From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V12 #185 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Saturday, July 15 2006 Volume 12 : Number 185 To unsubscribe: e-mail ecto-digest-request@smoe.org and put the word unsubscribe in the message body. Today's Subjects: ----------------- Today's your birthday, friends... [Mike Matthews ] Serious female singers harder to find on the charts [Mike Connell ] Re: deaddaisy.com e-mail [DanS <2005.carnivore99@verizon.net>] Re: deaddaisy.com e-mail [DanS <2005.carnivore99@verizon.net>] Re: Serious female singers harder to find on the charts ["Xenu's Sister" ] Re: Serious female singers harder to find on the charts [andrew fries Subject: Today's your birthday, friends... i*i*i*i*i*i i*i*i*i*i*i *************** *****HAPPY********* **************BIRTHDAY********* *************************************************** *************************************************************************** *************** Mitch Pravatiner (mapravat@prairienet.org) **************** ********************** R. Rapp (rich.rapp@effem.com) ********************** *************************************************************************** -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Mitch Pravatiner Mon July 14 1952 Cancer R. Rapp Wed July 14 1954 On a Gray Eye Sojourn John Zimmer Sun July 16 1961 Cancer Dan Stark Sun July 16 1961 Cancer Cathy Guetzlaff Mon July 18 1955 Cancer Vlad Sat July 18 1970 Warning: severe tire damage Jani Pinola Thu July 20 1972 Jonquil Alvin Brattli Sun July 27 1969 Lefthanded Christy Eger Smith Thu July 27 1944 Horse Crossing Shirley Ye July 27 Lioness woj Sun July 28 1968 children at play John Relph Sat July 28 1962 Leo Bob Kollmeyer Wed July 28 1971 Leo Steve Lusky Tue July 29 1952 Bike! Kate Bush Wed July 30 1958 God Chuck Smith Wed July 30 1958 Reboot Yves Denneulin Fri July 30 1971 Lion-Heart Joel Kenyon Wed July 31 1963 Leo Allan Anderson Sun August 04 1974 Signifier/Signified Eli Brandt August 05 Leo Amanda Williams Tue August 05 1969 phoenix Martin Bridges Sat August 08 1970 BigGuy Rosana L. de Oliveira Wed August 08 1973 Leo Happy Rhodes Mon August 09 1965 HolyGhost - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 05:48:45 -0400 From: Mike Connell Subject: Serious female singers harder to find on the charts From the USA Today today: http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2006-07-13-female-singers_x.htm Serious female singers harder to find on the charts By Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY It has been 10 years since a young female singer/songwriter named Sarah McLachlan organized Lilith Fair, the festival tour that came to symbolize the increased visibility enjoyed by female artists in the mid- to late '90s. Launched in 1997, Lilith was pegged by some as a showcase for tender, earnest folk-pop minstrels. But over its three seasons, the tour also featured a variety of rock, hip-hop and alternative acts, old and new. Radio playlists reflected a growing interest in a variety of creatively autonomous female musicians, as did seemingly countless articles on "women in rock." Listen to top 40 radio these days, though, and you're not likely to find as many of these artists  or their would-be successors. Some suggest that commercial success has become a more elusive goal for women with strong, singular voices. Recent weeks have seen a few such women re-emerge on the Billboard 200 pop albums chart, where hip-hop/folk/world music fusionist Nelly Furtado and neo-soul songstress India Arie are, respectively, at No. 2 and No. 3. Furtado, whose Loose topped that chart previously, also has a No. 1 top 40 single with Promiscuous. But overall, the current Hot 100 boasts fewer women in the top 10, especially women who play dominant roles in crafting their tunes, than the July 20, 1996, top 10, which was led by Alanis Morissette and Tracy Chapman and included other songs by Morissette, Jewel and Mariah Carey. On the chart for July 22, 2006, Furtado, Beyonci and Shakira are the only female solo acts also credited as writers in the top 10, and their songs each feature at least three additional co-writers. Certainly, superstars such as Beyonci and Gwen Stefani offer strong, singular presences. But their singing and their songwriting  which tends to be heavily collaborative  rely less on idiosyncratic expression than savvy, splashy production, executed with the same high style as their dance routines and fashion statements. Kelly Clarkson, praised as the most independent-minded American Idol grad, also depends on vocal flash and experienced co-writers. Other young female icons include those alluded to in the video for Pink's recent single Stupid Girls, which features apparent parodies of tabloid regulars  and major-label recording artists  Jessica Simpson and Lindsay Lohan. "Right now, the cultural emphasis is more on our bodies than our minds or talents," Pink says. "The media has absolutely pushed that. Respected artists, like Sheryl Crow and Melissa Etheridge, are older." Women 'run into a bit of a wall' Linda Ronstadt, who earned recognition decades ago for both her vocal prowess and her pulchritude, agrees. "The women's