From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V5 #121 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Monday, April 5 1999 Volume 05 : Number 121 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Sarah Slean ["Donald G. Keller" ] RACHAEL SAGE IN APRIL... [SpiritWe@aol.com] Re: Snakefarm [meredith ] Re: BELLE AND SEBASTIAN ["Anna Elaine Pryde" ] Jewel SPIRIT review ["Anna Elaine Pryde" ] Re: Snakefarm (+ more) [cinders blue ] Re: Snakefarm [cinders blue ] recommendations, was: Imogen Heap/ Emma Townshend [Andrew Fries Subject: Sarah Slean My burning question re Sarah Slean is: what's up with her new album? ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Apr 1999 16:48:26 EST From: SpiritWe@aol.com Subject: RACHAEL SAGE IN APRIL... Howdy, ecto-folks! Lisa from MPress here with the scoop on Rachael's April shows. The first show you won't want to miss is: Rachael Sage at Webster Hall on Thursday, April 8th at 11 p.m. (125 E. 11th between 3rd & 4th, NYC) This one should be a blast. Rachael will be headlining Cover Magazine's promotional party at Webster Hall. We've got an open guest list, which means y'all can see Rachael for free AND dance the night away on one of Webster Hall's multiple dance floors after the show. You can also get discount drinks in the Balcony Lounge all night. Just e-mail me at Wickedroz@aol.com or call me at 212-533-3443 BEFORE noon on April 8th to reserve your spots on the list. On Saturday, April 24th at 8 p.m., Rachael will be returning to one of our favorite clubs -- Arlene Grocery. You can all come down and give Rachael a big send-off, since she'll be heading down to Louisiana the next day for a lil' mini-tour. She'll begin the fun in New Orleans with a showcase at the LMNOP Music Conference in New Orleans on April 26th and a Tower Records in-store performance on April 27th. Then she'll head to Lafayette on April 28th for an on-air performance at radio station KRVS, a very cool station where Rachael's album has consistently been charting in the CMJ Top 30. Last, but not least, Rachael will be performing on air at Lake Charles' NBC-affiliate television station KPLC-TV on April 29th before returning home for some much-needed (I'm sure) sleep. If you have any friends and family in Louisiana, please let them know that Rachael will be heading their way soon! - - - - That's it for now. As always, please feel free to call or e-mail me with any questions, comments, bad jokes, good quotes or words of inspiration... XOXOXO Lisa Cohen MPress Records 212-533-3443 Wickedroz@aol.com * * * np:The Cheiftains/Tears of Stone nr: The Pollen Room (Zoe Jenny) - ----- End forwarded message ----- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 04 Apr 1999 18:39:54 -0400 From: meredith Subject: Re: Snakefarm Hi! Valerie Richardson inquired: >I've just run across an oddity (I don't know if this has been discussed >or not), which is the new CD by Snakefarm called _Songs from My >Funeral_. New Anna Domino! New Anna Domino!! New Anna Domino!!! (Sorry. :) >I haven't decided if I like the CD or not. Has anyone else heard it? woj picked this up the other day, but I didn't notice it was in the pile, so I didn't hear it until today. I did hear "Frankie And Johnny" on your show on Friday, though - I was driving to lunch going "hey, this is cool!". :) I like it. The beats are trippy and interesting, and I love, love, LOVE Anna's voice. You never would know these are old songs without really paying attention to the lyrics. Does anyone know if Snakefarm are going to be performing live sometime? Guess I should check the Knitting Factory's schedule or something. I should also mention that Valerie played Susan Court on Friday's show as well. Neile, take note. :) +==========================================================================+ | 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, 4 Apr 1999 11:47:56 -0800 From: "Anna Elaine Pryde" Subject: Re: BELLE AND SEBASTIAN > i recently acquired a contraband copy of TIGERMILK by BELLE AND SEBASTIAN. Does this have anything to do with that old cartoon "Belle and Sebastian" about an orphan boy who rode around on a huge white Newfie named Belle? I just loved that show. :) Cheers Anna ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 4 Apr 1999 14:53:08 -0800 From: "Anna Elaine Pryde" Subject: Jewel SPIRIT review Okay, I'm taking a cue from Patrick here, and am offering a little synopsis of my reactions to Jewel's new CD. I know I was reluctant to even buy it after what I had heard from critics and from listening to Hands constantly on the DMX at work, but my brother left his copy at my house so I got a free trial run, as it were, and ended up buying the album. Take that as you will. Overall, this album is a lot more polished than her first, and I feel she polished out what fundamentally defined Jewel to me. When it was a girl with a guitar, her