From: owner-ecto-digest To: ecto-digest@ns2.rutgers.edu Subject: ecto-digest V2 #162 Reply-To: ecto@nsmx.rutgers.edu Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Friday, 21 July 1995 Volume 02 : Number 162 The Ecto digest is now being generated automatically. Please send problems and questions to: ecto-owner@nsmx.rutgers.edu. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Sue Trowbridge Date: Thu, 20 Jul 1995 20:44:12 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: Top 10 Signs/Veruca Salt/Ecto Top 40 John Shepard writes: > Top 10 Signs You Watch Too Much David Letterman John, I love it!! :-) I realize that many ecto-denizens are not big Dave fans, to put it mildly, but I'm glad there are a few others here besides myself. BTW, the top ten list (which I compile) is, according to our count, the second-biggest USENET mailing list -- we're just a hair under 80,000 subscribers. (I think the HotWired list is the only one that's bigger). Veruca Salt were supposed to be on "Late Show" tonight but Louise herniated a disk, which may result in the cancellation of their tour. I was so looking forward to seeing them with P.J. Harvey -- boo!! Hope they're healthy and back on the road soon! I think compiling a list of ecto subscribers' purchases is a fun idea, although it might be scary to find out just how many CDs Meth and woj buy in an average month/year. ;-) - --Sue Trowbridge ------------------------------ From: doylem@iia.org (Michael Doyle) Date: Thu, 20 Jul 1995 21:11:33 -0400 Subject: Re: Dublin? Marion wrote: >Does anybody have any tips and suggestions for places and >things to see and do (or to avoid) in and around Dublin? Good >record and cd stores, live music, bookstores, museums, pubs, >restaurants, anything? Are there any Irish/Dublin ectophiles >who would like to meet up? Thanks! > I had a long weekend in Dublin once (once). Everything I saw is still something of blur, BUT if I were to go to Dublin again, I would: - - Visit the Dublin General Post Office, flashpoint of the Easter 1916 uprising. OK, it might not be as meaningful to you as to me (being Irish-American). But if your journeys prior to Dublin give you any inclination toward Irish history, a visit to the GPO is definitely in order. It may not look like much, but check out the bullet holes in the pillars outside. (This I did). - - View the Book of Kells. If you haven't heard of it, it's a gorgeously illuminated text of the Gospels dating from around 800 AD. I believe it's at Trinity College where they turn it to a new page each day. (This I did not do). - - Take a "Ulysses" tour. I would do my best to trace the footsteps of Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom as described in James Joyce's novel "Ulysses." If you don't know or don't like the novel, this of course would be meaningless. (OK, I'll admit, I have a definite historico-literary slant in my interest in Ireland) I did sample nightlife -- but those details are especially hazy. Where to avoid: The neighborhood where the B&B I stayed was located! We had no idea the neighborhood was bad when we checked in. The way we found out was this: While sampling the nightlife, one woman in our party clicked with a guy at this one bar, who suggested we all go to another club. We agreed, slightly reluctantly, since this guy was a tad odd and his companion could barely stand up. So we follow this pair through the streets of Dublin for what seems like forever, utterly clueless of our whereabouts. This guy could be leading us to the seediest part of the city and how would we get back? Finally, apprehension overtook adventurousness and we all said sorry, we're going home. He pleaded that we were just a block or two away, but we weren't to be swayed. We flagged a cab and left. When the cab driver dropped us at our B&B he said to be careful -- this was a bad section of town. But what about the section from which he rescued us? Oh, that was a good section, very safe. (The B&B in question was Harry Harvey's Guesthouse. Harry was a bit creepy, but the neighborhood in all honesty looked fine to me, compared with bad neighborhoods in America. Well, you never know.) Happy Dublining. Guzzle a Guinness for me! Tschuss, Mike Michael Doyle doylem@iia.org ================ "Technology is great until it stops working" - - John Celentano ------------------------------ From: "JOHN SHEPARD (CALAMARI)" Date: Thu, 20 Jul 1995 20:48:20 -0500 Subject: Am I experiencing deja vu? I just read the Ecto digest that just arrived, and thought, "You know, this looks familiar." My mailbox now contains _two_ Ecto digest #161's. Any idea what happened? Will the _real_ digest from today turn up? Or will all of us digest-crawlers have to endure the combination of joy and pain, of rereading old digests and the wonderful content therein, all the while knowing we're missing out on current events? | http://www.columbus.iupui.edu/~jrshepar | IUPU Columbus, Indiana | |John Shepard jrshepar@indyvax.iupui.edu I wanna go to a real school someday! | | Internet is too important to be taken seriously. | Artist, writer, net.loon | | Amiga owner & Sarah McLachlan fan: God help me! |in the making. Finger me &| |"Enrich the soil, no soul no soul" Sarah McLachlan| tell me that you love me.| ------------------------------ From: mklprc@teleport.com (Michael Pearce) Date: Thu, 20 Jul 1995 18:53:14 -0700 Subject: record stores in Ptld > Would anybody care to share their wisdom regarding which are the best CD > stores in these cities (and esp. vancouver and seattle), both new and > used, and approximate locations/directions to them? Much appreciated! > > - -mjm (mjm@zylab.mhs.compuserve.com) Wow, a real address on CI$? Have they finally graduated beyond the xxxx,xxx string they have had for years? My favorite stores in Portland are Ozone Records on W. Burnside; also a great place for obscure magazines, piercing services and jewelry, vinyl lps and 45s, and strange imports. Only the most popular ecto-fodder, though, or fringe-leaning artists like Danielle Dax and Lydia Lunch. Also 2nd Avenue Records, on SW 2nd at the foot of the Morrison Bridge. Best selection of ecto-fodder is at Music Millenium, in NW Portland on 23rd and another store on E. Burnside about 29th. Saw Loreena McKennitt play live at the NW store when she was in town for a concert. mp /^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^\ | Please don't add "*@aol.com" to your twit filter. Thank you. | | mklprc@aol.com | "Give them a light and they'll | | mklprc@teleport.com | follow it anywhere!" | | http://www.teleport.com/~mklprc/ | -- Firesign Theater | - ------------------------------>((^o0o^))<--------------------------------- ------------------------------ From: THE OLIVE-LOAF VIGILANTE Date: Thu, 20 Jul 1995 22:17:01 -0400 (EDT) Subject: tiptoeing through the mail Hi! Sounds like the Katemas/ectogather in Chicago was sufficiently amusing. :) Let's hope the Boonton KaTemas tops it (since it looks like a few of the Chicago attendees will be there as well, there is a very good chance of that, methinks ;)! RSVP soon, folks -- who's bringing the Fruitopia? Kevin announced via Uncle Bob: >This album came about in response to the overwhelming number of requests >for copies of Happy's radio-only CD-4 released this year. There are a lot >of people who would like to have and hear these alternative versions and >performances. We're pouring through years of tapes to pick the coolest, >most interesting performances for the October album. Oh, wow. I mean, *another* compilation?!? But still, it's gonna be cool. (Did that Echoes thing ever get broadcast? I wouldn't know...) >In the mean time, to meet the demand we are acquiescing and selling 100 of >the radio CD-4. :) :) :) :) :) (Yes, mine is reserved. And I got a response back from Kevin, too. ;) >Happy is currently hard at work on an enhanced CD as well as a full blown >CD ROM game ala Myst. Creatures abound. ??? Is Happy actually *writing* the game, or just designing it? We need details... Mr. Squid wondered: >Seriously, to introduce a tangential thread, how many others >hear a singer on the radio, sight unseen, and "picture" them >mentally? Not necessarily in any detail, just... hair color? The first time I heard Kate Bush on the radio and actually paid attention, it was "Running Up That Hill". I pictured a thin pale woman with long flowing black hair. Imagine my surprise when I later saw my first picture of her. :) The first time I heard Happy, I thought blonde, too. Strange... >Good music is like a Rorschach (sp); each person finds >something different, often the same person hearing different >things on different occasions, and