From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V7 #115 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Monday, April 23 2001 Volume 07 : Number 115 Today's Subjects: ----------------- laura nyro article. ["Heidi Maier" ] Two questions ... ["Matthew B. Downer" ] RE: Two questions ... ["Foghorn J Fornorn" ] Re: laura nyro article. [meredith ] RE: Two questions ... ["Foghorn J Fornorn" ] Yay! i got more new music! [Dracovixen@aol.com] Yay! i got more new music! [Dracovixen@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 22:46:08 +1000 From: "Heidi Maier" Subject: laura nyro article. hello folks, i read this in the new york times online -- being in australia, i am unsure whether it appeared in the actual paper edition as well ;) April 22, 2001 An Elusive Folk Star Who's Ripe for Rediscovery By PETER MARKS WHEN Diane Paulus was approached with the idea of directing a musical based on the songs of Laura Nyro, her response was unequivocal. She had absolutely no idea who Laura Nyro was. "I grew up on Suzanne Vega and Carole King, but somehow I missed her," Ms. Paulus says. Missed is an understatement. The 34-year-old Ms. Paulus, director of such eclectic Off Broadway fare as "Running Man" and "The Donkey Show," had never so much as heard of the elusive folk-rock legend of the late 1960's and 70's. Nyro (pronounced NEAR-oh), who died of ovarian cancer in 1997 at the age of 49, had a complex relationship with the limelight. Though her music is instantly recognizable - her hits included "And When I Die," "Wedding Bell Blues" and "Stoned Soul Picnic," the last two covered by the Fifth Dimension, and "Stoney End," recorded by Barbra Streisand - her fame has been limited in part because, repulsed by the mercenary aspects of show business, she largely retreated early on from public view. Her renown is mainly confined to Ms. Paulus's baby-boomer elders, many of whom found in Nyro's emotional, often spiritual albums a passionate expression of their own anguish and bliss. "She was the most influential artist of my adolescence," said Doug Aibel, 43, the artistic director of the Vineyard Theater, which had undertaken the Nyro project with Bruce Buschel, a journalist and jazz expert who had acquired the rights to her songbook. "There was a whole generation of tortured adolescents who memorized her every song, every phrase, every breath." Mr. Aibel was untroubled by the fact that Ms. Paulus did not share his long and deep association with Nyro's music. Her lack of familiarity actually made her an even more attractive choice for the type of theater piece that he and Mr. Buschel envisioned. "My immediate thought was, `Great, she didn't know her,' " Mr. Aibel said. "My interest was to bring this work to life for a new generation, to reach all those people who didn't know her stuff." Now, "all those people" will have a chance to play catch-up. "Eli's Comin'," a sung-through music-theater piece directed by Ms. Paulus, opens on May 7 at the Vineyard. With a cast that includes established Broadway actors like Judy Kuhn ("She Loves Me") and Wilson Jermaine Heredia ("Rent"), and a score arranged by the jazz composer Diedre Murray, the production has an ambitious agenda. It seeks to navigate a channel between the traditional musical and the conventional revue-style anthology show, weaving a loose narrative solely out of Nyro's own words and music. "The trick is to get this to be a show and a rock-and-roll concert, with each helping the other and not destroying each other," said Mr. Buschel, who is listed, with Ms. Paulus, as co-creator. "And it has to sound contemporary. If it doesn't, then we've messed it up. It's not about bringing back an old composer. For people under 30, it should sound new. The music transcends its era; if you were hearing it today for the first time, it wouldn't sound retro, it would sound relevant and alive." It was Nyro's enigmatic vitality that convinced Mr. Aibel that her work could be compelling theater. "She creates a universe with its own rich and specific musical language," he said. "When I listen to her music, I don't sit back, I lean forward. I try to crack the puzzle. I find it poignant and distressing how few younger people are familiar with her work because these songs are as cutting-edge today as they were before." The mission the Vineyard is on with "Eli's Comin' " - a name that derives from the title song of Nyro's signature album, "Eli and the Thirteenth Confession" - goes to the crux of a problem that has plagued the musical theater for years: where to find material that will appeal broadly to modern audiences? Pop culture has become a perennial resource, and