From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V4 #187 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Sunday, June 14 1998 Volume 04 : Number 187 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Mary Coughlan ["Xenu's Sister" ] Today's your birthday, friends... [Mike Matthews ] Re: Coco Love Alcorn/NXNE-Drumke/Khan/Bonet [Steve I ] Re: Imogen Heap [Tim Finney ] Happy/Vampire (Was Re: Mary Coughlan) [JavaHo@aol.com] MIMI! [aardvark of destiny ] Re: Corrs Light [isometric plaything ] Re: Corrs Light [Hiptones@aol.com] Mila Drumke tour dates [Michael Curry ] Imogen Heap / Mimi / The Corrs controversy [Neile Graham ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 13 Jun 1998 01:01:09 -0500 From: "Xenu's Sister" Subject: Re: Mary Coughlan At 08:40 PM 6/12/98 -0700, Valerie Kraemer wrote: (What she said about Mary...I've been a fan since "Tired and Emotional" came out - on LP, no less!) >Two other interesting facts about Mary Coughlan. 1) She has five children. >2) She was hired by Neil Jordan to give Julia Roberts singing lessons in the >movie "Michael Collins." She and Jordan are pretty tight. She acted and sang in his much-maligned farce "High Spirits." I wish he'd use her music in his movies more often. Charley and I met her and interviewed her for my radio show a few years ago (wow, twice in one day that comes up) and hung out with her afterward. At that time she was lobbying Neil to let her sing on the soundtrack of "Interview With A Vampire" but he had other plans. (Happy content: Mary very graciously agreed to take a CD of Equipoise with her and give it to Neil Jordan in New Orleans, where Mary was going next, and where Jordan was then filming "Vampire." I have no idea if he ever received it because the next time I saw Mary I didn't had the nerve to ask her if she gave it to him.) Mary is quite wonderful. My favorite album by her is "Under The Influence" followed closely by "Tired And Emotional." We'll be seeing Mary next Saturday at the Chicago Fle....uh...that Irish Festival that I never can remember how to spell or pronounce. I can't wait! Vickie ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Jun 1998 03:00:02 -0400 (EDT) From: Mike Matthews Subject: Today's your birthday, friends... i*i*i*i*i*i i*i*i*i*i*i *************** *****HAPPY********* **************BIRTHDAY********* *************************************************** *************************************************************************** *************** Chris Montville (chris@foodsci.rutgers.edu) *************** ******** Ectoplasm (original name) Mailing List (no Email address) ******** *************************************************************************** -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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 Dr. Firewall 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 John J Henshon Mon July 05 1954 The Year Of The Horse / Ruled By The Moon Jim Gurley Mon July 06 1959 Cancer Lisa Wilson Fri July 08 1960 Moonchild with Java Rising Courtney Dallas Fri July 09 1971 Catte Michael Peskura Sat July 09 1949 HallOfFamer Finney T. Tsai Sat July 09 1966 Cancer Larry Greenfield Tue July 11 1950 Virgo Rising; Gemini Moon Marion Kippers Tue July 13 1965 Kreeft Ellen Rawson Thu July 13 1961 Double Cancer - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Jun 1998 03:15:35 -0400 From: Steve I Subject: Re: Coco Love Alcorn/NXNE-Drumke/Khan/Bonet Jill asked, re: Coco Love Alcorn > >Have any of you heard of her? >She was recently recommended to me and I ordered her CD from IndiePool in >Canada....just received it today and am quite pleased. She's a Canadian jazz >singer who does both cover tunes and her own songs. Here's the track listing >from her self-titled cd: Yes, she plays in the Toronto area quite regularly. I saw her once when awesome local singer-songwriter Kevin Fox opened for her. To be honest I don't recall her music very well, I didn't really find her that interesting but I can't remember why. Not much of an answer I guess. Anyway I'm just coming off night 2 of NXNE, of ecto note were 3 from Thursday night, Mila Drumke, Brenda Kahn, and Deni Bonet, all from NYC, coincidentally. Mila's set was unfortunately plagued with technical problems, and in a pretty terrible venue. She also only had half of her band present. All that said, I quite enjoyed her set, and loved her voice. Brenda Kahn was a treat to see since I've been a big fan of her Epiphany in Brooklyn CD for years and this was the first time I've been able to see her. Most of her fans there, like me, seemed to be