From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V5 #97 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Monday, March 15 1999 Volume 05 : Number 097 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Folk Alliance 2: Longer reviews [meredith ] samson music site change [meredith ] Re: music (for a change) [Bill ] Re: music (for a change) [meredith ] Re: music (for a change) [Bill ] Re: music (for a change) [meredith ] Re: Folk Alliance 2: Longer reviews [Michael Curry ] Re: music (for a change) [Bill ] Re: Folk Alliance 2: Longer reviews [neal copperman ] Re: music (for a change) [neal copperman ] Re: music (for a change) [Jeffrey Burka ] Christine Lavin and newspaper reviews (was Re: music (for a change)) [Mar] Springfield tribute CD and Hall of Fame awards [Birdie ] Re: Christine Lavin and newspaper reviews (was Re: music (for a change)) [Jeffrey Burka Subject: Re: Folk Alliance 2: Longer reviews Hi! I started to reply to this last week, but something happened and I never finished. Neal reported from Folk Alliance: >Laura Love Band - I'd only heard a few LL songs before and thought they >were ok, but didn't wow me. However, her live show is extraordinary. She >is so pumped up, and she plays bass sorta like ani difranco plays guitar. >I'm not really sure what she was doing at Folk Alliance, but I was glad >for the chance to see her. She's been in the "folk" circles for the past few years, since she had her big break at the Shelter benefit show in NYC with a bunch of other folk artists. Before that she was pretty much a part of the Seattle scene. Now she's just as likely to be seen at Falcon Ridge as a rock club, much like the Nields. She always gets a really good reception wherever she goes, though. Her albums have interested me less and less (I still maintain that _Pangaea_ is by far her best studio effort), but her live shows are not to be missed. >She did everything from ballads (including a cover of Leonard Cohen's No >Way To Say Goodbye) to funky rave-ups. She also had a great violinist with >her, and the violin/bass duals were a blast. Is she still touring with Barbara Lamb (ex of Ranch Romance)? She's a great fiddler. Laura's had some wonderful people in her band recently. I was really, really bummed when Julie Wolf defected to join Ani DiFranco's band. Julie was almost as much fun to watch as Laura. >Cordelia's Dad - I'd never seen or heard them before, and I was suitably >impressed. I don't really know what they are. They are from the northeast >and play traditional and appalachian songs, but in that sort of edgy >punk/folk style of folks like The Oyster Band and The Men They Couldn't >Hang. They even made hymns sound edgy. True. :) My best friend went to high school with some of them, and to this day she is proud to say that she actually introduced me to a band. :) I still have never managed to see them play live (my friend is proud that she has that one up on me too). >Molly O'Brien - I had seen her name around before, but had never heard any >of her music. She made a crack about being allowed in to Folk Alliance >despite not writing her own music, but the way she sang other's music made >it clear that being a songwriter is not the be-all and end-all of >musicianship. I don't have any of Tim and Molly O'Brien's albums, but they were standard fare on WFUV when I was a regular listener, and I liked what they were doing quite a bit. Now Tim's off on his own doing bluegrassed-up Dylan covers (among other things). I was wondering what Molly was up to. >Sloan Wainwright - I didn't really know what to make of Sloan Wainwright at >first, but after a song or too, I decided I really liked her. She has a >deep, husky gospel-style voice, but sings with that well-mannered style I >associate with a lot of training, or sometime the English folk tradition. >Sorta like how Emily Bezar sings, though there was little other >relationship beside the phrasing. Some of the way she sang also put me in >mind of the October Project (though her voice sounds nothing like Mary >Fahl's). You may recall that when Sloan's first album came out, I posted here that everyone mourning the demise of October Project needed to run right out and buy that disc. I think she sounds EXACTLY like Mary Fahl. In concert, her keyboard player is just about as annoying to watch as the one in October Project was, too. ;> She's opening for Christine Lavin at the Iron Horse next month - I think I'm going. >Susan Werner (sorry for the typo in the first message): Susan played in a >songwriters in the round showcase. (She had her own showcases too, but I >missed them.) >I've seen her a couple of times before and have found her to be >reasonably entertaining, but I haven't been wow'ed like a lot of others >here. Neal, you need help. Really. :) Susan must not have been "on" the times you've seen her - I can't imagine how you could not be positively blown away. >When I returned to the Hyatt after the final convention center showcase (at >3 am), I found the entire Laura Love Band, Molly O'Brian and a few other >people hanging around a table in the hotel lobby. It looked like