From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V4 #86 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Monday, March 16 1998 Volume 04 : Number 086 Today's Subjects: ----------------- ERRATUM: Celtic Electric on CBC [Steve I ] Today's your birthday, friend... [Mike Matthews ] susan mckeown in stamford [meredith ] March 27th NOTABLE SHOWS on both coasts. [ABershaw ] Belatedly Re: waterboys [Neile Graham ] Re: world party/waterboys [Neal Copperman ] Solas in Fairfield [Michael Curry ] re: Albino Luciani [Neal Copperman ] Re: Solas in Fairfield [Neal Copperman ] Re: Aimee Mann/Coen Bros [Neal Copperman ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 15 Mar 1998 02:30:33 -0500 From: Steve I Subject: ERRATUM: Celtic Electric on CBC I posted this mistake: >On Saturday they're airing a show of Celtic music, featuring Ashley >MacIsaac, Natalie McMaster, Heather Rankin, Mary Jane Lamond, and others. >This one's also at 9pm Eastern. Many apologies to those who tuned in only to find a hockey game in progress, this show is SUNDAY night, not Saturday, on CBC TV. Doh! Anyway just got back from seeing the Matthew Good Band tonight. Man they're good, won't be long before they're playing arenas I'm sure. Steve np: ABBA on MuchMusic ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Mar 1998 03:00:14 -0500 (EST) From: Mike Matthews Subject: Today's your birthday, friend... i*i*i*i*i*i i*i*i*i*i*i *************** *****HAPPY********* **************BIRTHDAY********* *************************************************** *************************************************************************** ************ Randall K. Smith (rsmith@wisp4.physics.wisc.edu) ************* *************************************************************************** -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Randall K. Smith Sat March 15 1969 Pisces Jessica Skolnik March 16 Pisces Alan Sodoma Thu March 18 1965 LuckyLurker Barry Wong Thu March 19 1970 Merlin Graham Dombkins Fri March 19 1965 Pisces Ian Young Wed March 19 1969 Squiggol Jeff Wasilko Wed March 19 1969 Pisces Geoff Carre Sat March 20 1954 Pisces John Stewart Sat March 21 1970 Aries Bob Brown Thu March 22 1951 Ham Valerie Nozick Thu March 25 1971 Aries Tom Proven Sat March 27 1971 P.T. Jennifer Albert Wed March 30 1966 Aries (w/Cancer rising!:) Warpaint Mon April 01 1991 Brilliant! Michael Pearce Wed April 03 1946 Pegasus Michael E. Bravo Mon April 05 1971 Dandelion Wine Brion McIntosh Sun April 06 1958 Aries Marcel Kshensky Thu April 06 1950 Aries David Dixon Tue April 07 1970 Aries Jill Hughes Sat April 09 1955 Aries Klaus Kluge Sun April 10 1960 Unicorn Steve VanDevender Sun April 10 1966 Racer Art Liestman Fri April 10 1953 Repeat Stephen Golden Sat April 10 1971 Jokey Michael Bowman Wed April 11 1962 Aries Wolfgang Ullwer Fri April 11 1969 Widder Janet Kirsch Thu April 11 1974 Aries Jerry Tue April 13 1971 Aries Stuart Myerburg Mon April 14 1969 Aries T-Bone Wed April 15 1992 happy cat - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Mar 1998 18:52:36 From: meredith Subject: susan mckeown in stamford Hi! Well, since Mike Curry actually blew off a Susan McKeown show in the Northeastern US, I guess it's my job to report on it. I already fulfilled my sacred duty to grab one of the set lists off the stage, to keep up the tradition. ;) (So Mike, how was Solas?) Susan McKeown, Lindsey Horner, and Chris Cunningham played at the Acoustic Studio of the Rich Forum in Stamford, CT. It was a really nice space, with great acoustics and a homey, intimate feel. There were little tables set up and refreshments available (Guinness was sponsoring the event :), and the decor was completely, kitschily St. Paddy's Day to the core, which obviously amused Susan to no end. woj and I were pleasantly surprised to run into Chuck and Joe, who had very nicely saved us spaces at their table up front. :) The opening band was a local act called The Wiggins Sisters, a completely cliched, totally unoriginal folk outfit whose only connection to Irish music appeared to be a song they'd titled "Ireland". I couldn't wait for them to vacate the stage, and fortunately they only played for about half an hour. The main attraction performed what I've come to think of as the "get to know you" set, with a heavy concentration on material from _Bones_ and the best of the new songs, and a few from _Bushes and Briars_ thrown in for good measure. Since I'm impersonating Mike for this message, I'll post the set list in its entirety: Westron Wynde/Westlin Winds Ce Leis E?