From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V11 #8 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Sunday, January 9 2005 Volume 11 : Number 008 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Today's your birthday, friend... [Mike Matthews ] 2004 music choices. [Troy J Shadbolt ] Re: New Albums [Michael Hewett-Hicks ] Re: new Tori ["lunacia [mailing lists]" ] Re: New Albums ["Jeffrey Hanson" ] The ONLY "Best of 2004" you need to read! ["Southpaw" ] Fwd: Ectophiles' Guide Query [Neile Graham ] Re: Ectophiles' Guide Query ["Jeffrey Hanson" ] Best o' 2004 ["Jeffrey Hanson" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2005 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********* *************************************************** *************************************************************************** ********************* Tony Garrity (no Email address) ********************* *************************************************************************** -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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 Ilka Heber Mon February 01 1965 Mermaid Bob Lovejoy Sun February 02 1947 Aquarius Diane Burke Sat February 02 1963 slow children Timothy S. Devine Tue February 03 1970 Aquarius Stephen Thomas Fri February 04 1966 Aquarius - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2005 00:40:58 -0800 From: Troy J Shadbolt Subject: 2004 music choices. In keeping with my habit of not listening to radio, my top ten list for the year is people i've seen in concert. Alphabetical order, because I don't play favorites... Garrin Benfield - Where Joy Kills Sorrow A San Francisco based musician with damn impressive guitar licks. This album really has a Beatles vibe to it, but I won't hold that against Garrin this time. www.garrin.com Blame Sally - Blame Sally The San Francisco super group finally released a studio album that just blows the mind. Visit their website to hear and see the video "When You Tell A Lie" which was a call to arms against the Dubya during the elections. www.BlameSally.com Edie Carey - When I Was Made I know, it came out in 2003, but I didn't get it until 2004. Ever since I saw Edie and the Live from New York crew, I've found her captivating. This is a much more country-rock album than I expected, but it suits Edie well. www.EdieCarey.com Girlyman - Remember Who I am The harmony slut that I am went agog for this band when I saw them open for the Indigo Girls while on a business trip. Take "Cry Cry Cry" bend it 45 degrees and viola! www.girlyman.com Tracy Grammer - The Verdant Mile Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer played in my living room. Tracy could record the telephone book and I'd listen. Most of the songs on this EP are covers, but Tracy's first foray into songwriting is a heartfelt song with the spirit of Dave Carter looking over her shoulder. www.TracyGrammer.com Alexis Harte - Sunlight Loping Another SF favorite, you've probably heard his quirky vocal and guitar stylings on the National Oreo commercial (hey, he's a father now, got to pay the bills!) Alexis is another great guitarist and the album is great for those that can't see him live. www.AlexisHarte.com Anne Heaton - Give In It's all Meth's fault! She kept talking about Anne, so I went to see her with Live from New York, and now I can't stop listening. Best part of this Album? Megan and Kevin isn't on it! No, just kidding. Way different feeling from Black Notebook, and the addition of Frank Marotta's writing talents kinda skews the sound; but still a great album. www.AnneHeaton.com Peter Mulvey - Kitchen Radio I usually hate Peter's albums and love his live gigs. Kitchen Radio is the first Album I really like. www.PeterMulvey.com Megan Slankard Band - Freaky Little Story I'm selfish. Megan's a friend and I know this came out in 2003, but I'm going to keep promoting the heck out of her until everyone has a MSB album in their house... She's even on iTunes now. Her 2004 appearance on TLC's What Not To Wear has helped her sell 12,000 copies of FLS and every repeat sells more. If everyone buys a copy, maybe I'll stop nagging . www.MeganSlankard.com Richard Shindell - Vuelta Totally missed this when it was released, it's spent the past month in constant rotation. Much less like "Somewhere Near Paterson" more like Reunion Hill. I think Argentina agrees with Richard's musical style, but I'm very happy he's got Lucy Kaplansky there for harmonies (see harmony slut comment above). www.RichardShindell.com Honorable Mention Vienna Teng - Warm Strangers I know everyone else has gone for this one. While I enjoy it, it doesn't grab me as strongly as Waking Hour did. www.ViennaTeng.com ViV - Flawed Another SF powerhouse band. Bits and pieces of other SF big name bands (Counting Crows, Third Eye Blind, etc.) smashed together into a new sound. They get a nod mostly because they've taken to promoting Megan Slankard (see above). www.ViVtheBand.com Guilty Pleasure The Scissor Sisters - The Scissor Sisters Okay, y'all can stop laughing. I'm a product of the 70's and this reminds me of my childhood at the roller skating rink, bad polyester shirts and angels flight bell bottoms. The music is pure camp- even more so than the band itself. - --- troy j shadbolt www.voyuz.net ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2005 00:12:48 -0800 From: Michael Hewett-Hicks Subject: Re: New Albums Hi there Just heard a song off Imogen Heap's new album 'Speak for Yourself' on KCRW (supposedly the album does not have a record company behind it yet - but it is complete) and the song I heard was just excellent - great vocals and imaginative and classy production. Im excited...... I think she might be straying into Kate and Happy territory...? Gee and a new album from Tori ... 