Errors-To: ecto-owner@ns1.rutgers.edu Reply-To: ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu Sender: ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu From: ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu To: ecto-request@ns1.rutgers.edu Bcc: ecto-digest-outbound@ns1.rutgers.edu Subject: ecto #861 ecto, Number 861 Sunday, 14 November 1993 Today's Topics: *-----------------* Have blue fuzz, will travel and other stories fodder for some ectophiles It really is We really do Best Five? RE: skewed perceptions Re: fun with boxes Random replies, take two Five Faves Great sacrifice a top five new arson garden album review ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 12 Nov 93 16:00:56 CST From: "Wild? Perhaps. Turkey? Definitely." Subject: Have blue fuzz, will travel and other stories Well, I'm finally back online after knocking off early Wednesday to catch a colloquium across town, followed by a Veterans Day (appropriately, now being a veteran of the second coming of the burglar) stuck at home entertaining the locksmith. The latter did, at least, have the secondary gain of enabling me to postpone a dentist appointment :-). Vickie's post the other day, which quoted someone's suggestion that we all carry business cards with information on Happy, for some reason reminded me of the classic TV western _Have Gun, Will Travel._ Some of the more super- annuated subscribers to this list may remember that one of the running shticks was that Richard Boone, as the protagonist gunslinger, would hand out his card early in most interactions, generally with the comment, "my card." The card itself bore the text "HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL. WIRE PALADIN, SAN FRANCISCO." One can't help but speculate on how it would impress complete strangers to have ectophiles everywhere handing out cards with the imprimatur "HAVE EQUIPOISE, WILL TRAVEL. WIRE HAPPY, BEARSVILLE." The other day, someone on the list misidentified the artist who recorded the song "Come to Chicago." I forget to whom it was misattributed, but this song was actually recorded by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. The more I read the folk_music mailing list, the more I like it, and the more I think many of you would as well. In addition to the moderator spontaneously reposting the Happy FAQ after I sent it to him privately, recent posts have been on Mary Black, the Crash Test Dummies, They Might Be Giants, and a list of all current Nettwerk releases. Yesterday the _Tribune_ gave 3 1/2 stars to _The Red Shoes_, and only one star to the new Bela Fleck album. It also gave three stars each to two other albums of potential interest: _Massive Blur_ by new singer-songwriter Melissa Ferrick , and _Curve_ by Cuckoo, a band in the Lush/My Bloody Valentine genre. WRT Holly's box-induced euphoria: My cat seems to prefer bags :-). Go figure. WRT Lisa Germano's new album: been awhile since I gave it a once over lightly, but I liked it pretty well. Off to an evening of fun with the new deadbolts :-). Mitch ------------------------------------ "Every time you join a group they send you this crappy newsletter." --Sue Grafton (interviewed on _Fresh Air_ NPR, 11/12/93) ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 12 Nov 93 14:46:14 PST From: "John Relph" Subject: Re: Have blue fuzz, will travel and other stories "Wild? Perhaps. Turkey? Definitely." writes: >Yesterday the _Tribune_ ... > gave three stars each to two other albums of potential interest: >_Massive Blur_ by new singer-songwriter Melissa Ferrick , and _Curve_ >by Cuckoo, a band in the Lush/My Bloody Valentine genre. Oops, that should be _Cuckoo_ by Curve. Curve also performs one of the best songs on the _Peace Together_ benefit compilation, a cover of Ian Dury's "What a Waste" featuring himself on vocals. -- John ======================================================================== Subject: fodder for some ectophiles Date: Fri, 12 Nov 93 17:57:59 -0500 From: jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu Apparently like a LOT of NPR listeners, my dad just picked up the album _The Daemon Lover_ by Custer LaRue (with the Baltimore Consort, whom I believed received a recent plug here as well). LaRue is a soprano from West Virginia, with a BM from the Peabody Conservatory (devotees of Tori will recall that this is the institution from which she was expelled ;-). A pretty voice, nice and strong, though I'm not sure it's distinctive enough for my taste. Picky, ain't I? Anyway, the album is a collection of ballads and other traditional songs of the US, Scotland, and England. I really don't think the album is applicable to all Ectophiles, and yet for many of you, it's right up your alley. Thing to keep in mind is that these are traditional songs with traditional instrumentation. Don't expect another Ingrid Karklins or even a Loreena McKennitt. This is much mellower than that. But still very pleasant, and something I'd recommend. _Custer LaRue sings "The Daemon Lover" with the Baltimore Consort_ Dorian Recordings DOR-90174 (p)(c) 1993 If anyone