sound was a lot more innocent, unadulterated, and personal. When I listen to Pieces of You, I picture a girl on her bed, head bent over her acoustic, or a girl on a bar stool in the corner of a coffeeshop surrounded by a few of her closest friends. When I listen to Spirit, if I get any picture at all, it's of a slightly lost girl surrounded by technicians in a high-tech sound booth. A very sterile atmosphere, and I think it shows in the music. This isn't to mean that I don't like the album. It just doesn't compare to Pieces of You. There is a very strong Christian spiritual element to this album, which came as quite a surprise to me. i was thinking of "spirit" in a more metaphysical sense. As a pagan with mostly negative experiences with God's followers, it was a turn-off, and difficult to work through, but that's mostly my own prejudices or whatever. Most of the songs that mention God or Christian spirituality place them in a positive light, as something which gives her strength, but one song, Down So Long, is surprisingly bitter, calling to mind Tori Amos. There is also frequent mention of flames, which I take to be a metaphor for spirit. In tone, this album sounds a lot more like Tori and Sarah McLachlangot together and had a baby, with a touch of black spirituals thrown in somewhere for flavor (how's that for mixing metaphors!), but it doesn't sound like Jewel used to. Some of the lyrics are even almost as dark as Happy's, but somehow she doesn't pull them off as well. 1. Deep Water :) This is pretty. I like the acoustic rhythm in the background. It reminds me of my favorite Sarah McLachlan takes from Solace and Touch. The first thing I noticed with this first song is that she's not alone anymore, as it were. There are keyboards, drums, bass, acoustic and electric guitars all in on the action. Plus, she doesn't do her own guitar on this one, and it shows. Still, I like it. It's catchy and singable. 2. What's Simple is True :| Eh. Nothing about this one really sticks out at me. It's not bad, but not smashing, either. The rhythms and tune kind of remind me of Tori Amos on Little Earthquakes. The song is pretty bland throughout, but I like the line, "What's simple is true...I love you." 3. Hands :} This song was so overplayed on the DMX at work, I have a hard time associating it with Jewel. It's the one that least reminds me of her as an artist and person. It's also the only one that she had help composing, and maybe that's why. This is the first song that brings God into it, so much so, that I expect to see her on the Christian hit lists soon. The message is nice, but as a recovering ex-Catholic, it recalls CCD classes uncomfortably well. Once again, my prejudices, but really, the message is nice. 4. Kiss the Flame :( Yuck! My least favorite song. It's sappy, and her high vocals are weak and watery. They lyrics are intersting but essentially meaningless, like those experiments to make a computer write poetry. I honestly don't know what she was thinking when she wrote this, lyrics or music-wise. 5. Down So Long :) I bet y'all were wondering why I even bothered with this album, right? Well, Jewel redeems herself with me on this one. The rhythm is catchy, makes me groove in my chair. The lyrics evoke crazy images, like the Indigo Girls and Tori Amos. I especially like "A blind man on the corner said it's simple, like flipping a coin... don't matter what side it lands on if it's someone else's dime." and "It feels like someone's face is stuck on the bottom of my shoe." This is the first song that reminds me of the new country-rock of Bonnie Raitt (and probably others, but I'm not up on country). I also like the gist of the lyrics, which essentially boil down to and optimistic "There's nowhere to go from here but up." 6. Innocence Maintained :) This song's fast pace reminds me at first of Simon and Garfunkel's frenetic fingerpicking, and, strangely enough, of my favorite Happy song, "Wretches GOne Awry." The pace and her dark lyrics also remind me, finally, of Jewel's first album, notably Little Sister. Lots of flames and darkness and sin and hatred. This is the only song that is negative toward God's followers, again reminding me of Tori. The lyrics are darkly evocative: "We are given to a god to put our faith therein; but to be forgiven we mush first believe in sin." "A hero's torso built of steel and Novocian...so he found himself a whore to love while daisies choked on the window sill." Whoa! This is our childlike little Jewel? Okay, so her earlier album wasn't exactly naive, but her songs always had at least an element of hope in them. This song makes me think of Jewel's own innocence lost when she became a star. I think fame has really taken her spirit. 7. Jupiter :} This song is silly. I like all the pagan images- it's refreshing at this point. She sings about love and sex and food and the moon and nighttime. There's a little country twang goin' on, too, which goes well with the acoustic rhythm. 