From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V12 #260 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Sunday, October 1 2006 Volume 12 : Number 260 To unsubscribe: e-mail ecto-digest-request@smoe.org and put the word unsubscribe in the message body. Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Charlotte Martin question ["Xenu's Sister" ] Re: Charlotte Martin question [neal copperman ] ecto hotel [meredith ] Issa (Jane Siberry) article [dan st*rk <2005.carnivore99@verizon.net>] Re: Re: Charlotte Martin question ["Jon Wesley Huff" Subject: Re: Charlotte Martin question - --- neal copperman wrote: > Can anyone who has seen Charlotte on her recent tour tell me > if she performs solo or with a band? Jon's right, it's just Char and a drummer. Here are some pictures from her amazing Chicago show. http://www.rhodeshows.com/otherlive/CharlotteMartin/CM_09-17-06/ I heart CharMar. Vickie - -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Music, all I hear is music, guaranteed to please... Suspended In Gaffa: http://suspended-in-gaffa.com MySpace (streaming music): http://www.myspace.com/gaffashow Happy Rhodes MySpace profile: http://www.myspace.com/happyrhodes Happy Rhodes song samples: http://wretchawry.com/happy/samples - -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2006 07:14:49 -0600 From: neal copperman Subject: Re: Charlotte Martin question Looks like a cool, funky show! Thanks for the info Jon, and the pictures Vickie. neal At 12:57 AM -0700 9/30/06, Xenu's Sister wrote: >--- neal copperman wrote: > >> Can anyone who has seen Charlotte on her recent tour tell me >> if she performs solo or with a band? > >Jon's right, it's just Char and a drummer. Here are some >pictures from her amazing Chicago show. > >http://www.rhodeshows.com/otherlive/CharlotteMartin/CM_09-17-06/ > >I heart CharMar. > >Vickie > >-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ > >Music, all I hear is music, guaranteed to please... > >Suspended In Gaffa: http://suspended-in-gaffa.com >MySpace (streaming music): http://www.myspace.com/gaffashow > >Happy Rhodes MySpace profile: http://www.myspace.com/happyrhodes >Happy Rhodes song samples: http://wretchawry.com/happy/samples >-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2006 13:27:07 -0400 From: meredith Subject: ecto hotel Hi, I've had occasion to stay at a DoubleTree hotel the past couple days, and the music playing in the lobby is the most ecto-rific piped-in music I've ever encountered. When I checked in the other night a Paula Cole song was just finishing up, and was immediately followed by Vienna Teng's "Whatever You Want" (which just about made me fall over from shock). During my time here I have heard Sam Phillips (currently playing), Over The Rhine, Cowboy Junkies, Natalie Merchant, Jewel (her new record), Edie Brickell & New Bohemians (their most excellent new record), Emm Gryner ... the playlist is predominantly female, and it's pretty damned cool. If the line at the front desk ever lets up, I'll have to ask where it's coming from. - -- =============================================== 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: Sat, 30 Sep 2006 13:31:51 -0400 From: dan st*rk <2005.carnivore99@verizon.net> Subject: Issa (Jane Siberry) article Some nice Issa coverage from todays' Globe & Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060930.wxsiberry30/BNStory/Entertainment/home http://images.theglobeandmail.com/v5/images/newspaper/20060930/sectionR-490.jpg?d=20060930 (Image) Just a knapsack and her Manolos Singer-songwriter Jane Siberry (now Issa) has divested herself of her name, master recordings, house, car . . . and she's giving her music away for free, writes ALEXANDRA GILL. 'It may not be right for everyone, but it feels good for me. It feels more in line with the planet,' Issa says ALEXANDRA GILL VANCOUVER -- Issa, the artist formerly known as Jane Siberry, carries herself far more stylishly than the typical vagabond. Mind you, there is nothing remotely typical about the iconoclastic Canadian musician who, in addition to shedding her birth name, has recently disposed of her house in Toronto, broken-down car, electric guitar, master recordings and almost all her worldly possessions. Oh, she has also stopped making CDs, transferred all her music into cyberspace and is now giving it away for free or for whatever price her fans think is fair. And no, she doesn't consider herself crazy. Looking blissfully relaxed yet radiantly refined, the wandering minstrel sits down to a light lunch at the Sylvia Hotel in Vancouver. The bare essentials need not be grungy, she explains, toying with an exquisite choker of costume pearls twisted around her neck and pointing to the soft suede pair of Manolo Blahnik designer pumps on her feet. "I kept my most elegant clothes," says Issa, who changed her name in June and has lived out of a single knapsack since January, staying in hotels wherever her tour schedule or whims might take her. "But everything has to roll up," she cautions. "And I only wear thong underwear now because it's super-light." Although the decision to rid oneself of all material possessions might seem wildly eccentric to some, this carefree way of living is a comfortable fit for