From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V4 #35 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Monday, February 2 1998 Volume 04 : Number 035 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Today's your birthday, friend... [matthewm (Mike Matthews)] comma ["Jeffrey C. Burka" ] Re: comma [Joseph Zitt ] This Week In Live Music [meredith ] Ectophiles' Guide deleted artists [Neile Graham ] Re: Music on the Plath/Sexton continuum [Neile Graham ] Re: Dalbello on MuchMusic [Neile Graham ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 1 Feb 1998 03:00:19 -0500 From: matthewm (Mike Matthews) Subject: Today's your birthday, friend... i*i*i*i*i*i i*i*i*i*i*i *************** *****HAPPY********* **************BIRTHDAY********* *************************************************** *************************************************************************** ********************* Ilka Heber (IHEBER@ESOC.BITNET) ********************* *************************************************************************** -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Marvin Camras Sat January 01 1916 Tapehead Jeanne Schreiter Tue January 03 1967 Capricorn John Sandoval Wed January 04 1967 Capricorn Paul Cohen Tue January 05 1954 Capricorn Tony Garrity Mon January 08 1962 Pool of Life Greg Bossert Tue January 09 1962 OfTheTimes Troy J. Shadbolt Thu January 14 1971 Capricorn Chris Sampson Wed January 15 1964 Void where prohibited Dennis G Parslow Fri January 17 1964 ...of the Saint Ross Alford Thu January 17 1957 Positive Nancy Whitney Mon January 19 1959 slippery when wet Sarah Noelle Pratt Ferguson Tue January 20 1970 Seanympf-Aquarius Terry Partis Sun January 22 1933 Rocker Sarah McLachlan Sun January 28 1968 Aquarius Ilka Heber Mon February 01 1965 Mermaid Bob Lovejoy Sun February 02 1947 Aquarius Diane Burke Sat February 02 1963 slow children Timothy S. Devine Tue February 03 1970 Aquarius Stephen Thomas Fri February 04 1966 Aquarius Doug Burks Tue February 14 1956 Blank Jim Sturnfield Thu February 18 1954 Aquarius Juha Kannisto Wed February 18 1970 Aquarius Joel Siegfried February 19 Penguin Crossing Linda Saboe Tue February 20 1951 aimless *Teresa Ross Wed February 23 1977 pisces Michael Curry Fri February 24 1967 Pisces Paula Shanks Mon February 25 1952 Pisces Brni Mojzes Fri February 26 1965 the vanishing boy Pamela Pociluk Fri February 28 1964 Pisces Tim Steele Fri March 08 1963 Pisces Matt Bittner Thu March 12 1964 Pisces kIrI Hargie Fri March 13 1970 Pisces Bob Dreano Thu March 13 1958 Pisces Randall K. Smith Sat March 15 1969 Pisces Jessica Skolnik March 16 Pisces Alan Sodoma Thu March 18 1965 LuckyLurker Barry Wong Thu March 19 1970 Merlin Graham Dombkins Fri March 19 1965 Pisces Ian Young Wed March 19 1969 Squiggol Jeff Wasilko Wed March 19 1969 Pisces Geoff Carre Sat March 20 1954 Pisces John Stewart Sat March 21 1970 Aries Bob Brown Thu March 22 1951 Ham Valerie Nozick Thu March 25 1971 Aries Tom Proven Sat March 27 1971 P.T. Jennifer Albert Wed March 30 1966 Aries (w/Cancer rising!:) Warpaint Mon April 01 1991 Brilliant! Michael Pearce Wed April 03 1946 Pegasus Michael E. Bravo Mon April 05 1971 Dandelion Wine Brion McIntosh Sun April 06 1958 Aries Marcel Kshensky Thu April 06 1950 Aries David Dixon Tue April 07 1970 Aries Klaus Kluge Sun April 10 1960 Unicorn Steve VanDevender Sun April 10 1966 Racer Art Liestman Fri April 10 1953 Repeat Stephen Golden Sat April 10 1971 Jokey Michael Bowman Wed April 11 1962 Aries Wolfgang Ullwer Fri April 11 1969 Widder Janet Kirsch Thu April 11 1974 Aries Jerry Tue April 13 1971 Aries Stuart Myerburg Mon April 14 1969 Aries T-Bone Wed April 15 1992 happy cat Jeff Hanson Sat April 16 1966 Aries Michael Klouda Mon April 17 1967 Aries Harry Foster Sat April 21 1956 NiceGuy Angelos Kyrlidis Fri April 22 1966 Taurus Kjetil Torgrim Homme Thu April 23 1970 Taurus Pablo Iglesias Thu April 23 1964 Positive Jeff Burka Thu April 24 1969 GoFlyAKite Christine Waite Tue April 25 1972 Taurus Matt Adams Thu April 26 1962 Taurus Brad