From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V4 #199 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Tuesday, June 23 1998 Volume 04 : Number 199 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Today's your birthday, friend... [Mike Matthews ] Re: Ecto's lowest point (was re: Sarah Polley) ["Xenu's Sister" ] New Releases for June 23rd [Riphug@aol.com] Grey Eye Glances info [Tom Pinkl ] RE:karaoke night at the stratford ramada ["Charlie Sweeney" ] Lili Haydn [dgk@genie.com] question [kerry white ] Re: Ecto's lowest point (was re: Sarah Polley) [The Watcher Subject: Today's your birthday, friend... i*i*i*i*i*i i*i*i*i*i*i *************** *****HAPPY********* **************BIRTHDAY********* *************************************************** *************************************************************************** *********** Teresa VanDyne (tvandyne@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu) *********** *************************************************************************** -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Teresa VanDyne Thu June 23 1960 Cancer Dave Torok Mon June 24 1968 Cancer Ethan Straffin Thu June 24 1971 Cancer Kevin Dekan Mon June 27 1960 Cancer BunkyTom Tue July 02 1968 Cancer Anders Hallberg Tue July 03 1962 Cancer Kevin Harkins Thu July 05 1973 Cancer Laurel Krahn Mon July 05 1971 Cancer John J Henshon Mon July 05 1954 The Year Of The Horse / Ruled By The Moon Jim Gurley Mon July 06 1959 Cancer Lisa Wilson Fri July 08 1960 Moonchild with Java Rising Courtney Dallas Fri July 09 1971 Catte Michael Peskura Sat July 09 1949 HallOfFamer Finney T. Tsai Sat July 09 1966 Cancer Larry Greenfield Tue July 11 1950 Virgo Rising; Gemini Moon Marion Kippers Tue July 13 1965 Kreeft Ellen Rawson Thu July 13 1961 Double Cancer Mitch Pravatiner Mon July 14 1952 Cancer Rich R. Wed July 14 1954 Cancer John Zimmer Sun July 16 1961 Cancer Dan Stark Sun July 16 1961 Cancer Cathy Guetzlaff Mon July 18 1955 Cancer Vlad Sat July 18 1970 Warning: severe tire damage Jani Pinola Thu July 20 1972 Jonquil - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1998 02:30:59 -0500 From: "Xenu's Sister" Subject: Re: Ecto's lowest point (was re: Sarah Polley) Oh boy, this is *long* and very skippable. There's nothing about music or anything else "ecto" in here. I jumble up some of what John said and some of what Charley said while trying to make some of my points. At 08:41 AM 6/22/98 -0700, charley darbo wrote: c> There follows an impassioned response to John c> Higdon’s ill-thought-out, presumptuous, c> non sympathetic response to Vickie’s post about c> _The_Sweet_Hereafter_. I’ll try to keep it civil, . c> but I’m nearly shaking with horror on Vickie’s behalf. c> The faint of heart might want to leave the room for a c> minute or two. Thank you Charley, for posting this, even though many won't understand what it's all about. To everyone who may not know, Charley is my best friend and cares about me. He pretty much knew how I'd feel about John's post and I think he also assumed that I probably wouldn't respond to it. One thing that no one would know is that Charley knows exactly how I feel about _The Sweet Hereafter_ because we spent hours on the phone talking about it. That's why he comes off as sounding very knowledgeable about my feelings when no one else could have guessed them *just* based on what I wrote. Because of Charley's advantage, he berates John somewhat unfairly for not respecting my feelings. I almost kind of feel sorry for John, though at the same time I feel very honored to have Charley as a friend, in my head and heart, and on my side. I wrote: v> It's not a film to be "enjoyed" in the accepted v> sense of the word. John wrote: j> That presupposes that one can only j> 'enjoy' something on an emotional level. j> Certainly, on an emotional level, one does j> not 'enjoy' a movie that is this heavy. (Well, j> not unless one's a masochist. 8^)) However, j> a person might still enjoy it on an intellectual j> level, for instance, as it fosters internal debate j> over the morality or ethics of this or that action j> of a major character. I don't dispute any of that, but I said "the accepted sense of the word" meaning "derive pleasure/feel happy/be delighted with/etc." and all I wanted to do was warn those who might go to the film with expectations of a "good time" that that's not what they're going to find. Many people read reviews and know the plot in detail before they see a film. Some see films based on recommendations without knowing the plot. I do both, depending on various factors. My "warning" had nothing whatsoever to do with intellectual or emotional factors and it had nothing whatsoever to do with how I personally feel about the film. It was intended as a "don't rent this if you're in a Full Monty/Men In Black/In & Out kind of mood" warning. It would be the same as warning someone to not listen to Diamanda Galas if they're in a No Doubt mood. I guess, even though I said it twice, I didn't make it clear enough. I suppose that my saying I hated the film within the same post gave the impression that I was warning people not to see it at all, and that's not what I intended. I said: v>There is no uplifting ending or easy answers v> or solved problems. j> That basically is one of the themes of the film: some j> things just happen, cannot and therefore should not be j> explained, but we must still find a way to move on and live j> our lives. If this is intended specifically for me, it's wasted, since it seems to assume that I have a *problem* with the fact that there is no uplifting ending, easy answers or solved problems. I don't. More power to TSH. I admire film makers who take such chances. Again, it was part of my "warning." I pretty much agree with what you say. j> Spoiler (discussion of sexual abuse and/or incest below) j> S j> P j> O j> I j> L j> E j> R v> People who haven't v> seen it should be forewarned that it's a heavily v> depressing movie, that it's about children dying v> and parents grieving and ambulance chasing and v> sexual abuse j> I just wanted to interject here that the film j> does not actually portray the relationship between j> Nicole and her father as one of sexual _abuse_. j> Certainly, a sexual relationship is implied (through a j> single kiss), so that the film does portray incest. j> However, there is no indication that this relationship j> is non consensual (which I regard as sort of a j> requirement for a relationship to be called abusive). [1] This is vast, and I'll refrain from writing a 10 page rant on the subject, but your "requirement" makes my stomach turn. You are so wrong. That you add a half-hearted footnote doesn't make it any better. j> Basically, the film takes a nonjudgemental view of the j> relationships between its characters, which is in line j> with one of the themes of the movie. The film's view is *very* judgemental, but I didn't see that myself when I first saw the movie. Actually, I thought it was judgemental in the opposite direction, that the film was saying that the father/daughter incest was beautiful and romantic. As Charley said: c> In the second place, your interpretation of the film— c> which in my view, is greatly mistaken (more on c> which below)—is exactly the interpretation that c> Vickie had, and exactly the reason it so upset c> her. The film’s apparent romanticization of father-daughter c> incest is exactly why Vickie was so horrified by the film. No kidding! The worst part for me was that this subplot was unexpected. I had read lots of reviews and articles about this film before seeing it, and NOT ONE of the writers mentioned that there was an incest subplot to the film. Even the slightest mention would have given me a chance to prepare myself, steel my mind, so to speak. I *would* still have seen the film. I'd been looking forward to it since I heard it was a) filmed in beautiful Canada and b) starred one of my favorite actors, Ian Holm. I knew going in that it was a sad and heavy film about children dying in a bus accident and how the town copes with the loss and how Ian Holm's lawyer character comes to town to try and get a lawsuit on behalf of the families going. I knew all that. I just didn't know about the one thing that I needed to know to be able to prepare for the shock. As it was, that scene smacked me upside the head and sent me reeling, never to recover for the remainder of the film. Because of the surprise, I "read" the scene wrong, and because I read *that* scene wrong, I read the ending of the film wrong, since they're completely tied together. I could apologize for my emotional reaction and how it made me view the film, but I thought what I thought and I felt what I felt and for months after I saw the movie I couldn't get over it. I actually walked out, after the film was over, feeling numb. As hours, days, weeks went by, I felt more and more hatred for the film. I thought that a seedy, cheap, bullshit subplot took away from what should have been the main focus of the film, that of the children dying and the families coping. I know I know I know, who am I to re-write how a film *should* have been? I simply couldn't take the film the way it was, and isn't that why people dislike the films they dislike? Because they don't accept what the film gives them? Still, my mind was open enough to tell myself that someday I would read the book, because books always explain more and develop characters more than films have time to. Then I had a long talk with Charley about the film. His perspective helped me understand that I had completely misunderstood that very important chunk of the film. (Funny, I let