most familiar with the songs from that album, which I think is because it was the only album that was released domestically. The other ones we can only get as imports and are pretty expensive, if I remember correctly. Anyway there were lots of requests for songs from that album and she pretty much played all of them, including mine for "In Indiana". She even managed to get in a song or two from her setlist from time to time. :-) Anyway she was fantastic, and had a harder edge to her music that I didn't remember from the album. Very nice! Finally Deni Bonet... I'm not sure how much has been said about her on ecto before. There was a big buzz going on about Deni and the venue was absolutely packed. The artist guide described her as an alterna-pop artist who plays fiery violin and who sings infectious, passionate songs, which is pretty close to the mark. Her virtuosic violin playing is up there with the best I've ever seen, a bonafide thrill to experience. Her band is also extremely good, especially the guitar player, although he does have a tendency to showboat (and I'm really understating the case here). Moreover she writes good songs. It's her voice that is the unfortunate missing puzzle piece... I find whenever she's singing, I find her distressingly ordinary... it's when she's playing violin that I find her music compelling (it's a bit disturbing because this causes a love-hate dichotomy in every song in which she alternates singing and playing violin). The highlight of the night for me was an incredible virtuosic solo violin performance (no singing). Another song I really enjoyed was one where she simply recited her lines rhythmically but without actually singing. Really quite unfortunate. Still I recommend her because I think her music is really strong in every other way that counts. It's worth it to go to her shows just to witness some virtuosic instrumental performances by herself and her guitarist. And hopefully her voice will improve over time.... Steve ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Steve I | Check out cool Toronto artists Sarah Slean & Emm Gryner Toronto, CAN | at NORTHERN SOUNDS: http://webhome.idirect.com/~nsounds/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Jun 1998 11:06:06 +0000 (GMT) From: The Lamplighter (Apusskidu) Subject: UK Katemas 'lo Ectophiles. Ohhhh. It's been a very long time since I posted here. *looks around nervously* A bit of news from Homeground, UK based Kate fanzine for those not in the know, and if not, why not? :) They've announced details of the UK '98 Katemas which should be a very good thing indeed and here for your benifit is what they said, or roughly what they said as I don't have Peter's post in front of me. Meet on Glastonbury Tor at 1400h on the 2nd August 1998 for chats/hugs/news exchange/etc and later in the pub (tba) for chats/hugs/news exchange/beer/food/etc. Well, this isn't at all like what Peter said but the time and place bit is correct. I hope to arrive on the Saturday and camp at Ash Farm which is right below the tor and a very nice place to wake up if the sun is shining which it will be. Unrelated stuff: The new Natalie Merchant album is great! Anyone else from around these parts going to Glastonbury Festival? Should be a good show. Maybe not quite as muddy as last year either. I am still finding bits of mud in me tent! G. "neeeee" - The Knights that say "neeee". - -- "We strangers know each other now as part of the whole design"-Suzanne Vega garrick@area51.upsu.plym.ac.uk http://area51.upsu.plym.ac.uk/~garrick/ lamplite@prot.upsu.plym.ac.uk finger/mail for pgp key... ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Jun 98 21:26:08 -0000 From: Tim Finney Subject: Re: Imogen Heap >I'm still having trouble articulating what I like about _I Megaphone_ as I >feel like I'm just starting to get to know it--the songs are just beginning >to become individual entities: that stage of appreciate an album. I don't have I Megaphone (cool anagram!) for now (it hasn't been released in Australia just yet), but I did see Imogen perform three songs live on TV and was absolutely blown away. I had previously heard Getting Scared, and had pidgeonholed it as Alanis with amazingly weird production and more interesting ideas, but now I don't know what to think. She performed Oh Me Oh My, Come Here Boy and Candlelight (i think) on piano. Her playing is amazingly proficient, I never thought I'd hear anyone who came close to Tori but she certainly did in parts. Her songs reminded me strongly of Tori, but I also feel a resonance with Heather Nova at her most intensely