From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V5 #386 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Monday, November 22 1999 Volume 05 : Number 386 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Today's your birthday, friend... [Mike Matthews ] Re: poll [Andrew Fries ] Re: Ani show, plus Sandra, Tori, Sarah, Jill, Sanna, and London stores [A] a few ecto-ish CDs I'm selling... [Songbird22@aol.com] dido returns to boston, other boston shows [Paul Kim ] Elysian Fields in NYC on 11/28! [Michael Curry ] Re: poll [dmw ] Fw: a special appearance [John J Henshon ] Kathleen Yearwood in Seattle 11/23 [Neile Graham ] Shannon Curfman in Indy 11/20/99 [Greg Dunn ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1999 03:00:05 -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********* *************************************************** *************************************************************************** ********************* Kevin Bartlett (AURALG@aol.com) ********************* *************************************************************************** -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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 Valerie Kraemer 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 Juha Sorva Thu December 02 1976 Sagittarius Chip Lueck Thu December 05 1968 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 queen_nefertiti@prodigy.net 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 - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1999 22:48:19 +1100 From: Andrew Fries Subject: Re: poll I can't really decide on the first two points, but I can address the last one: >3. What keeps you coming back to an artist's website? Tour dates? Message >boards? Chat rooms? My answer is: news and samples. News of any kind: tours, recordings, breakups (hopefully not too many of those!) and recent additions. And samples: preferably whole songs, in mp3 format. Give me demos, outtakes, remixes, new songs ... anything that isn't available through other channels, or at least, won't be available for a while. In fact, just like those two tracks you had on Sarah's site! - ------------------------------------------------------ "Macintosh for Productivity, Linux for Development, Palm for Mobility, and Windows for Solitaire." - - spotted on a t-shirt @ macsurfshop.com - ------ http://www.zip.com.au/~afries/hall.html ------- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1999 22:58:59 +1100 From: Andrew Fries Subject: Re: Ani show, plus Sandra, Tori, Sarah, Jill, Sanna, and London stores On Wed, 17 Nov 1999, Juha Sorva wrote: >And maybe it's just me, >but I thought Ani seemed grateful to the audience for (mostly) shutting >up during the quieter songs. That was my impression as well, during her Australian performance I attended last year. We were a very respectful crowd, and it seemed she really appreciated the fact that we were paying attention instead of just worshipping. Some people are soo hard to please... If someone wanted to worship me instead of just paying attention, I'd be only too happy to let them:) >On the list of recent disappointments, I'll have to mention >the new Tori album. _from the choirgirl hotel_ would have been >a great album on almost anyone else's scale but Tori's, but >with _to venus and back_, I'm starting to despair. I started to despair after "Choirgirl" - I just couldn't get into it. I started to think this specialness of Tori was lost... but with Venus, I finally made the breaktrough. Yes, *for me* there will never be another "Little Earthquakes" - but once I accepted this fact, I started to enjoy "Venus" for what it is. And I agree "1000 Oceans" is the weakest song, maybe not ever, but on "Venus". Weakest, because it appears to be looking back, and just when I got over that idea! >Another disappointment for me has been Sarah Slean's _Blue Parade_. >Somehow it doesn't grab me at all like _Universe_ did right from >the start. Maybe it just needs some more time to grow on me. I'm a HUGE fan of Sarah, and I have to confess Blue Parade didn't immediately grab me, either. But slowly yet surely it grew on me, and now I've no doubt it'll have its place in my Top 10 for this year. All it took was time. np: Povi, "Life in Volcanoes', my first listening ... yes, Yes, YES!!! My Goddess is back! Could life be any better? Well, sure it could - she could be playing gigs in Sydney instead of hanging around L.A or wherever she is ... - ------------------------------------------------------ "Macintosh for Productivity, Linux for Development, Palm for Mobility, and Windows for Solitaire." - - spotted on a t-shirt @ macsurfshop.com - ------ http://www.zip.com.au/~afries/hall.html ------- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1999 09:47:14 EST From: Songbird22@aol.com Subject: a few ecto-ish CDs I'm selling... Just a few I thought someone here might want... (includes shipping) Tori-to jupiter and back $20 imogen heap-i megaphone $10 ani-6up $10 sarah mcl-freedom sessions(unopened, no multimedia) $10 jewel-spirit $9 (i'll throw in a free jewel single too) jennifer kimball-veering from the wave $10 jonatha brooke live (Signed) $11 email me if you're interested...more soon... jessica ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1999 12:25:18 -0500 From: Paul Kim Subject: dido returns to boston, other boston shows I saw Sarah Slean at the Snyder's house in Boston on Saturday. Lovely. I might go into more detail later. I'll be catching her opening for Moxy Fruvous tonight at the Somerville Theater. According to Pollstar, Dido will be returning to Boston in December twice. The first show is on the 