Errors-To: owner-ecto@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 #351 ecto, Number 351 Monday, 19 October 1992 Today's Topics: *-----------------* Rear Mament Ecto Projects? Night of the Swallow (Forgive me) Barbara Gosza, Peacock Palace, Zap Mama ++more++ PROJECTS/MEMBERS Judie Tzuke You'll have to do some sleuthing and other stories ======================================================================== Date: Sat, 17 Oct 92 12:46:47 PDT From: spotter@darwin.bio.uci.edu (Steve Potter) Subject: Rear Mament Hi folks, I recently received my 2nd Happy Rhodes CD, Rear Mament, and find it to be every bit as wonderful and interesting as Warp Ain't. I sent Happy a letter raving about the latter, and asked her to pick my next selection. She sent the former with an actual letter (!) and the t-shirt I ordered. I especially like the way she uses high and low voices to give the impression of a dialog between two entities, and LOVE the tricky interlacing voice-overs of the baby dont go song. I am a great fan of analog synthesizers, because they can make sounds that are unlike anything we have heard before. I notice several such examples in the Mament album. My favorite song today is the make me a legend one, another excellent example of her ability to invoke images of unusual and far off settings, people, places, times. Being the egomaniac that I am, I am considering making it my theme song ;-) Does anyone else see a lot of parallels between words werent made for cowards and the last song on the CD, whose name escapes me now, despite the fact that it is also one of my favs? --Skaludy spotter@darwin.bio.uci.edu ======================================================================== Date: Sun, 18 Oct 92 14:39:31 -0400 From: barry@gnu.ai.mit.edu (Barry Wong) Subject: Ecto Projects? Does anyone have like a list of the Ecto Projects currently under way? Like I recall vickie said she was working on another tape for Happy, but is that it? Also, has anyone compiled a list of the total members of Ecto? Are we all over the country yet? :) Barry ======================================================================== Date: Sun, 18 Oct 92 22:20:59 EDT From: Ode Subject: Night of the Swallow (Forgive me) Geez, I'm behind on my e-mail, I'm behind on my Ecto, yet I just spent a lot of time working on something that really isn't that long, or Truly Fascinating, but I like it. My luck, it will not make it to gaffa, so I'm posting it here. It's not Happy-related, but I hope you'll indulge me. It's strange. I used to think about this kind of thing all the time, trying to work out details and scenarios of Kate's songs. I just haven't done it for so long and I'm kind of proud (and relieved) that I can still do it. I had a post once where I told why I liked each of my 3 favorite ladies, that went something like: Kate stimulates the imagination-she's technicolor 70mm. Happy stimulates the emotions-psyche, tearducts and hope. Jane stimulates the humor lobe-she makes you laugh, and think too. I'm not in a place within myself where I can handle Jane right now, and I've been so into my own emotions (with Happy's help) that I just really haven't "gone to the movies" with Kate for a very long time. I had to write this to prove that I could still do it. I did, and it was fun! I'm a little bit rusty, but the popcorn was piping hot and delicious! (And I even had some SnowCaps to munch on...) ------------------------------------------------------------------- Newsgroups: rec.music.gaffa Subject: NotS Landing...(& Re: many an aborigine's mistaken for a tree Mary.Elisabeth.Whittington@um.cc.umich.edu writes: ... >"Night of the Swallow" is probably my all time favorite Kate song, but I've >not a clue what it's about -- what do you think this situation is that she's >describing? Don't you love the line, "wings fill the window, and they beat >and bleed"..... Absolutely! NotS is my all-time favorite Kate song too. It's the song that clicked the entire album into my brain and set it into a very comfortable place called "Favorite Kate Album! Do Not Remove Or The Entire Universe Will Collapse In Upon Itself And Everyone Will Be Really Upset!" What it's about? Cast 'o characters: Husband-adventurous, greedy and somewhat henpecked Wife-paranoid, worried and somewhat shrewish Prop: Old rented airplane for "daydream" sequence. Time: Middle of the night, presumably Location: Couple's home, whereabouts unknown Dover, England and Malta are mentioned, but we don't know for sure if he actually goes to either place. They *talk* and he *thinks* about it, but did he go?? Overture