From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V9 #366 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Thursday, January 1 2004 Volume 09 : Number 366 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Vienna on CNN again [Ethan Straffin ] Today's your birthday, friend... [Mike Matthews ] CD catalog [Plasterofstevie@aol.com] Re: CD catalog [Jeffrey Burka ] Re: CD catalog [Jeff Wasilko ] Favorites aka stuff I really liked from '03 [Jason Gordon ] Recent changes to the Ectophiles' Guide ["The Ectophiles' Guide" ] Re: 2003 in Music [Ethan Straffin ] Re: 2003 in Music [Joseph Zitt ] year end wrap-up ["JoAnn Whetsell" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2003 23:08:57 -0800 From: Ethan Straffin Subject: Vienna on CNN again Just noticed this at viennateng.com: - -- Vienna on CNN again December 24, 2003 If you missed it when CNN's NewsNight with Aaron Brown aired a segment featuring Vienna back in March, all is not lost! CNN will be re-broadcasting the segment at 10 pm EST on both December 25 and January 1. So don't miss it this time! - -- Or, alternately, you could just download the RealMedia clip that I made of it the first time around, at . Neat little segment. I also just found a version of "Gravity" -- still my favorite track on _Waking Hour_, despite much stiff competition -- that I'd never heard before. If you're a fan, I highly recommend going to the "et cetera" section of the official site and clicking on empty seats. :) 57 days until _Warm Strangers_ comes out... Ethan ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 03:00:03 -0500 (EST) From: Mike Matthews Subject: Today's your birthday, friend... i*i*i*i*i*i i*i*i*i*i*i *************** *****HAPPY********* **************BIRTHDAY********* *************************************************** *************************************************************************** ****************** Stuart Castergine (no Email address) ******************* *************************************************************************** -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Stuart Castergine Mon December 30 1963 You Are Here Marvin Camras Sat January 01 1916 Tapehead Jeanne Schreiter Tue January 03 1967 Capricorn John Sandoval Wed January 04 1967 Capricorn Paul Cohen Tue January 05 1954 Capricorn Tony Garrity Mon January 08 1962 Pool of Life Greg Bossert Tue January 09 1962 OfTheTimes Troy J. Shadbolt Thu January 14 1971 Capricorn Chris Sampson Wed January 15 1964 Void where prohibited Dennis G Parslow Fri January 17 1964 ...of the Saint Ross Alford Thu January 17 1957 Positive Nancy Whitney Mon January 19 1959 slippery when wet Sarah Noelle Pratt Ferguson Tue January 20 1970 Seanympf-Aquarius David Beery Tue January 20 1976 drum Terry Partis Sun January 22 1933 Rocker Steve Hughes Thu January 24 1963 Aquarius Sarah McLachlan Sun January 28 1968 Aquarius - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 18:40:58 EST From: Plasterofstevie@aol.com Subject: CD catalog Hi, My partner and I recently merged CD collections (read: moved in together). Neither of us has kept a database of our CDs, and I've decided to create one. Can anyone recommend a good program for this? I started one with Microsoft Access, but I can't figure out to insert a new entry among pre-existing entries (into the alpa order). Plus, I figure there's got to be a great program out there that will recognize CDs by bar codes or something. It's gonna take awhile, we have several thousand CDs to catalog. Thanks, Mark np Cocteau Twins "Garlands" nr Plays of Dario Fo ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 22:22:24 -0500 From: Jeffrey Burka Subject: Re: CD catalog mark sez: > I started one with Microsoft > Access, but I can't figure out to insert a new entry among pre-existing entries > (into the alpa order). er...access is a relational database. The order in which you enter things in a table is irrelevant; what's relevant is the way they're displayed. Just create a query along the lines of SELECT * FROM myTable SORT BY sortFieldName ASC. The beauty of this, of course, is that you can choose whatever sort field (and direction) you want...so you could sort by release date, albume name, artist name, etc...depending on what you've got in your table(s). jeff n.p. "Flame", Sam Philips, courtesy of RadioParadise.com n.r. _Wolves of the Calla_, Stephen King (Dark Tower V) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 22:27:22 -0500 From: Jeff Wasilko Subject: Re: CD catalog On Tue, Dec 30, 2003 at 06:40:58PM -0500, Plasterofstevie@aol.com wrote: > Hi, > > My partner and I recently merged CD collections (read: moved in together). > Neither of us has kept a database of our CDs, and I've decided to create one. > Can anyone recommend a good program for this? I started one with Microsoft > Access, but I can't figure out to insert a new entry among pre-existing entries > (into the alpa order). Plus, I figure there's got to be a great program out there > that will recognize CDs by bar codes or something. It's gonna take awhile, we > have several thousand CDs to catalog. Vickie suggested catraxx from http://www.fnprg.com/ a while ago. It will look up CDs via CDDB. There are lots of other CD databases out there... - -j ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 22:39:38 -0500 From: Jason Gordon Subject: Favorites aka stuff I really liked from '03 In no real particular order: Worm is Green - automagic Carina Round - The