my emotions get in the way of understanding that subplot, while John let his intellect get in the way of understanding that subplot). I've promised Charley that I will see the film again. I'll then be able to judge it more fairly and with a greater understanding of where the subplot fits into the dense, complex fabric of the film. I'm not really up to responding to the rest of what John or Charley wrote, except for this: j> IMO, only what the director has placed onto j> the screen can be used to analyze the relationships j> therein. But, neither of us "saw" what the director *had* placed onto the screen and we both analyzed the relationship wrong. You're just as guilty of it as I was. j> I guess it's just a pet peeve of mine when someone j> reads into a movie what is not there. Interpretation (right or wrong) is a pet peeve of yours? Do you see everything in black and white and expect everyone else to do so too? Vickie ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1998 03:56:18 -0400 From: Steve I Subject: Lenni Jabour/Arrogant Worms Paul K typed: >I finally got around to listening to Lenni Jabour's self titled cd while i was >mowing the lawn last week....it's only 7 or 8 songs...so i don't know if that >classifies as an EP or what...anyways, it's nice. Um....piano and voice with >backing instrumentation....she calls to mind Rebecca Timmons in a Kami Lyle >kinda vein...sweet girlish singer-songwriting...i'll have to listen to it more >to get a better feel...i like it ok, but it doesn't wow me... I'm not sure if she does it on the CD, but live she has this kind of affected childlike quivery weepy thing going on in most of her songs that I found quite annoying. Her one song she played that night that she *didn't* subject us to it I liked alright, but it wasn't enough to rescue the night for me. However this is probably just a personal thing because a couple of my friends find it original and like her quite a lot. As always, YMMV. >Speaking of Moxy Fruvous... if ectofolk like them, they >might like the Arrogant Worms as well... has anybody out >there heard of them (except Damon? :) Certainly have! The only group discussed on ecto (albeit rarely) that I can claim to have found out about by coming across them busking on the sidewalk quite literally in front of my apartment. This was 5 or 6 years ago when I lived in Kingston, Ontario. I wish I could say that their popularity exploded in a Jewel-like fashion, but it seems they've peaked at headlining busker festivals and the occasional folk festival; although long favourites of CBC radio, they unfortunately haven't seemed to garner much success on commercial radio. It's a huge shame because these guys put on an incredibly entertaining show. But certainly fans of Moxy Fruvous should check them out. They're a lot folkier than Moxy and are relentlessly silly... but like Moxy they are consummate showmen. Canuck comedic folk at its best. Anyway they actually have an entry in the Ectophiles Guide to Good Music! http://www.smoe.org/ectoguide/arrogant.worms.html Greg J. typed... >Hip. For what it's worth, I like Sarah Polley's version of "Courage" >quite a bit better so far (with apologies to fans of The Tragically >Hip...). That's OK, I don't think there are that many of us here anyway. Just a few Canucks and the odd demi-Canuck living near the border (hiya cas!). :-) Tragically Hip are from Kingston too. They never busked outside my apartment though. Steve P.S. Meth, I *loved* the karaoke story! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Steve I | Check out cool Toronto artists Sarah Slean & Emm Gryner Toronto, CAN | at NORTHERN SOUNDS: http://webhome.idirect.com/~nsounds/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1998 07:51:38 EDT From: Riphug@aol.com Subject: New Releases for June 23rd <<*Rock and Pop new releases* - -------------------------- - - BARRY ADAMSON - As Above, So Below (partially produced by Flood) (Mute) - - ANTHRAX - Volume VIII (w/Phil Anselmo and Dimebag Darrell of Pantera guesting) (Ignition) - - ARAB STRAP - The Week Never Starts Round Here (Matador) - - BABY FOX - Dum Dum Baby (Roadrunner) - - BILLY BRAGG & WILCO - Mermaid Avenue (ICE #134) (Elektra) - - BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE - Strung Out in Heaven (TVT) - - CALIFORNIA GUITAR MUSIC - Pathways (Discipline Global Music) - - CATATONIA - International Velvet (Vapor/WB) - - CPR - CPR (David Crosby's new band; ICE #135) (Samson) - - CRIMPSHRINE - Sound of a New World Being Born (Lookout) - - DARK FUNERAL - Vobiscum Satanus (Metal Blade) - - TAMI DAVIS - Only You (Red Ant/Mercury) - - JOHN FORTE - Poly-Sci (clean and explicit versions) (Refugee Camp/Ruffhouse/Columbia) - - TOM FREUND - North American Long Weekend (w/jazz organist Jimmy Smith guesting) (Red Ant/Mercury) - - JEFFREY GAINES - Galore (Rykodisc) - - GORGUTS - Obscura (Slipdisc/Mercury) - - PATTY GRIFFIN - Flaming Red (w/Emmylou Harris and Angelo guesting) (A&M) - - RONNIE HENSON - Ronnie Henson (Motown) - - HEROIC DOSES (w/Bill Dolan, ex-5ive Style) - Heroic Doses (Sub Pop) - - ICOS - At the Speed of Light (Slipdisc/Mercury) - - KATE JACOBS - Hydrangea (Bar None) - - JUPITER COYOTE - Here Be Dragons (Roadrunner) - - PAUL K. AND THE PRAYERS - A Wilderness of Mirrors (Alias) - - MINNIE KING - Minnie King (N2K) - - LINK - Sex Down (Relativity) - - THE LOOSE NUTS - The Loose Nuts (NY ska) (Gotham) - - LOUVETTE - Crazy In Love (Private I/Mercury) - - LOVE HUSKIES - Glider 600 (Gotham) - - MAN WITH NO NAME - Earth Moving the Sun (Kenetic/Perfecto/Reprise) - - NAKED MUSIC NYC - What's on Your Mind (OM) - - MARK NESLER - I'm Just that Way (Asylum) - - ROBERT POLLARD (member of Guided by Voices) - Waved Out (Matador) - - FRITZ RENOLD & THE BOSTONIAN FRIENDS - Starlight (Columbia) - - LIONEL RICHIE - Time (Mercury) - - LINDA RONSTADT - We Ran (ICE#130) (Elektra) - - SHONEN KNIFE - Happy Hour (w/cover of The Monkees' Daydream Believer) (Big Deal) - - SPECTACLE - Glow in the Dark Soul (Island) - - THE SPINANES - Arches and Aisles (Sub Pop) - - SUGARPLANT - Trance Mellow & Happy (two CDs compiling Japanese EPs) (World Domination) - - THE SUPERJESUS - Sumo (Warner Bros.) - - SWINGIN UTTERS Five Lessons Learned (Fat Wreck Chords) - - SYSTEM OF A DOWN - System of a Down (American/Columbia) - - TUATARA (w/Peter Buck of R.E.M.) - Trading with the Enemy (Epic) - - THE VANDALS HITLER - Bad, Vandals Good (Nitro) - - WASSIS - Toxu (Triloka/Mercury) - - Various artists - "Speed - Boomin' UK Underground" (Mutant Sound System) - - Original soundtrack to "Out of Sight" (MCA) *Rock and Pop reissues* - ----------------------- - - BUFFALO TOM - Birdbrain; and Let Me Come Over (Beggars Banquet) - - THE CHARLATANS UK - Between 10th and 11th; and Some Friendly (Beggars Banquet) - - LOU CHRISTIE - The Complete Co & Ce/Roulette Recordings (21 tracks) (Taragon) - - KING CRIMSON - Absent Lovers (two CDs; ICE #135) (Discipline Global Music) - - LIEGELORD - Burn to My Touch; and Master Control (Metal Blade) - - NEKTAR - The Dream Nebula (Best of 1971-75) (two CDs) (Purple Pyramid) - - NICHOLS & MAY (famous comedic duo) - An Evening With; Examine Doctors; and Improvisations to Music (Mercury) - - GARY NUMAN - Pleasure Principal; and Telekon (ICE #135) (Beggars Banquet) - - OBSESSION - Marshall Law (Metal Blade) - - GRAHAM PARKER & THE RUMOUR - Not If It Pleases Me (BBC sessions; ICE #135)(Hux) - - VILLAGE PEOPLE - Live and Sleazy (Mercury) - - WITCHKILLER - Day of the Saxon (Metal Blade) - - Various artists - Island 40th Anniversary: Vol. III, 1968-1975 Acoustic Waves (Folk Rock) (ICE #135) (Island) - - Various artists - Island 40th Anniversary: Vol. IV, 1967-1975 Electric Currents (Progressive Rock) (ICE #135) (Island) - - Original soundtrack to "Endless Love" (Mercury) *Blues new releases* - -------------------- - - ALVIN YOUNGBLOOD HART - Territory (Hannibal) - - MICHAEL HILL'S BLUES MOB - New York State of the Blues (Alligator) - - PHILLIP WALKER - I've Got a Sweet Tooth (Black Top) - - KENNY NEAL - Blues Fallin' Down Like Rain (Telarc) *Blues reissues* - ---------------- - - Various artists - "Down Home Harmonica" (22 unreleased tracks by 13 artists, including Big Walter and Little Walter, Billy Boy Arnold, Doctor Ross, Driftin' Slim, produced by Pete Welding and Big Joe Williams) (Testament/HMG) - - HEZEKIAH EARLY AND THE HOUSE ROCKERS - Hezekiah Early (Highwater/HMG) *Country new releases* - ---------------------- - - THE SADIES - Precious Moments (Bloodshot) - - MARK NESLER - I'm Just That Way (Asylum) *Jazz new releases* - ------------------- - - JEREMY DAVENPORT - Maybe in a Dream (Telarc Jazz) - - JULIUS HEMPHILL - Chile/New York (Black Saint) - - CHARLES GAYLE QUARTET - Daily Bread (Black Saint) - - LEE KONITZ AND FRANCO D'ANDREA - Inside Cole Porter (Philology) - - JERRY GRANELLI AND BADLANDS - Enter a Dragon (Songlines) - - STEVEN KIRBY - Point of Balance (A-Records) - - ROYCE CAMPBELL - Pitapat (A-Records) - - KID ORY AND RED ALLEN - In Denmark (Storyville) - - MUGGSY SPANIER - Manhattan Masters, 1945 (Storyville) - - EARL HINES AND HIS ESQUIRE ALL STARS - Featuring Dicky Wells (Storyville) - - RED MITCHELL/WAYNE MARSH DUO - Big Two Vol. Two (Storyville) - - HUGH LAWSON TRIO - Prime Time (Storyville) *Jazz reissues* - --------------- - - SONNY STITT - Best of the Rest (32 Jazz) - - JIMMY PONDER - Steel City Soul (32 Jazz) - - ETTA JONES - Doin' What She Does Best (32 Jazz) - - RED RODNEY - Hey Chood (32 Jazz) - - MULGREW MILLER - Chapters One and Two (32 Jazz) - - Various artists - "Under the Covers Vol. Two, Collaborations Vol. Three and For Lover Vol. Four" (Warner Bros.) - - HUGH MASEKELA - The Boys Doin' It (Verve) - - OSCAR