From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V6 #52 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Wednesday, February 23 2000 Volume 06 : Number 052 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Erin McKeown News [Jess913@aol.com] Emiliana Torrini ep for trade [anna maria "stjärnell" ] Thanks for Velvet Belly! ["Marcel Rijs" ] Jill Sobule/Bijou Phillips ["Drowned Ophelia" ] Laura Nyro, Jill Sobule, Deb Conway ... ["Heidi Maier" ] Re: Erin McKeown News [Neal Copperman ] Ofra Haza ill [Joseph Zitt ] Re: Erin McKeown News [Yngve Hauge ] Aimee Mann ["Cerquone, Suzanne" ] tara mclean ["Nick Nadel" ] BIG FISH ~ little fish show at Uncommon Ground (fwd) ["Mitchell A. Pravat] Re: tara mclean [Songbird22@aol.com] another song ID for you [J Wermont ] Re: another song ID for you [Talamasca ] Re: Erin McKeown, Tara, Magnus, Buffy [Andrew Fries ] Re: Erin McKeown, Tara, Magnus, Buffy [Michael Curry ] Neile's Late 1999 Music Report 3/5 [Neile Graham ] Annika Bentley [John Drummond ] Re: Erin McKeown, Tara, Magnus, Buffy [neal ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 03:20:05 EST From: Jess913@aol.com Subject: Erin McKeown News hey guys. i thought since people seem to send in this kind of stuff to the list, i would add this update from Erin McKeown. i promise you will have fun seeing her live! jess b <<<< www.erinmckeown.com //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// JUST in from THE FRONT! in this edition: MCKEOWN nominated for BOSTON MUSIC AWARD! WEST COAST TOUR ANNOUNCED! SOLO RECORD FINISHED(and named?)! VOICES on the VERGE record in the WORKS! LOTS a GREAT SHOWS! howdy buckarooooos! welcome to february... the LADY has had the honor of being nominated for a 1999 BOSTON MUSIC AWARD, in the best NEW SONGWRITER category. vote for her in the friday issue of the Boston Herald all this month. when just a little lass, the LADY dreamed of one day attending the awards on the arm of any member of the new kids on the block (except danny, donnie, or jon). MAKE HER DREAM COME TRUE! A WEST COAST tour will take place in JUNE! A MIDWEST TOUR will happen immediately following. if YOU have a place you'd like the LADY to play, a house concert to offer or a place to crash, please email MCKEOWN's booking agent, LMOORE8124@aol.com. IT's ALIVE! the LADY recently completed her FIRST STUDIO album, for release mid-april! tentatively titled "distillation", it contains 11 songs straight from the minds and ears of MCKEOWN and produceur DAVE CHALFANT, including "blackbirds", "love in 2 parts", "didn't they?", and the brand spanking new "little cowboy" (see website for lyrics). TVP can't wait for YOU to hear it! also announced is the recording of an album by VOICES on the VERGE (the folk super group of MCKEOWN, JESS KLEIN, BETH AMSEL, and ROSE POLENZANI) for the SLOWRIVER/RYKODISC imprint. during the last week in march, the group will record two studio shows in front of a LIVE AUDIENCE. to be there, stay tuned! finally, check out the schedule for shows in YOUR area soon! thanks as always, see you in the cantina, TVP RECORDS... _____________________________________________________________ 22 feb the ark, ann arbor MI w/VOICES ON THE VERGE 25 feb mercury lounge, NYC 8pm 212.260.4700 w/THE NIELDS 4 mar somerville theater, somerville MA 7pm adv. tix please 617.628.3390 w/ LORI MCKENNA, KEVIN SO, & VINYL AVE STRING BAND!! 9 mar oona's, bellows falls VT 24 mar center squeeze, west hartford CT 8pm $7 860.232.5262 25 mar northampton MA 9pm TBA 1 apr tin angel, philadelphia PA 2 shows W/SUSAN WERNER!!!! 4 apr wpi, worcester MA 8pm w/THE NIELDS 14 apr in the square coffeehouse, providence RI 8pm w/LORI MCKENNA 15 apr green rooster, worcester MA split bill w/EDIE CAREY 20 apr mt. holyoke college, s. hadley MA 9pm 22 apr club passim, cambridge MA 2 shows w/PETER MULVEY! ____________________________________________________________ tvp records information bureau, cyber sub-unit po box 344 providence RI 02901 http://www.erinmckeown.com - for all the latest tour info ___________________________________________________________ to order copies of ERIN MCKEOWN's one (1) CD or 1 (one) 7" single, 2 (two) cassette releases, or three (3) CD samplers, visit the ordering section of the website for more details. ___________________________________________________________ gabriel unger artist management 1.888.799.GUAM guamusic@aol.com >>>>> ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 01:48:05 -0800 (PST) From: anna maria "stjärnell" Subject: Emiliana Torrini ep for trade Hi.. Have an ep by icelandic chanteuse Emiliana Torrini for trade..Its three tracks..Dead Things,Wednesday's Child and Tunafish all are from her album. Could be a nice way to sample her music if you're feeling unsure about buying the album. Will trade for other eps of ectoish stuff or tapes of stuff I havent heard. Get in touch if interested. Oh and on an icelandic note..Bellatrix