From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V4 #305 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Friday, September 4 1998 Volume 04 : Number 305 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Happy Philly Date Remains a Mystery ["C. K. Coney" ] Dar Williams - German tour dates [Sherlyn Koo ] Re: Susan Tedeschi: Just Won't Burn [Alundra Madusa Blayze ] new Susan Werner CD & samples [Jeff Wasilko ] RE: CPR & other Samson Artists [Michael Pearce ] Re: Happy concerts in Philly? (group ticket purchases and get togethers?) [pauly on the shore ] Re: Happy concerts in Philly? (group ticket purchases and get togethers?) [meredith ] MWABT - one ectophile's review [meredith ] RE: Helen Terry's "Blue Notes" [stunning@tezcat.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 03 Sep 1998 19:22:21 -0700 From: "C. K. Coney" Subject: Happy Philly Date Remains a Mystery MRL220@aol.com wrote: > Just talked to the Painted BRIDE Arts Center which is at 230 Vine St (not 30). > They have a "rental" on that date but no specific info on the Happy concert. > > I just checked their website (www.paintedbride.org) & they have scheduled a dance recital by a guy named Steve something or other on the date in question. I guess that would qualify as a "rental" of their space...so, we're back to the big question...whether the Happy date is indeed confirmed there, and when. I think I'll wait & not buy any airline tix until I hear something more. Carol ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1998 10:14:02 +1000 (EST) From: Sherlyn Koo Subject: Dar Williams - German tour dates Hey folks, This is grabbed from the dar-list... - -sherlyn =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= a+e=ig Sherlyn Koo - sherlyn@fl.net.au [Sydney, Australia] "Well I've taken to talking to myself, And I don't even get it..." - Patty Larkin - --- begin forwarded message Date: Thu, 03 Sep 1998 11:45:56 -0400 From: Young/Hunter Information Subject: The *Confirmed* German Schedule At long last, here are the confirmed Germany & Surrounding Area dates! =09 DATE CITY VENUE =09 9/20 Frankfurt Sinkkasten=09 9/21 Br=FCssel Ancianne Belgique=09 9/22 Amsterdam Paradiso=09 9/24 Hamburg Knust=09 9/26 M=FCnchen Bongo Bar=09 9/27 Z=FCrich El Internacional=09 I'm still gathering ticket/venue phone numbers but I'll post them when I have them. They will also be on Musi-Cal (http://concerts.calendar.com). Kerry :) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 03 Sep 1998 17:41:06 -0700 From: Alundra Madusa Blayze Subject: Re: Susan Tedeschi: Just Won't Burn Good 'ol Riphug wrote: > I was looking through the music section of a Book-of-the-Month Club > catalog and came across a review for Susan Tedeschi. Isn't she someone > that's been discussed here on ecto? > > So here's the review: > > [decent right on review, thanks Jill...] > So I take it she's someone to check out? > My sister Delores has the album and likes it a lot. After I moved here, it was the first album that she wanted me to listen to (over and over, so I think I have a fairly good idea how it sounds :). Susan is *very* popular up here in the Seattle area. In fact, my sis told me that recently (about 2 weeks ago now) they flew her in from wherever she's from in order just to play about TWO songs at, I think, a B.B. King show. (I'm probably wrong about whose show it was, but it was a male blues artist, perhaps Buddy Guy?). Her official website is really nice. Click on http://www.pipeline.com/~stb/ It has plenty of clips from the album as well as from previous releases. She does make you think of Janis and Bonnie. She doesa cover of "Angel from Montgomery" on the album which is nice, but to me it actually sounds *too much* like Bonnie's version-almost like Susan wass trying to imitate it, but other than that slight quibble, the lady is quite talented, she has mucho soul, and I like it. Personally, she reminds me of the "Austin sound," similar to people like Lou Ann Barton or Marcia Ball, kinda in that vein. Very listenable. And she rocks, too. If you like that hard blues edge, you can't go wrong with this album. > Jill :D > *share the music!