From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V5 #84 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Monday, March 8 1999 Volume 05 : Number 084 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Julia Darling [SpiritWe@aol.com] Ecto Webring update: Alternate webring graphics now available! (long...) [Kay S Cleaves ] Re: Ecto Webring update: ["Xenu's Sister" ] Re: Mathilde Santing [Marion Kippers ] Re: Ecto Webring update: [Kay S Cleaves ] Re: Jane Siberry [enya7@iname.com] Re: Sorry, I couldn't help it... ["Joseph S. Zitt" ] Corrs on TV [dave ] 10,000 Maniacs at the Iron Horse [meredith ] Ofra Haza soundtrack work ["Jeffrey Hanson" ] hankdogs [Silme@ix.netcom.com] Re: 10,000 Maniacs at the Iron Horse [hooligan ] Re: Even *more* reactions to Happy's catalogue [FAMarcus@aol.com] Re: 10,000 Maniacs at the Iron Horse [FAMarcus@aol.com] Re: Ofra Haza soundtrack work ["Joseph S. Zitt" ] lurk lurk lurk ["Scott H?" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 7 Mar 1999 02:35:19 EST From: SpiritWe@aol.com Subject: Julia Darling In a message "Julia Darling" on 06/Mar/1999 21:34:08 Songbird22@aol.com says: > Hey guys, > Discovered a new, cool NYC singer... I believe she's originally from New > Zealand, though. Very ecto-ish... ...Haven't really "introduced" myself since signing up...Hello there! Aside from saying hey, just wanted to mention I'm glad to see the support for Julia Darling--I just heard her for the first time a few weeks ago & was very impressed...My accordion player plays keyboards in her live band (Rob "Squeezboy" Curto), and I'm hoping to catch a show at the Mercury in NYC very soon...Should be fun! Maybe I'll see some of you there? Watching the Brit Music Awards at the moment; just caught Annie Lennox & Stevie Wonder's performance, very cool! xoxo, Rachael Sage/MPress Records PS-caught part of Veda Hille's show at Knitting Factory last weekend-AMAZING! Anybody else there? ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Mar 1999 03:32:32 -0600 From: Kay S Cleaves Subject: Ecto Webring update: Alternate webring graphics now available! (long...) Hey folks! For all of those who do not have webpages, I apologize thoroughly for my repeated intrusions. You can skip this posting if that's the case, and get back to discussing the actual music :). For the rest of you, well, I got the point. :) And some free time. So I put together some alternate graphics for the webring. There are now ten different banners, in both large and small formats, as well as two versions of the nifty calligraphy Ecto logo (one with a white background, the other is transparent) for you to use if you don't like the original version. If you've already joined the ring, you can also use the new graphics by making a little code substitution. The new banners are: 1. CD covers from Warpaint and BTC (if you like old Happy/No Monsters) 2. CD covers from the Keep and MWABT (if you like new Happy) 3. A guitar and sheet music (for you guitarists) 4. A grand piano and sheet music (for you pianists) 5. A book/inkwell and a different Ecto logo (for all the writers out there) 6. Two photos of Happy (for the Happy fanatics...:)) 7. CD's and LP's (for those poor victims of EWS) 8. A stereo equalizer reading "Ecto" (I just thought it looked kind of neat--audiophiles might like this one) 9. Film Reels and a Movie projector. (for all you movie buffs.) If anyone wants to do anymore, or has another theme they want me to take a stab at, I'll be happy (no pun intended) to take any suggestions given to me! To find out instructions on how to substitute these banners, and, of course, to see what they look like, head over to: <> An update on the progress of the webring itself: The ring now has seven official members, (yay!) and others have expressed interest in joining if I provided other graphics, or if they could use their own graphics. And index of the sites in the actual ring can be found at the webring homepage (address appears in my sig.) At the addition of the fifth site, our little webring was added to the directory of webrings (they call it RingWorld) at the master www.webring.com site, so now anyone who's looking up webrings about music, ecto, etc. can find us. Your pages all look fantastic, folks! We have some true HTML geniuses in our midst! Thanks for being so supportive of the idea, everyone. This is a whole lot of fun! BTW, I am subscribed to the digest version of the list, so if anyone has any urgent questions about the ring please email me directly instead of posting it to the list, or I won't get your message until 12:30pm CST or so. - --Kay Kay Cleaves Ringmaster of the Ecto Webring--to join, go to: ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Mar 1999 03:39:25 -0600 From: Kay S Cleaves Subject: Sorry, I couldn't help it... At some point, I said: >Unfortunately, the ringiness of the ring isn't very effective with only >one site, but it's a start. What is the sound of one ring ringing, anyways? ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 07 Mar 1999 06:56:30 -0600 From: "Xenu's Sister" Subject: Re: Ecto Webring update: At 03:32 AM 3/7/99 -0600, Kay wrote: >Hey folks! > There are now ten different banners, in both large and > small formats, as well as two versions of the nifty > calligraphy Ecto logo (one with a white background, > the other is transparent) Oh boy ohboyohboy, I really hate to be a bitch here, but I would prefer that the Ecto logo *NOT* be used for the webring. I only want it used if it's a direct link to the Ecto Home Page. Happy drew that logo years ago when Jessica and I were going to do a fanzine before Sharon came along. It never got used then, of course, but I didn't want it to go to waste, so I resized it and used it as an icon to get back to the main Ecto Home Page from the lyrics pages. I had suggested to meth that the large version be used for the EHP logo, but that idea didn't fly. Still, I don't want to see it used anywhere else except the EHP *unless* it's a direct link to the EHP. Please. Why? Well, 3 reasons, really. First, if I'd known it would be appropriated, I wouldn't have put it on the EHP. It never occured to me that it would be used for anything other than a link icon. Second, please forgive me Kay, I really like you a lot and I dread hurting your feelings, but the icon as you've used it is just appalling-looking. It's not your fault, it's just that the icon was never meant to be placed on anything other than a white background, and when you put it on a dark background, and try to make it transparent, it looks horrible. I don't want to see Happy's artwork looking like that. It deserves better than to look like a dark blob with white spots all over it. I'm sorry. Third, "Webring" is a commercial, for-profit entity and I'd just rather not see the Ecto logo that Happy painted be used in any way to help *someone else* make money. Lord knows, *Happy* needs money and I don't think the Webring folks are going to be sending her a sponsorship check anytime soon. Obviously, I can't stop anyone from using it wherever they please. Graphics have been taken off of web pages and used on other web pages since day one. I've done it myself many times and I know I'll do it again. I've had it done to me. All I can do is ask, reagarding the Ecto logo...please don't? Not the Ecto logo. Please? I wish we could do a web ring without actually being part of the "Webring" organization (a sort of "Web Circle" among ourselves). I'm torn. I think the *idea* of a Web ring is great! I just don't like being part of something that's powered by ads. I'm from the old school of net. I personally think that advertisers and spammers have cluttered and ruined the net. Call me a fuddy duddy, but one of the things I hate with a passion in today's net is seeing *fan* sites with ads and banners and "Best viewed with..." and bogus "Awards" stinking up the site. Drives me nuts. Lastly, since I'm on a roll, I like Happy's monsters, and the Ecto monster has always been the Ecto mailing list "mascot" (in my mind, anyway). I understand when people don't like them, but really, to reject Happy's monsters is to reject Happy's past, Happy's lyrics and Happy's soul. IMHO. Having said all that, I know that many people are going to want to use Happy graphics for their web ring icons. Just for the fun of it, I, well....stole some graphics myself (including the Ecto monster) and made up some. They're not great. I just tossed them off in a few minutes using Paint Shop Pro and Image Composer. They're at: http://www.smoe.org/~vickie/wrtests/ I don't expect anyone to use any of them, but some of them are an example of how you can incorporate a monster into another image to make it not seem so threatening. Vickie ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 07 Mar 1999 14:49:43 +0100 (W. Europe Standard Time) From: Marion Kippers Subject: Re: Mathilde Santing Hi, Andrew Fries wrote: > In a message "Mathilde Santing" on 05/Mar/1999 17:04:32 Marcel Rijs says: > > > She arranged the track beautifully and you can hear an MP3 of it on my Black > > website (http://home.plex.nl/~mfgr/black/ -- go to the Sounds page). > > The B-side is very beautiful as well, it slightly reminded me of people like > > Toni Childs and Lori Carson musically. > > Her new album is out as well, for those who are interested, and if you can > > muddle through the Dutch you can order it (probably) from www.shop.nl . > > I played that track and enjoyed it immensely. Such a lovely voice! The ony > problem is that because this is a cover of a classic it could be misleading as > to her own style of writing and performing... But if her new album is anything > like that sample, I'd be very interested! I haven't seen