From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V3 #33 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Tuesday, October 7 1997 Volume 03 : Number 033 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: _Portishead_ [Stuart Myerburg ] Re: Jewel in Belgium ["Kathy Clark (and sometimes Ed)" ] _Peter & Wendy_ [Michael Curry ] Sarah in Boston (free show) [Angelos Kyrlidis ] a few replies [meredith ] Re: a few replies ["Jeffrey C. Burka" ] Re: Susan McKeown at the Bottom Line (Oct 2, 1997) [Carolyn Andre Subject: Re: _Portishead_ On Sun, 5 Oct 1997, Michael J. Doyle wrote: > My heart beat fast on Friday night when I spotted Portishead's second > album, entitled _Portishead_, at Tower Records. After all, their first > album, _Dummy_, is one of my top 10 favorite CDs of all time, and I've been > listening to the first single from this new album ("All Mine") like mad for > the past three weeks. My quivering hands snatched the new album to my > breast while my wobbly legs bore me swiftly to the cashier. > > Since then, I've managed to give it two spins. That's far less than I > expected. Am I disappointed? A little, but I rather think I need time to > adjust. Like you, I didn't think much of _Dummy_ at first, but it's now in my Top 10 of all time. I keep telling myself it took a while for _Dummy_ to grow on me, so I should give _Portishead_ a chance before making a judgment. But I have listened to it about 10 time now, and it just lacks the magic of _Dummy_. It is by no means a bad album, but it's a little too funereal. _Dummy_ was often slow, but it was never plodding like some of these new songs are. > The unmistakable Portishead sound is there on this new album, but it has > evolved into something harsher and more detached. The vocals are frequently > filtered, making them sound like a recording of a recording -- akin to > "Glory Box" but more extreme. Combine this with more samples, loops, > scratching and hiss-pop of vinyl and you have an album that sounds composed > entirely of found material. This seems part of an intentional push deeper > into postmodernist territory. The video for "All Mine" depicts a girl, who > is not the real vocalist, singing the song on some imaginary early 60s > variety show. Choosing "Portishead" as the name of the album seems to imply > they are a band pretending to be a band called Portishead. They are making > a fiction of themselves. I read an article about the making of the album and apparently there are no samples from other people's recordings on it, even though it sounds more sample-heavy than _Dummy_. All of the sounds that appear to be samples were actually recorded by Portishead from scratch, pressed to vinyl, then sampled back on to the track. Basically, they recorded their own samples. While I think this is really interesting and innovative, perhaps they spent too much time cleverly constructing the songs and that's why they seem more artificial and less appealing than anything on _Dummy_. Stuart __________________________________________________________________________ Stuart Myerburg stuart@sph.emory.edu Information Services stuart@emory.edu Rollins School of Public Health http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~stuart __________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 18:18:56 -0400 From: "Kathy Clark (and sometimes Ed)" Subject: Re: Jewel in Belgium Hey! Here's further corroboration of my rumor!! > 97/12/?? Lilith Fair 98 Preview Gig,venue TBA, West Palm Beach, FL > ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 18:03:27 -0500 (CDT) From: Michael Curry Subject: _Peter & Wendy_ Hi all, As promised here's my opinion on the new _Peter & Wendy_ album, the wonderful music Johnny Cunningham wrote and arranged for the Mabou Mines theatrical adaptation of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan. I absolutely love this cd. I went to see Peter & Wendy back in February, during its run at the New Victory Theater in NYC, mainly because Susan McKeown was singing in the band that provided the music for the play. As it turned out, the play was truly amazing on its own, though Johnny Cunnigham's music did add a lot to the experience. However, since the play was so good I rarely gave my full attention to the music, so hearing the new cd was the first time I really had a chance to appreciate just how great the music was. The flavor of the music is decidedly celtic, which is no surprise considering who wrote it. Scottish fiddler Johnny Cunningham's work is