From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V6 #68 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Friday, March 10 2000 Volume 06 : Number 068 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Michelle Cross [Andrew Fries ] Best album cover and Bertine for trade [anna maria "stjärnell" ] Re: Michelle Cross [John Drummond ] Worst/best album cover [John Drummond ] McKeown-Drumke-Bezar in NYC [Paul Blair ] Solas? Not exactly. [Paul Blair ] aimee mann article [meredith ] Re: aimee mann article [Jeffrey Burka ] elysian fields/lemper ["Donald G. Keller" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 19:32:25 +1100 From: Andrew Fries Subject: Re: Michelle Cross On Mon, 6 Mar 2000, John Drummond wrote (privately): > >Andrew, > Let me know if you like what you hear of Michelle's... John, I hope you don't mind if I reply on Ecto... At the moment I think she's pretty good, bordering on great. My first thought actually was "very much like Tori Amos", but later pieces sounded more cabaret-like, so much so at one stage I almost expected her to burst into German. But that passed as well. In the end I've come to think comparisons with Jill Tracy aren't all that appropriate either, since she's nowhere near as camp and over the top as Jill is on "Diabolical Streak", at least. I wonder if there might be any basis in comparing her to Imogen Heap though - I don't actually know Imogen so I'm just guessing on the basis of what's been said on Ecto... Michelle also gets bonus points for paying homage to Lisa Germano (in intro for Cinderella)... I've still got a few tracks to download, and so far only got to hear what I've got once, but yeah... Thumbs up so far, definitely... I'm playing "men in blue" right now, and I'm hearing a lot of Tori again... As for comparison to Jennifer Charles, that was mostly in the babe-factor stakes, wasn't it? Well, to each their own - I think I'll remain faithful to Jennifer. - ------------------------------------------------------ "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: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 01:33:48 -0800 (PST) From: anna maria "stjärnell" Subject: Best album cover and Bertine for trade Hi.. The best album cover is Kate's Hounds of love IMHO. Mary Lydia Ryan's latest is also lovely. And anything 4Ad gets my vote too. Have picked up a cheap copy of Bertine's Morbid Latenight Show here. She reminds me of Björk crossed with Dot Allison. Its the norwegian version of the album the cover looks less nice than the american one.. If anyone wants to trade it, drop me a line. Still cant get rid of Dream City Filmclub..Cant blame anyone since its more depressing than Joy Divison. Anna Maria np-Pretty and Twisted __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Mar 2000 07:42:42 +0000 From: Terra Incognita Subject: Worst/best album cover The one that pops into my mind as the ugliest cover would be from the self-titled Tindersticks album. Ya know, blurry black and white photo, dude with a half-finished suit from a bad seamstress? What's THAT all about? (Incredible album, though) I'm sure there are uglier covers around, but they ain't in MY house. Best? Hands down--Cocteau Twins (IMO best music, too) Sharon ------------------------------ Date: 9 Mar 2000 05:59:40 -0800 From: John Drummond Subject: Re: Michelle Cross Andrew and Ecto at large: > My first thought actually was "very much like Tori > Amos", but later pieces sounded more cabaret-like, > so much so at one stage I almost expected her to > burst into German. But that passed as well. Hmm... it's more just an influence of jazz that's upbeat enough to be swingy, which is something cabaret also has... but she's no Ute Lemper, to reference a recent thread. ;D > In the end I've come to think comparisons with Jill > Tracy aren't all that appropriate either, since > she's nowhere near as camp and over the top as Jill > is on "Diabolical Streak", at least. Well, Jill isn't that kind of cabaret you were thinking of either... Jill isn't on the verge of bursting out in German... she's previous to all of that, she's writing from, like, 1894, rather than 1926... or whatever. Anyhow. > I wonder if there might be any basis in comparing her > to Imogen Heap though - I don't actually know Imogen > so I'm just guessing on the basis of what's been > said on Ecto... Hmm... they do perhaps both get