or heard her new album yet, but until now Matilde (she lost the 'h' somewhere I think) has only recorded covers - maybe there are one or two exceptions, but as far as I know she doesn't write her own songs. She describes herself as a 'choosy beggar', and she does usually have an interesting choice of songs. Her own arrangements to the songs are quite nice, she manages to make most of the things she covers her own. Most of her music is soft pop or easy listening. I used to love her music very much from the early 80's on but at some point, after some ten years, it all started to sound too much the same to me, and I gave up. I have a feeling she might be coming back to more interesting things now. I enjoyed her version of "Wonderful life" very much and I think I'll check out her new album shortly. For more information about Mat(h)ilde, there is an official website for her at http://www.xs4all.nl/~santing/ . It's full of frames but does have some English pages as well (though most are 'Under construction'). There is also a quite elaborate Matilde Santing homepage at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Bosque/ - this page does have some sound samples and more information in English. Finally, Sony Music has a (Dutch) page for Matilde at http://www.sonymusic.nl/matildesanting/ Hmmm - I just noticed in the touring schedule that she's playing in Gorinchem (my hometown) next week. I wonder if there are still tickets available. :) And just out of selfish interest, if anybody would like a copy of any Dutch album I'm always interested in a trade... :-) :-) Marion n.p. Enya - Paint the sky with stars (The best of Enya) n.r. W.J. Maryson - Master Magician 1 / Sperling - ---------------------- Marion Kippers Marion.Kippers@wkap.nl ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Mar 1999 10:20:56 -0600 From: Kay S Cleaves Subject: Re: Ecto Webring update: >Oh boy ohboyohboy, I really hate to be a bitch here, but >I would prefer that the Ecto logo *NOT* be used for the >webring. I only want it used if it's a direct link to the >Ecto Home Page. > - --snip-- (been doing a lot of that lately, haven't I?) Vickie et al-- Okay, give me a day or so (probably just a day) to design a different ecto logo for the webring, and I'll take Happy's version down. I figured there'd probably be some kind of problem with me using some of the images. Just give me a chance to get a better image editor and get spiffy. (I'm presently using PhotpSuite Starter Edition--it's rather pathetic.) - --Kay ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Mar 1999 13:13:55 -0500 (EST) From: enya7@iname.com Subject: Re: Jane Siberry Jane Siberry's "Collection 1984-1989" or "Summer In The Yukon" also good buys. ---- you wrote: > Here's my .02 on Jane Siberry, > But ohhhhhh yeah, she is something special. > > --Suzanne > - --------------------------------------------------- Get free personalized email at http://www.iname.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Mar 1999 12:27:45 -0600 (CST) From: "Joseph S. Zitt" Subject: Re: Sorry, I couldn't help it... On Sun, 7 Mar 1999, Kay S Cleaves wrote: > At some point, I said: > > >Unfortunately, the ringiness of the ring isn't very effective with only > >one site, but it's a start. > > What is the sound of one ring ringing, anyways? Half of a postman? - - ---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------- |||/ Joseph Zitt ===== jzitt@humansystems.com ===== Human Systems \||| ||/ Maryland? = <*> SILENCE: The John Cage Mailing List <*> = ecto \|| |/ http://www.realtime.net/~jzitt ====== Comma: Voices of New Music \| ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 07 Mar 1999 18:01:08 -0500 From: Heather Russell Subject: Re: How many ectophiles have web pages? Just catching up on my ecto digests and saw the question about web pages... I've got a pretty ectophilic web page for my music at http://www.freecloud.com/heather. You could also add http://www.indiegrrl.com - an organization for women in the independent music industry... :-) heather - -- |********************************************************* | Heather Russell | My music site: http://www.freecloud.com/heather | Indiegrrl - an independent music resource: http://www.indiegrrl.com | Email: hrussellatbellsouthdotnet |_________________________________________________________ "I'm in favor of love as long as it doesn't happen when 'The Simpsons' is on television." --- Anita, age 6 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 08 Mar 1999 11:23:28 +1100 From: "Tim Finney" Subject: Re: Even *more* reactions to Happy's catalogue - ---------- >From: Patrick Moseley >To: ecto@smoe.org >Subject: Even *more* reactions to Happy's catalogue >Date: Sat, 6 Mar 1999 5:20 AM > >Not all my repeated listenings have brought out great >discoveries, however. While at first I ranked RHODES I and II at the bottom >of my list, I'd say ECTO now holds that spot. While I adore "If So" and >"Ode," if you were to take away those and the bonus tracks, I'd be >hard-pressed to find much interesting (to me) on this album. I'd rank it as >her darkest, most impenitrable album. I had a similar reaction to Ecto. It's hard to pinpoint what is wrong with it exactly, because the songs all have the right elements to them, but somehow they just don't seem to work as well as similar songs on other albums. I think the material is too 'slight'. The songs just don't have enough musical and emotional weight behind them. 