From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V6 #65 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Tuesday, March 7 2000 Volume 06 : Number 065 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Anja [anna maria "stjärnell" ] Newcomer. ["Adam Kimmel" ] Re: Newcomer. [Jeffrey Burka ] Re: Newcomer. [Neile Graham ] Re: Newcomer. AND! Michelle Cross [John Drummond ] FW: Peter Mulvey Announcement - New Album Now Available! [Sherlyn Koo ] Re: Newcomer. AND! Michelle Cross [Andrew Fries ] various [meredith ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2000 00:36:17 -0800 (PST) From: anna maria "stjärnell" Subject: Anja Hi.. Have finally got a copy of Anja Grbarek's Balloon Mood. It's a brilliant and strange album that I love already. Its a quantum leap from her nice but unremakable debut album Velkommen in. Go investigate if you havent done so. Anna Maria __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2000 09:11:37 -0000 From: "Adam Kimmel" Subject: Newcomer. Hello, I stumbled on the Ecto page by accident, having recently purchased Happy Rhodes' last cd and wanting to know more about her. It is quite a phenonemal setup, and quite overwhelming. I'm still not sure I understand the true meaning of "Ecto" and what consititutes Ecto music, but I get the feeling it's an instinctive thing and, like jazz, if you have to ask you'll never know. My instinct is, however, that it's a warm and wonderful thing, and just what I'm looking for. Perusing the lists of bands, I have moments of sheer "Oh, my god!"-ness (Gentle Giant?!! Oh, sign me up!!!). A lot of the bands and artists, I have to admit, I'm completely in the dark about, and a lot of the discussion feels as if I've walked in halfway through a conversation, so please excuse my ignorance on many fronts. Basically, I love music that emotionally engages me, and I find that, on the whole, that music seems to come from women, who display an honesty and a willingness to take confrontational risks that guys tend not to (a generalisation, I know, and I'm willing to be proven wrong). My cd collection is full of what my girlfriend calls my "whingeing women" -- Kristen Hirsh, Lisa Germano, Aimee Mann, Ashley Maher (conspicuously absent from the Ecto list -- this must be rectified!) Jonatha Brooke, Laura Love -- the list goes on. Of the male artists I listen to, only two singer/songwriters seem willing to be this honest, this nerve-ends-exposed in an intelligent, visceral way, and both are missing from your list. These are Peter Hammill and Bob Mould. Hammill has been turning out music for about 30 years, and could probably be most concisely described as Peter Gabriel's more eccentric twin brother. Often consigned to the "progrock" bin, he's in fact an adept charter of the human soul and psyche, and possesses on of the finest voices in rock history. Bob Mould was the main force behind proto-grungemeisters Husker Du in the 80's, but was repsonsible for their most beautiful later songs. After their demise, he formed Sugar and has released four solo albums, of variable quality, but he turns out songs that throb with an ill-disguised pain and anger, and has written some of the most breathtaking "breakup" songs ever. Okay, I've droned on enough in this, my inaugural mailing. Hope it's not totally out of line. yours, adam k. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Mar 2000 07:15:08 -0500 From: Jeffrey Burka Subject: Re: Newcomer. Adam Kimmel wrote: > > Hello, > > I stumbled on the Ecto page by accident, having recently purchased Happy > Rhodes' last cd and wanting to know more about her. It is quite a > phenonemal setup, and quite overwhelming. I'm still not sure I understand > the true meaning of "Ecto" and what consititutes Ecto music, but I get the > feeling it's an instinctive thing and, like jazz, if you have to ask you'll > never know. Welcome! What a great introductory posting. I'd argue that the main difference with ectophilic music is that it's *okay* to ask > My cd > collection is full of what my girlfriend calls my "whingeing women" -- > Kristen Hirsh, Lisa Germano, Aimee Mann, Ashley Maher (conspicuously absent > from the Ecto list -- this must be rectified!) I'm not entirely clear on what you mean by "the Ecto list," but if it's The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music, none of the folks you mentioned as missing are in fact, missing -- they've all been discussed to some length (some short, some great) on ecto over the last almost-eight (!) years, and I think all are listed as having upcoming entries in the Guide. Unfortunately, given the scope of Neile's little pet project from lo those many years ago, not every artist about whom info has been collected has had their Guide entry worked up. Still, on the alphabetical