From: owner-ecto-digest To: ecto-digest@ns2.rutgers.edu Subject: ecto-digest V2 #94 Reply-To: ecto@nsmx.rutgers.edu Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Wednesday, 3 May 1995 Volume 02 : Number 094 The Ecto digest is now being generated automatically. Please send problems and questions to: ecto-owner@nsmx.rutgers.edu. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: kcd@romulus.cray.com (Kevin Dekan {x66440 CF/DEV}) Date: Wed, 3 May 95 10:41:46 CDT Subject: Comments from a newbie Hi all! I'm a refugee from the FTE list who has been lurking around ecto for the past couple weeks. Perhaps some of you will recall me from FTE. If so, (Happy pun intended:-) it's good to catch up with you again! So far I like what I see on the ecto list! I can tell my CD budget will be taking a thrashing however. So much new music to check out... The WWW page is way cool and very informative. And the digest helps me out big time. So much easier to manage. Anyhoot, for my obligatory musical musings, I would like to mention that I was fortunate enough to be in the audience for Mary Black's show at the Guthrie Theatre in MNPLS last nite. I know Mary probably doesn't qualify as an "ecto" type of artist but I think many here would probably like her music. For those who are not familiar with her, she is an Irish folk singer who has been around for quite some time now. I believe she has 6 or 7 albums out. She has a very powerful voice and sings with great emotion. She does not write any of her own material, but does an excellent job of interpreting the writers lyrics through her singing. Last nite, she had to hobble around on the stage a bit as she had sprained her ankle a couple days previous. You could see this bothered her when they played some of their more spirited numbers. She got on quite well though. And was joking about it throughout the evening. One of my favorite songs of the night was a tune I had not heard her sing before. It was a cover of a Billie Holliday song called "Don't Explain". It showed off Mary's singing range and really moved the soul. All in all, it was a marvelous show. I believe she has about half a dozen dates left on this current tour in the States. If anyone is interested I can let you know where and when she is playing. As a testament to my contrast in musical tastes, I also saw Portishead at the same venue a couple weeks back. Another fine show. But of course in an entirely different sense. Their style is just so dark and moody... and hypnotic. Touring on the strength of their debut album "Dummy" Portishead is sure to pick up some new fans along the way. I think they have great potential. I really liked Beth Gibbons voice. She fits in perfectly with what they are trying to do. Her performance singing "Sour Times" was nothing short of spectacular. I think they may have a few shows left in the States before they head back across the big pond. Well, I've rambled on quite long enough for a first post and I thank you for reading. Kevin D. (who's happy he checked out the ecto list!) ------------------------------ From: veronica sawyer Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 09:03:14 -0700 (PDT) Subject: re: musical mould, topic entropy (entropicy?) hi there sweet Ectophiles, On Wed, 3 May 1995, Kim Justice served: > There's an interview with Eno in the current issue of Wired magazine, where > he reports that (as an experiment) he made a short (less than a minute) > tape of city traffic noise. He then listened to it over and over again, and > after some time he began to regard it almost as a piece of music; he'd look > forward to *that* door slam or *this* honking horn. one time i went down to the back bay and, as i came up out of the subway, i heard this nice trippy kinda-minimal technambient music being played out into the street... like a more percussive Orb submerred in oceanic reverb. only once i got close enough (yes i am sooo nearsighted) did i realize it was a car alarm! from planet 10, apparently. ;) which explained why it was a little repetitive... but girl oh girl those first 4 bars were so nice. and car alarm tweets, chirps and whistles long ago drowned out organic ones, at least in my concrete urbaniverse. :( but i do think the city has breath, and a heartbeat... they're just much slower than ours are. more like an elephant's or a tree's or a mountain's, but still rhythm of life. and Damon Harper vollied, with tricky top(ic)spin: > subject that's interested me for quite a while, along with the intricate > dynamics of conversation -- the amazingly obscure links between one topic > and the next -- 'specially on the 'net :) maybe i should forget majoring in really? what *ever* do you mean? ;) ;) amazingly obscure but faithfully yours, veronica ------------------------------ From: Jeffrey Hanson Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 09:03:39 -0700 Subject: Re: Comments from a newbie > Anyhoot, for my obligatory musical musings, I would like > to mention that I was fortunate enough to be in the audience > for Mary Black's show at the Guthrie Theatre in MNPLS last > nite. > One of my favorite songs of the night was a tune I had not heard her > sing