From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V8 #110 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Friday, April 19 2002 Volume 08 : Number 110 Today's Subjects: ----------------- What becomes a goth legend most? [Craig Gidney ] Fwd: Re: Silverman Newsletter [Neile Graham ] Reminder: Nerissa & Katryna Nields in New Haven THIS SUNDAY [meredith ] Research and development strikes again ["Mitchell A. Pravatiner" ] Re: current state of music business [andrew fries ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 08:03:15 -0700 (PDT) From: Craig Gidney Subject: What becomes a goth legend most? Siouxie and the Banshees, Nation Club, Washington, DC, April 17 First, the bad news. The sound system at Nation sucked. A lot of the delicate work was lost in noise and mud and distortion of a bass-happy speaker stack. And Sioux herself was not up to snuff, vocally. She was often off key. Way off key. She'll probably warm up after a while, later in the tour. However, Budgie's drumming was excellent and in combination with Severen's bass, they defined the term 'darkly propulsive'. And Sioux looked fabulous, in a dominatrix business suit, and a diamond choke-collar. With glitter encrusted eyeliner, she was equal parts Liz Taylor Cleopatra and Cruella DeVille. Her stage presence was dynamic, and she laid to rest for one and all, who was the Author of the faux-Egytian goth dancing kids emulate. The material was mostly older stuff, from JuJu, A Kiss In The Dreamhouse and even older stuff. Most arrangements opted for a tougher, punkier sound. A word on the crowd. Most of the 'spooky' kids were under control. You had your usual corsets, pleather, leather, rubber and whatnot. To be expected. But one guy walked away with the GothTalk prize of the evening, as far as I'm concerned. He was a heavyset guy with long Fabio-like locks, not unlike Meatloaf. He wore metal caps on his fingers--a homage to Freddy Krueger, perhaps? And he raised his arms--with their talons--to Nation's industrial ceiling, as if offering praise to the eldricht goddess of darkness. It was a good show. - --Craig ===== Book and Music Review Editor, Spoonfed. http://www.spoonfedamerika.com Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 09:11:12 -0700 From: Neile Graham Subject: Fwd: Re: Silverman Newsletter For those interested. - --Neile >Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 09:09:48 -0700 >To: "Silverman" >From: Neile Graham >Subject: Re: Silverman Newsletter >Cc: >Bcc: >X-Attachments: > >At 5:01 PM +0100 4/18/02, Silverman wrote: >> >>Dear Neile , >> >> Great things are happening: >> >>Debut Album release 'Speed of Life [part 2]' >> >>To thank everyone already on our mailing list, we're making our 7 >>track debut album release exclusively available to you all, prior >>to the public release of the album on 27th May. And it gets better. >>You can buy it for just #5.95 (UK Pounds) + p&p. That's #2 off the >>recommended retail price of #7.95 (UK Pounds) + p&p, set for the >>27th May onwards. >> >>Buy Speed of Life [part 2] now : >>http://www.opalmusic.com/a_to_z/silvermaniasecretbaby2002.htm >> >>or before you buy, you can listen to mp3 streamed samples of all of >>the tracks featured on the album at: >>http://www.silvermania.co.uk/martin/sample_tracks.htm >> >>The album also contains video of Anna performing 'Time is a Blade' >>and 'Taken With You'. There's also a screen saver, (that will >>dynamically update news and tour info over the Internet from our >>online database). It's PC & MAC compatible, so anyone can enjoy it. >> >>Buying the album also gives you access to a secret Internet >>minisite which has exclusive interviews, videos and competition to >>win great prizes. >> >>New Silverman Website launched ! >> >>Silverman are proud to announce the launch of our newly developed >>website. We think it's beautiful. We are sure that you will feel >>the same. >> >>Visit the site at >>www.silvermania.co.uk >> >>There's an an Access All Areas (AAA) section containing exclusive >>video, demos, interviews and lyrics. It's free, low stress and an >>extremely fashionable place to hang out. >> >>There's more.. We have made it even easier for you to get AAA >>access. We already have your email address (hence this mail :-) so >>we have given you direct login access: >> >>Your username (email address) is: neile@sff.net >>Your Password is: welcome >> >>(Once you sign in for the first time, we