sometimes to the point where >they are actually convinced that it really _is_ different. You're absolutely right. Never thought about it that way, but yes! >Like that one note, in Joan Osborne's "Saint Theresa" (sp?) >where she sounds _just_ like Sarah McLachlan... but only for one >note! The scary thing is, I knew *exactly* which note you were talking about without having to go listen to the song. :) chuck mentioned: >spoke with cathy barrett who said that she will start posting to ecto in the >future to help keep us up to date on all things sarah. Neat! Cathy is way cool. Then he just slipped in: >several members of sans cherubs were rescued in the parking lot after the >show by sarah, ash, brian and david in their white stretch limo. I was going to kill you, but then I read: >of course joe, dan and i were already winging our way home having been >sufficiently frightened to death by the lightning.... Aha. You've been spared this time, sir. But only just. :) Too bad the Chieftains' set was cut short, but I don't need to tell you that. Cathy wailed: >That's the really bad part about having been so busy. I've missed tons o' >good shows that have breezed through town. In fact, I saw in one of our >local music rags that Jane Siberry did a free concert at the University >of MN. Hadn't paid attention in the least to who was here, so I missed >that one too. :-\ Gack! When was that?!? Nyteshade confessed: >Well, my big confession for this week is that I don't really like Jewel much. >I mean, I have her album here, and I only listen to 4 songs on it, only one >with any sort of regularity, and even that one hasn't seen my CD player in >weeks. I probably wouldn't even buy her next album. Have you seen her live? I feel the same way about her album, but I won't ever miss her live again. She's orders of magnitude better on stage, trust me. Rachel reported: >Speaking of their August 15th list...Heather Nova's _Oyster_ is listed for >release that day!! Whoa, like, an American release?!? On which label? Albert opined: >When Ecto was first created, I think it was a good idea to see top-40 >music as anti-Ecto, but this attitude might start to work against us >now. Is it not the desire of every Ectophile to see the top-40 filled >with Ecto quality music? No. As woj said, Top-40 equals success, which equals sold-out shows in Madison Square Garden and other tin cans with no acoustic value whatsoever, and audiences that are even worse than the ones Tori got on the last tour. It equals ectophilic music being the mainstream. I don't know about you, but *I* couldn't deal with that! I *like* getting blank looks whenever I tell someone what music I listen to. Corrupting the innocent is *so* much fun, I'd hate to lose the thrill. ;> Weekly ecto top-10 lists? Fine, Jeff, *you* compile it. Oh wait, you're moving... that's convenient! :) The scary thing is, woj and I could probably contribute 10 titles a week. Urg. The scarier thing is, I see now that someone else had the same thought. :} +==========================================================================+ |Meredith Tarr meth@delphi.com| |Boonton, NJ USA finger info at: mtarr@eagle.wesleyan.edu| +==========================================================================+ |"We now return you to your regular time. Please take all of your belong- | | ings in order to avoid a paradox." -- Uncle Bob | +==========================================================================+ ------------------------------ From: THE OLIVE-LOAF VIGILANTE Date: Thu, 20 Jul 1995 22:21:10 -0400 (EDT) Subject: 100% pure sarah content Hi! More ramblings about Sarah... thoughtfully separated from the rest of my replies so those who aren't interested can delete at will. Aren't I nice? :) First, a couple of notes. I heard on the radio today that Sarah's rendition of "Blue" is going to appear on the next Rock For Choice compilation, sched- uled for release soon. Not sure who else is on it besides Roseanne Cash, but I have a feeling it's going to be a good lineup. And, according to the Nettwerk home page, the soundtrack for the movie _The Brothers MacMullen_, for which Sarah co-wrote and performed a brand new song will be released on August 15 on both sides of the Canadian border by a new division of Nettwerk specially created for soundtracks and such. Mark