before. It was a cover of a Billie Holliday song called "Don't > Explain". It showed off Mary's singing range and really moved the > soul. All in all, it was a marvelous show. > > Kevin D. (who's happy he checked out the ecto list!) > The Wild Colonials do an excellent version of "Don't Explain" on their excellent album Fruit of Life. Definitely ecto-fodder. I'm surprised this band hasn't been mentioned more--Angela McCluskey's vocals are great and the album is a very solid debut. I highly recommend it. Jeff Hanson - ----- End Included Message ----- ------------------------------ From: NyxNshade@aol.com Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 12:05:04 -0400 Subject: Ahem... Yello! I'm new around here, kind of. I've been lurking on and off on the list for a while now, and I finally decided to say something. I hope y'all like newbies. I just wanted to comment on a thing or two... John Shepard said: That's very interesting! I've never heard anyone with anything *resembling* Happy's voice, and I don't mean her range... Her upper range, admittedly, is very Kate Bushesque, but her lower range has a sound quite unlike anything I've ever heard before... And ya gotta admit, that range is kind of scary. ;> There's a jazz singer by the name of Rachelle Ferrel (I believe that's her name), who's got... this is incredible... a *6 and a half* octave range. Mariah Carey has a 6 octave range, but she only uses like 2, I swear. Other than them, however... Laurel Krahn says: I feel the same way. :) I have all Happy's albums, and Rhodesongs (all of which set me back by more money than I care to think about for worry over my mental health), but yes, there are some songs I just don't like. Ode comes to mind. But Happy's music goes over such a huge range of differant sounds and types of music that it's *hard* to love everything she does. While people are talking about their first encounters with Happy's lower voice, I have a story about that. Myself, I never had a problem accepting that it was all her, if only because I'd been majorly prepped by hearing about her so much. But one day, I played Rhodesongs for my now-ex-SO... he was, at first, unimpressed by the range (although he loved the music itself), but when "I Say" came on, he refused to believe she was singing the low parts. When we got home, he even checked the booklet for a guest vocal listing. ;> Now, all that said, and my first, admitedly lengthy, post near finished, I was wondering if anyone knows of the artist Lauren Christy. I recently picked up her album, which I'm in love with. Just wondering. ;) Nyx ------------------------------ From: itos@pavlov.psyc.queensu.ca (Steve Ito) Date: Wed, 3 May 95 13:30:45 EDT Subject: Jewel on CBC Radio - Realtime! Hiya folks! I am cross-posting to the Jewel and ecto mailing lists. To people who belong to both, I apologize for the repetition. First of all, profuse thanks to Pablo for bringing to our attention Jewel's upcoming appearance on CBC Radio! OK, altogether now... T H A N K S P A B L O ! ! ! ! OK, now here's the scoop. I sent an e-mail to the Realtime address inquiring about Jewel's appearance. I received the following reply... - ---------Forwarded e-mail from official RealTime person!!!-------------- >>Hi, >>I have heard a rumour that Jewel Kilcher, the amazing new >>singer/songwriter on the Atlantic label, will be featured on Realtime. > >Hi there. You are right, she will be on RealTime. Not this week, but next >(13th may) >I'm at home right now so I can't tell you exactly when, but I will write >back with more >details once I'm at the office (later today...late afternoon your time) > >Our show is LIVE LIVE so she'll be performing live in our studio and going >out on the air >live. > >>What I actually heard is that she will be on this Saturday or the next, >>but I assume that she is being TAPED in Vancouver this Saturday or the >>next, but to be aired at a later date, am I correct? If so, do you know >>when her show will air? >> >>I belong to an Internet mailing list for fans of Jewel, and we are all >>extremely interested in items like this. Thanks for a great program by >>the way, and I commend you on your choice of featured artists! > > >I'm glad you got in touch with us, we'd really appreciate it if you could >publicize this >appearance through your mailing list. > >I will indeed right back later with complete details including frequencies >for our show >across Canada etc. > >thanks for asking, > >glad you caught wind of it ! > >-robert >* http://realtime.cbcstereo.com * - ------------Forwarded e-mail ends------------------------------------ So it appears I was wrong, as usual! Am I ever glad! It's so much more fun when it's live. Anyway, I replied back to him and suggested that if he is doing an interview, that he solicit some questions from us. I'll let you all know what he says. I will pass on all new information as I hear it. Once I have more complete info, I will post to other places as well, including Usenet and maybe a couple of other mailing lists. Colin, can you include this info in your homepage? I am cc:ing this to you so you get it right away. Steve - ----------------------------------------------------------------- Steve Ito, R.A. | "Good night, sleep well, I'll most likely Psychology Dept. | kill you in the morning." Queen's University | -- The Dread Pirate Roberts Kingston, ON, Can. | ------------------------------ From: John Shepard Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 12:45:07 -0500 (EST) Subject: The meaning of music Was Re: musical mould On Wed, 3 May 1995, Kim Justice wrote: > At 9:28 PM 5/2/95, Damon Harper wrote: > >not to imply that it's at all negative, but has anyone else noticed that > >music can grow on you like... certain fungi? > > There's an interview with Eno in the current issue of Wired magazine, where > he reports that (as an experiment) he made a short (less than a minute) > tape of city traffic noise. He then listened to it over and over again, and > after some time he began to regard it almost as a piece of music; he'd look > forward to *that* door slam or *this* honking horn. > kj > > > -- justicek@edge.ercnet.com (Kim Justice) > "Where there's smoke, there's work." -- Firesign Theatre On homemade tapes, sometimes I'll leave the record button on too long, and I'll catch DJ chatter. Upon repeated listens in my car, singing along to the song, I have occasionally caught myself "singing along" to the DJ. I think to some extent this could start a whole new thread on "what is music." Specifically, why is a Spike Jones record music, and a car alarm (as someone else mentioned on this thread) not normally considered music? Does the context of a song, i. e. its place on an album, any DJ chatter before/after it, any radio static during it, scratches on a record, etc. change the song or merely the presentation of it? Is there any difference between the song and the presentation of it, since our perception of the song is the important thing? Where does a song go when you aren't singing it? :-) What is a song, after all? The space between two silences? What about a medley or a concept album? Where do the songs begin and end? This is tied back to "why do nonmusical entities like car alarms and city noise have the same qualities on repeated listens as music?" Is it further proof that music is just noise? :-) Does it matter? And if not, then why do we act like it does? I figure starting a metaphysical thread like this is all I can do after the near-flame incident earlier this week. :-) | John Shepard IUPU Columbus, Indiana | | The opinions expressed above are my own, and some of the facts too | | An Amiga owner and a Sarah McLachlan fan... God help me! | | "going going forgive us Lord we're going going down" -Jane Siberry | ------------------------------ From: John Shepard Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 13:02:27 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Ahem... On Wed, 3 May 1995 NyxNshade@aol.com wrote: > Yello! I'm new around here, kind of. I've been lurking on and off on the list > for a while now, and I finally decided to say something. I hope y'all like > newbies. > > I just wanted to comment on a thing or two... > > John Shepard said: > > heard it again. I used unique for lack of a better word.> > > That's very interesting! I've never heard anyone with anything *resembling* > Happy's voice, and I don't mean her range... Her upper range, admittedly, is > very Kate Bushesque, but her lower range has a sound quite unlike anything > I've ever heard before... After a few listens to get used to it, I would probably recognize her lower register again; I know I'd recognize her upper register if I heard it again. > And ya gotta admit, that range is kind of scary. ;> I knew Happy wasn't two people, because this was World Cafe, few opportunities for overdubs, and so therefore no harmony parts to confuse me. I'd imagine on the albums there's probably some harmony with herself, but in the studio, there was no such harmony, just the occasional switch from low-voice to high-voice and back, startling but not impossible. > shudder to call it a voice because I'm still unsure if it _should_ be plural > or singular.> > > There's a jazz singer by the name of Rachelle Ferrel (I believe that's her > name), who's got... this is incredible... a *6 and a half* octave range. > Mariah Carey has a 6 octave range, but she only uses like 2, I swear. Other > than them, however... How dare you mention M_____ C____ in an intelligent environment such as this! :-) No, really, I always figured if Mariah were given some "real" songs, she'd be great. She has the voice, she seems to be wasting it on top-40. I know there are probably Mariah Carey fans here, though, so I should tread lightly. > Laurel Krahn says: > > they impressed me, but are hardly my favorites. And there are some songs > that I really don't like.