From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V11 #124 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Thursday, May 5 2005 Volume 11 : Number 124 Today's Subjects: ----------------- The beekeeper - Tori Amos [Karen Hester ] Avant que l'ombre... - Mylene Farmer [Karen Hester ] Rodeo & Ze Live!! - Zazie [Karen Hester ] Re: The beekeeper - Tori Amos [Ethan Straffin ] Re: The beekeeper - Tori Amos [Doug ] Re: The beekeeper - Tori Amos ["JoAnn Whetsell" ] Re: The beekeeper - Tori Amos [Ethan Straffin ] Golden ocean- 50 Ft Wave [Steve VanDevender ] RE: The beekeeper - Tori Amos ["Michael Quinn" ] Re: The beekeeper - Tori Amos [Ethan Straffin ] kristy thirsk, nerina pallot, vienna [paul kim ] Re: The beekeeper - Tori Amos [Doug ] Re: The beekeeper - Tori Amos [Neile Graham ] Re: Golden ocean- 50 Ft Wave [Bernie Mojzes ] beekeeper [Karen Hester ] Iva Bittova in New Haven [meredith ] Re: Sarah in B'ham [Eric Volker ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 22:16:07 +1200 From: Karen Hester Subject: The beekeeper - Tori Amos The beekeeper - Tori Amos Someday when I'm standing in a lift and I think to myself, hey, this Norah Jones music is actually quite interesting, I'll go back and listen to Tori's new album. I've probably only made it to the end once. There are a few catchy bits. It's nice that some people are enjoying it. But, there are no songs here that I want to live inside that demand repeat repeat repeat listenings, with choruses alight with melody that send me to the lyric sheet that say something about my life that say something about someone else's life, and make me feel as though it is mine. Fair enough; our paths diverge. Karen ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 22:19:52 +1200 From: Karen Hester Subject: Avant que l'ombre... - Mylene Farmer Avant que l'ombre... - Mylene Farmer The cd is black on the underside, like a Playstation disc (so I'm told). I hope this catches on, it's gorgeous. There are evil bird-creatures that bleed black blood when she wields her sword in the video (extra disc edition), so that's nice too. When people defend a new album by saying "musicians have to change" or "you wouldn't want another one just like the last", I think, "well, yes I would!" If I liked the last one so much, then more of the same would be great. But this is an example of similarity dragging on for too long. Mylene and her songwriter Laurent Boutonnat make dreamy synthy Euro-pop (or pap) with Gothic overtones. I love much of it, perhaps because I don't speak French. But other than the 3 loud guitar songs of Anamorphosee, things have been mighty similar since 1995. You can switch the lighter pop (Comme jai mal '95, Souviens-Toi du Jour '99, C'est une Belle Journie '01, Q.I. '05), the heavier beat-driven dance (L'ame stram gram '99, Peut-etre toi '05) and the atmospheric otherworldly pieces (Mylenium '99, Avant que l'ombre...'05) between albums and few jar. I'm finding diminishing returns: some melodies sound familiar, the instrumentation is alike enough that I sometimes ignore it, which leaves the vocal melody, and Laurent has perfected song-types I don't like as well as those I do. Particularly enduring are Laurent's airy ballads (backgrounds of synthesiser washes and fluttering breathy vocals), maybe starting with Ainsi soit je in 1988, but at least I can hum that. These delicate hyper-feminine creations are growing in number and spreading across her albums like a mould. 'Redonne-moi', 'Derriere les fenetres', 'Tous ces combats' and 'Ange, parle-moi' follow this template, and it's as difficult to find the song in these gusts of air as it is to nail a feather to a cloud. Fortunately there's the cheeky/dark chimes of 'Porno Graphique', fun to sing-along with 'Fuck them all' (sample lyric, "Fuck them all"), dreamy pop 'Aime', sighing 'L'amour n'est rien' with cute synthesiser beeps, catchy 'Q.I.', elegant 'Nobody knows' (hidden track) and the manic energy and 'shut the fuck up' shouts of 'Peut-etre toi'. Based on past behaviour there'll be a concert cd, dvd, remix cd, etc before another new album, so I must make do. Karen ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 22:21:12 +1200 From: Karen Hester Subject: Golden ocean- 50 Ft Wave Golden ocean- 50 Ft Wave It's noisy. The cover is kinda sucky - upside-down white seagulls against a blue sky, or reflections of those seagulls. It reminds me of my parents' old copy of Jonathan Livingston Seagull. I'm expecting to find a way in, but haven't yet. Any pointers? 