From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V7 #37 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Sunday, February 4 2001 Volume 07 : Number 037 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Today's your birthday, friend... [Mike Matthews ] Self-defense (was: when good bands do bad gigs...) ["atholbrose" ] Re: white house [meredith ] Re: Louisa John-Krol CDs [Philip David Morgan ] Basque, Falling Forward. [Craig Gidney ] sarina simoom [Jessica Byers ] Re: white house ["Joanna M. Phillips" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2001 03:00:04 -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********* *************************************************** *************************************************************************** ******************* Timothy S. Devine (menion@epix.net) ******************* *************************************************************************** -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Timothy S. Devine Tue February 03 1970 Aquarius Stephen Thomas Fri February 04 1966 Aquarius Doug Burks Tue February 14 1956 Blank Jim Sturnfield Thu February 18 1954 Aquarius Juha Kannisto Wed February 18 1970 Aquarius Joel Siegfried February 19 Penguin Crossing Linda Saboe Tue February 20 1951 aimless Teresa Ross Wed February 23 1977 pisces Michael Curry Fri February 24 1967 Pisces Paula Shanks Mon February 25 1952 Pisces Brni Mojzes Fri February 26 1965 the vanishing boy Pamela Pociluk Fri February 28 1964 Pisces - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2001 09:13:21 -0500 From: "atholbrose" Subject: Self-defense (was: when good bands do bad gigs...) SpiritWe@aol.com wrote: > From: atholbrose > Subject: Re: when good bands do bad gigs... > On Tue, Jan 16, 2001 at 09:45:01AM -0500, Adam K. wrote: > > Anyone have any others that don't deliver? > ...Ani Difranco was a huge dissapointment live. Needlessly loud (both the > songs and the audience -- geez, why go to a concert if all you want to do > is stand around and talk and smoke? you can do that at a bar), badly > mixed, poorly sung... we left at the half-way point. > someone posted this on ecto, I could't believe it!!! blasphemy....geez :( Hey, I really, really like Ani; I've been listening to her for a long, long time. But this concert was TERRIBLE, and there's no getting around that. The incessantly talking "fans", the milling babydykes, the bad sound ... there was *nothing* to like, even though it was the tour for what is still my favorite of her albums ("Dilate"). Compared to other wonderful shows I've seen at Bogart's -- the Cocteau Twins, Milla, Tracy Chapman, October Project, Mazzy Star, the Indigo Girls -- it was nothing. I'd still love to see Ani perform live, though. Not all of her shows could be that bad. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2001 09:49:02 -0500 From: "Joanna M. Phillips" Subject: Mary Fahl (was:Re: day of new music (long)) At 12:29 PM 02/02/2001 , you wrote: >well, it was a good day yesterday, when two long awaited disks showed up >in the mail. Mary Fahl's EP, _Lenses of Contact_ and Sloan Wainwright's >_From Where You Are_. As different as they are, they do have some things >in common, but here's a highly biased review of both. > >Mary Fahl. I admit it, I'm one of those October Project fans that's been >awaiting this since the day she left OP. After nearly killing that joke >of a company she's using for distribution billed me twice for the CD, >and never shipped it; I finally got refunded and 2 days later, amazon >had it on my doorstep (hrumpf.) The worst thing I can say about it is >that there are only four songs. Nearly two years for four songs. But >here we go. Mary's voice is still as stunning to my nervous system as >ever. She does some really nice vocal acrobatics and while not as >technically difficult as the OP stuff, its quite enjoyable. I must admit >that the first track, Ragin Child, is the one which most catches my >attention. I'm looking forward to the full album, and perhaps some more >difficult pieces, which I think make her voice shine. (snip) I have to say I too was very much looking forward to hearing Mary Fahl, no matter *what* she sang. But I guess I was hoping for songs that would do her voice justice. The melodies of October Project's songs seemed to highlight all the dark beauty of her voice; and Marina's harmonies, woven around and through Mary's, just added to it. And the lyrics. I have listened to these new songs several times now, and the lyrics seem so inane to me. It pains me to know she co-authored the lyrics on three of the four songs; and co-wrote (in one