From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V6 #240 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Saturday, August 19 2000 Volume 06 : Number 240 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Morcheeba's new one [Drew Harrington ] Vagabond Lovers [Jay Behel ] Re: Muse, etc [Stuart Myerburg ] Re: Vagabond Lovers [Neile Graham ] mary lydia ryan [neal copperman ] planning ectofest travel [neal copperman ] ectofest west [neal copperman ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 01:58:24 -0700 (PDT) From: Drew Harrington Subject: Morcheeba's new one > anybody have any comments on the new Morcheeba? I've been listening to a coworker's copy and I don't think it quite holds up with Big Calm (My favorite), or the first one (which I like only a little less). After the first half dozen listenings it doesn't seem to have the depth or be able to hold up over time as well as the first two. Drew __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 -0500 (EST) From: Jay Behel Subject: Vagabond Lovers I love the Vagabond Lovers album (Dish meets John & Mary). Has anyone heard the Naked Barbies albums? Amazon lists three old albums and one of the band members identifies NB as an old incarnation of VL. Would love to know if those albums are worth getting. Best, jay Jay M. Behel, Ph.D. \"When I dare to be powerful-to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it begins to matter less and less whether I am afraid.\" Audre Lorde ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 16:32:30 -0400 From: Stuart Myerburg Subject: Re: Muse, etc Sherlyn Koo wrote: > Just wanted to quickly plug one of my favourite albums of > the year, "Showbiz" by English trio Muse. Their music is kind > of along the same lines as Radiohead (dark and brooding) but > I like the Muse album better than what Radiohead I've heard. > Definitely worth a listen! I am a devoted Radiohead fan, so I definitely prefer them to Muse. However, Muse are still a great band who I also highly recommend if you like Radiohead-type music with a singer that has the same sort of Jeff Buckley-esque tendencies as Thom Yorke. Strangely, though, as much as Muse sound like RH on CD, in concert the songs become much more open-ended and aggressive. It's almost like seeing a different band. Another band I would recommend along these same lines is Coldplay. They sound like a cross between Travis, Radiohead, and Jeff Buckley. The album is only available in the UK right now, but it's worth checking out if you like any of these other folks. > Also, does anybody have any comments on the new Morcheeba > album? I would have to agree with the response that already came out on this. It is not as strong as _Big Calm_, which is their best thus far and one of my favorite albums. But after listening to it a couple of times, the new one has grown on me. "World Looking In" is classic Morcheeba that could easily have fit on _Big Calm_. And, even though "Rome Wasn't Built in a Day" is very poppy, I like it. There are some songs I could really do without, like the Biz Markie guest appearance and the song featuring steel drums (which are usually a bad idea in any song). But overall, any Morcheeba fan won't be disappointed. I wouldn't recommend it as your introduction to the band, though. That should definitely be _Big Calm_. Stuart nr: England, England - Julian Barnes np: 69 Love Songs - The Magnetic Fields - -- ______________________________________________ Stuart Myerburg http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~stuart ______________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 14:17:27 -0700 From: Neile Graham Subject: Re: Vagabond Lovers Jay Behel wrote: >I love the Vagabond Lovers album (Dish meets John & Mary). Has >anyone heard the Naked Barbies albums? Amazon lists three old >albums and one of the band members identifies NB as an old >incarnation of VL. Would love to know if those albums are worth getting. I got curious and looked in my back files for The Ectophiles' Guide and found this brief comment from David Dixon, who was on this list for many years but is not longer: Naked Barbies, _Tarnished_: Local bar band, a bit like Knots and Crosses, but blues-ier. That's all there is! Dunno if that helps at all. - --Neile n.p. Boo Trunle, _The Vast Underneath_ n.r. (and enjoying, meth, so did my mom who just finished it) Judith Tarr, _Queen of Swords_ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neile Graham ...... http://www.sff.net/people/neile ....... neile@sff.net Les Semaines: A Weekly Journal . http://www.sff.net/people/neile/semaines The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music ....... http://www.smoe.org/ectoguide ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 23:30:03 -0600 From: neal copperman Subject: mary lydia ryan Last week I had my fourth house concert. It required the most work on my part, but it was also fantastic, so I'm not complaining (much). The chance to see Mary Lydia Ryan at all, let alone in my living room, was worth the trouble of renting a keyboard and amp, and being paranoid about the possibilities of a really pitiful turnout. Things worked out pretty well, even though I found myself at Radio Shack buying a mic clip 15 minutes before the show. At least when I returned, I was pleasantly surprised to find my house mostly full. The show was great! Mary and Tim are really nice people, and she really brought her songs to life. It's surprising how much seeing her play piano added to my enjoyment of her songs. She's a very expressive player. I felt like her songs were fully realized just on piano, and was really impressed with how completely she was able to reproduce them. I thought they sounded just like the recordings, until I went back and listened to them and realized these versions sounded nothing like the recordings. One of the highlights of the show for me was Devil With Wings. I loved the syncopated funeral feeling that she produced. That was probably musically the simplest accompaniment of the evening, but it seemed really effective and evocative. I also really enjoyed the piano interludes, which were quite lovely. Mary played songs from both of her albums, as well as a couple of new songs. I don't feel like I'm being particularly eloquent tonight, but I think you get the idea. neal np: The Whole World - Penelope Houston ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 23:33:45 -0600 From: neal copperman Subject: planning ectofest travel I'm going to be reserving my plane tix next week. I think I'll probably fly into Dulles, make off with one of my parents cars, and drive up to CT. Is anyone else going up from the DC area (or nearby) that wants to carpool? How long does it take to drive from DC to Danbury? (OK, I've done it once, so I should know. I'm thinking like 5 hours? I kind of need to know cause I'm debating driving up that day. Actually, 5 hours already makes me have to get up far earlier than I like, so perhaps I'll drive up the night before.) Which leads to my next question.... Anyone else going who wants to split a hotel room. Last year I shared one with Bob Kollmeyer, which worked out great. (He still talks to me, so I guess it was ok for him too.) thoughts? neal np: The Whole World - Penelope Houston ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 23:40:22 -0600 From: neal copperman Subject: ectofest west Last year there was some brief discussions of the idea of ectofest west, but nothing really came of them. This came up again recently, since i was wearing my ectofest t-shirt at Mary Lydia Ryan's concert here. She expressed interest in possibly playing at ectofest next year (take note Meth 'n' Chuck!), though the labor day weekend timeframe looked kind of bad. But she also thought that it would be really exciting if we could do something out west. There are certainly plenty of exciting west coast people who would probably be available. Here's the real kicker though. Mary and Tim offered up their place for the show! They recently moved into a new home, and one of the things they were looking for was enough room to have concerts in their back yard. They said they had their first one a few weeks ago, and had around 130 people there. They figured they could probably get around 200, all told. (We are talking about the Seattle area now, though I can't recall exactly where.) I thought this was a really cool offer. Anyone interested in trying to run with this? Just imagine the kind of line-up we could conceivably get.... Mary Lydia Ryan Emily Bezar Veda Hille Amy X Neuburg and Men Land of the Blind/Azigza Hand to Mouth Persephone Circle people Amy Denio and that's just the names i can think of off the top of my head. neal np: The Whole World - Penelope Houston ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V6 #240 **************************