50 Ft Wave isn't much like the Muses' tangled screaming delicacies, with their complex melodies that unravel when you pull or scratch. More straight-forward thunk-crunch-noise. Not a pile of knotted old lace and undyed wool, then; maybe a basket of dirty smelly band-logo t-shirts. Karen ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 22:24:37 +1200 From: Karen Hester Subject: Rodeo & Ze Live!! - Zazie Rodeo - Zazie All hail the new queen of packaging! Not only does Zazie hang from a harness, dripping with bright plastic blue paint (makes no sense, but I like the blue), but there are two booklets (even the insides of the pockets which hold them have pictures), 3 older favourites redone with musicians in Mumbai (using sarangi, tabla, dholak etc), 10 music videos (10!), filmed in India on a limited budget, including Bollywood dancing for 'Doolidiom' (Zazie's pretty good, but a bit inelegant compared to the other dancers) and a cute proper video for 'Toc toc toc'. Many chances to admire her striking but odd facial structure. Zazie writes with different people each album, which keeps things fresh. There are lots of gorgeous slower songs, but not the same kind of slow - no airy identical Mylene ballads or faux-1960s girlish (un)sexy French whispering here. The instrumentation and melodies are distinct and carefully thought out, whether the classic ballad form and cafe electronica of 'la dolce vita', the loving "Lola majeure" with its delicate harp-sounds or the sexy fluttering bass of 'Sauver le monde'. Her louder tracks are often my favourites, but 'Toc toc toc' and 'Rodeo' were difficult the first couple listens due to their distorted voices. Now I love the three sections of catchy confused rocker 'Toc' and the growing menace and urgency of 'Rodeo'. 'Doolididom' is fun Bollywood pop which gets my feet tapping until the chorus arrives, which doesn't live up. This might be Zazie's strongest album yet. Her voice is a bit strained, but she has more control of this on an album than live. My only problem with Rodeo is the number of slower songs (the number, not the quality). I think this is partly due to my categorisation - many of them fall just short of mid-tempo to my ears, so I class them as slow and *feel* them as slow. Will attempt to re-wire my brain. Oh, my other problem - at the end of the album after a minute of silence, there are some noises, then guitar strumming. This suggests that a new track is about to start, and then it doesn't. How annoying. Ze live!! - Zazie I love Zazie's first live album, 1999's 'Made in live', for remaking her pop-ier back catalogue as rock. This one follows the lighter electronic tinges of the related album 'La Zizanie', and again songs from throughout her career are remade. I particularly like the vielle chinoise (stringed Chinese instrument?) in 'Tous des anges', giving it an eerie atmosphere. There are two interesting duets (with Vincent Baguian and Axel Bauer), plus audience participation, and all is good and well, EXCEPT Zazie's voice. During some numbers, a ragged drug-addled 70s rocker stumbles onstage and sings for her. He favours the loud passages and high bits of the chorus. Oh, that's Zazie. Using a broken voice for passionate emphasis is one thing, but there are moments on these two discs when I had to rub my stereo with salve. So not one for close listening on good headphones. Karen ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 04 May 2005 05:50:57 -0700 From: Ethan Straffin Subject: Re: The beekeeper - Tori Amos Karen Hester wrote: "There are no songs here...that say something about someone else's life, and make me feel as though it is mine." Do you need to feel that someone else's life is the same as yours in order to be moved? Do you need to have lost a brother in a car crash yourself in order to appreciate the poignancy of "Toast"? Might this change if you were to listen to the album more than once? Ethan Karen Hester wrote: >The beekeeper - Tori Amos > >Someday when I'm standing in a lift and I think to myself, hey, this >Norah Jones music is actually quite interesting, I'll go back and >listen to Tori's new album. I've probably only made it to the end >once. There are a few catchy bits. It's nice that some people are >enjoying it. >But, >there are no songs here that I want to live inside >that demand repeat repeat repeat listenings, with choruses alight with melody >that send me to the lyric sheet >that say something about my life >that say something about someone else's life, and make me feel as >though it is mine. > >Fair enough; our paths diverge. > >Karen ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 08:54:46 -0500 From: Doug Subject: Re: The beekeeper - Tori Amos > once. There are a few catchy bits. It's nice that some people are > enjoying it. > But, > there are no songs here that I want to live inside > that demand repeat repeat repeat listenings, with choruses alight with melody > that send me to the lyric sheet You know, I agree. I've been following Tori ever since 1991, when her SATY video hit MTV. I own every CD she's released, with the exception of SLG. However, I won't be buying this one either. It's nice, pleasant, but basically, it's boring. Even TVAB was more musically interesting, and I'm not talking about the live disc. In short, Beekeeper is my least favorite CD, period. I'm not surprised, though...I mean, really: how can she follow up Scarlet's Walk, which in many ways was her best release, and in any case is a masterwork? I can rest assured, though, that her next release will be