From: owner-ecto-digest To: ecto-digest@ns2.rutgers.edu Subject: ecto-digest V2 #142 Reply-To: ecto@nsmx.rutgers.edu Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Sunday, 25 June 1995 Volume 02 : Number 142 The Ecto digest is now being generated automatically. Please send problems and questions to: ecto-owner@nsmx.rutgers.edu. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "JOHN SHEPARD (CALAMARI)" Date: Sat, 24 Jun 1995 12:16:24 -0500 Subject: Re: ecto-digest V2 #141 From: NyxNshade@aol.com > >Re: Milla > >first appearance on Conan O'Brian. You want to throttle _both_ of them, or at >least I did. And everyone knows my opinions apply to everyone, whether they >agree or not. :-)> > >Why? Why would I want to throttle them, I mean, not why would your opinion >apply to everyone. ;> It doesn't, I just sometimes act as if it should. :-) >They didn't do anything horribly silly or anything, did they? If you watch Conan very much, you'll know he's apparently a lonely soul; watch how he behaves around the female guests. He was making a particularly loutish fool of himself that night, and Milla was agging him on. And Milla was acting strangely immature herself; I know she can behave herself better than that, and it seemed like such a shock to see the person who created that very mature-sounding music act like a high school kid. (But then, she's younger than I am, so she's not exactly far removed _from_ being in high school.) >Nyx, the clueless > >PS thanks for the welcome. >:) > From: Richard Holmes > >"JOHN SHEPARD (CALAMARI)" writes in "Re: >ecto-digest V2 #138" > >>>times... which always appeals to me.... it seems to have very primal >>>connections as well. Some of the lyrics on the other albums seem to >>>have either a dreamlike quality, or are little peices of life / >>>memories... maybe I just need to listen to them more.... >> >>She's so skillful a songwriter, she could be writing about >>absolutely _nothing_ and it could sound to us mere mortals like >>a detailed instruction manual for the universe. Yes, the >>dreamlike quality is nice, although I often worry about >>extremely dreamlike stuff in music; I tend to be disappointed >>when I find out how much of it isn't from dreams but from drugs. >>Whether Jane partakes of awareness-spectrum substances is still >>up for debate. >I tend to make a distinction, I guess, between "dream-like" (which I >see as fragmented, vague, evocative, and somewhat nonsensical at >times) and (here I am trying to think up a word for what WIWAB is >like) "mystical / other-worldly / deep", which can be highly >emotionally charged, evocative (as well), and imagery-ridden, but >having a cohesive feeling to it, a unification, a feeling of touching >on universality, and lots of other things which I won't continue to >butcher by tring to verbalize :) Fragmented, vague, evocative, and somewhat nonsensical at times: Yes' "Tales from Topographic Oceans." :-) Mystical, otherworldly, deep, emotionally charged, evocative, imagery-ridden, cohesive: Sarah McLachlan's "Touch," Jane Siberry's WIWAB, etc. But if you're tired enough, and I enjoy listening to music in that "twilight" between wake and sleep, where I can let it permeate my consciousness, _anything_ could have deep meaning. :-) >So, WRT her using " awareness-spectrum substances", I don't really >care whether someone does or doesn't, but if they do, they should >"handle" it well.... for instance, certain tribes practice rites with I'm from southern Indiana. NOBODY here "handles" it well. In Seymour, the idea of handling one's drug problem well usually involves a roach clip. >certain "substances", and gain effective experiences. I don't think >one can rely upon them, and in fact I think myself rely upon >"awareness-spectrum substances" too much myself (I drink too much >coffee at work)... and try to expand my mind with other methods than, >say, LSD, Psilocybin, or peyote. Internet can be just as mind-expanding, and probably twice as addicting... >Anyway, enough rambling.... > From: MONTVILLE@zodiac.rutgers.edu > >Quick delurk for this exciting bulletin: > >The Chieftains and -->Sarah McLachlan<-- will be on TBS's >"Live from the House of Blues" tonight (Friday) and tomorrow >at midnight. Sounds like a nice preview of the tour! (Is >anyone else going to the July 17th show at the Garden State >Arts Center?) TBS played the show at 10:30 instead of 11:00 like the local tv schedule says. Time zones, I can understand, but half an hour? Weird. I taped it, tho; some of the most beautiful Sarah footage I've ever