one solution Broadway has embraced has been to bring Hollywood to the stage. "The Producers," "The Full Monty," "Saturday Night Fever" and "Footloose" have all been reborn as big- budget musicals in recent years; "Sweet Smell of Success" and "Thoroughly Modern Millie" are waiting in the wings. In its relentless appropriation of the familiar, Broadway has also reached out to the world of pop music. Writer-performers like Paul Simon ("Capeman") have composed original pieces for the theater; producers for years have been pursuing the country-music star Garth Brooks in the hope that he would write a musical adapted from the movie "Shane." But efforts to turn the work of rock, doo- wop and soul artists into theater events more commonly have taken the form of revues, as in the long-running "Smokey Joe's Cafe," or biographical musicals like the current "Love, Janis," based on the life of the rocker Janis Joplin. "Eli's Comin' " is a departure from those forms, offering, if you will, an Off Broadway alternative to the tried and true. As a director, Ms. Paulus is making a career of discovering fresh ways to tell stories with music. In her highly successful "Donkey Show," created with her husband, Randy Weiner, performers lip-sync to hits from the disco era as they enact a sort of Studio 54 version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Her new show is not quite so linear. Four actresses - Ms. Kuhn, Ronnell Bey, Anika Noni Rose and Mandy Gonzalez - perform the songs and, in essence, embody themes that run through all of Nyro's music, ideas about freedom of the spirit and letting go, about searching for meaning and despair. Since the devil crops up in various guises many times in her songs, Mr. Heredia was enlisted to play the Captain (as in the Nyro song "Captain St. Lucifer"), a dark presence interacting virtually wordlessly with the women. The production is more an exploration of an artist's psyche than her life. "It's not really about her biography, it's about the kinds of questions she was asking," Ms. Paulus said on a recent Saturday, as the members of the cast rehearsed on the steel- gray Vineyard set with a six-piece onstage jazz band. "In terms of the emotional arc of the piece, it's linear," Mr. Aibel added, "but it doesn't tell a traditional story." Creating that story was not easy: the show follows the progress of an artist named Emmie (Ms. Kuhn) on a turning-point night in her life. For one thing, Nyro's ebullient, stream- of-consciousness lyrics were hard to translate into stage behavior. Often, the show's creators could not even agree on what a song was about. "We sat around listening and talking," Mr. Buschel recalled of one day's debate of a Nyro song entitled "Luckie." "Yes I'm ready/ So come on Luckie," it begins, and goes on to declare, "Dig them potatoes if you never dug your girl before." "What does it mean?" Mr. Buschel asked. "Is it a state of `lucky'? Is it a guy named Luckie?" Ultimately, though, the task was not to provide a literal interpretation, but a more impressionistic canvas on which to convey the scope of Nyro's talent, the range of her influences, from jazz to rock to rhythm and blues, and perhaps to make a case for the kind of wider audience enjoyed by her contemporaries like Joni Mitchell and Judy Collins. Mr. Buschel said that Nyro at the very least had won over all the younger people in "Eli's Comin,' " who, he said, are now devoted to her CD's. And that, of course, is not to mention Ms. Paulus, who admits to having had a gap filled in her music education. "I have," she said, "a love affair with her now." The theater, it seems, is forever pushing the nostalgia button, recycling defining styles of music and the stories of stars of the past to recall something old and, in rarer cases, to evoke something new. warm wishes, heidi. - ------ "i want so much to write well, though i know i don't ... but during and at the end of my life, i will adore those who have." -- *dorothy parker* visit www.vday.org * heidi maier - maier@joynet.com.au * ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 15:38:00 -0500 (CDT) From: "Matthew B. Downer" Subject: Two questions ... Question 1: There's currently a Mitsubishi Gallant commercial airing on TV that features a song with the lyrics: I wish that I knew what I know now when I was younger I wish that I knew what I know now when I was stronger The song is, apparently, "Ooh La La", originally done by the Faces (Rod Stewart's original band). Does anyone know who the performer is in the version playing in the Mitsubishi commercial? Question 2: I recently won an eBay auction for a CD that is supposed to be the