suggest that you go to 'my >>preferences' and change your password to something else . You can >>also fill in any gaps in your personal details if you want to). >> >>Gig update >> >>Don't forget....Silverman And The City - live @ the Barfly - Camden >>Monarch Sat 20th April - onstage 9.00 p.m. >> >> The word is Silverman.............spread the word. >> >>Seek and enjoy. >> >>Love >> >>Martin, Anna, Steve, Mark and Alan - Silverman >> >>If you do not wish to receive further emails from Silverman you may >>unsubscribe >>here This email was sent using TIM, developed by >>leightonmedia.com >> > > >-- > >------------------------------------------------------------------------- >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 - -- - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 22:02:57 -0400 From: meredith Subject: Reminder: Nerissa & Katryna Nields in New Haven THIS SUNDAY Hi, Just a reminder to any and all within reach of New Haven, Connecticut that a great show is set to happen on Sunday afternoon. Magnetic Music and the House O'Muzak present: Nerissa & Katryna Nields with special guest Anne Heaton (w/Frank Marotta, Jr.) Sunday, April 21 at 4 pm United Church on the Green Corner of Temple and Elm Streets, New Haven, CT Tickets: $15 ($8 for students) Available at Group W Bench on Chapel St. in New Haven until 5 pm Saturday, and online (URL below) until midnight Saturday Info: http://www.ctfolk.com/nields.html or call (203) 776-9325 Both the Nields sisters and Anne Heaton are celebrating recent CD releases. Yale grad Nerissa always loves to play in New Haven, so this promises to be a very special performance. We hope to see you there! ======================================= Meredith Tarr New Haven, CT USA mailto:meth@smoe.org http://www.smoe.org/meth ======================================= Live At The House O'Muzak House Concert Series http://www.smoe.org/meth/muzak.html ======Next Up: N&K Nields 4/21/02====== ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 19:46:44 -0700 (PDT) From: Neb Rodgers Subject: Fwd: Slate - Where do Patty Griffin's songs come from? This is kinda long, but I liked the way it was written, and it makes me want to investigate Patty Griffin's music more. - -Neb - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > culturebox > Songwriter Savant > Where do Patty Griffin's songs come from? > By Daniel Menaker > Posted Wednesday, April 17, 2002, at 12:51 PM PT > > > Songwriters often say that they don't know where their works come > from, that they seem to come from outside themselves. In any > given interview you might hear Bono, Alanis Morissette, Gillian > Welch, or John Hiatt say so. Last week I talked to the > accomplished and idiosyncratic country/pop/folk/whatever > singer/songwriter Patty Griffin--on the day before the release of > her third CD, 1000 Kisses (ATO Records)--and she was insistent on > this very point: that there is something bigger than just herself > involved in writing her songs. > > For a long time, these kinds of artistic disavowals struck me as > coy, or merely attempts at modesty, or, conversely, grandiose > claims of divine or spiritual inspiration. Or as an effort to > inject interest and connectedness into a process that is often > lonely, tedious, frustrating, heartbreaking, and unsuccessful. > But recently, with 40 years' worth of listening and editing and > writing experience perhaps reaching a critical mass, I've come to > realize that most people who make this sort of artist-savant > claim actually believe and mean exactly what they say. > > Griffin is a good case in point. Like many songwriters (her work > has been covered by the likes of Emmylou Harris and the Dixie > Chicks), she sometimes starts with the music--with a phrase or a > bit of melody, with a guitar riff--and the words come later. But > when they do, "they seem to come from nowhere," she says--"they > just sort of pop out." At other times, she simply sits and makes > silly rhymes. "For 20 minutes or a half an hour I'll just make > nonsense rhymes or just rhymes about my dog," she says. "And then > serious ones begin to happen." Songwriting can be a physical > discipline for her, as well. "Often I have to move my body in a > certain way, like exercising, to begin to get into the right > rhythm for writing a song." When she said this, she moved her > shoulders around in a swimming kind of way, to show what she > meant. (Onstage, when