From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V4 #291 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Monday, August 24 1998 Volume 04 : Number 291 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Charming Hostess and Sian James [Valerie Kraemer ] London / Oxford (UK) in September [Marion Kippers ] Eliza Cartney? [00jnweiser@bsuvc.bsu.edu] Re: Eliza Cartney? [meredith ] Re: Neil & Ebba ["Jeffrey Hanson" ] Eliza Carthy/Red Rice + Elliott Smith/XO [Rachel Kramer Bussel ] veda made me sad [beckym@rci.rutgers.edu] OAC: New Beth Orton? [00jnweiser@bsuvc.bsu.edu] Eliza Carthy (was: Eliza Cartney?) [Neile Graham ] New McGarrigles [Dave Williamson ] Re: OAC: New Beth Orton? [Riphug@aol.com] Re: OAC: New Beth Orton? [00jnweiser@bsuvc.bsu.edu] Re: OAC: New Beth Orton? [Jeff Wasilko ] Sandy Denny [Neile Graham ] Re: Sian James [Philip David Morgan ] Marci Geller @ Conklin Barn [Philip David Morgan ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 10:53:20 -0400 From: Valerie Kraemer Subject: Charming Hostess and Sian James I've run across a couple of very interesting (and very different) new releases recently in our record library at WPKN-FM. The first is by a group from Oakland, CA, called Charming Hostess (CD title: "Eat," on Vaccination Records), who are self-described as a "thinking woman's dance band." The first song I played "Elenke" sounded very much like an Eastern European women's vocal group. The second song, "What Keeps Us Working" was in English with much more of a rock/progressive production to it. All in all, I don't think I've ever heard music made quite this way before. The following is a snippet I pulled from their web site (http://www.vacrec.com/hostess/hostessstory.html). "The band was assembled largely through the efforts of Jewlia Eisenberg (Yamazons) and is collage of Bay Area musicians. A first addition of Idiot Flesh bassist and Polymorph Studios recording engineer Dan Rathbun paved the way for a host of others and soon the two had recruited fellow Idiots Nils Frykdahl (guitar, flute, sax, didgeridoo, percussion and vocals) and Wesley Anderson (drums and vocals), and Masopust's Carla Kihlstedt (vocals), Giant Ant Farm's Nina Rolle (vocals) and female astronaut Jenny Scheinman (violin and vocals). None of them strangers to composition or performance, the collaboration proved a fruitful one, each lending their vast and varied abilities to Jewlia's 'musical direction'." "In performance, the band takes on a different life. The visual spectacle of three men in evening gowns (often with their teeth blacked out) and four women clad in the corporate American power suit, dancing around a vast array of musical instruments while wrapping each other in rubber tubing elicits the same degree of amazement as seeing your balding, Slavic landlord and his entire extended family playing pennywhistles in the street outside your home. It's not at all what you would normally expect in the everyday, but it's certainly within the realm of possibility. Vocals spin in and out of counterpoint: in harmony one moment, in unison the next. Slippery bass-lines slither between a vaguely funky guitar, Bulgarian wedding band violin and bewildering, antic-filled percussion. The music makes your legs move when you're standing and your arms dance when you're seated." The second impressive artist I've recently heard is a Welsh artist named Sian James. Her CD is called "Gweini Tymor" on the Sain label (I've left a lot of diacritical marks in these names). I compare her very strongly to Loreena McKennitt. She has an almost impossibly high, clear soprano voice, and the compositions are very inventive. All lyrics are in Welsh. I haven't been able to find her music at any of the usual CD stores, but the record label does have a web site (http://www.nwi.co.uk/sain/). - --Valerie Kraemer ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 17:37:38 +0200 (W. Europe Daylight Time) From: Marion Kippers Subject: London / Oxford (UK) in September Hi, Ron and I will be traveling to the UK in the second half of September (ca. 20-30 Sept.) for a short holiday. Apart from visiting the Tolkien Society's Oxonmoot in Oxford, (25-27th), we have no fixed plans yet; we'll probably start in London for a couple of days (20-25th) and then stay in Oxford for some more days (25-29th). Anybody know of interesting ectophilic concerts / happenings / things to see and do in that period? Any Ectophiles for a gathering? Just wondering, Marion n.p. Elisabeth Valletti - Innocenti (a sampler a friend made me of some tracks of this album. Quite nice, maybe a bit new-agey but an interesting selection of instruments like harp & saxophone, vocals, a bit in the style of Loreena McKennitt's world music but different) n.r. Alessandro Baricco - Silk (a wonderful poetic story) - ---------------------- Marion Kippers Marion.Kippers@wkap.nl ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 11:40:56 -0500 From: Mark Lowry Subject: Neil & Ebba Went to the Neil Finn show last night in Dallas. Ebba Forsberg opened. I had not heard her album, but judging from her set, it's not something I'm ready to run out and get. I mean, she's a good performer and the first song sounded very promising. Maybe if I come across it in a used bin somewhere. But Neil was terrific ... performed most of the songs from "Try Whistling This" ('cept my favorite track "Twisty Bass", alas, unless he did it as a final encore _ I had to leave after third encore). He pulled stuff from CH's repertoire also, including "Fall at your Feet", "She Goes On", "Love This Life" and "When You Come." Plus, encores included "Only Talking Sense" from the Finn Brothers record and part of Split Enz' "History Never Repeats." Great Show. But my real reason for this posting is to ask a question about the recorded music they played before EF's set. It was a female-fronted band, powerfolk/pop stuff ... sultry voice. I asked the sound board guy and he said it was a band called Big Run, or at least I'm *pretty sure* that's what he said. Anyone have a clue? Mark n.p. Curve "Doppleganger" (feeling flashbacky this morning) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 12:08:37 -0500 (EST) From: 00jnweiser@bsuvc.bsu.edu Subject: Eliza Cartney? Anyone heard of her? i think i got the last name right. She's the younger folk singer (20's?) with really red hair and a piercing...:) They had the double CD at Borders yesteerday but I didn't have enough $ to get it and wasn't sure what she's like. She's apparently a really talented folk singer--can anyone tell me more about her. Thanks! jessica n. weiser \ http://adam.nettfriends.com/Jess / "the trouble with me is keep believing in the wrong things. who needs to believe anyway? i have given all, i have seen what it brings, i wish it all away" - t.maclean ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 13:19:37 -0400 From: meredith Subject: Re: Eliza Cartney? Hi! Jessica wondered: >Anyone heard of her? i think i got the last name right. She's >the younger >folk singer (20's?) with really red hair and a piercing...:) Could you be talking about Eliza Carthy, the daughter of Martin Carthy and Norma Watterson? The kickass fiddler with the great voice who is supposed to be the next best thing to sliced bread (but I haven't heard her solo stuff so I can't confirm that for myself)? She certainly fits your description, anyway. I'm sure others out there are more qualified than I to comment on her work, if it really is Eliza Carthy we're talking about. I saw her perform in her parents' band last year and was pretty impressed, but I hear her solo stuff is quite a bit different. +==========================================================================+ | 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: *** | | *** http://www.smoe.org/meth/trajectory.html *** | +==========================================================================+ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Aug 98 10:17:42 PDT From: "Jeffrey Hanson" Subject: Re: Neil & Ebba > But my real reason for this posting is to ask a question about the > recorded music they played before EF's set. It was a female-fronted > band, powerfolk/pop stuff ... sultry voice. I asked the sound board guy > and he said it was a band called Big Run, or at least I'm *pretty sure* > that's what he said. > > Anyone have a clue? > Could he possibly have said Bic Runga? I haven't heard her myself, but from what I've heard about her, it sounds like the description fits. Jeff HaNSON ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 13:27:03 -0400 (EDT) From: Rachel Kramer Bussel Subject: Eliza Carthy/Red Rice + Elliott Smith/XO Eliza Carthy's double CD is called Red Rice, and I don't know if I can really do it justice but yes, she fiddles and I guess I saw it described as "new folk" or whatever. It's very interesting stuff, I liked it, but I don't think I could just play that all the time over and over. She's also very striking looking - check out the CD cover if you want to see. And in slightly non-Ecto news, Elliott Smith's album XO is being released on CD on Tuesday. He is getting rave reviews from just about everyone, and it's definitely a great album - very Beatles-sounding and a different direction than his previous stuff. He's the one who was up for an Oscar for "Miss Misery" from