case wrote, herself) the music. She doesn't seem to be delivering the lyrics with the sincerity I heard in all the October Project songs. Perhaps she is lacking confidence in them? And...um, (I seem to be really trashing her, and actually I adore her), I could've used some printed lyrics. For some reason she seems less understandable on this CD than on the OP CDs. Yes, I saw OP twice in concert, so I know just how wonderful she can sound. This CD just *isn't* doing it for her. She needs MUCH better songwriting and better musicians. I guess now I will go buy the November Project CD and also Marina Belica's "december girl". I had been avoiding both in a sort of loyalty to the original group, but I am starving for The Sound. grey eye glances did it, sorta, for a while for me, sounding to me like October Project Lite. ::sigh:: fleur ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 03 Feb 2001 10:33:11 +0000 From: runly@hvi.net Subject: Ephiphany Project for the soul Can I just plug these Ecto-esque people again?! Nope, I don't work for Epiphany Project, I just think their work is exceptional and believe you will, too. Saw them in concert last night in Rhinebeck, NY, and was blown away. Chills, chills, chills! Epiphany Project will play in New York City on Wednesdays, February 7, 21 and 28, at 8 p.m., at West Bank Cafe, 407 W. 42nd St, near 9th Street. Tickets are $12 and well worth it. Reservations: 212-724-6862. Give them a listen and feel it in your cells! Or buy their heavenly self-titled CD at www.epiphanyrecords.com Sharon Terra Incognita http://www.geocities.com/runly/terra.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 03 Feb 2001 16:33:17 +0000 From: jjhanson@att.net Subject: Louisa John-Krol CDs Could someone post a good place to order all three of Louisa John-Krol's CDs? All I have been able to find is Alexandria at CD Baby (for only $10)--but I'd like to get the other two as well. Thanks, Jeff Hanson n.p. Marie Beer - Cherry Tree n.r. Disgrace - J. M. Coetzee, The Power of One - Bryce Courtenay ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2001 11:45:16 -0500 From: "Bill Adler" Subject: RE: Mary Fahl (was:Re: day of new music (long)) The loss of October Project was a great loss indeed. I only discovered OP after they had been dropped by Sony and disbanded, and I would have loved to have heard them perform. After listening to their two CDs several hundred times (or so my wife and kids claim), I started looking for some band --any band-- that could compare. I was hoping that Mary Fahl's Lenses of Contact would be just like October Project, but that was an unrealistic notion. She's developing her own style, her own musical presence. The closest thing that there is to October Project is November Project, (www.novemberproject.com), which has many of the original OP members in it. I've seen NP perform, and they're stellar. It must have been very hard for November Project to find a new lead singer: Should that person sound like Mary Fahl? Watching and listening to Mary Anne Marino, November Project's lead vocalist, convinces me that NP made a wonderful decision when they found somebody who has a rich, vibrant voice -- but not a haunting voice like Mary Fahl's. As with the original October Project, I find that every time I listen to November Project's songs, I enjoy them more and more. Then there's Marina Belica, December Girl (www.decembergirl.com). She used to sing and play keyboards for October Project. I bought her EP-CD a while ago. It's pretty good. (I'm heading outdoors in a few minutes, and will resist the urge to comment on December Girl at length.) She sings one of October Project's songs, Return to Me. Still, not October Project. A few months ago somebody on Ecto mentioned Sylvia Tosun (www.sylviatosun.com). She was never part of October Project, but I was intrigued because Julie Flanders and Emil Adler (no relation to me) wrote the songs on Tosun's CD, Too Close to the Sun. Flanders and Adler are the soul, if not the brains, of October Project. Tosun has an unique, silky-sounding voice that dances in step with the music. And with lyrics by Flanders and Adler, I think this CD is a winner. - --Bill www.adlerbooks.com - -----Original Message----- From: owner-ecto@smoe.org [mailto:owner-ecto@smoe.org]On Behalf Of Joanna M. Phillips Sent: Saturday, February 03, 2001 9:49 AM To: ecto@smoe.org Subject: Mary Fahl (was:Re: day of new music (long)) At 12:29 PM 02/02/2001 , you wrote: >well, it was a good day yesterday, when two long awaited disks showed up >in the mail. Mary Fahl's EP, _Lenses of Contact_ and Sloan Wainwright's >_From Where You Are_. As different as they are, they do have some things >in common, but here's a highly biased review of both. > >Mary Fahl. I admit it, I'm one of those October Project fans that's been >awaiting this since the day she left OP. After nearly killing that joke >of a company she's using for distribution billed me twice for the CD, >and never shipped it; I finally got refunded and 2 days later, amazon >had it on my doorstep (hrumpf.) The worst thing I can say about it is >that there are only four songs. Nearly two years for four songs. But >here we go. Mary's voice is still as stunning to my nervous system as >ever. She does some really nice vocal acrobatics and while not as >technically difficult as the OP stuff, its quite enjoyable. I must admit >that the first track, Ragin Child, is the one which most catches my >attention. I'm looking forward to the full album, and perhaps some more >difficult pieces, which I think make her voice shine. (snip) I have to say I too was very much looking forward to hearing Mary Fahl, no matter *what* she sang. But I guess I was hoping for songs that would do her voice justice. The melodies of October Project's songs seemed to highlight all the dark beauty of her voice; and Marina's harmonies, woven around and through Mary's, just added to it. And the lyrics. I have listened to these new songs several times now, and the lyrics seem so inane to me. It pains me to know she co-authored the lyrics on three of the four songs; and co-wrote (in one case wrote, herself) the music. She doesn't seem to be delivering the lyrics with the sincerity I heard in all the October Project songs. Perhaps she is lacking confidence in them? And...um, (I seem to be really trashing her, and actually I adore her), I could've used some printed lyrics. For some reason she seems less understandable on this CD than on the OP CDs. Yes, I saw OP twice in concert, so I know just how wonderful she can sound. This CD just *isn't* doing it for her. She needs MUCH better songwriting and better musicians. I guess now I will go buy the November Project CD and also Marina Belica's "december girl". I had been avoiding both in a sort of loyalty to the original group, but I am starving for The Sound. grey eye glances did it, sorta, for a while for me, sounding to me like October Project Lite. ::sigh:: fleur ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2001 10:25:21 -0800 From: Neile Graham Subject: Re: Ephiphany Project for the soul Sharon-- Is there anywhere online that has music samples? I would love to hear them--I've had way too many bad experience buying music sound unheard. - --Neile n.p. Warpaint n.r. Powers, The Anubis Gates At 10:33 AM +0000 2/3/01, runly@hvi.net wrote: >Can I just plug these Ecto-esque people again?! Nope, I don't work for >Epiphany Project, I just think their work is exceptional and believe you >will, too. Saw them in concert last night in Rhinebeck, NY, and was >blown away. Chills, chills, chills! > >Epiphany Project will play in New York City on Wednesdays, February 7, >21 and 28, at 8 p.m., at West Bank Cafe, 407 W. 42nd St, near 9th >Street. Tickets are $12 and well worth it. Reservations: 212-724-6862. >Give them a listen and feel it in your cells! Or buy their heavenly >self-titled CD at www.epiphanyrecords.com > >Sharon >Terra Incognita >http://www.geocities.com/runly/terra.html - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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: Sat, 03 Feb 2001 14:06:05 -0500 From: meredith Subject: Re: white house Hi! AdamK commented: >Pity there's nothing from the 1812 war. I believe we kicked the shit out of >it then. (I'm sure we could do it again, if you really wanted) Heh. Now would be a good time. Though I believe the British burned it in 1812... as far as I know it didn't fall down. +==========================================================================+ | 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: Sat, 3 Feb 2001 19:23:19 -0500 From: Philip David Morgan Subject: Re: Louisa John-Krol CDs Hello, Jeff: > Could someone post a good place to order > all three of Louisa John-Krol's CDs? All I > have been able to find is Alexandria at > CD Baby (for only $10)--but I'd like to > get the other two as well. My best advice is that you e-mail Louisa directly . Although _Ariel_ will eventually be out in Europe via a French label, Louisa _does_ have copies of the album. Chaos Music (http://www.chaosmusic.com.au/ ) does offer indie product, but Louisa might appreciate it more if she hears from you directly. Also _Argo_ is an older release and may not be readily available