From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V5 #115 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Wednesday, March 31 1999 Volume 05 : Number 115 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Ani DiFranco [Billi Mazur ] Today's your birthday, friend... [Mike Matthews ] ANI [Irvin Lin ] Mary Travers [Krys ] Re: Ani DiFranco [Shirley Ye ] Review #5: WARPAINT [Patrick Moseley ] Merrie Amsterburg News! [Michael Curry ] Netaddress Fraud ["Mike Mendelson" ] Gem: Shelby Starner [JOSHW ] Re: Ani DiFranco [Bill Mazur ] Ani on Sessions at West 54th [Shirley Ye ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 22:55:56 -0800 From: Billi Mazur Subject: Re: Ani DiFranco > - Where in San Francisco would one go to find Ani DiFranco CD's? > > I'd appreciate *any* advice about this... Robert, Here are a few tips for you and your friend. I hope that they help you out. 1) Tower Records has locations throughout the City (SF) and the rest of the Bay Area for that matter. Here is their URL: http://www.towerrecords.com They have a store locator on their web site. Scroll down and you will find it on the left side of the home page. 2) If your friend gets over to Berkeley have her check out the stores on University Ave. such as Rasputin's and Ameoba Music. 3) Another great Bay Area CD store is Compact Disc Warehouse. They have locations in Sunnyvale (South Bay/Silicon Valley) and Newark (East Bay about 15 miles south of Oakland). I generally shop for CDs at these stores when I'm not shopping over the net. 4) One more option is Border's Books and Music. They have locations throughout the Bay Area including at least one store in San Francisco. Again, I hope that these tips help you out. Good luck! I hope that your friend enjoys her trip to San Francisco and the Bay Area. I was born and have lived here for a good portion of my life. I truly love it! Thanks, Bill M. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 03:00:03 -0500 (EST) From: Mike Matthews Subject: Today's your birthday, friend... i*i*i*i*i*i i*i*i*i*i*i *************** *****HAPPY********* **************BIRTHDAY********* *************************************************** *************************************************************************** ******************* Jennifer Albert (no Email address) ******************** *************************************************************************** -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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 Bill Mazur Mon April 06 1953 Aries Sun/Cancer Rising David Dixon Tue April 07 1970 Aries Heidi Heller Mon April 08 1974 Aries Jill Hughes Sat April 09 1955 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 Kjetil Torgrim Homme Thu April 23 1970 Taurus 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 - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 00:13:23 -0800 From: Irvin Lin Subject: ANI i think her most personal albumn is DILATE. it also happens to be one of my all time favorite ANI albums, but that doesn't mean that everyone likes it, or that you should start with it. but for classic ani, go for OUT OF RANGE. it has definitely held up, a nice blend of her earlier folk-ie stuff and her later, more studio savvy stuff. a go intro though, and an excellent purchase in its own right is the live 2CD set called LIVING IN CLIP that compiles songs from her DILATE tour. excellent overview and selection of songs, and the sheer energy of ANI comes through. which is often times does not in the studio versions. i would probably start off with that, and then move to OUT OF RANGE now that i think about it. you can pretty much pick up ANI anywhere in the SF area. OBVIOUS choices would be AMOEBA in the HAIGHT. but STREETLIGHT in the castro seems to carry her entire catalog, i have had pretty good luck finding used copies of her CD's at RECORD FINDER on NOE in the castro, and around the corner of course is TOWER that will have her latest album UPUPUPUPUPUP but of course i didn't really like that album all that much. they probably carry other stuff. and as someone said before, there are TEN studio albums, a live double CD set, an ep and a collaborative CD that she has released with UTAH PHILLIPS where she just plays the guitar while he does his spoken word stuff. oh yeah, and there is a german import live CD as well, but ANI wasn't happy with it, so it was never released here in the US. i don't think it is in print anymore anyway. have fun. she's a great one to discover. irvin ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 09:05:37 +0100 From: Krys Subject: Mary Travers I'm trying to trace a copy of Mary Travers' 1972 album "Morning Glory", released on the Warners label. Trying to find a copy here in the UK is impossible. If anyone out there knows how/where I can find a copy of the original LP, or (small possibility) knows if it has been re-released on CD, please mail me privately. Love and peace, Krys XX ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 09:30:20 -0800 From: Shirley Ye Subject: Re: Ani DiFranco Also, Ani will be performing in California this summer, probably late June/July. If your friend makes it in time, maybe she can catch her in concert, too ;-) I know that Ani will be performing in Los Angeles at the Universal Amphitheatre