release a new album this may. Heard a song from it which was less quirky than I'd hoped they'd be. Will have to seek out their icelandic stuff. Sigur Ros are great..Androgynous vocals and Cocteau-ish soundscapes. Saw Regina Lund sing a song from her upcoming album on tv last night. Very nice stuff. Fans of Stina Nordenstam will dig her next cd. Anna Maria np-Belle and Sebastian-Tigermilk nr-Jonathan Carroll-The Land of laughs __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 08:50:54 EST From: "JoAnn Whetsell" Subject: Re: Laura I highly recommend "Season of Lights" for any Laura fan, new or old. I got my copy from ABSound. http://www.absound.ca It's now on single cd. JoAnn >Her double concert album, _Season of Lights_, is also well worth a listen >if you can find it. It is out of print in the US but I hear it's now >available as an import CD. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 16:43:44 +0100 From: "Marcel Rijs" Subject: Thanks for Velvet Belly! Hi all, Since I only have limited space for my mail at work I usually delete my ecto digests pretty quickly, but I just wanted to thank whoever it was who sent a link to the click2music.no site where we could here a sound sample of Velvet Belly's "Man with the child in his eyes". That page contained a competition in which you could win one of 25 1-track samplers containing this song. I can't read Norwegian, but I just figured, what the hell, I'll send in my address and see what comes of it... ...Well, I received a sampler yesterday! This is truly amazing. I've never won anything in my life, and now I've got something from a Norwegian site, no less! Wonderful. And yes, the track is worth buying the album for. I'm still considering it... :-) Kind regards, ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 08:05:34 -0800 From: "Drowned Ophelia" Subject: Jill Sobule/Bijou Phillips A new Jill Sobule album? This kicks ass! I love her! Any news on release dates etc? I searched CD Now, Amazon etc and none mention it yet. Which store did you see the review etc in? Last time I heard she was having record company troubles etc, so this is great news! Has anyone on Ecto heard Bijou Phillips' album "I'd Rather Eat Glass", at all? Thoughts? Would you recommend it? Thanks for the Laura Nyro information too, guys :) One more Laura question: for a newbie, would you recommend getting the "Stoned Soul Picnic" double CD over getting, say, her first two albums? Or is their no way to compare? Oracle. *********************************** chickclick.com http://www.chickclick.com girl sites that don't fake it. http://www.chickmail.com sign up for your free email. http://www.chickshops.com boutique shopping from chickclick.com *********************************** ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 02:16:06 +1000 From: "Heidi Maier" Subject: Laura Nyro, Jill Sobule, Deb Conway ... In response to Oracle's post about Laura Nyro's music: I tried to e-mail you off-list, but the e-mail bounced back to me and I am not sure whether it reached you or not! Please let me know if it didn't ... it's not like my comments are going to earth-shatteringly change your life, but oh well! In a nutshell: "Stoned Soul Picnic" is a really good place to start with L.N's work, I think, as are any of her first three records ... I recommend reading the page in the Ectophile's Guide, too -- I was already listening to Laura when I read it, but it's always interesting to see what other people think, which records they recommend etc :) > Also, I saw a review of Jill Sobule's new album _Pink Pearl_. It was a > really positive, 5 star review, and I'll definitely have to check this out > too, but I was on my way out when I saw the review. This is really interesting ... I love Jill's work, and look forward to hearing "Pink Pearl". Would anybody happen to know when it is scheduled for release? No doubt it won't be released here in Australia right away (dammit) but I did a little search at Amazon.com, and they showed no signs of a new CD. I am sure there are other places I could search, but I'm a uni student, I don't have a credit card, it'd just be cruel to find it and not be able to order it! ;) I look forward to hearing more about it ... I also thought some might be pleased to hear that Deborah Conway will be releasing her latest album in late March/early April ... she said she is still waiting for an exact release date, but expects it will be preceded by a single. Title as of now oscillates between "Exquisite Stereo" and "Radio Loves This" (the latter being *highly* sarcastic and a reference for commercial Australian radio [which is woeful]. They shunned her last record, which was amazing -- "My Third Husband". Then again, these people play Ricky Martin, what do we expect?!) Kindest wishes, Heidi. - ------- " ... doesn't take much to rip us into pieces ..." -- *tori amos* * heidi maier - maier@joynet.com.au * ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 11:27:33 -0500 From: Patrick Moseley Subject: Random thought: Happy & The Blair Witch Project Hello all... This is a totally random observation that I thought I'd share. I was first exposed to the majorty of Happy's music a little less than a year ago, around the same time that the initial hype for "The Blair Witch Project" began surfacing on the web. As a result, the first time I heard "Ode" I thought it would've made the perfect song to run over the end credits of BWP. Anyone who's seen the film agree? It would give new meaning to certain lines: - "Believe... the sun will come out again..." - "And never cry because you're scared... the only thing that can harm you is your fear..." - "Believe when I say that I'll love you always" (reminds me of Heather's "confessional" toward the end of the film) Just thought I'd share... I know the general public is largely split on the merits of BWP; count me among the camp who enjoyed the movie. Signing off, Patrick ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 19:15:55 +0100 (CET) From: Yngve Hauge Subject: Re: Thanks for Velvet Belly! On Tue, 22 Feb 2000, Marcel Rijs wrote: > ...Well, I received a sampler yesterday! This is truly amazing. I've > never won anything in my life, and now I've got something from a > Norwegian site, no less! Wonderful. I'm glad I managed to some good with that message of mine ... > > And yes, the track is worth buying the album for. I'm still considering > it... :-) I'm addicted to that track ... - -- Yngve n.p. Kristin Hersh - Sky Motel ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 11:25:43 -0700 (MST) From: Neal Copperman Subject: Re: Erin McKeown News On Tue, 22 Feb 2000 Jess913@aol.com wrote: > hey guys. i thought since people seem to send in this kind of stuff to the > list, i would add this update from Erin McKeown. i promise you will have fun > seeing her live! > > www.erinmckeown.com Does anyone else see anything useful at this web site? After a cover page on Providence Artists United, I get pages that don't go anywhere. (Could be our proxy, I havne't tried it at home.) It does give me the loveliest error messages I've ever seen though. neal np: good luck - X-Tal nr: Map of the World - Jane Hamilton ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 13:46:45 -0500 From: Joseph Zitt Subject: Ofra Haza ill From http://www.ofrahaza.com/ "Since Saturday night, February 12th, Ofra has been in the Intensive Care Unit at Sheba Hospital at Tel Hashomer in Israel. She is unconscious and is in a life threatening situation. The media is making several speculations but the fact is that the doctors are not releasing any information regarding the cause of her medical condition." - -- |> ~The only thing that is not art is inattention~ --- Marcel Duchamp <| | jzitt@metatronpress.com http://www.metatronpress.com/jzitt | | Latest CD: Jerusaklyn http://www.mp3.com/josephzitt | | Comma: Voices of New Music Silence: the John Cage Discussion List | ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 19:37:59 +0100 (CET) From: Yngve Hauge Subject: Re: Erin McKeown News On Tue, 22 Feb 2000, Neal Copperman wrote: > Does anyone else see anything useful at this web site? After a cover page > on Providence Artists United, I get pages that don't go anywhere. (Could > be our proxy, I havne't tried it at home.) It does give me the loveliest > error messages I've ever seen though. no problems with that page from this computer at least. It looks pretty good actually even though I mostly don't like suddenly changes from black to white as it hurts my eyes. - -- Yngve n.p. Happy Rhodes - MWABT ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 15:18:01 -0800 From: "Cerquone, Suzanne" Subject: Aimee Mann Meth wrote: >>I was *so* excited to hear about her Oscar nomination this week!!! That is incredibly cool. I don't know whether to root for her or for "Blame Canada" now. ;> Even though we all know Phil Collins is going to win. :P<< When I saw her and hubby Michael Penn play Joe's Pub last Tuesday, someone shouted out, "What's your Oscar speech?" She gave a brief pause and then said "Fuck Phil Collins!" The place roared with laughter. The show was very good--but I think I like Michael Penn's music better than Aimee's. Aimee's music sounds a lot like the same to me, especially live. Suzanne ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 15:39:10 PST From: "Nick Nadel" Subject: tara mclean Didn't Tara's new album Passenger come out today? Did anyone get it, I havent gone yet. She's touring with Dido?!! Oh man, that I will go to. Any dates up yet? - -nick n.p. Cure-Bloodflowers, great up there with "Disintegration" ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 19:21:29 -0600 (CST) From: "Mitchell A. Pravatiner" Subject: BIG FISH ~ little fish show at Uncommon Ground (fwd) This may be of interest to our friends in Chicago. Mitch - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 16:46:59 EST From: Uberdiva1@aol.com To: Uberdiva1@aol.com Subject: BIG FISH ~ little fish show at Uncommon Ground FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 21, 2000 CD TO FEATURE EMERGING WOMEN IN CHICAGO MUSIC Preview Show Set for Uncommon Ground Women's voices, some you've heard and others you haven't, but all representing the present state of pop music in Chicago, will be featured on "Big Fish ~ Little Fish," a compilation CD due for release this summer. Many of the artists, including Antje, Ellen Rosner and Dolly Varden, will appear at a preview concert to introduce the CD on Saturday, March 4 at Uncommon Ground, 1214 W. Grace, Chicago. The music starts at 8 PM and will also feature performances by Joy Eden Harrison, Kelly Kessler, Ripley Caine, and Summer Chance. Profits from the sale of "Big Fish ~ Little Fish" will be used to support Woman Made Gallery, a not-for-profit Chicago gallery dedicated to promoting women's visual arts. The CD will be released on Chicago indie label, Sweet Pickle Music. Other Chicago-based musicians on the CD include The Twigs, Anne O'Meara Heaton, Astra Kelly, Cathy Braaten, Patty Ortega, Alice Peacock, Karen Anderson, Beki Hemingway, and Nancy Walker. Reservations are suggested for the preview show at Uncommon Ground. Call 773-929-3680; seating is limited. * * * ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 20:38:15 EST From: Songbird22@aol.com Subject: Re: tara mclean In a message dated 2/22/00 6:43:28 PM Eastern Standard Time, nnadel@hotmail.com writes: > Didn't Tara's new album Passenger come out today? Did anyone get it, I > havent gone yet. She's touring with Dido?!! Oh man, that I will go to. Any > dates up yet? It comes out on the 29th. Its been out in Canada for awhile... A couple new sites to check out: www.taramaclean.com www.taramaclean.org www.taramaclean.net Jessica www.aquezada.com/jess | www.mp3.com/jessweiser ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 19:23:21 -0800 (PST) From: J Wermont Subject: another song ID for you Thanks, everyone, for the info on Dido. As soon as I recover from whatever the latest bug is that's going around, and/or it stops raining, I'll venture out from under the covers and go pick up a copy for myself. :) I have another mystery song that I'd love someone here to ID for me. Female voice, sounds like Alanis, but doesn't sound at all like the kind of song she would do. Sparse arrangement, just her voice and guitar. The lines of the song are more or less like these: "I will be good, even if I lose my hair, And I will be good, even if I lose ten pounds, And I will be good, even if I go bankrupt..." etc, etc., on and on like this. Very repetitive, but I like how she sings it, especially once she starts going for the high notes. Thanks! Joyce ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 21:39:30 -0600 From: Talamasca Subject: Re: another song ID for you At 07:23 PM 02/22/2000 -0800, J Wermont wrote: >I have another mystery song that I'd love someone here to ID for me. >Female voice, sounds like Alanis, but doesn't sound at all like the >kind of song she would do. Sparse arrangement, just her voice and >guitar. The lines of the song are more or less like these: > >"I will be good, even if I lose my hair, > And I will be good, even if I lose ten pounds, > And I will be good, even if I go bankrupt..." Actually, those should read "I would be good..." etc. It is indeed Alanis, called That I Would Be Good, from Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. John Higdon (Talamasca) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 15:04:45 +1100 From: Andrew Fries Subject: Re: Erin McKeown, Tara, Magnus, Buffy On Tue, 22 Feb 2000, Nick Nadel wrote: >Didn't Tara's new album Passenger come out today? I got it directly from Canada, where it's been available for quite a while. It sounds quite different from her first, but though I was a bit worried at first, I found in the end I liked it in its own right. Then again, I haven't played it all that much - thanks for reminding me about it :) On Tue, 22 Feb 2000, Neal Copperman wrote: >> www.erinmckeown.com > >Does anyone else see anything useful at this web site? After a cover page >on Providence Artists United, I get pages that don't go anywhere. (Could >be our proxy, I havne't tried it at home.) It does give me the loveliest >error messages I've ever seen though. The site worked fine for me, and I accessed it using iCab rather than Netscape. The only glitch I run into came later, at the photos page. When you click the thumbnails it uses javascript to display the larger versions and iCab doesn't support javascript (yet)... oh well, it's no biggie. I could always use Netscape if I really wanted to. And Neal, are you paying attention - Pavo Cristatus now has a little brother, Magnus. They just played their first gig this weekend! It showed a