is interested, I can give you the address to write Dorian for a catalog (that's how my dad got it). Oh...as for the NPR comment. Apparently a couple of weeks ago, they used clips of this album as incidental music. They were flooded with calls asking what it was. My dad than called Dorian, who had also been deluged with calls. We have *GOT* to get Happy used on NPR!!! On a completely unrelated note, it has turned out that the Aimee Mann concert at the Bayou is on the 17th, not the 19th, and I shan't be able to go. Jeff |Jeffrey C. Burka | "When I look in the mirror, I see a little clearer/ | |SAFH Lite [tm] | I am what I am and you are you too./ Do you like | |jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu | what you see? Do you like yourself?" --N. Cherry | ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1993 16:57:53 CST From: Subject: It really is Thanks to John Relph for catching my inadvertent transposition of title and artist in mentioning what is actually _Cuckoo_, by Curve. Friday afternoons can do that to one :-). Mitch ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1993 17:01:10 CST From: Subject: We really do Jeff's right: we really have to get Happy some play on NPR. To which I would add: Don't forget World News Now, home of some of the most eclectic music und- er the weather and sports crawls to be found anywhere on the graveyard shift. Another, admittedly more off-the-wall suggestion: For all its faults, the Conan O'Brien show does showcase the likes of Bjork (anyone catch her appear- ance there last night?) and the Cranberries. It remains an outlet worth considering. Mitch ======================================================================== Subject: Best Five? Date: Fri, 12 Nov 93 17:22:55 CST From: Joe Zitt Hmmm.... I can't pick a best five, but the five that come to mind first, are: Ode Feed the Fire Closer Up from Out from Over Me Phobos ======================================================================== Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 13:42:27 +1200 From: sainty_p@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Subject: RE: skewed perceptions Great... how do I tell this thing to include the message I'm replying to...? Hopefully I'll have thing worked out soon :) Anyways, I just wanted to voice my agreement with Neal about discussing songs... I personally like seeing other peoples opinions for similar reasons to Neal - other people often interpret a song in another way which I hadn't thought about, or perhaps they have some knowledge which I lack which lets them understand something which I didn't... I do like to have listened to the song first though, but as Neal said, it is usually easy to spot such comments without having to read them if you haven't heard the song/album in question... :) And as for adding my .sig... Philip (lost in a maze of unfamiliar commands...) ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1993 21:47:34 -0400 (EDT) From: Suspended In Duct Tape Subject: Re: fun with boxes Hi! That story about boxes reminded me of an episode from my senior year in high school which I had completely forgotten. Our soccer coach that year was quite short, like, 4'10, and we called her Spud. (Not after the Bud Lite dog, but after that short guard from the Atlanta basketball team who was so popular around that time, Spud Webb.) She was just out of college and way cool, and at the end of the season we had a party at her apartment as a team to celebrate the end of an illustrious (yeah, right) season. This apartment was located on the ground floor of the boys' dorm, right down the corridor from the dining hall. We ordered out for pizza, then started going into the captain's gifts, gag stuff that commemorated funny parts about the past season. Since I was the captain I had come up with gifts for all the team members, and decided to do something for Spud as well (we also called her Derbs, since her last name was Derbyshire, but I digress)- we found an old refrigerator box somewhere, and filled it up with helium balloons and confetti. At the end of the party we brought in the box, all wrapped up in paper and ribbon, and watched her open it and get attacked by ascending balloons in the process. At the bottom of the box we had placed a soccer ball signed by all the team members and a thank-you card, and when she leaned into the box to get them she fell in headfirst. Not ones to give up such an opportunity, we immediately closed up the box and decided to drag it into the dining hall, since dinner was still going on, and see what would happen. This we did, Derbs protesting all the while, and we left the box in the middle of the dining hall and waited until she could get it open. When she finally did she popped back out and all that could be seen of her was her head. Everybody thought this was hysterically funny. Fortunate- ly, so did she. :} I think we got pictures, and maybe one of them ended up in the Yearbook, but I can't remember. I can't believe I'd forgotten about that until now... thanks, Holly! :) Meredith, the still computerless