From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V7 #281 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Wednesday, October 3 2001 Volume 07 : Number 281 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Seattle GoGirlsMusic Fest [Filicat ] natalia m. king, anyone? [adamk@zoom.co.uk] Re: Seattle GoGirlsMusic Fest [strange little woj ] Re: Seattle GoGirlsMusic Fest [meredith ] Susan Court News [Neile Graham ] Re: Seattle GoGirlsMusic Fest [Neal Copperman ] Re: Seattle GoGirlsMusic Fest [Neal Copperman ] Re: Seattle GoGirlsMusic Fest [Neile Graham ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2001 03:19:31 -0700 (PDT) From: Filicat Subject: Seattle GoGirlsMusic Fest Hi all, On the weekend I bused down from Vancouver to Seattle to see the GoGirlsMusic Fest, and figured I should make a report, as it was really *really* good. I hope that some of you were able to be there as well... I meant to wear my Equipoise t-shirt just in case, but left it behind :/ Sadly the event was very poorly attended for much of the day -- it picked up later on and wasn't bad in the evening, but it deserved a _far_ bigger audience!) The festival uses local musicians at each city, so note that the line-ups would be very different for the other festivals. I would highly recommend attending them, though!! It was located at the Sit & Spin on 4th Avenue (a combination cafe, venue, and laundromat. A curiously good mix! (and they do a rather nice chilli bean soup - -- just make sure you ask for no cheese if you're vegetarian!!)) The gig started at midday, with each set being half an hour, and a 15 minute interval to remove and set up instruments and such forth (during which I tended to wander back to the cafe, chat to the musicians, buy CDs, etc...) My apologies for the somewhat sparse descriptions that follow -- it was a really really long day for me, and the ~3 hours sleep I managed on the bus down were all I had in about a 36 hour stretch, so my recollection of the earlier acts in particular is none too fresh! Kellee Bradley Kellee kicked things off, playing solo with her acoustic guitar and was quite good, if not necessarily a must-see sort. I enjoyed her set well enough to pick up the CD she had on offer, though I've not had a chance to listen to it as of yet. (CD #1) Bangover Bangover were a duo (she on vocals, he on acoustic guitar) and I missed the start of their set, sadly. I liked what I heard, but gathered from one of her comments that they are usually much louder than they were on this occasion. They described one song as being a kind of loud punk thrashy song. It was really good, but they said it was weird playing it that way, so I've no idea what it usually sounds like :) (No CD available) Murder of Crows MoC were a little out of place, really (as they themselves mentioned) being a kind of hard rock / metal outfit with all the trimmings. They were pretty good at what they did, but it was probably a bit strange for most people, and a little much for my tastes, personally. (Didn't buy CD; earplugs utilised) Hand to Mouth Completely enchanting. Grace's voice is *gorgeous*, and Michael and company laid down a lovely low-key melodic, often kind of ambient background. Grace has the most adorable stage presence -- she seemed so happy when she was singing, and had all sorts of hand motions and actions to go along with the songs that just made you really really happy to be watching and listening! (CDs #2,3,4) Susan Robkin Listening to one of Susan's CDs on the trip back was surprising in how quiet it was -- on stage with her four other band-members, Susan absolutely ROCKED hard and loud -- and she has the voice to do it with (and then some!) I'd been looking forward to the same on the CDs, so I'll just have to hope they do a live CD while I get used to the album versions :) I thoroughly recommend seeing her play live with her band! (CDs #5,6; earplugs utilised for 1st set; volume level set better for 2nd -- still loud, but not overly so) Honey Tongue Reminded me a bit of Garbage, but perhaps more in look than in sound (I'm not terribly familiar with Garbage) although they were definitely similar in making loud but still kinda commercial music. Definitely enjoyable, though. (CD #7 (ep); earplugs utilised during both sets; silly 80s electric guitar playing somewhat present, but generally acceptable.) Mary Lydia Ryan Absolutely captivating. Just... Wow. (Note the extreme understatement.) Mary Lydia was the primary reason I made the trip down, and I could have listened to her sing and play all night. She played a new (post-Diaphonous) song ('about stopping being shy' (to paraphrase)) which was also brilliant... she told me she should have a new album by or before the middle of 2002, IIRC. Must.. invent.. time.. machine... (CD #8 (already owned "Diaphonous"; was very tempted to buy another copy anyway :) I bought this CD before she played her first set, and didn't recogise