/Black Is The Colour Daddy's Little Girl Ballinaboula In London So Fair Fuck You Seven Cold Glories Craigie Hill Bones I Know I Know Banks of Claudy Wheels Albatross Snakes After Aughrim (encore) The performance of "In London So Fair" ruled. It's one of my very favorite songs on _Bushes and Briars_ (shut up, Mike ;), and they all nailed it last night. "Wheels" was also interesting, because in that trio arrangement Lindsey has to play both bass *and* tin whistle, and it's physically impossible for him to do so but he always manages it anyway. Last night he lost it halfway through and ended up plucking the strings for the second verse rather than bowing, and it worked *really* well. He should consider doing that every time -- it was cool. "Albatross", which is the only song in their repertoire which makes me groan, "not *again*" when it starts, once again had me wondering by the end of it why I have that reaction in the first place. It was wonderful. And the a cappella encore rendition of "After Aughrim" totally blew me away. There are lots of cool shows coming up at the Acoustic Studio: March 28: Chris Smither & Deb Pasternak April 4: Ellis Paul & Peter Mulvey May 2: Barbara Kessler & Merrie Amsterburg (I'm *so* there, dude :) May 16: Jennifer Kimball & Louise Taylor June 27: June Rich & Sloan Wainwright (it is to implode!) July 18: Catie Curtis July 24: Laura Love (yow!) Those last three are listed as tentative, but man, do I hope they end up happening!!! And all of this in Stamford, CT. Who knew? Rich, were you there? I wasn't sure who you were -- hopefully next time I'll be able to say hello. +==========================================================================+ | Meredith Tarr meth@smoe.org | | New Haven, CT USA http://www.smoe.org/~meth | +==========================================================================+ | "things are more beautiful when they're obscure" -- veda hille | | *** TRAJECTORY, the Veda Hille mailing list: *** | | *** http://www.smoe.org/meth/trajectory.html *** | +==========================================================================+ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Mar 1998 19:03:33 EST From: ABershaw Subject: March 27th NOTABLE SHOWS on both coasts. Hi all A week from Friday, March 27th, two great shows are taking place on opposite coasts. In NYC, Steve Poltz hits the Mercury Lounge & at Genghis Cohen in Los Angeles, Cindy Lee Berryhill bids farewell to her incredible Garage Orchestra. Even though I can't make either show, I highly recommend anyone within reasonable distance do whatever you can to get to these shows! It'll be Steve Poltz's 1st NYC gig that's "post-album release" & sure to be one hell of a night! CLB's Garage Orchestra is my personal favorite band of the 90's. It's sad to see them retire (again) but this gig is sure to be unforgettable! To make sure of that, arrangements have already been made to professionally record and videotape this performance so if you're anywhere near Los Angeles, do what you must to get there! And wherever you end up that night, have one for Tom Proven & myself, as we celebrate/commiserate another birthday, ;-) Alan ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Mar 1998 18:23:33 -0600 From: Neile Graham Subject: Belatedly Re: waterboys >Riphug wrote: > >> The Waterboys - Room to Roam (I bought this because I think I'm supposed to >> like them -- are they kind of folky/celtic?) BarBearUh wrote: >their early records are more like U2. "fisherman's blues" is their >>folky/celtic masterpiece. I definitely agree with this assessment--I adore _Fisherman's Blues_. It's a great collection of songs. To my mind nothing they've done before or after, individually or as the original group can hold a candle to it. But _Room to Roam_ comes closest. Has a great version of "Raggle Taggle Gypsy". - --Neile n.p. Silence, imagine that. But recently I've been playing the hell out of Caterwaul's _The Nature of Things_ and _Killer Fish_. Both great albums. n.r. And I'm between books! - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Neile Graham ..... http://www.sff.net/people/neile ..... neile@sff.net The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music .... http://www.smoe.org/ectoguide - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Mar 1998 19:51:18 -0500 (EST) From: Neal Copperman Subject: Re: world party/waterboys On Sat, 7 Mar 1998, BarBearUh wrote: > Riphug wrote: > > > The Waterboys - Room to Roam (I bought this because I think I'm supposed to > > like them -- are they kind of folky/celtic?) > > their early records are more like U2. "fisherman's blues" is their > folky/celtic masterpiece. 