movement has run into a bit of a wall," says Ronstadt, who teamed with Cajun star Ann Savoy for Adieu False Heart, due July 25. "You almost can't be successful now if you're not a babe." Says Fiona Apple: "A pretty face always sells, but now it matters more, for everybody." Like Apple, who as a teen newcomer was marketed as much for her Lolita-like sexuality as for her prodigious talent, many of the new female singer/songwriters being trumpeted are notable not only for their comely looks but also for their extreme youth. At 18, the silver-throated Kelly Sweet, whose debut We Are One is due Sept. 12, already has three years on blond MTV star Cheyenne Kimball, whose new CD, The Day Has Come, arrived Tuesday. The past few months have brought albums from more mature singer/songwriters, admired under-the-radar voices and rising favorites such as Allison Moorer, Jen Chapin, KT Tunstall, Anna Nalick and Corinne Bailey Rae. Lilith alumnae such as Apple, now 28, and McLachlan, 38, sustain the interest of core fans and media who discovered them in the '90s. But Moorer, whose new CD Getting Somewhere has garnered good reviews but little commercial airplay, feels that commitment was short-lived. "After Lilith, there was a big backlash in the music industry. All these guys understood for the first time the power that women have in speaking to other women; then you had all these angry boy bands like Limp Bizkit come along. It was a total 180." That trend toward testosterone-driven rock and rap was followed by a tidal wave of bubblegum pop, led by Britney Spears. But as the new millennium settled in, it seemed for a while that a fresh crop of more independent-minded, creatively engaged role models was emerging. Artists such as Arie, Furtado, Pink, Michelle Branch, Alicia Keys, Norah Jones, Shakira and Dido earned significant sales and airplay, though not without confronting some of the same obstacles faced by generations before them. "Many male producers or executives often brushed me off, or were more concerned with the possibility of a personal relationship than a working one," Keys recalls. "That's when I knew I had to write, produce and arrange for myself to even get anywhere." Arie notes that her first single, Video, "really was an affirmation I wrote for myself, to introduce myself and to make a lane for myself in the music industry. I knew I didn't look or sound (like what was) the popular taste, but that I had something very beautiful to offer." On her new album, Testimony Vol. 1: Life and Relationship, "I have gone even deeper into expressing myself exactly the way I choose." Keys, Arie and others acknowledge that the freedom they have enjoyed was built on precedent. Pioneering singer/songwriters such as Joni Mitchell and Carole King were followed in the '70s and '80s by women from post-punk poet Patti Smith to lyrical folk-rocker Chapman. Furtado also nods to the hip-hop/soul stars who preceded Keys. The title of Furtado's new CD was inspired by the trio TLC, whose members would adorn their clothes with condoms. "They were taking back their sexuality, showing they were complete women," Furtado says. "There was such a freshness to artists like them, or Mary J. Blige, who has such a strong voice and image. I miss that." Some argue that the dilemma of the troubled troubadour isn't gender-specific. Many allude to the dismantling of artist development at major record companies, and what Rosanne Cash calls "the American Idol consciousness"  an emphasis on culling quick hits from malleable young artists rather than nurturing long-term careers. "I don't think women are being singled out," Cash says. "It's a difficult time in the business. It used to be that a label would sign an artist and stick with them through three or four albums. That so seldom happens now, if at all." Jewel, whose latest album, Goodbye Alice in Wonderland, entered in the top 10 in May but has since slipped to No. 142, says: "You don't have a lot of kids now saying, 'I want to grow up to be a songwriter.' It's 'I want to be famous.' Kids will sell their right arms to be famous, and the industry enables that and is happy to make money off it." Granted, female artists confront certain gender-specific issues. Motherhood can be a complicating factor, particularly for those who tour, as McLachlan acknowledged when she brought Lilith to a close, citing a desire to start a family. Branch, who followed up her solo success by forming The Wreckers with fellow singer/songwriter Jessica Harp, says she "felt a lot of pressure" after giving birth to a daughter, Owen, last August. "Though no one from my label came out and said it, it was: 'You're going to lose the baby fat, right?' " Like Cash, a mother of five, and that most ferocious multitasker, Madonna, Branch and McLachlan have managed to continue recording and performing. Furtado, who credits her 2=-year-old daughter, Nevis, with adding extra energy to her new CD, echoes many female artists raising children when she describes the experience as "empowering. A woman can have her cake and eat it, too." k.d. lang uses fertility as a metaphor in assessing the challenges and opportunities facing "both our sexes. The focus has