her when I asked for it -- she was standing right next to me :) Mildly embarrassing, but funny as well. She was happy to note another fan from ecto, I think :) JR A mixture, for me. I absolutely loved some of her songs (and she did a fantastic duet with Willow) but the fluctuations of her voice as she sang rather hindered my enjoyment for many songs... usually I like such things, but it was more of a constant part of her singing and it bothered me a bit, unfortunately. (CD not purchased) Quistaday Sadly, this band just wasn't to my tastes, but they did have some fans there (and I think their #1 fan had attended as well, as this one guy was having a seriously great time up near the stage:) However I don't think I'd recommend them to most ectophiles going on this experience. Their most enjoyable song for me was the Hendrix cover they closed with, which was pretty good. (CD not purchased; silly 80s electric guitar playing present; much silly posturing) Radio Star A pretty much decent band. They had a saxophonist, but his volume was really low in the mix and it was hard to make him out, sadly, as that was a decided point of interest in their sound. The songs weren't completely to my tastes but I still enjoyed their set well enough. They have changed their name to Six Foot Savage (for their somewhat tall singer, Jennifer Savage) if some of you were already fans and wanted to look out for their future work. (CD #9 (ep) purchased; silly 80s electric guitar playing present) The evening sets were longer (45 minutes a piece rather than 30; Yay!!!) and the line-up was: Hand to Mouth Mary Lydia Ryan Susan Robkin Honey Tongue The first three were my unquestionable favourites from the daytime show, and Honey Tongue probably made the fourth spot in my list anyhow. Hand to Mouth, Mary Lydia, and Susan all blew me away all over again... that's about all I can say! An hour and a quarter from each of them made for a truly wonderful day!!!! Mary Lydia called Grace up on stage to add backing vocals to one song, which was an added treat. Honey Tounge had an unenviable task in following the awe-inspiring climax of Susan's 2nd set, and I think they should have been the other way around for the simple sake of being fair :) I think they were pretty tired too (they finished at 1am, and it turned out to be the final performance of a sizable tour they'd been on), as it didn't quite match up to the energy of their earlier set for me, but they ended the night with a cover of "Imagine" which actually wound the evening down quite nicely. So in summary... three unbelievably good acts, several other good ones, one okay but really out-of-place one, and just one out of the ten that didn't appeal. The good *vastly* outweighed the bad though (especially with the best of them playing both day and night) and it was all for a mere US$10 (um, plus large CD spending-spree and travel expenses in my case, but still :) Amazing. (Oh, and CD #10 was a free hand-out at the door when I'd arrived :) Easily the best day of music I've had in a very very long time. (I was glad of the earplugs, though, for the sets where the volume level was excessive... filtering it down to an acceptable level is invariably worth the slight change in sound that you get from wearing them.) Everyone I talked to was great (Susan took much amusement in my increasingly tired appearance as the day went on until a heavy dose of caffiene and the evening sets revitalised me :) As a final note, I should add my thanks to Deb Hamilton (of Deb Hamilton Massage Therapy) who was donating her time to providing greatly appreciated back and shoulder relief to those in attendance in exchange for donations to MusiCares -- the concert's beneficiary organisation. I'm really not sure I would have managed thirteen hours on that little sleep without Deb (and those mugs of Chai tea, something else I highly recommend :) Oh, and walking through the city streets at night listening to Mary Lydia Ryan through earphones is kinda magical! - -fil (*purr*) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 02 Oct 2001 12:42:17 +0100 (BST) From: adamk@zoom.co.uk Subject: natalia m. king, anyone? Anyone heard any natalia m. king? there was a thing in today's Metro about her, describing her as a "desultory blend of fiery acoustic and proggy punk-grunge". Sounds like they've got all the bases covered on that one, and I'm intrigued. There's a site, www.nataliaking.com , but I haven't been able to play the sound samples here at work. Apparently she's huuuuuge in France. adamk Get your own zoom email - click here - http://www.zoom.co.uk/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 02 Oct 2001 15:21:38 -0400 From: strange little woj Subject: Re: Seattle GoGirlsMusic Fest when we last left our heroes, Filicat exclaimed: >Hand to Mouth > Completely enchanting. Grace's voice is *gorgeous*, and > Michael and company laid down a lovely low-key melodic, > often kind