From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V8 #216 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Monday, August 5 2002 Volume 08 : Number 216 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Indigo Girls & Sarah Waters at the Union Chapel, London ["Adam K." ] Women of Heart and Mind ["Adam K." ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 04 Aug 2002 12:41:52 +0100 From: "Adam K." Subject: Indigo Girls & Sarah Waters at the Union Chapel, London As Ellen said, no Indigo Girls for over six years, and then three concerts in about six months. The idea of having Sarah Waters along was intriguing, but after the event it's still kind of hard to understand what the point of it all was. Sarah seemed like a really nice person -- funny, self-effacing, and obviously struggling against bad nerves, but her readings of her own work seemed awkward and, in the long run, rather dull and pointless to someone like me, unfamiliar with her writings. While she obviously had her fans in the audience who whooped her every word, it left me completely uninterested in tracking down any of her books. It's not that it was bad, not in any way -- just uninvolving and...well, kind of pointless. For fans only. The Girls also joined in, reading excerpts from various sources -- Virginian Woolf's diaries, Frank Stanford's poems, transcripts from a post-US-Civil War trial, etc. All very noble but....but...somehow disengaging. Apart from Amy, who read surprisingly well, it all felt a bit awkward and amateurish and, with that and the venue, I was reminded of all the end-of-term school productions I'd been to, where each kid gets to read a passage of something or gets a line or two in the play, and the only people to be interested are the parents. My attention wandered then, my attention wandered now. There were some interesting points -- Sarah reading a brief history of Lucy Stone (okay, who knew the phrase "Lucy Stoner"? Apparently it's entered into American vocabulary, a fact that completely passed me by in my 13 years there) and some of the read passages served as an inspiration to their songs, which they then performed. This threw up a few treats -- Amy's "Lucy Stoner", and Emily performing "History of Us", which I always thought one of their worst, but she made such a good job of it I instantly revised my opinion. Yes, the music was great -- the sound was fine, despite some teething problems from the wonderful Carol Isaacs, accompanying them on penny whistle and accordian, but anything more than two voices and two guitars and it might have gotten swampy. The whole atmosphere was intimate, the Chapel serving a really nice setting for their music, and although the fans verged on the side of ...well, of fanatical (it's that old "They belong to US!! US!! WE know ALL their lyrics!! Watch us sing along and dance in rapture you can only DREAM of!") everyone was there to have a good time and pretty much did. Pretty much. The Girls were in good form, obviously having a good time and playing and singing beautifully. And, most importantly, this is the first time this year that I've been able to both see AND hear them. Something else missing -- and I know Ellen's mentioned this -- is any comment on post-Sept. 11th America, or Bush. The girls have never been afraid to wear their politics on their sleeves -- one of the reasons I admire them so much -- and not get overly didactic about it, so it seems odd that, just when you need the voice of reason, they have shied away from the topic. Anyway.... During one of Sarah Waters' readings, I calculated that this is the seventh time I've seen the Girls -- the most that I've seen anyone live, I think, apart from Peter Hammill. This was probably my least favourite of their live gigs, due to the readings, but if they announced another gig in London next month, I'd still go and see them. They perform with such good humour and such commitment and such beauty that I never get tired of seeing them. PS -- Great to meet you, finally, Ellen, but where's the Dar review? I'm counting on you! adam k. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 4 Aug 2002 05:25:47 -0700 (PDT) From: Ellen Rawson Subject: Re: Indigo Girls & Sarah Waters at the Union Chapel, London - --- "Adam K." wrote: The idea of having Sarah > Waters along was intriguing, > but after the event it's still kind of hard to > understand what the point of > it all was. I'm looking at my notes from Portsmouth. Amy really was trying to convince everyone that the Sarah Waters bit would be okay -- that it was more than a gimmick. (She later admitted that it was a gimmick but that it was a good one.) However, she really was trying to reassure everyone that it would be okay. I'm sorry to hear it didn't work. I'm guess I'm glad I didn't miss too much by going to Portsmouth. The sound was good, and Amy in particular was really hyped. They were both into it. Emily went offstage and Amy played "Lucystoners" from her solo album Stag, which she announced was going to be out soon in the UK (I owned a used copy I found in Boulder when I was there in April). The audience was VERY quiet for that one -- I assume most people didn't know that album very well. Anyway, later Amy went offstage and Emily played "History of Us" solo. Hmmm. The set list sounds very similar to what they did in London. ;) > > Something else missing -- and I know Ellen's > mentioned this -- is any > comment on post-Sept. 11th America, or Bush. I kept thinking they'd bring it all up at Portsmouth. Nope. Still not discussing it. So far, I've only heard Ani DiFranco and Dar Williams mention it here. Ani, of course, performed her poem about September 11th. It was the best part of her Shepherd's Bush show. First off, it's mighty powerful. Secondly, I could hear it and understand all the words. (The sound at SBE was horrid that night.) Of course, Ani went around all evening putting down Bush, saying he was only pretending to be president, etc. so it seems > odd that, just when you need the voice of reason, > they have shied away from > the topic. I was disappointed also. A friend told me they are discussing it in the US. I don't know why they're not here. After all, the UK is pretty involved in the whole situation. > PS -- Great to meet you, finally, Ellen, but where's > the Dar review? I'm > counting on you! Go to http://femmusic.com/Reviews/darwilliams.htm for it. Dar did, at least, mention politics when she brought up Steve Earle's song, and we talked about it briefly after the show. She hopes that those of us who live outside the USA start seeing more publicity about the dissenters inside the US -- that there is dissent and quite a bit of it. I don't think Dar realised how much hearing that remark cheered me up. I am hoping Steve Earle goes on tour over here! I last saw him in January at the Hammersmith Apollo as part of the anti-landmine coalition tour with Emmylou Harris, Nanci Griffith, John Prine, and Elvis Costello. Ellen, bleeding heart American liberal living in the UK. :) ===== "Literature stops in 1100. After that, it's just books." - -- JRR Tolkien Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better http://health.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 4 Aug 2002 15:26:44 -0400 From: Jeff Wasilko Subject: Janis Ian's followup article here's Janis Ian's followup to her internet/music debacle article: http://www.janisian.com/article-fallout.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 04 Aug 2002 20:46:09 +0100 From: "Adam K." Subject: Women of Heart and Mind I went on my first music trawl for a while yesterday, and apart from picking up the new Flaming Lips for a fairly regular price, I also unearthed a few gems: Voices on the Verge, Live in Philadelphia; Jacob Golden's debut release (I saw him open for Pina and he intrigued me with his Buckleyesque stylings, even though I'm not crazy for Buckley himself); and...something called Women of the Heart and Mind. Subtitled "The Loveliest Secrets and Starlets of Acoustic & Uneasy Listening", it is ecto to the core. It was released on a label called Quail records earlier this year, and is a 2 CD compilation of...well, of just what it says. The only artist on it I'd heard of was Ashley Maher (they include a track from her "Blessed Rain") and, while the others may be familiar to any of you out there, they're not to me. I can't even begin to list them all, but it's a really nice, really beautiful album. A bit gentle, a bit easy-listening at times, with shades of Kate Bush and Tori Amos, who have obviously left their mark on a lot of aspiring singer/songwriters (but, hell, we already knew that, didn't we?). After a while, it can seem a bit samey, but there's always a surprise -- Julia Thomas' upbeat latin romp at the end of CD 1, or a Scottish band called Swelling Meg who turn in something that sounds like a cross between Tori and Kristen Hirsh, or Alisha Sufit's calypso bop, "Tricks Like This". Highly, highly recommended. adam k. ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V8 #216 **************************