pages, there's a list of forthcoming entries. These are artists who have been discussed on ecto, but who have not had their pages actually compiled yet. jeff ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2000 09:27:51 -0800 From: Neile Graham Subject: Re: Newcomer. Yes, welcome, Adam! Jeff wrote: >Welcome! What a great introductory posting. > >I'd argue that the main difference with ectophilic music is that it's >*okay* to ask Definitely! The definition is a kind of loose one, though. >> My cd >> collection is full of what my girlfriend calls my "whingeing women" -- >> Kristen Hirsh, Lisa Germano, Aimee Mann, Ashley Maher (conspicuously absent >> from the Ecto list -- this must be rectified!) > >I'm not entirely clear on what you mean by "the Ecto list," but if it's >The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music, none of the folks you mentioned >as missing are in fact, missing -- they've all been discussed to >some length (some short, some great) on ecto over the last almost-eight (!) >years, and I think all are listed as having upcoming entries in the Guide. > >Unfortunately, given the scope of Neile's little pet project from lo >those many years ago, not every artist about whom info has >been collected has had their Guide entry worked up. Still, on the >alphabetical pages, there's a list of forthcoming entries. These are >artists who have been discussed on ecto, but who have not had their >pages actually compiled yet. Actually, given the scope of the project, only the artists mentioned on other pages are in the "forthcoming entries" list. The backlog of files to get onsite add up for over 1,200(!!). So far there are slightly over 400 files on site, which means that we're about a quarter the way through. Of course, artists keep putting out new recordings, and so updating the 400 files is becoming more and more constant the more we get. Still, I'm not burned out yet and still enjoy working on it, as I hope the rest of the editors are. And, of course, any new volunteers are welcome! I do have a file of raw material on Ashley Maher, Bob Mould, and Peter Hammill. - --Neile n.p. (now playing) First of June, _Creepy Crawly Things_ n.r. (now reading) Kij Johnson, _The Fox Woman_ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 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: 6 Mar 2000 09:49:59 -0800 From: John Drummond Subject: Re: Newcomer. AND! Michelle Cross Welcome, Adam! Y'know, it's funny... almost everybody seems to just stumble upon Ecto... I certainly did... and now it's my tome, my grand lexicon of musical discovery... you're going to love it here... and there's of course a lot to learn, there are TONS of artists that a great deal of us find very important that almost everybody outside of Ecto has never heard of... so when you hear us squealing about Veda Hille, Katell Keineg, Emily Bezar, Sarah Slean, Kym Brown, Jill Tracy (though that only seems to be Anna Maria and I squealing about her *shucks*), Pamela Means, etc ad infinitum, just smile and try to discern hard facts about the artist herself amidst all the squealing. ;D It seems all the Ecto newbies do echo your statement about having walked in right in the middle of a conversation, and that's pretty true... as Jeff Burka said, this is an 8-year-long ongoing conversation, but it's all good and newbie-friendly, because we're willing to provide footnotes per request. ;D Okay... so onto other Ecto news... I found this new piano gash-slut girly on mp3.com... her name is Michelle Cross, she's in the Chicago area, and she rocks a mean vampy piano... do y'all remember when I was going on and on about the perfect rock chick a few months ago? I may have posted that to the Sarah Slean list, I can't remember... anyhow... the perfect rock chick is the one who is really graceful and beautiful and who sings these songs that are all graceful and beautiful and then she just starts screaming. And Michelle Cross is as close to my definition of the perfect rock chick as I've EVER come across... sometimes she's shrieking like Polly Jean and other times she's cooing like Jennifer Charles (from Elysian Fields - and yes, she IS on that level of sex-on-legs-osity) and all of the piano is really great and swingy and jazzy or else beautiful and suddenly atonal and chaotic... and she SCATS! I thought I was the ONLY person who even remotely considered doing that anymore (besides Kym Brown's occasionaly "du-du-du-du"s)... and the beauty is that she has a live performance on her website (www.michellecross.com - we're used to these artist's-name site names by now, aren't we? *unflinching*) that is 7 songs and thus 7 mp3s long and it's brilliant... just her and cello and a few cute stories and it's SO good. So DAMMIT, go go go! Anna Maria Stjärnell, you take a good