Laureena McKennitt promo (ten track) version of "Live in San Francisco". Having recieved the disk, it turns out to have the following characteristics: * it's a CDR rather than a factory pressed CD * there's a loud popping noise between each track * the color printing of the paper inserts is very grainy (like color inkjet quality) * the non-data side of the CDR is a white label with the words "Loreena McKennitt" printed in black I'm thinking that what I got nay not be a legal/legitimate copy of the disk, but I want to confirm that with someone who has a real copy before jumping to conclusions. So, anyone got a real copy, and does it match the above description? Or did I get ripped off? Thanks, matt - -- Matt Downer NP: NFL Draft, ESPN hachiman@io.com NR: Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 19:44:43 -0400 From: "Foghorn J Fornorn" Subject: RE: Two questions ... Don't know the answer to question 1, but a good resource for that type of question is http://www.adcritic.com/music/ I don't see Ooh La La listed under the Mitusbishi commercials, perhaps the title is different or the commercial is too new to be documented there. As for question 2, I have a copy of Loreena's Live in San Francisco ordered from Quinlan Road some years back, it is six tracks and definitely not a CDR, it comes in a cardboard sleeve like a miniature LP. Loud popping noises between tracks is indicative of early CDR burning software and/or a creator who either didn't know how to use it right, or didn't care. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 20:34:47 -0400 From: meredith Subject: Re: laura nyro article. Hi, Heidi posted: >i read this in the new york times online -- being in australia, i am unsure >whether it appeared in the actual paper edition as well ;) It did. I was going to post about it yesterday, but forgot. I'm starting to have short-term memory issues in my old age... Am I the only one who finds the prospect of a musical based on Nyro's work just a wee bit horrifying?? ======================================= Meredith Tarr New Haven, CT USA mailto:meth@smoe.org http://www.smoe.org/meth "things are more beautiful when they're obscure" -- veda hille ======================================= Live At The House O'Muzak House Concert Series http://www.smoe.org/meth/muzak.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 21:10:37 -0400 From: "Foghorn J Fornorn" Subject: RE: Two questions ... ... and having just seen the ad in question, realizing it's been running awhile... turns out the adcritic music site conveniently (insert sarcastic sneer) references albums, not songs, which you can click to link to an amazon.com ad, where you can click on the album title to link to amazon itself, and then (maybe) see the list of songs... and finally realize that Ooh La La is performed by a band called The Wiseguys. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 00:22:37 EDT From: Dracovixen@aol.com Subject: Yay! i got more new music! Sheesh, my CD collection has grown quite considerably in the past two weeks. I think I might have mentioned a couple of these already, but I'm including just in case I didn't... Diamanda Galas - Malediction and Prayer "a 4 octave range singing piano pounding freak" Prepare your ears for blood-curdling shrieks and squeals, and a heavy, sultry voice that reaches depths unkown to most women. Most people will probably not like her...but I think some of her songs were done very well. Fisher - True North I think that this is a girl to watch...I think she has a lot of potential in her voice and in her songwriting...I just wish she did a lot of harder stuff...I think she has the voice for it, though this album is quite enjoyable. Check out "Hello, It's Me", "The Life", "Breakable" (also found on the Great Expectations soundtrack), and "I Will Love You" is her popular love ballad. Pet - Pet Wow! Scathing vocals backed up by a guitar-driven edge...I love this album. Lisa Papineau's voice is anything from wispy and wistful, to enraged and roaring. I mean it, roaring. Pet was the only band signed onto Tori Amos' label, Igloo Records. They are now defunct, but you can get the album at half.com. Check out "Lil' Boots" on Napster or any other file-stealing/sharing software that you may use. Amanda Ghost - Ghost Stories Very interesting mix of acoustic guitar, piano, and techno-tinged arrangements. Amanda Ghost has a strong voice, though a little flat sometimes, but this only adds to her music. Check out "Filthy Mind", "Idol", and "Silver Lining". Imogen Heap - I, Megaphone I love this girl. She has a thick, strong voice that she can really belt out (indeed, it sounds best when she