elsewhere. Philip David 2/3/2001 - --- http://members.dencity.com/SakuraNation/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2001 18:13:24 -0800 (PST) From: Craig Gidney Subject: Basque, Falling Forward. Basque, Falling Forward. Lacqua Records. http://www.basquemusic.com 1. Somefire 2. Falling Forward 3. Kamehameha 4. Grey and Green 5. Inheritance (Talk Talk cover song) 6. In The Hollow Of Your Hand 7. Orange-Colored Sky Falling Forward is the third recording by the New York-based duo of Brandt (bass) and Maryasque (vocals and guitar). Between the three elementsvoice, bass and guitarthey sculpt a sparse sound that relies as much on silence as it does noise. Its a sound that mixes the ethereality of the Cocteau Twins with the emo-core aesthetic championed by Low. Its a hybrid sound: lo-fi New Age. The opening track Somefire sets the contemplative mood, with a dark blue bass tone, over which a lone soprano wordlessly soars. Its a not-quite soothing track, one that avoids New Age schmaltz by telegraphing actual loneliness. The title track is an autumnal pop song, complete with a catchy (if indecipherable) chorus. Brandt augments his bass playing with audible, rhythmic clicks, while Maryasques guitar forms a gentle circular pattern. Its like an Innocence Mission song stripped down to the blueprints. Grey and Green evokes those colors perfectly, with a hesitant verse cascading into rich, rewarding bridge. Notes and space between them are given equal illumination. Maryasques take on glossolalia is unique: her words are supremely important to her, her conversational phrasing reminiscent of confessional singer-songwriters like Suzanne Vega and Jane Siberry, while still retaining an unearthly edge. Call it earthy-ethereal, the union of Liz Fraser and Phoebe Snow (on the low end notes). In short, she achieves vocally the inchoate, open-ended quality of Vegas and Siberrys lyrics. Another model for this approach is the novel cover of Talk Talks song Inheritance. Talk Talks Mark Hollis singing is impressionistic and intimate, relying more on nuance than meaning; Basques version of his song is an appropriate tribute. A miasma of bass-drone rumbles, while the song is sung in minor keys. Phoebe Snows influence emerges with the jazz-scented song In the hollow of your hand. Balancing out the straightforward songs is plaintive chant Kamehameha and the multi-tracked acapella Orange Colored Sky, which sounds like a cross between the Roches and Meredith Monk. Falling Forward does not so much move *forward* as move further *within*. - --Craig ===== Craig L. Gidney http://profiles.yahoo.com/quisquose11 Reviews of books and music, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ethereality Online Journal, Egg-centric http://egg-centric.blogspot.com/ __________________________________________________ Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2001 20:57:53 -0700 From: Jessica Byers Subject: sarina simoom hey there, i am so jealous about that iron horse show with edie, melissa, and pamela. if anyone has a recording of that, i would love a copy..... but i really want to talk about the band Sarina Simoom from Denver. i have mentioned them here before, but it was mostly before they had a cd out. and i am really really interested, now that they do have one, to know what poeple on this list think about them. i really think they fit perfectly into the musical tastes of many people here (possibly more than the long list of folkie women singer-songwriters that i love, but maybe not...). the blurbs below describe her the music pretty well (complete with comparisons to kate bush and cat power and other cool people). so here's the scoop, again. i am partly telling you this because the band will be on a radio show that can be listened to on the web, on monday. as well as having another show at the mercury cafe in denver in a few weeks. Monday, February 5th, live in the studio of KGNU 89.3 FM in Boulder from 7 to 8pm Mountain Time (thats 5-6pm EST) and on the web at http://www.kgnu.org/ Saturday, February 24th, Sarina Simoom opens for Tarentella at the Mercury Cafe, 22nd and California St., 8:00 pm go to http://www.velveteenrecords.com/html/body_sarina_simoom.html for more complete info and a picture of them. you can order the cd, thread bone bare, from http://www.amazon.com, too. Sarina Simoom features the multi-talented Jenna Herbst on violin, electric and acoustic guitar and lead vocals. Sarina Simoom was started by frontperson, violinist, and guitarist Jenna in Washington D.C. in 1995.] They developed a devout following in the NYC/Phily/D.C. area after playing shows at prestigious