lot of promise. The band consists of Liberty (from Pavo - guitars, cello), her business partner Barbara Clare (vocals, samples, guitars and violin) and Kevin on bass. From what I heard so far, the sound was perhaps more conventional than Pavo, but the standout of the performance was one long instrumental consisting mostly of heavily amplified cello and violin that was absolutely mesmerising. They are going to release a single very, very soon. and finally... On Mon, 21 Feb 2000, anna maria "stjärnell" wrote: >Am overcome with joy at Buffy's first season here. She >is so great. Buffy rules! And now you can look forward to at least three seasons of excellence... maybe the fourth will lose a bit of the momentum, now that Angel and Cordelia are gone. I don't know yet - the fourth series just started for us Down Under... do any of you further along into the season have any comments on the current series ? - ------------------------------------------------------ "If we took a random sampling of observers of the same sunset, chances are a few would think the sun got larger, a few would insist it stayed the same size, and an appallingly large number would have been looking in the wrong direction." -- Dr. Science - ------ http://www.zip.com.au/~afries/hall.html ------- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 23:25:22 -0500 From: Michael Curry Subject: Re: Erin McKeown, Tara, Magnus, Buffy At 03:04 PM 2/23/00 +1100, Andrew Fries wrote: >Buffy rules! And now you can look forward to at least three seasons >of excellence... maybe the fourth will lose a bit of the momentum, now >that Angel and Cordelia are gone. I don't know yet - the fourth series >just started for us Down Under... do any of you further along into the >season have any comments on the current series ? Comments? Umm... if you like Spike you'll be very happy. If you thought Angel was the most annoying love interest Buffy could have you'll find you were wrong. You might not miss Cordy too much at all, even if you liked her, as Anyah (sp?) picks up much of the comedic slack. Michael np: Cranes -- Forever nr: Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 20:24:44 -0800 From: Neile Graham Subject: Neile's Late 1999 Music Report 3/5 Hi, all-- This is the list of discs that I especially liked but that didn't become well-loved (a fine distinction, but there it is--probably the "B+" or even "A-" list). - --Neile Discs I especially liked this year (alphabetical order): Baxter, _Baxter_ Once I got stuck on the promo sampler I had to buy the full album because I _needed_ more songs of theirs. It's ectronica. You might have heard their "Television" song about "you blew up your television / the whole world to you". Musically they don't sound so different from other groups in the same genre, but the singer's dispassionate yet gripping singing gets me and makes to listen to this. It's not lamb (probably my favourite of the ectronic genre), but I like it a lot. (Widely available.) Bellatrix, g ep Their new sound here is still driving, but just a little more toned down (people who hadn't heard their previous releases certainly wouldn't consider them toned down, though--it's only in comparison to those releases, and not in comparison to other rock groups). This is most apparent in "Sleeping Beauty", a song that also appears on _Kynjasogur_/_Stranger Tales_ (their album that appeared in Iceland as _Kynjasogur_ with the lyrics sung in England, and in the U.S. as _Stranger Tales_ with the lyrics sung in English) in a much more over-the-top version. I'm a teensy bit disappointed in this development, but I'm sure it will win them more fans, and there is still no way that I would consider them tame or even suggest that they've gone pop. Songs like "Great Expectations" make it clear that they will always be noisy, edgy, and more energetic than nearly everyone, and this is a wonderful and highly recommended ep. I look forward to their next recordings! (U.K. and probably European release.) Martin Carthy, Signs of Life A new album by the classic traditional English folksinger, and mostly a great delight, as always (he is a great guitarist and has a voice made for this kind of music), but I never did like "Heartbreak Hotel" the first time, and I'm not sure about his cover of the Bee Gee's "New York Mine Disaster, 1941", either, but this album has wonderful versions of some great, classic traditional songs, like "Sir Patrick Spens", "The Wife of Usher's Well", and "Barbary Allen". (U.K. release but also available in the U.S.) Amy Denio, Greatest Hits Hey, if you don't have Amy Denio's individual albums, you must get this one. A good sampler of her unique career. Amy Denio is a multi-instrumentalist and has writes unique experimental pop/rock. (Available online and at places in the U.S. that carry indie label releases.) Dido, no angel I heard the single twice and both times couldn't be bothered to listen to