meth@delphi.com ======================================================================== From: kmorrey@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Kathleen Morrey) Subject: Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1993 21:35:48 -0600 (CST) What a complete moron I've been! I bought RhodeSongs a week ago, and hadn't "gotten around" to listening to it. It's wonderful! I only have Equipoise, and a borrowed RI (thanks Mike!), so most of these songs I hadn't heard before. I think with each new album I fall more hopelessly in love with her music. I wasn't really listening to the lyrics of the "Feed the Fire" Acoustic Tribute Version, when all of a sudden I REALLY thought it was KaTe for a second! I had to go back and see all the other lyrics gleaned from other sources. That's a pretty cool song. I remember kind of half paying attention to the discussion of that a while ago, but not having heard the song, it didn't make much of an impression on me. Just wanted to say Yay, HappY! Kath ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1993 22:35:53 -0400 (EDT) From: Suspended In Duct Tape Subject: Random replies, take two Hi! Before I forget, I want to comment on a few things that have scrolled past during my catch-up session this evening. 1.) To those who have been (albeit probably unintentionally) slamming Susanne White for lack of follow-up on certain issues and insinuating sloth on her part, please remember that she is only one person. In one day, there are only so many phone calls to radio stations one can make, promo materials one can send out, and letters one can write. Besides, she has a life, too. (I'm not sure, but is Happy the only person she's working for?) Back in the Spring, Susanne asked me to post a notice to ecto stating that if any area 'Philes were interested in doing an unpaid internship over the summer helping her out in Brooklyn, they should contact her, which I did. To my knowledge, not one person responded. (It was at this point that I started religiously playing the Connecticut Lotto twice a week, but no luck yet. :( ) The fact of the matter is, pushing Happy to the masses is far too huge a job for one person, and Susanne is doing the best she can with the meager resources she has. She would welcome an assistant with open arms, but unfortunately, at this point that person would have to be heavily into volunteer work. 2.) I haven't read .gaffa in over a week, but I can imagine what 's going on over there. I am guilty of posting a song-by-song list of impressions to the group, but I don't think that's self serving at all. I think it's an interest- ing exercise to do every so often as time passes, to trace the evolution of one's impressions of certain tracks and of the album as a whole, which are sure to evolve over time and repeated listenings. My opinions as expressed in my post changed the next day, and have changed many times since then, as opinions tend to do... 3.) As someone who contributed to the SF thread (nyah), I have another thing to say: ChaucerTSEliotVirginiaWoolfAnaisNinThomasMannFranzKafkaAlanPatonMary- RenaultUmbertoEcoChristaWolfGuenterGrass. So there. Meredith the still computerless meth@delphi.com ======================================================================== From: Tree of Schnopia Subject: Five Faves Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1993 23:15:07 -0500 (EST) My five favorite Happy songs? Let's see...how 'bout 1.) Wrong Century 2.) Under And Over The Brink 3.) The Flaming Threshold 4.) Terra Incognita 5.) In Hiding Go figure. Why only five? That hurt; I left out I Am A Legend, Be Careful What You Say, Don't Want To Hear It, The Wretches Gone Awry, and Would That I Could, to name just a few. Oh, well, a poll is a pole is a Poe'll. Oh, to those who are dismissing song-by-song evaluations of TRS: why not? "I love it" is a bit uninformative, don't you think? IMNSHO, there's no better way to spark discussion than making remarks about the songs on the album, even if that discussion consists largely of "Prince sucks!" (He doesn't, by the way. Chacun a son gout.) Did I think to myself, "oh, gee, I'd better look cool like the rest of these bozos and post my ratings"? No, I didn't. I said to myself, "the Internet's various newsgroups and mailing lists are all about discussion and the voicing of opinion, so why not speak up?" I've been called pretentious before, but usually for the content of my opinion, not merely for the act of *voicing* my opinion. My current opinion? Bite me, it's fun! And to those who are putting forth this ridiculous postulate that the order of songs on TRS is (gasp) adulterated...why not run along and invent some more conspiracy theories and let us do our thing? Has it not occurred to you that perhaps *KaTe* chose the final order of tracks, and that the "original" was just a first idea? Has it not occurred to you that she looked at the order of the postulate and said "my God, that would sound like shit", as I did? I mean, program your disc however you please, but don't try and pass it off as the "real" order, lyric