BROWN JR. - Mr. Brown Goes to Washington (Verve) - - MEL TORME - Swingin' on the Moon (Verve) - - WALTER WANDERLEY - Rain Forest (Verve) - - BLOSSOM DEARIE - Give Him the Ooh-La-La (Verve) - - DIZZY GILLESPIE - Jambo Caribe (Verve) - - LES MCCANN - Talkin' Verve (Verve) - - "Jazz 'Round Midnight" collections by STAN GETZ and ELLA FITZGERALD AND LOUIS ARMSTRONG (Verve) - - JIMMY RANEY - Live in Tokyo (Prevue/Classic) - - RAY BROWN - Blues for Jazzo (Prevue/Classic) New and reissued Compact Disc releases are provided by ICE Magazine, a leader in Compact Disc news. For a taste of the printed publication, visit ICE On-Line at www.icemagazine.com. (C) 1998 by Howard Communications, Inc. *Information subject to change. >> ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1998 09:03:16 -0400 (EDT) From: Tom Pinkl Subject: Grey Eye Glances info Grey Eye Glances will release their 2nd CD on Mercury Records _Painted Pictures_ on July 21st. They're having a 3 day release party at the Tin Angel, 2nd & Market Streets in Philadelphia, on July 22, 23, and 24. Admission includes a free copy of the new CD. For tickets call 215-928-0978. GEG info is available at 610-649-7991. They have a web site at www.greyeyeglances.com. - -- Thomas J. Pinkl 738 Louis Drive Unix Systems Programmer Warminster, Pa 18974 Health Business Systems, Inc. (215) 442-9300 x9260 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1998 09:15:10 -4000 From: "Charlie Sweeney" Subject: RE:karaoke night at the stratford ramada HI ectophiles, Paul "know what i mean?" Kim wrote: >Meth, Woj, JeffW...god i envy you. I think i'll team up with sherlyn and >say >that i hate you. By the way, what did you all drink at the karaoke bar ? :) Long Island Iced Teas would be my guess ;-) I spoke with Jane the Wonder Roadie last night, and she classified this as one of the strangest gigs ever. The audience was funereal, and Susan was intimidated by the huge crucifix which loomed behind her. The Ramada was stress reduction, pure and simple. Although I'm not one for bootlegs, a video of the "Ramada 5" in action would certainly pique my interest! Your Friendly List Janitor, Charlie Sweeney (=}===# Virtual Guitarist-Something Black http://www.voicenet.com/~charlies Join Susan's maillist-"believers" at: http://www.voicenet.com/~charlies/swmail.htm Susan's CD's are available at http://songs.com "Passion's always half impossibility" .....Susan Werner ------------------------------ Date: 23 Jun 1998 17:28:30 EDT From: Ariana@excelsior.net Subject: what the hell is going on with this list? I use to read posts on here and everyone was nice to each other. I was very pissed off today when I read a nasty post to someone on here about their response to Vicki's thoughts on "The Sweet There after". I thought nothing wrong of the original responder's post. I felt the post in response to it was very nasty and unnessary. I wish people on here could just calm down on take their shit to private email. It's becoming such a hostile community lately... Melissa ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1998 17:49:45 -0400 (EDT) From: Philip David Morgan Subject: Re: what the hell is going on with this list? Hello, Melissa: On 23 Jun 1998 Ariana@excelsior.net wrote: > I use to read posts on here and everyone was nice to each other. I was > very pissed off today when I read a nasty post to someone on here about > their response to Vicki's thoughts on [Atom Egoyan's] "The Sweet > Hereafter". I thought nothing wrong of the original responder's post. I > felt the post in response to it was very nasty and unnecessary.... Yes, and I found myself deleting the entire Egoyan thread when it turned ugly. And not just because of a sudden loss of politeness... I have high respect for Egoyan and his filmmaking career (which goes back to _Next of Kin_ and includes _Family Viewing_, _Speaking Parts_, _Calendar_ and the Disney-marketed _Exotica_). My only defence has been to delete, delete, delete... Philip David (yearning for a return to talk about among other things, Happy Rhodes) 6/23/1998 - ---- http://www.li.net/~philipda/dianaw.htm [The Diane Wolkstein Pages] - ---- "There's the audience, and an idea - and I'm the window through which we connect." - - Canadian composer Diana McIntosh. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1998 18:17:48 -0400 (EDT) From: Ofer Inbar Subject: ELH (speaking of strange gigs...) This talk about the surreality of that Susan Werner gig reminds me of something I meant to post about. Last Tuesday, I convinced JeffW to join me for an Einstein's Little Homunculus show at Ryles Jazz Club in Cambridge. I'll start with an intro to ELH, since I suspect not many people are familiar with them. (Any ELH fans here on ecto? speak up!) Aside from having one of my favorite names for a band, they're also one of the hardest to describe. Like We Saw The Wolf, The Mollys (yeah, I'll post about last night's show, after I get a chance to listen to the tape I made...), and moxy fruvous, they're a weird blend of various different influences and don't fit into any recognized genre. I think "tangled roots music", which we applied to The Mollys, fits here pretty well, but that's a very vague term until you state *which* roots are being tangled together. For Einstein's Little Homunculus, the main ones are: Celtic, R&B, Folk, and Silliness. With bits of poetry, cajun/zydeco, miscellaneous roots, world music, and so on. [Silliness is too a musical genre! See Also: Austin Lounge Lizards] The band is five people, all of whom sing on some of the songs. Tich Cownie plays electric fiddle, and occasionally a mandolin. Paul Crook is the main singer, and also plays various strings. Rob Rudin plays various percussion, including bodhran, washboard, and other strange things. Carol Laliberti plays whistles (penny, D) and saxes (alto & soprano) Sue Gedutis plays flute, pennywhistle, and alto & baritone sax. My favorite ELH song is one where they start off with Sue playing a jig on the bari sax (!!!), then the full band breaks into a medley of traditional jigs alternating back and forth with verses of A. A. Milne's poem "Disobedience", with one of the instrumental segments being their arrangment the theme to Gilligan's Island. Their history is a little unusual too. The original "Einstein's Little Homunculus" was an album recorded in 1993, with the two original members of ELH, Paul Crook and Derek Gross, both alumni of Simon's Rock college (and if you know Simons' Rock, you know it's synonymous with "weird" :) They later became a band with the other four members, and in 1995 won the Acoustic Underground competition, along with Merrie Amsterburg and Bob Malone. (one female, one male, and one group, win the competition). A few months later, Derek died. A chair was dedicated in Derek Gross' honor at Club Passim. If you go to Passim, look for the elaborately painted chair, with celtic knots and little homunculi and other mythical things. The band took a while off from performing, but did stay together. Their re-introduction to the music scene was a bang: their first show after coming out of hibernation was an appearance at the new artist showcase at Falcon Ridge 1996. There, they tied for first place in audience votes, and were invited back for Falcon Ridge '97, where they got to share a stage with Vance Gilbert, moxy fruvous, David Massengil, and others for the "Tall Tales" show, which I think is the best show I have ever seen at Falcon Ridge. (And yes, I did vote for them in 1996 :) So, that's my best effort at describing ELH. Disobedience is actually a song they do very frequently, so if you see them you'll probably hear it live. But not at that show last Tuesday, they didn't. For one thing, Ryles is a jazz club. They occasionally do have some folk acts, usually soloists doing an early show on a night when some jazz group is gonna play later, but for the most part folkies don't go to Ryles. And it was a Tuesday night. The turnout was the lowest I've ever seen for an Einstein's Little Homunculus show. When I got there, the band was occupying two tables, listening to the opening act, and there were probably about 6 other people in the room at several other tables. People trickled in so that by the time the opener was done, and ELH were making their set list, there were about 20. Jeff got there just before ELH took the stage - clearing two of the four tables up at the front so that Jeff and I were the only people sitting up front for their show. The set list was weird. They decided this was a good night to do all those songs they hardly ever do. Like most bands, ELH has a "canon", a set of songs of which they perform a fair portion of at every show, though it may be a different (overlapping) portion of the canon at each show. At this gig, they didn't even do *one* of that set. The set still did a good job of showcasing both inherent weirdness, their multi-instrumental talent, and their stylistic diversity. They even did some long Turkish tunes that I rarely get to see, for which I was glad. However, one effect of the way they chose their set was that they didn't do any of their more overt lyrically funny songs. For obvious reasons, those are among their most popular and they do them at a lot of shows. Instead, we got a large proportion of songs with *musical* (as opposed to lyrical) humor. It makes sense, musical humor being somewhat more esoteric to audiences who aren't used to attending a lot of concerts. Still, I'd never seen so much of it back to back, not even with Johnny Cunningham or the Austin Lounge Lizards. And much of it in rather unique musical genres, which made it weirder - - for example, making