Hutchinson Tue April 28 1964 What sign? Geoff Parks Sun April 30 1961 Taurus Barney Parker Fri May 02 1986 happy cat Gray Abbott Tue May 03 1955 Suprised Tamar Boursalian May 03 Taurus Joe Dembski Wed May 07 1952 Rumple Richard A. Holmes May 07 Taurus John Warren Mon May 08 1961 Taurus - the Ox Steve Ito Fri May 08 1970 DA Bull... Brian Gregory Thu May 09 1963 Eclectic Patrick Varker Wed May 12 1954 Torius Steve Fagg Tue May 13 1958 Nightwol Karel Zuiderveld Fri May 13 1960 Stier Michael Colford Wed May 16 1962 Taurus Christopher Boek Tue May 19 1970 Taurus Yngve Hauge Fri May 21 1971 Gemini Lisa Laane Tue May 22 1973 Gemini Jewel Kilcher Thu May 23 1974 The Gem Chandra Sriram Thu May 27 1971 Gemini Urs Stafford Thu May 31 1973 Give Way Perttu Yli-Krekola Thu June 02 1966 Kaksoset Alex Gibbs Thu June 08 1967 Betelgeuse Gleb Zverev Tue June 09 1964 Gemini Sonja Juchniewich Mon June 10 1963 Pegasus Joerg Plate Mon June 12 1967 Gemini Chris Montville Tue June 13 1978 Gemini Ectoplasm (original name) Mailing List Thu June 13 1991 Fuzzier blue Mark R. Susskind Wed June 15 1966 Gemini Mike Matthews Mon June 16 1969 SAFH Albert Philipsen Mon June 17 1968 Gemini Neal R. Copperman Thu June 17 1965 Gemini Susan Kay Anderson Tue June 17 1969 Gemini Ecto-The Mailing List Tue June 18 1991 Fuzzy blue Tracy Barber Mon June 18 1956 Gemini Greg Dunn Thu June 18 1953 + Paul Blair Thu June 18 1964 Objectivist David Lubkin Fri June 20 1958 OurLady Marisa Wood Fri June 20 1969 Gemini Cheri Villines Sun June 20 1965 Gemini-Pisces Ray Misra Sat June 20 1970 Gemini Nik Popa Sun June 22 1969 Cancer Teresa VanDyne Thu June 23 1960 Cancer Dave Torok Mon June 24 1968 Cancer Ethan Straffin Thu June 24 1971 Cancer Kevin Dekan Mon June 27 1960 Cancer BunkyTom Tue July 02 1968 Cancer Anders Hallberg Tue July 03 1962 Cancer Kevin Harkins Thu July 05 1973 Cancer Laurel Krahn Mon July 05 1971 Cancer Jim Gurley Mon July 06 1959 Cancer Courtney Dallas Fri July 09 1971 Catte Michael Peskura Sat July 09 1949 HallOfFamer Finney T. Tsai Sat July 09 1966 Cancer Marion Kippers Tue July 13 1965 Kreeft Ellen Rawson Thu July 13 1961 Double Cancer Mitch Pravatiner Mon July 14 1952 Cancer Rich R. Wed July 14 1954 Cancer John Zimmer Sun July 16 1961 Cancer Dan Stark Sun July 16 1961 Cancer Cathy Guetzlaff Mon July 18 1955 Cancer Vlad Sat July 18 1970 Warning: severe tire damage Jani Pinola Thu July 20 1972 Jonquil Tom Johnson Mon July 25 1966 Leo Alvin Brattli Sun July 27 1969 Lefthanded Christy Eger Smith Thu July 27 1944 Horse Crossing Rob Woiccak (woj) Sun July 28 1968 children at play John Relph Sat July 28 1962 Leo Bob Kollmeyer Wed July 28 1971 Leo Steve Lusky Tue July 29 1952 Bike! Kate Bush Wed July 30 1958 God Chuck Smith Wed July 30 1958 Reboot Yves Denneulin Fri July 30 1971 Lion-Heart Joel Kenyon Wed July 31 1963 Leo Eli Brandt August 05 Leo Martin Bridges Sat August 08 1970 BigGuy Happy Rhodes Mon August 09 1965 HolyGhost Michael Stevens Sat August 12 1967 For Sale or Lease Vickie Mapes Wed August 15 1956 WretchAwry Martin Dougiamas Wed August 20 1969 Positive Tori Amos Thu August 22 1963 Leo Sam Warren Tue August 22 1961 Leo Henk Van Wulpen Sat August 22 1970 Leo Kerry White Wed August 22 1951 Exact Leo/Virgo Don Gibson Wed August 26 1959 Virgo Marcel Rijs Mon August 31 1970 A rose growing old Meredith Tarr Wed September 01 1971 Virgo Mary Lou Rowe Sat September 03 1960 Virgo Scott Zimmerman Mon September 04 1972 Virgo Mike Mendelson Fri September 04 1964 Virgo Richard Dean Wed September 06 1967 Virgo David Blank-Edelman Sat September 09 1967 Neon Holly Tominack Thu September 10 1970 Virgo Sharon Nichols (Rhodeways) Wed September 11 1963 Victim of Christianity Heather Russell September 11 Total Virgosity Troy Wollenslegel Mon September 18 1972 Virgo Joyce Wermont Sat September 18 1954 Virgo Mark Frabotta Sun September 19 1965 Don't even THINK about parking here Joe Zitt Sat September 20 1958 Will Hack for CDs Ani DiFranco Wed September 23 1970 Virgo Paul Kim Sat October 01 1977 fetal position Susan Krauss Tue