shrieky at times... I'd say the Imogen comparison is perhaps a fair one, though Michelle is more wacky and Imogen is more primal, Michelle is more slinky and Imogen is more brutal... there isn't that pretext in Imogen's music of the-sex-bomb-slowly-losing-it-over-the-course-of-the-song-and-actually-slipping-and-being-ugly-and-nasty-for-a-minute that Michelle very largely plays up. But the two of them *are* on the same level, I think... it's a small continent, sure, but at least it has SOME people. > As for comparison to Jennifer Charles, that was > mostly in the babe-factor stakes, wasn't it? Well, > to each their own - I think I'll remain faithful to > Jennifer. No, no, no, it's directly in the sound of the voice... it's only present in the sexier live songs, but their voices definitely overlap in tone and texture... I don't think Jennifer is the most babe-alicious whatever I've ever seen (no, that'd probably be Jill Tracy, actually, but hey), so I wouldn't compare her on just the basis of being, y'know, a sex bomb. But listen to "Gun" and "Polka in Ebm" and "Planet Steve" and there are definite shades of Jennifer Charles in the voice. The studio songs are really pretty tame (and a bit bland, in some places) in comparison to the live songs... I love her way more once she's let her hair down and shakes it around and gets her scent everywhere, y'know? None of this studio-polish thing for her... she works much better as a PJ-on-the-piano-bench than as a happy corporate-pander diet-Tori. But that's just my opinion, of course. ;D *smooches* 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: 9 Mar 2000 06:12:54 -0800 From: John Drummond Subject: Worst/best album cover You all, Hmm... I think the worst album cover would probably be something that just had either very little to do with the music or displayed very little creative spark... and so going with those terms, I'd have to say that I rather dislike the cover on Kerri Simpson's album _The Arousing_ with all of that RED, first of all, and second all of that sea-voyage imagery that she seem to come back in the music itself. The cover of _to Venus and back_ (and all of the liner notes, actually) really struck me as being quite personality-less... pictures of Tori just standing around in big white boots and cleanface makeup? Come on. That's quite a step from _Boys for Pele_. Oh well... I guess it just shows how Atlantic keeps confusing her with, like, a real pop act. Also, I think the cover to Katell Keineg's first album, O seasons O castles, is pretty horrid, but that's just because Katell is way gorgeous and the photographer happened to catch her in a moment of a weird smile... I have this theory that was the first picture of the photo shoot, like, Katell was kind of nervous or feeling uptight or whatever and so he said something stooopid so she'd laugh and he snapped the picture and said, "See? That wasn't so hard!" and then they took tons of way beautiful pictures on the rest of the film... then, when he was in the darkroom developing the roll, he only managed to get the first bad picture done before he somehow died and the rest of the negatives dissolved into mid-air (he was probably killed and his negatives stolen by some ninja or something) and um so that's why poor brilliant Katell got such a shitty unflattering cover to her first album. But, conversely, I think the cover of _Jet_ is absolutely wonderful, it's so just unpretentious and yet still it speaks, and quite powerfully. Also, the cover of Jill Tracy's newest, _Diabolical Streak_, is incredible, if only because it's yet another example of Tracy's extreme understanding of her genre and her ability to convey it. Ooh, and the cover of Kym Brown's album really does strike me, as well... the blurred edges... that just so reflects the music. I could write whole essays, but I've bored y'all enough as it is. ;D John, who's moving back to Florida at noon today! Yay! [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: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 23:54:54 -0500 From: Paul Blair Subject: McKeown-Drumke-Bezar in NYC Anyone thinking of coming up to New York City for a weekend of great music should consider March 17-18-19. (Well, they should consider ectofest first, but if they can't wait that long...) March 17: Susan McKeown and the Chanting House at the Towne Crier, Pawling NY (a bit