From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V9 #87 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Sunday, March 30 2003 Volume 09 : Number 087 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Zoe Lewis [karen hester ] Re: Zoe Lewis [meredith ] Rainer Maria [karen hester ] Kristin Hersh's 'The Grotto' [karen hester ] Mary Lydia Ryan (was Zoe Lewis) [Neal Copperman ] Oregon Celtic Bands/Groups [RavFlight@aol.com] New Music Impressions: Azure Ray, Piano Magic, Hersh [Craig Gidney ] Re: Oregon Celtic Bands/Groups [walkabout@att.net] Vienna Teng at the Freight [walkabout@att.net] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2003 01:00:09 -0800 (PST) From: karen hester Subject: Zoe Lewis Zoe Lewis' 'Fishbone, Wishbone, Funnybone' (hear sound samples or buy from http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/zoe & http://www.zoelewis.com) This album is full of adorable, perky songs. They're sure catchy and fun musically for pieces that could rest on their often hilarious lyrics. The arrangements match the story of each song and range from French, jazz, Spanish, folk to sea-shanty touches. Zoe Lewis is very rythmical - her singing follows the beat and the funny phrases are timed for perfect punch and cuteness. The tight rhythms of the guitar (sometimes Ani-ish, but in a more supportive role) and the percussion are so toe-tappingly good. On first listen, the jazziness (reminding me of Mary Lydia Ryan but in a bouncy, non-dreamy, way) of the opening numbers didn't grab me, but as the album progressed, words kept on making it through the fog of my so-called-studying, and by track six I was laughing out loud and wiggling my feet. In this number, she hides from the rain in the British museum, and "the past raises small fingertips/ and the crowd breathes a sigh/ for we are surrounded by/ sarcophagi. [evil laughter]" Then there's 'Jacques Cousteau' - "I had his photo by my bed, I had a yearning like he did/ to observe the mating urges of jet-propelled Sierro (?) squid/ I want to be like Jacques Cousteau/ a sort of aquamarine Clouseau." It's all very fun, and not entirely silly, the humour often enhances serious subjects. Yey. Available at cdBaby. I haven't heard her previous album 'Sheep', but the cdBaby soundclips suggest there are overly shouty backing vocals on this one. In 'Sheep' (a very silly song) she observes one woolley fellow "sitting in the shade of a glade, chewing on a blade, like a barnyard cigarette,' before she starts seeing potential woollen jumpers. There are early albums than that available on her website, plus a picture of Tintin's Snowy in the 'pictures of Zoe' section. Thank you for lending me this, Fiona! Ka Kite, Karen Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop! http://platinum.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2003 11:52:19 -0500 From: meredith Subject: Re: Zoe Lewis Hi, Karen Hester reviwed: >Zoe Lewis' 'Fishbone, Wishbone, Funnybone' (hear sound samples or buy from >http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/zoe & http://www.zoelewis.com) Zoe Lewis is wonderful. IMHO she's better live than on CD, if only because then you can see for yourself just what an amazing musician she is; and if you think her lyrics are funny, well, nothing can prepare you for her stage banter. I think a dream double bill would be to see her with Susan Werner. I don't think anyone in the room would make it out alive. >Yey. Available at cdBaby. I haven't heard her previous album 'Sheep', but >the cdBaby soundclips suggest there are overly shouty backing vocals on >this one. Only when necessary -- on "Sheep" (the title track) and her signature song, "Pies For The Public" there are shouts, but since the audience is supposed to join in at those points during her shows, it makes sense. (Sort of like listening to Erin McKeown's "La Petit Mort" on _Distillation_ in the car, and shouting "OH ESTELLE!!!" at the proper moments throughout. :) The other songs are much more low-key in that department. I'd say if you like the quirkiness of her new one, you'd probably like _Sheep_ as well. =============================================== 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://muzak.smoe.org NEXT UP: Vienna Teng, 3/29-30 =============================================== ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2003 14:49:03 -0800 (PST) From: karen hester Subject: Rainer Maria Rainer Maria (the band) - Long Knives Drawn (the album title) I'Mbori really enjoying oops, hold on there. In my computer's auto-correct I've got 'M' set as Maori with a macron over the 'a' (since it is a long 'a'), and this must be the first time I've typed 'I'm'. Okay, if my writing becomes sprinkled with Church Missionary Society and Church of England and Hadfield and Wiremu Kingi and New Zealand, you'll know