From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V5 #337 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Saturday, October 9 1999 Volume 05 : Number 337 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Today's your birthday, friends... [Mike Matthews ] Recent Purchases-Ryan, Timmons, Slean and Brown [jjhanson@att.net] New Brendan Perry? [Joseph Zitt ] Re: New Brendan Perry? [jburka@min.net] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1999 03:00:04 -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********* *************************************************** *************************************************************************** ****************** Dan Riley (dsr@lns598.tn.cornell.edu) ****************** ********************** Neile Graham (neile@sff.net) *********************** ******************* Quenby M. Chunco (no Email address) ******************* ********************* Mike Garland (no Email address) ********************* *************************************************************************** -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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 Anna Pryde Wed November 05 1975 Scorpio Sun; Sagittarius Moon; Pisces Rising Jens Brage Sun November 08 1964 Scorpio Rising Lynn Garrett Sat November 08 1958 Scorpio Sam Murgie Fri November 08 1957 Scorpio - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Oct 1999 14:53:16 +0000 From: jjhanson@att.net Subject: Recent Purchases-Ryan, Timmons, Slean and Brown I recently received a bunch of new releases in the mail--from some very ectophililic artists--all singer-songwriter-piano player types--here's a few capsule reviews: Mary Lydia Ryan - Diaphonous Wow! This is such a big step forward from her first album--which was good, but fairly bland and monotonous--mostly "pretty ballads". Here, there's quite a few different styles represented, and the addition of Amy Denio's sax and accordion rules! I know Neile is stuck on Devil with Wings, which I've really grown to like, but my favorite track so far--Begging Me--I'd love to see someone do some animated dance number to this--ala Fantasia. Such a fun tune. This one has really grown on me rapidly--highly, highly recommended. Also gets my vote for best cover design of the year (if not decade). Check it out at: http://www.marylydiaryan.com Rebecca Timmons - The Turing Event Wow, again. The first track brings to mind Toni Childs for some reason--though this is definitely Rebecca's vocals. The album ont he whole is pretty varied, and consistently good--though there are a couple of tracks that seem like reworks of tracks from her first album. Still, I love Rebecca's voice, and she's got some great songs on here--the only one I don't really care for is Celestial Highway--though I can't really pinpoint why. Still, highly recommended. Now available at Amazon.com Sarah Slean - Blue Parade I love Sarah Slean, and to say that this is the biggest disappointment of these new releases does her and the album a disservice. While a very solid album, none of the songs really stand up and grab you. Pretty, lyrically interesting, haunting vocals, but all kind of just blend into another. Also, her piano playing seems much tamer/less flashy than on her first release, and personally this album could use a little more flash. Still, I think it will be an album that will grow with repeated listens. (www.sarahslean.com) Kym Brown - Pygmalion Definitely the most different of the four albums reviewed here. Still it has yet to really capture me. I like it all, and do find it growing on me, when it fights it's way into the player. It most reminds me of Ruby (whatever happened to her?). Lots of noise, some funky beats, good, interesting and varied vocals, some very interesting (and blatant) lyrics. For some reason she doesn't look anything at all like I expected her to. (Not that that means a thing--it's just, after hearing about an artist, you tend to get a picture in your mind, and the picture I had doesn't look anything like the picture on the back of the album.) (Don't have the ordering info on this with me.) Other recent purchases: Tori Amos - To Venus and Back Still undecided on this one--a very solid album, with some great songs, but, like Sarah Slean's latest, I kind of miss Tori's flashy piano playing. Of course it's featured in plenty on the live album, which really captures the energy of her live performances, though it still takes me a while to get used to the drums. And, part of me, still would prefer to hear just