emotional (Island, Heal, Spirit In You), and a few smatterings of Kate. However she's definitely her own artist. Her voice was interesting, like Happy she seems to be comfortable singing in either low or high registers, which was very strange in such an uncluttered setting. Are the arrangements dressed up on the album ie Getting Scared? I'm certainly looking forward to hearing it myself! - ----- This signature was designed by three hundred different internet technicians working in conjunction with two talking monkeys ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Jun 1998 07:53:59 EDT From: JavaHo@aol.com Subject: Happy/Vampire (Was Re: Mary Coughlan) Vickie writes << (Happy content: Mary very graciously agreed to take a CD of Equipoise with her and give it to Neil Jordan in New Orleans, where Mary was going next, and where Jordan was then filming "Vampire." >> I have always wondered if someone has turned the vampire world (Anne Rice, et.al.) on to Equipoise. What perfect vampire soundtrack music! Java ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Jun 1998 09:18:21 -0400 (EDT) From: aardvark of destiny Subject: MIMI! Hey all...picking up the fibers of a dead thread, I wanted to weigh in with my thoughts of the new Mimi record. My review copy just arrived in the mail yesterday, and I must admit, I like it. I like it a whole lot, unlike most of the people on this list. (To each their own, right?) In fact, I'm supposed to be reviewing it right now...but every time I sit down to write something about it, the essence of the music slips through my fingers and my impressions sound ridiculous. The magazine for which I'm reviewing _Soak_ is a fairly traditional music zine and I have to find a way of pinpointing the sound without getting too abstract, so I have a feeling they probably will make me rewrite the review as it stands now. What I hear in the breakbeats and in Mimi's raw nerve of a voice is the sound of a city. Are any of you fans of the filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai? _Soak_ is the great soundtrack for a film of his yet to come. Like the vision of Hong Kong portrayed in _Chungking Express_ and _Fallen Angels_, the music of _Soak_ is big, synthetic, lit on 1000 kilowatts of primary-colored neon and running at a million miles an hour, but underneath it all beating to a human pulse. I really like Mimi's voice -- with the technical range and scope of an opera diva, but with the emotional heft of a raw nerve. As far as the arguments that _Soak_ is amelodic, I must ask: what were you expecting from a former member of Hugo Largo? They weren't exactly the Beatles, and you couldn't wedge "Second Skin" onto pop radio. This seems like a continuation of some musical ideas from HL carried out on less organic instruments, and the inhuman-sounding breakbeats might make something sound even less traditionally melodic. (I don't know about you, but the Chemical Brothers' electronic shuffle can make even Jandek sound like a pop artist. Call me rockist. I don't care.) The above isn't meant to sound defensive, either -- it's a genuine question that I've wondered to myself after reading some of the posts, and figured I'd pose it to the list at large after hearing _Soak_. My thoughts have not significantly colagulated, and these are some early sketches towards a more full-fledged review. - --Chelsea np: Debby Schwartz, _Wrongs of Passage_ (yeah, baby!) nr: _Love is One of the Choices_ (after reading some heavy-duty Woolf, I needed to unwind with some cheesy teen fiction. The author was "profiled" in the last issue of _Bitch_, and the thought of feminist ideas in teen fiction interested me enough to pick up a cheap used copy.) - ---- Chelsea, the mod pixie home: away: tugboat@channel1.com odyshape@hotmail.com "You have a death wish. That's really selfish. I have one too, but I take it out on others." -- Deedee, _The Opposite of Sex_ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Jun 1998 15:20:24 -0400 (EDT) From: isometric plaything Subject: Re: Corrs Light Well, I'll come out of hiding and add my twoney to this conversation... I personally LIKE the Coors. I have the first CD, and think it is a good CD. If you don't, that's fine. I could care less. There's some things I HATE, like Laurie Anderson and His Name Is Alive (talk about CRAP - IMHO), but I won't come out and just bash them, like I read about people doing to the Coors. Anyways... everyone has an opinion. Someone is always going to be offended, but remember that everyone has different tastes in music. I'm sure if I told everyone here some of the