From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V8 #13 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Sunday, January 13 2002 Volume 08 : Number 013 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: NYC-area performances of possible interest [Neal Copperman ] my list of... [Greg Bossert ] RE: Different Tastes in the Arts ["Lyle Howard" ] Re: Firsts [NeverForever22@aol.com] RE: [Grassy Hill Concerts] REMINDER: Groovelily w/Julia Macklin, Sunday 1/13 ["Amy" ] Even a bad tape can still be pretty good ["Mitchell A. Pravatiner" Subject: Re: NYC-area performances of possible interest At 8:14 PM -0500 1/11/02, meredith wrote: >I think it'll all be worth it to see Susan on the same stage as >Yungchen Lhamo, someone I never, ever thought I'd get to hear live. I've managed to see Yungchen Lhamo twice in the last few years, once in Arizona and once in Santa Fe. If she keeps playing out here, she must be playing in more prominant areas. (Well, it seems like she must, but who knows.) Anyway, it's quite magical to see her sing, and I think you will thoroughly enjoy it. >I also stumbled across a listing for Will Ackerman, Liz Story and >Samite at the Intermedia Arts Center out in Huntington, Long Island >next Saturday, January 19th. This is of tangential interest, >because Happy sang on Samite's album _Songs To Share_ a couple years >ago. Continuing on the tangentials - doesn't Happy appear on the latest Will Ackerman album? >And finally, don't forget Trina Hamlin comes to our place on the >20th! Get those reservations in now ... And yet another connection... We had Trina do a house concert here, and she was fantastic. I was completely unprepared for her piano skills after only seeing her play guitar and harmonica previously. Have a great show! Our next show is Monday with Penny Jo Pullus, a Canadian transplant to Austin. She has a very traditional country sound, sort of a Tammy Wynette or maybe a hint of Patsy Cline. But also has that gritty Americana thing going like Lucinda Williams. I'm looking forward to it. Plus, she's playing with a trio, and it's always been fun to see full bands at Jeff's house. neal np: orchestrate the jubilee - nancy lynn bright ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2002 07:43:58 -0600 (CST) From: "Mitchell A. Pravatiner" Subject: The dark side of music in your head The downside of hearing detailed music in your head, whose origin you have no idea, is that if it inspires you to write your own hit, someone may come out of the blue and sue you, claiming it was they who wrote the original song in your head. Ask Michael Jackson or the late, great George Harrison :-). Mitch ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2002 09:30:23 -0500 From: "Joanna M. Phillips" Subject: RE: Firsts.. At 12:22 PM 1/10/02 -0800, Phil wrote: >Dave asked: > > > Ok, now who wants to admit what their first 8-track was? I can't recall that. We got a display model stereo from Radio Shack in 1981, which had an 8-track player/recorder built into it. I didn't really want that; but it had everything else we wanted (it played 78's!) and at a good price, so we got it. We picked up some on-sale-for-$1 8-tracks over the years. We still have a few. :-) We still have and use the stereo! >Let's go to a really small group here: first 78rpm phonograph record? I never *bought* any 78's, but we have a lot of them. I have many of my mother's, including Nat "King" Cole, Benny Goodman, etc. I remember we had a copy of "Lili Marlene" in German that my Merchant Marine uncle had brought back to us from Germany just after WWII. And we had "Sleigh Ride" and other neat songs. >They were really before even *my* time, but I distinctly recall accidentally >breaking my older sister's copy of Heartbreak Hotel, by Elvis Presley. ( her >reaction burned itself into both my psyche and my butt) *Did* any of Elvis' records come out on 78??? The things that I remember about 78's is that the center hole could wear out and get too large and make the sound wobbly and eventually unplayable; and of course 78's cracked and chipped and broke Really Easily. fleur, who is not really a great-grandma, only feels like it sometimes ::grin:: ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2002 16:09:06 +0100 (W. Europe Standard Time) From: Greg Bossert Subject: my list of... ...some number of more or less favorite sort of ecto-ish encountered around and about the year 2001. give or take. * Favorite Inexplicably and Inexorably Lodged Hook in Head: "Once More, With Feeling" (the Buffy Musical) -- Joss Whedon et al. i got a theory, *not*. it's baffling. i mean, i've only been watching BtVS since the FX reruns began several months ago. and i'm not much of a musical fan, certainly not of anything not by, say, Cole Porter or others of that ilk. (hmm, barring, perhaps, a few of the better 80s/90s Disney releases -- a very few). plus, come on, doing a musical episode is a text book case of "jumping the shark" -- they must be desperately out of ideas, no? no. it'd be easier to explain if i was just stuck on the breakaway pop hits (though this pretty much nailed my Amber thing and made me order the new Tony Head album and James Marsters does a great job and poor little plucky plaintive SMG is just so - i could - and pulls it off, gosh darn it who would have thought, with only a little help from your friend and mine, Antares Auto-Tune). but no, i walk to work singing the Xander and Anya duet -- with the crazy dancing. heck, i catch myself humming Marti Noxon's