* > Larry (alundra@olypen.com) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 03 Sep 1998 22:06:04 From: Melissa Barberer Subject: Happy in Troy, NY and Philly, PA Currently I am waffling if I should go to either of these shows or not. I am really hoping she will have a NYC show but my gut instincts are saying she won't. If it was a year from now I would even consider driving to Philadelphia. (I have one year left under assigned risk so I want to keep my driving record clean.) I think going to Philly by public transportation would be easier than going to Troy for me. Any which we if I went I would have to call in sick to work. I hate calling in sick. I won't have any personal days by then and I am saving my vacation time for a trip to Florida and California...I can't see where she could play in NYC or how she would sell seats if the Bottom Line didn't even fill up when she played. And I recall she said that she doesn't like going to NYC. (But then after that comment she went to the Bottom Line twice.) And to top it off it should be a crazy weekend because it's Columbus Day weekend. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1998 22:49:05 -0400 From: Jeff Wasilko Subject: new Susan Werner CD & samples Susan's releasing a new CD on September 15th, titled "Time Between Trains". You can listen to 3 full-length samples at www.susanwerner.com/susan-music.html - -Jeff ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1998 19:51:27 -0800 From: Michael Pearce Subject: RE: CPR & other Samson Artists "C. K. Coney" writes, > So, speaking of Samson artists, has anyone checked > out McKinley? What do folks here think of her > music? I noticed from the website that she's > touring around Pac NW, so I would guess she's from > there? Has she been mentioned here before, by > Neile or anyone else from up Seattle way? She's from Portland. I was promoting her to ecto back in '94-95 when her first local cd came out. She is on the list of ecto-recommended artists, and I still have my page for her up at http://www.moonmac.com/McKinley/McKinley.html. Definately recommend her music. Michael ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 03 Sep 1998 23:06:28 -0400 From: pauly on the shore Subject: Re: Happy concerts in Philly? (group ticket purchases and get togethers?) also sprach C. K. Coney: >I prefer New York, so I'd love to hear from NY area (city, not upstate) >ectophile who would be willing to take on group advance tix purchases. well, meredith and i live in new haven, but we find ourselves in the city often enough. if and when a new york date is announced, i'm sure we'll be picking up tickets as soon as humanly possible and will happily pick up additional tix for anyone who asks (we've done this in the past, so it's no big deal). woj ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 03 Sep 1998 23:03:39 -0400 From: pauly on the shore Subject: Re: WFMU &WPKN also sprach Valerie Kraemer: >I think the big difference between WPKN and WFMU is that WPKN is a >community station in the sense that all of the programming decisions are >made from the bottom up by the 75+ individual programmers rather than >having chunks of time every day of the week devoted to certain genres as >it is at WFMU and most other stations. Inconsistent we are and >inconsistent we will remain. (oddly enough, i was thinking about this on and off all day!) except for nachem segal's weekday morning jewish music program ("jm in the am"), wfmu doesn't block any of its programming. as with wpkn, deejays have full rein over what they play and one should have no expectations of what one'll hear at anytime of the day. personally, i think there are two things that make the stations different: first, wfmu's staff has a hipper-than-thou attitude with an almost self-consciously eclectic in music. except for a few people whose shows are fairly cohesive (irene trudell, rob weisberg, irwin chusid, meredith i-forget-her-last-name and nick hill when he was still on the air), you get a lot of folks who seem to be in a contest to out-do each other in terms of obscurity and strangeness. in contrast, wpkn's staff seems to be more down-to-earth and earnest. while there is an eclectic range of genres represented, individual deejays seem to be interested in specific genres, which they are highly informed about. i think this contributes to wpkn's stronger focus on folk, roots and blues - -- something which is notably lacking at the chic wfmu (barring that single reggae program on saturday). second, wfmu seems to rotate deejays more often than wpkn. at the latter, slots only open up when someone dies or moves out of the area. at the former, deejays periodically take "sabbaticals". slots are also churned up more often at 