a stunner, at least because of the motivation that Beekeeper's (I'm predicting) poor sales will inspire. - --Doug "Instructions are for people who don't know what they are doing" - Bob the Builder ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 04 May 2005 12:35:20 -0400 From: "JoAnn Whetsell" Subject: Re: The beekeeper - Tori Amos Ethan wrote: >Do you need to feel that someone else's life is the same as yours in order to be moved? >Do you need to have lost a brother in a car crash yourself in order to appreciate the poignancy of "Toast"? >Might this change if you were to listen to the album more than once? I think that's harsh, and I don't think it's what Karen meant. I personally wouldn't need to have a brother (or anyone close) die in a car crash to appreciate the poignancy of "Toast," but I would have to listen to the song closely enough or read the lyrics in order to know that was what the song's about in order to appreciate the poignancy. And that's my real problem with Beekeeper - the songs don't inspire me to delve into them. A few of them I find pretty much unbearable (Witness, Hoochie Woman), but mostly I find the album likable in a mild sort of way, nice enough background music occasionally, but not something that brings active pleasure as I'm used to with Tori. If other people find it moving, that's great. Neither those who do nor those who don't are wrong. Fortunately, there have been other wonderful releases this year which people should buy: the new Jorane and the new Veda Hille are both truly excellent and ecto-essential, IMO. I'm hoping the new Aimee Mann, released yesterday and in the mail, will be too. JoAnn (And before a flame war begins, I'm not suggesting that anyone called anyone else's reaction to the album "wrong.") >From: Ethan Straffin >To: Karen Hester >CC: ecto@smoe.org >Subject: Re: The beekeeper - Tori Amos >Date: Wed, 04 May 2005 05:50:57 -0700 > >Karen Hester wrote: >"There are no songs here...that say something about someone else's >life, and make me feel as though it is mine." > > >Ethan > >Karen Hester wrote: > >>The beekeeper - Tori Amos >> >>Someday when I'm standing in a lift and I think to myself, hey, >>this >>Norah Jones music is actually quite interesting, I'll go back and >>listen to Tori's new album. I've probably only made it to the end >>once. There are a few catchy bits. It's nice that some people are >>enjoying it. >>But, there are no songs here that I want to live inside >>that demand repeat repeat repeat listenings, with choruses alight >>with melody >>that send me to the lyric sheet >>that say something about my life >>that say something about someone else's life, and make me feel as >>though it is mine. >> >>Fair enough; our paths diverge. >> >>Karen ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 04 May 2005 10:33:05 -0700 From: Ethan Straffin Subject: Re: The beekeeper - Tori Amos JoAnn Whetsell wrote: >I think that's harsh, and I don't think it's what Karen meant. > You're probably right, and I feel I should apologize to Karen for that. Karen, I'm sorry. The "probably only made it to the end once" comment touched a hot button, but it's not as though I can say that there aren't albums that I haven't been able to make it through more than that myself. (If that's not too many negatives for one sentence.) It took me many listens to fall in love with _The Beekeeper_, and it was worth it to me -- but if it doesn't work for you, you have every right to recognize that right away. Ethan ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 11:30:09 -0700 From: Steve VanDevender Subject: Golden ocean- 50 Ft Wave Karen Hester writes: > I'm expecting to find a way in, but haven't yet. Any pointers? 50 Ft > Wave isn't much like the Muses' tangled screaming delicacies, with > their complex melodies that unravel when you pull or scratch. More > straight-forward thunk-crunch-noise. Not a pile of knotted old lace > and undyed wool, then; maybe a basket of dirty smelly band-logo > t-shirts. I'm one of those people who really liked the Throwing Muses album _Limbo_ and 50 Ft. Wave reminds me of it (not suprisingly, since it's 2/3 of the Limbo lineup and Kristin is in her hard rock mode). I like the entire range of Kristin Hersh's songwriting, from folky acoustic to punk, but not everyone has such broad taste. 50 Ft. Wave still has Kristin Hersh's loopy lyrics, and Bernard Georges's aggressive bass. And Rob Ahlers is a remarkably athletic drummer (I saw them live last year and he's just as animated while playing as you'd expect). It may not be quite as complex as the old Throwing Muses stuff but they still put some hooks in my head. I really should send off for this new album, though; I currently just have the 6-song EP they were selling last year. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 04 May 2005 13:06:54 -0600 From: John Higdon Subject: Re: The beekeeper - Tori Amos At 11:33 AM 5/4/2005, Ethan Straffin wrote: >You're probably right, and I feel I should apologize to Karen for that. >Karen, I'm sorry. The "probably only made it to the end once" comment >touched a hot button, but it's not as though I can say that there aren't >albums that I haven't been able to make it through more than that >myself. (If that's not too many negatives for one sentence.) It took me >many listens to fall in love with _The Beekeeper_, and it was worth it to >me -- but if it doesn't work for you, you have every right to recognize >that right away. It's certainly true that with me, some of the best music has taken several listens to get into. When I first got into Kate--I'd actually started with "The Sensual World", but I'm talking about my next purchase, either "The Dreaming" or "Hounds of Love"--I immediately dismissed her work as not for me. It was too weird. But it called back to me and I gave it repeated chances until finally it clicked. The same happened with the next Kate CD I purchased. The same happened with Happy's music. "The Beekeeper" is a bit different, though. I'd agree with those who'd say that the music itself isn't as interesting as on previous albums. It's as if those rough edges we loved in Tori have been filed down to smoothness. In my first couple listens of the album, none of the songs really stood out, spoke to me. It wasn't until I started listening to the album over and over, reading the lyrics at the same time, in preparation to write about the album for a fanzine, that it clicked for me. And it clicked with me in a different way than previous Tori albums. (I used to think of the difference between Tori and Kate as being that Tori's music always seemed very personal, as if she was talking about her own experiences, even when she wasn't. Kate, on the other hand, seemed more of a storyteller. Internal vs. external. But Tori's been heading more in Kate's direction lately, I think, with more distance felt in her songs than before.) I do like the album, really like parts of it, but don't love it as much as some of Tori's more personal work. (I don't know where it will rank with me in the long run. Certainly not at the top, but also not at the bottom, where the frequently appalling "Strange Little Girls" will hopefully never be undercut.) John Higdon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 15:22:28 -0400 From: "Michael Quinn" Subject: RE: The beekeeper - Tori Amos I agree, I want to let this album grow on me but just don't get the urge to listen to it, in the words of that immmortal Wendy's commercial "Where's the beef?" Scarlet's Walk and From The Choirgirl Hotel remain two of my favorite albums of all time by anyone and I'm a big fan of Tori but this seems like her weakest album to date in my opinion. Of course the optimist in me is hoping she's just trying to draw in the soft rock radio masses to hit them with her next masterpiece. We wait and hope... Mike - -----Original Message----- From: owner-ecto@smoe.org [mailto:owner-ecto@smoe.org] On Behalf Of Doug Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2005 9:55 AM To: ecto@smoe.org Subject: Re: The beekeeper - Tori Amos > once. There are a few catchy bits. It's nice that some people are > enjoying it. > But, > there are no songs here that I want to live inside > that demand repeat repeat repeat listenings, with choruses alight with melody > that send me to the lyric sheet You know, I agree. I've been following Tori ever since 1991, when her SATY video hit MTV. I own every CD she's released, with the exception of SLG. However, I won't be buying this one either. It's nice, pleasant, but basically, it's boring. Even TVAB was more musically interesting, and I'm not talking about the live disc. In short, Beekeeper is my least favorite CD, period. I'm not surprised, though...I mean, really: how can she follow up Scarlet's Walk, which in many ways was her best release, and in any case is a masterwork? I can rest assured, though, that her next release will be a stunner, at least because of the motivation that Beekeeper's (I'm predicting) poor sales will inspire. - --Doug "Instructions are for people who don't know what they are doing" - Bob the Builder ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 04 May 2005 12:35:45 -0700 From: Ethan Straffin Subject: Re: The beekeeper - Tori Amos John Higdon wrote: > But Tori's been heading more in Kate's direction lately, I think, with > more distance felt in her songs than before.) I do like the album, > really like parts of it, but don't love it as much as some of Tori's > more personal work. (I don't know where it will rank with me in the > long run. Certainly not at the top, but also not at the bottom, where > the frequently appalling "Strange Little Girls" will hopefully never > be undercut.) Yeah, interesting little mostly-failed experiment there. But: she did cover Lloyd Cole, and there's something about one's favorite female singer-songwriter covering one of one's two favorite male singer-songwriters about which I will be forever giddy. (And the Joe Jackson cover was relatively cool as well, dontcha think?) Meanwhile, I don't see myself getting