> > > I feel the same way. :) I have all Happy's albums, and Rhodesongs (all of > which set me back by more money than I care to think about for worry over my > mental health), but yes, there are some songs I just don't like. Ode comes to > mind. But Happy's music goes over such a huge range of differant sounds and > types of music that it's *hard* to love everything she does. Uh oh. I just spouted pointlessly for days on FTE about how my tastes and Sarah's tastes in music were not exactly alike, and slowly getting farther apart, and how depressed I was to think she might eventually produce songs I don't like at all. But I'll leave it there. > While people are talking about their first encounters with Happy's lower > voice, I have a story about that. Myself, I never had a problem accepting > that it was all her, if only because I'd been majorly prepped by hearing > about her so much. But one day, I played Rhodesongs for my now-ex-SO... he > was, at first, unimpressed by the range (although he loved the music itself), > but when "I Say" came on, he refused to believe she was singing the low > parts. When we got home, he even checked the booklet for a guest vocal > listing. ;> > > Now, all that said, and my first, admitedly lengthy, post near finished, I > was wondering if anyone knows of the artist Lauren Christy. I recently picked > up her album, which I'm in love with. Just wondering. ;) > > Nyx > | John Shepard IUPU Columbus, Indiana | | The opinions expressed above are my own, and some of the facts too | | An Amiga owner and a Sarah McLachlan fan... God help me! | | "going going forgive us Lord we're going going down" -Jane Siberry | ------------------------------ From: Neal Copperman Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 14:38:52 -0400 (EDT) Subject: live live The last two days has found me at an interesting pair of concerts: Noa and Portishead. Monday's Noa show was a lot of fun, but not the same revelation that her show in DC was last month. She had a guest percussionist then, and I didn't realize at the time how much he added to the show. Not like I should complain... it was just the difference between an excellent show and a stupendous show. Portishead put on one of the shortest shows I have ever seen. It went something like this: 10 minutes of turntable wizardry 10 minutes of movie with Portishead soundtrack (not live) ~35 minutes of music 5 minutes of applause 10 minutes of encore There was no opening act, but they did give out free sunglasses. I've never heard anything by Portishead before, and was only mildly impressed. A concert setting might not be the best introdcution though. They were a 6 piece band, with guitar, various basses, drums, synths/treatments, a dj and the singer. They did a fine job making textured, moody music, but it didn't make for a very captivating live show. Perhaps if I had been familiar with the music, it would have struck me more. There was some pretty cool virtuoso turntable manipulations, but most of the time the music was all of the same mood, sort of mildly funky but airy, kinda reminiscent of Julee Cruise, but with cooler music and better vocals (good comparison there). I could imagine myself rather enjoying it at home, or laying in a field, but crammed into an auditorium with a few hundred others it seemed kind of one dimensional, and the mood, though evocative, got kind of old. I suspect that a lot of the interesting layers/textures/effects/whatever that come out on repeated listenings at home just floated by me live. The final song was probably the only one that broke that mold, and it was stunning. Everybody in the band went wild, and the lead singer was screaming and shrieking like she'd been possessed by the spirit of Diamanda Galas (though luckily not also blessed with the same voice!). I thought that was a great note to end on, I just wish they would have mixed a few more songs like that into the set. And an opening act would be nice for a show this short. Neal ------------------------------ From: Chris Bjuland Date: Wed, 03 May 1995 14:07:49 CST Subject: unsub ecto unsub ecto ------------------------------ From: Colin Stuckless Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 16:56:40 -0230 Subject: Re: Jewel on CBC Radio - Realtime! On Wed, 3 May 1995, Steve Ito wrote: > ---------Forwarded e-mail from official RealTime person!!!-------------- > >>Hi, > >>I have heard a rumour that Jewel Kilcher, the amazing new > >>singer/songwriter on the Atlantic label, will be featured on Realtime. > > > >Hi there. You are right, she will be on RealTime. Not this week, but next > >(13th may) > Colin, can you include this info in your homepage? I am cc:ing this to you > so you get it right away. Thanks for the info Steve, as always! I'm adding it to the "Jewel News - Current Items of Interest" section of the homepage. I'm also moving that section towards the top of the page - it should be one of the first checkpoints when visiting the Jewel page. > Steve Ito, R.A. | "Good night, sleep well, I'll most likely > Psychology Dept. | kill you in the morning." > Queen's University | -- The Dread Pirate Roberts > Kingston, ON, Can. | Cheers, Colin Stuckless colins@cs.mun.ca http://www.cs.mun.ca/~colins Unofficial Jewel homepage: http://www.cs.mun.ca/~colins/jewel.html ------------------------------ From: "Mitchell A. Pravatiner" Date: Wed, 3 May 95 16:14:40 EDT Subject: Don't overgeneralize :-) For the benefit and use of those who have been taking John to task for his negative affect toward particular songs of Happy's: Just because Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) did