the end of it. Seemed very much the same old same old to me, way more mainstream-pop influenced than trip-hoppy. Then a friend gave me a promo copy of the disc, and while it still leans far into the mainstream pop end of things for me to listen to it often, I have been enjoying it. Some of the lyrics drive me up the wall (they're just so empty) but mostly they're not so bad and the tunes are catchy. I definitely like her voice, and the little musical touches her many producers have added to spice up the overall sound. (Widely available.) Ani Difranco, Up Up Up Up Up Up I really do like _Up Up Up Up Up Up_ (even though I think _to the teeth_ is better) which was a great relief to me after for some reason _Little Plastic Castle_ just didn't make that much of an impression on me. The sound of this one is quirky and hooky to me, despite some of ani's most didactic lyrics. Nothing to top _Dilate_ but still a great one. (Widely available.) Heather Duby, Post to Wire It's interesting, there are places where Heather Duby reminds me of all kinds of ecto artists. On the fifth song she sounds really like Jane Siberry to me, at time she sound rather like Sarah McLachlan, and there's a strong similarity to Pamela Golden (Steve Fisk is all over both albums, so that probably explains part of that) though updated. Interesting pop/ectronica! (Widely available.) Nicolai Dunger, Songs Wearing Clothes This is a strange mix of pop and jazz and I'm not sure why I like this so much, but I do. Probably most accessible to fans of Jeff Buckley--there's something similar is the way he uses his voice, and it's very much more in the way that female ecto artists use their voices than males do in pop/rock. THe songwriting is a little uneven, but catchy. Overall, I think this is pretty interesting, and it grew on me. (European release) Ephemera, Glue Great haunty pop songs. It's hard to me to pick out who exactly to compare them to for information's sake. Cath from Norway already described them here as "a wonderful mixture of... Cranberries, Velvet Belly, Bjork, Kari Rueslatten and Suzanne Vega" and I think that's the definitive description so far. A really enjoyable disc, though perhaps a little uneven--certainly a great debut! (European release.) Anja Garbarek, Balloon Mood It's strange and wonderful, a journey. A little uneven, but the best of it is creative in the same way the best of ecto's favourite artists are. She's pushgin the edges, creatively, without losing the musical hooks that keep it from being a difficult listen. Highly recommended. (European release.) Thea Gilmore, Burning Dorothy It's folk/rock, rather Susan McKeown (vocals) meets pre-_Dilate_ Ani Difranco (sound). Though perhaps she doesn't have _quite_ the vocal or songwriting range of those artists she approaches them, this is a very enjoyable debut disc and the songs really stuck in my head. It's a keeper. (U.K. release) Anna Homler with Waegeman and Fajt, Corne de Vache Wonderful experimental rock with Anna Homler's inimitable vocals (sort of like Meredith Monk for those who don't know her work). (Canadian release, and rather hard to find.) Innocence Mission, Birds of my Neighborhood I love the best parts of this album, like "The Lakes of Canada" but have to skip their cover of John Denver (ack!)'s "Follow Me" every time--a song I never liked even in the brief period when I liked John Denver. In a lot of ways this sounds like home demos, and if I'd been prepared for that I might not have felt let down, but I loved _Glow_ so much I was hoping they'd be able to continue to mine that vein for a while. There are some wonderful moments on this, but overall I'd say it's not going to win them any fans and might even lose them a few. It's too bad--I have loved their songwriting and Karen Peris' voice so much over the years. For me selections from this would have made an excellent ep. (Widely available.) Diane Izzo--One A sort of strange indierock amalgam of PJ Harvey, Chan Marshall of Cat Power, Liz Phair, and probably many others. So while it's not entirely original, it's pretty interesting. (Widely available in the U.S., but it's an indie label so it might disappear soonish.) Susan McKeown & Lindsey Horner, Mighty Rain This might be my favourite of hers since _Bones_ gradually worked its way into my heart except it keeps disappearing into my music collection and not demanding to be played as it should. I don't know what this is about--when I dig it out and play it I really enjoy it. (U.S. indie release but fairly widely available.) Holly McNarland, Live Stuff I'd recommend to anyone who likes her. The live versions aren't all that different from her album versions, so if you don't like her it's not going to change your mind, but if you do like her, you'll enjoy this. (Canadian release--doesn't seem to be as widely available as her previous ep or album.) My Scarlet Life, Infrared I really didn't like their