of ambient background. they were the final performers on the artist showcase at this past summer's falcon ridge folk festival. i don't remember their music at all, but i do remember being quite impressed. dunno why we didn't buy a cd though. guess i was just being a dumbass. ;) woj ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 02 Oct 2001 23:21:11 -0400 From: meredith Subject: Re: Seattle GoGirlsMusic Fest Hi, woj responded re Hand To Mouth >they were the final performers on the artist showcase at this past summer's >falcon ridge folk festival. i don't remember their music at all, but i do >remember being quite impressed. dunno why we didn't buy a cd though. guess >i was just being a dumbass. ;) I don't think they had a CD for us to buy, or else I definitely would've picked it up. They were the best thing I heard at the showcase by far (though admittedly we missed most of it). ======================================= Meredith Tarr New Haven, CT USA mailto:meth@smoe.org http://www.smoe.org/meth "an eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind" -- mahatma gandhi ======================================= Live At The House O'Muzak House Concert Series http://www.smoe.org/meth/muzak.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2001 22:45:49 -0700 From: Neile Graham Subject: Susan Court News Alas for us, it's not a new album, but I'll bet Susan's even more delighted than if it were. What a lovely name, too! - --Neile >Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2001 14:17:17 -0700 >Subject: He's here! >Cc: "Timothy J. Wood" >To: Susan Court >Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v388) >From: Susan Court > > >Hello... > >Our little Kermit arrived early on the scene - a week early, to be >precise. Guess he didn't want to share a birthday with his daddy, after >all! He is already quite the expert at hiccuping. > >http://www.fundeling.com/ronan.html > >I know you're itching for pictures, and they will go online asap, but >for now we're kind of preoccupied. :) The hospital's birth >announcement link is still down, but you can check on it at >http://www.webnursery.com/evergreen/ > >Baby, Mom and Dad are all doing very well - especially when Dad makes >dinner! > >-Susan > - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.ectoguide.org ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2001 23:32:24 -0600 From: Neal Copperman Subject: Re: Seattle GoGirlsMusic Fest At 11:21 PM -0400 10/2/01, meredith wrote: >Hi, > >woj responded re Hand To Mouth > >>they were the final performers on the artist showcase at this past summer's >>falcon ridge folk festival. i don't remember their music at all, but i do >>remember being quite impressed. dunno why we didn't buy a cd though. guess >>i was just being a dumbass. ;) > >I don't think they had a CD for us to buy, or else I definitely >would've picked it up. They were the best thing I heard at the >showcase by far (though admittedly we missed most of it). You should be able to pick up Hand to Mouth CD's from their web site www.htom.com Though sometimes all you have to do is mention an interest in them and they'll suddenly pop up :) neal np: Trina Hamlin at ectofest ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2001 23:47:11 -0600 From: Neal Copperman Subject: Re: Seattle GoGirlsMusic Fest At 3:19 AM -0700 10/2/01, Filicat wrote: >JR > A mixture, for me. I absolutely loved some of her > songs (and she did a fantastic duet with Willow) So Willow didn't have a set? She's excellent. I bet she would also have topped your list if you had been able to see her. >Mary Lydia called Grace up on stage to add backing >vocals to one song, which was an added treat. That's so cool. I'd have loved to have seen that. I actually sort of hooked the two of them up at Folk Alliance in Vancouver, so I'm really thrilled they have been doing things together. neal ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2001 22:50:10 -0700 From: Neile Graham Subject: Re: Seattle GoGirlsMusic Fest meredith wrote: >woj responded re Hand To Mouth >I don't think they had a CD for us to buy, or else I definitely would've >picked it up. They were the best thing I heard at the showcase by far >(though admittedly we missed most of it). Well, I recommend pickingup their latest, _Weightless_. It's really lovely. http://www.htom.com for info. In the Ectophiles' Guide page for them (http://www.ectoguide.org/guide.cgi?artists/hand.to.mouth) I didn't mention the comparison that I can't believe I missed before--Cowboy Junkies. - --Neile - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neile Graham ...... http://www.sff.net/people/neile ....... neile@sff.net Les Semaines: A Weekly Journal . http://www.sff.net/people/neile/semaines The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music ............ http://www.ectoguide.org ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V7 #281 **************************