does this), and I love the mix of piano and guitar, along with some samples and electronic pieces. My faves: "Rake it In", "Angry Angel", and "Getting Scared". Sister Soleil - Drown Me in You I finally got the first Sister Soleil album. I think it's awesome. I know I have said it before, but I don't know what to call Sister Soleil except as "industrial-techno-pop". This album is not nearly as heavy as her second though (Soularium). But it's a lot of fun. Check out "Bazaamba" and "Lust". There's also a version of "Red" on there different from the "Red" on Soularium, and a different version of "Chair". Sister Soleil - Bare Plus This is actually something a nice guy did for me. Bare is Sister Soleil's acoustic album that never got pressed, but the mp3s are free for anyone to grab. A devoted SS fan named Keith burned Bare to CD, than added a few live tracks, and then Stella's (Stella is Sister Soleil) new single "Kiss Kiss". "Kiss Kiss" is actually a Stella Soleil song. Stella Soleil is Sister Soleil, but Stella is her commercial attempt (meaning straight-out pop), whereas Sister is the industrial-techno-pop. Anyone confused? Happy Rhodes - Equipoise I doubt I need to tell anyone about this CD, considering the list's origin. :) Godhead - 2000 Years of Human Error I was first exposed to Godhead at a Marilyn Manson concert. I walked in just as this opening band was doing a hard cover of The Beatles' "Eleanore Rigby". I thought it was awesome. The singer's voice is smooth and clear, he's a nice guy (talked to him during MM's show), and does an awesome stage show of his own. The sound is heavy with electronics and guitars, not to mention the good old drums and bass, yet is arranged in a smooth and organized way. I defintely reccomend it. Try "The Reckoning", "I Sell Society" (great lyrics!), and the Beatles cover. Drain S.T.H. - Horror Wrestling Think Alice in Chains with a female vocalist, and you have Drain S.T.H. No, just kidding, though that is what I thought when I first heard it. But, they have their own style, just a lot of similarities to Alice in Chains. I like it a lot. Sample "Mirror Eyes", "Crack the Liar's Smile", and "Klotera". Julia Darling - Figure 8 Not exactly my speed of music, but I love some of these songs. The rest are mediocre to me. She sounds sweet and soft, but she has teeth. My faves are "Bury You", "Crinolines and Waltzing", and "Soak Me". The common favorite seems to be "Bulletproof Belief", however. An Pierle - Mud Stories A quirky pianist from Belgium, I believe I have discussed her before. A voice both demonic and angelic, with heart-wrenching songs, and songs of empowerment. Try "Mud Stories", "Tower", "Are 'Friends' Electric?", and "Siamese Twins". Nine Inch Nails - Further Down the Spiral Awesome awesome CD! Anyone who's a big fan of The Downward Spiral must get this CD! My Scarlet Life - Buzzbomb A trippy electronic band local to Chicago, My Scarlet Life is now defunct, but looked to have some potential. I think they could polish it up a little though, and make some awesome music. Doesn't matter now, though...They have broken up into the bands "Scarlet Life", "Pointy Teeth", "Jute", "Lotus", and "Karma Sutra". Ani DiFranco - Reckoning and Reveling A double CD of 29 tracks of new material. Yum. :) The first CD was very mellow, relaxing, very good lyrics as always. The second was a lot more upbeat, with a funky sound, and even a bit of hip hop. And the awesome lyrics, of course. She's an excellent songwriter. She's added a nice touch here with interludes of electric guitar. OK, that's it for now. I am expecting to pick up a couple more albums, including Lords of Acid, more Drain S.T.H., and Kidneythieves. Yay! :) Black Dove ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 00:22:49 EDT From: Dracovixen@aol.com Subject: Yay! i got more new music! Sheesh, my CD collection has grown quite considerably in the past two weeks. I think I might have mentioned a couple of these already, but I'm including just in case I didn't... Diamanda Galas - Malediction and Prayer "a 4 octave range singing piano pounding freak" Prepare your ears for blood-curdling shrieks and squeals, and a heavy, sultry voice that reaches depths unkown to most women. Most people will probably not like her...but I think some of her songs were done very well. Fisher - True North I think that this is a girl to watch...I think she has a lot of potential in her voice and in her songwriting...I just wish she did a lot of harder stuff...I think she has the voice for it, though this album is quite enjoyable. Check out "Hello, It's Me", "The Life", "Breakable" (also found on the Great Expectations