on July 10. Ticket sales haven't been announced yet. >2) If your friend gets over to Berkeley have her check out the stores on >University Ave. such as Rasputin's and Ameoba Music. Rasputin and Amoeba are actually on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, immediately south of the UC Berkeley campus. Rasputin is _always_ fully stocked on Ani, and they have good prices too. ($12.99-$15.99 approximate for single discs and $27.99 for Living in Clip double disc). I don't really like Amoeba because their merchandise seems so disorganized and the store is so badly lit. In general, Ani discs can get expensive because she is her own label. Ive seen some stores carry a single disc for $18.00. Ani's worth it, but that could get very expensive if you're buying a whole slew of her discs. My personal Ani favorites are: 1. Puddle Dive - revolutionary, bitter feminist anthem, critiquing society and patriarchy - woohoo!! 2. Imperfectly - see above 3. Out of Range - see above 4. Not a Pretty Girl - see above 5. Ani - more personal, acoustic 6. 2nd album - still personal, acoustic 7. Dilate (more popular, more accessible since some of the songs are about heterosexual love) 8. Little Plastic Castle 9. Up^5 (gag! ... the redeemable songs are tis of thee, juke box, trickle down. What happened to her social critique?!? Yet even more accessible than Dilate. "angry anymore", which seems to be everybody's favorite, just really comes out as a weak song especially compared to her other work. the message some of her fans have gotten is: "since i married a man with a big ol' dick i am no longer angry anymore"... god, I feel like the grrl police here ;-) don't get me wrong, its an awesome album by virtue of being authored by ani, but in comparison to the other ones, it pales.) All of Ani albums are actually very different from each other except for the first two which are largely acoustic. If you don't want to get the first two albums, you can get a compilation one disc called "Like I Said" which has pretty much the best songs from those albums. It has a new guitar instrumentation on it, so it's not just a re-release of old songs. But I suggest getting the 1st two albums at some point anyway. With every album. Ani gets more into the instrumental aspect of her music, even though the words will always be the prominent showcase. With Up^5, for example, her latest album, you have a 12 minute "instrumental" with little words. On the other hand, her earlier work would showcase almost poetry like readings, but with a beat. Oh, and Living in Clip is a performance double disc, with some AWESOME tracks. Ani has said herself that she comes off better live than she does in the studio, so I suggest you fitting this one in your list. If SF doesn't work out for you, you can mail-order Ani's CDs from her record company Righteous Babe. The phone number is 1-800-ON-HER-OWN or 1-800-66437696, toll free, but maybe not toll free from South Africa :-( Shirley Ye Berkeley, California shye@uclink4.berkeley.edu I am not an angry girl, but it seems like I've got everyone fooled. Every time I say something they find hard to hear, they chalk it up to my anger and never to their own fear. - -Ani Difranco, Not a Pretty Girl ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 14:17:08 -0500 From: Patrick Moseley Subject: Review #5: WARPAINT It's me again, with this week's installment... I've been absorbing WARPAINT slowly since a month or so ago when I first heard it. At first, I must admit, I was disappointed by it, because I'd assumed with it being Happy's first wide release, it would boast more of the hooks present on future albums like EQUIPOISE and COLOSSUS. But I should've known, given Happy's track record with me, that initial disappointment was an indication of an album that would reveal its magnificence over a period of time. This is a largely quiet, very subtle, and very excellent piece of work. Firstly, I must comment on the album cover. It's extremely simple and understated (especially when compared to previous covers and even the ones that followed, with the exception of RHODESONGS). Happy is not conventionally beautiful by the usual standards, but I find her face to be very striking and attractive, and the photo on the cover highlights that fact. I also like the way her gesture illustrates the album title. Overall, WARPAINT benefits from an obviously heightened budget, more thorough and thoughtful production and arrangements, and the fact that Happy for the first time obviously set out to record an "album," rather than a compilation of songs like her previous four releases. This mind-set gives WARPAINT a consistency and cohesiveness that is absent from her previous, albeit still excellent, albums. "Waking Up" opens the album and also begins a trend I see Happy carrying on to EQUIPOISE and BUILDING THE COLOSSUS; it's arguably the catchiest and most listener-friendly track (relatively speaking) on the album, and is therefore an excellent choice with which to lure in a new listener. I see Happy continuing this idea with "Runners" opening EQUIPOISE and "Hold Me" opening COLOSSUS. I love the care Happy takes with the background vocals and harmonies on this track. Musically, it's familiar to what Happy has done before, and yet it is taken to a