seen, and great music too. Sarah is vastly underrated as a guitarist; watch her. From: Vickie the Ectophile > >On Fri, 23 Jun 1995, I wrote: > >> Reminder...Sarah McLachlan and the Chieftains will be on the TBS >> show "Live from the House of Blues" tonight (Friday) and it will >> be repeated Saturday night. > >> In Chicago it airs at 11pm (Central time) > >Argh! For some reason they started the show a half hour earlier in the >Central time zone. I'm glad it'll be repeated tomorrow night. The >TV Guide says 11:00 pm for Saturday night too but I'll be checking TBS >at 10:30. > Start your tape player at 10:00. Better to tape too much than too little. From: THE OLIVE-LOAF VIGILANTE > >Hi! > >So it's been a Week. My cold seems to be going away -- I'm at the stage of >breathing normally while being prone to hack up random phlegm balls when I >really mean to speak. I can deal with this. Now as I wait for Annie Lennox >to be on Leno at the exact same time as REM are on Letterman at the exact >same time as Sarah and the Chieftains are on House of Blues (*who* plans >these things, anyway?!?), I can even catch up on ecto mail. Imagine that. Same people who used to have seaQuest, Babylon-5, and a couple Star Trek shows all on the same time on the same night. >Interesting -- I found the posts I wrote exactly one year ago while hunting >for my To Be Responded To files. In case anyone cares, one year ago this >week I saw Tori Amos perform in New Haven and New York, and drove up to >Boston to see an all-but-aborted Sarah show at the Hatch Shell, with Milla >opening. Ah, the memories... I should hunt around the dusty corners of my >ecto directory more often. :) > >Onward! ... through the night... (I've _really_ had Yes on the brain lately... can you tell?) > > >Calamari postulated: > >>-You know you've watched too much Babylon 5 when: >>You're listening to Sarah McLachlan's "Out of the Shadows" for >>clues to the story arc. > > > >>To be honest, I've made the rest of FTE so honest that it's >>becoming a hostile environment. Meth and Vickie will attest to >>this, and I think neither of them are pleased to see me here. > >Don't put words in my mouth, please -- the fact that you're here doesn't >cause me any pain whatsoever. In fact, I rather enjoy your posts here. I'm behaving. But I remember when you left FTE, and _why_. And it was my fault. This is why I'm trying so hard to behave; I know I'm capable of throwing a list into chaos, and I don't want to do it here. > >Tamar imparted: > >>I don't know if this is news to anyone here, or if anyone actually gives a >>rat's ass, but I'm going to tell you anyway that Trevor Rabin left Yes, as did >>Tony Kaye, and they will be replaced by Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman. > >Well, you're certainly a little bit more calm about this news than you were >when you first heard it! "Attention, the Rabin has left the building!!!" ;> "Tony Kaye has left the building; his arm went with him." >+==========================================================================+ >|"You obviously have trouble getting a clue. In fact, you don't know what a| >| clue is. You couldn't get a clue if I turned you loose with a clue net in| >| a field full of rutting clues." -- favorite USENET quote of the month :)| >+==========================================================================+ ROTFL my ass off! From: mojzes@monet.vill.edu (brni) >>From: SBI!200HUBBARD!AMYD@lmbinc.attmail.com >> >yeah, this is a pretty long address.... > >> Awaken has to be one of my all-time favorite songs by any artist - and for >>my fickle, eclectic tastes, that says a lot. A few of you might remember > >you know, i can't remember the last time i listened to this album, so >i hope y'all don't mind waiting while i dig thru the vinyl...aaaahhhhh >i remember. "awaken" is by far the best song on the album (although, in >remember being rather fond of "parallels" when i was in high school--but >then, i'm a bass player... ;) I just love the keyboard melody on Parallels. Check out the version that's on Yesshows if you like bass playing. > >>Amy >> > >>I don't know if this is news to anyone here, or if anyone actually gives a >>rat's ass, but I'm going to tell you anyway that Trevor Rabin left Yes, as did >>Tony Kaye, and they will be replaced by Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman. No, I'm > >it is about time. >tony kaye is among the 2 worst yes musicians ever (keith emerson accused >yes of using a spare keyboardist under the stage to help kaye cover >wakeman's