listen to this girl! *hugs* and welcome one more time, Adam... :D John, in an unusually-verbose mood [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 ____________________________________________________________________ For the largest MP3 index on the Web, go to http://mp3.altavista.com ____________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2000 13:31:20 -0500 (EST) From: jburka@min.net Subject: Re: Newcomer. AND! Michelle Cross John Drummond sez: > so when you hear us squealing about Veda Hille er...I think must of the squealing comes from your direction. the rest of us just get excited. > anyhow... the perfect rock chick is the one who is really graceful and > beautiful and who sings these songs that are all graceful and > beautiful and then she just starts screaming. You *really* need to see Imogen Heap live. Especially when she performs "Rake It In." On _i megaphone_ they seem to have toned her down, presumably to protect record-buying-public's fragile little minds. In concert, it can be downright terrifying. Pity you didn't see her open for Rufus. > and she SCATS! I thought I was the ONLY person who even > remotely considered doing that anymore In addition to her yodelling, Jewel scats. jeff n.p. _You Do Not Live In This World Alone_, Veda Hille ------------------------------ Date: 6 Mar 2000 12:21:10 -0800 From: John Drummond Subject: Imogen live and Jewel scatting > > so when you hear us squealing about Veda Hille > > er...I think must of the squealing comes from your > direction. the rest of us just get excited. Okay, okay, I'll admit it. I squeal a lot. Well, at least online. I can't really squeal in real life, my voice isn't built that way. And I smoke too much, besides. ;D > You *really* need to see Imogen Heap live. > Pity you didn't see her open for Rufus. Y'know, I had tickets and everything... they performed in Atlanta at the Variety Playhouse (where I'm seeing Kristen with Vic Chestnutt on 17 March! *squeal* [see? A lot of squealing! ;D) on 21 March 1999, the day after I moved up here... and like an idiot, I left my ticket in Pensacola on the refrigerator and didn't have the money to buy another. What a loser I am. > In addition to her yodelling, Jewel scats. Hmm... I don't know about what Jewel scatting would sound like. I actually am quite doubtful I even *want* to know what it'd sound like. But then, I'm not one for Jewel at all, *especially* after that _Spirit_ nonsense. Oh well. We've all bemoaned _Spirit_ at one point or another on here. "Stupid Atlantic Records!" etc 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 ____________________________________________________________________ For the largest MP3 index on the Web, go to http://mp3.altavista.com ____________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2000 16:07:52 -0500 From: "Foghorn J Fornorn" Subject: RE: Newcomer. Once upon a time, I could have sworn I was rummaging around the ectophiles guide and saw Peter Hammill's name in the forthcoming entries section. Matter of fact, I recall being asked if an old quote of mine on the subject could be used. I'm guessing with the sheer volume of E.G. wannabees, Peter got de-prioritized off the 'hopefully soon' list. Plus nobody volunteered to write it (I guess I should have, but didn't. I should look into that). At any rate, there are a couple of Hammill fans lurking about this list. I for one... there's at least one other who asked me about the PH7 mailing list some time ago... and of course Kevin Bartlett, Happy's companion and electric guitarist thru most of her career. So while perhaps missing from the list, he is certainly not out of bounds of discussion here. And speaking of Gentle Giant and Veda Hille (? !!! ?), there is a preciously humorous bit on a CDR I have, I think its from the Trinity College show, where Veda jokes that her band had a little "Gentle Giant thing going" during one tune. That surprised me, but then again this is a woman who writes lyrics like: "things are more beautiful when they're obscure." Q.E.D. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Mar 2000 10:45:09 +1100 From: Sherlyn Koo Subject: FW: Peter Mulvey Announcement - New Album Now Available! Hey folks, Peter Mulvey news for those interested... - -sherlyn - ---begin forwarded message-- >Date: Mon, 06 Mar 2000 12:50:37 -0500 >From: Young/Hunter Management >Subject: Peter Mulvey Announcement - New Album Now Available! > >Ohmygawd, it's finally here. Peter's brand new album, THE TROUBLE WITH >POETS, is now available online! It won't be in stores until April 11 but >you can order it from Peter's record company by going through Peter's >(newly re-designed!) website: > >http://www.petermulvey.com > >It seems like we've been waiting for this day for AGES (well, since last >August, when the album was recorded, anyway) and we just can't wait to get >it out into the world. > >Secondly, you guys rock. We SWIFTLY sold out of our first run of 3x2 >Sampler CDs! So, even though we thought 1000 discs would be more than >enough and we'd be using the extras for coasters, we have just placed an >order for 1000 more. So keep spreading the word! Tell your friends, tell >other mailing lists, tell strangers on the street. 