From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V9 #311 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Tuesday, November 4 2003 Volume 09 : Number 311 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Sarah's Afterglow ["Amy" ] McKinley and Deb Talan at The Aladdin this Friday ["Miss McKinley by way ] Re: Sarah's Afterglow [meredith ] RE: Sarah's Afterglow ["Amy" ] Current Happy Gigs [Mark Chapman ] Re: Current Happy Gigs ["Xenu's Sister" ] Happy at the Tin Angel [Neal Copperman ] wendy rule cd's [Neal Copperman ] Re: Happy at the Tin Angel [Tom Masapollo ] Vienna Teng in Alabama - Sarah McLachlan - Delerium [Eric Volker ] Re: Current Happy Gigs [Mike Goldman ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2003 14:11:17 -0600 From: "Amy" Subject: Sarah's Afterglow Hi All, Just wanted to let you know I've posted a review on my site for Sarah McLachlan's CD, Afterglow. I don't actually have the CD in hand, but I am a member of Murmurs so I got to listen to the whole thing (over and over again) and so was able to do a review. You can see it here: http://www.collectedsounds.com/cdreviews/afterglow.html I don't want to sound like an add for my site, so I'll post the guts of it here as well: "Afterglow" by Sarah McLachlan So let's get one thing straight, I am a Sarah McLachlan geek. Everyone I know makes fun of me because my CD case has two rows of Sarah discs. I have every commercial release, every bootleg (well, most of them) and almost every single. I love her. I have ever since I heard the first notes of "Into the Fire" somewhere around 1992 and I probably always will. But I am not one of those people who cannot be objective and think that she can do no wrong. So keep that in mind when reading the following gush. Well if you haven't heard "Fallen" yet, you might be living under a rock. I knew right away when I heard this song that "Afterglow" would be a vast improvement over "Surfacing". Don't get me wrong; I don't think "Surfacing" was bad, per se. It was still 100% better than almost anything anyone else has ever put out, but it just wasn't up to par for Sarah (in MY opinion). I know I am not the only one who holds this opinion, and I don't want to anger those who don't agree with me, but to know I didn't care for it much should prove how good this release is. That being said, WOW! I do not have an advance copy of this CD (not for lack of begging Nettwerk for one) but I am a member of her fan club (geeky, I know, that's me) so I was able to listen to the whole album online. If you're not a member go ahead and join. It's only $10 (down from $30 in previous years) and you get cool stuff. OK enough of that, onto the music. This is a beautiful CD, I am so happy to report. I don't normally review a CD by mentioning each song, butwell, this is Sarah and I've been waiting for a long time. "Fallen" is a gorgeous song (with an equally gorgeous accompanying video). For the video Sarah has gone back to what worked for her in 1992 with "Into the Fire"yep, she's naked again. It's a very lovely video. See it here: on Nettwerk's site "World on Fire" is lush and rich. It's got the guitar solo, Ash's great beats and it feels like home. "Stupid" uses amazing crescendo and decrescendo that gives me chills. The orchestration is incredible. I can't wait to hear this song live, I'm pretty sure I'll be misting up. "Drifting" takes us back to Sarah's slower ballad songs. That old wailing guitar that we know and love is there as well and her angelic voice. Could have been on "Fumbling" high praise indeed. "Trainwreck" reminds me of old Sarahreal old, good, Sarah. It's got a great driving drumbeat. It's not exactly a dance song, but I defy you to sit still while listening. This will probably be the next single. "Push" is simply gorgeous. "You're all the things that I desire You save me you complete me You're the one true thing I know I can believe in" *sigh* Fabulous love song to be sung at many weddings to come. "Answer" is the answer to many a prayer, Sarah back at the pianowho could ask for more. That voice, oh my. This is my favorite trackright nowask me again in a week. On "Time" Sarah's breathy voice and the deep drum together make a stunning combination. The vocals seem "pushed to the front" somehow in production and I feel like she's sitting next to me singing. "The Perfect Girl" utilizes lots of background vocals and extra distortions making it quite dimensional and layered. "Dirty Little Secret" wow, it's over already? Well this is a nice way to end the recording. I almost hear Randy Newman's influence here. Not "Short People" but more "When She Loved Me". The piano is killer. You can tell these songs had a lot of thought put into them both lyrically and melodically. Each one with it's own special traits. No "written in 5 minutes" here. If there is, it's disguised beautifully and further proves her genius. The orchestration and production is luxuriant