they'd >been jamming for a while, and were just getting ready to call it quits. >Laura kept insisting that they had to end with Windy, but no one wanted >too. It seems like it's impossible to say no to Laura Love, so after some >more weedling, nagging and cajoling, they agreed. Her band played Windy by >making obscene noises blowing into their hands and arms. A very bizarre >and humourous moment. Laura Love is a certified goofball. For example, she signed my copy of _Octoroon_ by drawing an arrow pointing to the album title and writing, "sounds like a cookie!". :) And her in-between song tangents are just one of the reasons why her live shows are such wonderful events. +==========================================================================+ | 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, 14 Mar 1999 20:43:47 -0500 From: meredith Subject: samson music site change Hi! I got this from Netmind the other day: >>>> arialMind-it detected that: "Welcome To Samson Music.com" 0000,0000,fefehttp://www.samsonmusic.com has moved to: 0000,0000,fefehttp://www.samsonmusic.com/default.asp This new page will be monitored by Mind-it. <<<<<<<< If anyone has a link you might want to adjust for this ... +==========================================================================+ | 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, 14 Mar 1999 18:00:35 -0800 (PST) From: Bill Subject: Re: music (for a change) On Sun, 14 Mar 1999, meredith wrote: > Bill Mazur postscripted: > > >np: Suzanne Vega - days of open Hand Actually, that was Bill "wagill" Gill. :) > Funny - at the record store this afternoon I was paging through an old > issue of Q Magazine (the one with George Michael on the cover), and the > back page was an interview with Suzanne Vega, in which she stated that > listening to that album now gives her hives. Apparently she hates it and > thinks it's the worst thing she's ever done. I know a lot of people here > seem to agree with that ... it's not my favorite of her albums, but it's > not on the bottom either (I think _Nine Objects of Desire_ would win that > distinction - even though I loved it when it first came out, I haven't had > any desire whatsoever to listen to it since that time). In fact, woj and I > pulled it out recently and were marveling at some of the forgotten gems on > it ("Tired of Sleeping" and "Rusted Pipe" spring immediately to mind there). Interestingly enough, I bought _Nine Objects of Desire_ only after listening to "Caramel" in one of the Starbucks compilations and liking it enough to make me want to go buy the whole album. And now that I as well own _Suzanne Vega_, _Days of Open Hand_, and _Solitude Standing_, I would have to rank them, only after a couple of listenings each, as follows: 1. Nine Object of Desire 2. Days of Open Hand 3. Solitude Standing 4. Suzanne Vega Mind you, this is only after one or two listenings. But, if the sounds of and in "Caramel" is what got you hooked in the first place (as it did me), then I think that the above ordering would be appropriate; _Days of Open Hand_ to me sounds more towards "night-club-trio simple-and-playful", whereas _Suzanne Vega_ to me sounds more towards "folksy and story-telling", with the other albums varying from one end to the other. Let's see how _99 Degrees_ ranks if and when A&B Sound delivers. - - Bill. np: Susan Aglukark - This Child (what sweet, sweet voice) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 21:11:30 -0500 From: meredith Subject: Re: music (for a change) Hi! Bill Mazur corrected: >Actually, that was Bill "wagill" Gill. :) Argh! Sorry. Too many bills. ;) >Interestingly enough, I bought _Nine Objects of Desire_ only after >listening to "Caramel" in one of the Starbucks compilations and liking it >enough to make me want to go buy the whole album. And now that I as well >own _Suzanne Vega_, _Days of Open Hand_, and _Solitude Standing_, I would >have to rank them, only after a couple of listenings each, as follows: > > 1. Nine Object of Desire > 2. Days of Open Hand > 3. Solitude Standing > 4. Suzanne Vega Guess it depends what you heard first. I'd rank them exactly opposite, with _99.9F_ as #3. _Suzanne Vega_ was a defining moment for me when I was in high school, and to this day I still get a chill when I hear the first notes of "Cracking". +==========================================================================+ | 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, 14 Mar 1999 18:33:34 -0800 (PST) From: Bill Subject: Re: music (for a change) On Sun, 14 Mar 1999, meredith wrote: > Bill Mazur corrected: > > >Actually, that was Bill "wagill" Gill. :) > > Argh! Sorry. Too many bills. ;) *laugh* Bill Gill! :) > >Interestingly enough, I bought _Nine Objects of Desire_ only after > >listening to "Caramel" in one of the Starbucks compilations and liking it > >enough to make me want to go buy the whole album. And now that I as well > >own _Suzanne Vega_, _Days of Open Hand_, and _Solitude Standing_, I would > >have to rank them, only after a couple of listenings each, as follows: > > > > 1. Nine Object of Desire > > 2. Days of Open Hand > > 3. Solitude Standing > > 4. Suzanne Vega > > Guess it depends what you heard first. I'd rank them exactly opposite, > with _99.9F_ as #3. _Suzanne Vega_ was a defining moment for me when I was > in high school, and to this day I still get a chill when I hear the first > notes of "Cracking". Yes, I do agree that that "first impression" makes all the difference in the world, especially if there are peripheral happennings or emotions tied to that first listening, as seems to have been the case for you. But, I have also learned, particularly since I joined ecto, not to "close the book" on my opinion of an artist until I listen to all the works and listen to them a few times over. Maybe the "real" Suzanne Vega is more like the albums you like of hers than the ones I like. Or maybe, like Happy herself, she has many very distinct facets of her work to offer each person. - - Bill Gill. (I hardly ever use my last name when signing notes, but I am making an exception just for you Meth) :) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 21:48:34 -0500 From: meredith Subject: Re: music (for a change) Hi! Bill Gill clarified: >- Bill Gill. (I hardly ever use my last name when signing notes, but I am >making an exception just for you Meth) :) Gee, thanks. :) I figured out all the Neil/Neal/Neiles, I think I can do this - but maybe you and Mazur need to vary the spelling of your names to make it easier. ;> +==========================================================================+ | 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, 14 Mar 1999 22:35:12 -0500 From: Michael Curry Subject: Re: Folk Alliance 2: Longer reviews At 08:35 PM 3/14/99 -0500, meredith wrote: >>Susan Werner (sorry for the typo in the first message): Susan >>played in a songwriters in the round showcase. (She had her own >>showcases too, but I missed them.) > >>I've seen her a couple of times before and have found her to be >>reasonably entertaining, but I haven't been wow'ed like a lot of >>others here. > > > >Neal, you need help. Really. :) Susan must not have been "on" the >times you've seen her - I can't imagine how you could not be positively >blown away. Just to toss in my own opinion, having seen Susan once live I can say that I liked it, and I'd see her again, but I wasn't blown away. Great voice, great sense of humor, great stage presence... but her songs do nothing for me. Mike np: Kittywinder -- Scream of the Weak [thanks Don] nr: Running Linux by Welsh & Kaufman | Michael Curry / mcurry@io.com / mcurry@smoe.org | | http://www.io.com/~mcurry | | Am I bitter? Do I sound bitter? -- Veda Hille | ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 19:40:44 -0800 (PST) From: Bill Subject: Re: music (for a change) On Sun, 14 Mar 1999, meredith wrote: > Bill Gill clarified: > > >- Bill Gill. (I hardly ever use my last name when signing notes, but I am > >making an exception just for you Meth) :) > > Gee, thanks. :) I figured out all the Neil/Neal/Neiles, I think I can do > this - but maybe you and Mazur need to vary the spelling of your names to > make it easier. ;> I could... my spousal unit calls me "Billy"... but then again, Bill Mazur has a "Billi" under his roof, so... sheesh. :) Okay, back to music talk, before someone takes offense... - - Bill G. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 20:42:25 -0700 From: neal copperman Subject: Re: Folk Alliance 2: Longer reviews At 8:35 PM -0500 3/14/99, meredith wrote: >Is she still touring with Barbara Lamb (ex of Ranch Romance)? She's a >great fiddler. Laura's had some wonderful people in her band recently. That's the one. What's a Ranch Romance? There was a band later that evening featuring other members of RR, but the description didn't particularly interest me. >You may recall that when Sloan's first album came out, I posted here that >everyone mourning the demise of October Project needed to run right out and >buy that disc. I think she sounds EXACTLY like Mary Fahl. In concert, her >keyboard player is just about as annoying to watch as the one in October >Project was, too. ;> I just watched Sloan, who was generally pretty interesting. Interesting that we think she sounds exactly like/nothing like Mary Fahl. Anyone want to break the tie? > > >Neal, you need help. Really. :) Susan must not have been "on" the times >you've seen her - I can't imagine how you could not be positively blown away. Um, I've seen her twice now without that "wow" thing happening. I thought I'd seen her 3 times, but I can't find any evidence of that (and after my previous posts, I don't know if I should trust my memory). This was an odd show, so I'd give her the benefit of the doubt. The other time was December of 97, headlining over Grey Eye Glances (who I thought were really boring). Doug was there - was it the show, or me? neal np: Kerry's Tape (Angels at the Gate - Mannfred Mann's Earth Band) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 20:35:21 -0700 From: neal copperman Subject: Re: music (for a change) At 8:19 PM -0500 3/14/99, meredith wrote: >Mark Lowry posted: > >>Christine Lavin -- Feb 26 at the old Main Street