much higher level, indicative of what's to come on the remainder of the album. I don't know what to say about "Feed the Fire" that would add anything to its excellence. To my ears, it's a masterpiece, which of course is fitting given its lyrical content. I can't recall a better musical homage from one musician to his/her influences, and Happy manages to capture and convey her sentiment without sounding precious or sentimental. She describes the music of her influences with words that convey a power and majesty that avoid pretentiousness. It's a wonderful moment, and one of my all-time favorite Happy songs. I see "Murder" and "To Live in Your World" as two parts of a very similar theme, one seeking the origins of man's murderous nature, the other confronting the remedy for that same nature. I think "Murder" is the stronger of the two, fitting easily with the sound introduced on the two previous tracks. "To Live in Your World" sounds a bit lackluster by comparison, and while I appreciate the quiet distaste Happy conveys in her lyrics, this track once again fits into the category of spoken-vocal Happy songs that don't quite work for me. I'm familiar with some artistic renderings of the god Phobos, and while I know Happy is singing about the moon that orbits Mars (if I recall correctly) in "Phobos", I cannot help picturing the god instead, which if I recall was a short, muscular, and very evil-looking creature with a warty nose and fiery fists, rather fitting for the son of the god of war. So to me, "Phobos" represents the one monster present on this album, a nice little tie-in to Happy's previous releases. Musically, the track continues this album's melodic excellence. (And for some reason my ear really perks up during the passage when Happy sings, "Myyyyyyyy moon...my friend.") "Wrong Century" was the first track to really grab my attention when I first listened to this album, probably because it boasts a hook that's quite memorable. Repeated listens have lessened my opinion of it slightly; while I find the verses to be stellar, especially the background vocal hums and the musical pause whenever Happy sings the title, the chorus doesn't work for me as well. Mitch Elrod's background vocals work better on "Proof" than here, although I do like the gibberish he contributes to the bridge. His harmonies and Happy's lead just don't quite gel on the chorus. "Lay Me Down" is the one song on this album that is most similar to something on the first four albums, particularly REARMAMENT. It's very simply arranged, with the keyboards front-and-center, and it's quite pretty, especially when the violin kicks in. The album continues in this somewhat quiet mode throughout "Terra Incognita" and "All Things." Like "Feed the Fire," with "Terra Incognita" Happy conquers lyrical territory that with a lesser songwriting might tread on sappiness, and yet somehow she manages to pull off a song sung from the point of view of a cat without inspiring uneasy chuckles. And I can't help but wonder if "All Things" is being sung by the same character who dreamed she was a cat in "Terra Incognita," but has now awakened ("I dreamed I was an animal in a human world...") I love "Words Weren't Made for Cowards," and can't help but consider it as an indirect follow-up to "Poetic Justice." The background vocals on this one always bring to mind Kate Bush's "Egypt." And the following title cut is just as good, although I always wish the initial chorus came along sooner. But that's a minor nit to an excellent song. "In Hiding" wraps things up nicely, as over a simple piano arrangement Happy muses over the paradox of how both revealing and concealing an artist's product can be of his or her personality. Bottom line, this is one of Happy's best pieces of work, and probably her most consistently good album besides MANY WORLDS ARE BORN TONIGHT. And besides all this, it will probably always stand out in Happy's catalogue as the one album that both consecutively and musically bridges the gap between her first four outings and everything released since. GRADE: A BEST CUTS: 1. Feed the Fire 2. Words Weren't Made for Cowards 3. Terra Incognita 4. Warpaint 5. All Things LEAST FAVORITE CUT: To Live in Your World Patrick ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 19:05:14 -0500 From: Michael Curry Subject: Merrie Amsterburg News! >Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 13:14:03 -0500 >To: (Recipient list suppressed) >From: jsmyser@qdivision.com (Jessica Smyser) >Subject: Merrie Amsterburg at The Stone Church and News! > > >This Saturday, April 3 Merrie will be playing at The Stone Church in >Newmarket, NH with Grey Eye Glances. The Stone Church is located at 5 >Granite Street, the number is 603-659-6321. The music starts at 9 and I >believe Merrie is on first. > >News! >In June Zoe Records will be reissuing "Season Of Rain" with two newly >recorded tracks that you are probably familiar with from seeing Merrie >play them live. (Patchwork and Walking On The Moon). Zoe is a division of >Rounder Records and is distributed Universal Music Group, what that means >is that they are a much larger company with the ability to reach many more >stores and customers. We are really excited that "Season Of Rain" will be >getting this added attention. Zoe will also