your calendars! Those lucky people who are equipped to do so can download a 35-second .wav snippet of the song right now: it's http://www.wimsey.com/nettwerk/sarahpg.html, if I didn't typo anything in there anywhere... Chris M. reported: >Yes, I made it! Yay!!!!! >Thought I'd add a few observations about the show... Sarah's new >rendition of "Terms" had a bit of a "wild side" to it... although I >must admit I kept waiting for a sax solo and being disappointed when >it didn't come :) The "Elsewhere" and "Mary" combo were utterly >rockin', acoustic or not, and "Ice" was just... well... incredible. Agreed on all points. I wasn't sure what to think of "Terms" the first time I heard it, but Monday night it clicked for me, and I rather liked it a lot. You gotta admire Sarah for never giving up on infusing her songs with new life, that's for sure... >I did keep my eyes open for ectofolk, but didn't see anyone (there were a >LOT of people there). Maybe next time! Yes, there were a lot. Anybody know how many people GSAC holds, including lawn? We guessed 10,000, but I think that's a bit high. Definitely next time -- come to KaTemas! elionwyr posted: >Hadn't heard that before - new things to watch for in her shows! (It >seems like Friday is taking forever to get here...) Well, the lighting stayed home on this little tour, so don't expect much as far as that goes. I didn't mind it, actually -- it made the whole thing seem more attached to reality than her full-blown shows, and for the arrange- ments that worked much better. Jeffy reviewed: >Tonight's show was simply amazing. Sarah, well, there's simply nothing to >say about her. When it comes to live appearances, She Really Is. And I >can get away with that because KaTe doesn't tour. You can get away with that regardless, imnsho. Within the past week I have come to the revelation that right now I am more into Sarah's music than I ever was into Happy's or Tori's or (gasp) even Kate's. It's not *that* much more, but enough to make me comfortable in saying that Sarah McLachlan is my favorite musical artist of all time. Weird how things can change, hm? Amazing what live performance can do. >She said that the rain last night in Boston was >*terrible*, much worse than Jones Beach, but that it was just started to >fall as the Chieftains finished up their set. Even worse than in New Jersey the previous night? Or did they get out from under in time? >Taking just 10 minutes to set up Sarah's stuff, she began singing the >acoustic "Posession" at 8:30 -- and managed a Sarah-First for me: the >song was just so beautiful it pretty much had me bawling. Wow. I watched her carefully through the binoculars during her peformance of this song, and it was interesting to note how so much angrier it was than the other versions I've heard -- far angrier than the acoustic version at the end of _FTE_. Good thing she's got an outlet, that's all I have to say. >Full of Grace I think she's decided that's going to be the title of the song -- "Fall From Grace" makes more sense semantically, but not really in context. >Hmm. It feels like something is missing, but I can't figure out what. I think you got everything. >The only disappointment was that "Hold On" wasn't the incredible power >house it's been at the last couple of shows. Oh, but it was no less emotionally powerful! >And *finally*, Sarah made reference to what a whole bunch of us though >"Good Enough" was about when we first heard it. She started out with the >usual "sisterhood" sort of explanation of the song, but then shifted to, >"Well, it's about this woman who's dating this man who's really a jerk, and >this fother woman, a friendd, is saying, 'Leave him and come with me -- let >me show you how it *ought* to be.'" Or something like that. ;-) Hmmm... ;> Did she also mention that a woman came up to her in Atlanta recently and thanked her for writing the song, since it convinced her that she really was "good enough" to leave her abusive husband after several hellish years? >Sarah's rendition of "The Foggy Dew" was beyond magnificent. No kidding. I've had it going through my head since last Friday. >Folks, don't miss this tour! And if you go, don't forget to tape it if you can. ;> +==========================================================================+ |Meredith Tarr meth@delphi.com| |Boonton, NJ USA finger info at: mtarr@eagle.wesleyan.edu| +==========================================================================+ |"Though she's just in her twenties, Sarah McLachlan is a throwback to the | | days when female singers weren't expected to cuss like truck drivers." | | -- The New Yorker magazine, March 20, 1995 | +==========================================================================+ ------------------------------ From: "Greg Bossert" Date: Thu, 20 Jul 1995 23:21:23 -0400 Subject: Ecturps John wonders: >My mailbox now contains _two_ Ecto digest #161's. Any idea what >happened? well, digest 161 was just so great, i decided that from now on i'll simply resend it every few hours: saves a lot of work keeping the list running, too! ;) okay okay, i confess, we've upgraded the mail server 'nsmx.rutgers.edu' (a.k.a. www-ns@rutgers, etc) to a much much much more powerful machine (a sun sparcstation 20/71 with 256Meg of ram, for those playing along at home). i'd hope that the transfer would be glitchless, but then again i hoped that angels would decend from on high bearing recording equipment and my missing copy of _under towers_ and that didn't happen either ;) the worst of it is over, however, and everything seems to be running well and considerably zippier... it's a veritable footopia of franticity here, between work and the IETF and packing (!), so i've not had the chance to comment on the Innocence Mission or Sarah/Chieftains show or the boodles of new CDs i've acquired in recent weeks (including a couple from ms. Karklins which i already knew were great, having lived with woj for some while, but are worth jumping up and down about again and doubly so in appreciation to Ingrid *jump*jump*) um. right, anyway, the CDs are all great and the shows were too and i'll see y'all on the other side of this... footetc. - -- - -+- greg bossert rutgers university network services -+- - -+- bossert@noc.rutgers.edu -+- - -+- http://www-ns.rutgers.edu/~bossert -+- - -+- i have never been afraid to change -- Happy -+- - -+- the circumstances of the world -- Rhodes -+- ------------------------------ From: "Mitchell A. Pravatiner" Date: Thu, 20 Jul 95 19:45:04 EDT Subject: YES! and other stories On a whim, I went up to Waterstone's this morning to see if they, unlike other places I tried, had a hardbound copy of Merril Markoe's book _How To Be Hap Hap Happy Like Me_, whichI thought would be a perfect birthday gift for Happy. _MIrabile Dictu_, they had one, so that little detail is taken care of. Now to finally record my bits for the HBP and send them to Doug, after I wrench myself away from the net long enough to just do it :-). Let me extend an especially warm welcome into the ecto community to Sage, whose columns for the late, lamented WAVE I used to enjoy reading. Good writers are a necessity on any mailing list worth its salt, and so we now have yet another of them among us. Mitch ------------------------------ From: Klaus Kluge Date: Fri, 21 Jul 1995 10:02:08 MET-1 Subject: Reminder: EctoParty in Wuppertal Just a little reminder that we'll be having a EctoParty (and unofficial Katemas Party) on Katemas Day, which is sunday the 30th of this month, in Wuppertal/Germany. Let me know asap if you would like to join us. Hiya Jess! Nice to hear from you again! I see, you've found the perfect place, SRI.com, as we all know that SRI stands for "She Really Is!". :) Cheers, Klaus _____ Klaus Kluge _O_ private: klaus@inPhobos.wupper.de |_|appy cosmic vagabond |< work: Klaus.Kluge@Materna.DE R| |odes ------------------------------ From: "Greg Bossert" Date: Fri, 21 Jul 1995 04:09:37 -0400 Subject: fiddly-dee fiddly-tah Laurel leads: > Boiled in Lead may not be a band that springs to mind when one thinks of > Kate (or Happy), but I'd strongly encourage folks to check them out. :-) eh, my mind springs in strange directions ;) BiL accurately terms their style as 'Celtidelic', though Turkish or Hungarian influences are as likely to appear as those from damp, peaty climes. fantasy fans may be reminded of the punk elven snarl of the Borderlands books; one suspects very much that BiL was an influence on that whole scene... The Pogues and 3 Mustaphas 3 are reference points (more of the later: no surprise since Hijaz 'Hank' Mustapha has produced BiL, and Robin Anders is a.k.a Robin