of a jaunt northwards, say an hour, but reachable if you have a car. Anyone know how reachable it is if you don't?). March 18: Mila Drumke at Arlene's Grocery, 95 Stanton between Ludlow and Orchard, 9pm (I hope she's recovered from her broken wrists!) March 19, Emily Bezar at the Living Room, 84 Stanton Street at Allen, 9pm Whew! pb ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 23:45:57 -0500 From: Paul Blair Subject: Solas? Not exactly. Awhile back someone posted a list of upcoming New York City concert dates with more than two weeks of Solas listed as performing at Radio City Music Hall. Well, I just found this on Digital City: >Dancing on Dangerous Ground > >World-famous Irish dancers Jean Butler and Colin Dunne have >choreographed a dance spectacular focusing on Irelands most >passionate and endearing love story -- the Celtic legend of Diarmuid >and Grainne. Making its United States debut, Dancing on Dangerous >Ground retells a simple, ancient myth with rich characterizations >and timeless themes. Solas, the five-member Irish-American band of >"startling instrumental and vocal firepower" (Los Angeles Times), is >the musical foundation of this Irish dance drama featuring 30 >dancers, actors and musicians. From what I read on the site, as well as Citysearch and on the show's website , it's only on until Sunday. $28-$75. (The Solas site at also has this posted: >TOUR DATES > >*SOLAS has CANCELLED their tour dates leading up to 16 March 2000, >in order to focus more on the upcoming Irish dance show Dancing on >Dangerous Ground. >*SOLAS has currently terminated their relationship with their booking >agency, International Music Network. Hmm.) Also, I dug up some upcoming Susan McKeown dates: Susan McKeown & the Chanting House Thursday, March 16 - Johnny D's - Somerville, MA / (617) 776-2004 Friday, March 17 - Towne Crier - Pawling, NY / (914) 855-1300 Susan McKeown & Johnny Cunningham Friday, March 31 - Symphony Space - New York, NY (with Phil Cunningham & Aly Bain) Friday, April 7 - The Prism - Charlottesville, VA / (804) 97-PRISM www.theprism.org Saturday, April 8 - Carrboro, NC Monday, April 24 - IMT - Silver Spring, MD / 301/263-0600 Friday, April 28 - 7:30 p.m. - Old Town School of Folk Music, 4544 N Lincoln Avenue, Chicago IL. Call (773) 728-6000 to order tickets, or www.ticketweb.com. Admission is $18. Old Town School website: www.oldtownschool.org ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Mar 2000 21:04:18 -0500 From: meredith Subject: aimee mann article Hi! From the AP: >2:07 PM ET 03/08/00 >Aimee Mann Blooms With 'Magnolia' >By KIM CURTIS >Associated Press Writer >SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Even if you can't remember the >song, chances are you know the 1985 video for Til Tuesday's ``Voices >Carry,'' in which Aimee Mann, stifled by an overbearing, abusive boyfriend, >declares her independence by ripping off her hat and exposing spiky, >bleached blonde hair with a skinny braided ponytail. > >She begins singing from her seat during a stuffy opera, ignoring her >boyfriend's repeated attempts to shush her: ``He wants me, but only part of >the time. He wants me if he could keep me in line.'' > >Since childhood, the 39-year-old singer-songwriter has done things her own >way. > >A tomboy who taught herself to play her brother's guitar while she was laid >up with mononucleosis at age 12, Mann later dropped out of the Berklee >School of Music after four semesters because its engineering program wasn't >strong enough. > >She ventured out with a guitar, a powerful voice and heartfelt lyrics before >Jewel, before Paula Cole, before Lilith Fair. And while she's had some >commercial success over the years _ three solo albums had critical success >and even spawned a single or two _ she remains mostly unknown to the >record-buying public. > >Now she's tasting success again, on her own terms, for poignant, >straightforward pop with intelligent, honest lyrics, rather than the >in-your-face attitude of years past. ``It's not tangible or immediate,'' she >says. ``I'm just making a living and being moderately successful. There's >not a big ego payoff. It's the absence of feeling like a loser.'' > >Mann's breakthrough could be the movie ``Magnolia,'' about a traumatic day >in the lives of nine characters in Southern California's San Fernando >Valley. She wrote eight of the soundtrack's 