From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V12 #55 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Tuesday, February 28 2006 Volume 12 : Number 055 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Where to purchase Frolic by Anneli Drecker? [Kjetil Torgrim Homme Subject: Re: Where to purchase Frolic by Anneli Drecker? [neal copperman]: > > I didn't know Anneli had a solo album out. Has anyone heard it? she has two, actually: Tundra and Frolic. I haven't bought the latter since it isn't out on CD, just as fake-CD. the determined may get them from www.zailor.no -- but the postage will cost you, Zailor says to expect about 15 dollars for that alone! (this is just a little more than I would pay at the post office, so it isn't unreasonable -- it's probably just that they don't do enough foreign business to have bothered to get a better deal.) www.freerecordshop.no doesn't mention it, but may be willing to sell abroad. ask at info@frs.no. cdon.no, which is where I usually get my albums, only sells to EU countries. > I recently stumbled across another Bel Canto side project - > Vajas. It's a trio featuring a Saami yoik singer, a female > violinist/vocalist, and Nils Johansen (from Bel Canto) on > soundscapes. interesting. doesn't look like they have released an album yet. > The samples kind of remind me of Wimme (another yoiker, who's CD's > are available on NorthSide). Wimme Saari also collaborated with Hedningarna after the two girls left (I have to say that was not much of a consolation). - -- Kjetil T. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 08:56:23 +0000 From: adamk@zoom.co.uk Subject: Goodybe, Kolchak and Barney It's been a bit slow on the ecto list of late, so I thought I could afford to do a couple of separate posts, the one to follow being on the gig I saw last night. First off, it's RIP to Don Knotts, one of those comic actors who haunted my youth on local channels wherever I moved to as a kid in the States. Sure, his shtick could be grating, but I always looked back fondly at that wide-eyed eagerness and self-depracating humour. As for Darren McGavin -- well, I was hooked on Kolchak throughout its entire brief run, having lapped up the Night Stalker and Night Strangler films. Although I understand he was not the easiest person to work with, I had the pleasure of meeting him once, about 20 years ago, while working front of house in the West End of London. He had come to see the show and, during the interval, I approached him and told him how much I'd loved Kolchak. He smiled and said to his partner "There's a man with good taste". Coming up next: Sandy Dillon and some interesting friends at the Borderline. Stay tuned after the break. adam k. - ----------------------------------------------- This mail sent through http://webmail.zoom.co.uk ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 11:26:36 +0000 From: adamk@zoom.co.uk Subject: Sandy Dillon (and friends) in London. And were back, and this is the story of how, convinced my gig-going days were coming to a close, decided to drag my weary bones to the Borderline last night to see Sandy Dillon and Friends. I was devastated to miss her opening for Bob Mould late last month, so it was great to see that shes taken up a monthly residency at the Borderline, one of my favourite venues. Alas, it was a sparse audience that turned up on a cold, grey Sunday evening. Any of the Brit ectos out there familiar with the Borderline will know that, on a good night, a queue will start forming at 6.30 or even 6. I turned up at 6.50 and not only was there no queue, but the place was totally dark, and I even began to think that it had been cancelled. But, no, it was just.Sunday, I guess. The audience numbers swelled to about seven of us by the time the opening act, Bex Marshall came onstage. I thoroughly, thoroughly recommend her. She has a spectacularly bluesy voice and accompanied herself on an amplified dobro guitar with some sweet pickings and heavy slammings and some great tunes. Quite spectacular, and Ill definitely be following up on her career. See www.bexmarshall.co.uk for further info. Next up was a tall, elegant middle-aged man called Richard Strange, who used to front a band called Doctors of Madness in the 70s. He told quite a few interesting stories, including one about Kathy Acker (who had been a friend of his) and one of giving the Sex Pistols their first out-of-London support gig. At first his songs seemed mere novelties, but they deepened as the night went on and there were a couple that were, actually, quite impressive. For a couple of them, including a Velvet Underground cover, he was accompanied by musician Kate St John (they had both performed in Tom Waits The Black Rider) on accordion and vocals, and the result was quite haunting. And then Sandy Dillon. I saw her a couple of years ago, and was blown away by the sheer theatrical energy behind it all. Since then she released Nobobys Sweetheart and I was baffled, thinking that shed moved in new, smoother direction. Actually, Azeem (you still out there, Azeem?) had it right: it was a tribute to her late partner, a beautiful, sweeping cry of pain. I misread it entirely, and rather callously. Tonight, shes back to channelling Tom Waits and Captain Beefheart, grimacing and gesturing and screeching with gravel in her throat. The show didnt have the same impact on me as the first couple of times I saw her, and I got the feeling she was overplaying the ramshackle/eccentric mode, but it was a fascinating evening. I mean, I dont think Ive ever actually seen anyone play the saw before, but the drummer did (along with an electric violin and miniature electric guitar). The bass/percussion/guitar player was revealed to be none other than Ed Harcourt, Ray Majors (ex-Mott) played lead guitar, and at one point they were joined by Sarah Jane Morris, guesting on vocals. This was a relief: at times Sandys vocals reached such a pitch they were