From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V13 #348 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Tuesday, December 25 2007 Volume 13 : Number 348 To unsubscribe: e-mail ecto-digest-request@smoe.org and put the word unsubscribe in the message body. Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: 2007 notables [Timothy Jones-Yelvington ] Re: 2007 notables [meredith ] Re: ecto-digest V13 #347 [kevin bartlett ] i'm dreaming of a fuzzy blue christmas! [Greg Bossert ] Note to the future ["Xenu's Sister" ] Re: Note to the future ["Paul Blair" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2007 07:30:03 -0600 From: Timothy Jones-Yelvington Subject: Re: 2007 notables Yay!!! I'm glad to finally see someone else choose my same number 1. "Summer Storm Journals" is high art. What didn't you like about the Johnette Napolitano? It was sort of one of my honorable mentions. I don't love every track, but it has a lot of really intense, visceral stuff, the title track in particular. But I hadn't ever heard her before downloading, so had no expectations. I didn't write about disappointments when I posted my list because I wanted to focus on the good things. But... I found Lucinda Williams's "West," Patty Griffin's "Children Running Through" and Over the Rhine's "Trumpet Child" were the closest I got to disappointments. Oh, and also Rilo Kiley's "Under the Blacklight" and New Pornographer's "Challengers." After the awesome eccentricity of "Ruby Blue," Roisin Murphy's much more conventional "Overpowered" is a little bit disappointing, although I still listen a lot. Oh, and Joni Mitchell's "Shine." Definitely, definitely a disappointment. Paula Cole's "Courage" is too lovely and tasteful, and it's too thrilling to hear her voice again, to call it a disappointment. But it certainly doesn't hit her previous highs. ~tim On 12/24/07 12:47 AM, "meredith" wrote: > Hi, > > Reading through everyone's best-of lists for this year, I am shamed by how few > '07 releases I > actually had the time to get to know. So no "top 10" or anything from me this > year ... I can only > make a few quick notes, and keep the lists y'all have posted so I know what to > track down and > concentrate on ASAP. > > I can, however, say without hesitation that the best thing I heard all year > was Noe Venable's _The > Summer Storm Journals_. Pure frickin' genius. This one will be unfolding > itself for a long time to > come. > > Probably the '07 release I've spent the most time with is Tori's _American > Doll Posse_. It hasn't > supplanted _Scarlet's Walk_ as "album I dial up on the iPod whenever I 'just > want to listen to some > Tori'", and probably never will ... but it's not even in the same galaxy as > _The Beekeeper_, and > that's a good thing. > > I heartily endorse Christine Fellows' _Nevertheless_. Even though I've only > had a chance to listen > to it twice so far I can tell it's brilliant like everything else she's done, > and I can't wait to > get to know it better. > > Also, thanks to those who reminded me that Kristin Hersh's _Learn To Sing Like > A Star_ came out this > year, too. I loved this record, and gave it a lot of spins early in the year. > The shows I saw on > the release tour were great, too. > > > Others of note: > > * Metric, _Grow Up And Blow Away_ (technically the band's turn-of-the-century > debut that never > really saw the light of day, but an '07 release and thus it counts ... great > stuff for all > Metric/Emily Haines fans) > > * Nerissa & Katryna Nields, _Sister Holler_ (Nerissa brilliantly puts together > her own take on > several folk songs that came before, under the aegis of "good artists > borrow/great artists steal" > ... and our own Jeff Wasilko did the photo shoot!) > > * Susan Werner, _The Gospel Truth_ (perhaps the world's first "agnostic Gospel > album") > > * Erin McKeown, _Lafayette_ (wonderful live recording of an incredible show at > Joe's Pub in NYC, > which woj and I attended ... does a great job capturing the experience of > seeing one of the best > live performers of our generation in concert) > > * Suzanne Vega, _Beauty and Crime_ (not her strongest release ever, but still > a cool collection of > songs about life in New York City) > > * Feist, _The Reminder_ (ubiquitous, yes, and for a reason ... not as good as > _Let It Die_, but that > was one tough act to follow) > > * St. Vincent, _Marry Me_ (warped and wonderful) > > > Biggest disappointment: > > Johnette Napolitano, _Scarred_ (After her performance at SXSW utterly blew me > away I had really > high expectations for this, absolutely none of which were fulfilled. I'm glad > I used free iTunes > credits, and didn't actually pay money for this. Sigh. :/) > > > Musical discovery of the year: > > * Lindsay Mac (Plays cello standing up like it's a guitar ... she's a really > good live performer, > though that doesn't quite come through in her recording. Definitely has a lot > of potential though, > and is worth checking out