11 songs, including ``Save Me,'' >which is up for an Academy Award for best original song. > >Director Paul Thomas Anderson, who tapped Mann's musician husband Michael >Penn for the ``Hard Eight'' and ``Boogie Nights'' soundtracks, says he was >listening to her music when he began writing the script for ``Magnolia.'' > >``Everything she seemed to be thinking were things that I was thinking. This >may be due to the fact that she was articulating feelings and ideas better >than I ever could and I wanted to rip her off,'' Anderson said. > >Speaking after a two-hour appearance in San Francisco _ crooner Chris Isaak >joined her on stage for a pared-down, acoustic version of the technopop >``Voices Carry'' _ Mann appeared wired, her stick-straight, white-blonde >hair pushed behind her ears. It was midnight and her eyes were bloodshot, >but she was in a chatty mood. ` > >`A show like this is great. The audience is fantastic, but it's very >stressful. If you're exhausted, you can't feel good about walking on >stage,'' she said in the spare, harshly lit dressing room. > >Mann has known exhaustion. Some call her the poster girl for record deals >gone bad, for artists who get chewed up and spit out by the business. If not >for her determination and resilience, she might have quit altogether. >With that oh-so-'80s hair, Mann burst onto the charts at the height of New >Wave and MTV with Boston-based 'Til Tuesday. > >``People have this idea that you get signed and your worries are over,'' >Mann said. > >Nothing could have been further from the truth. > >The band was finished after its third release, ``Everything's Different >Now,'' a title that proved prophetic. Mann had come into her own as a >serious songwriter. The dance-pop of the group's debut had evolved into a >more mature sound, which was unappreciated by her bandmates _ and their >label. > >It took Mann three years to get out of her contract with Epic. In 1991, she >released the critically acclaimed ``Whatever'' on Imago. But just as she >prepared for her second release, the label lost its distribution deal and >its financing. > >Mann _ and her album _ languished for two more years until Geffen signed her >in 1994 and, a year later, released ``I'm With Stupid,'' a sardonic >reference to her label woes. > >What would she do differently? > >``Virtually everything,'' she answers, from not being so quick to form a >band in the first place to hiring a lawyer. > >``You've got to be ignorant'' to try to be a professional musician, she >said. ``It's nearly impossible to have real human relationships. It's crazy >and exhausting.'' > >Her latest effort, ``Bachelor No. 2,'' was supposed to be released on >Geffen, which was founded as an artist-friendly oasis by David Geffen in >1980. Universal bought the label in 1990, but merged with Polygram last >year. It was then swallowed up by Interscope Records, which has made most of >its money from gangsta rap. > >Seven songs for the album were ready in July 1998. But shortly after handing >them over, Mann was told the label executives ``didn't hear a single.'' > >``They have a formula,'' Mann said. ``They really believe they know what >they're doing. They discount the fact that there are people who want good, >intelligent songwriting. ... They're listening for something else. They will >totally miss your meaning. > >``They say they don't hear a single, but they can't tell you what they >want.'' > >One of the two new songs Mann wrote to try to appease the record company was >``Nothing is Good Enough.'' The melodic piano arrangement and Mann's >mournful voice disguise the biting lyrics: ``It doesn't really help that you >can never say what you're looking for. But you'll know it when you hear it, >know it when you see it, know it when you see it walk through the door. So >you say, so you've said before. But nothing is good enough for people like >you.'' > >Finally, Mann quit fighting. She and her manager, Michael Hausman, bought >back the master tapes and released ``Bachelor'' on her own new label, >Superego. > >She's weary of people telling her what can and cannot be done. When she was >growing up in Virginia, she wanted to learn to box and surf and build model >airplanes. > >``The level of opposition I received from people around me was phenomenal,'' >she said. ``You want to do things that express your personality. It's >hurtful