From: owner-ecto-digest To: ecto-digest@ns2.rutgers.edu Subject: ecto-digest V2 #360 Reply-To: ecto@nsmx.rutgers.edu Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Thursday, 25 January 1996 Volume 02 : Number 360 The Ecto digest is now being generated automatically. Please send problems and questions to: ecto-owner@nsmx.rutgers.edu. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Richard Holmes Date: Wed, 24 Jan 1996 22:58:27 -0800 (PST) Subject: Re: Pig suckling Valerie, >In short, I'm extremely disappointed in the photo of a pig suckling >Tori's breast in the CD booklet of BfP. It's not so much that I'm >offended (which I am), but it seems like a cheap trip on Tori's part >to get some publicity. I don't see much difference between this photo >and much of what Madonna did in Sex. Is Tori trying to make a >statement about sexuality? Is she trying to minimize the breast as >sexual object? I could accept that argument, except that it could be >done much better without using a _pig_. (for example, using a baby, >which is a much less blatantly sexual image). > >The rest of the photography in the booklet is beautiful -- especially >the small photo of the piano burning on the cover and the center photo >of her against the fire. This one photo disturbs me, though. Any >thoughts on the photo? Am I just prude? I don't think you're a prude... I myself find nothing wrong with sex, but the gross commercialization thereof. Although I haven't yet seen the photo in question, to me it seems likely I'd have some of the same feelings. Now I'll have to go buy the cd and find out... - -Richard. \@/ | Richard A. Holmes (rholmes@cs.stanford.edu) \|/ | "Drum to your future, Sing your dreams alive!" , , | , , ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' Loreena McKennitt / Kate Bush / Katell Keineg / Happy Rhodes / Renaissance / Sheila Chandra / Laura Love / Jane Siberry / Fairport Convention / Danielle Dax / Dog Faced Hermans ------------------------------ From: Richard Holmes Date: Wed, 24 Jan 1996 23:21:47 -0800 (PST) Subject: Re: Tori promo picture available >Before I go, the gang at Warner here remembered me mentioning about >the "Pele" in the album title being a goddess and not a soccer player >(!); they're now asking which goddess in which mythology exactly. I've >checked all my reference materials and even checked with my goddess >contact Wendy, but have not been able to find Pele anywhere. Anyone >got any info? I'm late, but she's the Hawiian Goddess of the Volcano, and represents all you'd think of the volcano, including anger, retribution, that which is beyond our control, and sexuality and passion. I'll look up some references sometime if anyone's interested. - -Richard. ------------------------------ From: Dan Stark Date: Thu, 25 Jan 1996 02:37:21 -0500 (EST) Subject: Tori, Poe, Others Hi all! Thanks to everyone who posted the Tori reviews, and they definitely are mixed...here, in the media, and from friends and co-workers who have heard the CD. As big a fan as I am, I still haven't picked this up yet, but I plan to do so Friday as I have a road trip planned and will have lots of time to give it a couple spins. There's nothing like time alone in the car to completely immerse yourself in the music! It's really worth putting a good system in the car if you spend much time on the road as I do. Meanwhile, I've really been into the Poe CD, "Hello" lately. Lots of different stuff on here...really soulful and jazzy at times, great modern-rock energy at others, and I'm reminded of Portishead with the sampling in some of the songs. Solid stuff, I'd like to see her perform live. I made up a mixed tape of various artists the other day, and leading it off is the Alison Krauss song, "Baby, Now That I've Found You", from her CD of the same name. Alison is essentially a country artist, and the CD is pretty much a "Best of" compilation. I'm not entirely into her work because I'm not too big on country, but I think her cover of this 60's song is brilliant. I also included "Missing" from Everything But The Girl, which I really like. I only had the single for that, any thoughts on how the rest of this CD is? Another artist I've been wondering about is Tara McLean. I only have "Let Her Feel The Rain" (which is fabulous