parking ticket solo. *sheesh* caveat: if you haven't seen Buffy from the beginning, ignore all this; the musical just isn't going to work if you don't get the plot and lyrics. sorry. * Second Favorite Source of Suggestions for New Music to Buy: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, particularly seasons 1-3 and a half or so. really, it's not a big deal -- i could stop watching any time. really. erm, anyway, the list includes K's Choice, Bif Naked, Splendid, Lotion, THC, Darling Violetta, and i was happily reminded of Rasputina. Good scores, too. * Favorite Masterful Artist and That Guitar Part Is A Lot Harder Than Sounds: "Ndega Zvangu" Oliver Mtukudzi this solo album (the title translates as "all alone") was recorded in 97, before his "breakthrough" full-band releases "Tuku Music" and "Paivepo", but it was almost impossible to find in the US. i finally snagged a copy in an obscure Tower Records this spring. Mr. Mtukudzi's guitar parts, inspired by the Shona peoples' Mbira (thumb piano) tradition, have a rhythmic complexity and purity that leave me breathless. while the above mentioned band albums are the best way to get into his music, the solo album shows off the wisdom, humor, and sadness of this master musician. (One of the inspirations for "Ndega Zvangu" was the death from AIDs of many of the members of his previous band...) if you're impression of Zimbabwe has been shaped by the recent misdoings of mr. Mugabe, then by all means check out Tuku and his wonderful music. * Favorite Her Throw Aways Are Better Than Others' Magnum Opera "Strange Little Girl" Tori Amos when Xander and Anya leave me some breathing room (or until recently when woj posted) i usually start humming the title track. i rarely listen to the whole album, but the good bits are very much so. * Favorite I Thought I Was Just Recording It For Meth Performance "HBO Reverb: Bjork and the Riverside Church" one of my favorite places in NYC, by the way. and wow. wow wow. what a show. i had let ms. Gudmundsdottir (sorry for the ASCII) kind of drift to a corner of my mind, but this performance dusted her off and put her back into the middle of my musical thoughts. wow wow. "Vespertine" is probably my favorite new album of the year, but i think it has hit me much harder having seen it first. * Favorite Sorry But So Far It's Unreleased But I Have Hopes Recording Various Tracks, Orchid Spangiafora i met Rob Carey in 2000; in fact, i hired him as a programmer at a little startup that has since gone the way of, etc. who would have known that this mild mannered guy was, in fact, Orchid Spangiafora, creator of the album "Flee Past's Ape Elf" (Twin/Tone '79), inspiration for groups as diverse as Negative Land and Modern English (both of whom sampled him), master of the audio tape cutup, receiver of a fan letter from William S. Burroughs himself...! yeepers! so, Rob has been doing more audio work recently (as well as producing amazing visual collages), and we've done some stuff together. his work is funny, challenging, and pretty far from pop music, or for that matter, tonal music at all ;) i love it, and i hope that he will release something more readily available in the next year. you can get a teeny taste at . * Favorite Hey This Sounds More Like Orchid Spangiafora Than Dance Music Release. "Auntie Aubrey's Excursions Beyond the Call of Duty, Pt. 2" The Orb i think it is brilliant that this has been marketed as pop music. it ain't, even if it is "just" remixes of, well, pop music. changed my mind about the whole commercial electronica thing. * Favorite Home Is Where You Wear Your Hat And I Am So Glad To Be Wearing It Again Mailing List. well, duh. what a doofus, to have been away from y'all, not to mention to have missed EctoWest. being back makes me want to, well, you know, type "footah", which in this means something maudlin but heartfelt. so: footah! - -g - -- I have never been afraid to change the circumstances of the world. - -- -Happy Rhodes - -- Except for bunnies... - -- -Anya ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2002 18:05:48 From: "Lyle Howard" Subject: RE: Different Tastes in the Arts Howdy, Meredith pointed out that she was four when she fell in love with "Dream Weaver." I suspected as much. Maybe not that young an age, but when she was a young whippersnapper. Mostly, I find it fascinating that people's love can fall on any kind of music (polkas, heavy metal, rap, etc)without discrimination. We feel songs and then sort out why we love the songs later. It is very difficult to describe how or why a song gives you a feeling of transcendence. It just does. The weird part is when an artist recognizes when he/she has created a transcendent moment and can repeat it. Ever notice that the last few Happy cds end with songs that lift your spirit? I think I was enamored of "Little White Duck" when I was five or six. I don't think I was able to reach the stereo until I was seven; after that, if it would spin, I would listen to it. In comparison, Meredith was enjoying rock and roll at the age of four-- pretty advanced. The worst music that I've enjoyed and am afraid to find out if I still enjoy is Rod McKuen songs. When you guys started relating first albums purchased, I hunted down the first records I owned. The fourth or fifth album I bought was _Glenn Yarbrough Sings the Rod McKuen Songbook_. One record of the two record set is "Happy" songs. The other side the "Lonely" songs. Needless to say, the lonely songs are pretty maudlin. Must be McKuen's