and full and Sarah's voice sounds better than ever. "Fumbling fans rejoice! Though I've only given it a few listens I know this is a CD that I will be enjoying for a long time. It was worth the wait. ~~Amy Lotsberg Producer, Collected Sounds - a Guide to Women in Music www.collectedsounds.com ------------------------------ Date: 2 Nov 2003 13:52:10 -0800 From: "Miss McKinley by way of Michael Pearce" Subject: McKinley and Deb Talan at The Aladdin this Friday Hi everyone! I'll be playing a solo show this Friday, November 7th (opening for Deb Talan) to say a fond farewell to Portland before I move to Seattle. I'll come back for shows now and then, but it's going to be strange leaving my beloved city. Here are the show details: Aladdin Theater, doors at 7:00 Tickets on line at www.aladdin-theater.com $10 adv/$12 day of show All ages Corner of SE 12th and Powell Thanks for coming to shows, buying the CD, telling your friends about it etc... I'm homesick already, but need a place to write new songs and clean up my soul a bit. All I really want in The End are great songs and a clean soul...and someone to say that they loved my taste in shoes. McKinley ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 08:07:08 -0500 From: meredith Subject: Re: Sarah's Afterglow Hi, Amy mentioned: >That being said, WOW! I do not have an advance copy of this CD (not for lack >of begging Nettwerk for one) but I am a member of her fan club (geeky, I >know, that's me) so I was able to listen to the whole album online. If >you're not a member go ahead and join. It's only $10 ... or just go to and listen to the whole thing for free. :) =============================================== 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 =============================================== ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 09:44:37 -0600 From: "Amy" Subject: RE: Sarah's Afterglow Meth wrote: > ... or just go to and listen > to the whole > thing for free. :) I thought you had to be a member to listen to the whole thing, don't you? Or maybe not. Maybe because I am I can't tell what people who are not would have access to. I could have sworn on the main site (as opposed to the Murmurs site) that it was only 2 minute snippets. Maybe they've changed it since I first looked. Anyway, hope you can all hear it soon! ~~Amy Lotsberg Producer - www.collectedsounds.com A Guide to Women in Music > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-ecto@smoe.org [mailto:owner-ecto@smoe.org]On Behalf Of > meredith > Sent: Monday, November 03, 2003 7:07 AM > To: ecto@smoe.org > Subject: Re: Sarah's Afterglow > > > Hi, > > Amy mentioned: > > >That being said, WOW! I do not have an advance copy of this > CD (not for lack > >of begging Nettwerk for one) but I am a member of her fan > club (geeky, I > >know, that's me) so I was able to listen to the whole album > online. If > >you're not a member go ahead and join. It's only $10 > > ... or just go to and listen > to the whole > thing for free. :) > > > =============================================== > 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 > =============================================== ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 11:13:40 -0500 From: Mark Chapman Subject: Current Happy Gigs Hi All: Saturday's HR shows at the Tin Angel (Neal C. and I attended both sets) were superb. Very special and we were able to secure a good table for the first set and close-up barstools along the side for the second set. It was great to hear Bon and Hansford support Bob and Happy, as I am now quite familiar with all of these excellent musicians. Two Hansford Rowe tunes were welcome surprises in the set, and I think Happy was as pleased to be doing backup for Hansford as she was to be having these nice guys support her. The music was wonderful all the way around and we met a couple of other Ecto listers, too. Although I'm sure that some fans thought Happy's cover of a Kate Bush tune from Hounds of Love was the pinnacle of the evening (I saw one guy in the audience who practically had an emotional breakdown over it), for me, the special moments were "Soon" (I'm a humongous Yes fan), "Ra is a Busy God" and "Collective Heart." But singling these out is really inappropriate because everything was excellent. I had a superb dinner plate downstairs and would gladly eat at Serano again. I don't mind spending $15-$20 for a nice dinner once in a while. Too bad that, added to the other expenses for the evening plus a $52 trip one block down the street to A.K.A. Music (great cd shop), we also managed to park in a valet parking zone, and added $135 to the evening for a parking ticket, taxi cab, and towing charge, courtesy of the City of Brotherly Love. Then home to D.C. and arrival at 3:45 a.m. (4:00 a.m. for Neal and his parents' house in northern Virginia). My great thanks and admiration to Neal for not only the friendly companionship