and also made it onto my tape) from the Nettwerk "Slowbrew" compilation CD. Anyone know the latest on her, and whether anything else is available? I finally got October Project's "Falling Farther In" CD, thanks to all the discussions here. I put it on in the car last weekend and absolutely hated it...took it off immediately and put on something else. Tonight I put it on here at home and really got into it. I guess I was in the wrong mood for it last week. It really is very good, but she has a very distinctive voice that I wasn't prepared for at first listen. As I type, I'm checking out a new CD (on EMI) I brought home from work tonight by a duo who call themselves Once Blue. They appear to be from New York City...Rebecca Martin does solo vocals with few overdubs or harmony, and Jesse Harris is the other half. There's no indication of who plays what instruments, but it's pretty much just acoustic guitar and rhythm. I definitely wouldn't call it outstanding, but it's pleasant, ranging from folky to jazzy, light but not too sleepy. Nothing innovative musically or lyrically, but she has a sort of sweet, jazzy Ricki Lee Jones-y kind of voice. I'm not even sure why I mention it, since I'd have a hard time paying full price for it, but if you like this sort of thing and have a record store that lets you try before you buy, you might want to give it a shot. I'm still getting used to my new home here in Windsor. I live right on the Detroit river overlooking that city. It's pretty strange to think that I'm looking at another country out of my window! Anyway, I'm not sure who on the list is in the Detroit area, but if you are, drop me some e-mail if you'd like...I wouldn't mind hooking up with some of you, maybe for a Bob Seger concert or something (just kidding!). Re-lurking for now... Dan - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- DAN STARK 89X / The River dstark@freenet.npiec.on.ca ~\\|//~ CKLW / CKWW -(o o)- Windsor-Detroit - -----------------------------o000o--(_)--o000o------------------------------ ------------------------------ From: ariel_b@pipeline.com (Ariel Brennan) Date: Thu, 25 Jan 1996 03:14:17 -0500 Subject: Re: Boys For Pele (MAJOR SPOILER WARNING) On Jan 24, 1996 10:51:13, 'Kevin Dekan {x66440 CF/DEV} ' wrote: >So... is BFP more like Little Earthquakes or Under The Pink? I definately >like the former compared to the latter. Perhaps it resembles neither? Neither is the correct answer! It's a very unique album. >Meth gives a rave review but so far Steve is a bit disappointed. I guess >I'm not quite ready to cough up the cash... If it counts, I haven't played ANYTHING else since I bought it. Not even the new Dar Williams... A - -- "And if I'm wasting all your time this time, I think you never learned to take. And if I'm hanging onto your shade, I guess I'm way beyond the pale..." - Tori Amos ------------------------------ From: ariel_b@pipeline.com (Ariel Brennan) Date: Thu, 25 Jan 1996 03:19:10 -0500 Subject: Re: Boys For Pele On Jan 24, 1996 20:20:37, 'Emmy May Lombaerts ' wrote: >I guess it's more similar to 'UTP' than 'LE', and people who >weren't too fond of 'UTP' probably won't like 'BFP' very much either. It's >certainly a lot less accessible, at least IMHO, than 'LE' or'UTP'.. For the record, I disagree. I've never been a huge fan of Under The Pink, although it was still good, but Boys For Pele has possessed my soul on the first listen, and deepened it's grip ever since. I even like Professional Widow now, which I hated at first. ;> A - -- "And if I'm wasting all your time this time, I think you never learned to take. And if I'm hanging onto your shade, I guess I'm way beyond the pale..." - Tori Amos ------------------------------ From: ariel_b@pipeline.com (Ariel Brennan) Date: Thu, 25 Jan 1996 04:03:21 -0500 Subject: Re: Tori Amos - Boys for Pele Impressions On Jan 24, 1996 14:37:27, '"jeffrey hanson" ' wrote: >Well, I also bought Boys for Pele last night. So far my impressions are >mixed. Even after reading the review Neal so thoughtfully posted, and >carefully sitting down to listen to the album with the lyrics sheet, >I don't have a clue as to what the album is really about. It's interesting, and a little confusing, to me that people are having so much of problem understanding