Mustapha on 3M3's _heart of uncle_) the BiL-associated Omnium Recordings/DeSelby Productions is a great place to find rare folk/worldbeat/take-it-to-the-fridge stuff (the sort of finds that certainly spring to mind when one thinks of Ecto :) the whole effort is clearly a work of love, and worth a check (or money order ;) the catalog is at and if you start following links you *will* find something of interest. hey, rrrrob, they got the old black with gold knotwork BiL tee-shirt back in stock, just like mine. be the second kid on yur block! Matt mentions: > If you're ever in Cleveland again, and have an evening (or three) > free, you might want to try and find if these bands are playing: > Odd Girl Out, the jehova waitresses, or the waynes. Very much ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ *chorgle*snerk* ;) Sage salutates: > Hi, everyone, > > I'm new to the list, hope I'm following all of the posting rules :). rules!? ain't no rules here ;) as moderator, i assure you that it is strict, unequivocal policy that there are *no* rules. er, um, no, wait... ;) Chris comments: > I didn't know what to expect from the Chieftains... if it weren't for the Chieftains (and Paddy Moloney in particular), there might not be much recorded Irish traditional music to be had, in Ireland or outside of it. it's not all that clear that there would be much of it *performed* in Ireland, for that matter; by the middle of this century, trad was of interest to folklorists and a scattering of rural Irish musicians. mr. Moloney and the Chieftains have worked tirelessly, fired by a love of their music and many pints of Guiness, to popularize traditional music since their first recording in 1964... i go on only because, well, frankly, the years and beers have taken their toll. they still put on a great show: at the Garden State Arts Center show, they had the crowd (including those who had clearly come to see Sarah) stomping and whooping. but skip over _the long black veil_ and go back to the albums from the 60s and 70s to get an idea of why uilleann pipes and bodhrans are standard issue today... check out and speaking of Sarah, i am, um, speechless. it seems improbable taht she and the lads could be getting *better*, but they are. Marisa mentions > I'd have to agree. After listening to _Macalla_, I promptly went out and > bought everything of Clannad's I could get my hands on. Of course, being > a folkie myself, I like their earlier material better than their more > recent stuff, but I still love _Macalla_. WARNING: This is a good > "introductory" album for someone into mainstream music, but may be too > MOR for some seasoned ecto-ears! There's a Gaelic folk song, "Buachaill > an Eirne," another song in Gaelic which I'll call "the spooky one," since > I don't read Gaelic (it starts out the album). Then there are a lot of > rock n'roll tunes...those sounded like an Irish Fleetwood Mac on first > listen. Hope that helps! um, what she said. ;) _Magical Ring_ is closest to _Macalla_ to my mind, and perhaps just slightly more favorite, if just for "Harry's Game"... Maire Ni Bhraonain is one reason i play harp (Derek Bell of the Chieftains is the other). back to panicking. - -- - -+- greg bossert rutgers university network services -+- - -+- bossert@noc.rutgers.edu -+- - -+- http://www-ns.rutgers.edu/~bossert -+- - -+- i have never been afraid to change -- Happy -+- - -+- the circumstances of the world -- Rhodes -+- ------------------------------ From: awphili@xs4all.nl Date: Fri, 21 Jul 95 10:52:09 Subject: What's all this then? I received two Ecto digests #161 with slightly different contents. Is Ecto going schizophrenic? Maybe it needs a good definition of Ecto music. How about: The meaning of Ecto is defined by the contents of the Ecto archives? Albert - -- Albert W. Philipsen | "I am always thinking of your convenience, United Mooseheads Inc. | at least when I am not concerned with President | your education." -- Seth ------------------------------ From: guetzlaf@appsdiv.cray.com (Cathy Guetzlaff) Date: Fri, 21 Jul 95 7:37:31 CDT Subject: Re: tiptoeing through the mail Meth asks about the Jane Siberry concert in Mpls: >Gack! When was that?!? I think it was July 5. It struck me rather odd that the only publicity for it was a one-line blurb in the paper, so perhaps it didn't really