From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V8 #292 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Sunday, October 20 2002 Volume 08 : Number 292 Today's Subjects: ----------------- ky/10-02 ["Donald G. Keller" ] mn/10-18-01 ["Donald G. Keller" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 19 Oct 2002 18:25:53 -0400 (EDT) From: "Donald G. Keller" Subject: ky/10-02 An update on Kristeen Young. Quoth the =Village Voice= (10/16-22/02): "St. Louie-raised Kristeen (who, revealingly, yelped backup on the most recent lousy Bowie album) veers closer to the Siouxsie Sioux/Nina Hagen/Kate Bush kindergarten of hiccupped histrionics than to any Lilith fare, and her back-to-the- futuristic backing tracks (produced most recently by the legendary Tony Visconti) could pass for electroclash. As could her words about Mars." (Very condescending, but nonetheless a reasonably accurate description.) And thus spake Kristeen mid-set this past Thursday: "You know who's really awesome? Michelle Branch. I almost can't go on after I hear Michelle Branch." [Pause while we realize she's joking.] "Actually, Michelle Branch is a symbol for everything that's wrong with the music industry." [Scattered applause.] "She's really mediocre. No, she's not even mediocre. She really sucks." [More applause] And then she went on with her set. Brief recap: Kristeen began the year with an isolated solo set in February (she began playing at 20:02 on 20/02, 2002), notable for the introduction of a fine new song, "Bite Down," a typical dark rocker with lyrics on the theme "you may think I'm a gullible consumer, but I'm really a force of nature." She did a series of shows in July and August with a new band (she's billing herself as Kristeen Young and the Low Boys), guitar, bass, and Jeff White back on drums. There was another new song, "We Want More!?" (she was explaining the punctuation this past Thursday), which has a kind of 60s Motown/r&b feel to it, and is even better than "Bite Down." Her latest series of shows (all have been at CBGBs) features a completely new set of Low Boys, good players but with a tendency to drown out the keyboards. This is a problem, since we go to see Kristeen Young to hear her unusual keyboard textures (and hear her sing, of course), not a pretty decent rock band. Still, there are moments when they give the songs a big kick ("Rock Radio" in particular), and the guitarist adds some nice licks here and there. Thursday's show featured the same set as the first of this series the previous Tuesday, beginning with the new full-band version of "21st Century Ride" that debuted in June. I loved the light-footed Bartokian solo version; the band version lumbers a bit for my taste. Still an effective song, though. "Automatic Love" (unusually major-key and upbeat) and "Breasticles" (one of her blues in 3/4) followed, neither a favorite of mine; and then "Saviour," the spacy midtempo tune. Here the band overrode the keyboards the most, especially the rapid-fire guitar solo obscuring Kristeen's keyboard solo. But she did some improvised wordless vocals over the long rideout that was really terrific. "Rock Radio" (with its brief Pink Floyd-cover intro) was its usual killer self; ditto "We Want More?!" The brand-new song this go-round is called "Heart Land Soul." A "Moonlight Sonata"-style riff (but in Kristeen-style rhythm) on solo keyboard leads to an excellent main melody, very dark and dissonant (almost "Skeleton"-like), and then the full band on (as usual) a somewhat less dissonant chorus. Another really good song, probably about on a level with the already-left-behind "Bite Down." A fair-to-middling rendition of the anthemic "Reveille" followed. I was standing close to the stage, as usual, and when the very loud opening chords of the finale "Touch Tongues" crashed in, I kind of reeled (in pleasure, I assure you); Kristeen looked at me and asked if it had hurt my ears, and I shook my head enthusiastically. But amazingly, when the band came in a few bars later, the keyboard practically vanished. Serious balance problem. No matter, though; "Touch Tongues" burns the place down every time she does it. It works very well as the final song of the set. It's probably obvious from the above that I'm having my doubts as to whether Kristeen really needs a backing band; but that's what she's doing now. It's