the album. Most of it seems pretty clear as nose on face to me, which might just mean I'm in a place in my life similar to where Tori was when she wrote it. There *are* moments that completely confound me though. ;> >But, I guess that's the enigmatic Tori we've all grown to love. Musically, >as well, this album does not offer much that is immediately accessible. No >real toe-tapping radio-friendly numbers, and no particularly beautiful >ballads. Instead we get an amazingly complex work, rooted in its >mythology, that will give people plenty to discuss and analyze. I disagree! Caught A Lite Sneeze is very radio friendly (which is why it was chosen as the single, I guess, heh :), and I think Talula, and to a lesser degree Professional Widow, are radio friendly as well (maybe not toe-tapping, but radio friendly). Putting The Damage On could make it as well - it's a beautiful but simple ballad, which brings me to the particularly beautiful ballads point. IMO, Boys For Pele contains some of the most gorgeous ballads ever written, ever! Hey Jupiter is absolutely haunting, and Doughnut Song puts a lump in my throat everytime. Putting The Damage On is incredibly beautiful... Honestly, I find BFP far more accessible than Under The Pink was. Maybe I'm just weird. >I must admit that I'd actually become quite burnt out on Tori. After >reading countless interviews and seeing her in person several times, I >began to think that she was taking herself too seriously--offering >grandiose opinions on the state of mankind that often had little substance >or rationale to back them. Eh? >The nice thing about her vague lyrics is that her striking imagery can speak at some >levels to almost everyone--though I would seriously question anyone but >Tori who tried to give definitive interpretations, (and to be honest, I'd >probably also question Tori's interpretations). Well, considering that Tori wrote the songs, what she says a song is about isn't at all an interpretation, it's just the way it is. Sometimes she gives a meaning to a song that I don't quite understand (which is to say, I fail to see how that subject relates to the wording, and that actually only happened with Space Dog), but the fact remains she wrote the song, so she knows what it's about. Unless it's just a string of words, like Thoughts :) In the case of some songs, I'd have to question anyone who tried to give definitive interpretations, but some songs seem so blatently obvious to my mind that I don't see anything to question. ;> But mileage and all that. >Tori fans will definitely like the album--but I certainly don't see her >winning any new fans with this effort. I disagree - I doubt it'll win has as many new fans as Under The Pink did, but I can honestly say, if BFP were my introduction to Tori, I'd love her madly on first listen, because this is just brilliant work. A - -- "And if I'm wasting all your time this time, I think you never learned to take. And if I'm hanging onto your shade, I guess I'm way beyond the pale..." - Tori Amos ------------------------------ From: hobo@ralip.se (Håkan Bårman) Date: Thu, 25 Jan 1996 12:27:24 EST Subject: RE: EBTG (Was:Tori, Poe, Others) Dan Stark wrote: > I also included "Missing" from Everything But The Girl, > which I really like. I only had the single for that, any thoughts on how > the rest of this CD is? The name of the album is "Amplified Heart". A nice album with "Missing" as the standout track. I'm not sure what singel you have, most likely it's the dance remix? "Amplified Heart" (released 1994) is not dance-oriented. Their new album is scheduled for release this spring. They may have changed their sound towards the Missing-remix and Massive Attack (I saw an interview on MTV Europe which indicated something like that). Tracey Thorn (sp?) sings on a couple of tracks on Massive Attack's "Protection" (another nice album :-). /H. ------------------------------ From: anthony@xymox.apana.org.au (Anthony Horan) Date: Thu, 25 Jan 96 23:33:31 EST Subject: Re: Tori promo picture available Neil K helped me out: >>Before I go, the gang at Warner here remembered me mentioning about the >>"Pele" in the album title being a goddess and not a soccer player (!); >>they're now asking which goddess in which mythology exactly. I've