8. Fat Boy :) This song made me cry the first time I heard it, which is always a plus. Almost every song from her fist album choked me up, but this is the first for Spirit. Jewel's once again a girl in her bedroom- just voice and her own guitar. THis song really belongs on Pieces of YOu. The lyrics are about isolation and loneliness, which everyone has felt, but that doesn't make you feel any less alone in the feeling. My eyes prickle throughout the song, but the last line, "Someimes I feel the same" opens the floodgates. This is one of the three songs that made the cd a must-buy for me. 9. Enter From the East :( Once again, her high vocals are shaky, and it's distracting. I do like the simplicity of the music- just acoustic simple fingerpicking rhythm and an eerie cello thrumming to fill up the chords. All in all, this song moves too slowly to keep my attention, and the lyrics confuse me. She lost me on this one, I'm afraid. 10. Barcelona :{ The lyrics here are dark of imagery at first, then go on to say how her faith in God lets her fly and be free- reminiscent of spirituals in word, but not in sound. A little more twangy country stuff, and a chorus comes in behind her for the chorus (naturally, I guess) which reminds me of those shallow inspirational pop crap I hear way too much of these days, which basically says, " I can get through anything if I just belieeeeeeeeeve." Et cetera. I like it in black spirituals, but not in this latest incarnation. 11. Life Uncommon :) This song starts out heartbreakingly beautiful. Chords like in church behind her, lyrics like a lullaby... Then a groovy rhythm jumps in, which is still nice, but it's like pulling the shades open suddenly right after you wake up. It takes a little getting used to. I like the lyrics, which evoke images of freedom and chains, freedom and faith. It's quite gospelly (is that a word?). It's a feel good song, inspirational in the truest sense of the word. 12. Do You :} Once again, a country-type beat and twangy feel, which is fitting because the first lyrics speak of cowboys. These lyrics are amazingly cynical for our little Jewel! I like it, after the sap of all the Christianity in the previous songs, but it sure is a contrast from the optimism of Pieces of You. She kind of speaks the lyrics in rhythm like in Who Will Save Your Soul. Once again, good but not stunning. 13. Absence of Fear :) Sweet and sad and simple- Jewel at her best. The chords just kind of exist behind her, full and round and warm, like a crimson velvet pillow on which to rest her voice. The piano acts as a kind of second voice, ad libbing around Jewel's melody but without interfering. It reminds me somehow of Sting's rendition of Someone To Watch Over Me. 14. This Little Bird :)***** Ah, the piece de resistance. I would spend 10 times the amount of money for this album just for this song. At first I thought it was Jewel harmonizing with herself, and I thought, "Wow! She can make her voice so deep and mellow, like Ella Fitzgerald. Then I read the book and found out the main voice is her mother, Nedra Carroll! This woman has a stunning voice, and it's truly amazing how similar it sounds to her daughter's. I hope she does a record of her own sometime. This is a lullably Jewel's mother used to sing to her, and it's done completely a capella. Jewel's and Nedra's voice melt together like honey and molasses; their timing and harmony are flawless. I cannot get enough of this song. Okay, to recap: overall, an okay but largely uninspiring collection of songs, with the exception of a few jewels (no pun intended, honestly) that make the whole damn thing irresistable. Grade B- Favorites: This Little Bird Absence of Fear Down So Long Fat Boy Least Favorite: Kiss the Flame Enter from the East Whew! I don't know how you do it, Patrick! This took a lot out of me. Well, I hope it helps someone decide whether to buy it or not. Let me know your opinions, all! Cheers, Anna ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 04 Apr 1999 20:16:49 -0400 From: cinders blue Subject: Re: Snakefarm (+ more) MC 900 Ft Valerie Kraemer rapped: >I've just run across an oddity (I don't know if this has been discussed >or not), which is the new CD by Snakefarm called _Songs from My >Funeral_. i've been looking forward to this album for a while (as meredith exclaimed, "new anna domino! new anna domino! new anna domino!") and am quite happy with it. of all the albums that wended their way into our house this past week, this one has gotten the most airplay. i have to admit that that had some misgivings about the concept -- modern treatments of traditional ballads -- which sounds like it could be very annoying or, at the very least, goofy, but they pull it off very nicely. the arrangements are, yes, hip but i think they really capture