brilliant, and as great as the band that played during the performances was, I think he managed to top it with the collection of talent he gathered to make this album. In addition to Johnny's amazing fiddle playing and great singing, the album features the talent of Susan McKeown on vocals, Seamus Egan on flute, tin whistle, low whistle and bodhran, Jay Ansil on Celtic harp and mandolin, Larry Campbell on guitars, Mick McAuley on box and many others. The combination of such a stellar cast of musicians and the magical nature of the work they are performing results in an album that I certainly number among the finest to have been released this year. As if that wasn't enough, the cd comes boxed with a beautifuly made booklet, featuring photographs and illustrations from the play and an introduction and narrative adaptation by playwright Liza Lorwin. This amazing package is available from Alula Records (the same company what will be releasing Susan's trad album), and they have a web page at www.alula.com which I think has a few sound samples from _Peter & Wendy_. The cd can be ordered by calling Alula at 1-800-932-5852. The play itself will be running at The Geffen Playhouse (310-208-5454) in Los Angeles from December 2-28 (and Susan will be there), and I strongly urge any ectophiles who can make it to one of the performances to do so. Mike np: Peter & Wendy nr: A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin | Michael Curry / mcurry@io.com / mcurry@compuserve.com | | http://www.io.com/~mcurry | | Am I bitter? Do I sound bitter? -- Veda Hille | ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 20:09:22 -0400 From: Angelos Kyrlidis Subject: Sarah in Boston (free show) OK, In order to avoid missing any ectophiles this time, I am wondering if anybody is planning to attend the WBMX free concert at city hall in boston this sunday, october 12. If so, let's try and meet before the show! The line up for sunday includes: Duncan Sheik Lisa Loeb Paula Cole Big Head Todd & The Monsters Barenaked Ladies Sarah McLachlan so it's pretty ectophilic in nature. Angelos ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 20:04:12 -0400 From: meredith Subject: a few replies Hi! There's a few things I've been holding onto to respond to, so here we go: Jeffy opined: >Ahhhhh. New Happy. > >Well, sort of...new Happy vocals, in any event. But the Project Lo songs to which she contributes her talents *sound* like Happy songs -- especially the vocal layerings of "Mercy Street", which I have to say is indeed better than the original. The instrumental pieces are wonderful, too. This album is definitely an ecto must-have. fleur inquired: >Um....what is CYLL? Check Your Local Listings. :) dave opined: >You can keep your Dar and Ani.. THIS >woman is a goddess! Hey, some of us are avowed polytheists, you know! ;> Loreena's _The Book of Secrets_ is indeed wonderful stuff. Vintage Loreena - -- my only complaint is that it's too short. Probably won't win her any new fans, but it's quite satisfying to those of us who have been in love with her work for years now. John wondered re Sessions: >Does anyone have the low down on how one might get into their tapings ? The latest round of tapings is complete, but as far as I know there's going to be another one in a few months. Keep an ear out to WFUV -- they give away free tickets to most of the tapings to station members, and for some of the tapings they've been known to waive the members-only rule if the time is growing short and they still have a lot left. There is also a number in Boston to call to get on the waiting list for tickets, but I don't think you get to pick what shows you go to that way. I'll try to dig the number up and post it here. Justin (hi, Justin! :) delurked: >Vaya con Dios >don't sing in French but they're distributed in French-speaking markets. Yow -- Vaya con Dios!!! I'd totally forgotten about them. A friend of mine in Germany had a few of their albums, which I enjoyed quite a bit. Never quite got around to purchasing any for myself, though. Are those folks still around? woj noted: >(of course, you'd think that an acapella version of >"sat in your lap" would have flabbergasted meredith enough that she would >have mentioned it to me.) Either that, or she just assumed someone had been horribly mistaken and then forgot about the whole thing. :} Richard asked: >Does anyone else have the problem I have with Borders? Specifically, I >have no problem in flatout refusing to patronize The Home Depot, >Rite-Aid, Wal-Mart, and