From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V12 #256 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Wednesday, September 27 2006 Volume 12 : Number 256 To unsubscribe: e-mail ecto-digest-request@smoe.org and put the word unsubscribe in the message body. Today's Subjects: ----------------- Hem, David Mead, LaLa.com and various CDs... ["Southpaw" ] Eddi Reader... [neal copperman ] seattle portland ashland eugene????? [cy ] Re: Eddi Reader... ["Sue Trowbridge" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 10:33:36 -0500 From: "Southpaw" Subject: Hem, David Mead, LaLa.com and various CDs... Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Hem play in St. Louis, at Blueberry Hill, in the Duck Room. This is the place where Chuck Berry plays every month. The stage is probably in around 15-30'. Not very big, but more than enough room for your standard 3-5 piece band. Hem defied the laws of stage physics, and had 10 members on the stage, including a harp, violin, and clarinet. I had seen Hem two times before, but they had never come sporting 10 members. It was an amazing show. Haunting and beautiful. They performed mainly songs from their new CD Funnel Cloud, but also pulled out some fan favorites from their previous releases. They put on one of the most solid shows I have seen. Everything is so perfect. The timing, the sound, the mood. It's all amazing. David Mead opened the show. I have never had the pleasure of seeing him, but was very impressed. His sound reminds me a lot of Sondre Lerche with a bit of Badly Drawn Boy. In addition, I couldn't help thinking, while listening to him, that if I were to make a movie he would provide at least part of the soundtrack. I liked David Mead so much I added him to my LaLa.com want list, and sure enough this AM I was told I have a CD on it's way! LaLa is my latest addition! In a little over a month, I have already traded away about 40 CDs, and received 40, some of which I have been looking for, for a few years. I honestly can't believe some of the CDs I have been able to trade away. If anyone is interested in joining LaLa.com let me know, they do have a referral program setup, so I would appreciate the credit. :-) I also wanted to mention some of my recent CD purchases... Hem - Funnel Cloud Another amazing CD from Hem. This isn't my favorite album they've put out, but it's wonderful none-the-less. This CD offers a fuller sound, with more and richer instrumentation. Barenaked Ladies - Are Me I've been a BNL fan for many years, so I can't pass up a new release. This CD doesn't seem to have the "hit" on it that most of their albums have. There are several catchy songs. My fav songs is "Bank Job," a song about a bank robbery gone awry. All in the entire album isn't bad, but it seems a bit flat compared to some of their better efforts. Guster - Ganging Up On the Sun I was kind of disappointed in Guster's last album "Keep it Together," and feared this album might be going in the same direction, but luckily I was wrong. The sound is a bit more polished and full, but overall more of the "Guster" sound that fans expect. OK GO - Oh No Ok, this isn't Ecto at all, but OK GO is just a fun band. If you haven't seen any of their videos, hit up YouTube and check them out. They are a good laugh. The band also puts on a good live show, and the CD makes for a good pick-me-up, high energy, CD. Enough rambling for now... Wade A. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 13:09:36 -0700 From: "paul kim" Subject: vienna, carina, and other music Just saw Vienna Teng at the Hotel Cafe last night. Lovely show as always, marred by a few things, though. The mic on the upright piano was distorting, her vocals and Marika's cello were a little low in the mix, and Vienna seemed to have a tired voice, as she missed a few notes during a couple songs. Still, it makes me happy to see how confident she's become on stage, and how tight the arrangements and playing are with Marika and Dina. Marika Hughes, by the way, had flown in from N.Y. just for that performance, and then took the Red Eye back so that she could play with Sean Lennon on Letterman tonight. I'm really liking Dreaming Through the Noise. As of yet, I'm not hearing a cohesiveness to the album like there was with Warm Strangers, where the sequence of tracks really flowed. However, the individual songs all do share a certain quality that feels more mature. I especially LOOOOOOVE Pontchartrain. So danny elfmanesque. And Kyler does bg vox on City Hall! Yay! Last week, I caught Kyler at the Hotel Cafe, doing her own set with a band. Very polished, very good. I just hope she gets signed to a label soon. She's too good to go unnoticed. Also on the bill that night was Missy Higgins who is in town working on