over "Ribbons Undone" from the new album anytime soon. Scary good. Ethan ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 12:10:32 -0700 From: paul kim Subject: kristy thirsk, nerina pallot, vienna Aieee. I just found out that Kristy Thirsk has been touring the West Coast, and will be finishing things off with a Oxfam benefit show at the Troubadour in Hollywood on Sunday. Which, enragingly enough, coincides with a show at the Hotel Cafe featuring Nerina Pallot and Angie Hart. Nerina was just played as the first song on today's Morning Becomes Eclectic program, which should be pretty big for her. Now I just have to weigh which show takes priority...support Nerina and Angie, or see Kristy for the first time. Looking at the Troubadour's schedule, I see that Ivy is there on the 11th, Rasputina on the 12th, Mike Doughty (of Soul Coughing) with someone I knew from Berklee opening named Kelly Buchanan (and further research shows that she's doing most of the tour with him! awesome) on the 23rd and Emiliani Torrini on June 8th. A little more than a year ago, Vienna Teng went out on tour for the new album with Marika and Alan in tow and Kyler England riding shotgun. Partway through, if you remember, her vocal cords went south and for one show in Pittsburgh, she had Kyler fill in as her voice. My friend Rob, who was at that show, said it was brilliant, and I've been envious ever since. Well, I got to have a little taste of what that show was like last night, when Vienna had Kyler sing harmonies on The Tower and Harbor, allowed Kyler to take over the lead on Homecoming (which was sooo beautiful covering Kyler's lower range), and backed up Kyler on one of Kyler's own songs "Lay It On". They have such different voices, but in concert they mesh so well. The rest of the show, Vienna was solo and pulled out a few new songs, a few old songs, and a few reallly old songs. Next week, she'll have Marika, the following week she'll have a string ensemble, and the final week of her residency, the 24th, she promises to have a full band with her. All you L.A.-ites better make at least one of her gigs! And while you're at it, come see Kyler at 8 PM at the Hotel Cafe tomorrow (Thursday). It's her first "solo" gig there, and she'd love to have the support. Paul ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 15:17:29 -0500 From: Doug Subject: Re: The beekeeper - Tori Amos When asked if she'd like to bear more children, I read that Tori responded, "But no more children. I can't." She can't emotionally, or physically? What's up with that? Wow. - --Doug "Instructions are for people who don't know what they are doing" - Bob the Builder ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 07:08:24 -0700 From: Neile Graham Subject: Re: The beekeeper - Tori Amos I'm with you on this one, Karen. This just isn't my sound. - --Neile At 10:16 PM +1200 5/4/05, Karen Hester wrote: >The beekeeper - Tori Amos > >Someday when I'm standing in a lift and I think to myself, hey, this >Norah Jones music is actually quite interesting, I'll go back and >listen to Tori's new album. I've probably only made it to the end >once. There are a few catchy bits. It's nice that some people are >enjoying it. >But, >there are no songs here that I want to live inside >that demand repeat repeat repeat listenings, with choruses alight with melody >that send me to the lyric sheet >that say something about my life >that say something about someone else's life, and make me feel as >though it is mine. > >Fair enough; our paths diverge. > >Karen - -- - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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: Wed, 4 May 2005 18:38:33 -0400 (EDT) From: Bernie Mojzes Subject: Re: Golden ocean- 50 Ft Wave On Wed, 4 May 2005, Steve VanDevender wrote: > 50 Ft. Wave still has Kristin Hersh's loopy lyrics, and Bernard > Georges's aggressive bass. And Rob Ahlers is a remarkably athletic > drummer (I saw them live last year and he's just as animated while > playing as you'd expect). It may not be quite as complex as the old > Throwing Muses stuff but they still put some hooks in my head. the best description of 50 ft wave would be that this is what happens when you breed throwing muses with nirvana. > I really should send off for this new album, though; I currently just > have the 6-song EP they were selling last year. the EP... i like all of the songs individually. the disk itself is basically an unremitting sonic assault on the brain, though, and the shortness of the disk, combined with overwhelming sound of it, leaves me with a bizarre sense that i've just had both way too much and way too little. simultaneously. in other words, i really like all the songs, but i don't find myself pulling the disk out to listen to it. the full album is, imho, significantly better. there's a lot more variation in the content. i find myself particularly liking the middle of the disk - "petal", "dog days", and "sally is a girl" - basically, the stuff that has a little more muse in it... :) the