3 songs by Peter, 3 >songs by Richard Shindell, $6 in coupons, all for $3 (or $15 for 10 CDs) >including shipping. Cheque made out to Young/Hunter Management - sorry, no >credit cards), and sent to Sampler, c/o Y/H Mgt, 350 Mass Ave, PMB 230, >Arlington, MA, 02474. *NOTE: If you placed an order in the past couple of >weeks and haven't received it yet, we apologize but we're just waiting for >the next shipment of CDs to fill recent orders. We expect it by the end of >this week.* > >A few new tourdates below, most notably the shows in Ireland. As these >shows will be, primarily, album release concerts, we recommend getting your >tickets early. > >Enjoy the music and be sure to let us know what you think of the new album >& website! >Kerry Bernard >Young/Hunter Management > > >========================== >PETER MULVEY TOUR SCHEDULE >http://www.petermulvey.com > >*New dates (since last announcement) > >3/7-8 Hilton Hotel, Reno, NV, 757-789-2000 >3/11 Morgan's, Monterey, CA, 408-373-1479 >3/17 Harper College, Palatine, IL, 847-925-6242 (supp. Lonnie Brooks) > >IRELAND: >*3/25 Downpatrick Folk Club, Downpatrick >*3/26 Town and Country Inn, Magherafelt >*3/27 Ballymore Inn, Ballymore Eustace >*3/28 Meeting Place, Middleton >*3/29 The Lobby, Cork >*3/30 Errigle Inn, Belfast (w/John Spillane) >*3/31 Cobblestone Bar, Dublin >*4/2 Central Hotel, Mallow >*4/3 Ballymore Inn, Ballymore Eustace (supp. Mick Hanly) >*4/4 Sandino's, Derry City >*4/5 Palace Loft, Athlone >*4/6 Bursted Sofa Clones, Co. Monaghan >*4/7 Cobblestone Bar, Dublin > >4/14 Stone Church, Newmarket, NH, 603-659-6321 >4/15 Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY, 518-583-0022 >4/17 Iota, Arlinton, VA, 703-522-8340 >4/20 Tin Angel, Philadelphia, PA, 215-928-0978 (w/Slaid Cleaves) >4/21 New Falls Cinema, Bellows Falls, VT, 802-463-3669 (supp. Greg Brown) >4/22 Club Passim, Cambridge, MA, 617-492-7679, 7 & 10pm (Erin McKeown opens) >4/28-29 Cafe Carpe, Fort Atkinson, WI, 414-563-9391 >*5/7 The Ark, Ann Arbor, MI, 734-761-1451 (supp. Ray Wiley Hubbard) >*5/11 The Ark, Ann Arbor, MI, 734-761-1451 (supp. Lynn Miles) >5/12 KOG Cafe, Greenfield, WI, 414-543-8180 >*5/16 The Ark, Ann Arbor, MI, 734-761-1451 (supp. Richard Shindell) >6/2 Godfrey Daniels, Bethlehem, PA, 610-867-2390 >6/8 Kennedy Center, Washington, DC >6/9 Brew Ha-Ha, Winston-Salem, NC, 336-727-1038 >6/10 Grey Eagle, Asheville, NC, 828-232-5800 >*6/15 Blues Sisters Concerts, Jackson, TN, 901-427-0161 >*6/17 Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Auburn, AL, 334-826-0102 >6/18 City Stages, Birmingham, AL, 205-322-2207 >*6/20 Bluebird Cafe, Nashville, TN, 615-383-1461 >7/7-9 Winnipeg Folk Festival, Winnipeg, MB, 204-231-0096 >*7/16 The Burren, Somerville, MA >*7/20 Solarfest, Middletown Springs, VT >9/29 West End Cultural Centre, Winnipeg, MB, 204-783-6918 > ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2000 11:58:59 -0600 From: "Amy" Subject: RE: Newcomer. AND! Michelle Cross John Said: >... so when you hear us squealing about Veda Hille, Katell Keineg, Emily Bezar, Sarah >Slean, Kym Brown, Jill Tracy (though that only seems to be Anna Maria and I squealing >about her *shucks*) I guess I have been remiss in my squealing! I love Jill Tracy! I bought her CD because of the talk about her here and I fell in love with it...as did my husband. She's fabulous. I even added her to my site about Women In Music (http://www.ecalos.com) Of course I also love Sarah Slean and Veda Hille too! :) ~~Amy Women In Music http://www.ecalos.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2000 12:37:35 +1100 From: Andrew Fries Subject: Re: Newcomer. AND! Michelle Cross On Mon, 6 Mar 2000, Amy wrote: >John Said: > >>... so when you hear us squealing about Veda Hille, Katell Keineg, Emily >Bezar, Sarah >Slean, Kym Brown, Jill Tracy (though that only seems to be >Anna Maria and I squealing >about her *shucks*) > >I guess I have been remiss in my squealing! I love Jill Tracy! And she placed in the lower half of my top 20 albums of last year, which is a fairly definite endorsement even if it might fall short of squealing... n.d: Michelle Cross! - ------------------------------------------------------ "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: Mon, 06 Mar 2000 22:02:59 -0500 From: meredith Subject: various Hi! Well, I just caught up on the past few weeks of reading, let's