From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V8 #270 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Saturday, September 28 2002 Volume 08 : Number 270 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Peter Gabriel's UP [irvin lin ] Re: Peter Gabriel's UP (and various Buffitudes and such) [Greg Bossert ] Speaking of Peter Gabriel [Riphug@aol.com] wacky [Greg Bossert ] mieville again [dmw ] Re: wacky [Markku Kolkka ] Liz Phair news... [Jeff Wasilko ] movies (god, I know, I'll shut up already) [Paul2k@aol.com] Re: mieville again [Greg Bossert ] Re: mieville again [Steve VanDevender ] American Gods [Cheri Villines ] Re: movies (god, I know, I'll shut up already) [steve ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2002 23:50:37 -0700 From: irvin lin Subject: Peter Gabriel's UP > From: Jeffrey Burka > > Valerie Richardson sez, re Gabriels _Up_: > >> Has anyone listened to the new album? > > I'm rather surprised not to have seen any responses to this yet. Hey. I have a question. I definitely want to get this album, but I was wondering if there was a limited edition, or deluxe packaged version of this CD? It would make perfect sense for PETER GABRIEL to put out a version of this CD with special packaging - being the multimedia guru that he is, but I couldn't find any mention of it anywhere on the web.... Also the UK promo of UP is listed as having 11 tracks. Does anyone know what that 11th track is? Just wondering before I plunk down my money.... Irvin ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 01:39:17 -0700 From: Greg Bossert Subject: Re: Peter Gabriel's UP (and various Buffitudes and such) On Thursday, Sep 26, 2002, at 23:50 US/Pacific, irvin lin wrote: > Hey. I have a question. I definitely want to get this album, but I was > wondering if there was a limited edition, or deluxe packaged version > of this > CD? It would make perfect sense for PETER GABRIEL to put out a version > of > this CD with special packaging - being the multimedia guru that he is, > but I > couldn't find any mention of it anywhere on the web.... the amazon.com version (which is winging its way towards me e'en now) is listed as "enhanced", but it fails to mention the nature of said enhancement, or whether this differs from the normal release. i'm guessing that it's got some CDROM stuff, and that this is the normal release... heh, the "Once More, With Feeling" soundtrack is the 9th best-selling album on amazon, down from its second place position yesterday (just under "Up")... not bad for a TV musical soundtrack several days after its release. good thing the show's not on the SCI FI channel, or they'd be trying to cancel it even now. (if this makes no sense, see ) i'm still getting used to the alternate mixes and the lack of dialogue between the songs, but the sound quality definitely beats my rips from the TiVo... i was iffy around the collar after the BtVS season premiere, but on reflection, it was a fine (and typical) start. liked the Giles and Willow bits, liked the bad guy review, how can you not like James Marsters with some scenery to chew on (not to mention his own flesh!), and i'm beginning to to envision "DtVS" as a season eight. i miss Tara. didn't see any comment here on Firefly. erm. we're trying to get the original two hour pilot off the 'Net. i was encouraged by some spark betwixt the cast, and it looks like Nathan Fillion has got the, um, gumption to, uh, drive that herd on down the trail gitalong lil doggy yahoo. Gina Torres, Jewel Staite, and Ron Glass also stood out for me. Sets look good (leastwise the ship), CG was fine, compositing only fell through in a few places (which is better than most films manage). a good-ol'-Joss country song. script, well, i know, Joss had to rush this one out. i'll be patient. the critics 'round these parts have pretty much savaged it, but mostly for being implausible -- damnit, no one gets fantasy any more. i've given up explaining to my German colleagues -- ST:tNG fans all -- that the original Star Trek wasn't supposed to be plausible and scientific: it was supposed to tell good stories. gotta promote that "suspension of disbelief" concept. (some "suspension of belief" would be a good idea, for that matter, in the world at large...) anyway, i'll watch the first 11 episodes of Firefly before coming to some opinion. but i wish Joss had managed to catch a Farscape before trying to make an "anti-Trek". or maybe watched that episode where Kirk and crew reenact the gunfight at the OK corral. yeehah. been listening to a lot of experimental music, much of it by women composers/performers. anything that Pauline Oliveros does is of interest, though sometimes pretty distant from even the wilder