Good Will Hunting and had 6 songs on that soundtrack, and has 3 previous solo albums and was in a band called Heatmiser. I've seen him twice in the past 2 weeks and if you can catch him live and like his music I think you're in for a nice treat. Some people call his music "depressing" because it's usually about gloomy subjects like drugs, breakups, etc. but I think overall it's more cathartic than anything and there are love songs here and there. Anyway, I recommend XO. If you want his tour dates let me know and I'll email them to you. :) Rachel ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 11:51:38 +0000 From: Silme@ix.netcom.com Subject: Re: Eliza Cartney? meredith wrote: >The kickass fiddler with the great voice who is supposed >to be the next best thing to sliced bread (but I haven't heard her solo stuff so I can't confirm that for myself)? She certainly fits your description, anyway. Her solo work is quite impressive also. Her most recent release is a double cd called *Red Rice*. She has also worked with Nancy Kerr (2 cd's) and with the Kings of Calicutt (1 cd). Ellen, who is a fan of Eliza, Martin, Norma, etc. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 13:32:54 -0500 From: Mark Lowry Subject: Re: Neil & Ebba Jeffrey Hanson wrote: > Could he possibly have said Bic Runga? I haven't heard her myself, > but from what I've heard about her, it sounds like the description fits. Possibly, I'll have to do some research. Thanks, Mark ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 12:30:23 -0400 From: beckym@rci.rutgers.edu Subject: veda made me sad I was also planning to write a nice Veda Hille review. However, I can't because Veda made us very sad and disappointed by cancelling the show two hours before she was to play. My ectophilic brother (Chris), his SO Siobain (god, I love speaking the 'net speak), and I trouped out to Belmar, NJ last night, and sat through a rather poor opener....Only to find out that the opener had become the whole show since Veda cancelled. So very tired (Veda wasn't supposed to go on until 11 and Chris and Siobain had been moving all day) and disappointed, we hopped back in the car and came home. Becky Montville ********************************************************************* "You know what truth is? It's some crazy thing my neighbor believes. If I want to make friends with him, I ask him what he believes. He tells me, and I say 'Yeah, yeah- ain't it the truth?'" -Kurt Vonnegut ********************************************************************* ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 14:43:45 -0500 (EST) From: 00jnweiser@bsuvc.bsu.edu Subject: OAC: New Beth Orton? Hey, supposedly a new Beth Orton CD is due out in november (yay!). I've checked her sites and stuff and haven't seen any info on it, though- does anyone know the title, etc, or any other information on it? I know that one of the tracks is one she wrote and performed w/ Terry Callier that didn't appear on the Best Bit EP... thanks, jessica n. weiser \ http://adam.nettfriends.com/Jess / "the trouble with me is keep believing in the wrong things. who needs to believe anyway? i have given all, i have seen what it brings, i wish it all away" - t.maclean ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 13:08:58 -0700 From: Neile Graham Subject: Eliza Carthy (was: Eliza Cartney?) At 12:08 PM -0500 8/23/98, 00jnweiser@bsuvc.bsu.edu wrote: >Anyone heard of her? i think i got the last name right. She's >the younger >folk singer (20's?) with really red hair and a piercing...:) > >They had the double CD at Borders yesteerday but I didn't have >enough $ to get it and wasn't sure what she's like. She's apparently >a really talented folk singer--can anyone tell me more about >her. Thanks! Eliza Carthy is indeed a very talented folk singer. I've been following her for several years, and have _Red Rice_ the double album but haven't added info about it yet to her page on The Ectophiles' Guide http://www.smoe.org/ectoguide/guide.cgi?artists/carthy.eliza (I will soon, I promise). _Red Rice_ is definitely her best so far! Excellent contemporary renditions of songs that don't lose the traditional edge and yet they don't at all sound dated. I've been playing the _Red_ album particularly over and over. I would even recommend it to people who don't so much like traditional music as the sound is wonderfully inventive. Traditional fans who like the inventive will adore this. I also particularly recommended her album with The Kings of Calicutt and her own _Heat Light and Sound_ but I think overall I'd rate _Red Rice_ above those. She's amazingly talented and her vocals in particular are getting better and better. - --Neile - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Neile Graham ..... http://www.sff.net/people/neile ..... neile@sff.net The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music .... http://www.smoe.org/ectoguide - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 16:19:33 -0700 From: Dave Williamson Subject: New McGarrigles Expect a new album from the McGarrigles in September called "The McGarrigle Hour". Has numerous contributions from extended family (Rufus, Martha, LW III, Anna's family). Heard there are also guest vocals by Linda Rondstadt and Emmylou Harris (who have both ridden success covering songs by the sisters). Dave. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 16:25:09 EDT From: Riphug@aol.com Subject: Re: OAC: New Beth Orton? Jessica, you might be thinking of this one: <> I looked through some of the websites I found on metacrawler, but didn't find anything more about a new album...... Metacrawler query: "Beth Orton" (list of links to try) http://www.deconstruction.co.uk/heavenly/beth1.html (Official Beth Orton page) Jill :D ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 15:29:40 -0500 (EST) From: 00jnweiser@bsuvc.bsu.edu Subject: Re: OAC: New Beth Orton? Jill writes re: beth orton You wrote: >< Label Toshiba/EMI >Release Date 1993 >Cat. No. TOCP 7984 >Tracks >Don't wanna know 'Bout Evil >Faith Will Carry >Yesterday's Gone >She Cries Your Name >When You Wake >Roll the Dice >City Blue >The Prisoner >Where Do You Go >Release me >> No, it's not this one--this came out before Trailer Park did--see the release date up there is '93. I know for sure there's a new album out in november (it's been in magazines, etc., I've read) but I just wanted more info and her webpage just must not have it up yet. Oh well, i can wait. :) jessica n. weiser \ http://adam.nettfriends.com/Jess / "the trouble with me is keep believing in the wrong things. who needs to believe anyway? i have given all, i have seen what it brings, i wish it all away" - t.maclean ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 16:38:51 -0400 From: Jeff Wasilko Subject: Re: OAC: New Beth Orton? On Sun, Aug 23, 1998 at 03:29:40PM -0500, 00jnweiser@bsuvc.bsu.edu wrote: > I know for sure there's a new album out in november (it's been in > magazines, etc., I've read) but I just wanted more info and her > webpage just must not have it up yet. Oh well, i can wait. :) I seem to recall that there was discussion about this on the trailer-park list hosted here. I guess this is a good reason to have a search engine that indexes the lists we host. http://www.smoe.org/lists/trailer-park/v01.n087 should get you some info... - -Jeff ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 16:16:30 -0700 From: Neile Graham Subject: Sandy Denny Neal sent me his compiled and edited version of The Ectophiles' Guide entry for Sandy Denny a short time ago. Since Sandy has long been at the top of my list of personal musical goddesses, I wanted to do her entry properly, so I decided to listen to the albums again and expand on my minimalist comments and update it for the two new releases I've got since I did most of the original work for the entry. Man oh man, she was amazing. It's heartbreaking that in the U.S. the most readily available discs of her solo work haven't been her best. In the Guide Vickie describes _Like An Old Fashioned Waltz_ and _Rendezvous_ as uneven--and they are, but those are the only albums of Sandy's output I would describe that way. She only did two other solo albums, _Sandy_ and _The North Star Grassmen and The Ravens_ before she died, but they are much better than the others, and since then there have been numerous releases of other material that is stunning, including the 3 cd box set, _Who Knows Where The Time Goes_. I especially recommend the cd of her final concert, _Gold Dust, Life At The Royalty_ just released by Island Records in the U.K. Of course, there's also the exquisite _BBC Sessions_, a collection of 4 sessions and six utterly amazing solo concert tracks. but it's nearly impossible to find, and expensive if you can track it down (I think I paid more for it than any other cd last year and it is worth every penny despite the limited acoustic quality of the BBC sessions). If you haven't heard Sandy Denny's voice, you must must must track something down and listen to what is in my opinion one of the best, most evocative voices of the 20th century. Hearing Sandy's rendition of "Tam Lin" (from when she was part of Fairport Convention) was the start of my entire interest in music by female singers (and in traditional music). What a place to begin! - --Neile