play the piano. Which brings me to a question? Why haven't other artists invited Tori to play piano on their albums? I think what this album really brought home is that I really like Tori's piano playing ability, but her vocals and songwriting are really beginning to lose me. Jane Siberry - Tree and Lips Tree, the first of the New York Trilogy, is an interesting album--the kind you really want to hear once. But I don't think it will ever find it's way into the CD player much--the dynamics are too varied--too quiet in most places, and overall, the album is a little too quiet--too monotonous. I expected to love "It Can't Rain all the Time", but I don't. Not that it's bad, but it's just not the transcendent live version I expected it to be. The second album I find to be much more fun to listen to--if for nothing else than the wild "I Will Survive", but overall, this is a much more fun album. Tree is perhaps a little too serious. Plus, I love all the song snippets used in "Say It", and the vocal arrangements really make use of hte guest vocalists-- something that seemed a little more awkward on Tree. My favorite of the New York Trilogy is still Child. Let's hope, now that Jane has released these all, she can get back in the new studio and work on some new material. It's been a long time since her last real studio album--When I Was a Boy (Yes, Maria and Teenager came out afterwards, but Maria was more a live improv album than a studio work, and Teenager was all old songs). Anyway, despite not absolutely loving the new New York Trilogy discs, I would still recommend buying them, supporting Sheeba, and doing whatever you can to help Jane get back into the studio. (To order: http://www.sheeba.ca) Jeff Hanson n.p. Mary Lydia Ryan - Diaphanous ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1999 11:36:58 -0500 From: Joseph Zitt Subject: New Brendan Perry? I spotted a Brendan Perry solo album yesterday. Has anyone heard it yet? It looked tempting, but not tempting enough to grab. I see that he's playing the 9:30 Club on 11/1, supported by Kristin Hersch. Hmm... I also wonder how much confusion there will be with Brendan Perry and Bryan Ferry playing on successive nights. ("Can you say the name again, sir? Even when you ask for the avant-garde lounge lizard, I don't know which one you mean..." :-]) Unrelatedly, I snarfed the Double Life of Veronique soundtrack yesterday at a pawn shop for $3. Thanks to whoever it was here for the recommendation. I also grabbed a laserdisc player, so I'll be able to watch the disc of The Films of Meredith Monk that i won on eBay when it arrives. Yahoo... Even more unrelatedly: is there a schedule anywhere of who is playing when at NetAid? For a supposed Web showcase event, their site is an uninformative morass... - -- |> ~the only thing that is not art is inattention~ --- Marcel Duchamp <| | jzitt@metatronpress.com http://www.metatronpress.com/jzitt | | Latest CD: Shekhinah: The Presence http://www.mp3.com/josephzitt | | Comma: Voices of New Music Silence: the John Cage Discussion List | ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1999 12:25:52 -0400 (EDT) From: jburka@min.net Subject: Re: New Brendan Perry? On Fri, 8 Oct 1999, Joseph Zitt wrote: > > I see that he's playing the 9:30 Club on 11/1, supported by Kristin > Hersch. Hmm... I also wonder how much confusion there will be with > Brendan Perry and Bryan Ferry playing on successive nights. ("Can > you say the name again, sir? Even when you ask for the avant-garde > lounge lizard, I don't know which one you mean..." :-]) ARGHHHHH!!! STOP REMINDING ME! Craig wrote a while ago to ask if I wanted to see Brendan Perry, and my first thought was "of course!" and my second thought was, "oh, hell, I'm busy that night." And that was just when it was Perry. Last night, Neal mentioned that Hersh was opening for him, and that second thought turned into, well, something I really ought not type here. Oh well, these things happen. Sounds like there could be a small ecto contingent there; Neal was talking about maybe driving down. Though, Neal, if you ever find out that Hersh _is_ playing in B'more, and it's a night I'm free, I'd drive up there for that one... jeff np: _Live at Luther College (disc 2)_, Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds nb: _Works in Progress_, Kristin Hersh (that'd be now burning...the 12th month of the WIP subscription is online, so I figured it was time to burn a CD of 'em...) ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V5 #337 **************************