October 04 1960 Libra Dan Riley Sun October 08 1961 Libra Neile Graham Wed October 08 1958 pen Quenby M. Chunco Tue October 08 1968 Crunchy Frog Mike Garland Wed October 08 1952 Creature_of_the_Night Irvin Lin Tue October 09 1973 Libra Michael C. Berch Wed October 10 1956 No parking Chris Gagnon Sat October 10 1970 Libra Wolfgang Drotschmann Thu October 13 1966 Waage Gracescape Fri October 13 1967 unbalanced Brian Bloom Tue October 14 1969 spam Erik N. Johnson Tue October 16 1962 Handle with Care Kim Klouda Tue October 17 1967 Libra Anthony Amato Sat October 20 1973 Libra Dave Steiner Sat October 24 1959 Scorpio Tara MacLean Thu October 25 1973 Scorpio Jessica Koeppel Wed October 29 1969 Scorpio Kathy Clark Sat November 01 1969 Bunnies Katie Dougiamas Sat November 02 1974 Scorpio Anthony Horan Fri November 04 1966 Positive Michael Sullivan Mon November 05 1962 Scorpio Jens Brage Sun November 08 1964 Scorpio Rising Lynn Garrett Sat November 08 1958 Scorpio Sam Murgie Fri November 08 1957 Scorpio Rachel Kramer Bussel Mon November 10 1975 Scorpio Ken Latta Sun November 11 1951 Scorpio Michael Doyle Wed November 12 1969 Scorpio Neil K. Thu November 14 1968 Grocible Dave Cook Mon November 15 1971 Scorpio Jeff Pearce November 16 Orpheus Naama Avramzon Mon November 18 1974 Scorpio Jeff Smith Mon November 19 1962 Crash Kevin Bartlett Fri November 21 1952 Scorpio Claudia Spix Wed November 23 1960 Schuetze Anja Baldo Tue November 23 1965 Garbanzo Tommy Persson Wed November 25 1964 Sagittarius Pat Tessitore November 26 Sagittarius Justin Bur Fri November 27 1964 Sagittarius Sue Trowbridge Sun November 27 1966 Skytten Ward Kadel Tue November 29 1977 Sagittarius Mirko Bulaja Sat November 30 1974 Block Chip Lueck Thu December 05 1968 Sagittarius Ken Hoyme Sun December 08 1957 Sagittarius Michele Wellck December 08 Sagittarius Jeremy J. Corry Fri December 11 1970 Sagittarius Renee Canada Tue December 13 1977 Sagittarius Julie C. Kammerzell Sun December 15 1968 Sagittarius/Scorpio combo Gloria Jackson-Nefertiti Sat December 15 1956 Sagittarius Damon Harper Tue December 16 1975 COOL BANANAS Laura Clifford Tue December 17 1957 Sagittarius Dirk Kastens Tue December 17 1963 Sagittarius Milla Wed December 17 1975 Sagittarius Chris Schernwetter Tue December 17 1974 Sagittarius Sherry Haddock Sat December 17 1960 Sagittarius Tracy Benbrook Tue December 18 1973 Sagittarius Uli Grepel Wed December 25 1968 Steinbock Joseph Wasicek Sat December 25 1976 Brown Eagle Stuart Castergine Mon December 30 1963 You Are Here ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 01 Feb 1998 17:31:10 -0500 From: "Jeffrey C. Burka" Subject: comma just back from seeing our own Joe Zitt's performance group, Comma, give a show at a local used bookstore. 'Twas an interesting event. Joe started by reading excerpts from his book/poem _Shekhinah: The Presence_, bits of which I'd already read on his web site. I ended up buying a copy of the book, which the store had copies of. After this, the group did an improvisation, follwed by 3 of Joe's compositions, an intermission, and then several more pieces, written by the other two members of the group and by John Cage. This is not easy listening, not pop, nor even really like any other vocal ensemble I'd heard before. Mostly difficult music, but quite fascinating. I think my favorite pieces were "Halleluyah Ketjak" (by Joe) and "Angelorum" (apparently an exercept from a larger piece), by Thomas Bickley. While I can't recommend this to everyone, I'd certainly go see another show... jeff - -- |Jeffrey C. Burka | moving to jburka@cqi.com -- come say hi | |http://www.cqi.com/~jburka | at the new digs...now up and running! | ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 01 Feb 1998 22:24:04 -0500 From: Joseph Zitt Subject: Re: comma Jeffrey C. Burka wrote: > While I can't recommend this to everyone, I'd certainly go see another show... Thanks! It was good to see you there (you're the first DC/MD/VA ectophile I've actually met in this area *mea culpa*). We should have some