be releasing Merrie's next >record, tentatively scheduled for early next year. We also expect that >Merrie will be going back out on the road around the time of the reissue >so watch this space! > >For you fans who already own "Season Of Rain" there will be a Maxi-single >released in May that will have the two newly recorded tracks plus some >songs that will be available ONLY on this CD. The track listing for the >Maxi is: > >World Of Our Own Making (radio edit) >Walking On The Moon >Patchwork >No Tomorrow ( a previously unreleased song) >Say Goodbye (a beautiful version that was recorded on the radio program >Acoustic Cafe) > >This maxi-single will be available in stores and also at Merrie's shows. > >I'm sorry for the length of this e-mail but there is a lot of good news! >Thanks to all of you for your support of Merrie Amsterburg and her music, >I hope that you share my excitement about new stuff! Please don't hesitate >to contact me if you have any questions. You can also check out our web->site at www.qdivision.com or the Zoe web-site at www.rounder.com. > > >__________________________________________________________________________ > Please visit our web site at http://www.qdivision.com > Q Division Records 443 Albany Street Boston, MA 02118 617-542-0081 >__________________________________________________________________________> ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 09:07:15 -0600 From: "Mike Mendelson" Subject: Netaddress Fraud I have had a 'free forever' email account with netaddress (mjmjm@usa.net) for a long time. I routinely give it out so if I ever change jobs or ISPs I won't have to change my email address. There are lots of websites that give these addresses out. Netaddress guarantees that this address will be free forever. Well, yesterday I got a letter that said they would start charging for email forwarding, a service that up till now was a 'basic service' i.e. free. Now it will cost $1 / month. I think this is fraud. They say it will be free to get people to use it, then when I've given out the address to tons of people -- BOOM! Pay us. I cannot believe this. I called them up and they could not give a straight answer about this. I have downloaded 3 of their info web pages that completely imply that this should be free forever. A lawyer is supposed to call me back. Does anyone have any experience with this? What are the legal ramifications? I am so pissed at these guys. Please spread around the word that Netaddress is fraudulent to all your friends. - -mjm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 15:38:13 -0500 (EST) From: JOSHW Subject: Gem: Shelby Starner Hi, gang. Yes, another lurker comes out of the woodwork. I hadn't noticed this mentioned before, but while sitting at work listening to her again, I knew I had to mention it. There's a young woman by the name of Shelby Starner that just had a CD released on Tuesday called From In The Shadows. I picked up a demo CD a week previous. It's QUITE ectophilic, and I highly recommend it. As per Imogen Heap's recent MTV review, I can tell there will be references to not only Tori, but also to Fiona Apple when a critic is talking about Shelby. However, I find that she has a quite distinct vocal style. Her playing is quite enjoyable, and the CD itself is wonderfully produced (by KD Lang's producer, nonetheless). I've only found one website about Shelby, which is http://www.fionahaswings.com/shelby There is also a link to a Shelby email discussion list. Enjoy :o) I know that I've been exposed to a number of gems thanks to other Ectophiles' mentions of artists they enjoy ... so now I'm returning the favor. Sincerely, josh now with scrubbing bubbles www.cris.com/~deziner ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 19:28:12 -0800 From: Bill Mazur Subject: Re: Ani DiFranco > Rasputin and Amoeba are actually on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, > immediately south of the UC Berkeley campus. Rasputin is _always_ fully > stocked on Ani, and they have good prices too. ($12.99-$15.99 approximate > for single discs and $27.99 for Living in Clip double disc). I don't really > like Amoeba because their merchandise seems so disorganized and the store > is so badly lit. Shirley and Robert, Thanks for the catch and correction Shirley. Robert, I was thinking Telegraph Ave. and wrote University Ave. instead on accident. I haven't been thinking too clearly as of late due to suffering from the flu. Bill M. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 22:09:25 -0800 From: Shirley Ye Subject: Ani on Sessions at West 54th To all: Did anyone record Ani Difranco when she appeared on Sessions at West 54th last weekend? Someone on this list mentioned it, and unfortunately I was not able to see it. If anyone did, could I please please have a copy? I'd love to see it. Thanks in advance!! You may contact me privately via the email addy listed below. Thanks again!! Shirl Shirley Ye Berkeley, California shye@uclink4.berkeley.edu I am not an angry girl, but it seems like I've got everyone fooled. Every time I say something they find hard to hear, they chalk it up to my anger and never to their own fear. - -Ani Difranco, Not a Pretty Girl ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V5 #115 **************************