fun of cajun music while playing irish, or the other way 'round. The audience interaction odd, too. There were a few people who were very familiar with ELH and glad at a chance to hear these less common songs, a few people who had never heard ELH before and were getting a very atypical introduction to the band, a few people who were just there for the jazz trio scheduled for later, the opening artist (ugh, I'm blanking on his name, he was fun), and the clearly audible buzzing cash registers. Then, to top it off, I looked at the CD table after the show was done. I already own Einstein's Little Homunculus' CD, "Don't Ask", but Jeff was buying a copy. Don't Ask, incidentally, is one of their BDSM songs. At this show, they did the *other* BDSM song instead - it's called Kooky Floozy, and is one of the few lyrically silly songs they did that night. Anyway, there was one CD looking out of place in the stack of Don't Ask CDs: The Corrs! Just one Corrs CD, that's all. On it was a little post-it note saying something like, "Hey, Elizabeth (or some other name I didn't recognize), I shouldn't have this CD, I don't know how I got it, feel free to sell it." Thanks to the recent discussion here on ecto, I was intrigued and decided to buy it. Rob of ELH who was tending the table didn't really know what to sell it for. He read the post-it note. Jeff told me he'd paid 58 cents for a copy of this same CD at some point, and thought that was about what it was worth. Rob offerred it to me for $5, I said yes, Jeff said "you're overpaying", and I bought it. I listened to it the next day. Pleasant. Nothing special, but I think I'll probably end up listening to it again. -- Cos (Ofer Inbar) -- cos@leftbank.com cos@polyamory.org "Oh, it isn't very hard, the cellar's in the attic and the attic's in the yard Oh, try it now and see, the ocean's in the kitchen and the kitchen's on TV." -- Honest Bob & the Factory to Dealer Incentives, "My Dinner With Laurie" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Jun 98 10:35:00 GMT From: dgk@genie.com Subject: Lili Haydn Lili Haydn Mercury Lounge, June 18 Ever since I picked up Lili Haydn's very good solo album a few months ago I've been keeping an eye out for an opportunity to see her live. And at length it happened, at Mercury Lounge on Houston Street in New York City. Mercury Lounge is a small venue (it can't hold more than a couple hundred people), but up&coming major-label acts often play there on their way to larger places. (Elastica and Ruby, to name two, played their first U.S. gigs there.) There was something about the vibe when I went into the performance space that suggested this was an industry showcase (especially when Haydn herself peered out at the crowd and said, "Do I know everybody?"). It's a fairly large band: guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, cello, and Haydn (pronounced Hayden) on violin and lead vocals. One way to argue the question of an album's production is to say: if the artist can reproduce the sound live, the album is not overproduced. The flip side, however, is that if the sound is so thick it overloads the p.a. system, then maybe the album =is= overproduced. Both these things were true of Lili Haydn's band. I was standing up close, and even watching her nearly-soundlessly warm up (while the sound guys tried to solve the technical problem of her violin setup not coming through--she and the cellist and the bassist had at least four effects boxes each and the guitarist had at least half a dozen) I could tell that she was not a fiddler (like, say, Eliza Carthy) or a folk/rock violin player (like, say, Lisa Germano), but a classically-trained violinist (I found out later that among many other session gigs she'd played with the L.A. Philharmonic). And just in case there was any doubt, when the band was finally ready she ripped into an elaborate Gypsy cadenza that suggested she was about to break into Ravel's =Tzigane= or somesuch. Instead the band went into "Daddy," the ensemble finale (before the violin/piano coda "Wants Deep") from her album. It was a barnburner: the band hit every mark and dramatic shift dead on the nose, particularly the crashing instrumental break. The violin was a little underamplified, with a bit of a buzz on the lower strings, but this was subsequently rectified. Lili Haydn's songs are an interesting mix: though they definitely have rock&roll rhythmic power and unusually strong pop hooks (which reverberate through my head for days), their structural sense is more classical; though they fall in the 4-to-5-minute range, they frequently interrupt the vocals with quiet cello/violin duets or extended ensemble instrumental passages; the live versions extend themselves with opportunities for Haydn or her fine guitarist (sometimes in alternation) to take fiery solos. As a performer