'room to roam' has some good songs on it, but > it is very uneven - i believe it was the last record they made before > they disbanded. My thoughts exactly, on both albums, though I also loved "the big music" of the early Waterboys too. I'm not sure of details on regrouping and ungrouping, but there is a post-Roam album called Dreams So Real (I think) that was supposed to be more of a return to the older style. > BTW, you also bought some world party. karl wallinger > is world party - he used to be in the waterboys prior to the production > of "fisherman's". waterboys was driven by the writing team of karl > wallinger and mike scott. when karl left, they got rootsier and mike > scott now puts out folky/celtic solo work. karl moved more towards > beatlesesque pop. Actually, the waterboys were driven solely by Mike Scott. If you look at the first 3 albums, there is only one songwriting and one arranging credit to Karl Wallinger, and that is on the 3rd album (his last). Multi-instrumentalist Anthony Thistlewight always seemed like the strong second to Mike Scott's dominant personality (to me). That's why World Party came as such a pleasant surprise. The Waterboys were so strongly Mike Scott that it wasn't clear what Wallinger's role was, and the fact that he put out some really solid, and pretty different sounding, music after he left really caught me off guard. Neal np: Cornershop - When I Was Born for the 7th Time (Obviously catching up on my backlog of mail from the last week or so.) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Mar 1998 18:48:45 -0600 (CST) From: Michael Curry Subject: Solas in Fairfield Hi all, As Meredith mentioned I actually missed a relatively nearby Susan McKeown show last night so that I could catch a performance by Solas a short distance away at the Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University. After all, I have many more opportunities to see Susan perform than I have to see Solas. The Quick Center has a great hall that seats around 350 people and the place was completely sold out. Like Susan's show in Stamford this was supposed to be a St. Patrick's Day celebration, but fortunately all the twee green decorations and little green plastic hats were confined to the lobby. Though I didn't call for my ticket until a couple of weeks before the show I had a very good seat in the third row. Unfortunately this meant that I was seated among many of the people who patronize the Quick Center on a regular basis. Why was this unfortunate? Well, it seems that many of these people had no idea who Solas was or what sort of music they were going to play. A few remarks I overheard during the intermission revealed that some of these people seemed to think that Irish traditional music consisted of heartfelt renditions of "Danny Boy" and "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling". They were therefore completely unprepared for the blazing reels and jigs that Solas favored us with and just sat there perfectly still while the band played and then politely applauded between tunes. In other words, they behaved like they were attending a symphony performance. As you might have guessed by now, I found this quite annoying. It was completely different from the way I expect audiences to act at shows like this and I began to wonder of someone had been using Worcestershire sauce as an embalming fluid (apologies to those non-South Park fans who have no idea what I'm talking about). Fortunately many of these people actually left and went home during the intermission, so the audience that remained for the second half of the show was much improved. As for the band themselves, they were brilliant and the between song banter was extremely amusing. Seamus Egan is ridiculously talented, and my only quibble with his amazing performance was the fact that he took the time to demonstrate his skilled playing of instruments other than the flute and whistle. He's a fine player on both the banjo and mandolin but he is absolutely breathtaking on his main instruments. Karan Casey's (aka "Informational Spice") beautiful voice was in fine form, Winnie Horan's (aka "Fiddle Spice") fiddle playing was great as always, Mick