what I could only imagine Tom Waits would sound like if he got his knob caught in his zipper, and had begun to hurt my ears. The set ended with a powerful, driving new song called Pull the Strings and a gentle, melodic piece which showed that she could sing without sounding like sandpaper. Her new album, Pull the Strings, is out in England on April 24th. And then I went home to bed. adam k. - ----------------------------------------------- This mail sent through http://webmail.zoom.co.uk ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 10:48:59 -0700 From: neal copperman Subject: Re: Where to purchase Frolic by Anneli Drecker? At 10:09 AM +0100 2/27/06, Kjetil Torgrim Homme wrote: > > The samples kind of remind me of Wimme (another yoiker, who's CD's >> are available on NorthSide). > >Wimme Saari also collaborated with Hedningarna after the two girls >left (I have to say that was not much of a consolation). As a fan of both performers, that sounds pretty interesting. As a confirmed ectophile, I agree it doesn't sound like much consolation. neal np: cibelle - cibelle (from Brazil, on Six Degrees. A little light and fluffy, as the combo of 6 Degrees electro-world and a poppy Brazilian singer might be expected to be, but it's in the shuffle and is slowly sinking into my conciousness in a good way.) nr: Bangkok 8 - John Burdett ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 12:00:32 -0800 (PST) From: Ellen Rawson Subject: Bex Marshall (was Re: Sandy Dillon (and friends) in London.) - --- adamk@zoom.co.uk wrote: > I guess. The audience numbers swelled to about > seven of us by the time the > opening act, Bex Marshall came onstage. I > thoroughly, thoroughly recommend > her. Adam, I'm glad we agree on Bex Marshall. If you recall, she was the 'local' opener at the Borderline for the Alana Levandoski/Lynn Miles/Dar Williams evening. She impressed me and the various folks sitting by me. (When you queue up for over an hour, you do become 'friends' with the people there. And heck, you're the people who get to actually sit together by the bar, so you chat a bit. We also recognised each other from other gigs. :) Was she selling her CD there? According to her website, I believe there is one. At the Dar, etc. gig, it was Rounder Europe night, with a Rounder Europe rep working the merchandise table. A number of us told her not only should she selling Bex's CD but that she should sign Bex! Ellen "Literature stops in 1100. After that, it's just books." - -- JRR Tolkien ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 18:28:42 -0500 From: Rodney Somerstein Subject: Re: Where to purchase Frolic by Anneli Drecker? Neal Copperman wrote: >I didn't know Anneli had a solo album out. Has anyone heard it? I haven't heard this one, but I really like her previous solo release from 2000, Tundra. It sounds fairly similar to the Bel Canto Release from 2002, Dorothy's Victory. Though the arrangements are maybe a bit more lush and orchestral. I have listened to both of these a lot and have been waiting for a new release for awhile. Frolic was actually released last April, but I tend to procrastinate when it comes to tracking down things like this. I suppose I was hoping for this to become a bit more easily available in the US. > >I recently stumbled across another Bel Canto side project - Vajas. >It's a trio featuring a Saami yoik singer, a female >violinist/vocalist, and Nils Johansen (from Bel Canto) on soundscapes. >The samples kind of remind me of Wimme (another yoiker, who's CD's >are available on NorthSide). I hadn't heard about this one at all. I'll have to do some browsing and see what it sounds like. I honestly don't know why I like Bel Canto/Anneli Drecker so much. Their recent music is typically much more dancy/poppy sounding than I usually like. I found them about the time the second Bel Canto album came out and fell in love with the music immediately. At the time, they weren't as dance oriented as recent music. Instead, they tended toward a more ethereal electronic sound. But for some reason, probably Drecker's voice, even their danciest songs usually work for me. On the other hand, Bjork, who has a lot in common sound-wise with a similar spare electronic nordic sound just doesn't work for me. From the times of the earlier Sugarcubes albums, I start enjoying her sound and it just ends up grating on my nerves. By the way, I ended up making arrangements with someone selling a copy on eBay to sell me a copy of the album for probably twice as much as I should pay. But I really want this one. I would still love to get recommendations to find things like this in the US. The Philadelphia area, where I have lived for the last few years, just doesn't seem to have any place worthwhile to find music like this as far as I can tell. - -Rodney ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 02:53:46 +0100 From: Kjetil Torgrim Homme Subject: Re: Sandy Dillon (and friends) in London. [adamk@zoom.co.uk]: > > [Richard Strange] was accompanied by musician Kate St John (they > had both performed in Tom Waits' The Black Rider) on accordion and > vocals, and the result was quite haunting. whoa. it's been a long time since I saw Kate St. John mentioned, and I'm glad to see she's still active. I saw her accompanying Roger Eno (Brian's brother) at the Roskilde festival way back in 1993 (wow, it sure doesn't feel that long ago) and she made quite a positive impression. Roger on the other hand seemed quite bitter about his brother's success. I've only got her "Indescribable night" which is quite agreeable and orchestrated with violins, harp, flutes, and all sorts of other classical instruments. some might call it "easy listening", but I'll refrain since it's slightly derogatory and I _like_ easy listening. anyway, I'd be happy to get recommendations about Kate St. John's more recent material. - -- Kjetil T. ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V12 #55 **************************