Haydn is terrific: she is very small (about Kristin Hersh's size) but generates a lot of energy; she has a lead singer's =and= a lead guitarist's stage presence, and excellent rapport with both her band and the audience. In short, she has star quality. She did half a dozen songs from the album, plus about three new ones; the one she noted as brand-new, which is a shade darker and bluesier than most of the others, was one of the best. Other highlights included "Someday" (my favorite, with its driving bridge) and the soon-to-be-released single "Stranger" (those being the album's first two tracks). All in all it's one of the best shows I've seen in a while, and I'd go see her perform again like a shot. Unfortunately, her next New York gig is opening for Page and Plant at Madison Square Garden... ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1998 19:27:52 -0500 (CDT) From: kerry white Subject: question Would the oceans have more water if all those sponges didn't live in them? KrW "I wouldn't ride a thing called,'High School Oou Oou' if it had a vicuna saddle!" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1998 22:34:17 -0500 (CDT) From: The Watcher Subject: Re: Ecto's lowest point (was re: Sarah Polley) To the members of Ecto: If, as Charley says, I have offended or hurt anyone with my submission to this list, I apologize. I did not intend hurt, and I am truly sorry if anyone felt hurt by it. To Charley: I can only see that indeed you DID intend hurt with your reply. If I did wrong, you could have berated me, corrected me, in a civil manner. But through your initial claim of civility, I see a message constructed with such vehemence, meant to insult, villify, and hurt, from it's mocking of my sig line (who DOES this??) all the way up to its subject line. (Indeed, Ecto's Lowest Point is an apt title, I think, for YOUR OWN submission.) You meant to hurt me, and indeed you did. I have but one last thing to say to you, in this thread or any other: Fuck Off! John Higdon (The Watcher) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1998 22:34:43 -0500 (CDT) From: The Watcher Subject: Re: experiencing (was Re: Sarah Polley) At 09:32 PM 6/21/98 -0400, Neal Copperman wrote: >On Sun, 21 Jun 1998, The Watcher wrote: >> I guess it's just a pet peeve of mine when someone reads into a >> movie what is not there. No offense implied to Vickie. >It always seemed to me that the nature of appreciating anything (art, >theater, movies, music, tv, advertising, kitchenware, architecture, >cloths, bugs, ...) is an interplay between the thing and the individual. >Something created to be experienced generally has a goal or point of view, >but what people get out of it may or may not be what the artist intended. >Each person has their own way of reacting, and can respond to an artwork >in different ways, and it always seemed to me that those reactions are >often as interesting as what inspired them. Okay, time for clarification: I think we are talking about description vs. interpretation here. To me, description is simply stating what is there. I can't remember what they were called, but there was a type of character in the book Stranger in a Strange Land which observed things and then recounted these as descriptions. (I think they were some form of expert witness. I haven't read the book in awhile.) Overall, this type of description is objective, without taint of a person's subjective view of things, which are colored by one's experiences. This is the description, the observation, of the scientist (or at least what they strive for). OTOH, interpretation is about explaining what is there. It takes the objective observation, and fills it in with the color from one's own subjective point of view. It fills in the gaps of why and how, and other things which are not directly observed. This is the interpretation of the artist. Though I fallaciously used the term "interpretation", and indeed did some interpreting myself (in naming a theme to the movie), what I meant was description. I meant to say that _description_, such as a description of the character's relationships, should only come from what is observed in the movie, and not from one's own guesses as to past developments. I felt that Vickie should have simply _described_ what was in the movie, since giving one's own interpretation, in a case such as this, may affect someone's own later viewing of the movie. I wanted others who have not seen the movie (and may be making a decision whether to do so or not) to know that, strictly speaking, Vickie was giving her interpretation of the particular relationship, and not a direct description of such. And yes, I realize (and admitted above) that I violated my own rule there. John Higdon (The Watcher) ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V4 #199 **************************