checked all >>my reference materials and even checked with my goddess contact Wendy, but >>have not been able to find Pele anywhere. Anyone got any info? > > Hawaiian. Goddess of fire, fiercely inhabiting a steaming volcano. Doh! I should have remembered that from the two eternal hours I sat through the pilot of "The Byrds Of Paradise". :-) Thanks Neil (and also Jens, who helped out via direct email). - - Anthony - -- - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anthony Horan, Melbourne Australia - anthony@xymox.apana.org.au http://daemon.apana.org.au/~anthony/ Physical mail: P.O. Box 40, Malvern 3144, Victoria, Australia "The red sky was bleeding glimpses of heaven, in sections of seven..." - Rose Chronicles reaching lyrical perfection on "Awaiting Eternity" - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ From: anthony@xymox.apana.org.au (Anthony Horan) Date: Thu, 25 Jan 96 23:25:23 EST Subject: Re: More rooArt information >On Sun, 21 Jan 1996, Anthony Horan wrote: > >> The guy that does the RooArt page (Greg Weaver, who's also Falling Joys' live >> sound mixer!) posted very recently on aus.music about the RooArt site's new >> expended content. > >Is that what Greg does? He's a nice guy... He is indeed, as well as being the God Of Stereo Live Mixing. It's one thing when a live engineer pans a few instruments left and right, but Greg does the full stereo job complete with careful instrument placement, stereo reverb, and autopanning. :-) All of which, I'm sure, is of no interest at all to the 99% of Ecto that won't be seeing a live gig in Melbourne or Sydney in the near future...! - - Anthony - -- - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anthony Horan, Melbourne Australia - anthony@xymox.apana.org.au http://daemon.apana.org.au/~anthony/ Physical mail: P.O. Box 40, Malvern 3144, Victoria, Australia "The red sky was bleeding glimpses of heaven, in sections of seven..." - Rose Chronicles reaching lyrical perfection on "Awaiting Eternity" - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ From: anthony@xymox.apana.org.au (Anthony Horan) Date: Thu, 25 Jan 96 23:40:47 EST Subject: Re: Tori's drummer Meredith wrote at on: Sun, 21 Jan 1996 13:30:54 -0500 (EST) >Is it just me, or did the vocal bridge in "Hey Jupiter" sound exactly like the >end of "Purple Rain", which Tori did a great job of covering on the last tour? OK, OK, just to prove Ectosynchronicity *is* real: I wrote on: Sun, 21 Jan 96 19:21:11 EST >Meredith said of Tori on SNL... > >>She sounded great. "Hey Jupiter" is a nice little song -- can't wait to >>delve >>into it on the album. >Has anyone noticed the remarkable musical similarity between the end of "Hey >Jupiter" and the end of Prince's "Purple Rain"? :-) The thing is, allowing for time differences, I wrote that before Meredith did, *but* it sat on my computer unsent until a mail batch went out at 11:48am, 22-Jan-96. The only possible explanation, therefore, is that Meredith and myself are twins. :-) - - Anthony - -- - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anthony Horan, Melbourne Australia - anthony@xymox.apana.org.au http://daemon.apana.org.au/~anthony/ Physical mail: P.O. Box 40, Malvern 3144, Victoria, Australia "The red sky was bleeding glimpses of heaven, in sections of seven..." - Rose Chronicles reaching lyrical perfection on "Awaiting Eternity" - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ From: anthony@xymox.apana.org.au (Anthony Horan) Date: Thu, 25 Jan 96 23:09:16 EST Subject: Re: As promised... Meredith replied to many, many, many people... >Troy reportedL > >>Just read the review for Tori's "Boys for Pele".... >>Doesn't sound real good for us Tori freaks. >>Rolling Stone give it just two stars saying that even >>though she is clearly talented, her lyrics are mystifying >>and bad. > >Well, that's what they said about _Under The Pink_, too. Basically, Rolling >Stone music reviews are like New Yorker movie reviews: if they hate it, I know >it's good and I'll love it. So I think two stars is actually a very good >sign. :) Actually, such reviews aren't unique to Rolling Stone. I've always had a pet hate of record reviews that say the music's fine but then can the whole thing because the reviewer couldn't understand what the lyrics