the soul of the songs without being simple remakes using new instruments or being different from the originals just for the sake of being different. i think anyone who likes robin holcomb will particularly dig this album. other stuff i've picked up this week: david sylvian -- dead bees on a cake: meredith's listened to this more than me, but what i've heard is good (what do you expect? it's david sylvian!). nothing ground-breaking, but nice. penelope houston -- tongue: despite being around for years, i think she's finally getting her sound together. her last album was good, but this one gells really nicely. she rocks more, but not like an aimee mann. more in the vein of a jill sobule or sam phillips. i've only listened to this once so far. the apples in stereo -- tone soul evolution: twee 60s pop by a twee 90s band. probably none of you would care (except maybe his feckless beastness). eddi reader -- angels & electricity: another one that has only seen the light of the laser once and i wasn't paying attention the whole time, so i won't say anything. roy harper -- the unknown soldier: an old record that has finally seen re-issue on compact disc. while this may be of most note to ectophiles for the appearance of KaTe bush on one song, all of roy's records are good on their own merits. due to its relative unavailability, this one has some mythic greatness associated with it that it may not completely deserve, but the song "short and sweet" more than makes up for that, imho. off to watch futurama, woj ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 04 Apr 1999 22:21:48 -0400 From: cinders blue Subject: Re: Snakefarm MC 900 Ft meredith rapped: >Does anyone know if Snakefarm are going to be performing live sometime? according to the kneeling elephant website , they'll be performing in los angeles in may: 10 may -- the mint, los angeles 17 may -- the mint, los angeles 24 may -- luna park, los angeles +w n.p. kristen hersh -- white trash moon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Apr 1999 13:59:15 +1000 From: Andrew Fries Subject: recommendations, was: Imogen Heap/ Emma Townshend In a message "Imogen Heap/ Emma Townshend" on 03/Apr/1999 13:09:45 JoAnn.Whetsell@oberlin.edu says: > I'm interested in getting into new artists right now, but I'm looking for > people who are really original and different. Well, bearing in mind these are pointers for more exploration rather than outright recommendations, you could try these: - - Cat Power: very different and quiet; otherworldly and sparse, in fact. Definitely not everyone's cup of tea but I like her. - - Beth Orton: the folk-hop combination is pretty unusual, as is her voice. I've ordered her new one and at the moment I'm impatiently waiting for delivery. From what I heard of it so far I suspect it will be one of my faves for this year! - - Lisa Germano: well known on Ecto, I apologise if it's old news to you! Another one of those who tend to polarise the opinions, even on this list. Check out her entry in Ectoguide... - - Dana and Karen Kletter: I think "dear enemy" is their only Cd so far. It has this classical and uncluttered approach I really enjoy, with their harmonies and acoustic instrumentation of piano and strings. At times they remind me so much of our own Peccadillo, who were described perfectly as "chamber pop". This one is perhaps darker and more ambitious than Peccadillo's tunes, but that "chamber" feeling is there. - - this is old news to others on the list who have been listening to her for years, but I have to mention Ingrid Karklins, "Red Hand" in particular. I cannot get tired of this one! I think Ectoguide will have an entry for her, too. np. Anne O'Meara Heaton - her mp3's downloaded from mp3.com... I quite enjoyed what I heard so far. Though it's too early to tell whether I'd actually buy her CDs. - ------------------------------------------------------ The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers. (William Shakespeare) - ------ http://www.zip.com.au/~afries/hall.html ------- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 05 Apr 1999 00:39:31 -0400 (EDT) From: joann.whetsell@oberlin.edu (JoAnn Whetsell) Subject: Andrew's recommendations Thanks Andrew Fries for the recommendations. I LOVE Beth Orton and hope you'll really enjoy the new album. It's good. For anyone who knows her two albums, I highly recommend the Best Bits EP. It has all-new material and is really good too, more straight-forwardly folky. The other funny thing was that I just ordered my first Ingrid Karklins cd tonight, although I decided to go with Anima Mundi since I've heard clips of it. So how's that for great minds thinking alike? Although you missed me on the Lisa Germano thing. I find her far too dark and weird for my taste. - -JoAnn np: "Jet" Katell Keinig ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V5 #121 **************************