happen. I can't imagine Jane coming here to do a performance out on a lawn at the university when school is out for the summer. I've also seen ads for Lollopalooza usually held in St. Paul, but that tour is skipping the Twin Cities this year, so maybe all these phantom shows are getting publicity when they aren't even happening. Or something. I know there are other Twin Citians on ecto, did any of you see Jane at the U? - -- Cathy Guetzlaff Cray Research, Inc. guetzlaf@cray.com ------------------------------ From: Nyteshde@aol.com Date: Fri, 21 Jul 1995 09:21:33 -0400 Subject: Re: tiptoeing through the mail In a message dated 95-07-20 23:57:44 EDT, METH@delphi.com (THE OLIVE-LOAF VIGILANTE) writes, regarding Jewel: >Have you seen her live? I feel the same way about her album, but I won't >ever miss her live again. She's orders of magnitude better on stage, trust >me. Nope, never seen her live. I don't know if I could take it; she's so horrendously cheerful. Depresses me just to think about it. Actually, I was *going* to see her live, but passed when I found out that she forgot how to play Foolish Games (which is the one I listen to with some regularity). ;) Nyteshade ------------------------------ From: "Matt Bittner" Date: Fri, 21 Jul 1995 08:25:52 CDT Subject: Re: Ecto top-40 On 20 Jul 95 at 15:15, Jeffrey Hanson wrote: > Comments anyone? I would like - and dislike - a top 40 list. I would like one just to see what everybody else is listening to, and would not think it to be a "popularity" list. We all know that when a musician becomes popular, they lose their originality.;-) Seriously, I like Meredith's approach that it's fun getting "different" reactions when asked what we listen to. And once the artist become's popular, we lose those reactions. Hmm...Just where am I going with this? Although there are a few who would clutter the list (you know who you are!:-)) posting "what was purchased this week", it still would be great to see just what other people are listening to. I'm sure there are local artists in each person's area that are worth listening to, and unless people actually said something like "You really need to check out the jehova waitresses", we would never know they existed. So, if one week I sent that that I bought "Loreena McKennit, Sarah McLachlan, and the jehova waitresses" (with the appropriate record titles), then we have a (relatively) new purchase to post to the world, the jehova waitresses. Naturally, you would substitute "jehova waitresses" with whatever band comes to mind. It's because of what has already been posted about various artists that my CD want list has grown exponentially. If it wasn't for ecto, I never would have heard of Nan Vernon, and would have missed out on one of the best recordings of the year. The same can be said for Jewel - and I am extremely happy that she was mentioned on Happy's list! And suddenly, tammy! (which Jeff missed on his list - shame, shame shame ). Okay, here's where I'm going with this. It's sometimes difficult keeping the thought process going when I'm listening to the terrible parade - which is another (now defunct) Cleveland band, very-close-to-ecto-like. So, if I had a choice, I would definitely keep the "check out the jehova waitresses" threads, but could also stand a "here's what I bought this week/month/year" thread. Either or you can see where a person's tastes are, and thinking that their tastes are in line with yours (which tends to be the case in ecto-land), you can make your own choices. A top 40 list is sort of like someone else telling me what I should listen to. "You need to check out the jehova waitresses because everybody else in this world is" instead of "I think you could dig the jehova waitresses because they're in you musical taste genre". Hmm...I hope this isn't too confusing. Friday, my brain's not working well, and I'm only on my first can of Mountain Dew. There are days when I wish I had a Jolt!:-) And to think I haven't written any code yet today... Matt Bittner | "We devour those meba@cso.com | who would subdue Omaha, Nebraska | us." ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V2 #162 ************************** ======================================================================== Please send any questions or comments about the list to ecto-owner@nsmx.rutgers.edu