his share of flaming at Henry Foster's confirmation hearing today Does not, in itself, mean that all people from Indiana should be suspected of being flame-throwers at heart :-). Welcoming the arrival of springlike weather at last. It is suggested that the reader look up the lyrics to "The Lusty Month of May" in one of the digests for the first week of May, 1992. Mitch ------------------------------ From: Neal Copperman Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 17:20:32 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: The meaning of music Here's a few random thoughts (well, maybe more than a few)..... I've often felt that defining something as art is more a definition of the aesthetic way that we look at something. Certainly there are paintings that are very representational, but once you start straying from that, it's never clear to me what you really have. You can see things in a museum, and the only thing that tells you they are art is the fact that they are labeled. This is not a knock on modern, or non-represenational art. If you can look at something with a title, and find a heart, spirit, meaning, or aesthetic value to it, than you can look at anything that way, if you open your senses to it. I find it amusing to go to the National Gallery, and contemplate the benches or garbage cans. You can analyze a construction like that just as surely as you can analyze the form of something labeled as art. Every day when I leave work, I go down the stairs and see a spot on the wall that used to contain something. The wall is gray/green, and there is a perfect yellow/tan rectangle, with black sperm-like creatures swimming in all directions. There is a sense of life, excitement , urgency.... It is a vibrant spot in a drab starewell. Undoubtedly this is remnants of some sort of adhesive that held the mystery object to the wall. Still, it strikes me as a remarkably alive construction, despite it's completely random creation. I'm frequently tempted to frame and label it. I would certainly call it the best piece of art in the building. Yesterday morning, I woke up and it was raining. As I lay in bed, warm and content and completely uninterested in going to work, I listened to the rain falling down the drain outside my window. Through some sort of poor design, it is always quite loud. That morning, after seeing Noa the night before, I was struck by how much the different raindrops falling onto the metal sounded like the elaborate percussion solos in her show. It was something I was just as happy to listen to as any music. Certainly things, both man-made and natural, have there own musical and rhythmic nature, and if you are open to them, they are definitely a form of music. I guess what I look for in music, as opposed to random sounds, is some sort of spirit or message imbued by the creator. Someone singing a song or playing an instrument is trying to get some mood, emotion, idea, or something across. I may be able to enjoy the musical nature of a car accident (though I never have in the past), but it has no inherent meaning to it. (I don't wish to think of all the sounds in the world as God's music, though certainly someone could argue that. On Wed, 3 May 1995, John Shepard wrote: > > What is a song, after all? The space between two silences? What about a > medley or a concept album? Where do the songs begin and end? John, have you moved on to attacking John Cage here? :) rambling away, Neal ------------------------------ From: itos@pavlov.psyc.queensu.ca (Steve Ito) Date: Wed, 3 May 95 17:25:42 EDT Subject: ATTENTION JEWEL FANS: Jewel on CBC Radio on SATURDAY! That's right!! Robert at RealTime has confirmed that Jewel will be playing THIS Saturday, NOT next Saturday, as he originally thought. Again, thanks to Pablo (Stephen A. Hoogenraad), without whose warning we probably would have not known about this radio appearance at all. ******************************************************************** SATURDAY 06 May 95 Jewel will be on RealTime at around 8:15 PACIFIC time (9:15 mtn, 10:15 Central, 11:15 Eastern, 12:15 Atlantic, 12:45 Newfoundland) ******************************************************************** Robert said: >This is a LIVE performance in our studio. Leora Kornfeld is the host of >RealTime and she'll be talking with Jewel as well. > >RealTime is on CBC Stereo and heard across Canada: >here are the frequencies: > >ALL FM: >CBC Stereo Frequencies: [ALL FM] > >British Columbia: Metchosin 105.1, Vancouver 105.7, Victoria 92.1 >Alberta: Calgary 102.1, Edmonton 90.9, Lethbridge 91.7 >Saskatchewan: Regina 96.9, Saskatoon 105.5 >Manitoba: Brandon 92.7, Winnipeg 98.3 >Ontario: Kingston 92.9, London 100.5, Ottawa 103.3, Peterborough 103.9 > ThunderBay 101.7, Toronto 94.1, Windsor 89.9 >Quebec: Montreal 93.5 >New Brunswick: Fredericton 101.5, Moncton 95.5, Saint John 101.5 >Nova Scotia: Cape Breton 105.1, Halifax 102.7, Middleton 93.3, Sydney 105.1 >Newfoundland: St. John's 106.9 >NorthWEst Territories: Yellowknife: 95.3 >Prince Edward Island: Charlottetown 104.7 > >****And on many many cable carriers...check with someone on how to hook up and >how to find us**** I asked