McAuley (sp?), who replaced John Williams in the band, was amazing on the button box and quite good on the low whistle as well, and John Doyle did his usual fantastic job on guitar and occasional backing vocals. It was a great performance by a truly great band, which was even more impressive given the lack of response they were getting from the audience. I strongly urge those of you with even a passing interest in traditional Irish music to go and see Solas when they come to your town. If there are any Irish trad purists out there I'm sure you already know what to expect from Solas so you don't need me to warn you. ;) Mike np: Natalie MacMaster -- A Compilation [remastered tracks from her first two albums, which were only released on cassette] nr: Jovah's Angel by Sharon Shinn | Michael Curry / mcurry@io.com / mcurry@compuserve.com | | http://www.io.com/~mcurry | | Am I bitter? Do I sound bitter? -- Veda Hille | ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Mar 1998 19:59:32 -0500 (EST) From: Neal Copperman Subject: re: Albino Luciani On Fri, 6 Mar 1998 lanblind@teleport.com wrote: > Thanks for the obsessing Neile on Albino Luciani...it was so hard to record > it is very nice to hear that you are enjoying it. Neal # 2..do you really > want to know what it is about? Here's the lyrics but you still need to pay > attention or maybe not! Most trance music prefers that you trance out, I am > trying to sneak into your soul while you are trancing...see, Cyoakha Thanks for the lyrics. They are actually pretty interesting. We sort of went through a "how you listen to music" thread, I think before you joined, but one intriguing point that came out was that a lot of us fell pretty solidly into music-listeners and lyrics-listeners. I'm definitely the former, and it can take a really long time for lyrics to sink in. I'm usually not a focused listener, but even when I'm trying to pay attention to the lyrics, for some reason I have trouble parsing them into inteligible groupings if I can't read them. Not true for everyone, but true often enough. Course, reading doesn't always make them inteligible either :) But something else to chew on. I still have trouble not thinking of Albino Luciani as a boxer though :) I get a general spirit flowing from the song and the lyrics, but I'm still pretty mystified by the title. Does Albino Luciani come from something or have any specific meaning to you? Or does it, too, just help build a vibe, a spooky, mystical, monk feeling? (Or maybe just a boxer?) Neal np: Cornershop... > Albino Luciani > > ex judex tremendous hubicot populum > they thought they heard a drumbeat > they thought they heard a word > but they were listening to the sounds of screams and not the crys of birds > ALBINO LUCIANI > they weren't used to the floating > more familiar with the fall > whining and complaining they almost missed it all > ALBINO LUCIANI > who I am who walks alone at night outside of life > who am I to try and tell you how to live in the pale white light > who am I to try and lead you home? > I am your secret smile, your private prayer, your only poem > ALBINO LUCIANI > they beg for forgiveness but they will not seek the priest > they'd like to help their fellow man (if he's not too far down to reach) > ALBINO LUCIANI > who I am? I'm just your eyes when they first saw your mama's face > who I am, I am you and you are me as we all arrive in this final state of grace > ALBINO LUCIANI > and at the end of the world I hope they say that crazy girl was all wrong > > NOW I WILL SEE IF THERE IS ANY LATIN BUFFS OUT THERE, Cy > > > Land of the Blind > c/o NW New Music > 3439 NE Sandy Blvd., Suite 266 > Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. 97232 > (503) 321-5093 > email lanblind@teleport.com > http://www.teleport.com/~lanblind/ > > ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Mar 1998 20:15:22 -0500 (EST) From: Neal Copperman Subject: Re: Solas in Fairfield On Sun, 15 Mar 1998, Michael Curry wrote: > As for the band themselves, they were brilliant and the between song > banter was extremely amusing. Seamus Egan is ridiculously talented, and > my only quibble with his amazing performance was the fact that he took the > time to demonstrate his skilled playing of instruments other than the > flute and whistle. He's a fine player on both the banjo and mandolin but > he is absolutely breathtaking on his main instruments. When I saw Seamus Egan's DC debut at the annual Georgetown