plays. FADE FROM BLACK Nightime. We're in an English cottage somewhere in southern England. Wife pleads with husband to not go on his "mission" to Malta. Please don't laugh at me, this night doesn't feel right. She threatens to call the coppers if he leaves. Please don't go. I don't like the sound of it. She can see that he isn't even listening to her. Listen to me! I won't let you do it! I won't let you go through with it! Husband is not listening to his wife. He's thinking about the flight ahead. He can't wait to get to Dover where the plane that he will pilot is waiting. He's itching to get up in the air, the only place he feels free of the drudgery of his "real" life. He's aware it's dangerous and illegal, but he doesn't care. He wants to fly like a swallow. I'm just the pilot, I didn't plan the whole thing. I don't even know their names, and they don't know mine. It'll be ok, really. It's a moonless night, and the plane will blend in with the darkness. There no risk, really. And I'll be home before the morning. Wife: No, please, you'll get caught. You'll get caught in Malta and they'll lock the door and throw away the key. You want to be a swallow, but swallows behind bars just beat their wings against the windows until they bleed. They'll keep you in jail, in another country far away. No! I won't let you do it! Husband: No really, it will be fine. I'm just going to be the pilot. I have to take them to Malta. Don't worry. I'll be back bfore dawn. He loses patience with her. (GIVE ME A BREAK! I HAVE TO FLY! GET OFF MY BACK AND LET ME HAVE *SOMETHING* TO SHOW FOR MY MISERABLE LIFE!) I want to *fly*, fly like a swallow. Let me go. Wife, sadly: But you're not a swallow. FADE TO BLACK ------------------------------------------------------------------- That's how it plays out in my mind, anyway. I'm not as good a "screenwriter" as Kate, but I fill in my own details, such as them standing in the living room, by a fire, arguing. I really think that the wife cares for her husband. She is a bit of a shrew (he complains of having a "miserable life") but she doesn't want to lose him. She's willing to have him arrested but that's something I'm not clear about. She doesn't want him arrested in Malta, but she says "they'll head you off when you touch the ground," which sounds like the ground in Malta. I just pop my own imagination in there and assume that he would take off again before the police have a chance to board the plane, and assume that that's what she's thinking will happen too. She does care, and she's very, very scared. Now, we don't know who Husband is going to be taking to Malta. I'm not clear if he's supposed to take them there and leave them there, or if he's taking them there so they can pick up something to bring back to England. Most likely he's taking them there to pick up drugs or maybe illegal aliens to bring back. As I said above, it's never made clear if the husband actually leaves the house. I assume he does, but since all the flying "scenes" are happening in his overactive imagination, who knows. The biggest clue to point toward his actually leaving the house is the sad whisper at the end "But you're not a swallow." Sometimes, when I'm in the mood, I switch the man and the woman's places. Gender is never really made clear on either side. I think it's interesting to sometimes picture it being the woman who is piloting the airplane. There are some discrepancys in the lyrics that are printed in the booklet (looking at the Box Set CD booklet now) "They'll never find us" should be "They'll never find me" ....."posing as the night" (she sings "me" every time) This makes a real difference to me, in his characterization. "Us implies that he's thinking of everybody on the plane. "Me" implies that he isn't really thinking about anybody but himself. This is *his* flight, *his* adventure, *his* escape. It doesn't matter to him what or who the plane is--or will be--carrying. I think that's why Kate leaves the actual crime unknown. The song isn't about the crime at all, it's about the husband and wife, the willingness to risk everything they have for adventure (him) and safety (her.) "For all of the guilty to set them free" should be "For all of the guilty to let them free" I'm not sure what difference this makes, but "let" sounds better. "Oooh let me try" should be "Oooh let me fly" ....."Give me something to show for my miserable life" Either word would sound good, but fly fits in much better with the bird imagry. Besides, he's a very confident fellow. He's *sure* that there will be no problems. I can't see him saying "try" at