the enigmatic 50-year-old singer-songwriter, whose catalogue spans pop, jazz, electronica, traditional hymns, children's lullabies and experimental sound collages (including snippets from yoga classes, voicemail messages and cab rides). During a career that was launched with the release of Jane Siberry in 1981 and No Borders Here in 1984, but really took off in 1993 with her breakthrough album When I Was A Boy (featuring a duet with k.d. lang on Calling All Angels), the quirky artist now known as Issa has written about flying cows and squirrels crossing a highway, recorded a critically praised album with Bryan Ferry, collaborated with everyone from Peter Gabriel to Barney the Dinosaur, been featured on numerous film and television soundtracks (Pedro Almodovar's Talk to Her and HBO's Six Feet Under among them) and founded her own label, SHEEBA Records. The only constant rhythm in her eclectic repertoire has been a fearless quest for independence and innovation. So in many respects, this bold plunge into a new phase of life actually looks more like a seamless transition. "It may not be right for everyone, but it feels good for me. It feels more in line with the planet," says Issa, speaking in hushed tones and pausing frequently. "I do believe the consciousness of the planet is changing, the vibrations are rising a little bit," she adds matter-of-factly. "Maybe it's because I'm in the public eye and talking about what I've done, but I see signs all around. People come forward and tell me they are getting rid of things and changing their careers or quitting their jobs without a safety net. Instead of going inch by inch, they've decided to take a big leap." In Issa's case, the choice to simplify life was a creative one. After nearly a decade of running her own label, she had found the day-to-day administrative duties were seriously getting in the way of making music. The mail-order end of the business was particularly burdensome. What with all the CDs, books and clothing items to be shipped, envelopes to be licked and customers whose credit cards had been declined to chase, she found herself with no time to write. By March of 2005, she had reached her wit's end and decided to shut the label down. Then at the last minute, she had a change of heart and chose to put her entire catalogue on-line so it wouldn't be lost forever. Although she has stopped releasing CDs, fans can now visit Log Cabin, her new all-electronic store at http://www.sheeba.com and download MP3s of her music and artworks. Last November, she went one step further with a new pricing policy that she calls "self-determined transactions." Customers can choose to pay the standard rate of 99 cents per song or contribute whatever amount they deem fair. They can pay immediately, download and pay later, or accept "a gift from Jane" and rip off the entire collection for free. "Like many, I'm restless and impatient with living in a world where people are made to feel like shoplifters rather than intelligent people with a good sense of balance," she writes in the site's Open Letter. Self-determined transactions, the letter continues, are not donations, pay-what-you-can, guilt trips or tests of your integrity. It's simply a way of treating others the way she would prefer to be treated herself. "This makes me feel like I'm completely in alignment with the energy of the music. It's pure and honest. The pricing thing is very wrong. It's so far removed from the nature of music as a sacred thing. "I think there's been a blip," she continues, digging into a humble cheese omelette with a side of French fries. "People receive way too much money for music. It's become a way to make money, but it wasn't always that way. I think a lot of people would pay to be a musician. It's such an honourable thing to do." So far, her fans are also proving to be an honourable bunch. At last count, only 17 per cent of Log Cabin's customers were accepting the free gift (37 per cent paid on the spot, with the remaining 46 per cent returning to pay later). Of those handing over cash, the overwhelming majority, 79 per cent, were paying the suggested price (14 per cent paid more and only 8 paid less). Issa admits that the type of music she makes might attract more generous souls than most and that this goodwill system wouldn't work for everyone. But even if the pricing policy weren't working so well, she says she would never return to a more conventional way of running a business. "I'm so determined not to move into a policing mentality again," she says firmly. "I'll never go backwards." The next step forward in her personal sloughing off of possessions came last January, when the artist (still then known as Jane Siberry) sold her house and either auctioned or gave away all its contents, including most of her clothes, books, instruments, jewellery, letters, papers and hours of raw concert footage (the latter went straight into the trash). There were a few things she couldn't bear to part with -- family Bibles, special books, photos, a collection of Miles Davis CDs. It's all packed into 10 cardboard boxes and stored in a rental locker in Toronto. "It was a relief," says Issa, who promptly left for a European tour after ditching it all in a single weekend. Home