'I'm Going Back' should be scary and psychedelic, but it just sounds stiff and uncomfortable to me, at a period of Happy's development where she didn't *need* to be stiff and uncomfortable. 'Would That I Could' is good enough to be on 'Rhodes', but doesn't add anything new, and 'Project 499' sounds like Happy was just playing through unenthusiastically. Where is the emotional intensity? 'Ecto' and 'Poetic Justice' show Happy experimenting with bass, but the basslines themselves are lifeless and repetitive (if catchy), and while I expect the moans in 'I Cannot Go On' to grab me, they just... don't. And as for 'Ode' and 'If So', I absolutely adored them on 'Rhodesongs', but when I hear them on Ecto they don't do anything for me. About the only song which seems to come out of the shadow of the album is 'I Don't Want To Hear It', probably because of the striking similarity to Kate. The bonus tracks though, are among my favourite Happy songs. You can *immediately* hear the dedication in Happy's singing. I'm not sure if this apathy for Ecto I have is because of me or the album. Is there something I'm missing here? >REARMAMENT is growing on me; I love the hook of "Perfect Irony," >and "'Til the Dawn Breaks" is very sad and moving. I like the sinister >outlook of the character singing "Come Here." Can you imagine singing this >as a lullaby to your kid?! ;-) Parental abuse, that... I find the hook of >"The Issue Is" *way* too similar to the hook of "Not for Me." I think Rearmament will grow on you. Unlike Ecto it's *powerfully* emotional, and any musical hitches are saved by the glorious harmonies which Ecto lacks. Other songs I'd point to as being brilliant here are "Because I Learn", which is brilliantly spiteful, "Dreams Are", likewise haunting and "Baby Don't Go", which is absolutely heartbreaking. There's lots of angry aspects to this album (Perfect Irony, I Am A Legend, Because I Learn etc.) which makes a nice contrast to the more typical woe-is-me nature of some of Happy's earlier songs. Regards, Tim ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 07 Mar 1999 19:32:28 -0500 From: meredith Subject: veda hille shows this week Hi! (Those on the trajectory list can skip this one - this is basically a Reader's Digest version of everything I just spewed over there, but I hate cross-posting, so here we go. :) Rachael Sage (hey, hello!!!) posted: >PS-caught part of Veda Hille's show at Knitting Factory last weekend-AMAZING! >Anybody else there? A whole lot of us, actually. :) Besides myself: woj, Mike Curry, Don Keller, Dan Stark, John Henshon, Sam Lambert, Hillary Jackson, and I'm sure I'm forgetting somebody else. I can't believe I didn't see you - were you hiding in the back? Veda's Knitting Factory show was indeed amazing. She and the band (Barry Murochnik, Martin Walton, and Ford Pier) did two 45-minute sets, plus two well-deserved encores. Allow me to be the first to state that Veda's new album is going to be unbelievable. :) How do I know this? Well, the set list that night contained most of the songs that are going to be on the new album, which is slated for a September release. The new songs on the set list were: Born Lucky Clumbsy Pony Bride The Boy Who Lived in the Woods (on the set list, but she didn't play it, alas) Peculiar Value Veterans (a 30-second snippet of a work in progress) Three Times Thin Williamsburg Batterie Kill Zone Wrong She started the show with a KILLER foursome: "Pause", "Driven", "Born Lucky" (which she's been playing for a while, and is still my favorite of the new songs) and "Meeting The Group of Seven". That left me a quivering mess on the floor. I recovered enough to enjoy the rest of the set, though. :) The second set started with Ford Pier making the rounds of the stage: he played guitar on "Noah's Ark", then moved to drums on the next two songs, then to piano for the next two. Barry played guitar while Ford was sitting at his drum kit, and on "Williamsburg" Martin played something that looked like a lap steel mandolin. (I didn't get a really good look at it, so I'm not entirely sure exactly what it was.) It was just so great to see Veda and band play again. Ford wasn't too overbearing on guitar (which is always a risk with him), even when he turned it up a bit