what aspect of the New Zealand Wars I'Mbori, oops, I am writing about, and what abbreviations currently populate my 'puter. Right. Am enjoying this album, nicely abrasive music, a voice which is sometimes identical to the Sleater-Kinney lady, but also does softer things, and you can sometimes hear smiles in her singing. The lyrics are romantic-relationship oriented, and I am not too interested when the words slip into awkward overly-self-analysed territory, like the dialogue of 'Six Feet Under' characters. But mostly I really enjoy Caithlin's singing and lyrics, they contrast engagingly with the loud and urgent guitars. My favourite lyrics are "Strange how the ears ring/ after a night of wrong-doing. Strange how the arms sting/ when you're left holding nothing." When sh'es good, she's very very good. How do their earlier albums compare? Thanks, Karen Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop! http://platinum.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2003 15:06:55 -0800 (PST) From: karen hester Subject: Kristin Hersh's 'The Grotto' Kristin Hersh - The Grotto Her voice in my ear feels so comforting, guess I've been listening to her for so long she feels like home. I wonder how much one's enjoyment of music is amplified in those cases where you've spent so many years with someone's music - both the memories of how the different albums fit within your life, and the accrued knowledge of the artist's approach to song-writing and their instruments. Not many of 'The Grotto' songs are stuck in my brain for replay in my head. They are like footprints in wet sand which rise up and disappear as soon as you move on - though I recognise the turns in the melody when they come, but I won't remember them again until next I hear them. This'll change after more listening though. The songs don't have the tight pop structure that Kristin sometimes uses, they are of her meandering, convoluted type. The strings and piano are gorgeous and I wonder what would be left of some of the ghostly songs without these instruments giving them colour and shape. Has anyone heard them live, alone on a guitar? As usual I love her words, never wilfully obtuse but personal and metaphorical in the way that can be even more precise than something plain and direct. I know Kristin dislikes having a lyric sheet accompanying albums, but, grrr to the absence of lyrics this time. My favourites are "I won't waste your time with lies, and there's not much truth to tell" and "that's the way the cookie bounces, in spite of me." Doesn't seem to have been released locally in New Zealand. Humbug. Haven't found the Muses newie yet. Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop! http://platinum.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2003 17:54:29 -0700 From: Neal Copperman Subject: Mary Lydia Ryan (was Zoe Lewis) At 1:00 AM -0800 3/29/03, karen hester wrote: >On first listen, the jazziness (reminding me of Mary Lydia Ryan but in a >bouncy, non-dreamy, way) Speeking of Mary Lydia Ryan, fellow Seattle musician Willow was in town a few weeks ago. She's got a brand new ep called Lovely Love consisting of 4 tracks (lovely love, i do, lullabye, and flesh). I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, but it looks like it falls in between her solo accoustic album and the band album. Just her and Kevin on atmospheric guitars. It was great to get a chance to see them again. (http://www.willowsmusic.com) Willow told me that Mary just had a second child! I think they are both sons. Also, she had just been in the studio and put down a first pass at 8 new tracks, so maybe we have a new MLR CD to look forward to in the next year! (A quick visit to the web site shows that Aris Kahlo Killian was born January 25, so I'm kind of behind the times with my news.) neal np: Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams sampler nr: Moby Dick - Herman Melville ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2003 20:01:38 EST From: RavFlight@aol.com Subject: Oregon Celtic Bands/Groups Hello all, I am getting married in approximately a month, and am putting together some finishing touches on my wedding.. We have a very strong Scottish/Celtic theme, and I have been looking, somewhat unsuccessfully, for a Celtic group that might play at the wedding in the Portland/Salem/Eugene area (I am in Salem). I should have come here sooner, but I know there are some in the area.. any suggestions, any ideas, any anything? Thanks Ryan Rogers RavFlight@aol.com PS - And if anyone wishes to start a thread about good 'wedding/love' songs, I won't complain about that either. :) Thanks (again) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2003 17:15:13 -0800 (PST) From: Craig Gidney Subject: New Music Impressions: Azure Ray, Piano Magic, Hersh Here are some new cds I've been listening to: Kristen Hersh, "The Grotto." Sparse, and utterly disregarding song structure, featuring Hersh's raspy voice, idiosyncratic lyrics and beautiful violin fills by the sexy Andrew Bird, this one has grown on me slowly. Azure Ray, Debut. Two terrified waif-girl singers, against an intricate, Van Dyke Parks folk carnival. Ghostly, haunting, oldtimey. Piano Magic, "Writers Without Homes." A discreet updating of the This Mortal Coil formula. Intensely personal lyrics, a shifting cast of musicians and singers, Parisian bohemian atmosphere conjured. Sybarite, "Nonument." Elegant architectural electronic music, like a more cinematic Autechre, augmented by violins and Phillip Glass-like moments. Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop! http://platinum.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2003 19:19:38 -0700 From: Neal Copperman Subject: Re: Oregon Celtic Bands/Groups I don't know if this is the sort of thing you are looking for Ryan, but I think your area is home to Casey Neill and whatever band he has currently going. (I have some vague recollections of his moving, but I'm not really sure.) He's not exactly traditional Irish, more Irish/Americana. His recent touring band included Johnny Cunningham. When he played in Albuquerque, he had several excellent musicians with him. Zak Borden on mandolin and Hans Araki on flutes. Not sure where they are all based, though it's somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. Good luck (and congratulations!), neal np: An Interview with Kim Buchanan At 8:01 PM -0500 3/29/03, RavFlight@aol.com wrote: >Hello all, > >I am getting married in approximately a month, and am putting together some >finishing touches on my wedding.. We have a very strong Scottish/Celtic >theme, and I have been looking, somewhat unsuccessfully, for a Celtic group >that might play at the wedding in the Portland/Salem/Eugene area (I am in >Salem). I should have come here sooner, but I know there are some in the >area.. any suggestions, any ideas, any anything? Thanks > >Ryan Rogers >RavFlight@aol.com > >PS - And if anyone wishes to start a thread about good 'wedding/love' songs, >I won't complain about that either. :) Thanks (again) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2003 20:35:44 -0800 From: walkabout@att.net Subject: Re: Oregon Celtic Bands/Groups At 20:01 03/29/2003 -0500, Ryan wrote: >We have a very strong Scottish/Celtic theme, and I have been >looking, somewhat unsuccessfully, for a Celtic group that >might play at the wedding in the Portland/Salem/Eugene area Congratulations on the wedding! There is much Celtic music interest in Oregon, but I only know a few good resources; maybe other ecto-folk have better info. 1. Celtic band called "The Nettles" usually play anywhere in the Willamette Valley (Eugene to Portland), as well as beyond (they've appeared at Newport)... they love to play weddings, and promise to work closely with you to assure their music fits your expectations... contact: kevin@TheNettles.com 2. Laura Zaerr (associate professor at U of Oregon) is in a three-women Celtic band called Village Green... see: 3. The music departments of most universities are often good resources for local "folk/world music" artists; University of Oregon (and probably OSU & Willamette) may be good places to inquire... for example: 4. Many local Oregon radio stations host Celtic programming, and these stations may be able to connect you to local Celtic bands... see: 5. There are two email discussion groups hosted on YahooGroups, designed to connect people to Celtic music events in Oregon; you may want to post your question there. Subscription information can be found at and CelticCafeOREGON is more active, but it appears to be more focused on celtic dancing. If you subscribe to either of these groups via the web interface, you will need to obtain a Yahoo-ID. You can also subscribe via email only, which avoids the need for a Yahoo-ID... email me privately if you need instructions for email-only subscriptions. 6. Other resources which may (or may not) be helpful: ~walkabout ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2003 20:50:09 -0800 From: walkabout@att.net Subject: Vienna Teng at the Freight Exciting news for SF Bay Area fans of Vienna Teng; she has been booked to play the Freight & Salvage, one of the premiere small venues on the west coast. This is one of the regular stops for artists like Susan Werner and Patty Larkin, but it is not easy to get booked here; I know several artists who have spent years trying to convince Steve Baker (Freight booker) to let them play there. Vienna Teng Tuesday June 17,2003 (8pm) Freight and Salvage 1111 Addison Street Berkeley, CA (510) 548-1761 Big congratulations to Vienna! ~walkabout ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V9 #87 *************************