7th and is at the Roxy. 5 Days later she's at the Orpheum which I'm guessing is for some big X-Mas radio show. Interestingly enough, at the Roxy also on the 12th is Stereolab. Juliana Hatfield is solo at the Middle East on tuesday. I'll be heading home to maryland at that point. Saturday is Mary Lou Lord. Then in december, a pretty darn good indie band called Rainer Maria shows up on the 12th. Donna DeLory's band featuring Cameron Stone on cello (and maybe jay bellerose on drums) plays Passim on the December 2nd and Borders in Boston on the 4th. While I'm home in Maryland, i believe the Wild Colonials will be playing in Baltimore. das ist it fur now. paul "jig me a reel" Kim ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1999 12:43:33 -0500 From: Michael Curry Subject: Elysian Fields in NYC on 11/28! >Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1999 00:54:44 EST >Subject: a special appearance > >E L Y S I A N F I E L D S > >Sunday, November 28, 1999 >10:00 pm >The Knitting Factory >74 Leonard St. >NYC >212 219-3006 >$8 > >w/ white hassle at 9pm ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1999 13:23:05 -0500 (EST) From: dmw Subject: Re: poll On Sun, 21 Nov 1999, Andrew Fries wrote: > I can't really decide on the first two points, but I can address the last one: > > >3. What keeps you coming back to an artist's website? Tour dates? Message > >boards? Chat rooms? i sort of half-assedly followed this thread, and didn't see some of my favorites come up: rasputina.com and bigego.com (jim's big ego) bigego inparticular has cool live/demo mp3's which is definitely a real incentive; both seem to do a better-than-average job of reflecting the band's sensibilities in the design of the site. loudfamily.com not only has snazzy design, up-to-date news, unreleased rare tracks, but it also has a super-cool artist q&a feature. oh, and for a low-cost, local independent artist, i think racecar's go-racecar.com is pretty nicely put together, even if it hasn't been updated in aeons (like i should talk...it's hard keeping up with the web page now that i'm doing print reviews too...) - -- d n.p. robyn hitchcock in baltimore - - oh no, you've just read mail from doug = dmw@radix.net - get yr pathos - - www.pathetic-caverns.com -- books, flicks, tunes, etc. = reviews - - www.fecklessbeast.com -- angst, guilt, fear, betrayal! = guitar pop ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1999 14:59:18 -0500 From: John J Henshon Subject: Fw: a special appearance - --------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ashersand@aol.com E L Y S I A N F I E L D S Sunday, November 28, 1999 10:00 pm The Knitting Factory 74 Leonard St. NYC 212 219-3006 $8 w/ white hassle at 9pm ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1999 14:54:17 -0800 From: Neile Graham Subject: Kathleen Yearwood in Seattle 11/23 Hey, all-- Kathleen Yearwood will be at the Re-bar (1114 Howell) on Tuesday 11/23 at 8 pm ($8) w/ Marci Blackman of Sister Spit and Joe Ray Sandoval. I will be there if I can shake this awful cold. - --Neile - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Neile Graham ...... http://www.sff.net/people/neile ....... neile@sff.net Les Semaines: A Weekly Journal . http://www.sff.net/people/neile/semaines The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music ....... http://www.smoe.org/ectoguide ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1999 19:40:36 -0500 From: Greg Dunn Subject: Shannon Curfman in Indy 11/20/99 I know this is kind of borderline Ecto-ish, but two things cause me to post it: 1) If not for Ecto and reviews like this, I would have missed out on a lot of borderline-Ecto music over the last 5 years :-) 2) This young lady is so amazing that I think a lot of people will enjoy her work, regardless of category. So feel free to skip over, or read, as you wish... all of the following hype is of course IMHO. ================ Saturday night was a unique experience on many levels. Ever since a friend tipped me off to this sensational new young blues guitarist a few weeks ago, I've been hoping that I wouldn't get edged out of a chance to see a performance in a small venue before rising popularity took away my chances forever -- as it has with so many other artists. Luck, again, and the ability to act quickly got me in the door at this show; an experience I'll remember for a long time. I heard about Shannon on a mailing list devoted to another artist whose label she shares; thankfully, off-topic posting is treated with tolerance and respect there too... Intrigued by the prospect of another young blues prodigy (you can never have too many!) I bought her album straightaway. One listen was enough to convince me that Shannon Curfman was no poser, but the real thing; a born blues musician. Everything from her confident, breezy soloing style to her Delta-bred growly voice spoke of years of living the blues. It still astonishes me that her guitar-playing and singing experience ranges from age 11 -- three short years ago. When a co-worker friend casually mentioned that he'd heard of a small, one-off show in Indy that had just been announced, I broke all speed records buying tickets to the event. It was scheduled for Rehearsal Studios, a minuscule venue on the south side, usually host to small acoustic shows or local band bashes. I have no idea how many tickets were actually sold, but a quick headcount showed only 133 seats at the actual (packed) show. At #37, I was none too early reserving a spot. Arriving early, as I always do for general admission events, I was pleased to note that Shannon's equipment trailers were already there and the sounds of music already