n.p. Sandy Denny, The BBC Sessions 1971-1973 n.r. Patricia McKillip, Song of the Basilisk - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Neile Graham ..... http://www.sff.net/people/neile ..... neile@sff.net The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music .... http://www.smoe.org/ectoguide - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 19:40:24 -0400 From: Philip David Morgan Subject: Re: Sian James Good Evening, Valerie: Re Sian James, from Wales: > ... Her CD is called "Gweini Tymor" on the Sain label (I've left a lot of > diacritical marks in these names). I compare her very strongly to Loreena > McKennitt. She has an almost impossibly high, clear soprano voice, and the > compositions are very inventive. All lyrics are in Welsh. I haven't been > able to find her music at any of the usual CD stores, but the record label > does have a web site (http://www.nwi.co.uk/sain/). Yes, and a pity that they don't do on-line orders. The truth is, they should. Or at least find a partner firm (even in London if not in Cardiff) that will process the orders. I've heard so many good things about Sain, but if their website is any indication, they're not helping their own cause. And I don't know of any U.S. agent that sells the Sain catalogue on line. The last time I saw anything of theirs, it was at (you have to believe this) a SF con (science fiction convention). Not good enough, much as I'm not opposed to SF and filking. Philip David (if Gainax can do it in Japan, what's stopping the Welsh?) 8/23/1998 - ---- http://www.li.net/~philipda/dianaw.htm [The Diane Wolkstein Pages] - ---- "We're gonna get lynched, you know that?" - - Douglas Adams. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 20:13:17 -0400 From: Philip David Morgan Subject: Marci Geller @ Conklin Barn Salutations! I'd like to put in some good words for Marci Geller, who played Conklin Barn (Huntington, Long Island, New York) on Friday night. Some of you may have seen her recently on the Disney-produced _Live with Regis & Kathie Lee_ program; she is actually one of our "local heroes," you might say. She's one of a handful of acts on the Sonic Underground label (and the only one currently represented with a four-song CD so far - but that should change), and she had labelmate and guitarist and WUSB DJ Jim Dexter (voted the least-annoying DJ by _Long Island Voice_ readers) in tow Friday night. The show was staged by the "Huntington Poets' Café," which was the problem. The idea was, Marci and Jim would perform after four or five poets took their turn at the mic (including Dan Murray and Dan Giancola). Unfortunately, on Long Island, there are more poets than there are poetry venues, and it's all too tempting for a poet here to bring out his entire catalogue with the intent of reading it all. And - even more maddenly - that's precisely what the first one did. No one set a time limit for the poets - the organizers felt he was good enough to simply let him drone on and on and on and on and... Picture two or more kids in the back seat demanding to know: "ARE WE THERE YET?!" That's how I felt. Disgusted. Angry. And not afraid to say so to the organizers, who should have known better. Truthfully, those who came for poetry did bail out before Marci and Jim went on - and it made things more comfortable inside Conklin Barn (also home to many a Nylon & Steel night). But it also annoyed those of us who didn't mind a _little_ poetry as long as it was a _little_. Patricia Shih and her hubby Stephen Fricker (two more good musician-friends) were also there to hear Marci, but walked out of the poetry drag for a walk; fortunately, they came back in time. Marci's set was short, but at least the smaller audience was appreciative. Marci (on e-piano) and Jim (acoustic guitar) were really in sync for the set, which included "Falling Down," "We Carry On," and the un-recorded(?) "Skin." She plays again on Saturday August 29, at the Sam Goody store inside Roosevelt Field Mall (Garden City, Long Island, New York) - 4 p.m. or thereabouts. I'm hoping to avoid hearing Michelle Albano, who sounds like a Marci imitator. That is, when she doesn't reach for Céline Dion's biggest s***ts... Philip David (and that Shania s**t is out) 8/23/1998 - ---- http://www.li.net/~philipda/dianaw.htm [The Diane Wolkstein Pages] http://www.li.net/~philipda/janiceb.htm [Janice Buckner - an appreciation] - ---- Sonic Underground Records: http://www.sonicunderground.com/ WUSB-FM (SUNY/Stony Brook) http://www.wusb.org/ - ---- "We're gonna get lynched, you know that?" - Douglas Adams. ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V4 #291 **************************