From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V12 #205 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Friday, August 4 2006 Volume 12 : Number 205 To unsubscribe: e-mail ecto-digest-request@smoe.org and put the word unsubscribe in the message body. Today's Subjects: ----------------- Where's the women? ["Leonora Christina Skov" ] abby [anna maria "stjärnell" ] Re: Top 100 Living Songwriters [Mike Connell ] Re: Top 100 Living Songwriters [Timothy Jones-Yelvington ] Heather Duby [Craig Gidney ] beth sorrentino at union hall in brooklyn [wojbearpig ] Re: Top 100 Living Songwriters [Greg Bossert ] Re: Top 100 Living Songwriters [Joshua Yu Burnett ] Don't argue, just go... ["Xenu's Sister" ] Re: Don't argue, just go... ["robert bristow-johnson" ] Re: Hayley & Vienna (and mila drumke too) ["JoAnn Whetsell" Subject: Where's the women? Of course, we may look on the bright side: Patty Griffin is number 19 and Joni Mitchell is number 9 on the list. That's great. But these are the only two women who made the top twenty and as far as I can tell only 15 women (and 85 men) made the top 100. Isn't that thought-provoking to you? It certainly is to me. Leonora "If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased." Katherine Hepburn Forfatter, mag.art. Leonora Christina Skov H.C. Xrsteds Vej 35, 3.tv., 1879 Frb. C. Tlf 38 19 03 81 / 26 85 67 27 [IMAGE] -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mike Connell To: ecto@smoe.org Subject: Top 100 Living Songwriters Date: Wed, 02 Aug 2006 19:47:21 -0400 >This made a bit of a buzz this week at the Patty Griffin list here >at smoe.org. > >The new edition of Paste Magazine (available in stores and online at >www.pastemagazine.com) has their listing of "The Top 100 Living >Songwriters". It's broken down into groups of twenty in the online >version, with some quality commentary on each of the 100 >songwriters. I imagine the commentary would have to be in the print >edition too. > >The buzz at the Patty Griffin list is that they had her at #19! >Quite an honor if you ask me. I feel she's deserving, because if you >really look at some of the lyrics of her five albums, there's some >really great stuff there. She's getting more and more play on TV >shows and in films, plus, a tell-tale sign, many of her songs are >getting used by a lot of artists anymore. > >The list of the 100 follows. > >Mike > >P.S. Check out the main page at www.pattygriffin.com. It's pretty >darn cool. (and a long download if you are on dialup...but it's >worth the wait) > >Paste magazine's Top 100 Living Songwriters > >100 T-Bone Burnett >99 Outkast >98 Jay Farrar >97 Josh Ritter >96 Jimmy Cliff >95 Patti Smith >94 Sam Phillips >93 Joseph Arthur >92 Alejandro Escovedo >91 Drive By Truckers >90 Nick Cave >89 Victoria Williams >88 Parliment >87 Lyle Lovett >86 Sam Beam (Iron & Wine) >85 David Bazan (Pedro the Lion, Headphones) >84 They Might Be Giants >83 Fleetwood Mac (Buckingham, Nicks, McVie) >82 John Darnielle (The Mountain Goats) >81 The Flaming Lips >80 Pink Floyd >79 Stephen Malkmus >78 Robert Pollard >77 Bruce Cockburn >76 Will Oldham >75 Ron Sexsmith >74 Over The Rhine >73 Julie Miller >72 Michael Jackson >71 Vic Chestnut >70 Alex Chilton >69 Merle Haggard >68 Allen Toussaint >67 Conor Oberst >66 Charles Thompson (aka Frank Black) >65 Bill Mallonee (Vigilantes of Love) >64 Andy Partridge >63 Richard Thompson >62 Sting >61 John Hiatt >60 Jimmy Webb >59 Jack White >58 Sly Stone >57 Morrissey >56 James Brown >55 Dolly Parton >54 Aimee Mann >53 James Taylor >52 Paul Westerberg >51 Dan Penn & Spooner Oldham >50 Public Enemy >49 Cat Stevens >48 Gillian Welch / David Rawlings >47 Sufjan Stevens >46 David Byrne >45 Jackson Browne >44 Al Green >43 Ryan Adams >42 Loretta Lynn >41 Ray Davies >40 Burt Bacharach & Hal David >39 Led Zeppelin >38 Kris Kristofferson >37 Smokey Robinson >36 Beck >35 Steve Earle >34 John Fogerty >33 Pete Townshend >32 Lieber & Stoller >31 Carole King >30 John Prine >29 Tom Petty >28 Robbie Robertson >27 Radiohead >26 REM >25 Chuck Berry >24 Jeff Tweedy >23 Elton John / Bernie Taupin >22 Lucinda Williams >21 Lou Reed >20 Van Morrison >19 Patty Griffin >18 U2 >17 Holland - Dozier- Holland >16 David Bowie >15 Willie Nelson >14 Stevie Wonder >13 Paul Simon >12 The Rolling Stones >11 Randy Newman >10 Prince >9 Joni Mitchell >8 Elvis Costello >7 Brian Wilson >6 Leonard Cohen >5 Paul McCartney >4 Tom Waits, Kathleen Brennan >3 Bruce Springsteen >2 Neil Young >1 Bob Dylan ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2006 00:25:18 -0700 (PDT) From: anna maria "stjärnell" Subject: abby Hi.. There's a new terrific album by Abby Travis out called Glittermouth. A lovley record and on the front cover she strikes the sultriest pose this side of the elysian fields debut. Nice Shangri-las cover too. www.abbytravis.com Anna Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 03 Aug 2006 07:04:13 -0400 From: Mike Connell Subject: Re: Top 100 Living Songwriters At 10:25 PM 8/2/2006, meredith wrote: >Hi, > >Like picking the top 100 colors, indeed. Really, why bother?? > >My personal top 100 would be vastly different. (It would have Susan >Werner and Richard Shindell on it, for one thing.) But that's neither >here nor there. Again, why bother?! I got to thinking. There are some very good reasons to bother. Food for thought and exposure of a writer's skills that many of today would not know about. Both the print and onlive version have some pretty substantial text to go along with each of the 100, and considering the likely average age of the reader of that magazine, the listing exposes these 100 to many people who probably never heard of some of these songwriters, many of whom have been writing for decades and just are not known to today's generations. Also, I was thinking about the "why bother?". Can't we say that to just about any listing on any topic of the music industry. We'd all have different Top 100s for singers, groups, male/female duos, drummers, what have you. At least published lists, especially ones like this that has some decent verbage to go along with the list, can stir up some conversation. I haven't read all of the 100 profiles yet, but I intend to read most of them. Just my opinion, Mike ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 03 Aug 2006 09:53:18 -0500 From: Timothy Jones-Yelvington Subject: Re: Top 100 Living Songwriters It was a great list, and had a decent amount of female inclusion... But it's definitely female inclusion that trends toward the rootsy/rocky/folkish end of the spectrum, which tends to be Paste's bias (I still love the publication.) But I've never seen them pay any attention to the more "eccentric" female artists, and their three-star review of "Aerial" made me vomit all over the pages. Their songwriting may be less traditional (more unpredictable, more like contemporary composition than songwriting as such), but I still have trouble seeing a list of the top 100 living songwriters that excludes Kate Bush, Jane Siberry, Rickie Lee Jones... And I was absolutely PISSED beyond belief that Laura Nyro get left out of their "gone but not forgottens," or whatever else they called the 10 or so dead people they honored. Joni Mitchell has been sufficiently canonized. Now can we at least try to make space for a few others? On 8/2/06 6:47 PM, "Mike Connell" wrote: > This made a bit of a buzz this week at the Patty Griffin list here at > smoe.org. > > The new edition of Paste Magazine (available in stores and online at > www.pastemagazine.com) has their listing of "The Top 100 Living > Songwriters". It's broken down into groups of twenty in the online version, > with some quality commentary on each of the 100 songwriters. I imagine the > commentary would have to be in the print edition too. > > The buzz at the Patty Griffin list is that they had her at #19! Quite an > honor if you ask me. I feel she's deserving, because if you really look at > some of the lyrics of her five albums, there's some really great stuff > there. She's getting more and more play on TV shows and in films, plus, a > tell-tale sign, many of her songs are getting used by a lot of artists > anymore. > > The list of the 100 follows. > > Mike > > P.S. Check out the main page at www.pattygriffin.com. It's pretty darn > cool. (and a long download if you are on dialup...but it's worth the wait) > > Paste magazine's Top 100 Living Songwriters > > 100 T-Bone Burnett > 99 Outkast > 98 Jay Farrar > 97 Josh Ritter > 96 Jimmy Cliff > 95 Patti Smith > 94 Sam Phillips > 93 Joseph Arthur > 92 Alejandro Escovedo > 91 Drive By Truckers > 90 Nick Cave > 89 Victoria Williams > 88 Parliment > 87 Lyle Lovett > 86 Sam Beam (Iron & Wine) > 85 David Bazan (Pedro the Lion, Headphones) > 84 They Might Be Giants > 83 Fleetwood Mac (Buckingham, Nicks, McVie) > 82 John Darnielle (The Mountain Goats) > 81 The Flaming Lips > 80 Pink Floyd > 79 Stephen Malkmus > 78 Robert Pollard > 77 Bruce Cockburn > 76 Will Oldham > 75 Ron