'fmu. this flux lends 'fmu a more chaotic feeling, whereas 'pkn seems fairly stable to me (how long has the skies over bridgeport been on every friday at 8:30 pm?). woj ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 03 Sep 1998 22:57:22 -0400 From: meredith Subject: Re: Happy concerts in Philly? (group ticket purchases and get togethers?) Hi! Well, it looks like it's getting to be about that time! Of course the two dates we're hearing about WOULD have to be on a weeknight, both of them, each several hours away from where I live. :P Oh well. That's what vacation days are for, right? Marty brought up: >For those of us out of town it would be helpful to have as much advance notice >as possible. Airlines are now offering cheapo airfares for Sat to Mon or Tues >trips but you have to make a 14 day advance purchase. Lets have the info as >soon as possible. As we're seeing, I think we'll be among the very first to know whenever anything is finalized. :) >Also, if the concerts are in Philly (as others have suggested) is anyone there >willing to organize a group purchase and a possible get together ? It looks like it's time to get the "Happy concert machine" back into gear. For each city where she's going to play, we'll need to organize the following: - -- someone(s) to buy blocks of tickets (directly from the venue box office: remember, Ticketslime Very Very Bad!) - -- pre-show dinner gathering place - -- ectosuite(s) at a local hotel (the Marriott Courtyard has been the traditional hotel of choice - JeffW, do you still have your discount thingie?) - -- transportation from airport/train station/bus station for the out-of-towners coming in In the past, JeffW has set up a mailing list specifically for the attendees of a given show (phillyshow@smoe.org), so we can avoid cluttering up ecto with the niggling details. Any chance of something similar happening this time, Jeff? Should a miracle occur and a venue in Connecticut be set up for this tour, I'll gladly take on the responsibility of setting things up for that show. There will also be crash space available at smoe.central. Right now, though, it looks like we've definitely got to plan for Philly and Troy. Any volunteers for the ticket purchasing/hotel booking/gathering planning duties there? +==========================================================================+ | 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: Thu, 03 Sep 1998 21:51:39 -0400 From: meredith Subject: so much to say, so little time Hi! Yow. I've got a huge backlog in my ectobox ... but I'll just cover the most important stuff now. First, a collective (and heartfelt) thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes. It was a surreal day, but in the end a good one. :) (One usually doesn't expect the doorbell to ring at 10:30 pm and find that your nephew, niece, and sister-in-law, who all live in Oregon are standing at the door waiting to wish you a happy birthday! Yes, it's a long story...) It turned out that my real birthday celebration was last Saturday, at the ectogather at JeffW's House Of SMOE. It was one long weekend of ecto, actually, as woj and I went up to Boston on Friday afternoon and shortly thereafter were joined by Alan Ezust (we old timers remember Alan well - it was wonderful to see him again :). We ended up in the North End for incredible Italian food before it was time to pick Valerie Nozick up at the airport. Saturday was the official ectogather at Jeff's. In attendance were (besides Jeff, woj, Valerie, and myself) Alan Ezust, Michael Colford, Angelos Kyrlidis, Glenn MacDonald (of The War Against Silence fame), and Paul Kim. It was a nice little gathering. After food, I obligingly followed half the group upstairs to see the Warm Closet of SMOE, not realizing that in the meantime woj was downstairs lighting my cake on fire. :) Apparently everyone but me was in on it. So a big public thanks to everyone, and it was great to meet/see you all to boot! :) Ectophiles are a great bunch of folk. After the gathering it was time to head to Fenway to sit in the rain and see the Red Sox crush the Angels, after which woj, Jeff, Val and I went back to Jeff's to have dinner and watch _The Big Lebowski_, as I mentioned before. woj pretty much summed up my feelings about the film: very much like a Tom Robbins novel, and much fun. I liked it much better than _Fargo_, actually. And Aimee Mann's little cameo was worth the price of admission in