Celtic soul coming through. But at fifteen maudlin was good or I didn't realize the songs were tear jerkers with little substance. I was so badly damaged by this record I took to writing little poems lamenting my sentence upon the earth as a teenager. The textbook of one of my first college poetry classes took great pains to eviscerate poor Rod (with a boot to Joyce Kilmer in passing). In regard to musical memory: I have been known to run up to twenty miles (if you can call the movement I am doing after ten miles running, some might view it as hobbling) and remembered songs help you put one foot in front of the other. In the map of the brain, there must be a short distance from obsessive thinking to music. Bye, Lyle now playing in my head: "Ain't You Glad You're Living Joe." Life is like a sunday that never knew a monday....on this beach ball day if your heart gets in the way, you'll wind up with the ocean for a lover. Etc. _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2002 10:11:18 -0800 From: Neile Graham Subject: Splashdown's Blueshift In my Best of my 2001 list, I wrote: Splashdown - Blueshift [CDR--never officially released] A version of this is floating around the net as it was made available to people on their mailing list and some advance promos were sent out before it was cancelled. I have no idea if this album would have been a hit big enough to please Java/Capitol, but it certainly is a wonderful, powerful album and deserves to have seen the light of day. All the songs from the brilliant _Redshift ep_ are here and many, many other great tracks that are just as strong. It's a lively kind of edgy, melodic rock that just sounds wonderful to me. The songwriting is so full of hooks it's scary and I adore Melissa Kaplan's voice here and the way the songs are put together. I've listened to this steadily for months and months and just can't get tired of it. This is the best album I've ever heard that was never released. It's a horrible shame. Anyway, I found out a site that currently has this available for download by ftp. If you're interested, email me for the address and login info. - --Neile - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.ectoguide.org ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2002 14:09:19 EST From: NeverForever22@aol.com Subject: Re: Firsts The earliest recollection I have of music that I liked (don't laugh!) was Michael Jackson's movie Moonwalker. I was about 5 or 6 at the time. I watched my mother's copy so many times, she finally just gave it to me. That and her copy of Labyrinth, which I can still quote verbatim :-) Nancy ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2002 14:31:58 -0600 From: "Amy" Subject: RE: [Grassy Hill Concerts] REMINDER: Groovelily w/Julia Macklin, Sunday 1/13 Meredith Wrote: > I love how I keep getting "reminders" as first notices of something... > In a more expansive post elsewhere, Tom mentioned that Marina Belica > will be singing with the opener, Julia Macklin. The Barn is way cool. I just want to say if you have a chance to go see Julia Macklin DO IT!! She sent me her CD for review on my website and I am positively in LOVE with it. In fact, I was just thinking I would write to Ecto-land and recommend it. You can see my review here: http://www.collectedsounds.com/cdreviews/halfwild.html And a Spotlight on Julia Here: http://www.collectedsounds.com/spotlight/juliamacklin.html Her official site is of course, http://www.juliamacklin.com/ If anyone does go see her, please consider writing up a little concert review for my site!! Thanks so much!! ~Amy Collected Sounds - A Guide to Woman in Music http://www.collectedsounds.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2002 13:07:42 -0800 (PST) From: Craig Gidney Subject: Meeting Hannah Fury Since I was in Austin for a work conference, I sent Ms. Fury an email to see if we might meet up for dinner or drinks. She graciously agreed to this. We met up in Malaga's, a Tapas bar in the Warehouse District. She was 5'9 and pale; I'm 5'2 and dark. There was no way that we could miss each other. Over empanadas, we talked about how she became a singer-songwriter--she had these ideas in her head, and took piano lessons for the purpose of getting the music she heard in her head down. She took a one shot deal to present her recorded demos to someone, and they encouraged her to give recording a try. She's a very private person; almost noone at her day job knows that she sings, and Hannah isn't the professional name she goes by. She was also very down to earth--we talked about Pink and Britney along with KaTE and the usual suspects. She plans to move to Philly sometime this year and get into live performing. It was a pleasurable evening! - --Craig ===== Book and Music Review Editor, Spoonfed. http://www.spoonfedamerika.com Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2002 23:29:33 -0600 (CST) From: "Mitchell A. Pravatiner" Subject: Even a bad tape can still be pretty good Since I almost always sleep in on Saturday mornings, I programmed the VCR to tape _The Saturday Early Show_, featuring Voices on the Verge. My reception of CBS is truly terrible, and much of the show came out all but unintelligible. Miraculously, the VOTV segment came out at least semi-intelligible. And their performance was good. I'm not sure how closely their style actually tracks that of Indigo Girls, but I liked the song they performed. Mitch ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V8 #13 *************************