sheet be damned. Finally, to those who are questioning the validity of any opinion formed on the basis of a few listens...well, let's put it this way. There are some novels/stories/poems whose meanings and facets were eminently clear to me as I was reading them, so that I could form a fairly detailed critical opinion of them on one or two readings. Others still obscure themselves from my view. HoL took me awhile. TD took me a while. NFE wasn't too difficult. TKI wasn't bad. L was pretty easy. TSW was easier still. TRS is pretty easy, too...it all depends on the material, how closely you listen, and how in sync you are with the ideas. My opinions haven't really changed and I've been listening to the album constantly. I love it, but TotC and CotH still are the low points for me. New appreciation may yet unfold, but I know it well enough to say what I like and what I don't. And going back two paragraphs, why shouldn't I? Apologies to ecto people annoyed by the last three paragraphs, and to love-hounds people annoyed by the first. But to both sets, I say... BITE ME, IT'S FUN! Mystery Science Drewcifer 3000 ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 12 Nov 93 22:58:40 CST From: hoyme@src.honeywell.com (Ken Hoyme) Subject: Great sacrifice All this talk about "The Red Shoes" has driven me crazy, but I am making the supreme sacrifice... *sigh* My daughters (ages 4 and 6) are also great fans of Kate Bush. As my birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks, I have refrained from buying TRS in order that my kids can get it for me (that will thrill them to no end). I haven't even told them that it is out -- that is up to my wife to 'discover' with them. They were so excited to get me two Kate Bush CDs for Father's day (which I already had -- my wife & kids can't keep track of my collection). The sacrifices parents make for their kids... Just needed to vent this frustration.... Ken Ken Hoyme Honeywell Technology Center (612)951-7354 3660 Technology Dr., Minneapolis, MN 55418 Internet: hoyme@src.honeywell.com ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 12 Nov 93 22:13:12 PST From: stevev@miser.uoregon.edu (Steve VanDevender) Subject: a top five Despite my disbelief in "top n lists", here's a (off the) top of my head list: Lay Me Down Oh the Drears Not For Me For We Believe Phobos "Lay Me Down" is Happy's most perfect song. ======================================================================== Date: Sat, 13 Nov 93 03:17:19 EST From: woj@remus.rutgers.edu (the horizon you run to) Subject: new arson garden album review [scarfed from the indiana state newspaper in bloomington by a friend of mine there... +woj] by Lisa Sorg After seven years of touring, recording and perfecting their pop craftsmanship, Arson Garden has designed an album with something for everyone: dance fans, guitar afficionados and acoustic followers can all appreciate the _Belle Stomp_. The _Belle Stomp_ begins with an understated acoustic number, "Risk." The vocal interplay between James and April Combs is seamless and somber, then unexpectedly dissolving into the convulsive "transcendental ." Frenzied guitar and a combustible melody punches and jabs from chorus to verse. April's trademark phrasing pleads, "can we pleeeeeeeze tran- scend this?" There are plenty of singles on this record. Thanks to top-notch production from Ton Herbers, the radio-friendly songs, "Mind Talking," "Secret Self" and "Mystified" finally blossom into full-throttle hit material. Beefy guitars and more prominent vocals make the _Belle Stomp_ an accessible yet never predictable effort. Snappy snare work and massag- ing bass lines propel "Secret Self" as an irresistable dance song with elephantine guitars blaring in the instrumental break. "Mystified" is a gentle yet frantic beauty, alternating between loud and soft dynamics. While longtime Arson Garden fans will recognize many familiar nuances of the band - unusual time signatures, textural guitar work and of course, April's patented, quirky vocal delivery, there are some interesting departures on this record. Five acoustic numbers serve as vignettes, as glimpses, to another dimension of the band. "Lazy" is a spine-tingler; kaleidoscopic guitar effects create a delirious landscape of furtive shadow and light. "Please Let's Sleep" is a reflective, fragile gem with more unearthly guitar layers and plaintive, breathy vocals, evoking crystalline imagery with ever lyrical turn. "Can we please let's sleep...pull the shade and the light stares in..." Arson Garden's third record contains every ingredient to push them to the upper echelon of alternative rock. The band spent a month at Pachyderm and Belmont Studios recording and mixing the sonic recipe. The result is 14 radiant songs, encompassing every color and shade of the spectrum. ======================================================================== The ecto archives are on hardees.rutgers.edu in ~ftp/pub/hr. There is an INDEX file explaining what is where. Feel free to send me things you'd like to have added. -- jessica (jessica@ns1.rutgers.edu)