were about. You'd never find a poetry review saying that, surely. It's art. It doesn't have to be in plain instruction-manual English. If Tori Amos decides to express the visions in her head in poetic terms, it's not down to anyone to give them a low score simply because they don't understand them. I'm sure a lot of people would prefer Tori to sing lyrics composed of clearly defined sentences using words of two syllables or less. I, however, am not one of them. :-) >I think enough of her fans realize that Rolling Stone is staffed by a bunch of >idiots that this won't have much of an impact. Well, they do have one or two good writers... :-) >It will be interesting to see how the sales figures go, though -- I'll bet >all of her current fans will run out and buy _Boys For Pele_ within a few >days of its release, debuting way up on the charts. I hope she gains enough >new fans to keep sales up for a while, I doubt that this album will win Tori many new fans; in fact, I'd even go so far as to say that it'll probably lose her a fair few of the ones gained with "Under The Pink". >Kevin wondered: > >>i keep hearing that Under The Pink originally had a different cover >>picture, but that tori vetoed it, but i've never heard exactly what the >>original picture -was-... it's beginning to get to me. ;) > >Hmmm. I know that _Little Earthquakes_ was supposed to have a Dave McKean >painting for a back cover instead of the infamous mushrooms, but I hadn't >heard anything about an alternate cover for _UtP_... There was one, and I have both a full-size colour poster of it (courtesy Warner Australia being a little too keen to print posters before art was approved!) and an Atlantic release info sheet featuring the cover, which came via a helpful Ectophile who shall remain anonymous lest I get into trouble. :-) Anyone know how to scan an A2 poster? :-) >Sue Trowbridge leaked: > >>I got to see the CD booklet for BOYS FOR PELE yesterday, and one of the >>photos inside shows Tori breast-feeding a piglet. As Dave Barry would >>say, "I am not making this up." > >Oy. I'm still trying to figure out the front cover photo, which I've yet to see in colour. But looking at the mono copy I have here, it looks as if Tori has grown herself an extra leg...! (No Rolf Harris jokes here, please :-) - - Anthony - -- - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anthony Horan, Melbourne Australia - anthony@xymox.apana.org.au http://daemon.apana.org.au/~anthony/ Physical mail: P.O. Box 40, Malvern 3144, Victoria, Australia "The red sky was bleeding glimpses of heaven, in sections of seven..." - Rose Chronicles reaching lyrical perfection on "Awaiting Eternity" - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ From: "S. Lunsford & T. O'Reilly" Date: Thu, 25 Jan 1996 11:09:48 +0000 Subject: Accessible? Hi everyone, I've been really interested in this Tori Amos discussion because of the accessible vs. non-accessible opinions about her new album. I liked both of her other albums quite a bit, although I can't stand either the pictures of her or watching her in person (yeah, I'm one of those people who thinks she's a leetle too impressed with herself) and just bought Boys For Pele last night over the new Dar Williams -- which would certainly have been more accessible. So I'm curious: 1) What makes an album accessible? 2) Who would you name as an inaccessible musical artist? Just me, the curious one - -Sage ____________________________________________________________________ Sage, Todd and the eight feline cohorts: sagetodd@postoffice.ptd.net Not to mention: http://www.dfw.net/~soulmate/ where you can fall in and spend hours. Literally. ------------------------------ From: Kevin Dekan {x66440 CF/DEV} Date: Thu, 25 Jan 1996 11:39:13 -0600 Subject: Re: BMG CDs On Wed, 24 Jan 1996, Kerry White wrote: > Still have 3 freebies to go. Someone tell[] me about Clannad. Years > ago I heard something morose and dirge-like and asked and was told, > "Clannad", and I stayed away from them. On a tape sent to me I now have > In Fortune's Hand and I Will Find You, and I *love* them. > Tell[] me about Magical Ring, Bamba, Anam, and Ma'ire Brennan's Misty > Eyed Adventures, please. Themes seemed too thin and ethereal, except for > IWFY. Hmmm... Clannad is one