all. I wonder how it got into the lyric proofs. It's quite an amazing song musically and vocally. The drums and Irish instruments send shivers up my spine. Lyrically, it's (to me) one of Kate's most vivid and "filmic" songs. (hey, if she can say it so can I) All in all: Subject: Barbara Gosza, Peacock Palace, Zap Mama ++more++ Ok, I admit it. I'm a lazy girl, with a lazy mind. I've been meaning to post about some of the wonderful music that Klaus and Claudia brought with them, and it got put into the vague, ectoish place where everything else I've been meaning to post about has gone. But, in another spring cleaning (oops, well, it's spring in Australia, isn't it?) sweep of my files I found this. I knew I kept it because I would someday want to refer to it, and now I'm just going to re-post it and agree with it all over the place. Klaus, your turn: Subject: Barbara Gosza & Peacock Palace From: klaus@inphobos.w.open.de (Cosmic Vagabond) I wanted to talk about some artists, I've discovered recently, and I've finally found some time to do it. --- Barbara Gosza, "Beckett & Buddha", 1992 This 26 year old singer/songwriter with czechoslovakian parents grew up in Chicago, Athens and Muenchen, places which will sound familiar to some ectophiles :), and is now living in Berlin, where she was discovered playing guitar and singing in underground stations and pubs. Her husky voice and the melancholic quality of the songs (all in english) remind me a lot of Tanita Tikaram. Instrumentation is quite sparse. Main instrument is acustic guitar, supported by violin, mandolin, banjo, bass, drums and percussion. And although Tikaram's "Ancient Heart" is better, B&B shows a lot of talent and much more imagination than the following releases by Tanita. Unfortunately the CD came in a digipak which didn't include the lyrics. :( Anyway, I've listened to this album a lot in the last weeks, and I can recommend it. It's her 2nd album, but finding the 1st was unsuccessful so far. (Vickie here. Yes! It's a true thing that Klaus writes about. I've listened to this quite a few times and I like it better each time. I wouldn't put her in with Tanita so much as that fuzzy genre that holds people such as Shawn Colvin, Robin Holcomb, Ana Christanson- spelling may be wrong, I can't seem to find my cassette-and anyone se you can think of who would fit there. I *may* like this slightly better than Tanita's _Ancient Heart_, but that could possibly be bacause Barbara shows enourmous potential, while Tanita never did make a follow up as good as AH. Her voice reminds me somewhat of (gasp!) Melanie. Not the little girl innocent Melanie, but the soulful and belting 'em out Melanie. I like her voice (and Melanie's) quite a bit. I haven't gotten around to listening for all the lyrics yet, but she's definitely not an "ohhh baby" kind of gal. I recommend it too, but I don't know how easy it will be to find :-( so if anyone sees it in a store outside of Eurpoe, even if you don't buy it, please post a note. Thanks!) Klaus again: --- Peacock Palace, "Adding Wings", 1991 Peacock Palace is another Band from Berlin. The story how I found them is quite interesting. In de.music.misc, a german newsgroup, was a small discussion about female voices, and I asked people for recommendations of female singers. I dropped a couple of names of my favourites (yes, Happy was leading the list :), and a guy suggested to look out for Peacock Palace which he said, are a lot like Rainbirds with mouth-organ. This monday Bayern 3 aired a concert by "Petra Jansen and Band" which turned out to be Peacock Palace. The first song took us by surprise. We knew it! "Like a snake" was on the radio a couple of times, and we were always wondering if this was something new from Katharina Franck or Rainbirds. They are certainly coming close. Petra's voice sounds a lot like Katharina's, although she doesn't quite have the power, and the music is mainly guitar based as well. The next day I was lucky to find their album "Adding Wings", and the songs were not that surprising, as I've just hear most of them live. Has one of you heard of one of them? Karl? Dirk? (Vickie here. I like most of the songs on this, even though I'm generally not that interested in guitar-based rock. Klaus is right, she does sound a lot like Katharina in places. Obviously (to me) Rainbirds are much better. The best song on here doesn't equal the worst song on _Two Faces_, but I still like this group.) Thank you Klaus! Vickie here, from now on. Another thing K&C brought that has just blown my mind and the minds of everyone I've played it to is a group