on stage for sure.) > > > Most notable live performances: > > * Mary Timony at SXSW > * Johnette Napolitano at SXSW > * Susan Werner and friends at Club Passim, Cambridge, MA (the secret "Leonia > Teaneck" show ;) > * The Nields at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Hillsdale, NY > * Neko Case at the Green River Festival, Greenfield, MA > * Erin McKeown at the Gramercy Theater, NYC ("Lafayette" CD Release show) > * Ashley Maher at Googie's Lounge, NYC > * Akiko Higashikawa at Ebisu Switch, Tokyo (what happens when a young Japanese > woman has Ben Folds, > His Name is Alive, and Brian Eno on her iPod and is a kickass pianist and > composer? Pure gold) > * Rachael Sage with string quartet at Joe's Pub, NYC (yeah, yeah, I know ... > but seriously, Rachael > + strings = love) > ... and the two times Trina Hamlin came and played at our house were pretty > damn cool, too. :) > > > I'm sure I forgot a bunch of stuff, but that's what my addled brain can > conjure up for now. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2007 11:39:56 -0500 From: meredith Subject: Re: 2007 notables Hi, Timothy Jones-Yelvington wrote: > What didn't you like about the Johnette Napolitano? It was sort of one of my > honorable mentions. I don't love every track, but it has a lot of really > intense, visceral stuff, the title track in particular. I think if I hadn't seen Johnette perform a lot of the songs just standing there with her guitar, putting them out there into a room that was packed to the gills yet *dead* quiet, I would've liked it a lot better. That performance was utterly transcendent. I guess a lot of it sounds overproduced to me ... I really need to give it another shot, but my initial reaction was so negative I haven't been all that motivated. > But I hadn't ever heard her before downloading, so had no expectations. I hadn't heard her solo stuff, but I was always a big fan of Concrete Blonde (and got to see them on their last tour, yay). I love love love her voice, and she's just a kickass person in general. Merry Merry to all for whom the term implies, - -- =============================================== 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: Mon, 24 Dec 2007 12:33:36 -0500 From: kevin bartlett Subject: Re: ecto-digest V13 #347 > Hey All ! Happy, safe, joyous, peaceful Christmas and whatever else you celebrate. KB ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2007 15:53:10 -0500 From: Greg Bossert Subject: i'm dreaming of a fuzzy blue christmas! ditto what Kevin said. merry footahs to all! - -g On Dec 24, 2007, at 12:33 PM, kevin bartlett wrote: >> Hey All ! > Happy, safe, joyous, peaceful Christmas and whatever else you > celebrate. > KB - -- www.suddensound.com --- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2007 19:50:59 -0800 (PST) From: "Xenu's Sister" Subject: Note to the future Since this will go into the archives and will hopefully survive...to future music historians, musicoligists, Happy scholars and Happy fans. I know, right? If I had the words, I could describe just how depressing and painful it is to keep reading Best of 2007 lists on a Happy Rhodes mailing list, that don't include Happy's brilliant album, her 11th, and her first in 9 years. But I don't have the words. "Do you understand this, 'cause I don't People either leave you Or they fail you That's all" Vickie ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2007 22:43:50 -0600 From: "Paul Blair" Subject: Re: Note to the future I've been noticing that too. I keep meaning to post something about _Find Me_ but haven't because I didn't know quite what to say. Happy's music took a turn with _Many Worlds are Born Tonight_--I can't put my finger on it exactly. Some descriptions say that the music is more polished, more mature. I'm not sure that really gets to the heart of it, but I felt a clear divide. It's not that I dislike MWABT--I remember one afternoon in particular when I walked all over Croton-on-Hudson in the rain listening to it--but it's not the Happy Rhodes I'd originally signed up for. And to me _Find Me_ continues in that same direction. That said, I'm crazy about "Find Me" the song; it's the one song on the album I can really connect with emotionally. The other beautiful, brightly polished gems on the album keep me at arm's length. On Dec 24, 2007 9:50 PM, Xenu's Sister wrote: > Since this will go into the archives and will hopefully survive...to future music historians, > musicoligists, Happy scholars and Happy fans. > > I know, right? If I had the words, I could describe just how depressing and painful it is to keep > reading Best of 2007 lists on a Happy Rhodes mailing list, that don't include Happy's brilliant > album, her 11th, and her first in 9 years. But I don't have the words. > > "Do you understand this, 'cause I don't > People either leave you > Or they fail you > That's all" > > Vickie ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V13 #348 ***************************