and of itself. :) The Dude abides, man! The other important note of the weekend was that I got to hear Susan Werner's new album, _Time Between Trains_, which is to be officially released on September 15th. I love the songs, and for the most part the arrangements are good, but overall I have to say I'm a bit disappointed. Svetlana has one of the most amazing voices on the planet today, and on this album (with only a very few brief exceptions) she doesn't use it at all. She whispers her way through songs I've seen her belt out to the skies in live performance, leaving me to sit there wanting to shout at the CD player, "SING, dammit, SING!". Not to mention there are a couple songs where she sounds *exactly* like Shawn Colvin. (Nothing against Shawn Colvin, but Svetlana would wipe the floor up with Shawn in a karaoke contest.) The last thing I want to see for Susan Werner is to be held up as a Shawn Colvin-alike. IMNSHO she's much better than that. (That reminds me of one of the funniest quotable quotes I've heard in a long time: WFUV's Rita Houston commenting on "this post-Shawn Colvin world in which we live". ;) I haven't given up yet, though. This quibble is pretty much the same as the problem I had with Sarah McLachlan's _Solace_ for years, until finally one day I realized I didn't care any more and I loved it anyway. The songs on _Time Between Trains_ are so good, I'm sure this album will end up the same way. +==========================================================================+ | 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: Thu, 03 Sep 1998 23:22:45 -0400 From: meredith Subject: MWABT - one ectophile's review Hi! Okay, it's high time I got off my butt and wrote up my thoughts on MWABT. Right now I'm listening to it on headphones, which I haven't done before tonight. It's like unwrapping it and popping it into the player for the very first time all over again. Yowza. The capsule review: This is brilliance in action. Every time I listen, I hear something new. I have no doubt that I'll be able to say that for a very, very long time. There aren't too many albums I can say that about: _The Dreaming_, for one. Not bad company to be in, I'd say! The first time I *really* listened to MWABT was on a tape of a tape, in a rental car speeding from the Milwaukee airport toward Rockford, Illinois at 10:30 on a Sunday night after a particularly hellish flight from LaGuardia. I'd heard it several times before that, but hadn't really *listened* to it before then. Even though I couldn't hear half of it as it turns out, it finally clicked with me on that run-through. Then we got the CD, and I listened to it on the big stereo for the first time. Talk about a mind-bending experience! This past weekend, woj and I drove up to Boston with the CD cranked up to a dangerously high level on my car stereo, feeling the bass in our bones and watching the jiggling of the rear view mirror as it reacted to the soundwaves passing through it. After that I decided I absolutely love this album, and it could well find its way onto my short list of all-time faves before it's done. Where to begin? The layer upon layer upon layer of sonic soundscape, which unfolds more and more with each consecutive listen; the unbelievable range of sounds Happy produces with her increasingly amazing voice; the overall mood of the album, which holds together as a piece and gives me a vivid picture in my mind's eye of several science fiction classics at once (for example the voyage across the Sea of Grass in Dan Simmons' _Hyperion_, and the tortured protagonist of Alfred Bester's _The Stars My Destination_); the disappointment I feel as the final notes of "Serenading Genius" fade away at the end... There are so many moments on this disc that are *just* right. The bass on "Tragic" (though I find myself wondering what would happen if Steve Bernal, Ingrid Karklins' bass player were to get hold of the same riff - windows would probably crack all the way down the street); the "Experiment IV"-like violin on "Roy"; the little yodels in "Serenading Genius" ... I could go on and on. Not to mention that entire essays could be written on the backing vocals disguised as instrumentation scattered throughout the album, too. Kibbles & bits: - -- I can't decide if "Looking Over Cliffs" or "Serenading Genius" is the best track on the disc. Right now I'm leaning toward "Looking Over Cliffs", if only because it contains perhaps Happy's