for the evening, but keeping a positive demeanor through our early-morning ordeal and even throwing in some money to less my financial burden. (We both misread the parking signs, so we only feel half as dumb as we would have if parking/travelling solo--or something like that!) Last week I wrote... > I'm thinking of going to this Happy gig: > Nov. 6 Mechanicsburg, PA Second Floor Gallery 105 South Market St. (717) > 697-0502 > Anyone know anything about this place? Bon and "opener" Allan Pollard (sp?) said that this place is pretty "hip." I don't think any kind of preshow reservations are necessary. I've pretty much made a commitment to driving out with a friend for this show, so if anyone else is inclined, speak up and we'll meet-and-greet. Regards, Mark C. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 10:48:30 -0600 From: "Xenu's Sister" Subject: Re: Current Happy Gigs At 11:13 AM 11/3/2003 -0500, Mark wrote: > Although I'm sure that some fans thought Happy's > cover of a Kate Bush tune from Hounds of Love was the > pinnacle of the evening (I saw one guy in the audience who > practically had an emotional breakdown over it), As would I have! I wish I could have been there. I've been begging Happy to do a Kate song (in its entirety) for years, and now she does one, and I'm not there to hear it. (I can't take for granted that she'll do it at every gig, and besides, now that I know, I'll either be expecting it and it won't be a surprise, or I'll be expecting it, she won't do it, and I'll be disappointed. In any case, I'm thrilled to death about it, just for that one guy's sake.) Did you tape? Did you take pictures? :-) I so fear that these shows won't be documented. Is *anyone* going to Denville, Harrisburg (Mechanicsburg??), Pittsburgh, Cleveland???? I'm sorry to hear about your troubles. Yay Neal for helping you! > > I'm thinking of going to this Happy gig: > > Nov. 6 Mechanicsburg, PA Second Floor Gallery 105 South Market St. > > (717) 697-0502 What? Where did you get that listing? On Happy's web page and Ken's post it says: > Nov. 6 Harrisburg, PA Second Floor Gallery Where did you get Mechanicsburg? I didn't notice it until just now. I've been posting the tour dates on several message boards. Have I been posting the wrong CITY?? Anyway, will you tape? Will you take pictures? :-) Vickie ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 17:05:47 -0700 From: Neal Copperman Subject: Happy at the Tin Angel Mark did a great job of recapping or Happy experience. You can understand my brief posting the other day, given that I had just finished driving to my parents' and it was 4 am. Here's the full set list for the Philly shows. If you don't want to know Happy's cover (which I was going to mark with spoilers), steer clear. There were several other ectophiles in the audience. I suck with names, so even though I asked twice for the name of the listmember from NJ and his wife, I still forgot it. (Sorry about that.) I'm not even going to try to guess to demonstrate how far off the mark I am. Also, I thought I'd win the distance award coming from NM (though the east coast trip was work), but I wasn't the winner. Santor (sp?) was there from the Netherlands(!) for his first Happy experience. Look for the Child Fall (new song) Ra is a Busy God To Live In Your World Can't Let Go (new song) Ali (Hansford's song) SOS Major Tom (David Bowie) The First To Cry (solo) When The Water's Gone (Hansford's new song) The Chosen One (new song) Collective Heart And Dream of Sheep (Kate Bush) If Wishes Were Horses Soon (Yes) When The Rain Comes Down The only difference in the second set was that she dropped the Kate cut and replaced it with Just Like Tivoli. No encore on the first set due to time. The second set wasn't due to have an encore either. The Tin Angel turned on the music, but not the lights. The audience applauded with the music playing for about 2 minutes, so Happy came back and played the Kate cover. So, that's the evening. First set we sat next to someone who remembered Kerry from his last experience, and thanked him for a copy of the show :) My other notable musical experiences on my east coast trip was a killer show by Spearhead (my 2nd Spearhead show, and again the only hip-hop band I have seen that is amazing live), and An Acoustic Evening with Mary Chapin Carpenter, Shawn Colvin, Dar Williams and Patty Griffin (very chatty - MCC is hilarious, Shawn Colvin a bit dour but with a wry sense of humor. Patty stole the night musically, I thought). I'm back in NM now. Wendy Rule comes in tonight and we've got our house concert with her tomorrow. neal np: Live From Studio 2, Volume 1 - KBAC (current track - The Tragically Hip's "Bobbycaygeon") ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 17:12:11 -0700 From: Neal Copperman Subject: wendy rule cd's BTW, I found a big box of Wendy Rule goodies waiting for me when I got home. So if anyone is having a tough