called Zap Mama. If you can imagine somewhat of a cross between En Vogue and Ladysmith Black Mombazo, leaning more towards the LBM side, you have an idea of what Zap Mama sound like. All the songs have a story behind it, and the songs are sung in many different languages. The first song, "Mupepe," is from a central African Pygmy chant, "Ndje Mukanie" is a mix of 3 songs: A nursery rhyme from Rwanda, a chant by young Zairean women celebrating procreation and a Tanzanian song. There are songs based on Syrian music, songs from the Zulu and Manzalegba tribes, a cover of a 16th Century Spanish song and even a "Tradional chant from the Pygmies of Central Africa (different from Mupepe) that sounds *very* much like the Pygmy chant from the film _Until the End of the World_, though it isn't the same one. Zap Mama consists of 5 women, headed by a woman named Marie Daulne. She writes in the liner notes: "Most of the songs on this album were inspired by traditional African and European melodies.. thanks to my dual cultural background: Walloon and Bantu, Belgian and Zairean, I discovered and would like others to discover by listening to this record, the richness and diversity of the musics that are the foundation to our African and European repertoire. Returning to the musical roots, essentially vocal, of the people most underrated by the modern world, I became aware of the greatness and strength of the human musical scope of expression. Through the body, the breath, the respiration, the vibration of the vocal chords, and without the support of elaborated instruments, the pygmies keep on conveying to those willing to approach and listen the beauty and purity of one of the most ancient African cultures. One of my dearest wishes, through these recordings, is to participate in bringing the people closer through understanding and respect of each culture. With, of course, a special attention to the people threatened by the triumphant materialism of the modern world." Marie Daulne Well, it took me a couple of times reading through too, but in any case, it's a *great* album! It's all acapella. (It occurs to me that I can't imagine what would happen if you got Zap Mama, En Vogue and Sweet Honey In the Rock (I *did* see that post, see!) in the same room together. Oh, and throw in Miranda Sex Garden. The world would never be the same again! The album is called Zap Mama and it's on Crammed Discs, I think. Klaus, you'll have to come in with specifics, because I didn't photocopy that part of the booklet. Rose Records on Wabash had 2 copies and friends snatched them up (hey, *I* told them about it ...pout...) but the buyer will probably be getting more. That's not going to help those not in Chicago, but it's a sign that the CD is making it's way to America. The other albums will have to wait (but I should say that the Carmel album that Klaus brought has almost become my favorite) but I did want to throw out a few names and see if anyone has heard of any of these groups. My friend Scott came over the other day and lent them to me. He's coming to get them tomorrow, so I have to say something about them tonight. Dark Orange-woj, you posted about this group didn't you? I tried to find it (I always keep your posts when you're talking about music I haven't heard) but couldn't so either I'm completely gone or else i just accidentally deleted it. I like most, not all of the songs on here. I *love* the singer's voice. She reminds me of someone else who is very obscure but since you never know, I'll mention her. Helen McCookerybook,(!) who was in a band called Helen and the Horns. I have 2 vinyl EPs by them and i just love 'em! She's so much fun (especially her cover version of "Surrey With the Fringe on the Top") and I always wondered what happened to her. Now I think she might have revealed her real name and joined Dark Orange. The similarity is as uncanny as Julianne (?) from All ABout Eve and Heidi Berry. The singer's name is Katrin Wegener, and the album (Dark Orange, not Helen & the Horns) was recorded in Hamburg in 1991. Right now I would recommend it, but I'm not sure that I would pay full price import for it. Lida Husik-IMHO, better than PJ Harvey, if you like that sort of music. Fourwaycross-the singer can't sing worth a darn, but I like quite a few of the songs. It's trivial female alternative, but "Sister" alone will prompt me to buy this if I see it at a good price. It looks like the band is from Los Angeles, but this is a Belgian import CD. Love Spirals Downward-Yowie!! Does *anyone* have an entire album by these people? I have here a compilation called _From Across This Grey Land #3_ and it has lotsa sensitive, ethereal types on it, such as Black Tape For A Blue Girl (Stoooopid name, wonderful music) and others I haven't really listened to yet. The CD starts off with Love Spirals Downward and I'm in ethereal heaven! They are _beautiful_! It's like the Cocteau Twins and Bel Canto and Julee Cruise all rolled into one. Yummy. I just want to know if the rest of the album (assuming they have one) is as gorgeous. The songs on here are "Mediterranea" and "Forgo" and there's no other information except that they are from Los Angeles. Good stuff for anyone who worships at the ethereal alter (like me!) Last is a group called Love Is Colder Than Death (I take it back, Black Tape... do not have the stoooopidest name in etheral-land) and the album is called _Teignmouth_ (and yes, I'm sure it's not supposed to be the other way around.) There are about 4 songs on here to die for, but the rest is blech. It's one of those maddening (to me) groups that has an exquisite female singer, but a guy singer who just grunts and says "fuck" a lot hogs almost the entire CD. However, the songs "Structure" and "Questo Mostrarsi" would tempt me to pay full import price for it. (Not that I'm saying anyone else should.) Those songs should be sung in cathedrals around the world. Yummy, again. They are from Germany. Well, at least there's a German address on it. It also has one of those really annoying arty CD booklets that believes the world will end if they put any actual information in it or something. No mention of the woman's name anywhere. (Argh!) (Same thing with Love Spirals Downward, btw. Argh! again) That's it, goodnight. Vickie PS: LOREENA MCKENNIT IS COMING TO CHICAGO!!!!!!YOW!!! ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 19 Oct 92 10:57:45 +0100 From: Terry Partis Subject: PROJECTS/MEMBERS Barry writes:- >Does anyone have like a list of the Ecto Projects currently under way? >Like I recall vickie said she was working on another tape for Happy, but >is that it? >Also, has anyone compiled a list of the total members of Ecto? Are we all >over the country yet? :) All over the country!!! Man we're all over the world! The FAQ has a list of all the projects, and a list of all the members is available Terry =============================================================================== _ __ Jolly Hockeysticks _ __ / `-' ( ,,, / `-' ( ,,, | I I ||||||[:::] | I I ||||||[:::] \_.-._( ''' Terry (Tel Boy) Partis \_.-._( ''' _ __ (tgp@ukc.ac.uk) _ __ / `-' ( ,,, With a smile and a song / `-' ( ,,, | I I ||||||[:::] I'm HaPpY | I I ||||||[:::] \_.-._( ''' \_.-._( ''' YYUR - YYUB - ICURYY4ME ================================================================================ ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 19 Oct 92 12:52:52 MEZ From: Dirk Kastens Subject: Judie Tzuke Hi! I want to recommend Judie Tzuke's new album Wonderland. It's the best album she ever made and one of the best albums of this year (IMHO). Judie Tzuke is from England and has at least half a dozen albums out, but nobody seems to recognize her. :( She has a voice like an angel, high but very soft. The music is keyboard based but played by a whole band. One song features Brian May on guitar, another one Nigel Kennedy on violin. The album contains ten sublime songs, very melodious, relaxed and somewhat melancholic. The lyrics are mainly desperate and about wrecked relationships. Example: Man And A Gun (Hmmm, this title reminds me of someone else...:) ) How many times have you said "that's enough" / And "well, I'm never doing that. I'll never have him back" / Then you turn up again like a bad penny / With a man and a gun / ... / He'll beat you when you're up / He'll knock you to the ground / Well he'll hit you anyway just to keep your spirit down / You let him in your home and you took him to your bed / He told you he would never hurt you / Or you think that's what he said / ... / I'm just so afraid of the way that this will run / And that your name might be written on the bullet in his gun / Some of us love you the way that you are / But we know that's not enough / Cause you turn up again lika a bad penny / With a man and a gun I bet, every Ectophile would like her. Dirk P.S.: Heya, Ectophiles from Oz: is it true that women are not allowed to blow the didjeridu??? ======================================================================== Date: 19 October 1992 11:49:42 CDT From: Subject: You'll have to do some sleuthing and other stories To paraphrase Bob Dylan (who seems to have an uncanny knack for anticipating Michelle