most gut-wrenching vocal in the middle (got milk?). I absolutely cannot wait to witness her singing the lines "Anywhere you go, here or beyond/Nothing will stop me from finding out what dream you're on" live. Humans just shouldn't be able to *do* that. - -- Way back in time at the Tin Angel, the first time Happy peformed "Many Worlds Are Born Tonight" (which was then, and will always be known (to me, anyway) as "Jork") Kevin mentioned that Happy was working on recording the album version of the song with every instrumental part being a different kind of vocal. The first few times I heard the song on the disc I felt a bit disappointed that she didn't end up doing that, but now that I've had a chance to listen a bit closer I'm wondering if she didn't do it after all. There are some sounds on the song that are unmistakably electronic in origin, but give a good listen to the clapping percussive bits running underneath the entire thing ... processed claps and clicking noises or no? And the electronic roar at the end sounds like a processed belch to me ... I wonder how far afield I am with that one. ;) - -- Another question about "Jork": was the line "many worlds are born tonight" in the version Happy was performing way back when? I honestly can't remember. - -- Anyone else think that "Tragic" could have been on _Rearmament_? - -- Speaking of "Tragic", pay close attention to the very last sound on the track - if there was ever any doubt that Happy's a Mac user, this should take care of it. ;> - -- Mitch Elrod already showed it to us on "Wrong Century", but on "Proof" he makes it even clearer: he's one of the weirdest backing vocalists around. - -- I like "Roy". I didn't at first, but it's really grown on me. You can't deny that it has a hook that could land a whale. I think "Proof" would make a better single, though. Is MWABT Happy's best album? Too soon to tell. Is it my favorite Happy album? Not sure. _Rhodes I_ and _Warpaint_ will always have a special place in my heart because they were my first, but MWABT is wrapping itself around my brain and refusing to let go. Is it, as many here have said, her best since _Warpaint_? I think so. Unlike many here I adore _BtC_, and I also really like _Equipoise_, but MWABT delivers more consistent "wow" reactions than both of those put together. Kudos to Happy for creating a true work of genius. (Extra points scored for the funky panning at the beginning of "Ra Is A Busy God", too. ;) I honestly don't see this being the breakout success we could hope it to be; the mainstream public isn't ready for something this layered and complex. However, those who do find it are going to be in for a real treat. +==========================================================================+ | 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: Fri, 4 Sep 1998 00:15:17 -0600 From: stunning@tezcat.com Subject: RE: Helen Terry's "Blue Notes" I was SO happy to read what Tim Cook wrote: >I've got the Blue Notes CD and it is excellent. I even managed to find a copy >for a friend 2nd hand but I haven't seen it around for quite a few years. I >don't think Helen released any other albums. I think she had one in the >pipeline but for some reason it got shelved and she made a career move - >something in childrens telly I think. >tim If ANYONE sees this disc, please please please, let me know...as I've mentioned, its been about 10 years, maybe more...I've never seen it on disc and would LOVE to get it. Thank you so much in advance to the person who might someday see it and notify me of its existence... Thomas >______________________________________________________________________________ >_ >From: stunning@tezcat.com on 3Sep 1998 06:40 >Subject: Helen Terry's "Blue Notes" >To: ecto@smoe.org > >Hi Everyone, > >I have a question about Helen Terry and her album "Blue Notes." I have >this record on vinyl, but have spent more than 10 years searching for it on >CD... >The vinyl is great but doesn't support the mastering/mixing job and when >she lets loose on some really big loud high notes, it actually gives a bit >of feedback... > >Has anyone seen this GREAT recording on CD? Or any other Helen Terry >albums period, other than this one? > >Thanks, > >Thomas Dunning >Brown Star Records >Chicago > >I WANNA BE KATE: The Songs of Kate Bush >http://www.tezcat.com/~stunning/kate/index.html ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V4 #305 **************************