of my favorite bands even though I don't have that many CDs by them. They have been around for quite some time. One album I have _Fuaim_ (pronounced "Foom") dates back to '82. Enya was with them at that time. _Fuaim_ has a mostly traditional Irish sound to it. Lovely album but much different from their more recent stuff. The later albums have a more mainstream sound that may appeal to those who shy away from the traditional. YMMV. I also have _PastPresent_ and _Banba_. PP is sort of a greatest hits CD with songs off from many of their albums including _Legend_, _Macalla_, _Magical Ring_, and _Sirius_. Strongly recommended. It's a good place to start. _Banba_ was their most recent CD released back in '93 I believe. If you like the song "I Will Find You", you'd probably like the rest of the album. "IWFY" was used in the film "Last Of The Mohicans". Quite appropriate I thought. I hear Clannad is due to release a new album sometime this year. As for Maire Brennan, I have both her solo albums. Her first album, titled simply _Maire_ (pronounced Moya) has some nice songs on it. I really liked it at first but found later that I didn't listen to it all that much. Not sure why. It sounds, of course, much like Clannad. Maire's sisters add some really breathtaking backing vocals on the album. But _Misty Eyed Adventures_, released last year, IMHO is a much more solid effort. Many will disagree with me on this. I simply love it though. Very soothing sounds that help bring my blood pressure down. As for the themes being too thin and ethereal, I'm not sure how to respond to that. Ethereal... yes. Thin... perhaps. I don't listen to Maire and Clannad so much for the message, but more for the feeling. Hope this helps, Ta, ta, -Kevin ------------------------------ From: "jeffrey hanson" Date: Thu, 25 Jan 96 12:08:05 cdt Subject: Tori's breath Hi folks, After reading all the Tori posts yesterday, I get in my car to leave work and what's on the radio? Tori's Caught a Lite Sneeze. Afterwards, the dj comes on and says "You know, I love Tori, but it seems like she's a little breathy lately. I mean (gasp), if people (gasp) breathed like that (gasp) when they (gasp) talked it could become (gasp) really annoying (gasp)." He even got the traffic reporter doing it. Anyway, I thought it was rather humorous. Jeff Hanson ------------------------------ From: Kerry White Date: Thu, 25 Jan 1996 17:21:24 -0600 (CST) Subject: barnes & noble Hello, I just went to the mall(blegh!) to get the only copy of Strunz & Farah Primal Magic in town. Nextdoor is the new Barnes & Noble complex. I wandered in and in the back was a music area. WOW!!!!!!! The *biggest* selection I have *ever* seen. I got Heart of the Forest (Music of the Baka Forest People ),Mouth Music's 1st w/ Seinn O!, and the Gyuto Monks Freedom Chants (these are the ones who can, individually, hum chords!!) They had all available Sheila Chandra, a bunch of Sara McLachlin incl seveal different singles, and a whole bunch of names I rarely see elsewhere. Their prices range from a few $14 to $16 and $17. My three were a total of $48. If you *have* to have it and can't find it try them. Here endth the commercial for today. KrW It was the least I could do! And never let it be said that I didn't do the least I could do. ------------------------------ From: Kerry White Date: Thu, 25 Jan 1996 17:37:00 -0600 (CST) Subject: Re: Accessible? Hello, On Thu, 25 Jan 1996, S. Lunsford & T. O'Reilly wrote: > > 1) What makes an album accessible? > > 2) Who would you name as an inaccessible musical artist? > IMHO: 1) If you listen the 1st time and feel you've met an old friend from some forgotten time. If you just plain *like* it on 1st listen. If there are only pleasent surprises to be found. 2) Diamanda Galas. For me: most Rap musik. Some Zappa for some people. A lot of Capt. Beefheart (aside: If the D.Van Vliet who co-wrote a cut on JO Relish is Don, then he is Capt B) KrW It was the least I could do! And never let it be said that I didn't do the least I could do. ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V2 #360 ************************** ======================================================================== Please send any questions or comments about the list to ecto-owner@nsmx.rutgers.edu