soundtrack), and "I Will Love You" is her popular love ballad. Pet - Pet Wow! Scathing vocals backed up by a guitar-driven edge...I love this album. Lisa Papineau's voice is anything from wispy and wistful, to enraged and roaring. I mean it, roaring. Pet was the only band signed onto Tori Amos' label, Igloo Records. They are now defunct, but you can get the album at half.com. Check out "Lil' Boots" on Napster or any other file-stealing/sharing software that you may use. Amanda Ghost - Ghost Stories Very interesting mix of acoustic guitar, piano, and techno-tinged arrangements. Amanda Ghost has a strong voice, though a little flat sometimes, but this only adds to her music. Check out "Filthy Mind", "Idol", and "Silver Lining". Imogen Heap - I, Megaphone I love this girl. She has a thick, strong voice that she can really belt out (indeed, it sounds best when she does this), and I love the mix of piano and guitar, along with some samples and electronic pieces. My faves: "Rake it In", "Angry Angel", and "Getting Scared". Sister Soleil - Drown Me in You I finally got the first Sister Soleil album. I think it's awesome. I know I have said it before, but I don't know what to call Sister Soleil except as "industrial-techno-pop". This album is not nearly as heavy as her second though (Soularium). But it's a lot of fun. Check out "Bazaamba" and "Lust". There's also a version of "Red" on there different from the "Red" on Soularium, and a different version of "Chair". Sister Soleil - Bare Plus This is actually something a nice guy did for me. Bare is Sister Soleil's acoustic album that never got pressed, but the mp3s are free for anyone to grab. A devoted SS fan named Keith burned Bare to CD, than added a few live tracks, and then Stella's (Stella is Sister Soleil) new single "Kiss Kiss". "Kiss Kiss" is actually a Stella Soleil song. Stella Soleil is Sister Soleil, but Stella is her commercial attempt (meaning straight-out pop), whereas Sister is the industrial-techno-pop. Anyone confused? Happy Rhodes - Equipoise I doubt I need to tell anyone about this CD, considering the list's origin. :) Godhead - 2000 Years of Human Error I was first exposed to Godhead at a Marilyn Manson concert. I walked in just as this opening band was doing a hard cover of The Beatles' "Eleanore Rigby". I thought it was awesome. The singer's voice is smooth and clear, he's a nice guy (talked to him during MM's show), and does an awesome stage show of his own. The sound is heavy with electronics and guitars, not to mention the good old drums and bass, yet is arranged in a smooth and organized way. I defintely reccomend it. Try "The Reckoning", "I Sell Society" (great lyrics!), and the Beatles cover. Drain S.T.H. - Horror Wrestling Think Alice in Chains with a female vocalist, and you have Drain S.T.H. No, just kidding, though that is what I thought when I first heard it. But, they have their own style, just a lot of similarities to Alice in Chains. I like it a lot. Sample "Mirror Eyes", "Crack the Liar's Smile", and "Klotera". Julia Darling - Figure 8 Not exactly my speed of music, but I love some of these songs. The rest are mediocre to me. She sounds sweet and soft, but she has teeth. My faves are "Bury You", "Crinolines and Waltzing", and "Soak Me". The common favorite seems to be "Bulletproof Belief", however. An Pierle - Mud Stories A quirky pianist from Belgium, I believe I have discussed her before. A voice both demonic and angelic, with heart-wrenching songs, and songs of empowerment. Try "Mud Stories", "Tower", "Are 'Friends' Electric?", and "Siamese Twins". Nine Inch Nails - Further Down the Spiral Awesome awesome CD! Anyone who's a big fan of The Downward Spiral must get this CD! My Scarlet Life - Buzzbomb A trippy electronic band local to Chicago, My Scarlet Life is now defunct, but looked to have some potential. I think they could polish it up a little though, and make some awesome music. Doesn't matter now, though...They have broken up into the bands "Scarlet Life", "Pointy Teeth", "Jute", "Lotus", and "Karma Sutra". Ani DiFranco - Reckoning and Reveling A double CD of 29 tracks of new material. Yum. :) The first CD was very mellow, relaxing, very good lyrics as always. The second was a lot more upbeat, with a funky sound, and even a bit of hip hop. And the awesome lyrics, of course. She's an excellent songwriter. She's added a nice touch here with interludes of electric guitar. OK, that's it for now. I am expecting to pick up a couple more albums, including Lords of Acid, more Drain S.T.H., and Kidneythieves. Yay! :) Black Dove ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V7 #115 **************************