Sexsmith > 74 Over The Rhine > 73 Julie Miller > 72 Michael Jackson > 71 Vic Chestnut > 70 Alex Chilton > 69 Merle Haggard > 68 Allen Toussaint > 67 Conor Oberst > 66 Charles Thompson (aka Frank Black) > 65 Bill Mallonee (Vigilantes of Love) > 64 Andy Partridge > 63 Richard Thompson > 62 Sting > 61 John Hiatt > 60 Jimmy Webb > 59 Jack White > 58 Sly Stone > 57 Morrissey > 56 James Brown > 55 Dolly Parton > 54 Aimee Mann > 53 James Taylor > 52 Paul Westerberg > 51 Dan Penn & Spooner Oldham > 50 Public Enemy > 49 Cat Stevens > 48 Gillian Welch / David Rawlings > 47 Sufjan Stevens > 46 David Byrne > 45 Jackson Browne > 44 Al Green > 43 Ryan Adams > 42 Loretta Lynn > 41 Ray Davies > 40 Burt Bacharach & Hal David > 39 Led Zeppelin > 38 Kris Kristofferson > 37 Smokey Robinson > 36 Beck > 35 Steve Earle > 34 John Fogerty > 33 Pete Townshend > 32 Lieber & Stoller > 31 Carole King > 30 John Prine > 29 Tom Petty > 28 Robbie Robertson > 27 Radiohead > 26 REM > 25 Chuck Berry > 24 Jeff Tweedy > 23 Elton John / Bernie Taupin > 22 Lucinda Williams > 21 Lou Reed > 20 Van Morrison > 19 Patty Griffin > 18 U2 > 17 Holland - Dozier- Holland > 16 David Bowie > 15 Willie Nelson > 14 Stevie Wonder > 13 Paul Simon > 12 The Rolling Stones > 11 Randy Newman > 10 Prince > 9 Joni Mitchell > 8 Elvis Costello > 7 Brian Wilson > 6 Leonard Cohen > 5 Paul McCartney > 4 Tom Waits, Kathleen Brennan > 3 Bruce Springsteen > 2 Neil Young > 1 Bob Dylan ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 03 Aug 2006 09:55:32 -0500 From: Timothy Jones-Yelvington Subject: Re: Hayley & Vienna That's the same thing Regina Spektor just did with "Begin to Hope." Place the more accessible material at the beginning and the more interesting material after once you've already got the new folks hooked. I think it works pretty well. On 8/2/06 2:45 PM, "Joseph Zitt" wrote: > wojbearpig wrote: >> you know, another strange thing about this album is that, for me at >> least, the back half is a lot stronger than the front half. "city hall" >> and onward are all much meatier to my ears than the first few songs. >> usually, albums are front-end-loaded, no? > Well, I get the sense that the catchier songs are front-loaded and the > meatier ones are toward the back. The hooks that have gotten stuck in my > head are all from the first few songs. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2006 08:15:47 -0700 (PDT) From: Craig Gidney Subject: Heather Duby Heather Duby's first album, Post to Wire, was an exercise in glacial electronica. Her cool, crystalline voice cast out one-liners and observations against state of the art samples and beats that emphasized atmospheric over harmonics. Her second album, Come Across the River removed the electronic atmospheres, replacing them with standard rock instrumentation augmented with cellos and the occasional odd instrument. It was a wise decision. Between album 1 and album 2, Duby lost the purity of her voice, and sang in lower register with a slight husk (reportedly, a bout with pneumonia caused the damage). Think Lynn Canfield of Area or Margo Timmins with more force. She opted to create moody indie rock ballads that were closer in spirit to such underdog sisters as Aimee Mann and Lisa Germano. The electronica is back in this album, and it meshes well with the template followed on CATR, and her songcraft has expanded. Like Mann, she writes pithy, catchy songs that explore bitterness and regret with wisdom. Her wounded voice gives her songs gravitas that her younger voice lacked. The spaciness of the electronic effects plays nicely against the driving, structured pieces. Highlights include "Gone Aground," with its swirling cello, "Listen" with its driving beat, and the catchy "Dullard, Or Are You A Breakfast Alcolholic". Duby has managed to make an album about depression that doesn't sound depressing. Next-gen email? Have it all with the all-new Yahoo! Mail Beta. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2006 13:01:47 -0400 From: wojbearpig Subject: beth sorrentino at union hall in brooklyn just saw on brooklynvegan that beth will be playing a free show with pete galub at union hall in park slope on friday, august 11th. woj ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2006 09:58:41 -0700 From: Greg Bossert Subject: Re: Top 100 Living Songwriters i agree that such lists are silly in themselves, but they may be worth the bother if only for the indignant conversations they engender. i'll forgo listing everyone i think should have been on the list... but i did find it interesting that Over the Rhine did appear. - -g - -- www.suddensound.com -- ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2006 12:59:42 -0500 From: Joshua Yu Burnett Subject: Re: Top 100 Living Songwriters A month or so ago, there was a discussion about the list on the NPR podcast All Songs Considered. The folks on the podcast (even the ones involved in making the list) had some disagreements with it, but they also pointed out that disagreement was inevitable - and really, the list was never intended to be a be-all-end-all - its purpose was to get people talking about what makes a great songwriter, who should be on the list, etc. Judging from the discussion on Ecto, it looks like it worked! And by the way, if you listen to podcasts and are into music (and if you're on ecto, you are, of course), you should really check out All Songs Considered - it's quite a good podcast. It has a mix of interviews with musicians, panel discussions about music, live performances, and other stuff. It's always enjoyable. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2006 19:58:12 -0700 (PDT) From: "Xenu's Sister" Subject: Don't argue, just go... ...watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XVVkbUwprc - -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Music, all I hear is music, guaranteed to please... Suspended In Gaffa: http://suspended-in-gaffa.com MySpace (streaming shows): http://www.myspace.com/gaffashow Happy Rhodes MySpace profile: http://www.myspace.com/happyrhodes Happy Rhodes song samples and rarities: http://wretchawry.com - -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 03 Aug 2006 22:31:10 -0500 From: "robert bristow-johnson" Subject: Re: Don't argue, just go... > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Xenu's Sister" > To: Ecto > Subject: Don't argue, just go... > Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2006 19:58:12 -0700 (PDT) > > > ...watch this: > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XVVkbUwprc > wow. now i know what Carl Adami looks like. whatever happened to him anyway? who does he play with nowadays? Thanks, Vickie. - -- r b-j rbj@audioimagination.com "Imagination is more important than knowledge." ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 03 Aug 2006 23:04:08 -0500 From: Timothy Jones-Yelvington Subject: Re: Top 100 Living Songwriters Paste frequently genuflects before Linford and Karin. Which they absolutely deserve, I believe. On 8/3/06 11:58 AM, "Greg Bossert" wrote: > i agree that such lists are silly in themselves, but they may be > worth the bother if only for the indignant conversations they engender. > > i'll forgo listing everyone i think should have been on the list... > but i did find it interesting that Over the Rhine did appear. > > -g > -- www.suddensound.com -- ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 03 Aug 2006 23:58:53 -0400 From: meredith Subject: Re: Don't argue, just go... Hi, Xenu's Sister wrote: > ...watch this: > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XVVkbUwprc Wow, it's been ages since I've seen that. Thanks for posting it!!! - -- =============================================== 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: Fri, 04 Aug 2006 00:20:14 -0400 From: "JoAnn Whetsell" Subject: Re: Hayley & Vienna (and mila drumke too) I'm glad to hear that Vienna's new album is growing on people. I've only given it one listen so far and my thoughts are all over the place, so I'll just agree that "Pontchartrain" is beautiful and hope it will grow on me too. Noticed Woj's np on Mila Drumke's new album Radiate. That's another one that hasn't received enough attention yet. Any thoughts? JoAnn -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jon Wesley Huff" To: "this collective heart" Subject: Re: Hayley & Vienna Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2006 00:34:22 -0500 >I'm a huge fan of Vienna and I've seen her live twice. I think she >has >a beautiful voice and her first two albums are treasures to be sure. > >I have to say I was pretty dissapointed by this album at first too. >Nothing really caught me, and nothing had the immediate power of The >Tower, Gravity, Feather Moon, or My Medea. However, with repeated >listens I think the album starts to work its way into your head - >Pontchartrain and City Hall being standouts. ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V12 #205 ***************************