parts; the other one is peter banks, their original guitarist). >trevor rabin (im-oh so very-ho) destroyed yes with his soulless pop >sensibilities. he is very accomplished as a musician, and he can play >anything, any style, whatever. you want me to sound like steve howe? ok. >al dimiola? sure, no problem. van halen? piece o' cake. but something >is missing. it was all very technically perfect and etc, but there was >no *feeling* behind the notes. kinda like a hollywood set--looks real >nice up front, but thar ain't nothin' to it when ya look close, like. Kaye sucks. That's a given. Opinions on Rabin have gone both ways, but I can't think of anyone here or on rec.music. progressive who actually _likes_ Tony Kaye. I'll give the Tonyman credit though; he knows his own limitations. Were I keyboard player for Yes, I'd be noodling all over the place, not particularly aware that I was neither on key nor on rhythm. At least Tony will sit there and wait out the really difficult stuff (like chords). >> >>Don't feel bad. The meaning of "awaken gentle mass touch" isn't >>yet clear to me either, although coming from Yes I suppose it >>doesn't particularly _need_ a clear meaning. >> >um...no, the point was that it makes *perfect* sense, and that is >what scares me... So what does it mean? Tell me! :-) >>"On the Silent Wings of Freedom"... nuff said. More than makes >>up for "Circus of Heaven", no? (though the Damion Anderson bit >>is cool) >> >"circus of heaven" is one of my more favorite songs on the album. >:( It's not a bad song, I just don't love it. I like it, and the lyrics are great, but like too much else on Tormato, it just... I dunno... maybe next week I'll have an explanation for what I'm thinking. >ok. i've just decided that "turn of the century" is insufferable. >if it was 4 minutes long it would be good, but then it just goes on >and on. bleh. This I'll agree with you on. >> >>Sure there is. Honesty in today's world will get you in trouble. >>I can be as tactful as possible, and respectful as possible, and >>someone will _still_ be pissed. Drop by FTE and watch me in >>action sometime if you want proof. Better yet, don't. >> >well, i can watch you in action here. >and as an example i'm going to use what you wrote here to >explain what i mean. > >>As for having the * to say what I think whether people will like >>it or not, it's more like I'm too stupid to realize there are >>certain things I _shouldn't_ say in certain situations. About >>70% of all the heated disagreements on FTE, for example, are my >>fault. >> >>To be honest, I've made the rest of FTE so honest that it's >>becoming a hostile environment. Meth and Vickie will attest to >>this, and I think neither of them are pleased to see me here. >>And I don't really care, because I'm going to make positive >>contributions to this list whether anyone likes it or not. >> >these last 2 lines are a perfect example of the sort of thing that >gets under people's skins. i've seen *many* a debate on ecto between >people of diametrically opposed views (as an example, a discussion between >someone who thought that the indigo girls were the best thing since >8-grain bread, and myself, who thinks of them as folk muzak), but rarely >did the tone become heated. what was happening was that people were >saying what they thought, whether they thought that anyone would like >it or not, but they didn't *say* that. It seems to be part of my net.personality to "announce" everything. In this case, I was trying to be semi-sarcastic; it often seems on FTE that even when I'm trying to be on-topic, I get yelled at, as if they don't want me there, making positive contributions or not. Remember a previous delurk, the first time I said I didn't like Collective Heart, and the roasting I took for it. That put _me_ on the defensive. My statement above was something of a reaction to that incident, saying "I won't let it rattle me. I won't be afraid of honesty, so long as I behave myself; if what I have to say is relevant and people might want to hear it, and it's not flamebait, I'll say it." >when you say "i don't really care" and "whether anyone likes it or not" >and so on, you are using a confrontational tone (whether you realize it >or not) that immediately sets other people on the defensive. it is >not at all difficult to say the things you want without using the types >of phrases that immediately engage the reader's "fight or flight" instinct. As with so much else I say. When I use phrases like that in mature environments like this, it's to be humorous; people