'Monsieur Ambassador with these Ferrero Rocher you are reeley spoiling us' (this is probably a UK joke) lol Mike. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 08 Jan 2005 10:13:13 +0100 From: "lunacia [mailing lists]" Subject: Re: new Tori On 7 Jan 2005 at 21:52, hkhill wrote: > Just heard a cut today from a new cd from Tori Amos. Think the cd is The > Beekeeper. Why hasn't anyone talked about this one yet! Can't wait! I hope I will be abloe to afford it when it comes out. I'm a full time student, and my student loan isn't exactly a whole lot... *sigh* Perhaps I have to wait until October before I can get it? lunacia ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2005 08:52:16 -0700 From: "Jeffrey Hanson" Subject: Re: New Albums I saw Imogen Heap live when her first album came out and was blown away--it made me appreciate her first album much more. WIth just a piano and herself, she put on an entirely captivating show--definitely up there with Kate and TOri in my mind....Glad to hearshe's coming out with something new--I thought Frou Frou was good,but it didn't quite compare. Jeff - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Hewett-Hicks" To: Cc: Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2005 1:12 AM Subject: Re: New Albums Hi there Just heard a song off Imogen Heap's new album 'Speak for Yourself' on KCRW (supposedly the album does not have a record company behind it yet - but it is complete) and the song I heard was just excellent - great vocals and imaginative and classy production. Im excited...... I think she might be straying into Kate and Happy territory...? Gee and a new album from Tori ... 'Monsieur Ambassador with these Ferrero Rocher you are reeley spoiling us' (this is probably a UK joke) lol Mike. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2005 14:19:08 -0600 From: "Southpaw" Subject: The ONLY "Best of 2004" you need to read! Ok, not really! But I'll throw my hat in the "Best of" ring! :-) Off the top of my head, some of my tops of 2004: Edie Carey - When I Was Made. There are a couple of incredible songs on this CD. "Chemistry" and "Under a Sky" just seem to really get me going. Anne Heaton - Give In. I love this CD, and I love Anne. She is a lovely and wonderful person! Can't wait for her STL house concert at the end of Jan!!! Rachael Sage - Ballads & Burlesque. Such a lovely album, and I finally got to see her live, which was a treat! Hem - Eveningland. It's great to have another album from them. Indigo Girls - All That We Let In. Good, as always. Jem - Finally Woken. One of my radio friendly pleasures from the year. Jen Chapin - Linger. Great CD! Very overlooked! Great mood music! Just a good listen! Jolie Holland - Escondia. Her work with the Be Good Tonyas was great, and her solo work is just as good! Also an amazingly good sounding live show! Kristofer Astrom - Loupita. Swedish singer/songwriter who I wish I could tell the world about. He is really amazing, and I HIGHLY recommend everyone check him out!!! Mosquitos - Sunshine Barato. Second album from this fun, fun, band! Nellie McKay - Get Away From Me Patty Griffin - Impossible Dream. God I love this woman...her songs....her voice...everything! Each CD she releases is a joy! Peter Mulvey - Kitchen Radio. I'm glad he is finally getting some notice! Sarah Harmer - All Of Our Names. A slightly disappointing release, after her amazing last CD. But still it is good, none the less. Todd Snider - East Nashville Skyline. Late 2004 release, that really caught my ear on the first listen. William Shatner - Has Been. His cover of Pulp's "Common People" is just great! Ben Fold's influence is very heavy on this CD, which is a good thing! Jonatha Brooke - Back in the Circus. Love this lady! Love her!! The covers seemed a bit much at first listening, but this CD has grown on me! Garden State (OST) Get Soundtrack! Wow, that list got longer than I thought it would! :-) Wade ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2005 14:43:11 -0600 From: Josh Burnett Subject: Best o' 2004 With the best-of lists flying about, I thought I'd de-lurk to put in my two cents. I'm not sure how long my list will be; I've been broke this past year, so I haven't been able to buy nearly as many new albums as I would've liked. But here we go, in no particular order: Nerissa & Katryna Nields, _This Town Is