itself. URL: Uniform Resource Locator. a Web address: you can type the URL for an item into your browser to access the item. see my mention of the Cardiff Movie database below for a real live URL... HTML: HyperText Markup Language. a set of special symbols and words you can add to a document to make it look fancier when displayed with a Web Browser. HTML is also the most common way to add links between documents, hence the "hypertext" bit. HTTP: Hypertext Transfer Protocol. an InterNet "protocol" or communication scheme used to access things from the Web. "FTP" and "gopher" are similar (but less flexible) schemes for doing the same thing. *** a heaping pile of cool beans and a festive "footah!" to Valerie on the occasion of her new job!! :) *** i confessed: > * Milla, "Divine Comedy" - Having embarrassed oneself (one hopes) > [opinions regarding Ms. Jovovich's physical appearance deleted...] > hopes, again), the music more than stood on its own. to which Meth: > Greg, Greg, Greg.... according to my friend Chris Nairn down in dallas, I was as of yesterday the only person in the world who didn't know that Milla was a fashion model and actress before embarking on her musical career (with great success, IM-rarely-HO). i immediately referred to my favorite Web resource, the Cardiff movie database: and got the list of movies in which she has appeared. alas, if i only had a video rental card. and a vcr. and a tv. *sigh* ;) *** me> note that Jewel reminded me somewhat of Tori's quirkiness, and I think me> Tori's quirkiness has been wearing thin recently... meth> Um, are you feeling okay? This is one of the first signs of meth> true madness, you know... you should relax a bit more. :) relax? reLAX?! RELAX?!?!? i have some small hopes of relaxing for 15 minutes on the 8th of next month, as long as things go well. *** meth> Still, _Tam Lin_ remains one of the only books I simply could meth> not put down until I had finished, which completely killed the meth> day, but hey, I was traveling at the time anyway. kiri> Ya know, I had just the opposite reaction to Tam Lin. It mostly kiri> bored me. My sister went to Carleton C. and I know the place kiri> well, and found the book really cool in that respect, but for kiri> some reason I just could not get into it.... oh well, can't love kiri> everything :) can try ;) yeah, having survived four frigid years at Carleton myself, i enjoyed wandering around the _Tam Lin_ version. you know the ghost that wanders unexplained around the (only) all-female dorm? that whole bit fit that building so well it still makes me shiver :) between the in-jokes and references, though, and what Merideth said, i agree that the book isn't quite perfect. The Hidden Land books, though, including the newest, _The Dubious Hills_, are. :) *** the best cat toy in the universe is the human. pawtah! - --+ greg bossert rutgers university network services +-- - --+ bossert@noc.rutgers.edu +-- - --+ http://www-ns.rutgers.edu/~bossert +-- - --+ i have never been afraid to change -- Happy +-- - --+ the circumstances of the world -- Rhodes +-- ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V2 #66 ************************* ======================================================================== Please send any questions or comments about the list to ecto-owner@nsmx.rutgers.edu