Theater in Mansfield TX >>(little town about 30 SE of Fort Worth). I reviewed this show overnight >>for the paper, so unforunately I had to leave at intermission to meet my >>deadline. > >I'm just curious - how can you honestly review a show if you were unable to >experience the whole thing? Does it bother you that you were forced to do >that, or is this something you do all the time? This is standard review procedure (and probably why you have those out-of-synch concert review feelings). Due to deadline restrictions, many concert reviews have to be SUBMITTED before the show is even over. Me, I'd think that it might be worth running it 2 days after the concert instead, but the news is generally more interested in fast reporting than accurate reporting. >Neal followed up: >>When the tape dubbing project was in existance, there were tapes of Happy >>at Joyous Lake (these must be around 8 years old now!). > > Nope, it's still 1999. Neal, the Joyous Lake show was >in the summer of 1994. :) Are you thinking of the QE2 Albany show, almost >exactly seven years ago today? And the University of Pennsylvania Museum >Auditorium show of a couple days later? No telling what I was thinking of. That's what I get for relying on my memory about events that I wasn't even a part of relating to tapes I don't have :) It's bad enough on things I own, but that was a limb I probably shouldn't have been on. neal np: A tape I cleverly named "Kerry's Tape" (thanks Kerry) Track: Contemplation - Bill Nelson ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 00:03:18 -0500 From: Jeffrey Burka Subject: Re: music (for a change) meth 'n bill sed: > > 1. Nine Object of Desire > > 2. Days of Open Hand > > 3. Solitude Standing > > 4. Suzanne Vega > > Guess it depends what you heard first. I'd rank them exactly opposite, > with _99.9F_ as #3. _Suzanne Vega_ was a defining moment for me when I was > in high school, and to this day I still get a chill when I hear the first > notes of "Cracking". Nope. Yer both wrong. It's 99.9F eponymous Solitude Standing Nine Objects of Desire Days of Open Hand And for what it's worth, I first head Suzanne Vega and hated it. Heard her perform on SNL 9 months later and fell in love with the just-released Solitude Standing, which led me back to Suzanne Vega, which suddenly clicked. But then 99.9F came out and, well, it rocked my world. Industrial folk. Or something. Or not. Mmmmm. Tasty. Anyway. Just back from seeing the Imogene/Rufus show at the 9:30 club. Kevin was right: Imogene is downright scary live. I was utterly impressed with her, especially "Rake It In." Yikes. Rufus was fun, but I think I'd mostly rather hear the album. As good a job as he managed to do with just his tiny little band, I'd rather hear the Van Dyke Parks arrangements (and in fact, kept hearing them in my head as I listened to the live performance). That said, "Beauty Mark," "Millbrook," and "Barcelona" were phenomenal. The other bonus were 3 new songs, "California," "Little Sister" (written for Martha), and...er...dunno the name of the third, but it was about all the greek boys he stared at but never got a hold of whilst in Greece. I was rather bemused by the several women up by the stage who screamed and shrieked over Rufus. It made me think of little old blue-haired ladies going nuts over Liberace. Heh. jeff (who's finally, _finally_ been to the "new" 9:30) - -- |Jeffrey C. Burka|||http://www.cqi.com/~jburka ||||"I've got time to rest / | ||||||||||||| And I've got a clear, able mind that sees my life going fine. | | 'Cause everything I need is right here in my hands..." --Melissa Ferrick | ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 23:02:51 -0600 From: Mark Lowry Subject: Christine Lavin and newspaper reviews (was Re: music (for a change)) Hi, meredith wrote: > I'm just curious - how can you honestly review a show if you were unable to > experience the whole thing? Does it bother you that you were forced to do > that, or is this something you do all the time? > > This has given me a flash of insight into why many concert reviews seem to > me to be unfair. When I say to myself, "it seems like the reviewer wasn't > paying attention to the whole thing", maybe the reviewer wasn't even there > for the whole thing! I find that a rather scary (though, since I'm such a > cynic, not surprising) prospect. You're right ... It is unfair and I hate it when we have to do this. On these occasions, I include a disclaimer sentence explaining that I wasn't able to see the entire show. Personally, I don't give an impression that I saw the entire show if I didn't. I can't speak for other reviewers, though. There are several factors involved: What is the editorial space available? How important is the artist? What is our competition going to have? yadda yadda yadda With Christine, she was playing two nights at this venue, and we thought it best if I wrote an overnight review of the first show so that the readers could know that there would be another performance. Who knows, maybe some readers learned about her for the first time. Since she went on at 8:30pm I thought I'd