free Irish concert, 5 or 7 or so years ago, he was introduced as being an all Ireland winner on 4 different instruments. I don't recall what they were, but they were pretty varied. For some reason, my memory is spitting out bodhran, though that seems slightly suspect. Anyone happen to know? I find it amazing that he looks about 20 years older than he did back then, when he appeared to be about 14. Solas at the Birchmere on the 21st, in case anyone needs persuading. (Course, you can also pick Jonatha Brook at Iota or Ivy at the Black Cat, though I think I'd take Mike's advice and go with Solas. [My #2 choice would be Ivy, and the beauty (?) of the Black Cat is that it's a perfect second club, since it's shows start so late.]) Neal np: Cornershop... ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Mar 1998 20:43:04 -0500 (EST) From: Neal Copperman Subject: Re: Aimee Mann/Coen Bros On Mon, 9 Mar 1998, Larry G. wrote: > A great film. Highly recommended! Good soundtrack, too. Just caught it > Friday night with Neal Copperman, who's here in L.A. we saw Cindy Lee > Berryhill afterwards, then, last night, Todd Thibaud and Tara MacLean. > Last night was transcendant (for me, at least; Neal has been hearing tons > of music at the expense of sleep this whole week, so you'll have to get his > view if he wakes up). Well, I'm not sure I've woken up yet, since I slept very little on the red eye that got me in this morning. Funny, I couldn't sleep more than 5 minutes at a time from LA to Philly, but fell asleep for the whole trip on the little prop plane from Philly to Baltimore (25 minutes flying time). I was looking out the window at Philly, and then I woke up and we'd already landed! I think I could have slept through a crash landing even. Anyway, Cindy Lee was as amazing as ever. Genghis Cohen is a weird place. Kosher Chinese restaurant with a little performing space in the back. We found CLB and frequent colaborator Ric Kessler (sp?) finishing their meal, and sat down to chat and help with the set list, where I made sure my favorite (Family Tree) was represented, as well as some Garage Orchestra songs. Plus, Cindy Lee rightly promised that I'd be amazed at her new "skip" song, built around, and named after, a Jimmy Smith (60's Jazz organist) skip that is so fluid it sounds like a tape loop. CLB put one of her wild story/rants over the top of it. I arrived in LA in mid-afternoon, and managed to see The Big Lewbowski and a CLB concert on the first night! We trecked down to San Dieog for Tara MacLean. She was an endearing presence, but I wasn't that wow'ed with the show. Maybe I was just jet lagged or something, as I was the only person there who didn't seem completely bowled over. SHe got a rowsing standing ovation from everyone else. Even live, I still felt some of that slickness in arrangement that ruins the album, even though the presentation was much sparser live. It seemed like she had two modes of singing, one that I liked and one that I didn't. The latter could have been more a fault of the sound system, but whenever she pushed really hard vocally, I thought she sounded kind of shrill, and those over the top moments threw me out of the songs. She did a cover of "Calling You", which received an oddly opposite treatment than Holly Cole gives it. I find that Holly's version starts off very slow and sleepy, always making me wonder why I like it so much when the song starts. But somewhere around the chorus, it just clicks in and practically makes me cry. Tara, on the other hand, could get that same effect from the verses. Right from the get-go, I thought her treatment of the song was stunning. But when she hit the chorus, style 2 kicked in and it seemed over the top to me, with the passion and edge disapearing. As I mentioned, this did not seem to be the popular conception. Then the next night we saw June Tabor at McCabes Guitar Shop, my first time actually managing to get a ticket to a show there. June's a powerful presence, and she played a lot of the latest album, as well as something from her first solo album (about travelling circus performers) and some more recent arrangements. A very good show, but somehow, not as magical as my first exposure to her live, last year at the Birchmere. Maybe I was too tired, or just lacked the element of surprise. Well, that's it for my music experiences, for a little while at least. Neal ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V4 #86 *************************