on FTE, however, know me better (or think they do) and know what an asshole I can be, and are often guarding for me to say something potentially confrontational. As such, I often spend days fighting flames started by something I said which I meant as completely humorous. Sigh; I suppose FTE is that way because I've made them that way. If I sound mildly confrontational, as I did earlier, it's because I'm trying in my trademark way to be funny. If I was actually trying to be confrontational, you'd know. :-) And I don't expect to be funny 100% of the time or even half the time; but I do intend to be largely myself, and _try_ to be lighthearted and/or helpful and/or positive with everything I say here. It may not sound that way, but I'll be busting butt to make sure it's _meant_ that way. >speaking honestly (or so i say... ;), i was somewhat bothered by your >delurk post, and i read it a couple times to figure out what bothered me >about it, because i didnt find any of the *content* of the post disturbing >at all, and i finally realized that there were certain phrases you used >that "got my dander up," as they say. today, when i read more of these >things, i decided that i'd point it out to you because it didn't seem to >me that you are maliciously trying to fuck with people's heads and make >ecto as hostile as the rest of the net. Quite right; I'm not trying to be malicious. I've _been_ malicious, and am utterly ashamed of the results on FTE. I'm here as a second chance, and hoping and praying that I _have_ learned something in the interim. I'm glad you pointed this out; it's something I can work on. Thank you. >incidentally, i just figured out what the one failing of "awaken" is. it >is completely lacking in bill bruford. sigh. :-/ I for one think Bruford and White are _both_ good; I don't care which I hear. I agree Bruford would have given a different style to Awaken. >anyway, i hope that make sense, and i hope you don't take this as an attack, >because i'm not trying to do that (i'll save that sort of stuff for letters >to my new senator, and my new governor, and so on...:) or Usenet. :-) >hope i didn't bore the rest of everyone too much >'course, most of you probably hit delete long ago. those of you >who hung on get a special bonus: one of jane siberry's dog's cookies. | http://www.columbus.iupui.edu/~jrshepar | IUPU Columbus, Indiana | |John Shepard jrshepar@indyvax.iupui.edu I wanna go to a real school someday! | | Internet is too important to be taken seriously. | Artist, writer, net.loon | | Amiga owner & Sarah McLachlan fan: God help me! |in the making. Finger me &| |"Enrich the soil, no soul no soul" Sarah McLachlan| tell me that you love me.| ------------------------------ From: mojzes@monet.vill.edu (brni) Date: Sat, 24 Jun 95 14:03:15 EDT Subject: tormato warnings hi all, ok, y'all have started something...pretty soon i'll have to pull out my copy of _drama_ and give it a listen. i'll pass on _90125_, tho. ok, here's what i think of _tormato_: "onward" is boring. it is very nice, but boring. "release, release" *almost* worked, but didn't, and as a result is pretty bad. it seems like they were trying to be punk or something, but couldn't figure out how (which is good, i suppose, because i can't imagine jon anderson screaming "nazi punks, nazi punks, nazi punks, fuuuuuck off!"). other than those two, tho, the album is great. i saw a video that a friend had: some sort of yes documentary thing. apparently none of the band members were getting along while they were doing this album, and they hated it once it got out, so they broke up. i think that it is evident in the album, and a lot of the album has a sort of "ah, fuck it, who gives a shit" attitude to it that allowed for some really cool results that they'd never have gotten if they were "being serious." it is certainly not as perfectly sculpted as a lot of their previous stuff, but gains something, i think, that makes up for that lack. i dont' know if i can verbalize what i mean, tho. i'm going to have to run the ol' rickenbacker thru the harmonizer some day to see if i can get the kind of sound that squire gets in "on the silent wings of freedom." and he plays a gibson thunderbird on "release, release" which just shows how good a bass player he is. the thunderbird is perhaps the clunkyest bass i ever played (good hard raw sound, tho), and is utterly impractical for playing bass lines that are at all intricate. well, i should get breakfast or something (it being 2pm and all... :) c ya brni ------------------------------ From: sra5@psu.edu (Sarah Andrews) Date: Sat, 24 Jun 1995 15:05:07 -0500 Subject: Delurking to beg I hate delurking to beg, but actually it's not really begging, but more like a general query. Does anyone have any spare tickets to the big Ben and Jerry's concert at Merriweather Post Pavilion in two weeks? I've heard that it is sold out (so if it's not really then you can tell me that too), and I'm sort of trying to rustle up anywhere from 2-4 tickets. It's not life or death, but I'd just really like to catch the show. Thanks, and I promise next time I delurk I'll actually *contribute* something to the list! pax, Sarah ------------------------------ From: Neal Copperman Date: Sat, 24 Jun 1995 15:32:20 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: Zap Mama? Marion Kippers was looking for info on Zap Mama. I certainly don't have a discography for them, but I can add at least one album to your list: Adventures in Afropea 1 (This may be the name of a series, since I have seen a number 2.) It's on Luaka Bop/Warner Bros (David Byrne's subdivision, or whatever you call it.) Copyright is 1993. It also has Brrrlak! on it. I also thought there were both English and French versions of Sabsylma. > > I would also like suggestions for any other CD's/bands/artists > that are sort of 'similar' in style to the likes of Zap Mama, > Ladysmith Black Mambazo or Varttina... While not exactly in the same style, you might want to consider trying Sweet Honey in the Rock. They are an all woman a capella group whos influences come from American folk and spirituals, gospel, and African music. The best of their discs I have are Breaths and Live at Carnegie Hall, both on Flying Fish records. They also have some great songs on the Folkways: A Vision Shared disc. Neal ------------------------------ From: Neal Copperman Date: Sat, 24 Jun 1995 15:53:11 -0400 (EDT) Subject: B&J tix, other DC area shows On Sat, 24 Jun 1995, Sarah Andrews wrote: > I hate delurking to beg, but actually it's not really begging, but more > like a general query. No need to beg or fret.... a quick call to ProTIX (ok, a call to a major tickethandler is never quick) found plenty of tix still available. I'm going to be stopping by Merriwether sometime this week to pick up tickets myself, cutting some of the service charges out of the cost. I wish I had thought to ask if it was general admission or assigned seating, since it's the only concert I've heard of at Merriwether with cheep same price seats for lawn and pavillion. My guess is that they might have multiple stages and a lot of activities on the lawn, so they figure people won't really stay in one place. Or at least that's what I'm hoping. PROTIX numbers are (410)481-6500 and (703) 218-6500. I can get tix for people if they want, with no guarantees on where they will be or that the show won't suddenly sell out before I get them, though the ticket guy didn't seem to think that was likely. And while I'm at it, this is a killer DC/Baltimore concert week. Anyone going to any of these shows? Wed - Suddenly Tammy at the Birchmere (also Lida Husik at Club Midnite in Baltimore) Thu - Lisa Cerbone - Club Midnite Fri - The Nields/Lori Carson - The Birchmere Sat - Lisa Cerbone - Borders Towson Neal ------------------------------ From: Ross Alford Date: Sun, 25 Jun 1995 13:53:50 +1000 (+1000) Subject: Throwing Muses and variation in tastes In the lastest ecto digest, brni quotes chandra re Throwing muses to the effect that House Tornado and Hunkpapa are very good, Red Heaven so-so. Funny thing is that I have more or less the opposite response. My favourites (at present, anyway) are Real Ramonas and Red Heaven. House Tornado I can take or leave. I haven't heard Hunkpapa, and just acquired University recently; so far I'd put it somewhere between House Tornado and Real Ramonas. Just goes to show, I guess, that although ectophiles are a very good source of interesting info, YMMV as usual. Cheers, Ross - -- Ross A. Alford Internet: Ross.Alford@jcu.edu.au Department of Zoology or zlraa@marlin.jcu.edu.au James Cook University Phone: +61 77 81 4732 Townsville, Qld 4811 Australia Fax: +61 77 25 1570 ------------------------------ From: MattMiz@aol.com Date: Sun, 25 Jun 1995 00:26:33 -0400 Subject: Re: #1(2) ecto-digest V2 #141 >>trevor rabin (im-oh so very-ho) destroyed yes with his soulless pop sensibilities. he is very accomplished as a musician, and he can play anything, any style, whatever. you want me to sound like steve howe? ok. al dimiola? sure, no problem. van halen? piece o' cake. but something is missing. it was all very technically perfect and etc, but there was no *feeling* behind the notes. kinda like a hollywood set--looks real nice up front, but thar ain't nothin' to it when ya look close, like.