the other corporate monsters that are killing >small businesses everywhere. But Borders... I think I have the same problem. I've only ever been inside a Borders twice, once to see The Nields do an in-store and then to watch Neverwhere a couple weeks back, but both times I ended up buying something and had a hard time conjuring up the guilt afterwards. :/ I mean, I have no trouble at all scorning Barnes & Noble, especially now considering the bullpuckey with amazon.com, but Borders... there's just something about it. I'd love to figure out what it is too, so perhaps I can come up with an antidote. :) Mike exhorted re _Peter and Wendy_: > The play itself will be running at The Geffen Playhouse (310-208-5454) >in Los Angeles from December 2-28 (and Susan will be there), and I >strongly urge any ectophiles who can make it to one of the performances to >do so. I second that emotion. _Peter and Wendy_ is one of the best theatrical productions I've ever seen -- very powerful and moving. The music is only the beginning. Even if you have to make a special trip to do it, go. I'm ashamed to admit that I still haven't listened to my copy of the album yet -- too many new things procured in a too-short period of time, alas... +==========================================================================+ | Meredith Tarr meth@smoe.org | | Boonton, NJ USA http://www.smoe.org/~meth | +==========================================================================+ | "things are more beautiful when they're obscure" -- veda hille | |***TRAJECTORY, the Veda Hille mailing list: trajectory-request@smoe.org***| +==========================================================================+ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 22:03:23 -0400 From: "Jeffrey C. Burka" Subject: Re: a few replies meredith sez: > But the Project Lo songs to which she contributes her talents *sound* like > Happy songs -- especially the vocal layerings of "Mercy Street", which I > have to say is indeed better than the original. The instrumental > pieces are wonderful, too. This album is definitely an ecto must-have. but of course the vocal layerings sounds like a Happy song -- she did the arrangements! My favorite bit is the really high voice she uses to 'duet' on the first portion of the second verse. It's somewhere beyond stunning. I'm wondering if this is the overall lowest range song Happy's done; the deepness is really quite startling. the cd's out in my car and I *really* want to listen to that song again... jeff ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 05 Oct 1997 21:03:44 From: Carolyn Andre Subject: Re: Susan McKeown at the Bottom Line (Oct 2, 1997) >On Sun, 5 Oct 1997 Silme@ix.netcom.com wrote: > >> Do you know if these new cd's will be available across the country? > >and Michael Curry responded: > > I assume that anyplace that carried _Bones_ might well end up with >_Through the Bitter Frost and Snow_, but Hillary would have to speak to >the details of that. 1-800-PRIME-CD will work of course. :) > > As for the Peter & Wendy cd, I have no clue about the distribution for >that one, but I know there's both an 800 number and web page for Alula >(the record company) so I'll post those with my review tomorrow. > All I can add is (after thanks to Meredith for posting the Snakes Radio Airplay page information!!) that both CDs are being distributed by Allegro Music for Prime & Alula. Their website is under construction, but does include some contact & ordering information as well. They're probably best known for their distribution of classical music, but are moving into the world, etc. music now. http://www.allegro-music.com/~allegro And - for those ectophiles on the West Coast, check out Susan's tour dates - - she'll be doing the Vancouver<-->San Juan Capistrano route shortly (aargh!!! she'll NOT be in NYC when I'm there in early November). Plus, she'll be appearing in "Peter & Wendy" at the Geffen Playhouse in LA in December. http://house-of-music.com/susan/smktour.shtml (yes, I do Susan's website, but have no commercial connection with her work) > >Mike > > | Michael Curry / mcurry@io.com / mcurry@compuserve.com | > | http://www.io.com/~mcurry | > | Am I bitter? Do I sound bitter? -- Veda Hille | > > > > > Regards, Carolyn Andre - ------------------- Chicago, IL / USA | Support Independent Music! Use the Internet candre@mcs.net | Carolyn's House of Music: http://house-of-music.com ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V3 #33 *************************