worth hearing these songs in =any= arrangement or version, and always a thrill to hear her sing live, so no matter any reservations I'll be back to see her again. She'll be at Luxx in Williamsburg this coming Tuesday the 22nd at 8:00 p.m., and then back at CBGBs Thursday the 24th and Tuesday the 29th at 8:30 (or so). If you're in the New York area... Lastly, the important news: Kristeen has put together a new CD to sell at shows. It's called =Breasticles=, and here's the track list: Bite Down 21st Century Ride Touch Tongues Don't Go Back to School* Saviour (Bowie Mix)** Automatic Love Rock Radio Breasticles We Want More!? Incubator+ Flash Buddy Boy Wake the Dead *from =Meet Miss Young=; new arrangement **a duet with David Bowie(!) +from =Enemy=; new arrangement Do I have quibbles? I have quibbles. But never mind that now; they pale beside the fact of the CD's existence, at long last. If you're a Kristeen Young fan--=especially= if you haven't had the good fortune to see her play live repeatedly like I have--you will want to hear this CD. I specifically asked Kristeen if she was selling the CD by mail, and she said yes. If you're interested, send $17 to: Kristeen Young c/o Looking Glass 632 Broadway, Suite 902 New York, NY 10012 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Oct 2002 18:29:42 -0400 (EDT) From: "Donald G. Keller" Subject: mn/10-18-01 Marianne Nowottny's show last night was the first time I've been to the (fairly new, I think) Bowery Poetry Club, which is across the street from CBGBs/CBs Gallery, and is much like the latter in size and shape. I gather they have poetry readings there, but this night was musical performances. Marianne was decked out, not untypically, in a long dress in autumn colors; there was a huge autumn wreath onstage, and autumn leaves scattered about her trusty Concertmate keyboard on its stand (she always decorates the stage according to a theme). She began with "Mona the Ear," a newish and =slightly= poppier song which I've enjoyed the couple times I heard it; this was followed by the debut of a brand-new song "Sorry Baby," which recaptures the rather breathless style of her now-defunct duo Shell. Later on she did another very good new song (sung unusually very high in her range) whose title I've forgotten. The set also included a trio of =Manmade Girl= songs: the fine opener "Fountain of Youth," the single-riffed "Barely Nearly" (my fave, I wait patiently for it to appear), and "White Leech," concerning on a young woman who stole money from her; the latter's many nervous keyboard figures had greater clarity live than on the somewhat murky studio version. She also pulled out two from her debut =Afraid of Me= we hadn't heard in a while: "Crackerjack Necrophiliac" and "Porcelain Key" (the latter her most conventional and approachable song). As an interlude, she played a short improvisation on the zhang (the Chinese version of the koto), plus two =Manmade Girl= songs on her small bellows-driven harmonium: "Mustard Seed" (which I prefer in its former string-synth version, but works well on the harmonium) and "Sweet and Low," which has been completely revamped under the influence of the great Middle Eastern singer Umm Kulthum: it's got the drone, the modal melody, and the voice doubling and embellishing the melody. This is like the third or fourth time I've heard her do it, and it's absolutely riveting, another dependable high point of her sets. Following her set was avant guitarist Elliott Sharp's blues band Terraplane. I haven't gone to see Sharp play often enough; once again I was awed by his guitar playing. Since I play myself, I knew how hard what he was doing was; but he made it look effortless. He's astonishingly fluent. In the middle of the set Marianne got up and (apparently) improvised vocal parts (including lyrics) to two tunes; she can sing the blues, too, as she had proved on "The Deep End" on her first album (which, at least twice, Sharp has played with her on stage, so she was returning the favor). A typically excellent performance from Marianne, including the "bonus tracks"; she continues to impress with her range of styles and solidity of composition. She'll be playing at the Knitting Factory in a couple weeks, and at CBs Gallery in November. ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V8 #292 **************************