in the second set. I really did like his contributions to some of the new songs. Veda mentioned that he's getting ready to release his second solo album. I didn't know he had a first - it's called "Mecomium". Anybody have it? What's it like? (I can only imagine.) The Old Office was packed to the rafters - I think the next time Veda's at the Knitting Factory she'll be in the main space for sure. Friday she stopped by WPKN, and Valerie Richardson's show. It was a really great interview. As always Valerie was very prepared, and it definitely showed that she's a big fan. I think Veda really appreciated that. She talked a lot about the new album and some of the songs (for example, "Batterie" was inspired by the movie _Breaking The Waves_, which I never would have guessed but makes sense. It's got a line repeated through it, "God beat down my door"), and played a few live on the air. She was on for just over 45 minutes. (Yes, I taped it. I taped lots of things. But get in touch with woj if you want to trade: unlike me, he actually gets these things fulfilled in a reasonable amount of time. :}) After that she stopped by Wesleyan University in Middletown to do an interview on WESU (yes, the former home of my show Champagne Jam, for those who've been around that long), which I didn't hear but hope to get a copy of soon. The concept of Veda wandering around my alma mater is a bit surreal. :) She had hoped to meet Annie Dillard, who is a hero of sorts to her, but unfortunately Dillard is on sabbatical this semester. Whoops. That night was the Trinity College show. The venue, the CLEO house is your standard college frat house, with a huge living room where the band was set up. I was having serious flashbacks to my own college experience all night, but I managed to pay attention to business well enough once the music got going. :) Veda said afterwards that it was the best show of the week, and I believe her. They played for almost two full hours, and everyone in the band was clearly having a good time. The highlight of the evening was a long, jamming, improv-laden version of "79 Rose" that gave everyone in the band a chance to rock out. My favorite part of all that was the back-and-forth between Ford and Veda, as they traded licks that got weirder and weirder until Veda was changing settings on her keyboard and then using the little "waah" knob to great effect, at which point Ford just held his guitar at arm's length behind him in front of the amp to produce a wail of feedback. Veda conceded defeat at that point, and then Martin launched into his bass solo. :) Surprises on the set list were "Precious Heart", the aforementioned "79 Rose", and "Three" (which sounded a bit too slow to me, but it was still great to hear). "Kill Zone" was also included by request in the first encore - god, but that song kicks ass. (It's a song with lyrics taken from a pulp novel called _Colorado Kill Zone_, which, as Veda pointed out, actually contains the line "he was sucking on the muzzle of a wicked black pistol" with no intended homoerotic subtext whatsoever. ;) There were about 30 people there, I'd say (it was hard to tell because people kept going in and out, which annoyed me mainly because most of them let the door slam shut behind them when they went), and I'm guessing there were far fewer Trinity students there than folks from the outside. Ectophiles in attendance included (besides myself and woj): JeffW, Mike Curry, Don Keller, Paul Kim, Ofer, Fog, Alan Bershaw, and again I think I'm forgetting somebody. There were also a few people I know from the Nields list there, which was cool. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the show. Veda said it was nice to play in front of an appreciative audience - apparently the Pittsburgh and Philly shows weren't all that well attended. (Did anyone make it to either of those? It sounded like the Pittsburgh gig was a rather unique experience for all involved.) Last night was the final American stop of this mini-tour, as Veda opened solo for 10,000 Maniacs at the Iron Horse in Northampton, MA. Despite the winter storm warnings and the dire traffic reports, woj and I headed up there anyway. (We're nothing if not predictable, not to mention stupid. :) It was rather of an adventure getting there ... but we made good time anyway, and got there not too long after the doors had opened, which left us plenty of time for dinner. Shortly before showtime Veda stopped by our table to say hello, and she said that one of her fans from Austria was there! He just happened to be in New York this weekend, and drove up just to see her play. (Alas, he'd arrived too late to go to the Knitting Factory show.) Very cool. Veda played for just half an hour, on her acoustic guitar and also on Dennis Drew's electric piano (which, I noted, didn't sound nearly as good as Veda's own keyboard). She