to be told over and over your personality is wrong.'' > >Everything's different now. Mann is back in line. On her own terms, of >course. +==========================================================================+ | 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 *** | +==========================================================================+ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Mar 2000 22:06:42 -0500 From: Jeffrey Burka Subject: Re: aimee mann article meredith sez: [...] Thanks, Meredith. Seems fairly typical of the articles that have been flying around for the past while. Might have been nice if they'd gotten the release year for _Whatever_ correct -- how hard could it be, what with being noted in the discography at aimeemann.com. Me, I actually remember buying it in 3/93 (along with Depeche Mode's "I Feel You" single). In any event, my copy of _Bachelor No. 2_ arrived today. Wheee!!! jeff ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 23:28:26 -0500 (EST) From: "Donald G. Keller" Subject: elysian fields/lemper The last time I talked to the Elysian Fields folk (last year sometime) they told me that their second full-length =Black Acres= was done, but the record company didn't want it--too weird. Guess they honestly thought they were going to get something really commercial. So the album's in limbo. I did score a Radioactive Records sampler (which mentions =Alternative Press=, so maybe it went out with the magazine; I bought mine real cheap at a CD store) dated 1988 which has an excellent bluesy track called "Witness" from =Black Acres=. It was nice to hear again; I've heard them do it live a few times. (The sampler also has, let's see, Black Grape, Snowpony, The Devlins, Dig, Ana Voog, Noella Hutton, Cyclefly, Ramones [farewell concert], Traci Lords, Shirley Manson [and Angelfish], Duke, and The Heads.) Anyway...Oren Bloedow plays around town a lot still, with various people, and he and Jennifer Charles a week or two ago were listed among performers at a Kurt Weill tribute show; I thought of going but it was an expensive proposition. A couple years ago Elysian Fields did a live show on WFMU, and closed with a tremendous version of Weill's "I'm A Stranger Here Myself," as good as any I've heard. Which reminds me: when people were discussing Ute Lemper a little while ago, I was surprised that no one mentioned her Kurt Weill recordings. (I went on a huge Kurt Weill binge a couple years ago, partly set off by that Elysian Fields performance, and partly by a film on PBS with Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, and others doing Weill.) =Ute Lemper sings Kurt Weill= Vols. I & II are as good an introduction to his songs as I can recommend. (Dagmar Krause fans will want to check out her excellent =Supply and Demand=, which mixes in some Hans Eisler settings of Brecht as well.) I prefer Lemper to the much-lauded Teresa Stratas, because I find Stratas too operatic in her interpretations; Lemper's voice is lighter and more vernacular, which is more idiomatic. Vol. I has more of the famous songs ("Alabama Song," "Mack the Knife," "I'm a Stranger Here Myself," "Speak Low"), but I prefer Vol. II for its splendid swatch of songs from =Happy End=. This was the "sequel" to =Threepenny Opera= Brecht and Weill put together the following year, and though it wasn't a success I'm not the only one who thinks it contains some of Weill's best songs (Michael Feingold, who translated the show into English, said pretty much that in this week's =Village Voice=). "Surabaya Johnny" may be the torch song to end all torch songs, and "Was die Herren Matrosen sagen" (call it the "Sailor's Tango") is fabulous ("Oh, the sea is blue, so blue..."). There's also the long and wonderful tango-habanera "Youkali," a bunch of French songs, and some English ones from =Lady in the Dark=. It's the album I pull out when I just want to hear "some Weill." Lemper has recorded more Weill: the weird hybrid work =Seven Deadly Sins= along with the =Mahagonny-Songspiel= (the short version of the eventual opera that "Alabama Song" comes from), and a very fine recording of =Threepenny Opera= where she does an excellent "Pirate Jenny" (which I've known since childhood from Judy Collins' version). All the Lemper recordings are on London. ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V6 #68 *************************