Disconnection Katy Carr - Passion Play Thea Gilmore - Avalanche Azure Ray - Hold on love Venus Hum - Big Beautiful Sky Coral Egan and Alex Cattaneo - the path of least resistance Hera - Not Your Type Lasairfhiona Ni Chonaola - An Raicin Alainn Ephemera - Air Under Byen - Det Er Mig Der Holder Traerne Sammen Astrid - S/T Coppe - Nauru Emilie Simon - S/T Paul the Girl - Electro-magnetic blues Jen Turrell - One Night The Stars Began to Fall and Would Not Stop Cristina Dona - dove sei tu Eesk - ghost taxi Lamb - Between Darkness and Wonder Martina Topley Bird - Quixotic Isobel Cambell - Amorino Priya Thomas - Songs for Car Commercials Coleen - Everyone Alive Wants Answers Edison Woods - Seven Principles of Leave No Trace Hungry Lucy - Glo Faith and Disease - passport to kunming Natacha Atlas - something dangerous Ketil Bjornstad w/ Anneli Drecker - The Nest Fiel Garvie - leave me out of this Nitin Sawhney - human Over the Rhine - Ohio find of the year - Emiliana Torrini - merman Happy 2004 all :) Jason ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 23:17:04 -0500 From: Greg Dunn Subject: Re: CD catalog >It will look up CDs via CDDB. With all due respect to my fellow ectophiles, I just want to make a comment about CDDB, not about the subject of local (personal) databases. (please bear with me, this is not quite a rant :-) The Internet CD Database was originally started by a private group to assemble a comprehensive list of CDs by artist, track, etc. It uses a hash of the track times to ensure a unique identification of each CD (and does pretty well). Originally it was built from free, volunteer submissions by the many users of programs that extracted the hash data from a CD and entered it in the global database. Use was free and unrestricted. Copies of the entire database were freely available to download, and were updated periodically and often. The protocol was published and sample source code available. Note that this was NOT a relational database, but rather a collated flat file system. A few years ago, a local Indianapolis company now called Escient Corp. acquired rights to the CDDB. Though they initially indicated they would continue to allow unrestricted access, in short order they implemented a proprietary protocol for connection to the CDDB, mandated that anyone using the CDDB must license this protocol -- and was thereby forbidden to share data acquired from CDDB with other databases not controlled by Escient. The CDDB2 is now proprietary and only available to users of licensed programs (of which there are many available). CDDB2 is also a flat file system. The long and the short of it is that this large database, built by volunteers and maintained publicly, has been turned into a proprietary database which someone (in this case the developer of the software which accesses it) must pay Escient in order to use. Before the user licenses went into effect, there was a massive effort to copy and distribute the current state of the database, and thus the FreeDB (freedb.org) was born. It has essentially picked up where the old CDDB left off, and has been rigorously maintained such that you should be able to find any CD in the FreeDB that would also exist in the CDDB. The protocol remains the same as the original CDDB (the open version). Many programs support FreeDB, though obviously they cannot also support CDDB due to license restrictions. I believe FreeDB is supported by all major computer platforms , but I don't think CDDB2 is handled by any UNIX variants at present, and AFAIK only iTunes supports CDDB2 on Mac. Escient claims they will provide outside developer support for those platforms in future, but their current developer page requires users to run Windows to use their SDK. I am not affiliated with either group, and I do not recommend the use of one over the other (though I do have my own preference, obviously!); I just wanted to make sure the users of either system are aware of the history (as best I can piece it together) and encourage you to decide based on your own preferences or feelings. :-) Thanks for listening and Happy New Year to all... - -- | Greg Dunn | I don't understand why anyone | | gregdunn@indy.net | would want to migrate to Windows | | The Sultan of Slack(tm) | NT - 'Migrate' is what sheep do. | | http://www.indy.net/~gregdunn/ | Usenet posting | ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 07:00:09 -0800 From: "The Ectophiles' Guide" Subject: Recent changes to the Ectophiles' Guide Latest changes to the Ectophiles' Guide 30 December 2003 New Guide entries added for: * Gwendolyn * Eddi Reader Changes made to the entries for: * Marcia Guderian (new album) * Libby Kirkpatrick (additional comments) - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- You are receiving this email because you have asked to be notified of updates to the Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music at http://www.smoe.org/ectoguide/. If you are no longer interested in receiving these notifications, please unsubscribe yourself using the form at http://www.smoe.org/ectoguide/guide.cgi?newsubscribe&action=unsubscribe ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 15:08:14 +0100 (CET) From: Yngve Hauge Subject: 2003 in Music Thought I should type up a list of my best musical experiences this year. It is actually better to say it that way as not all the albums was released this year as I'm still far behind on those CD buys. In no particular ordre: Vienna