more shows coming up; among other things, the owner of a DC art gallery and performance space was there and was coming up with some cool ideas of things we could do there... The CD (which was playing during the intermission) should be out in about a week. I will yell very loudly when I actually get it :-) - -- - ---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------- |||/ Joseph Zitt ===== jzitt@humansystems.com ===== Human Systems \||| ||/ Maryland? = <*> SILENCE: The John Cage Mailing List <*> = ecto \|| |/ http://www.realtime.net/~jzitt ====== Comma: Voices of New Music \| ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 02 Feb 1998 00:20:54 -0500 From: meredith Subject: This Week In Live Music Hi! Well, it's been another one of those weeks. :) Thursday evening woj and I saw Dar Williams play at benefit show for WPKN radio in the Edmond Town Hall in the quaint little colonial town of Newtown, Connecticut. It was an excellent venue: an old theater in the town's original town hall building, which is now a community center and entertainment spot (they show $2 movies in there on the weekends too). We got there not as early as I'd intended, but we got good seats up in the balcony, and the sound was great. (Valerie Kraemer, were you there? I looked around and saw Rod, but didn't see you anywhere...) There was no opener, and Dar was solo. She did two sets plus a two-song encore, and all in all she played for almost two hours. She did some songs she hasn't played in a while, and we even got a new one! It was remarkable how far along her guitar playing has come; the first time we saw her do "As Cool As I Am" it was a complete train wreck, but now she's doing some really neat things with it. She even pulled off "Are You Out There" solo acoustic, which I had been worried about since it was so kickass when she did it with the full band last fall. Let me see if I can remember the set list: What Do You Hear In These Sounds If I Wrote You Iowa Are You Out There When Sal's Burned Down Wilder than Her (by Fred Eaglesmith -- why she does covers is beyond me: with the exception of Richard Shindell's "Nora", her own songs have been *light years* beyond these songs she's covered) As Cool As I Am Spring Street (a new song -- it ruled!) The Pointless, Yet Poignant, Crisis of a Co-ed The Blessings End of the Summer Mortal City The Christians and the Pagans February I Love, I Love ENCORE The Babysitter's Here (just when we thought we were going to escape without having to hear it YET AGAIN... sigh) Flinty Kind of Woman Dar seemed rather out of sorts -- she sang the second verse of "End of the Summer" twice, and got lost somewhere else, too -- and overall her demeanor was rather flustered, an impression that only increased as the show went on. I don't know if the *exceedingly* obnoxious frosh girls from Wesleyan in the front had anything to do with it -- at times I thought I was at a freakin' Ani show, and at one point, when Dar made a reference to Wesleyan and they all squealed reverberatingly with delight, she looked at them and said sarcastically, "Oh, I get it -- you're *Wesleyan* students!", which just set them off again. I was seriously considering using my alumni account @wesleyan.edu to post an appropriately disparaging open letter on one of the newsgroups there addressed to the annoying "theater majors" in attendance, but I didn't have the time and now I'm over it. (If I was that over the top when I was 18 and any of you were in the same audience as me at the time, I apologize. Really. Ugh.) Anyway, it was a great show nonetheless, and I can't wait to see her in Northampton with Stephanie Winters in a couple weeks. Yay. :) The next night, Friday woj and I met up with Mike Curry and we trekked into New York to see Mila Drumke and her band play at Arlene Grocery. Simply put, she ruled. Despite the fact that only about five of us in attendance were actually paying attention (and not screaming into our tablemates' ears to go get more beer), it was a great set. Way too short, but