get to see the whole show, but she plays long sets, and talks *a lot*, which is part of her charm. In my review I explained that I was only able to see the first part. (Deadline is 11pm, and I had to drive 30 miles back to the office because there wasn't a company laptop available this particular night. I had to leave at 10 to give myself time to write the story). In this case it wasn't so unfair because she received a glowing review, for what I saw of the concert. Had it not been for the second show, I would've written it as a second-day review and stayed for the entire show. Smaller concerts in clubs and such are reviewed two days later, because the headlining band goes on too late. These are usually the shows I'm more interested in anyway, so it's good that we get to see the whole show. Really Big Shows are reviewed overnight (read: popular artists -- Celine Dion, Depeche Mode, Backstreet Boys, Black Sabbath, etc), which means that the reviewer doesn't get to see the entire set and definitely misses the encores. But these are the shows that people are going to attend no matter what. People who love 'N Sync are going to see them regardless of what past reviewers have written. I've reviewed Korn twice now, and was not particularly kind either time ... but 14-year-olds are still going to see them. (And believe me, they all called/e-mailed to tell me how stupid I am for dissing their favorite band. Intelligent things such as "You're a faggot! Korn rules!" My favorite names to be called were "pudwack" and "fucknut".) So yeah, music reviews can be unfair and not representative of the entire concert. Just another unfair thing about life, I suppose. For me it means a paycheck -- and I love that I'm getting paid to do something that I love to do (even if it is a journalist's meager income). Hope that answers the question. Later, Mark np: Heidi Berry -- Heidi Berry (one of today's purchases). She's new to me, and I'm in the middle of the first listen. *I think I'm in love.* The rest of the day's acquisitions: 1. Sky Cries Mary -- Moon Bathing on Sleeping Leaves 2. Katell Keineg -- Jet (yum...) 3. Cindy Lee Berryhill -- Garage Orchestra (haven't gotten to this one yet) 4. Liz Phair -- Juvenilia (Liz + Material Issue doing "Turning Japanese" -- yipee!) 5. Kitchens of Distinction -- Cowboys and Aliens 6. Wire -- Manscape ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 21:34:20 +0000 From: Birdie Subject: Springfield tribute CD and Hall of Fame awards > Musicians To Pay Tribute To Springfield > Several musicians have gathered together to pay tribute to the > late Dusty Springfield. > > On June 22, indie label R&D Records will release "Forever > Dusty: An Homage To An Icon." Set to appear on the album are Indigo > Girls, Laura Love, Michelle Malone, Gretchen Phillips, Kate Pierson of the > B-52's, Marti Jones, the Butchies, and others. > > Springfield, who will be inducted into the Rock and > Roll Hall of Fame March 15th, died last week of breast cancer. Highlights of the RnR Hall of Fame ceremony will air on VH-1 this coming wednesday and will repeat later in the week. Melissa Etheridge will be performing "Son of a Preacher Man" during Dusty's induction. Dusty made all of the arrangements for her induction ceremony, and will be there in spirit. Cheers, Birdie > > ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 23:26:57 -0600 From: Mark Lowry Subject: Re: music (for a change) neal copperman wrote: > but the news is generally more interested in fast reporting than accurate > reporting. Unfortunately, there's some truth to that statement, although "accurate" may be a *little* harsh. I'm just glad I don't write that hard news stuff. You get a lot more time with arts/entertainment/lifestyles features to ensure accuracy. Concert reviews are the only stories I have to turn around quick. To quote P.J. Harvey, "I'm just working for The Man." Mark np: I'm halfway through the first listen of Cindy Lee Berryhill -- Garage Orchestra, and totally digging it. Thanks Neile and everyone else who has mentioned her and caused me to take notice. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 00:40:26 -0500 From: Jeffrey Burka Subject: Re: Christine Lavin and newspaper reviews (was Re: music (for a change)) Mark Lowry sez: > np: Heidi Berry -- Heidi Berry (one of today's purchases). She's new to > me, and I'm in the middle of the first listen. *I think I'm in love.* Thanks. I now need to pull that tape and listen to it. SOON. Actually, I really ought to own it on disc. I do have a disc of the follow-up, _Miracle_, but it doesn't do the same thing for me that _Heidi Berry_ does. The McGarrigles should have had *her* on _The McGarrigle Hour_, after the way she pulled off "Heart Like a Wheel." Linda Ronstadt, eat your heart out. ;-) jeff - -- |Jeffrey C. Burka|||http://www.cqi.com/~jburka ||||"I've got time to rest / | ||||||||||||| And I've got a clear, able mind that sees my life going fine. | | 'Cause everything I need is right here in my hands..." --Melissa Ferrick | ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V5 #97 *************************