things I listened to, I would be blacklisted. So, let's just remember that music is here to move us, make us think, stir our emotions ... not to bash. Where was I going with that? No clue... bleh.... so, how IS the new Coors CD anyways? I looked for it, but couldn't find it. - -cas n.p. Squeeze - The Picadilly Collection ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Jun 1998 15:52:52 EDT From: Hiptones@aol.com Subject: Re: Corrs Light 'Lo all, Normally, I'd just sit on the sidelines, but I thought I'd throw something out. In a message dated 98-06-13 15:23:24 EDT, sherm@tardis.roc.servtech.com writes: << Well, I'll come out of hiding and add my twoney to this conversation... I personally LIKE the Coors. I have the first CD, and think it is a good CD. If you don't, that's fine. I could care less. There's some things I HATE, like Laurie Anderson and His Name Is Alive (talk about CRAP - IMHO), but I won't come out and just bash them, like I read about people doing to the Coors. This is something that gets me wondering. You see, I like the music I like. What the radio plays, what the magazines say, and what Mtv plays doesn't effect what I listen to. So if someone bashes and/or critiques something I like, i take it with a grain of salt knowing that it would be nice if everyone thought it was great, just like I do, but in the end I won't stop liking them merely because somebody else doesn't. I like Sheryl Crow. She's an artist who's gotten mixed reviews around here. I don't care. I like Dave Matthews Band. Spin just gave them a 5 of 10 review on their CD. (Idiots!) I don't care. ;) The point is, this is a forum for music. Both recommendations and criticisms are given. We just have to be careful to expand upon a, "Band X sucks!", so that even if Band X is not your cup of tea, enough info is given so that those who might like to try Band X are informed. Example. Band X has some good lyrics but under a heavy techno- industrial wall of sound that really bothered me. Some people may like the techno-industrial wall of sound school of music and will understand the reasons for your dislike, but be open to trying it themselves. sherm further wrote: Anyways... everyone has an opinion. Someone is always going to be offended, but remember that everyone has different tastes in music. I'm sure if I told everyone here some of the things I listened to, I would be blacklisted. So, let's just remember that music is here to move us, make us think, stir our emotions ... not to bash. >> This is something that we can't dismiss. We have a pretty friendly community and we don't want to offend or alienate anyone. That's how flame wars start. When makeing recommendations, good or bad, let's try and look at it from an objective standpoint and not from the emotional standpoint of, "You mean I wasted $15 on this piece of CRAP????!!!!" Later all, Cha d aka Morpheus aka Hiptones ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Jun 1998 18:08:04 -0500 (CDT) From: Michael Curry Subject: Mila Drumke tour dates - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 13 Jun 1998 17:32:24 -0500 From: Mila Drumke To: info@littlepro.com Subject: Last NYC Show of the Summer! Mila is starting a new summer shed tour from Niagra Falls to Washington, D.C.. Catch while her while she's in your city! Tell your friends, too. And if you spot the large, tan Drumkewagon on the road, honk your horn and cross your eyes to show your support for Mila and her road warrior band. Thursday, June 11 @ 10PM North By Northeast Music Festival Toronto, Canada Oasis, 294 College Street Mila and Tom (drums) Oh, Canada! Thursday, June 18th @ 10PM The Khyber Pass 56 S. 2nd St. Philadelphia, PA Mila and Lyris (violin) in the City of Brotherly Love Friday, June 20th @ 7:30PM Border's Books & Music 5871 Baileys Crossroads Center Way Falls Church, VA Mila, Lyris, Elissa, and Tom: Rolling Stone's "Most Well-read band of the year" Saturday, June 21st @ 10PM Metro Café 1522 14th St., N.W. Washington, D.C. The whole band plus President Clinton on Saxaphone. Check it out! AND THEN, YOUR LAST CHANCE... Mila will be back in town for her LAST NYC SHOW OF THE SUMMER! Saturday, June 27th @ 10PM Arlene Grocery 95 Stanton St, NYC Mila and her fabulous band will play their last NYC gig of the summer. They'll be back in September with so many new songs you won't even know what. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Jun 1998 18:39:02 -0500 From: Neile Graham Subject: Imogen Heap / Mimi / The Corrs controversy Tim Finney wrote regarding Imogen Heap: >However she's definitely her own artist. Yes, I hear moments in the album where there are echoes--in one song there are some background vocals that sound very like early Bel Canto, and in a later song a couple of vocal turns that sound like Tori--but these are just snippets in a highly individual album. >Her voice >was interesting, like Happy she seems to be comfortable singing in either >low or high registers, which was very strange in such an uncluttered >setting. I was looking on the net for more info about her and there's not much yet, but one of the things mentioned in an article was that her vocal range is tenor alto, so yes, she's mostly in the lower registers but can bring it higher. I don't think her upper range approaches Happy's at all, though. >Are the arrangements dressed up on the album ie Getting Scared? Very. Lots of noises, like Tori's new album. It's a good thing, and makes the album interesting. I'd love to hear them stripped down, though too! In that way she'll be very like Tori. Chelsea wrote in her review of Mimi's _Soak_: >As far as the arguments that _Soak_ is amelodic...[snip] Well, I was the one who said that, and I wasn't trying to criticize the album, just saying why it's going to take me a while to get into it. It's not an easy ride--there's nothing immediately catchy--and so it's one disc that's going to take a long time to soak in. I don't think I'll be ready to say much about my reaction to it for a while. I was also explaining why more catchy things were leaping into my cd player in front of it, like Imogen Heap. When I first got _Soak_ I also made the mistake of playing the "Piece of Cake" single that I got at the same time and that was a horrible mistake because I started with her version of "I Put A Spell On You". I love the song and thought she'd do a killer version of it, but in my opinion it was HORRIBLE. As bad and as non-recognizable as a version of that song as Tori's ghastly "Losing My Religion"--the version has nothing to do with the song and simply becomes a not-so-great parody of the artist's style. Well, now that I've got THAT off my chest, I also wanted to respond to cas's comments: >Anyways... everyone has an opinion. Someone is always going to be offended, >but remember that everyone has different tastes in music. I'm sure if I >told everyone here some of the things I listened to, I would be blacklisted. No, you wouldn't. That's the whole point. People seem to take it personally when their favourite artists are criticized and you shouldn't. I adore Veda's music but I don't expect everyone to like her, and when people criticize her music I don't take it personally. Sometimes I just feel sorry that they can't enjoy her music as much as I do! The point is to understand where people are coming from. I don't like "smooth" music usually, so you can tell where I'm coming from when I don't like something. People who have similar tastes to mine can use that to evaluate when I DO like something and be better able to guess whether they would like something I do. I'd love to hear more about music you like that you don't think people on the ecto list would like. It's all opinion, and helps open us up to other artists. Sometimes I've had to reevaluate my opinion of an artist because of what people have said on ecto. Sometimes I don't, but that doesn't mean that dissenting opinions aren't valuable. Remember that you're just as much a part of ecto as anyone else, no matter how vocal they are on the list! >So, let's just remember that music is here to move us, make us think, stir >our emotions ... not to bash. Yes, but it's also good to share opinions of music that _doesn't_ work for you and why. If it's just gratuitous bashing, well that's irritating and I'd rather people didn't do it, but I still want to hear when someone doesn't like something and why, whether it's any of the people I consider my favourites or whether it's any of the people I consider my least favourites. We've been over and over this on the list and I think we've pretty much come to a consensus--the varying opinions on the list are what makes this list great and I don't want any opinions censored, positive or negative. I don't want anyone ever to not be able to say what they think of any particular artist. We want the list to be personally friendly, but we don't want it to be restricted to adulation only. Not only would that be boring, but it would undermine the most useful part of the list--the divergence and convergence of opinions about all the music out there. /Rant mode off. - --Neile - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 #187 **************************