From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V13 #291 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Sunday, October 28 2007 Volume 13 : Number 291 To unsubscribe: e-mail ecto-digest-request@smoe.org and put the word unsubscribe in the message body. Today's Subjects: ----------------- Find Me review: Babyblaue Seiten (in German) ["Xenu's Sister" ] Re: Find Me review: Babyblaue Seiten (in German) ["Xenu's Sister" Subject: Find Me review: Babyblaue Seiten (in German) I'm going to try and remember to use that Subject Line so that I can easily find these in the future using an alphabetical search. I've written the writer to ask for an English translation so I could use part of this on Happy's CD Baby page. I've gotten the gist from Bablefish and Google translator. He likes it! ============================= http://babyblaue-seiten.de/album_8563.html Ich muss gestehen, damit hdtte ich nicht mehr gerechnet: neun Jahre nach ihrem letzten Album meldet sich die amerikanische Sdngerin Happy Rhodes mit Find Me wieder zur|ck. Urspr|nglich sollte die neue CD schon 2001 erscheinen, aber verschiedene Dinge kamen dazwischen: Rauswurf beim alten Label, eine erzwungene Arbeitspause wegen einer Handverletzung, finanzielle Probleme. Personell hat sich einiges gedndert, der langjdhrige musikalische Weggefdhrte Kevin Bartlett ist nicht mehr dabei, daf|r ist auf fast allen St|cken Happy Rhodes' Ehemann Bob Muller am Schlagzeug und diversen exotischen Schlaginstrumenten zu hvren. Den kennt mancher vielleicht von den Soloplatten des Ex-Crimsos Trey Gunn, der hier ebenfalls mitmacht, wenn auch nur auf einem Titel. Schlie_lich wdre an proggiger Prominenz noch Hansford Rowe (vormals u.a. bei Gong) zu nennen. Nach so viel Gerede mvchte der eine oder andere vielleicht auch mal was |ber die Musik auf Find Me erfahren. Nun, was Happy Rhodes musikalisch bietet, ist nicht so leicht zu beschreiben (deswegen habe ich mich zwei Absdtze lang darum gedr|ckt). Im Zentrum steht wie immer Happy Rhodes' wandlungsfdhige Stimme, deren Umfang wieder das weite Spektrum von Annie Lennox (Eurythmics) bis zur jungen Kate Bush umfasst. Man vergleiche das ervffnende One And Many mit dem Titelsong und vergegenwdrtige sich dabei, dass es sich jeweils um die gleiche Sdngerin handelt! Die Musik selbst ldsst sich am besten als angeproggte Electronica beschreiben. Wie auf dem Vorgdngeralbum werden Einfl|sse von Trip-Hop bis Ambient eingebracht, wenn Bob Muller zu den Tablas greift (wie z.B. in Little Brother oder She Won't Go), kommt ein Hauch von Ethnomusik dazu. Manche St|cke klingen, als w|rde Kate Bush zu einem Ambient-St|ck von David Sylvian singen (Titelsong), manches erinnert an Peter Gabriel (Queen) oder gar an ruhigere St|cke von Peter Hammill (One And Many). Aber trotz all dieser Vergleiche klingt die Musik stets vvllig eigenstdndig, Happy Rhodes hat ihre ganz eigene musikalische Sprache. Als Zusammenfassung zitiere ich einfach mal die Beschreibung bei CD Baby: Kate Bush meets David Sylvian in a dark alley and they both beat up a very angry Melanie. Nun ja, mit Melanie kenne ich mich nicht so aus, aber ansonsten passt das schon... ============================= ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 15:26:52 -0500 From: kerrywhite@webtv.net (kerry white) Subject: Re: Find Me review: Babyblaue Seiten (in German) Hi, What do the combinations of: "Peter Gabriel (Queen)" and "Peter Hammill (One And Many) mean in English. The other () had the group name in it. These 2 seem to be non sequitur. bye, KrW I'm Peter Pan! I'm perpetually young!! OW!! What's wrong with my back? ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 13:40:51 -0700 (PDT) From: "Xenu's Sister" Subject: Find Me review: ProGGnosis I posted about this, but I'm re-posting so I can use my Subject line convention. ================================== http://www.proggnosis.com/MUSIC_DBCDInfo.asp?txtCDID=24146 Some artists put out cds at a very quick pace. Elton John was like that. Steven Wison, in one form or another (Porcupine Tree, Blackfield...), gives us new music every year. Others, like Peter Gabriel and David Gilmour, make us wait so long that you begin to doubt that a new CD will ever come out. Happy Rhodes is in that second category. So, after nearly ten years, when I heard that Find Me was finally there... I was very excited indeed. Not quite as well known as Gabriel and Gilmour :))), Happy Rhodes has been making music for more than two decades. Style wise she is hard to pin down. Some of her music is ambient inspired (think of David Sylvian). She also offers alternative/rock songs with Prog leanings (` la David Bowie for example) and some of her music consists of acoustic songs, often revisiting her own material or doing covers, the side of her I like the most. Another of Happy's qualities is her voice, exceptional being the only way to describe it. Find Me gives us eleven new tracks of original material, and her three musical song styles I just described are featured on the album. There are no fillers on this CD. She took her time to make it and it shows. This is strong stuff indeed. In my opinion, tracks like "Find Me", "Chosen One" and a few others are among her best ever, this because they show Happy's more tender/emotional side, and that the music is more organic, acoustic (less electronic) then on other tracks. More powerfull songs (like "One And Many" for example) also do the trick and add a nice variety to the listening experience. My only slight reservation about Find Me is that a good number of songs (about half) feature a lot of electronic keyboards and programing. I feel some of them would have been even better played with acoustic instruments... but this is me and I consider these songs quite good in the manner they are done. Still I would be curious to hear them live, Happy often choosing the unplugged way of presenting her music. Find Me is an excellent album. Her fans who have been waiting sooo long for a new Happy Rhodes album certainly wont be disappointed. Exception made for her great "unplugged" album The Keep, I would go as far as saying that this is her best ever, and certainly a great place to start in getting to know her music, if you are not familiar with it. Hopefully she won't wait another ten years before putting out another. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 13:46:00 -0700 (PDT) From: "Xenu's Sister" Subject: Re: Find Me review: Babyblaue Seiten (in German) - --- kerry white wrote: > Hi, What do the combinations of: "Peter Gabriel (Queen)" and "Peter > Hammill (One And Many) mean in English. The other () had the group name > in it. These 2 seem to be non sequitur. bye, I'm not quite sure what you're asking. I got the idea that Happy's song "Queen" reminded him of Peter Gabriel, and "One And Many" reminded him of Peter Hammill, and "Find Me" reminded him of David Sylvian. Fantastic comparisons. Vickie ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 17:03:27 -0400 From: meredith Subject: Re: Find Me review: Babyblaue Seiten (in German) Hi, kerry white wrote: > Hi, What do the combinations of: "Peter Gabriel (Queen)" and "Peter > Hammill (One And Many) mean in English. The other () had the group name > in it. These 2 seem to be non sequitur. bye, I tried a hand at a translation and sent it to Vickie ... at the risk of revealing my rapidly-disappearing German knowledge to the world at large, here it is (corrections welcome): * * * I must say, I never counted on this: nine years since her last album, American singer Happy Rhodes is back with _Find Me_. Originally the new CD was supposed to appear in 2001, but various things got in the way: getting dropped from her label, a long hiatus due to hand injury, financial problems. Personnel have also changed; her long-standing musical partner Kevin Bartlett is no longer with her, and now Happy Rhodes' husband Bob Muller is on drums and various exotic percussion instruments on almost every track. Some may already know him from the solo recordings of ex-Crimson Trey Gunn, who also plays here on one song. Another prominent prog name to mention is Hansford Rowe (formerly of Gong, among others). After all this talk, one way or the other something must be said about the music on _Find Me_. Now, what Happy Rhodes does here musically isn't so easy to describe (though I've already printed two paragraphs about it). Up front is as always Happy Rhodes' unbelievable voice, whose range once again spans the spectrum from Annie Lennox (Eurythmics) to the young Kate Bush. One may compare the opening "One And Many" with the title track and be hard pressed to convince yourself that it's the same singer! The music itself is best described as prog-Electronica. While her previous album showed influences from Trip-Hop to Ambient, when Bob Muller plays Tabla (such as on "Little Brother" or "She Won't Go") there is an ethnic sound. Some songs sound like Kate Bush singing on a David Sylvian ambient piece (the title track), some are reminiscent of Peter Gabriel ("Queen") or even a quieter Peter Hammill ("One And Many"). But despite all these comparisons the music stands fully on its own, and Happy Rhodes has her own completely unique sound. To close I will simply quote the CD Baby description: "Kate Bush meets David Sylvian in a dark alley and they both beat up a very angry Melanie." I don't know very much about Melanie, but the rest sounds right to me ... * * * - -- =============================================== 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: Sun, 28 Oct 2007 00:28:53 +0200 From: "Henning Rech" Subject: Re: Find Me review: Babyblaue Seiten (in German) Hi Meth, very well done! I have some minor remarks: > After all this talk, one way or the other something must be said about the music on _Find Me_. 'After all this talk, one or other (of you) wants to know something about the music on _Find Me_. ' > Now, > what Happy Rhodes does here musically isn't so easy to describe (though I've already printed two > paragraphs about it). '(therefore I already shirked this since two paragraphs)' > Up front is as always Happy Rhodes' unbelievable voice, whose range once 'versatile voice' > The music itself is best described as prog-Electronica. "angeproggt" is Denglish slang and means something like 'Electronica with some progressive elements' > While her previous album showed influences 'Like on her previous album she shows influences ....' (in German a typical passive sentence 'werden ... eingebracht' but it should be translated with active verb into English) > from Trip-Hop to Ambient, when Bob Muller plays Tabla (such as on "Little Brother" or "She Won't > Go") there is an ethnic sound. 'an aura of ethnic sound' Henning ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 16:46:33 -0700 (PDT) From: "Xenu's Sister" Subject: Find Me *mp3s* for sale at CD Baby now Happy will send CD Baby more CDs on Monday. In the meantime, if anyone's been waiting for or wanting mp3s, they're now for sale on the CD Baby page. http://cdbaby.com/cd/happyrhodes4 Vickie ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V13 #291 ***************************