is now where the art is. She has no address, save for a post-office box in Vancouver. Her only bill is for a cellphone. She owns two pairs of shoes -- the Manolos, plus a pair of sneakers -- and carries everything in a knapsack. She rents guitars wherever she happens to be performing, usually solo, accompanied by a pre-recorded backing track. A new name seemed like a natural next step in her personal evolution. Issa (pronounced "eee sah") came to her one day in June, while travelling on a train from London to Brussels. The name is a variation of Jesus in several cultures, including Tibetan, but the musician didn't realize it at the time. "I was working with Isaiah and trying to make it more soft and feminine. Issa just came to me. It was pretty and simple. Unfortunately, there's a cleaning company that owns the domain rights to http://www.issa.com," she adds with a pout. After arriving in Brussels, she rented a studio and recorded 13 new songs. Just as she had hoped, her new pared-down existence seeped into the music. "I am always thinking what more can I let go of, even in the studio. I'm trying to get closer to what I hear in my head," she explains "These days, I'm more efficient. I use fewer words and fewer restrictions. The goal for me is to get as close as I can to what I call 'core' music." In Brussels, for instance, she wrote one bar at a time, refusing to move on to the next bar until she had every horn line, piano, drumbeat and lyric down pat. "It's a different way of writing," she says. "And it's definitely easier. You just sit there and don't do anything until you hear the next chord. There's no self-doubt, there's no second-guessing. It's just you, without the normal filters and clutter. It's pure, unless you screw up by letting your brain get in the way." Or your shoes. - --- ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2006 23:09:00 -0500 From: "Jon Wesley Huff" Subject: Re: Re: Charlotte Martin question The show I saw was amazing. I should mention, I chatted with her a second during the signing and said that I loved her cover of 100 Years. Her eyes lit up and said she was a huge Happy Rhodes fan and that she wanted her to come on tour with her, but she sort of dissapeared. That would have been awesome! On 9/30/06, neal copperman wrote: > Looks like a cool, funky show! Thanks for the info Jon, and the > pictures Vickie. > > neal > > At 12:57 AM -0700 9/30/06, Xenu's Sister wrote: > >--- neal copperman wrote: > > > >> Can anyone who has seen Charlotte on her recent tour tell me > >> if she performs solo or with a band? > > > >Jon's right, it's just Char and a drummer. Here are some > >pictures from her amazing Chicago show. > > > >http://www.rhodeshows.com/otherlive/CharlotteMartin/CM_09-17-06/ > > > >I heart CharMar. > > > >Vickie > > > >-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ > > > >Music, all I hear is music, guaranteed to please... > > > >Suspended In Gaffa: http://suspended-in-gaffa.com > >MySpace (streaming music): http://www.myspace.com/gaffashow > > > >Happy Rhodes MySpace profile: http://www.myspace.com/happyrhodes > >Happy Rhodes song samples: http://wretchawry.com/happy/samples > >-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 01 Oct 2006 01:15:10 -0400 From: "JoAnn Whetsell" Subject: RE: Hem, David Mead, LaLa.com and various CDs... Thanks for the review, Wade. Sounds like a great show. I saw Hem for the first time on the 10th, in Seattle. It was a great show, but we didn't have violin or harp! There were 7 or 8 people on stage playing keyboards, drums, mandolin, bass, and several kinds of guitars, as well as Sally and her unborn child (I guess he would be person 8 or 9). The drummer was borrowed from Ollabelle (the opening act), and Amy Helm (also of Ollabelle) sang along with Sally on "Too Late to Turn Back Now." (She also sings on the album version.) They played mostly songs from Funnel Cloud, of course, but managed to play just about all of my favorite songs from Rabbit Songs and Eveningland including "Half Acre" and "Carry Me Home." It was a great show, not very different from the studio versions, but wonderful to hear live as that always has a different energy. They were really rocking out on the third encore, "The Pills Stopped Working," but I had to leave early to catch a bus I ended up missing. Oh well. It was worth it. I highly recommend checking them out if they come to a city near you. The new album Funnel Cloud is not as lush as before. It has a fuller sound, more of a band sound, and more country-rock influence. They continue to be meticulous craftsmen, and it is a very good album, though not my favorite of theirs. But I like that they tweak their sound with each release instead of standing still. It always takes a little getting used to (this happened with Eveningland too), but after a few listens, I can't understand why I didn't love it at the first listen. JoAnn -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Southpaw" Reply-To: To: Subject: Hem, David Mead, LaLa.com and various CDs... Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 10:33:36 -0500 >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. ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V12 #260 ***************************