fields of Ectopia; nonetheless, ectophiles might enjoy "Suspended Music", a collaboration between Ms. Oliveros' Deep Listening Band and Ellen Fullman's and her Long String Instrument. it's delicate and haunting; just don't expect vocals or a beat or, you know, notes and stuff. also finally got a few albums by Laurie Spiegel, who some may remember as the developer of the wonderful "Music Mouse" software, and who is someone i repeatedly just missed meeting back in the 80s, when i did that sort of stuff (music software, that is, not "just missing" -- usually i missed by a mile...) um, got a replacement copy of the miraculous "the art of the theremin". gotta find a poster of that picture of Clara Rockmore at the instrument, looking like the patron saint of Metropolis... (the tee shirt is at ) still waiting for an big mess o' Lamb, Massive Attack, etc. to arrive from amazon. hmm, well, Variety has scooped the story, so i guess i can now mention the movie adaption of Chris Van Allsburg's "The Polar Express", to be directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks. Assuming that the deal closes, this is going to be one to watch: the art department is made up of some of the best people from the SF area (that means Lucas, Pixar, the Matrix folks across the Bay at ESC, PDI, etc. etc.), and is just astoundingly talented. must go sleep now. love and rocketloads of footah to all. - -g n.p. "Outlier: New Music for Music Boxes" by John Morton n.r. "The Ruby in the Smoke" by Phillip Pullman - -- - -- i've never been afraid to change the circumstances of the world - -- Happy Rhodes - -- except for bunnies... - -- Anya ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 06:45:56 -0400 From: Robert Lovejoy Subject: Interesting website - artist availability Hi Folx, Found this on Yahoo the other day, and thought it may be of interest to some of you. Interesting you can book 10K Maniacs for 7.5K, but Natalie M. will run you 35K! Enjoy! http://www.clearchannelcollegeentertainment.com/SearchResults.asp?Artist=%25 Bob Lovejoy ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 08:19:43 -0400 From: Mark Chapman Subject: Wash., DC Shows > From: Kjetil Torgrim Homme > Subject: doing to the East Coast > ... we intend to stay in NYC for a > couple of days, go down to Washington DC, do all those great museums, > rent a car and drive down to Florida. nothing is written in stone, > we'll follow our instincts wrt how much time we will spend each place. > I've been trying to keep a lookout for interesting concerts happening > at that time... This would be a start: http://www.radix.net/~karo/shows.htm ...or try... http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com ~Mark ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 09:58:02 EDT From: Riphug@aol.com Subject: Speaking of Peter Gabriel Did anyone else see him on the Today show this morning? He sang "More Than This" from his new album, and in the second hour he did "In Your Eyes." Not only is the man gorgeous, but his voice just melts me. I picked up "Up" a few days ago and am still trying to get a feel for it. It doesn't seem to have the commercial potential that "So" and some of his other albums did. If I had to choose a song that might make it to radio, I think I would choose "Blue Sky." And as the Salon article pointed out, Gabriel truly does sound rather John Lennonish on the first track, "Darkness." My first impression is that this album is definitely more music dominated as opposed to being voice dominated. Jill :D ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 10:23:30 -0700 From: Greg Bossert Subject: wacky the BBC reports the results of a VH1 poll on "women in music": 1. Madonna 2. Kylie Minogue 3. Celine Dion 4. Whitney Houston 5. Aretha Franklin 6. Tina Turner 7. Mariah Carey 8. Janet Jackson 9. Britney Spears 10. Kate Bush [!!] being the BBC, they even stuck in a picture of KaTe, just under the Spice Girls there. i confess i am surprised -- does VH1 even play her videos? does this mean she has to be on one of those Diva shows? - -g - -- i've never been afraid to change the circumstances of the world - -- Happy Rhodes - -- except for bunnies... - -- Anya ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 14:11:18 -0400 (EDT) From: dmw Subject: mieville again i was disagreeing in friendly fashion with some folks hereabouts about the merits (or lack thereof) of china mieville's _perdido street station_ a coupleo f weeks ago, and on the off-chance that anyone cares, i organized my thoughts somewhat and stuck them at http://www.pathetic-caverns.com/books/books.html cheers ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 20:54:33 +0300 From: Markku Kolkka Subject: Re: wacky