a new album with I assume Mitchell Froom (she mentioned her producer Mitchell, and he seems like a good fit for her...of course, when you make an assumption, you make an ass out of u and mption). Ben Lee joined her on stage for a cover of James' Laid, and there were many Aussies in the house cheering them on. Missy's cute as a button with a lovely voice and a knack for beautiful tunes. Reallly loved her piano-driven ones. She's back at the Hotel this Wednesday for another set, preceded this time by a local girl named Priscilla Ahn, who has been touring with Joshua Radin, playing piano and singing backgrounds for him. I've seen her solo and fell in love with her voice; i've also seen her join Josh on stage and Schuyler Fisk (who I haven't warmed to). Here's hoping she gets together enough songs and time to do a full album. Skipping around, Monday of last week, I saw Carina Round again, playing mostly solo, with her guitarist joining in on a few songs. Even without the band, she commanded the stage. That girl has presence. And boy can she wail. I was mesmerized. She's doing full band gigs almost every week at the Viper Room through October, so it looks like she's living in L.A. for a while. The album continues to be pushed back, however, this time to January or February of next year. *sigh* What else...this Friday I'll be seeing Tristan Prettyman opening for Guster and Nada Surf. If you like easygoing singer-songwriting like Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz, only with girl vocals, you'll probably like Tristan. Saturday I'll probably be seeing the polarizing (hee hee) Charlotte Martin. I really like the direction her new stuff is going in. Hopefully, I'll see Terami there in the audience. A few things I've been digging: Let's Go Sailing, wonderful light indie-pop (http://myspace.com/letsgosailing); Ferraby Lionheart, beck meets elliot smith meets hank williams; Adrianne's major label debut!; Bic Runga at Largo for her only U.S. apperances for a while (boooo!); Meiko, a hotel cafe find that pleasantly surprised me (http://myspace.com/meiko). That's enough rambling from me for now. Paul ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 17:05:41 -0600 From: neal copperman Subject: Eddi Reader... I've been listening to Eddi Reader sings the songs of Robert Burns lately and have found it to be a wonderful, charming CD. I don't have any of her other CD's for comparison, but I'd think about it based on this one. (Though I've been meaning to track down Mirmama for years.) I know Eddi falls on the sweeter side for some, and I suspect this album might fall into that category. Then again, it's got a nice traditional feel that might balance that out. There are lots of samples at eddireader.com My fave is the lilting upbeat "Charlie is My Darling". ========= I wish I had more time to see Gjallarhorn at our festival. They music drifting across the plaza during their afternoon workshop was stunning, and the snippets of the show I saw was also excellent. A very intriguing band with a complex, intricate live sound. neal np: Camille podcast interview ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 20:20:53 -0700 From: cy Subject: seattle portland ashland eugene????? no one knows of any cool places in seattle that would like a trance vocal duo? or anyone who does house concerts in oregon or washington? Please tell your friends it's as if Dead Can Dance was asking where should we play? They are a duo with world instruments and a killer female singer and some electronica, the closest sound to us I can think of. I never heard back from anyone, maybe I missed that list. I am only up north based in Portland thru Oct & perhaps the first weekend in November. Any ideas would be so very welcome and will be rewarded with albums. Send contacts to me cy@landoftheblind.com thank you Cyoakha Grace ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 00:16:18 -0400 From: "Sue Trowbridge" Subject: Re: Eddi Reader... On 9/26/06, neal copperman wrote: > ========= > > I wish I had more time to see Gjallarhorn at our festival. They > music drifting across the plaza during their afternoon workshop was > stunning, and the snippets of the show I saw was also excellent. A > very intriguing band with a complex, intricate live sound. My husband and I drove 1,100 miles from the Bay Area to attend Neal's festival, Globalquerque!, and it was so worth it! If you're into world music, you should put the '07 festival on your calendar. It's a lot of fun, and Albuquerque is a terrific city to visit. Gjallarhorn were indeed amazing; I also loved Curumin (Brazil) and the hit of the festival, Tuvan throat singers Chirgilchin. - --Sue ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V12 #256 ***************************