Robert: >>Are you are doing an interview in the studio as well? >>If so, may I suggest soliciting questions/song requests for Jewel from the >>Internet, and in particular the Jewel and ecto mailing lists, and perhaps >>also alt.music.alternative.female? If you want, I can tell people to >>address their questions to me, and I will compile them and send a list of >>them to you. Robert answered: >Heh, that would be great. It always looks better, particular in usenet >groups, if it's coming from YOUR perspective as opposed to OURS , if you >follow me. > >You can either compile or send, or just get people to send them along to us. **NOTE: I recommend that people send questions for Jewel directly to the RealTime e-mail address below, with the subject line "Jewel Question". >Realtime@cbcStereo.com > >We'll need them in ASAP and obviously before she appears on the show. > >BTW: people in the U.S. can hear our show IF they have access to a satellite >receiver: >look in our web site under Techno Time > >http://realtime.cbcstereo.com > >thanks alot, keep in touch, and I"ll look forward to seeing some Jewel >questions. > >-robert > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > RealTime Web Site http://realtime.cbcstereo.com >--------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ----- >David Gilbert's RealTime MUSH telnet: realtime.pci.on.ca 6125 >IRC #RealTime (undernet and effnet: fer sure saturday nights only) So there you have it, folks! Tune in those radios to CBC Radio on Saturday night, and meanwhile, think up some questions for Jewel and e-mail them to Realtime, pronto! Steve - ----------------------------------------------------------------- Steve Ito, R.A. | "Good night, sleep well, I'll most likely Psychology Dept. | kill you in the morning." Queen's University | -- The Dread Pirate Roberts Kingston, ON, Can. | ------------------------------ From: Michael Stevens Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 18:42:31 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: The meaning of music Greetings all, De-lurking briefly because of a lovely memory triggered by this discussion. The estimable Neal Copperman pointed out: > look at anything that way, if you open your senses to it. I find it > amusing to go to the National Gallery, and contemplate the benches or > garbage cans. You can analyze a construction like that just as surely as you > can analyze the form of something labeled as art. Ab-so-lutely! And often with greater reward, because the garbage cans in some sense reflect the passage of human beings. [snip] > Undoubtedly this is remnants of > some sort of adhesive that held the mystery object to the wall. Now comes The Story. :) A few years ago, I was in Chicago visiting the Museum of Art with my then-SO. (I think it's called the M of A, someone correct me if I'm wrong.) One of the galleries through which exhibits rotate was in that in-between state, and the only things there were big white squares raised slightly from the big white walls. No title plates, no explanatory text, nada. No viewers, either. The guard gave us funny looks as Emily and I sailed in, arm-in-arm. The white squares had screws through them, the heads of which were in various patterns on the different squares. As an engineer, I'm guessing they were placed to hit strong places in the walls so the paintings wouldn't fall, BUT... Being young and giddy, I snatched a name out of the air, and began very seriously discussing this artist's brilliant encapsulation of such mindsets as isolationism, us-against-them division, and even community- at-arms'-length, such as was found on the prairie in the 1800's. Emily bought it for about thirty seconds. The *guard* bought the whole three-minute rant, though. Or the first two minutes, at any rate; shortly after the spiel ended, she approached us with two elderly ladies in tow and asked me to explain the exhibit to the three of them. Said she'd been wondering about it herself... Moral: Art and music are in your mind. Everything else is just props. :) > Certainly things, both man-made and natural, have their own musical and > rhythmic nature, and if you are open to them, they are definitely a > form of music. The most spectacular case-in-point I can think of (and a handy way to tie the discussion back into ecto-territory) is Lou Reed's 1975 album "Metal Machine Music," which consists of a bunch of gear hooked up in a feedback loop including a microphone. (He did it as revenge against his record label, who had said Thou Shalt Make an Album.) From the liner notes: No Synthesizers No Arp No Instruments? ... STRICT STEREO SEPARATION No panning No phasing No > rambling away, > > Neal Me too. Thanks for listening. - --Th'Michael - ------------------------ Michael Stevens, Systems Programmer mjs@biostat.mc.duke.edu Biostatistical Computing Resource Voice: Left-handed Scotch- Duke University Medical Center 919/286-8874 Irish mathemagician. ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V2 #94 ************************* ======================================================================== Please send any questions or comments about the list to ecto-owner@nsmx.rutgers.edu