album reminds me a little bit of the, uh, innocence (for lack of a better word) of throwing muses first album. and that's not a bad thing. but then again, i tend to like the work people do while they are still struggling to find their voice. i think one of the worst things about the music industry nowadays is that they try to fully "develop" an artist before releasing them into the wild. makes those wonderfully awkward, stumbling first albums much harder to come by. -- brni i don't want the world, i just want your half. www.livejournal.com/~brni ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 5 May 2005 12:58:18 +1200 From: Karen Hester Subject: beekeeper Kia ora, thanks for the song pointer Ethan. I find individual songs take a while to become distinct on on albums that long, so I'll listen to Toast again. But just because a song is about something particularly sad doesn't mean everyone will be moved by it. > "There are no songs here...that say something about someone else's life, > and make me feel as though it is mine." > > Do you need to feel that someone else's life is the same as yours in > order to be moved? Perhaps I didn't word that right, I meant songs that tell someone else's story and the listener feels it strongly, similar to if it were their actual experience, but you're still aware of the differences. There's the added interest of learning something and feeling something different or completely alien. I like story-songs with details that are quite particular and can't be co-opted into ones own life, or lyrics that show a distinct personality, which Tori certainly is. I'm not so keen on really general lyrics like Sarah McLachlan's - almost anyone could find themself in there, but that's because there is so little being said. For example, a decade back I read, over an intense short period of time, lots of Doris Lessing's books about older people. I started to think like a 70 year-old, it was fascinating! I felt nostalgic about decades I hadn't lived through. Or there are films like Yi yi where you feel at home with the people who might start out seeming foreign, but the little differences never disappear and remain fascinating. Shocks of recognition and shocks of difference. Both worthwhile. K. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 04 May 2005 23:23:21 -0400 From: meredith Subject: Iva Bittova in New Haven Hi, Earlier this evening, woj and I joined Jason the Gordodo Bird at the Yale Cabaret to see Iva Bittova. (Big thanks to Jason for alerting us to this event -- we otherwise wouldn't have found out about it until we got to the Yale Repertory Theater last night and the little insert fell out of our programs, and then there would have been a very embarrassing scene as we *squee*d all over the start of the play. :) She only performed for an hour, which was way too short, but it was unbelievably excellent. The Yale Cabaret is *very* small, as in maybe twice the size of our living room, so she didn't really need amplification. She took great advantage of this, roaming all over the room as she sang and played her violin. At times she sounded like several synthesizers at once, at others she was like an opera singer, at others she was an accomplished Eastern European folksinger in the vein of Marta Sebesteyen. (For one number she even played nothing but kazoo. :) On the last few songs, she was accompanied by a friend on electric piano. She is going to be at the Yale Cabaret for two more nights -- paging Valerie Richardson and anyone else from WPKN who might be lurking out there!!! Anyone within reach of New Haven needs to make sure they *do not* miss this show. (It's a benefit for the Cabaret, but I think $22 is a very reasonable price to pay to see one of the most fascinating musicians I have ever encountered.) =============================================== Meredith Tarr New Haven, CT USA mailto:meth@smoe.org http://www.smoe.org/meth =============================================== hear at the HOMe House Concert Series http://hom.smoe.org =============================================== ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 04 May 2005 23:28:28 -0500 From: Eric Volker Subject: Re: Sarah in B'ham ecto-digest wrote: > >Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 09:17:49 -0500 >From: Doug >Subject: Sarah in B'ham > >I've got tickets to see Sarah McLachlan with my wife tomorrow >nite...anyone else going? > >- -- Doug >"Instructions are for people who don't know what they are doing" - Bob >the Builder > > Just got back from the show. A solid show, though I wish she would have covered more of her old albums. I can't recall the set list, though I particularly enjoyed "Possession", "Hold On", "Sweet Surrender", "Fallen" and her last piece (don't know the name - probably new.) Her new material has much more energy performed live. It's a shame that liveliness isn't captured on Afterglow, which seemed too restrained to me. Eric Volker ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V11 #124 ***************************