did four songs from _Spine_ "Seasoned", "INSTRUCTIONS", "One Hot Summer", and "Slumber Queen", "To And From Ira" from _Here Is A Picture_, "Born Lucky", and the surprise, "538 E. Georgia" from _Songs About People And Buildings_, which Stephan the Austrian had requested. I never thought I'd see her play that - she was having trouble hitting the high notes (it was up in the very top of her range even on the recording), but it was still great to hear. I noticed some other people in the audience who appeared to be there expressly to see Veda too, which was nice. She got a pretty good response from the crowd. It's got to be hard to open for a band whose audience is probably not used to "difficult" listening. (After seeing the Maniacs play last night I've cemented my opinion that they are now a Very Boring Band, which is a shame since they were my Very Favorite Band for years, but I'll get to them later.) I think if she can ever get her own gig at the Iron Horse it'll be pretty well attended. Hopefully in the fall, as part of the album tour ... +==========================================================================+ | 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, 07 Mar 1999 19:47:06 -0500 From: dave Subject: Corrs on TV Okay, for those of you that didn't delete this when you saw the title, or get the digest preventing you from doing so , here's some info on The Corrs. I understand they are scheduled to the musical guest on Saturday Night Live on March 13 and also have a PBS special, 'Live at Albert Hall', this month. Here in the Phila. area it's scheduled for 11pm March 17 on WHYY TV12, other areas will vary, check your local listings. They're also currently on tour opening for the Rolling Stones and 'Talk on Corners' has been rereleased in a special edition with remixed versions of some of the songs and different cover art. np: Robert Janson - muzyka z filmu Nocne Graffiti (highly recommended if you can find it... some nice electronic instrumental tracks and two great female vocalists) - -- +-----------------------------------------------------+ + dave + + irc.dal.net #Panic_Beach female music artist chat + + http://magpage.com/~sspan/ music clips/pics/links + +-----------------------------------------------------+ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 07 Mar 1999 19:52:59 -0500 From: meredith Subject: 10,000 Maniacs at the Iron Horse Hi! So yeah, Veda opened for 10,000 Maniacs last night, and despite the snow we stuck around for the main set. I was curious to see if their new material shows any more promise than _Love Among The Ruins_, and if I would be just as bored as I was the last time I saw them, when The Nields opened for them in NYC last spring. I left feeling that if I see _The Earth Pressed Flat_ (the title of their upcoming album, due in late April) on St. Mark's for 88 cents I'll certainly pick it up, but I don't feel the need to pay any more for it than that. I just don't get it ... John and Mary wrote two albums' worth of wonderful songs together, and they're the main creative forces behind the Maniacs now - so what happened? I'm starting to think that Mary only had two albums' worth of wonderful songs in her, and now she's blown her wad (should we call this Sarah McLachlan syndrome? ;). The new songs were just as bland and boring as the stuff on their last album. It was worth it to sit through their set just to witness Mary Ramsey turning a classical violin solo into an English traditional ballad, which she first started singing while playing violin at the same time, then finished a cappella. It was utterly random and unexpected, and even though it segued immediately into a lifeless rendition of "Because The Night" it remained the highlight of the show. She should do an entire album of that stuff - she has the perfect voice for it. Yow. woj and I were both amused (or should that be bemused?) to note that the biggest ovation of the set came after "Stockton Gala Days", which woj maintains is the last good song the Maniacs wrote, and I'm inclined to agree. Even though the version last night seemed utterly emasculated (I recall one show in New Britain, CT on Natalie's farewell tour where the main set ended with that song and the intensity of the drum-and-bass crescendo transitioning from the chorus back into the verses just completely blew everyone away... this wasn't even in the same galaxy as that), it got the loudest applause. The next-loudest applause came from the one John and Mary song they did, "Angels of Stone". That should tell them something, but I'm afraid it's not going to. I had no idea Robert Buck wasn't with the band - woj and I had been wondering why there was only one guitar on stage. :) Anybody know if that's a permanent thing? It was hard to tell by the introductions. The new guitarist is a guy named Michael Jackson (no, not THAT one :), and he must be pretty new, because he still referred to a loose-leaf binder on some of the songs. (I also just checked the official web site (which has to be one of the most annoying sites on the web, I just have to add) and there's nothing about him listed there.) He worked pretty well into their sound, though - he was reminiscent of Rob Buck's shiny style without duplicating it exactly. And for the first time, it was actually possible to hear John Lombardo's guitar! I just wish he'd been doing something more interesting with it. Sigh. Fortunately, by staying for the whole show that gave enough time for the precipitation to end and the roads to be completely cleared, so getting home wasn't nearly the adventure getting there had been. I guess that was appropriate ... Veda's on the short list of artists I'll defy death to see, but the Maniacs most definitely are not. (Though they used to be ... again, ) +==========================================================================+ | 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, 7 Mar 1999 11:41:14 -0700 From: "Jeffrey Hanson" Subject: Ofra Haza soundtrack work I don't remember if this was mentioned before or not in the thread about Ofra Haza appearing in "The Prince of Egypt", but I just finished watching "The Governess" with Minnie Driver, and Ofra's singing is used throughout the movie (very effectively actually). Jeff Hanson n.p. Blondie - No Exit n.r. The Razor's Edge - W. Somerset Maugham ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 07 Mar 1999 19:08:21 +0000 From: Silme@ix.netcom.com Subject: hankdogs Does anyone know about this group? I recently picked up what I assume is their first cd, Bareback. As I listened to it for the first time, I thought for a moment that one of the female singer's voices (don't know if it was Piano or Lily) was reminiscient of Beth Orton. Ellen ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Mar 1999 18:24:15 -0800 (PST) From: hooligan Subject: Re: 10,000 Maniacs at the Iron Horse On Sun, 7 Mar 1999, meredith wrote: > Maniacs now - so what happened? I'm starting to think that Mary only had > two albums' worth of wonderful songs in her, and now she's blown her wad blown her wad!?! ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Mar 1999 21:54:37 EST From: FAMarcus@aol.com Subject: Re: Even *more* reactions to Happy's catalogue In a message dated 3/7/99 7:24:12 PM Eastern Standard Time, afinney@ozonline.com.au writes: << I'm not sure if this apathy for Ecto I have is because of me or the album. Is there something I'm missing here? >> yes ......there is. and you either get it or you don't. my memory may be off on this but i believe i read in an interview with happy somewhere along the way that if she could pick one cd to give to someone to represent her work it would be ecto. fred ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Mar 1999 22:01:28 EST From: FAMarcus@aol.com Subject: Re: 10,000 Maniacs at the Iron Horse In a message dated 3/7/99 9:26:13 PM Eastern Standard Time, emjay@netcom.com writes: << Maniacs now - so what happened? I'm starting to think that Mary only had > two albums' worth of wonderful songs in her, and now she's blown her wad blown her wad!?! >> yes .....i think it meant she came ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Mar 1999 22:10:10 -0600 (CST) From: "Joseph S. Zitt" Subject: Re: Ofra Haza soundtrack work On Sun, 7 Mar 1999, Jeffrey Hanson wrote: > I don't remember if this was mentioned before or not in > the thread about Ofra Haza appearing in "The Prince of Egypt", > but I just finished watching "The Governess" with Minnie > Driver, and Ofra's singing is used throughout the movie > (very effectively actually). Ooh... definitely gotta check that movie out now... n.p. Hammer: Do Not Pass Me By (on my MP3 jukebox) - - ---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------- |||/ Joseph Zitt ===== jzitt@humansystems.com ===== Human Systems \||| ||/ Maryland? = <*> SILENCE: The John Cage Mailing List <*> = ecto \|| |/ http://www.realtime.net/~jzitt ====== Comma: Voices of New Music \| ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 07 Mar 1999 21:12:31 PST From: "Scott H?" Subject: lurk lurk lurk Hello to all of those Ecto-philes out there..... I have decided to come out of the lurker closet that I have been in here for the last month or so and make myself known.... Quite simply, I **love** Happy Rhodes. Two of my all-time favorite CD's, "Equipoise" and "Many Worlds Are Born Tonight", are by this incredibly talented woman. I wish that more people knew who she was, but at the same time, it is always fun to introduce your friends to someone whom you can claim as your "own." Well, just thought I'd make a statement, which I have. Peace all. Scott ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V5 #84 *************************