hey. Mila sounded great, and her band was top-notch. Her violin player was amazing, and I was incredulous when, during the course of introducing the band she revealed that the drummer was brand-new, and that was his first gig with them! He had just finished kicking ass on "Little Pro", which made that fact all the more impressive. It took me long enough to finally see her play, and it was definitely worth the wait. She's at the Mercury Lounge next Saturday the 7th -- if we weren't already going to see Susan McKeown up here in CT, we'd be there for sure. (Yes, 1998 is already over a month old and we haven't seen Susan play yet this year. Will wonders never cease. ;) Yesterday was Merrie Amsterburg Day. On the train into NYC the previous night I happened to notice in the newspaper that she was going to be doing an in-store performance at Exile On Main St. records in Branford, so Mike immediately made plans to come down this way early so we could check that out in addition to her gig at Rudy's later that night. The performance was advertised to start at 3, but as it turned out it didn't get going until almost 4:30. Apparently Merrie had called the store that morning asking if she could move it to 4, which was a problem since all the advertising said 3, so they compromised and said 3:30, but she didn't show up until after 4 anyway. I thought that was rather cheesy, especially since by the time she got there pretty much everyone who had come to see her had given up and left, but the performance was so good and she was so nice afterwards, I just had to forgive her. :) We did some shopping in the excellent used bins (scored, among other things, an unopened copy of Tanya Donnelly's new one, the Wild Strawberries disc from a couple years ago, and Patty Larkin's classic _Live In The Square_), so it wasn't a totally useless wait. When they finally got there, she and Peter set up in the far end of the side room of the store, and played 6 songs from _Season of Rain_ plus an excellent newer one called "Patchwork". Afterwards we went to say hello, and I was shocked when she remembered me from when I introduced myself after seeing her open for The Nields at the Iron Horse last spring! That's what you get for sitting in the front row, I guess. :) Later that night (after a break for dinner and Xena ;), we headed downtown to Rudy's, an old Yale hangout that has begun hosting live acoustic music events on the weekends. The place is a total college dive, and the music space is really small, but at least it's set apart from the bar area, and the audience sitting in that space was reasonably attentive. Unfortunately we got there a bit too late and ended up sitting on a bench off to the side of and slightly behind the stage. It wasn't too bad in the end, though, since at least we got to sit down. Opening was local Shelleye Valuskas, who had been working at Exile during the in-store, and apparently has been making a name for herself around New Haven on the coattails of her brother, who is in the relatively famous local band The Gravel Pit. It was just her and her acoustic guitar, and while she really did nothing original and her singing was at times just slightly off-key, I could think of several opening acts who have been much, much harder to deal with, and I only looked at my watch twice. :) I don't think she'll go very far outside of New Haven (hell, hardly anyone ever does :P), but she was a nice enough opener. Finally Merrie and Peter got set up and played for about an hour. They had to weather severe monitor buzzing and a weird noise that occurred whenever Merrie touched her mandolin pickup, but they got a really great reception and I enjoyed their set quite a bit. They did a few more *very* tasty new songs, and I really really want another album soon! I mean, how many other pop/rock musicians are out there alternating between guitar, mandolin, and bouzouki, complete with reverb and other pedal-ized effects? Merrie's got a great voice too (sort of like a sweeter, more bell-like Aimee Mann), and her