<< Ooooh....I don't know....where I come from them's fightin' words. I've always found Trevor's stuff just as substantive as any Howe (Who?) era stuff. Oh no...I hope this doesn't start a flame war! :) plh, Matt ------------------------------ From: jeffw@triple-i.com (Jeff Wasilko) Date: Sun, 25 Jun 1995 00:13:01 -0600 Subject: Re: sTuff At 1:13 AM 6/24/95, THE OLIVE-LOAF VIGILANTE wrote: >Hi! > >So it's been a Week. My cold seems to be going away -- I'm at the stage of >breathing normally while being prone to hack up random phlegm balls when I Glad you're back in the land of the living! >JeffW noted: > >>Some of the more noteworthy additions to my collection are: >> >>o Hector Zazou/I'll Strangle You >> I have no idea what this is, but it's great. Woj handed it to me... > >Have you figured this out yet? Have you put two and two together and gotten >a subject of a few discussions here in very recent memory? Jane appears on >Zazou's new one, _Songs From The Cold Seas_, so I'm surprised you haven't >run right out and gotten it yet! ;> Oh! Well, I'm just a tad behind on email. My current ecto folder has some 1500 messages in it, and we won't talk about the other folders I've stashed away for a rainy day. While I'm posting, are there any ectophiles in Salt Lake City? I'm out here for another week and owuld love to get together for dinner with some west-coast folks.... - -Jeff - -- Jeff Wasilko, Systems Rep., Information International Inc. +1 617 937 9400 (jeffw@triple-i.com, jeffw@camex.com) |"I'll be youah race-car drivah..." -- Jewel | [smoe] |"Pahrk youah race-cah in Havahad Yahd?" -- Anja | ------------------------------ From: jeffy@wam.umd.edu Date: Sun, 25 Jun 95 03:18:55 -0400 Subject: faith and disease Tonight I heard a very cool album by a Seattle band called Faith and Disease. I can't recall having seen them mentioned here before, but they definitely should be. Somewhat goth, ethereal, arty, and very beautiful. The lead singer is occasionally reminscient of Natalie Merchant, and at many times throughout the course of the album, I was put in mind of Area (though *definitely* not M7x... ;-), both in terms of vocal similarities to Lynn Canfield and also the music. Really wonderful stuff, despite the rather grungy band name. This ain't your average Seattle band! I believe the album I heard was called _Favorite His Dream_, or something else equally odd. They have one other album out, as well as a couple of 7", all on Ivy Records. This is definitely something I hope to buy. I've also now heard _Post_ (which on first listen appealed to me more than _Debut_, which I've never cared for much...'course, I also dislike the Sugarcubes, except for a couple of good songs, so that's not a big surprise), and parts of _Tigerlilly_ which is...well, hell, WHY DID SHE WRITE A SONG FOR RIVER PHOENIX?! Yeesh. Still, there seem to be some good songs beside "Carnival," which I love. Jeff |Jeffrey C. Burka | "When I look in the mirror, I see a little clearer/ | | | I am what I am and you are you too./ Do you like | |jeffy@wam.umd.edu | what you see? Do you like yourself?" --N. Cherry | ------------------------------ From: larry@hal.com (Larry Hernandez) Date: Sun, 25 Jun 1995 10:25:30 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Victoria / Bjork in _Raygun_ 27! Hi all, If this has aready been posted, my bad-- I'm very busy right now and I'm way behind on my digest reading, not to mention the alts.. The latest issue of _Raygun_ magazine (issue 27) features Bjork, and her new album _Post_. A nice interview, and really cool pictures of the young rocker (including one in a red "Coke" t-shirt that has been altered to read "Enjoy Cock." Ahmmmmm!! Also in the issue is a short interview with the wonderful Victoria Williams, and reproductions of some of her great watercolor paintings. She is so talented! No pic of Vic, tho'... Larry (larry@hal.com) ------------------------------ From: THE OLIVE-LOAF VIGILANTE Date: Sun, 25 Jun 1995 17:25:11 -0400 (EDT) Subject: sTuff and tigerlily spoilers Hi! woj and I did something really silly last night -- we went to see R.E.M. at Madison Square Garden. It was actually sorta fun, and amusing to watch the crowd be completely clueless when they played songs written before 1991. Luscious Jackson opened, and while they had a couple of interesting