From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V8 #189 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Monday, July 8 2002 Volume 08 : Number 189 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Robin Holcomb's The Big Time ["Peter Clark" ] Pina, etc ["Adam K." ] Ectophiles' Guide - General Comment about Dalena [Neile Graham ] Re: weekend NYC activities [Carolyn Andre ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 6 Jul 2002 23:13:23 -0700 From: "Peter Clark" Subject: Re: Robin Holcomb's The Big Time Imagine my relief. I've bought this and have yet to receive it. I'm a big fan and actually just managed to find her second, eponymous, album on vinyl (as well as the others on CD.) I could kick myself for passing on her first last year' cause it was "too much money." Grr. Peter C -=High Performance Analogue for the 21st Century=- www.redpoint-audio-design.com - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Neile Graham" To: "Ecto" Sent: Saturday, July 06, 2002 5:47 PM Subject: Robin Holcomb's The Big Time : Hi, all-- : : I have to rave about this wonderful album. snip : it repays all of that anticipation in spades. : ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 07 Jul 2002 20:00:05 +0100 From: "Adam K." Subject: Pina, etc Finally got to see Pina do a solo act on Friday night. Pina is the Austro-Celtic singer/songwriter who has opened for the Indigo Girls on her last two gigs over here, and I was intrigued enough to buy her debut album, "Quick Look", which is fantastic -- my fave album of the year so far. I wrongly tried to describe it to Elaine as Patty Griffin on helium, but....well, I don't know. She has a husky voice, so maybe latter-day Marianne Faithful singing folk would be a better idea. Her accent is a bit heavy, so the words often get a bit obscured, but it's a great album. Live...well, it was at the Spitz, a nice little venue. A man called Jacob Golden opened, who was pretty good: a bit pretty-boy, a bit achingly sincere, but a voice that was often reminiscent of Jeff Buckly (without the histrionics), but I'd pick his album up if I saw it somewhere. As for Pina (or "Pine" as the ticket would have me believe) -- good, despite a poor sound mix which obscured her vocals even more, and a rather plodding and intrusive drummer who belonged more in a suburban garage band. It was good to see her with a full(ish) band, however, and her voice is certainly pretty amazing -- she let off some Natacha Atlas-type wails every now and then which cut through the murky sound, and genuinely seemed to be enjoying herself when premiering a new song. I can't recommend "Quick Look" enough - -- track it down and make it yours! Meanwhile -- I've ordered my ticket for the Indigo Girls at Union Chapel, a venue with many unhappy memories for me (but a couple of good ones as well) but....jeez, for nearly thirty pounds (that's about fifty dollars to our colonial cousins across the pond), it had better have better sound than their Forum show. In fact, for that kind of money, it had better have live animals and a fire breather. Oh, and Imogen Heap is back, it seems, as Frou-Frou. I've been seeing ads for this, but never made the connection. About half an hour ago I turned on the radio and caught the end of something beautiful and ecto-like on Xfm, who announced it to be Frou-Frou, otherwise known as..... They were particularly effusive about her and the album, and recommended seeing her live. Dunno, think I just blew my monthly live allowance on the Indigo Girls. And finally....Gemma Hayes. Yep, the BIG HYPE I've been mentioning. I found the album, I bought it, I listened to it. Went through many phases: 1)Wanting to like it as much as the hype would have me believe; 2) Hating it for not coming anywhere close to the hype; 3) Getting to like it on its own terms; 4) Getting bored with it and putting it away. I need to come back to it, but I'm not overly impressed. It's not as ground-breaking or as innovative as (for instance) the Guardian critic would have us believe, and the Guardian critic has obviously never listened to anything ecto, or he wouldn't have gone into orgasms over a song like Lucky One ("the album's big production number") that, basically, repeats the same lyric over and over again, while the music gets heavy with riffs behind her. Mind you, the Guardian review also pulls the same fatal mistake that a lot of rock critics do: trying to convince the reader "Hey, don't worry, it's not REALLY folk -- you'll like it, honest!". It makes me laugh -- in this review they put big emphasis on "she prefers My Bloody Valentine to Joni Mitchell" so that all the trendies can go "Oh, thank god for that!" But I digress: the album does have a good, organic feel to it, and holds lots of promise. I will come back to it some time, but it is not one of those albums I instantly want to hear again, unlike -- say -- Pina. Meanwhile, on this most humid of Sundays, I'm sitting here, trying to figure out how to get a raise from my boss tomorrow, and listening to my PFM albums for nostalgia's sake. Any progheads out there remember these guys? that's all for now. time for tea. adam k. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Jul 2002 14:04:44 -0700 From: Neile Graham Subject: Ectophiles' Guide - General Comment about Dalena Just in case someone is interested in checking her out. I couldn't find any samples, but I didn't look very hard. - --Neile >Date: Sat, 6 Jul 2002 20:29:15 -0700 >Reply-to: "Jack Schmidt" >From: "Jack Schmidt" >To: ectoguide@smoe.org >Subject: Ectophiles' Guide - General Comment > >Name: Jack Schmidt >Email: jschmidt@catisle.net >Topic: General Comment > >Dalena a singer for your review. >Her website is: >http://www.dalenanet.com/ > >I discover her one day in Little Saigon, Garden Grove >California, USA. I had read about her and out of curiosity >I bought some of her CD's and was stunned by the >quality of her music. I started collecting her CD's >and became an aficionado of her music. I consider >her one of the best vocalist in the world. > >Jack Schmidt - -- - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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: Sun, 07 Jul 2002 23:38:29 -0400 From: Chris Montville Subject: Jane Sibbery NYC free show I hadn't heard about this other than a print ad so -- Jane Sibbery is playing a full band show in Battery Park on Thurs July 11th. Tickets are supposed to be available starting 5pm for the 7pm show. She's also playing Fez on July 12th and 13th. Then Susan McKeown and Patty Larkin at the Bottom Line on the 14th. (Gunna be a busy week!) Chris. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 08 Jul 2002 00:32:29 -0500 From: Carolyn Andre Subject: Re: weekend NYC activities At 10:38 PM 7/7/02, Chris Montville wrote: >I hadn't heard about this other than a print ad so -- Jane Sibbery is >playing a full band show in Battery Park on Thurs July 11th. Tickets are >supposed to be available starting 5pm for the 7pm show. Her SHEEBA newsletter actually also lists an in-store at the Virgin store on Wednesday: July 10 - Virgin IN-STORE Virgin Megastore, Union Square 7pm About the Battery Park free show, she says: >July 11 - River To River Festival >Castle Clinton in Battery Park 7pm > >This will be with a full band - it is the 1st full band concert in quite a while. >Peter Kiesewalter is the band leader and will be playing the piano. >Then Susan McKeown and Patty Larkin at the Bottom Line on the 14th. (Gunna >be a busy week!) erm, minor correction on the latter ... since I'm flying in specifically for the McKeown / Larkin Bottom Line show ... there are a 7:30 and a 10:30 show ... on SATURDAY the 13th! (and just my luck - my flight arrives at 8 p.m. on Friday; I was wishing that Jane's Friday show would be a *late* one at Fez ... ah, well ...) Regards, Carolyn Andre - --- candre@house-of-music.com Chicago, IL / USA Support Independent Music! Use the Internet http://house-of-music.com ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V8 #189 **************************