Shocked's catch phrases): it ain't me babe :-). More to the point, I have not happyvangelized to Women and Children First. Though my profession does study the diffusion of information, innovation, &c., I have no insight to offer as to who may have diffused Warpaint in their direction. (Do we know any other women or children who could be added to the proverbial Usual Suspects ? :-) ) I'm sure that Hank Kilmer is no more bored by Vickie's writings in these pages than by mine, if indeed any at all have reached him. I've gotten similar bounc e messages for just about all my postings in the last week or two, and have already apprised Jessica of the situation. Welcome, Klaus, to the exciting world of the recording Walkman. I have found myself attached to mine for most of the day, most days, laying down tracks off NPR on a regular basis. Hoping that there is equally interesting stuff on Deutsche Welle. (All of the foregoing presupposes, of course, that yours has a radio.) While I'm thinking of it, Ana Christiansen is spelled with an e (notwithstan- ding the mental images of Dan Quayle and his potatoe that this fact has just evoked for me :-) ). As an object lesson in the hours of fun one can have with a recording Walkman, at this moment I am listening to a marvelous commentary I heard first on the way home Friday, expressing perplexity about the apparent unwillingness of the Clinton campaign to answer questions about the Clintons' cat, Socks, compared to the Perot organization's willingness to reveal their ignorance about RP's late cat, Honey; and the Bush campaign's forthright denial that there are any cats in the White House to begin with. Insofar as anything is known about Socks, says the commentator, she's an authentic Arkansas working-class cat, unlikely to write any sanctimonious, Millie Bush-style books about family values. As fate would have it, there was even enough blank tape left to dub a feature I stumbled onto the next day, while listening to _All Things Consid- ered_ enroute back from the cinema, about the new book _Slim's Table_, a field study of the working-class black men who frequent a Chicago cafeteria. It was sometime last winter, maybe spring, when I remarked in these pages on the feature that _Morning Edition_ ran that day on Diamanda Galas, inexplic- ably calling her a gospel singer (particularly ironic in view of her views on religion recounted in Chip's and/or Vickie's postings). Maybe that was the mention being referred to earlier. I must be in a Humphrey Bogart frame of mind today. For some unknown reason, Vickie's video scenario makes me think of the climactic scenes in _Casablanca_, where Rick is trying to convince Ilsa to get on the plane with Victor. That and the very end of _The Maltese Falcon_, where Sam Spade is asked precisely what the title tchotchke was to be causing all that fuss, and he answers, "the stuff that dreams are made of." The only firsthand insight I can offer into any of this is that the last time I was in Washington, for the sociology meetings a couple of years ago, the Maltese embassy was on the route between my hotel and the convention hotel, and I never saw a single falcon flitting around the premises :-). The line from "Night of the Swallow," "let me fly...give me something to show for this miserable life," needless to say, always reminds me of the line by Michael Flanders, "If God had intended us to fly, he would never have given us the railways." :-) In the newsgroup rec.games.trivia, I just found the answers posted for a quiz on lyrics recorded by women. It asserts that a couple of the songs in the quiz had never been released, to the poster's knowledge. One of these was the lyric "It's Me! I'm Cathy!," from "Wuthering Heights," by either Pat Benatar or Kate Bush (sic). Go figure. Apropos Angel's compendium of her favorite Happy lyrics: It seems to me that the ultimate smoking gun for the arrival of the millenium for Happyvangelism will be if you go to the dentist, and the latter, unsure whether the novocain has reached its maximum effect, advises the patient prior to any drilling, "If you feel anything be brave, come forth, let it show." :-) Mitch ------------------------ "Though the world may wear a frown Here's a way to win renown Tell them as they strap you down -- -- OHHHHH!!!!!" --My own favorite happy lyric, albeit with a lower-case h "I think you've really gone through the looking glass." [or words to that effec t] --Steve Burr, circa October 1973 ======================================================================== 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)