songs, they generally did nothing for me at all. I'm sure they're good at what they do, but that entire brand of music isn't my cup of tea. Their last song, ELO's "Illegal Woman" with Michael Stipe singing was almost worth the price of admission in itself, I'll give you that. :) I can still count on one hand the number of Big Shows I've been to (Simple Minds, Eurythmics, Paul Simon, and Peter Gabriel are the others), and I think I'll try to keep it that way. Nothing compares to seeing live music in tiny places like Sin-e or The Buttonwood Tree or even Toad's Place. Not to mention the sound is a heluva lot better... MSG is a giant tin can. Of course, the Devils would have to go and win the Stanley Cup during the show, so I didn't get to see the game. Sigh. But our tape of House Of Blues came out!!! Wow. Sarah and The Chieftains. I can't *wait* to see them the weekend of July 14th now!!! (Hey woj, wanna try to get tix for Jones Beach too? ) We got together with a friend for dinner before the show last night, and on the way we stopped at Tower with every intention of buying nothing, but I had to leave with Heather Nova's _Blow_ (all we need now is _Oyster_ -- if anyone can help us with this, please e-mail) and Bjork's _Post_, which I'm listening to for the first time now. It's not grabbing me from the first note like _Debut_ did, but I have a suspicion this one will have more staying power. I hardly listen to _Debut_ at all any more. Speaking of new acquisitions, as I mentioned earlier this week I picked up Natalie Merchant's _Tigerlily_ when it came out on Tuesday, along with King Crimson's _Thrak_ (whoa) and KCRW's _Rare On Air Vol. 1_, featuring Tori, Natalie, and Brendan Perry, among others. _Tigerlily_ doesn't win awards for originality or innovation, but in its own quiet way it's an excellent album. No surprises here: it's basically the record 10,000 Maniacs would have come out with about now if Natalie had stayed with the band, minus a little bit of guitar. Musically most of the songs are very mellow -- the only ones approaching upbeat are "San Andreas Fault" and "Carnival". Lyrically there are no outward social commentaries, but quite a few stories and a fair bit of introspectiveness: Natalie ponders her lot in life and wonders if it's all really been worth it. "I've walked these streets a virtual stage it seemed to me makeup on their faces actors took their places next to me ... have I been blind have I been lost inside myself and my own mind hypnotized mesmerized by what my eyes have seen?" - "Carnival" Jeffy wondered: >WHY DID SHE WRITE A SONG FOR RIVER PHOENIX?! Yeesh. I don't think the song is as much *for* him as *about* him, specifically about the media feeding frenzy that ensued after his death. "he was one of ours one of ours why don't you let him be? he's gone we know give his mother and his father peace your vulture's candor your casual slander you murder his memory he's gone we know it's nothing but a tragedy" Like many of the words on this album, it has a decided "why don't people just leave people alone" tone. I'll repeat what I said earlier -- if you didn't like Natalie when she was with 10,000 Maniacs this album probably won't convert you, but if you enjoyed 10KM's last 2 or 3 albums, you'll probably like this one as much as I do. As always, your mileage may vary. :) I hear Melissa Ferrick will be performing at Fez this Wednesday evening -- dunno if we'll be up to braving the squid to go. And Pamela Means, an interesting girl-mit-guitar who has been a perfect opener for Ani DiFranco in the past will be at the Buttonwood Tree's temporary space in Middletown, CT this Thursday. I think several of us are planning to be there... if anyone is into it, e-mail me to arrange a meeting. +==========================================================================+ |Meredith Tarr meth@delphi.com| |Boonton, NJ USA finger info at: mtarr@eagle.wesleyan.edu| +==========================================================================+ |"You obviously have trouble getting a clue. In fact, you don't know what a| | clue is. You couldn't get a clue if I turned you loose with a clue net in| | a field full of rutting clues." -- favorite USENET quote of the month :)| +==========================================================================+ ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V2 #142 ************************** ======================================================================== Please send any questions or comments about the list to ecto-owner@nsmx.rutgers.edu