she isn't playing the guitar, Griffin's > arms become anemonelike, tentacular, in a distinctive, wavy > style; from far away--as when I saw her open for the Dixie Chicks > at Radio City Music Hall a while back, and, before that, for > Harris at the Beacon Theater in New York--these movements look > mannered, but closer up, they seemed entirely natural.) > > Her lyrics, which often repeat themselves in repeated musical > phrases, are trancelike, as well--as if the author were in some > way possessed. In "Mary," an anthemic three-chord song whose > words appear to marry Jesus' mother and Mary Magdalene and > Everywoman, from Griffin's second CD, she sings: > > Mary, > You're covered in roses > You're covered in ashes > You're covered in rain > You're covered in babies, > You're covered in slashes, > You're covered in wilderness, > You're covered in stains. > > And from the new CD, in "Be Careful," another three- or > four-chorder, similarly poignant about the general lot of women: > "Be careful how you bend me/ Be careful where you send me/ > Careful how you end me ..." This chorus is preceded by haunting > and even more incantational verses that are essentially lists of > women in different attitudes and situations ("All the girls on > the telephone/ All the girls sitting all alone ..." etc.). > > It's not surprising that Griffin and many others like her > honestly feel in the grip of something "beyond" themselves, feel > "inspired" (a word whose root means "breathe in," as the oracle > breathed in psychoactive fumes at Delphi), when they are writing > music. These creative experiences have a long, grand tradition > and literature. (Plato, an early proponent of this idea, says > that "all good poets, epic as well as lyric, composed their > beautiful poems not by art but because they are inspired and > possessed.") What did come as something of a surprise to me in > our conversation was the vehemence of Griffin's resistance to the > possibility that she and she alone is responsible for her music. > When I said I thought that "inspiration" might actually not be > anything mystical but just the unconscious, creative right brain > delivering artifacts to the conscious left hemisphere, she not > only disagreed but seemed upset about the notion. "There has be > something more than that," she said. "The mystery is beyond that. > The fact that you're writing about experiences you've never had > shows that. I mean, sometimes the whole room alters when I'm > writing a song." > > Part of Griffin's unwillingness to take full authorial credit for > her work may have to do with the fact that she appears to be a > truly self-effacing person, and she has known hard times: a bad > marriage, six years of waitressing at Pizzeria Uno in Boston, > classic record-industry horror stories. She is one of seven > children, was born in Old Town, Maine, and is from a family that > has had to work hard for a living. She has lived and feels keenly > the lot of the marginal, especially working-class women and > outcasts of various kinds. Her songs reflect often these > concerns: "Tony," about a gay boy in high school "with breasts > like a girl" who commits suicide; "Making Pies," on the new CD, > about a bakery worker who does the same tedious job every day in > order to make a living; the quasi-feminist songs "Mary" and "Be > Careful"; Bruce Springsteen's "Stolen Car"; "Chief," on the new > CD, about a nonfunctional Native American Army vet; etc. > > When she talks about these songs, it's clear that she wants them > to express, in their lyrical way, the suffering associated with > broad social problems. She says, for example: "There's an > imbalance when if a woman goes out for a walk at 3 in the morning > and something happens to her it was somehow her fault, and with a > man that's not true." So it makes sense that she would believe so > passionately that she is somehow channeling these elegiac, > quasi-protest songs. She needs to believe that she is being > spoken through, and may fear that taking the credit--being a > musical auteur--will undermine what she sees as a sort of mission. > > > In a limited way, she's wrong, as every other artist and Plato > are when they assert that the human artist is the instrument of > some greater force. Unless the person involved is one of the many > plagiarists at large these days, he and he alone made the work. > But in a broader way she's quite right. The