time finding her CD's I can probably help you out (and even have Wendy sign them for you). It looks like she sent Zero, Deity, World Between Worlds and the new Lotus Eaters. Amusingly enough, there are 60 CD's, valued at $30 US :) Sorry, I don't think I can sell them for 50 cents. neal ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 20:30:28 -0500 From: Tom Masapollo Subject: Re: Happy at the Tin Angel Hi Neal & Mark! I was the guy you met at the Tin Angel. I thoroughly enjoyed the concert. Bon and Hansford are always good additions to Happy's band. They blend well together. My favorite songs for the night were the Chosen One, Ra, and of course the KB cover. Wish we didn't have the opening act and could hear more of Happy, but that's the way these things usually go. (she played for 1 hour and 20 min, so I can't complain) Sorry to hear about your parking ticket fiasco. Don't feel bad Mark as you are not alone. The last time I was at the Tin Angel for October Project, I also parked several blocks away in a spot that was also a "Valet Parking" The meter was not marked as such and there was nothing going on at the place that had the valet parking, it was pouring rain, so I thought it was ok. Anyway, it was a $25 ticket for me. Yes, PHILA SUCKS WHEN IT COMES TO PARKING! and if you don't pay the tickets, they put a boot lock on your car and then you have to call them to remove it. Anyway, next up is Vienna Teng on Friday night at the Point. My next trip to the Tin Angel might be on Nov. 29th when Innocence Mission is there. Good seeing you guys again. later, tom ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2003 20:07:48 -0600 From: Eric Volker Subject: Vienna Teng in Alabama - Sarah McLachlan - Delerium Finally, a local ecto show! Vienna Teng (along with Libby Kirkpatrick) is playing here in Birmingham on Nov. 15 at the Workplay. Problem is, I hate going to concerts alone and can't find anyone interested in going. Will any Alabama ectophiles be in attendance? After downloading the Sarah McLachlan video so kindly provided by someone here on the list, I was impressed by Fallen and decided to check out the rest of Afterglow on Nettwerk's website. I hate to say it, but I was underwhelmed. I know someone here has stated that it was better than Surfacing, but I have to disagree. Surfacing had a few good moments, but the only highlight on Afterglow is Fallen. Too many of the songs sound like bland adult contemporary music, nothing like the magical soundscapes of Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, or even Solace. (Which I've misplaced - again. Thank for iTunes.) Anyone else agree or disagree? However, the trip to Nettwerk's website was not a waste. I noticed that Delerium had come out with a new album, and being a moderate fan of Karma decided to investigate. Unfortunately, I'm no music critic and lack the necessary vocabulary to suitably praise Chimera. With the exception of a couple of sacrifices to the Gods of Pop, every song is excellent. Suffice to say, I was quite taken with it and believe I will like it even more with repeated playings. Back to my favorite participant sport - lurking. n.p. Solace - Sarah McLachlan n.r. Sophie's Choice - William Styron ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 04 Nov 2003 14:15:18 +1100 From: Andrew Fries Subject: The Bites - white lines and runways Christmas came early to me this year because I just received my copy of THE BITES!!!! ... yeah. I knew you'd be excited. Let's try again: The Bites, the band KIRSTY STEGWAZI is now in!!!! ... still blank? Well, let's start at the beginning. Kirsty Stegwazi is an obscure but excellent artist from Melbourne. I've been her fan for many, many years and after her 2001 release, "Jailbirds" which was my No.1 release of that year and which I now consider one of the "10 desert island CDs", I elevated Kirsty to the status of My Personal Goddess. And naturally she promptly vanished from the music scene, just like that other Personal Goddess of mine, Crista Calero... I was not happy. But eventually I learned Kirsty didn't leave the scene altogether, she just stopped working solo in favour of starting a band, The Bites. And last month they finally released their first CD: "white lines and runways". The Bites turn out to be a pop-rock outfit, suprisingly radio-friendly, in that indie sort of way. In fact I learned they had a record out by listening to our new community radio FBi - I didn't know the song, but the voice was instantly recognisable! The band consists of three guitars and drums - no bass, they claim, although I could swear I heard one a couple of times. They sound somewhat like The Breeders at times, and there is this strong sense of "we're just a bunch of friends getting together and having fun belting the hell out of our instruments", but this is Kirsty and co. after all - they simply can't help making it all a bit different, a bit twisted, and