clubs like the Black Cat and 930 Club.] After relocating to Denver with lead guitarist and backup vocalist Brian Balestrieri in 1998, they were joined by Todd Bills on drums and Chris Pearson on bass guitar in 1999.] Best described as a cross between the minor key acoustic driven music of Swell and the vocals of Kate Bush and Nina Simone.] Add a splash of Cat Power and Dirty Three , with eclectic rhythmic influences, and you have Sarina Simoom. "Bassist Chris Pearson was in some mighty fine musical company -- specifically, Todd Bills on drums and East Coast implants Brian Balestrieri (guitar) and Jenna Herbst (violin, guitar and vocals). Most of Pearson's efforts lean toward the atmospheric -- from the roving soundtrack landscapes of Velveteen Monster to the often creepy crawl of Jux County -- a fact that means he's right at home within the lush auditory environs Simoom so gracefully pokes and prods. A onetime violinist for Twilight Motel, Herbst is simply a luminous talent -- a concise player whose elastic vocal style recalls Kate Bush, a more melodic Kristin Hersh and the elusive sirens of all those Greek myths. " this is from an article in westword, a denver weekly. email me if you'd like a copy of the whole thing. its a really interesting article. ><capable of laying down the solid, yet free-flowing, rhythmic >foundation that is necessary for the ethereal quality of its music. >The players essentially act as spotters for Herbst's vocal highwire >act, when her elastic range and operatic tendencies go from girlish >and giddy to occasionally breathy and almost baritone. Her dramatic >vocal swooning has led some to wonder if sheep aren't the only >things being cloned these days: Since the band started playing >locally with a June show at the Lion's Lair in 1998, listeners have >invariably made comparisons between Sarina's singer and Kate Bush. >Herbst doesn't attempt to deny that she is a fan: "I love what she >does. She was an influence, but I actually started listening to her >more after people told me that I sound like her. I have a deep >respect for her because she was so creative, especially for her >time." > >While Herbst's voice can possess a sweet lullaby-like quality, the >almost possessed nature of her onstage delivery could conceivably >cause Junior to experience a few tosses and turns, if not >nightmares. The music of Sarina simoom, though soothing at times, is >largely inspired by a few of the age-old muses -- despair, >suffering, reckoning, redemption. Yet the themes of pain are usually >tempered with a sober acceptance. "Love of Grieving," a song on the >band's new CD Thread Bone Bare, for example, was inspired by the >famous Sufi poet Rumi, a teacher who spoke only in poetry as people >flocked to him. He told a story of the role pain plays in one's >life. "I think for so much of my life I would think 'Why do I feel >all this pain?' I don't know where it comes from," says Herbst. "Now >I think I have more of an idea. It was a necessary pain. The song is >about tragedy bringing you insight." > Thread Bone Bare is a stark, melancholy work: mood music with a celestial quality. Its minimalist hooks quickly burrow their way into the subconscious. The tunes, while dedicated to the melody, have a cyclical flow that's a fitting vehicle for Herbst and Balestrieri's lyrical stream of consciousness. Bills and Pearson, meanwhile, keep the foundation fluid and give the disc its continuously cohesive feel. >> - -- Jessica Byers 23373 Highway 93 North Arlee, MT 59821 http://www.geocities.com/amari913 "True solace is finding none, which is to say, it is everywhere." - Gretel Ehrlich, The Solace of Open Spaces ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2001 00:12:45 -0500 From: "Joanna M. Phillips" Subject: Re: white house At 02:34 PM 02/03/2001 , you wrote: >Hi! > >AdamK commented: > >>Pity there's nothing from the 1812 war. I believe we kicked the shit out of >>it then. (I'm sure we could do it again, if you really wanted) > >Heh. Now would be a good time. > >Though I believe the British burned it in 1812... as far as I know it >didn't fall down. Burned it in 1814. After they first sat down and ate the dinner that was still on the table, abandoned hastily by Dolly Madison and others. She managed to save some national treasures as she left, just before the British got there. There is a tiny bit of the White House that has been left unpainted, up on the Truman Balcony, I believe. You can still see the scorch marks. Anyway, no it didn't fall down, but it *was* gutted. fleur ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V7 #37 *************************