previous album, _Buzzbomb_ and worried that I wasn't going to like My Scarlet Life anymore, but I took a chance and ordered this one, and I really like it. Some really catchy songs here, and the trademark wonderfully weird noises that My Scarlet Life is so good at. "Love's gone out of fashion / Love's gone out of vogue..." "You live in pure denial..." Songs that float through the mind in odd moments. I guess I would say that it's a lot like _Trypnotica_. Excellent edgy electronic pop. (U.S. indie release.) Beth Orton, Central Reservation Well, I'm not as enamoured of this as other people on ecto seem to be. I like it, but as I'm not a big contemporary folk fan, the songs that fall into that sound don't register much on my radar. I do like the single a lot and like the album okay, but I'm just not in love with this. Like _Trailer Park_ it's really up and down for me. (Widely available.) Niamh Parsons, Blackbirds & Thrushes She has a lovely voice. The press compares her to Sandy Denny, and while she's not quite that amazing, her voice is rich and evocative and does rise above the crowd doing traditional music. Highly recommended if you like these songs--I adore them. These are rich rather than prettified versions. Somewhat like June Tabor vocally. (U.S. small label release but fairly widely available.) pondus, boy in the bubble ep Swedish indierock with a good vocalist. I find it hard to describe--kind of PJ Harveyish but a slightly more mainstream pop sound. Shows a lot of promise. (European release.) Pram, Telemetric Melodies EP Now Pram are utterly bizarre and off-kilter and their lead singer Rosie is off-beat, so I don't recommend this for everyone, but if you like really odd (in a Captain Beefheart-type way maybe?) stuff I highly recommend giving Pram a listen. We get every possible Pram release we can. (U.K. release.) Rainbirds, 3000.live This is pretty much as good as I'd expect--I would say a good complement to their studio releases and shows the band's live energy in their current incarnation. I recommend this highly to any Rainbirds fan. (European release) Whitney Rehr, Truthcage The liner notes call it alternative folk rock, and I guess that's as good a description as anything, but to my ear it leans closer to rock with some folk and jazz touches. Hard to know how to describe it. I hear flickers of resemblances with other artists (some early Jane Siberry harmonies, some offbeat Cindy Lee Berryhill humour) but most this is pretty individual stuff. I recommend it to anyone interested in mellow folky atmospheric stuff that moves to boppy stuff, that moves to crunchy stuff, that moves... (Available by mail order from the artist, not sure about any wider availability.) Kari Rueslatten, Spindelsinn I got this and her follow-up disc, _Mesmerized_, at the same time, and I really love _Spindelsinn_ but _Mesmerized_ has already gone off to another home. They're both basically pop/rock discs, but _Spindelsinn_ is more rough-trad.-folk oriented while _Mermerized_ was way more pop-sounding and just left me cold. Funny the difference there. _Spindelsinn_ is still pop, but the trad. roots make it more musically interesting to my ears. (European release.) Aiko Shimada, Window (and her previous disc, bright and dark) This (another Persephone's Circle member) is gentle and jazzy pop, and is quite quiet and introspective--a nice change of pace, and not at all boring because she really knows how to structure a song and she has a lovely voice. (Available in Seattle stores and by mail order from the artist.) Sarah Slean, blue parade I like this, but I must say that I'm a little surprised at how conventional it sounds compared to _universe_. The album really focuses on her softer more balladic side--the punch these songs have is in her piano techinque and soulful vocals. I also have a couple of quibbles about the strings being just a little too sweet for my taste. I so think this is a lovely album, but the songs are (generally) a little more soulful/slow/pretty than I usually like. Mostly she pulls them off for me by her clarity, her lyrics, and by knowing how not to overdo it. In other words, she pulls me in pretty well but I don't _love_ this the way I did _universe_. Sleater-Kinney, The Hot Rock I've enjoyed this edgy indierock a lot. The vocals and approach seem very early Throwing Muses to me. I love the interplay of the two singers a lot. (Widely available.) Snakefarm, Songs From my Funeral Delighted to hear Anna Domino on a project that shows a different side of her vocal talents. These electronic versions of old standards is great fun and a truly enjoyable listen. I'm sure my dad would hate their version of "St James Infirmary" --I'll have to test it on him. Hah! (Widely available.) Sorten Muld, Mark II This is kind of along the lines of Snakefarm, but a little less triphoppy, but it is updated traditional music. Not anything with the rock power of Garmarna's