brain is, from one > way of looking at it, the receptacle--the vessel--for all kinds of > information, data, stimuli from the outside world, and, often > without any intellectual plan, the mind of the artist will > synthesize and structure and give emotional depth to some portion > of these stimuli, will chew them up, and spit out art. In that > way the artist is an instrument after all--an instrument played by > the inchoate world around him.Daniel Menaker is executive editor > at HarperCollins. > ************************************************************ > > Also in today's Slate: > Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 21:17:30 -0700 (PDT) From: Neb Rodgers Subject: re: Off Topic - any Cello players ?? Jessica, Congratulations on the new addition to your instrument family! I'm not a player myself (a guitar is about all I can handle), but the cello is prolly my favorite stringed instrument (besides guitar, of course!) For some helpful internet info about them, take a peek at the 'Internet Cello Society' at- www.cello.org , and 'Chrissy Kemp's Cello Home Page' at- www.busprod.com/ rkemp/chrissy/Title.htm . I'm also a big fan of the predecessors of the cello, namely the 'viol', which was (and still is) used in Renaissance period music. There's a great film French film called 'All the Mornings in the World', that has to do with a reclusive viol player named Sainte Colombe, who was the premier player of his day (17th century), and his dealings with a young upstart named Marin Marais (played in the film by Gerard Depardieu). Marais becomes his student, and eventually, suitor to his daughters, and in the process nearly ruins his life, due to .... well, you'll just have to see the film ! ;-} Anyway, welcome to the world of the cello, and I look forward to hearing it on one of your future recordings ! Regards, Neb Rodgers Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 23:26:05 -0500 (CDT) From: "Mitchell A. Pravatiner" Subject: Research and development strikes again I just encountered a piece of spam in my mail reader, a blurb for an alleged topical arthritis preparation called "Super Blue Stuff." You suppose that if the name were changed to "Super Fuzzy Blue Stuff," there'd be the makings of an Ecto product there? :-) Mitch ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Apr 2002 00:26:12 -0400 From: meredith Subject: re: Off Topic - any Cello players ?? Hi, Neb noted: > I'm also a big fan of the predecessors of the cello, namely the 'viol', >which was (and still is) used in Renaissance period music. There's a great >film French film called 'All the Mornings in the World', that has to do >with a reclusive viol player named Sainte Colombe, who was the premier >player of his day (17th century), and his dealings with a young upstart >named Marin Marais (played in the film by Gerard Depardieu). Marais >becomes his student, and eventually, suitor to his daughters, and in the >process nearly ruins his life, due to .... well, you'll just have to see >the film ! ;-} The soundtrack to _Tous les Matins de Monde_ (which I probably butchered, it's been 20 years since French class and the CD isn't in front of me) is one of my favorite soundtracks of all time. I loveloveLOVE Baroque music, in particular viol/cello music. It's wonderful stuff. ======================================= Meredith Tarr New Haven, CT USA mailto:meth@smoe.org http://www.smoe.org/meth ======================================= Live At The House O'Muzak House Concert Series http://www.smoe.org/meth/muzak.html ======Next Up: N&K Nields 4/21/02====== ------------------------------ Date: 19 Apr 2002 15:00:24 +1000 From: andrew fries Subject: Re: current state of music business On Wed, 2002-04-17 at 03:55, carnivore@att.net wrote: > Perhaps the best summary of the current state of the > music business I've seen... > > http://pulse.towerrecords.com/contentStory.asp? > contentId=5011 This article made me want to dance with glee - could all their evil doing finally backfire? I sure hope so.... And funny how for all the majors' fear of Napster, the downturn in sales corresponds with their crackdown on file-sharing services.. I hope they burn in hell. - ---------------------------------------------------------------- "I'm out of bed and I'm dressed, what more do you want?" - spotted on a T-shirt - ---------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V8 #110 **************************