shifted to fast food, fast culture. But cultural oppression can cultivate great, great art. In the street, at any drastic time, things are incredibly fertile, and I think there's a tremendous opportunity right now." Alice Peacock, whose CD Who I Am was released July 4 on her own Peacock Music label (distributed by Universal Music Group), is trying to seize that opportunity. "Being on an independent label, I have more freedom," says Peacock, who had previously recorded for a major. "Women can have more impact if we have time to grow." Kim Buie, vice president at Lost Highway, a smaller label that is home to roots mavericks such as Lucinda Williams and Mary Gauthier, believes that more options exist for women with the initiative, and patience, to pursue them. "Someone like Lucinda, whose career has been built as a songwriter, can always tour successfully and consistently builds an audience," Buie says. Buie points to other iconoclasts such as indie heroine Ani DiFranco and Aimee Mann, who despite repeated label struggles has sustained an enviable track record as tunesmith and soundtrack artist. Moving to Nashville But many others seeking wider exposure find the available channels, literally and figuratively, limited. The dearth of tunes by female singer/songwriters on pop radio "was one of the main reasons" that Branch decided to relocate to Nashville and form The Wreckers. The duo titled its recent debut, with obvious sarcasm, Sit Still, Look Pretty. The country music capital has bred a number of relatively feisty female acts in recent years, from the Dixie Chicks to earthy superstar Gretchen Wilson. "I never wrote a song before I moved to Nashville," Wilson says. "I had tried to write one or two, but then I came here and started working with the Music Mafia and Big and Rich. And there are many talented female songwriters here." More experienced artists are similarly hopeful that, drawing on both new media and old-fashioned camaraderie, sisters will keep doing it for themselves. "There's a lot of exciting mentoring going on, with people showcasing other artists," says Bonnie Raitt, citing Emmylou Harris' support of longtime cult favorite Patty Griffin. Raitt has championed Maia Sharp, and can list a number of aspiring female musicians she admires, including some who send her their demos directly. Raitt, who is now touring, has thought about starting a new trek modeled after Lilith Fair. "The mix of styles and generations was great, and there was a palpably different vibe backstage, with no pecking order or jockeying for position. It was the cool part of what women do for each other. I hope to do something with a brand name, and that kind of camaraderie and fellowship, that might happen every summer. Something inspired by Lilith Fair, because that's one of the things I'm proudest to have been a part of." ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 10:11:13 -0700 (PDT) From: Craig Gidney Subject: Sounds samples of Azam Ali album coming out July 25 Samples here: http://www.azamalimusic.com/ Blog: http://ethereal-lad.livejournal.com Music Blog: http://www.last.fm/user/ethereal_lad/ Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail Beta. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 10:08:53 -0700 (PDT) From: Craig Gidney Subject: New Heather Duby Album out July 18 Sound samples here: http://www.sonicboomrecordings.com/cataloginfo.php?catid=52 - --------------------------------- Talk is cheap. Use Yahoo! Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1"/min. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 13:30:11 -0400 From: DanS <2005.carnivore99@verizon.net> Subject: Re: deaddaisy.com e-mail Yikes, I hope somebody tells her before some jackass squats it. >It looks like deaddaisy.com expired a few days ago. > >expires: 2006-07-09 15:47:15 UTC ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 13:35:04 -0400 From: DanS <2005.carnivore99@verizon.net> Subject: Re: deaddaisy.com e-mail Oops, I sent that reply to the wrong list, sorry. That's what I get for forgetting to "reply to all" and then typing it in manually, I guess. >Yikes, I hope somebody tells her before some jackass squats it. > > >>It looks like deaddaisy.com expired a few days ago. >> >>expires: 2006-07-09 15:47:15 UTC ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 11:44:42 -0700 (PDT) From: "Xenu's Sister" Subject: Re: Serious female singers harder to find on the charts Interesting article, thanks Mike. Since none of my favorite artists, and certainly none of the Suspended In Gaffa artists, are mentioned, it might as well have been an interesting article about buckyballs: something to read and say "Wow, that's interesting" but it doesn't have anything to do with my life or personal interests. Still, it's very good to know that someone's thinking about this stuff and willing to write about it in a much-read outlet. It was a bit of a thrill to see someone I've met in person quoted... - --- Mike Connell wrote: > From the USA Today today: > Kim Buie, vice president at Lost Highway, a > smaller label that is home to roots mavericks > such as Lucinda Williams and Mary Gauthier, > believes that more options exist for women with > the initiative, and patience, to pursue them. Kim Buie used to be a DJ at a college radio station in Lawrence, Kansas. The first time I ever heard Kate on the radio without having to call and request her was due to Kim. I was driving from Lawrence to Kansas City and turned on the radio. Flipping around the dial I came across her station and to my utter shock I heard Kate's "Breathing." I stopped at a gas station and called and talked to Kim. Not long after, EMI America did a Kate Bush Push by releasing the video 'Live At The Hammersmith Odeon' and got a bunch of college stations around to the country to organize showings. Kim organized the one in Lawrence and that's when I first met her in person. Some time after that Kim moved to Los Angeles and worked for some record company (Enigma, I think). I drove cars for a living and on one of my trips west I stopped in to the record company offices to see her. I showed her some Kate videos I had with me, and she showed me some upcoming videos and asked my opinion. One of them was the first Corey Hart video (I'm too lazy to go look up what it was). I thought he looked like a young Harrison Ford. Time- wise, it was the same week that Marvin Gaye was killed by his father. The LA newspaper had it on their front page. I lost contact with Kim though I think I heard that she was working for Island Records (I could be wrong). I did once see her name in connection to something called Deep Ellum. Now here she is again, and vice president of a record company too. Good for Kim! Vickie - -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Music, all I hear is music, guaranteed to please... Happy's MySpace profile: http://www.myspace.com/happyrhodes Happy Rhodes song samples and rarities: http://wretchawry.com - -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2006 10:59:14 +1000 From: andrew fries Subject: Re: Serious female singers harder to find on the charts Colour me unconcerned... what comes up must come down, and all that. Fads come and go, but since when is Ecto of music affected by the goings-on on the top-whatever? In fact I would say that one definition of 'Ecto' could be precisely that: music that does not depend on trends and charts. And if fewer youngsters wake up thinking 'I wanna be a songwriter!'... well, that might be a blessing in disguise :) ... and speaking of youngsters, have you people heard about Smoosh? Two sisters in their very early teens, playing indie-pop stuff... far from perfect, but bordering on interesting. I thought at least someone had enough sense to leave it alone rather than polishing the hell out of it... ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 20:54:52 -0500 From: "Jon Wesley Huff" Subject: Re: New Heather Duby Album out July 18 Awesome! I've been following her since Post To Wire, and she just keeps getting better and better. On 7/14/06, Craig Gidney wrote: > > Sound samples here: > > http://www.sonicboomrecordings.com/cataloginfo.php?catid=52 > > > --------------------------------- > Talk is cheap. Use Yahoo! Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great > rates starting at 1"/min. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 23:38:49 -0400 From: kerrywhite@webtv.net (kerry white) Subject: More Syd Hi, For anyone not familiar with the cover of The Madcap Laughs, please goto your favorite on line CD store and take a look. Compellingly simple. bye,me KrW I'm Peter Pan! I'm perpetually young!! OW!! What's wrong with my back? ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2006 00:24:16 -0500 From: Timothy Jones-Yelvington Subject: Re: Serious female singers harder to find on the charts I have to disagree. I understand and sympathize with your lack of concern for the mainstream and patterns of popularity. Certainly Ecto artists do not require mainstream validation for their art to be of merit. However, I think we have to acknowledge that the female singer-songwriters whose music we most appreciate are terribly maligned and pathologized by the critical mainstream. The praise bestowed upon metaphorical phallus-stroking male rock guitarists at the expense of more female-associated forms of music, as typified by such "goings on on the top" as the anti-Lilith backlash, is a product of patriarchal power and inequalities and something we absolutely need to take seriously. tim On 7/14/06 7:59 PM, "andrew fries" wrote: > Colour me unconcerned... what comes up must come down, and all that. > Fads come and go, but since when is Ecto of music affected by the > goings-on on the top-whatever? In fact I would say that one definition > of 'Ecto' could be precisely that: music that does not depend on trends > and charts. > > And if fewer youngsters wake up thinking 'I wanna be a songwriter!'... > well, that might be a blessing in disguise :) > > ... and speaking of youngsters, have you people heard about Smoosh? Two > sisters in their very early teens, playing indie-pop stuff... far from > perfect, but bordering on interesting. I thought at least someone had > enough sense to leave it alone rather than polishing the hell out of it... ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V12 #185 ***************************