Wrong_ Right up there with the best full-band Nields releases. There aren't any bad songs on the album, but the best include "The Day I Let Glory Steer," "Haven't I Been Good," and "When I'm Here." My personal favorite, though, is "The Work That We Do," which ended up being the song my wife and I went down the aisle to at our wedding this summer. So that'll always be a special song for us. The closest to a negative I have to say about the album is that I liked the previous version of the title track better. Rachael Sage, _Ballads & Burlesque_ This is only my second Rachael Sage album (I picked up _Public Record_ used over the summer), but if her other stuff is this good, I'll be grabbing it all up as soon as I can. I don't like the version of "Ferris Wheel" quite as much as the one on _Public Record_ (is that something she normally does? Seems odd to release versions of the same song on two consecutive albums...), but other than that, it's pretty flawless. "Jane's Dimitri" is one of my favorite songs of the year. The Magnetic Fields, _I_ Not as good as _69 Love Songs_, but still, my favorite album with male vocals this year. Penelope Houston, _The Pale Green Girl_ To me, this is Penelope Houston's best album to date and probably my album of the year. Every song is fantastic (highlights include "Flight 609," "Privilege + Gold," and the title track), and it's the sort of album that just sounds better and better with each listening. About half the songs on the album have already found their way into my iTunes Top 25 Most Played list. P.J. Harvey, _Uh Huh Her_ Not my favorite P.J. Harvey album, but there are still some really good songs on it. I liked _Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea_, but it's nice to see her changing directions again. Sarah Harmer, _All of Our Names_ This disappointed me at first - none of the songs except "Almost" and "Pendelums" jumped out at me on the first few listens - but the album has really grown on me. It seems a bit more low-key their her previous album, but it's a nice progression. Bjork, _Medulla_ Like P.J. Harvey, Bjork is always, if nothing else, interesting. This is definitely not an easy album - not the sort of thing I'd listen to as background noise - but it is the sort of album I notice something new about with each listen. ...so there you go. Not quite a Top 10 list, but as close as I could manage this year... josh. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2005 13:07:59 -0800 From: Neile Graham Subject: Fwd: Ectophiles' Guide Query Does anyone know the answer to this one? - --Neile >Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2005 07:55:54 -0800 >Reply-to: "Karan Harrison" >From: "Karan Harrison" >To: ectoguide@smoe.org >Subject: Ectophiles' Guide - General Comment > >Name: Karan Harrison >Email: forus2004@hotmail.com >Topic: General Comment > >Hi...Greek singer Haris Alexiou sings a Greek song >titled "DI EFCHON ...i heard on a radio station an English vesion >of that song ....do you know the english title and or the singer >that sings the english version? >Thank you >Karan - -- - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neile Graham .... neile@sff.net/@drizzle.com ... www.sff.net/people/neile Les Semaines: A Weekly Journal ........ www.sff.net/people/neile/semaines Editor, The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music ........... www.ectoguide.org Workshop Administrator, Clarion West ................ www.clarionwest.org ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2005 14:48:03 -0700 From: "Jeffrey Hanson" Subject: Re: Ectophiles' Guide Query I don't know of anyone who has recorded an English cover of the song. THe song title means "With Blessings". Haven't been able to find any reference on-line to anyone covering it--though I have been encouraging Greek-American singer Eleni Kelakos to cover some of Haris' material--I know she is a big fan and was wanting to learn some of Hari's songs for a Greek Festival she was performing at, but don't think she's recorded anything yet. Jeff - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Neile Graham" To: Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2005 2:07 PM Subject: Fwd: Ectophiles' Guide Query Does anyone know the answer to this one? - --Neile >Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2005 07:55:54 -0800 >Reply-to: "Karan Harrison" >From: "Karan Harrison" >To: ectoguide@smoe.org >Subject: Ectophiles' Guide - General Comment > >Name: Karan Harrison >Email: forus2004@hotmail.com >Topic: General Comment > >Hi...Greek singer Haris Alexiou sings a Greek song >titled "DI EFCHON ...i heard on a radio station an English vesion >of that song ....do you know the english title and or the singer >that sings the english version? >Thank you >Karan - -- - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neile Graham .... neile@sff.net/@drizzle.com ... www.sff.net/people/neile Les Semaines: A Weekly Journal ........ www.sff.net/people/neile/semaines Editor, The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music ........... www.ectoguide.org Workshop Administrator, Clarion West ................ www.clarionwest.org ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2005 15:17:34 -0700 From: "Jeffrey Hanson" Subject: Best o' 2004 My best of 2004 would go something roughly like this: 1. Alison Moyet - Voice While the rest of my top 10 may change as mood and time allows, this album is a clear standout for #1. It's the album I've been waiting 20 years for Alison to make - --a great collection of classical songs, folk songs, french songs, standards, and soon-to-be standards that soots her voice to perfection. Anne Dudley's production makes this pretty wild collection of songs sound like they fit together as well. A beautiful album by one of my all-time favorite voices in music. 2. Scissor Sisters Haven't found an album as fun as this one for a long time. I know some people hate it, but its a damn fun album with some great songwriting. 3. Nellie McKay - Get Away From Me The sticker on the cover called her a "cross between Doris Day and Eminem", and surprisingly it really fits! One of the freshest sounding albums in years. 3. Casey Stratton - Standing at the Edge Sort of another guilty pleasure, but my ears just couldn't get enough of htis over-produced bit of pop--reminds me in feeling of Sarah McLachlan, but found this album much more interesting than Afterglow. 4. Eliza Gilkyson - Land of Milk and Honey Phenomenal album from a lady who just gets better and better. 5. Bering Strait - a Russian country band with great harmonies, a bluegrass feel, and strong song-writing. The Russian song on this album is undoubtedly my favorite, but all the songs are strong, and while getting airplay on the country stations, they manage to gracefully straddle the line between bluegrass and country power pop. The dual lead female vocals are a very nice tough, and for some reason, they remind me of All About Eve, an English folk-rock band. 6. Stephanie Winter - Through the Storm Dark, somber, beautiful, adventurous cello music. Great to put on in the background or to turn up late at night and just let yourself drown in. 7. Diane Jarvi - Paper Heart This album is a bit more adventurous than her previous works, covering multiple sytlesof music as well as multiple languages--I think she deserves to have a much bigger following than she does. 8. The Wailin Jenny's - 40 Days / Full Frontal Folk - Sweet Mystery of Life Very catchy album of great songs with great harmonies. Phenomenal cover of Neil Young's Old Man, about a 1000 times better than that song covered by a more mainstream female trio who also released it this year(WIlson Philips) If you like the Wailin' Jenny's, you'll probably like Full Frontal Folk as well, except instead of 3-part harmony you get four. THeir second album is as good as their first, and includes a remixed dance version of their wonderful arrangement of Wayfarin' Stranger. Definitely worth listening to--they just need to get a better photographer--cover photo certainly doesn't do these girls justice. 9. Jem - FInally Woken Another fun album--a bit more techno and dance oriented than Nellie McKay, and a bit less ambitious, but in that vein. 10. Alison Moorer - The Duel One of the more interesting female country singer-songwriters currently working--beautiful voice, great songs--she reminds me of a country Tom Waits or Elvis Costello 11. Matt Dusk - Two Shots Happy, One Shot Sad / Jamie Cullum - Twentysomething Great album by a young Canadian--didn't realize how young he really is until I had the chance to see him live in Las Vegas. Young crooner ala Frank Sinatra, but a really good collection of standareds. Also has an earlier album only available in Canada (or if you catch him on tour) Jamie also does a lot of covers, but writes some amazing originals as well. Haven't seen him live, but did see his performance on AUstin City Limits and he's a very dynamic (and jumpy!) performer. Great album, and "Twentysomething" is one of the best songs of the year. 12. Madeline Peyroux - Careless Love For some reason I never got into Madeline's first album, dismissing it as a Billie Holiday wannabe, but this album grabbed me right away. Songs are original, but definitely sound like timeless standards, and Madeline's voice is phenomenal. 13. Ann Hampton Callaway - Slow Another jazz album--one of Ann's finest--she's prolific but her voice and arrangements just get better and better. My favorite songs of hers tend to be her originals. 14. Nathan - Jimson Weed Very fun album from gthis quirky Canadian group. 15. Caroline Doctorow - Carmel Valley Ride A interesting surprise from Folk Alliance--sounds a bit like Nancy Griffith, but everytime one of her songs come on, I'm caught up in her songwriting and storytelling. Disappointments: Angela McCluskey - THe Things We Do Not a bad album, but just hoped for more from the Wild Colonials alumni. Not a single great song on the album, just a lot of mediocre ones. Best Political Song; Chris Brown and Kate Fenner - I Will Resist War ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V11 #8 *************************