a bit more interesting than your average garage rock band. The opener "My heart, your heart" is the track I heard of the radio. With some luck it certainly could get a bit of airplay - and that would be the first for Kirsty! "Etwas neues" is done entirely in German for some reason. Why would anyone want to sing in German? Perhaps just to show they can... so she can sing, play guitar and cello, she could do stand-up comedy, and now she's a linguist, too :) With a name like Stegwazi, I often wonder about her background, but I never asked. A bit of mistery adds to the attraction, perhaps? But it is the last song that really gets to me: "Desert island piano", is just Kirsty in what appears to be a demo, a first draft of a song, recorded in her bedroom. The sound is hollow, the playing fumbling and hesitant, the tune just a throw-away ditty... and it is absolutely glorious. This is classic Kirsty, doing what she does best - taking fractured home-spun bits and transmuting them, somehow, into perfection... "I know it would suck ending up stuck with me on some far-away desert island or in some broken down elevator I'd have my ups and you'd have my downs forever... forever... forever... is a long time" Yeah she's my Goddess! - --------------------------------------------------------------------- "Fascism should rightly be called Corporatism as it is a merge of state and corporate power" - -- Benito Mussolini - -- 14:12:22 up 4 days, 16:35, 2 users, load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00-- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 21:36:04 -0600 From: Michael Eisenberg Subject: Outre Music Update Hi everyone, This will be the last Outri Music Update of 2003. It's been a busy/hectic/hair-pulling year over at OM HQ but, I have to say...it's been well worth it. Having done 11 shows in 12 months, Outri Music has been extremely active (well, as active as a one-man independent presenter/promoter can be) and has succeeded in bringing some of the finest avant-progressive rock and jazz to Chicago. I'd like to take a moment to thank anyone and everyone who has attended any of these past shows or has written about them. It's you that enables me to keep the series going. As I've said many times in the past, Outri Music lives and dies by the e-mail list so...if you know ANYONE who would want to be kept informed about all this creative music coming though Chicago, please encourage them to sign up (at www.outremusic.com ). Or, forward this mail to them yourselves and bring them along to the shows!!! The final show of the 2003 Outri Music Series is: An Evening with THE ACOUSTIC STRAWBS Thursday, November 6th Fitzgeralds, 6615 Roosevelt Road, Berwyn Illinois $20 8:30pm Tickets are available in advance at Fitzgeralds or though Ticket Master or at the door the evening of the performance. Thirty years on from their huge album chart successes, "Grave New World", "Bursting at the Seams", "Hero and Heroine" and "Ghosts", the Strawbs are currently touring with an acoustic line-up-Dave Cousins on guitar, banjo, dulcimer and vocals, Dave Lambert on guitar and vocals, and Brian Willoughby on guitar and vocals. Given the nature of the acoustic trio, the Strawbs are more or less forced to offer radically re-tooled versions of their music since none of the newer stuff or classic "hits" were arranged with this format in mind. It's this fact that makes this show worth it's weight in gold! The arrangements are sparse but beautiful, allowing the unique timbre of Dave Cousins voice, which has lost none of it's gorgeously craggy beauty to shine though. Special mention should also be made of the vocal harmonies courtesy of Dave Lambert which are nothing short of spine tingling. You won't want to miss this opportunity to catch this truly amazing group perform. Please note the earlier start time. Fitzgeralds does serve food (At the Roosevelt Grill next door to the club-my wife thinks they have the best burgers in the city!!) so dinner at the venue before the show is certainly doable. I know this is a bit early but since this is probably the last time you are going to hear from me till next year...I'd like to wish everyone a great holiday from Thanksgiving all the way though to the New Year. Also, thanks again for all the good support and positive vibes from everyone. You make it happen, and happen it will...cya at the Strawbs and onward to next year!!! Best Michael Eisenberg - -- Outri Music Music Beyond Boundaries http://www.outremusic.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 04 Nov 2003 00:31:16 -0500 From: Mike Goldman Subject: Re: Current Happy Gigs Xenu's Sister wrote: > I so fear that these shows won't be documented. Is *anyone* going to > Denville, Harrisburg (Mechanicsburg??), Pittsburgh, Cleveland???? I'm in Pittsburgh, and *will* be there. Will anyone else? ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V9 #311 **************************