Teng - Waking Hour The most played CD this year - it has been living in my portable CD-player for most of the time I've had it only replaces for short periods about other great albums. It is surely gonna live with me on the front row for a quite some time. Dadafon - And I Can't Stand Still Visitor I discovered this norwegian band this year after they really rocked my life for 90+ minutes at the jazz festival this Summer. Kristin Asbjxrnsen is IMHO the best that has happened to the norwegian music scene for many years now. Both with Krxyt and her side project Dadafon she has done something amazing to both the jazz and pop scene. And I Can't Stand Still is a collection of songs for the most part based on african-american spirituals arranged in the usual quirky Dadafonic way of doing things. You get a whole new feeling for those songs when you find that melody line in the first place. It is really fun listening and it does show off Kristin's capacity to create music out of this world. Visitor is both a pop and a jazz album even though the band won a Spelemann (the norwegian version of a Grammy) in the jazz category. Besides her Dadafon consists of people on guitar, cello and percussion. The music on the album is written for the most part by Kristin with help from bandmembers inbetween. The lyrics is by her and taken from several poems, and they are really lovely. The band is playing more as an unit and is almost catching the drive and spirit from their live performances. A highly recommended album both for music lovers everywhere. Ane Brun - Spending Time With Morgan Another artist I discovered this Summer at that before mentioned festival. She made it really had for anyone to play after her with her funny inbetween songs chatter and great guitar playing. She is currently living in Sweden, but is from this area of Norway and together with Beady Belle among the biggest talents we got up here in this country right now. Amazing folk album this is and she sounds like a young Suzanne Vega but still very much like herself. Velvet Belly - Velvet Belly Both a big surprice and a big disappointment this year - we didn't expect an album being released cause of Anne Marie's condition but that also did prevent the band from touring. They did loose the bass player before this album, and Anne Marie has basically taken control of the musical direction, but it is very much a VB album and a great one at that. Now if they just could tour in 2004 and I would be very happy. Ephemera - Air They are like a fresh breath inbetween all the other shit played on norwegian radio. They did get quite alot of air play with their huge hit Girls Keep Secrets in the Strangest Ways - it was really strange that as soon as they went indie they got the success they really deserved. Quiet album in this sweet girlie way of theirs - lovely harmonies. An album to fall in love with. Did see them two times in concert. Briskeby - Tonight, Captain? After their amazing debut album Jeans for Onassis their follow up was released this year. I did see them live just before the release of their album at the Raumarock festival where they played most of the songs from their new album. It was their first concert in 2 years and it really looked like they loved to be back. I was kinda releaved that their new songs sounded really amazing - more mature and certain and that did add a new dimension to their music. They are having fun and that is the most important thing in my eyes as that is what Briskeby used to be all about. What the label thinks doesn't concern them at all cause they do what they want really. Lene Marlin - Another Day She went underground for 3 years after her first album, and even the record company didn't know if another album would be made. She did get the biggest advance in norwegian history exceding A-ha, and it felt kinda strange when we heard nothing at all. We didn't need to worry, because she got back and what a comeback - dark, more mature, great lyrics, great music ... with the single You Weren't There being playing all over the place telling the story about how she felt betrayed by the world in general just hinting what the album would be all about. Now - wonder when she is gonna be released in the US. Petracovich - Blue Cotton Skin One of Neile's recommendations - thanks tons. Throwing Muses - Throwing Muses Yay! I can't say I've become a less of a Muses fan after this album. Good old Muses is back !! :) Two Loons For Tea - Looking For Landmarks I bought both their albums this year, but I'm only mentioning the latest one here. Both are really, really great and will find their time in my player in the time to come as well. Noe Venable - The World Is Bound By Secret Knots A late buy but did get quite a bit of play anyways - great album and quite a step forward from her first one. Charlotte Martin - Test-Drive Songs Thanks to whoever did recommend her!! I did buy alot of CDs this year, and these were a few of those Happy new year to you all!! Yngve n.p. Lene Marlin - Another Day n.r. David Weber - March to the Stars ****************************************** * One alien has come, unalien to one ***** ****************************************** ***** Blessed be!!! ********************** ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 14:09:52 -0800 From: Ethan Straffin Subject: Re: 2003 in Music On Wednesday, December 31, 2003, at 06:08 AM, Yngve Hauge wrote: > Vienna Teng - Waking Hour > > The most played CD this year Mine too. It's almost spooky how I'm not even remotely close to sick of it yet. As late-2002 releases go, even Tori's _Scarlet's Walk_, with all of its sparkling treasures, didn't survive this many plays before I started to sense that it might be wise to back off on it for a while in order to keep it sounding fresh. Ethan ------------------------------ Date: 31 Dec 2003 18:13:44 -0800 From: Joseph Zitt Subject: Re: 2003 in Music On Wed, 2003-12-31 at 14:09, Ethan Straffin wrote: > On Wednesday, December 31, 2003, at 06:08 AM, Yngve Hauge wrote: > > > Vienna Teng - Waking Hour > > > > The most played CD this year > > Mine too. It's almost spooky how I'm not even remotely close to sick > of it yet. Ditto here! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 21:28:15 -0500 From: "JoAnn Whetsell" Subject: year end wrap-up Hello and Happy New Year all! I felt like I didn't buy many cds this year, but when it came to make this list, I was happily surprised to have so many discs to choose from. Here are the standouts: 1. Eastmountainsouth - EastmountainsouthThis self-titled debut is simply gorgeous. Rootsy, folky, I've never been able to get the proper words to describe it, but they sound traditional, modern, old and contemporary all at the same time. Another great ecto discovery. Check out their website www.eastmountainsouth.com for sound samples and their Morning Becomes Eclectic show, archived at www.kcrw.org 2. Varttina - IkiVarttina's latest album, Iki, is brilliant. It's much brighter than Ilmatar, their last studio album. The main group is down to 3 women now, including only one of the Kaasinen sisters, but the vocals shine as much as ever. There's a playfulness to the album, and it's generally lighter than their recent material, not just in emotion, but in recording. It's not acoustic, but it feels unforced, earthier. The songs are fun. One is about a woman seeking revenge on a philandering husband. Another is about a bride singing about her love. There is also one instrumental, and the first song is repeated as the last. Highly recommended for anyone who is a fan of Varttina or has any interest in checking them out. 3. Edie Carey - When I Was MadeIf her debut was folk, and her follow-up folk-pop, then this is more folk-rock oriented. She just keeps getting better and better. 4. Beth Orton - The Other Side of DaybreakRemix albums don't generally hold a lot of interest for me, but this one had enough goodies (new songs, live versions) for me to get it, and it's well worth it. A great companion piece to Daybreaker, (which has continued to grow on me throughout the year to now be my favorite of Beth's albums) and great on its own. The first track, a cover of "Ooh Child," is worth the price of the disc alone. Whereas most versions I've heard sound cheerful and hopeful, looking for the better day, Beth's acoustic version is more spare and muted, more about the current pain and a wary hopefulness. The live acoustic version of "Concrete Sky" is also stripped and beautiful. "Ali's Waltz" is a great new song, a companion to Daybreaker's "Ted's Waltz." And the remixes are very good, some surprising like the very upbeat version of "Carmella" which I didn't like at all at first but has grown on me a lot. 5. Dido - Life For Rent I bought this before I read about the copy protection controversy. Still, I can't really say I'm sorry. It's another great album, very much in the vein of her first, but still fresh and new and fun. 6. Patty Larkin - Red = LuckIt's been a while since I pulled this out, but it's 7. Rachael Sage - Public Record I love the first 4 tracks, but haven't listened to the rest of the album much, sadly. This isn't really because of the album, more because I don't have the opportunity to listen to cds much anymore. And because I love the first 4 tracks so much, I keep just playing them over and over. The first song alone, "What If," particularly for its killer hooks and because I personally relate to the lyrics. Rachael sounds stronger on each album, and when I do play the full album, I'm always reminded how good it is. 8. Thea Gilmore - AvalancheA recent purchase, so it hasn't fully sunk in yet, but it's good, really good. She seems to rock on this more than on her previous albums. Another artist who just keeps getting better and better. 9. Dar Williams - The Beauty of the Rain This one took some time to grow on me, but it's another great folk-pop album from one of the best. 10. The Be Good Tanyas - ChinatownMore melancholy than their debut, but another wonderful album. 11. Everything But the Girl - Like the Deserts Miss the RainAn excellent compilation. The only other album I bought this year was Mary Fahl's "The Other Side of Time," which, while not being a bad cd, was not as compelling as I'd hoped. I do love the first track, "In the Great Unknown" though. Sorry I missed in 2003:Rickie Lee Jones - Evening of My Best DayMari Boine - Eight SeasonsJem - It All Starts HereNoe Venable - The World Is Bound By Secret Knots Looking forward to in 2004: new Jonatha Brookenew Vienna Teng - Warm StrangersJem's debut (thank you ecto! I loved her KCRW performance)new Katell Keineg - High July May you all be safe, happy, loved, and inspired in 2004. JoAnn - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tired of slow downloads? Compare online deals from your local high-speed providers now. ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V9 #366 **************************