Viestissd Perjantai 27. Syyskuuta 2002 20:23, Greg Bossert kirjoitti: > i confess i am surprised -- does VH1 even play her > videos? Most likely the poll was made by VH1 _Europe_. - -- Markku Kolkka markku.kolkka@iki.fi ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 14:49:57 -0400 From: Jeff Wasilko Subject: Liz Phair news... from Pitchfork: Liz Phair Determined to Make Worst Album Ever Dahlen readies alter-ego "Kate Thompson," prepares to infiltrate e-team Will Bryant reports: Perhaps irreparably dashing optimists' hopes that she might somehow rise above the Sheryl Crow collaboration, the Gap commercial, and the professed love for the |berbland alterna-schlocker Pete Yorn, Liz Phair is apparently teaming with a trendy Los Angeles-based collective called The Matrix for three tracks on her excruciatingly procrastinated major-label debut for Capitol. Now I know you're picturing a city-sized beehive of unsuspecting, soulless human drones jacked into some unholy supercomputer that will somehow synthesize Phair's return to the balls-out splendor that was Exile in Guyville, and perhaps you suspect Keanu Reeves in a leather trenchcoat is involved; I can only fervently wish that were the case. For The Matrix are actually the songwriting/production team of Scott Spock, Lauren Christy, and Graham Edwards, the soulless human drones responsible for Avril Lavigne's cutesy hits "Complicated" and "Sk8ter Boi," and whose recent clients have included Ricky Martin, Christina Aguilera, the Backstreet Boys, Nick Carter, American Idol loser A.J. McLean, and even mainstream alt-rock's noxious Phair-meets-Tori Amos hybrid, Heather Nova. If Gerard Cosloy were dead, he'd be spinning in his grave right now! Hell, Gerard, if you're reading this, give your office chair a couple of spins-- this is madness! Wherefore art thou, Brad Wood? Tae Won Yu? Can we round up enough folks for an intervention? 'Cause it's one thing for Phair to take the high road, as she apparently was last time we checked in with her-- selecting Michael Penn to produce her album, which a yellowing copy of Alternative Press in my sock drawer says was once titled An Evening with Liz Phair. At least Penn was still hot off creating the engagingly classy Bachelor No. 2 with spouse Aimee Mann. But sorry, hitching your wagon to the cheese-rock Diane Warrens of 2002 ain't gonna win you any respect in these quarters. Jeezum crow, Scott Litt is like Steve Albini next to these jokers! Man, sometimes I wish this fork had a couple extra barbs on it, cause it sure ain't fun I'd like to be poking! ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 16:11:28 -0400 From: Paul2k@aol.com Subject: movies (god, I know, I'll shut up already) I saw the new(ish) Hayao Miyazaki film "Spirited Away" last weekend at the El Capitan theater in Hollywood. They are showing the Japanese language/English sub version on Sundays and Thursdays at 7 PM and the English dub the rest of the time. Wow. Studio Ghibli films always leave me totally full and satisfied and yet wanting more, More, MORE! I just wish Disney would be quicker about releasing the other films in some form in the U.S. Apparently, "Laputa" is going to come out on DVD sometime soon, and Fox is going to release "Totoro" on DVD this December. It looks like Fox will be releasing another special edition of the "Alien" movie quartet since they've stopped producing the current version. On the Amelie disc, Jeunet (director of Alien 4) comments that he is working on the commentary for Alien 4, so maybe they'll have Fincher and Cameron comment on their respective segments as well, and maybe even do director's cuts for Fincher and Jeunet. Has anyone else noticed the use of "He Needs Me" from the Popeye movie musical in the "Punch Drunk Love" previews? I hope that I'm not the only person here who actually likes the Popeye musical. Looking forward to Frou Frou tomorrow. Paul "gazzizah my dilsnoofus" Kim ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 13:17:47 -0700 From: Greg Bossert Subject: Re: mieville again hey, a Rusell Hoban book i don't have! (well, i may not have all the Francis books...) thanks! i pretty much agree with the comments on "PSS", though i'd encourage anyone who was uncertain about that book to read "The Scar" and keep an eye on future releases: Mieville's got something there, and he's getting better and better at putting it on paper... On Friday, Sep 27, 2002, at 11:11 US/Pacific, dmw wrote: > i was disagreeing in friendly fashion with some folks hereabouts about > the > merits (or lack thereof) of china mieville's _perdido street station_ a > coupleo f weeks ago, and on the off-chance that anyone cares, i > organized > my thoughts somewhat and stuck