see if I can do the posting without this getting too long. :) The weekend before last was a rather odd one ... I literally went straight from the airport (coming home from my two week Midwestern exile - Mitch, it was great to see you in Chicago!) to the Mercury Lounge, where Erin McKeown, The Paperboys, and The Nields were on the bill, in that order. Due to the joys of weekend air travel woj and I got there halfway through Erin McKeown's set. I've never seen the Mercury Lounge so quiet ... you could hear the sounds of people swallowing their drinks in there. Erin's music is very quiet, so it worked out quite well. I'm looking forward to her new album - I'm curious to see what Dave Chalfant will do with it. The Paperboys were next. The name had struck me as familiar, and when they took the stage I remembered why - they were the band woj and I skipped out on to go grab dinner at the Vancouver Folk Festival last summer. :) They were a nice juxtaposition to Erin's quiet introspective music, though. I gotta say that the Celtic version of "All Along The Watchtower" was more laughable than anything else, but it was a fun set. Then, finally, it was time for The Nields. There's not much left to say about them that I haven't spewed here already, but I'm looking forward to their new album (_If You Lived Here You'd Be Home Now_ - sorry, but whoever thought that's too long to type is just lazy :). The in-between song bits got progressively more hilarious as the set went on, too. Katryna is a total loon. I'm sure I would've enjoyed the Iron Horse shows more the next night, but instead of going to that I went to... ... the Creation Cabaret, part of the 2000 NYC Hercules & Xena Convention, which featured a band starring Kevin Smith (who plays Ares on the shows), Joel Tobeck (Strife), and Danielle Cormack (Ephiny). They were basically the best wedding band you've ever seen. Kevin Smith used to be an Elvis impersonator down there in Auckland, and so he did some of that, as well as a dead-on Tom Jones, a scarily accurate Billy Idol, and during "Sweet Transvestite" I closed my eyes and could've sworn Tim Curry was there on the stage in front of me. (In case there was any doubt that he's an actor... :) Danielle Cormack isn't the best voice around, but she did a *mean* Janis Joplin, and it was worth the ticket price to me to get to watch her bopping around the stage for an hour and a half. :} Joel Tobeck didn't impress me too much. He's a good guitar player, but he's definitely from the School Of Wank and was having fun cultivating a "Hello, Cleveland!" Rock Star persona. The next day I actually went to the convention. 'Nuff said about that in these pages. I did get home that night in time to go down to Koffee?, a *teeny* coffeehouse just down the street from here, where Over The Rhine was doing a free show. It was great to see Karin and Linford in a totally acoustic setting. The place was PACKED -- and not just with Yalies getting some Sunday evening caffeine, either. Most everybody was clearly there just to see the music. Just before they took the stage, I turned to discover that the person standing next to me was none other than Margo Timmins. 8) In fact, all of Cowboy Junkies were there -- Jeff Bird was accompanying Karin and Linford on a variety of instruments, and they were there to show their support. Just judging by appaearances it looked like very few people knew who they all were -- either that, or like me everyone decided just to leave them alone. (Margo took care of selling the OTR CD's at the end of the show, and clearly had a good time doing it. I think more people had figured it out by then. :) Anyway, OTR did a really nice set of old and new songs. I couldn't really tell you what they played -- I was just enjoying Karin's lovely voice. They got an amazing response from the crowd. The next night, Cowboy Junkies played at Toad's Place. (That place was packed too.) It wasn't the transcendent experience the show last year in Poughkeepsie was, but it was still a damned fine night of music. Margo is *such* a goddess. They played four songs from the album they're working on, and judging by those, it's going to be an amazing piece of work. The experience of seeing two great shows without having to leave town was too much for me, so I don't have anything to report since then. :) woj and I did go see _American Beauty_ the other night (finally!). Highly, highly, highly recommended. It definitely deserves all the accolades it's getting. Wow. +==========================================================================+ | 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 *** | +==========================================================================+ ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V6 #65 *************************