songs just slide comfortably over the eardrums and wrap warmly around your brain. She's definitely an artist I'll drive miles to see -- but it was refreshing to be asleep in bed just minutes after she left the stage. :) The headliner for the evening was actually Jules Verdone, but by the time Merrie was done it was almost midnight and I was totally wiped and not in the mood to stick around to discover anything new. I'm sure I'll regret it later, but my body thanked me for it, really. Anyone got any opinions on Jules Verdone? Did I miss a revelation? Do tell! Oh, and while I'm here -- yesterday began with turning on Weekend Edition on NPR and hearing an interview with Mary Lou Lord. Scott Simon appears to be a big fan. I've got to say, though, the snippets of her new album that they played didn't inspire me to seek it out at the record store that afternoon. I've heard it's been getting less-than-charitable reviews for being overproduced, and I could hear why -- anyone want to dissuade me from that notion and convince me to run to Cutler's on Tuesday to pick it up when I go there to get Kristen Hersh's new one? (Yes, that is a challenge. :) We got Sarah tickets, too. I sure hope nobody was trying to make an important call to Wallingford, CT yesterday morning, because from just before 10 to after 11 all I got were "all circuits are busy now" messages. We finally had to give up because we had to take the cat to the vet, and by the time we got home I was convinced we were way too late, but I guess the lack of lines going into the Oakdale box office helped my cause, because even after 1:00 we were able to get upper orchestra seats. There are no bad seats at the Oakdale Theater unless you're in the very rear of the balcony, so I guess we did okay. I kind of choked at the price, though: $38 each, including the service charge (and no, the Oakdale isn't a Ticketslime venue -- I called the box office directly). Oh well. Considering I saw Sarah 11 times on the Fumbling tour and this is going to be the one and only time I see her on the Surfacing tour, I guess I'm still saving myself a load of cash. :) For that amount of money I wish I were getting a palatable opening act, though. I guess you can't have everything. (Did anyone catch her appearance on Leno Friday night? Am I the only one who almost died when he asked her "Hey, when you were here last time, weren't you seeing *another* member of your band?" Tactless, yet funny in a sick, "ohmigod, they killed Kenny!" sort of way. What an idiot.) +==========================================================================+ | Meredith Tarr meth@smoe.org | | New Haven, CT USA http://www.smoe.org/~meth | +==========================================================================+ | "things are more beautiful when they're obscure" -- veda hille | |***TRAJECTORY, the Veda Hille mailing list: trajectory-request@smoe.org***| +==========================================================================+ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 02 Feb 1998 00:02:07 -0600 From: Neile Graham Subject: Ectophiles' Guide deleted artists Comparing the lists of forthcoming entries in the alphabetical indeces and the actual files I have on hand to work with, I've deleted the following artists/groups from the forthcoming entries lists (most of them got there in the first place from various lists early on of artists that were discussed on ecto or of people's favourites). The lists of forthcoming artists don't include ALL the artists I have files for, but I don't want to list artists there that might not ever have pages in the Guide. If anyone wants these artists to have entries in the Guide, they're going to have to send me comments about them. - --Dee Lite - --Sona Diabate - --Connie Dover - --Downey Mildew - --Fetchin Bones - --Float Up CP - --Barbara Gaskin - --Gong - --Go Van Gogh (the U.S. one) - --Shoba Gurtu - --Gyan - --Astrid Hadad - --Hetch Hetchy - --Becky Hobbs - --Myra Holder - --Billie Holiday (!!) - --Grace Jones - --Dagmar Krause - --Lenny Kravitz - --Lotte Lenya - --Luscious Jackson - --Macalla - --Fernanda Maria - --M'bilia Bel - --Carmel McCourt (or is this Carmel?) - --Ulla Meinecke - --Mariam Mekeba - --Nico - --Noiran Ni Raian - --Maura O'Connell - --Anna Palm - --Elli Paspala - --Annette Peacock - --Edith Piaf - --Anne Pigalle - --Queen Ida - --Queen Latifah - --Rip, Rig & Panic - --Sonya Robinson - --Clara Rockmore - --Gabrielle Roth - --Santra - --The Shaggs - --Nina Simone - --Bessie Smith (!!) - --Sonoko - --Mercedes Sosa - --Sonny Southon - --Jevetta Steeele - --Yma Sumac - --The Telling - --Shelly Thunder - --Tom Tom Club - --Tone Dogs - --Trio Bulgarka - --Kristen Vigard - --Voice of the Beehive - --Caitlin Von Schmidt - --West India Company - --Whale - --Sylvia Woods So, if you think any of these artists are worthy of inclusion in the Ectophiles' Guide, please sent us a comment or two. Thanks! - --Neile - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Neile Graham ..... http://www.sff.net/people/neile ..... neile@sff.net The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music .... http://www.smoe.org/ectoguide - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 02 Feb 1998 00:06:49 -0600 From: Neile Graham Subject: Re: Music on the Plath/Sexton continuum At 1:43 PM -0500 1/22/98, Craig Gidney wrote: >A couple of Sundays ago I had the opportunity to meet/remeet various >ecto-philes in the DC area and beyond. I remember during that gathering, >I mentioned some cd's that I was interested in. Thought that I would >repost them for the participants in particular** and the ecto community in >general. >1: Amber Asylum: "The Natural Philosophy of Love" Like a darker version of >Rasputina, this group is a neo-classical trio (violin, viola, cello), with >electronic/ambient Kris Force is the vocalist/violinist/chief songwriter >of this outfit. The compositions are sinister, beautiful, and quiet, with >hints of dissonance just below the surface. Like the poet Anne Sexton, >Force takes her imagistic cues from fairy-tales and folklore, twisting them >to her own ends. One of the pieces is an adaptation of a Brothers Grimm >tale, with the music written by my SF friend Mike Richard. The one cover >song is a version of Buffy St-Marie song, "Poppies", given a This Mortal >Coil treatment. Force's vocals are beautiful and chilling, like the singer >of Stoa, or an emotionless early Kate Bush. These soundscapes should not >be listened to if you are feeling suicidal. > >2: Aether "The Smoke of Vanished Kisses" Two SF women, one sings, the >other plays the pedal harp. The backing ranges from spare to >electronic-dance to neo-classical. As the harp is used in a fairly >conventional manner (though is it *unmistakably* a harp), this release is, >relatively speaking, more upbeat. There's an adaptation of a John Donne >poem, a Syd Barrett cover among the originals. The vox, who sounds like a >Sarah McLachlan crossed with someone else I can't think of, also writes >lyrics. Her words are poetic, witty, whimisical and wise - a dash of Jane >Siberry, a sprinkle of Suzanne Vega. There's also a nice, non-gender >specific bent to much of the lyrics. > >3: Claire Voyant (Eponymous debut). This Sacremento trio plays ethereal >music with a fairly conventional line-up - female vox, synths, and floaty >guitar. What's different about them? The singer, Victoria, has a deeper, >more evocative voice, unusual for this type of music, and the music is >*accessible* and atmospheric. They even throw in nice, odd touches, like a >Farisa organ (real or sampled) in the middle of a song. The chanteuse's >lyrics are dark and pretty, typically post Plath-gloom, but closer to Plath >than most of its ilk. Very moving. > >**Amber Asylum recommendation is for Jeff Burka and Chip Lueck, who asked >about this group > >Craig - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Neile Graham ..... http://www.sff.net/people/neile ..... neile@sff.net The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music .... http://www.smoe.org/ectoguide - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 02 Feb 1998 00:07:55 -0600 From: Neile Graham Subject: Re: Dalbello on MuchMusic Hi, Dave-- Wondering if I may swipe your comments here for The Ectophiles' Guide. Please let me know. Thanks! - --Neile At 8:55 PM -0800 1/27/98, Dave Williamson wrote: >I'll second everything Neile has said. Whore is a fabulous album, and >Lisa Dalbello has been highly under-rated and under-promoted. Re: >Neile's mention of her disappearance for many years, I believe family >took over for a while. > >It was odd that the Diamond Club broadcast Neile mentions got a lot of >promotion at the time, but her record company didn't ever seem to follow >it through and promote the album to the extent it deserved to be. > >In a lot of ways, I think Lisa paid the price for her early recordings >(which have no resemblence to the 3 Dalbello albums). She was dismissed >by many people as another passing dance queen. Alanis would have >suffered the same fate had she not vaulted Jagged Little Pill outside of >her home turf. (For those that don't know, Alanis released some >absolutely awful stuff in Canada in her teens (notably the Madonna label >wants nothing to do with re-releasing this crap in the US), and was well >known here in Ottawa as the national anthem girl at local events. >Jagged Little Pill sold mega millions before local radio begrudgingly >gave her any airplay.) > >Dave. > > >Neile Graham wrote: >> >> Kat wrote: >> >> >With the talk lately here about Lisa Dalbello, I was surprised to see a >> >video from '84 from her, on MuchMusic's '80s weekend show. I somehow >> >thought of her as a) newer and b) more obscure. They showed her video to >> >"Gonna Get Close to You," and as this is my first exposure to her music, I >> >wanted to know anyone's opinons of how reasonable an example of her stuff >> >it is. It sounded distinctly "eighties", and her voice reminded me more of >> >Laurie Anderson than anything. I imagine her music has evolved since >> >then... Any comments? >> >> Kat-- >> >> There's a fuller entry on Dalbello in The Ectophiles Guide >> (http://www.smoe.org/ectoguide/dalbello.html), but briefly: Dalbello >> started her career in the late 70s doing a kind of funk-pop which was very >> popular. The best-known song from this time is a bouncy thing called >> "Pretty Girls". >> >> Then she changed dramatically and released her first album as Dalbello >> (_whomanfoursays_) in 1984--that's the album that has "Gonna Get Close to >> You" on it. It's a _great_ strange, powerful, gutsy album. Following that >> she released _She_, which was a tiny bit more pop, with "Let's Tango" being >> the single off it. We were living in Ontario when that was released and it >> got fairly heavy play on Much Music. CityTV or TVO (I can't remember >> which) played a live show of hers from the Diamond Club. I still kick >> myself that we taped over our copy of it. >> >> "Black on Black" from that album appeared on the soundtrack for the movie >> _9-1/2 Weeks_. Heart covered two of her songs. >> >> Then she disappeared for several years--the only word we heard about her >> was that she had done a beer commercial--then burst back with _Whore_. All >> three of her Dalbello releases are available in Canada, at least I've seen >> them at A&B Sound in Victoria recently. >> >> Ever since I heard _whomanfoursays_ in '84 I've been a huge fan of hers. >> She deserves way more recognition than she's ever received. >> >> Hope this helps. >> >> --Neile >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> Neile Graham ..... http://www.sff.net/people/neile ..... neile@sff.net >> The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music .... http://www.smoe.org/ectoguide >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Neile Graham ..... http://www.sff.net/people/neile ..... neile@sff.net The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music .... http://www.smoe.org/ectoguide - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V4 #35 *************************