them at > http://www.pathetic-caverns.com/books/books.html > cheers - -g - -- i've never been afraid to change the circumstances of the world - -- Happy Rhodes - -- except for bunnies... - -- Anya ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 13:37:49 -0700 From: Steve VanDevender Subject: Re: mieville again Greg Bossert writes: > hey, a Rusell Hoban book i don't have! (well, i may not have all the > Francis books...) thanks! > > i pretty much agree with the comments on "PSS", though i'd encourage > anyone who was uncertain about that book to read "The Scar" and keep an > eye on future releases: Mieville's got something there, and he's > getting better and better at putting it on paper... I still generally liked _Perdido Street Station_, but I liked _The Scar_ more. I also just read Neil Gaiman's _American Gods_, and I loved it. Clever, thoughtful, readable, and extremely well-constructed (characters and events that seem unimportant at first eventually surprise you). ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 16:02:56 -0500 (CDT) From: Cheri Villines Subject: American Gods > I also just read Neil Gaiman's _American Gods_, and I loved it. Clever, > thoughtful, readable, and extremely well-constructed (characters and > events that seem unimportant at first eventually surprise you). > I enjoyed this book very much as well; loved how all the threads came together at the end. Cheri ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 18:10:38 -0500 From: steve Subject: Re: movies (god, I know, I'll shut up already) On Friday, September 27, 2002, at 03:11 PM, Paul2k@aol.com wrote: > I saw the new(ish) Hayao Miyazaki film "Spirited Away" last weekend at > the El Capitan theater in Hollywood. They are showing the Japanese > language/English sub version on Sundays and Thursdays at 7 PM and the > English dub the rest of the time. > > Wow. Studio Ghibli films always leave me totally full and satisfied > and yet wanting more, More, MORE! I just wish Disney would be quicker > about releasing the other films in some form in the U.S. Apparently, > "Laputa" is going to come out on DVD sometime soon, and Fox is going > to release "Totoro" on DVD this December. And there will be a new Collector's Edition of Grave Of The Fireflies released on October 8. Lots of Spirited Away reviews - http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/SpiritedAway-1116064/ - - Steve __________ It is white." - George Bush, when asked what the White House is like by a student at Morningside Primary School in Hackney, East London. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 21:08:16 -0400 From: Philip David Morgan Subject: Re: October Project and Karnataka "unplugged" in NYC Hello, Jim et. al.: > For any interested souls in NYC.... > Karnataka will be playing 'unplugged' with October Project in New York City > on Friday October 4th..... Wish I could be there for this one. Darn!!! Well, those among us going will keep you in mind next Friday night... Speaking of which... I've gotten the green light to take next Friday off from work... and so I hope to meet some of you from the list at the show. I'll be the one with a three-ring binder sporting Polly's picture on the front (see my URL below), drooling over any CDs sold that night, and maybe picking up a couple. If you catch sight of someone walking down Prince Street or Broadway, wearing a beige cap with "http://dianewolkstein.com/" on it, say hello. It's me. Philip David 9/27/2002 n.p.i.m.h.: _Party Like It's Only $19.99_ (Evolution Control Committee compilation). Later: _Hotchpotch_ (1999 compilation) - Maaya Sakamoto (JVC-Victor) - --- The Polly Stephanson Project - Take back the Night in the Name of Love this October 1st! http://homepage.mac.com/pollyshows/ - --- "Now go back and finish your oatmeal." ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 23:26:42 -0500 From: "Chad Lundgren" Subject: Re: American Gods > > I also just read Neil Gaiman's _American Gods_, and I loved it. Clever, > > thoughtful, readable, and extremely well-constructed (characters and > > events that seem unimportant at first eventually surprise you). > > > > > I enjoyed this book very much as well; loved how all the threads came > together at the end. I think that's really one of Neil's strengths. He does a really fine job of weaving seemingly disparate plotlines into a very satisfying climax. _Coraline_ is also a very nice book. It's written in a different style, more of a storybook narrative, but it has such an overwhelming creepiness to it. It's not as intricate as his longer and more intricate novel, but it's a fine read. Chad ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V8 #270 **************************