pouring out of the stage entrance door. It was a nearly balmy November afternoon, so I wandered around, making sure to stay close to the entrance in case other ticketholders showed up with an eye to claiming a better seat. In due course, Shannon's band wandered in and out; I had a chance to chat with her tech, backup guitarist and keyboardist as well as her mother, who handles merchandise sales at the shows. They were all quite pleasant, and no one questioned my presence. Shannon popped out of the stage entrance after a bit, but was busy taking care of some personal business so I avoided intruding on her privacy. The sun went down, people pulled the equipment vans away, and still I sat waiting for my friends to show up. They did, only an hour or so before show time, and to my amazement we were still the only people in line for the show. About 6:40, another dozen or so arrived, with still no sign of an open door. Finally, one of the employees opened the main entrance, and we filed inside. I was a bit concerned about my ticket, having ordered it over the Ticketmaster web site and not being too sure about the will-call arrangements, but the ticket-taker duly whipped out a list of ticket holders and waved me in without further scrutiny. I nabbed front row center, the better to scope out the performers; though recognizing that sound balance would suffer from being well off-axis of the PA. We still had some time to inspect the venue before show time, so I puttered around, checking out the impressive stack of equipment on stage, and browsing the merchandise for sale. Returning to my seat, I chatted with my friends for a bit, then spotted Shannon's mom setting up the cash box. I raked in some souvenirs (a good thing, too; the first run of T-shirts were gone before show time. They're now collector's items, hehe) and went back to my seat to wait for the start. I propped my feet up on Shannon's stage monitor and leaned back comfortably. Only a few minutes late, the band filed in, took their places, and Shannon's guitar tech hunkered down by her amp with a gorgeous sparkle-finish silver G&L ASAT at the ready. They launched into the riff for "Few And Far Between", and the backup guitarist announced the arrival of Ms. Curfman; loud applause and cheering as she accepted the guitar and slid into a flawless rendition of the lead-off track from her CD. Shannon was definitely "on" tonight; confident and serene, she nonetheless laid down a sizzling blues solo in between expertly-rendered vocal verses, earning howls and cheers of delight from the audience. The applause faded into respectful silence after each number, a sign that everyone was there to listen - -- a rarity for concerts these days. Other than a brief but hilarious break when no one could seem to figure out what song came next in the set, the show moved forward with a nervous but well-paced energy. Often Shannon ushered the band from song to song without even a pause, though she never failed to utter a heartfelt "thanks" after each tune and asked for additional applause for her band on several occasions. She traded licks with her backup guitarist on nearly every piece, neither one seeming to want to admit mastery to the other. Lots of grins back and forth, too, indicating that it was as much fun as it looked from the audience. Shannon didn't back off from her vocals, either, in spite of playing a solo or duet break even on the ones demanding attention to the voice. Her emotional but strong renditions of "The Weight" and "Never Enough" proved that her vocal cords are as well-honed as her fingers. Indeed, were it not for the fact that she blended so beautifully with the band, one almost wondered if they were needed to showcase her talents. Just kidding, actually; a good musician never abandons a crew of like-minded performers, and this was a well-oiled machine on stage. Wrapping up the set with amazing performances of "Watching The River Flow" and "If You Change Your Mind" (switching to her Paul Reed Smith guitar when the whammy bar was needed), Shannon left the stage to a standing ovation. She returned for a short but strong solo tune on her G&L, then welcomed the band back for a performance of "True Friends" which brought on another standing ovation. Shannon re-introduced her band, and announced that after a short break to cool down, she'd be signing autographs at the back of the venue. A huge line formed immediately, to no one's surprise. Everyone got a few moments to chat with Shannon after the show, including some young ladies about her age, obviously in awe over her performance. She had something nice to say to everyone, and the line moved with tolerable rapidity. After we got our souvenirs signed, I paused for a moment to catch my breath -- something which was hardly possible during that tornado on stage. I noted that she was writing left-handed while the guitars were all right-handed; to which she grinned, "I'm ambidextrous." It shouldn't have come as a surprise, actually; although it adds just one more talent to a young lady who has already achieved a lot in her short life. Watch the TV and the feature sections closely over the next 6 months; because you're going to be hearing a lot more of this talented young lady. Unfortunately, probably not at a cozy little venue like Rehearsal Studios, because Shannon Curfman is upward bound. - -- | Greg Dunn | I really think it's better this | | gregdunn@indy.net | way; the more you suffer, the | | The Sultan of Slack(tm) | more you show you really care. | | http://www.indy.net/~gregdunn/ | The Offspring | ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V5 #386 **************************