lastest, but this is still good, and I'm pleased to have found it. (European and U.S. release.) Triakel, Triakel This is a traditional group from Sweden, which features the vocals of Emma Hardelin, who also sings with Garmarna. These are wonderfully simple clear versions of the songs, more traditional and without Garmarna's rock influence. Lovely. (European and U.S. release) Tamara Williamson, Unconscious Pilot (and its predecessor, Nightmare on Queen Street) These are solo releases by the lead singer for a Toronto group called Mrs. Torrance (which put out one album which I've heard but don't have, and an ep called _Porn_ and a follow-up album called _i'm the bird_ both of which I love mostly because of her). She has a wonderfully distinctive voice, but I'm not sure I can describe it. These are both odd albums, and seem a little out of control or messy but I think that's part of their power. (Sometimes when you're not in control good things happen.) I suspect some people would really like it but others wouldn't. She's odd but not unmelodic and she's got such a strange and delightful voice. (Canadian releases.) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 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: 22 Feb 2000 22:07:46 -0800 From: John Drummond Subject: Annika Bentley Wuh-oh... John has gotten yet ANOTHER case of immediately having fallen in love with an obscure female singer-songwriter! I went to Annika Bentley's site tonight (www.annikab.com) and downloaded her song "In here as much to feel" and I'm so blown away and I'm sending her money for both her full-length and her EP... mmm! The piano in the song reminds me very very strongly of a piece called "Behold! a star from Jacob shining" that I sang with Florida All-State Chorus my Junior Year of high school, and her sense of classical chord progression in a more contemporary setting is really really powerful... her voice is just gorgeous, it has this honey clarity (yes, I know that's kind of contradictory, but I can't describe it any other way) and it is REALLY reminding me of somebody else, though I can't put my finger on whom precisely... I'll know more once I get the whole album... Anyhow... mmmmmmmmmmmmMMM! Thank the Lawd for Ecto. John [probably only funny to me] Two-person quote du jour of the day : (after a slight lull in the online banter) ME: *stretch* What are you up to, Baby? HIM: fuggin' w/ peeple and listening to the newest styles available - -------------------------------------- AltaVista Smart is Beautiful http://www.altavista.com Raging Bull? Sleeping Bear? Live stock quotes at AltaVista Live! http://money.altavista.com - -------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 23:36:27 -0700 From: neal Subject: Re: Erin McKeown, Tara, Magnus, Buffy At 03:04 PM 2/23/00 +1100, Andrew Fries wrote: >>> www.erinmckeown.com > >The site worked fine for me, and I accessed it using iCab rather than >Netscape. The only glitch I run into came later, at the photos page. When >you click the thumbnails it uses javascript to display the larger >versions and iCab doesn't support javascript (yet)... oh well, it's no >biggie. I could always use Netscape if I really wanted to. This is very strange. It looked fine from home, but it was something completely different from work. It was a page for the Pacific Artists Aliance (or something like that), and I couldn't follow any of the links. Very odd. >And Neal, are you paying attention - Of course. Did you think I had dozed off? >Pavo Cristatus now has a little >brother, Magnus. They just played their first gig this weekend! It showed >a lot of promise. The band consists of Liberty (from Pavo - guitars, >cello), her business partner Barbara Clare (vocals, samples, guitars and >violin) and Kevin on bass. From what I heard so far, the sound was >perhaps more conventional than Pavo, but the standout of the performance >was one long instrumental consisting mostly of heavily amplified cello >and violin that was absolutely mesmerising. They are going to release a >single very, very soon. Sounds very intriguing. I think I'll be wanting one of those :) Is there a relationship between Not Drowning, Waving and someone else I know (like My Friend the Chocolate Cake)? Just curious. neal np: Blue Parade - Sarah Slean (I used my exciting download and palying capabilities from work to listen to Steve Ito's recommended Sarah Slean cover and loved it. Blue Parade still hasn't sunk in, or struck me anything like Universe, but Sarah Harmer's (is that the right name? The woman from The Weeping Tile) cover was great. The original just played by and I failed to notice it again. Then again, the one Weeping Tile disc I have didn't make much of an impression either. I'll have to re-listen to that once my stuff arrives on Monday.) nr: Map of the World - Jane Hamilton ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V6 #52 *************************