From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V14 #4 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Tuesday, January 6 2009 Volume 14 : Number 004 To unsubscribe: e-mail ecto-digest-request@smoe.org and put the word unsubscribe in the message body. Today's Subjects: ----------------- Today's your birthday, friend... [Mike Matthews ] Re: Elk City Dreampop ["Paul Blair" ] Re: must . . . stop . . . hitting repeat . . . ["Marcel Rijs" ] Sarina Simoom [Neile Graham ] Re: Was Best of 2008...Now worst. [birdie ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2009 03:00:04 -0500 (EST) From: Mike Matthews Subject: Today's your birthday, friend... i*i*i*i*i*i i*i*i*i*i*i *************** *****HAPPY********* **************BIRTHDAY********* *************************************************** *************************************************************************** ********************** Paul Cohen (no Email address) ********************** *************************************************************************** -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Paul Cohen Tue January 05 1954 Capricorn Tony Garrity Mon January 08 1962 Pool of Life Greg Bossert Tue January 09 1962 OfTheTimes Troy J. Shadbolt Thu January 14 1971 Capricorn Chris Sampson Wed January 15 1964 Void where prohibited Alex Bertran Fri January 15 1971 Capricorn Denis G Parslow Fri January 17 1964 ...of the Saint Ross Alford Thu January 17 1957 Positive Sarah Morayati Tue January 17 1989 Capricorn Nancy Whitney Mon January 19 1959 slippery when wet Sarah Noelle Pratt Ferguson Tue January 20 1970 Seanympf-Aquarius David Beery Tue January 20 1976 drum Terry Partis Sun January 22 1933 Rocker Steve Hughes Thu January 24 1963 Aquarius Sarah McLachlan Sun January 28 1968 Aquarius Ilka Heber Mon February 01 1965 Mermaid Bob Lovejoy Sun February 02 1947 Aquarius Diane Burke Sat February 02 1963 slow children Timothy S. Devine Tue February 03 1970 Aquarius Stephen Thomas Fri February 04 1966 Aquarius - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2009 07:45:12 -0500 From: "Paul Blair" Subject: Re: Elk City Dreampop On Mon, Jan 5, 2009 at 12:04 AM, robert bristow-johnson wrote: > >> ----- Original Message ----- >> >> Today I was out snowboarding and instead of the usual "classic rock" >> that you usually get on the slopes, the music was more up-to-date and >> occasionally even ecto-friendly. > > where're you at, Paul? are you up my way or spending money in Colorado? > if you be in VT, you might want to check out Higher Ground. sometimes they > have interesting music. This is much closer to NYC--Windham Mountain in the Catskills. But thanks for the tip! ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2009 14:20:08 +0100 From: "Marcel Rijs" Subject: Re: must . . . stop . . . hitting repeat . . . Hi, > On Thu, Jan 1, 2009 at 08:47, F.J.Fornorn wrote: > > That's cool. Makes me wish Mike Oldfield had these digital toys back > > in 1973 for, say, Tubular Bells. > > Personally I'm glad he didn't, Mike has always sound better when his > production is rougher around the edges and when he was wetter behind his > ears. Tubular Bells II & III is a slow decline in pleasure and music for > me, while the first will always be fantastic and - perhaps more pointed! - > more ecto. We actually know how Tubular Bells I sounds with digital toys, since he did this remake a couple of years ago. Sure, it is a remake, but it also shows that it sounds a bit smoother - but also less interesting. That, also, could be a result of us knowing the original of course, but still. Personally I think Tubular Bells III is his best, although I realise I'm going against the general opinion with that. I was amazed to find out yesterday (thanks to Wikipedia) that he actually moved to Spain last year because he didn't agree with the smoking bans in Britain. It always amazes me when people think an addiction is something the rest of the world should have consideration with. What a dumb man... Kind regards, Marcel Rijs. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2009 14:37:39 +0100 From: "Alexander Johannesen" Subject: Re: must . . . stop . . . hitting repeat . . . On Mon, Jan 5, 2009 at 14:20, Marcel Rijs wrote: > We actually know how Tubular Bells I sounds with digital toys, since he > did this remake a couple of years ago. Sure, it is a remake, but it also > shows that it sounds a bit smoother - but also less interesting. That, > also, could be a result of us knowing the original of course, but still. I was lucky in the sense that I came to Mike's music very late, so I had TB I & II and all the others to pick from. I agree with others about Ommadawn and Incantations being closer to the raw wonderfulness of TB I. For me, TB II is the weakest in the sense of musicality, but one of the better for technical brilliance (some of the sounds produced has amazing), yet TB III stands as an updated version of TB II. However, my kids have started with TB II and love it, so I think I can appreciate the view that it all depends on what you know before you listen to something. I even think TB I would bore my kids at this point, while TB II is boppy and modern enough. > Personally I think Tubular Bells III is his best, although I realise I'm > going against the general opinion with that. Worse, it's heresy! :) Then again, I'm more and more inclined to not judge Mike's output as separate works but as a long progression where even individual "weaker" items *must* be there to underline the output as a whole. Even the weaker items become brilliance as such (for example, "Heavens Open" is a half-arsed album [good tunes, but cheaper and cheesier], but vitally important contextually with "Songs from the balcony" coming through as pure brilliance). > I was amazed to find out > yesterday (thanks to Wikipedia) that he actually moved to Spain last > year because he didn't agree with the smoking bans in Britain. It always > amazes me when people think an addiction is something the rest of the > world should have consideration with. What a dumb man... Well, he's lived in Ibiza for a long time, but I wouldn't trust the smoking ban being the primary reason for his move, no matter how much he would state such. He's a difficult man in more ways than simple addictions. :) Regards, Alex - -- - --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Project Wrangler, SOA, Information Alchemist, UX, RESTafarian, Topic Maps - ------------------------------------------ http://shelter.nu/blog/ -------- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2009 06:26:39 -0800 (PST) From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?anna_maria_stj=E4rnell?= Subject: melody klyman Hi all.. i missed melody klyman on my list..but she's a gifted and very ecto-ish songwriter..Electronic, but lush soundscapes and ethereal voice. her debut SOVEREIGN is highly recommended. melodyklyman.com anna ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2009 10:08:56 -0500 (EST) From: "Donald G. Keller" Subject: a particularly vicious rumor No, I'm not passing on scurrilous gossip; I'm recommending a band, in response to Leonora's request. After years of dialup only at home, I finally have DSL, and am happily battling twin addictions to YouTube and Pandora. And one of the things I discovered on Pandora (among too much repetition of the same songs!) was A Particularly Vicious Rumor. They are a band from New Orleans featuring a female pianist and male drummer; play a cabaret-ish style with fairly jagged rhythms and medium dissonance; a world-weary vocal style with sharp lyrics; currently they are on hiatus and the pianist (who styles herself Lady O) has put out a solo album under the name Ladybabymiss. Yes, the similarities to The Dresden Dolls are rather startling, but I think entirely coincidental. I liked the samples of the album enough that I picked it up as a download from CDBaby (the Ladybabymiss album is available as CD only from them as well), and it's proved to be one of my discoveries of the year. Pandora also introduced me to Jill Tracy, whom I like as well but didn't strike me as strongly; I'll probably pick up some of her stuff as time goes on, however. I think anybody who likes The Dresden Dolls will probably like both Jill Tracy and A Particularly Vicious Rumor. On the other hand...I've seen Elk City here in NYC a couple of times, and found them rather underwhelming. I much prefer their good buddies Hula. That same dread word--underwhelming--also describes my reaction to Frida Hyvonen; I happened to catch part of a set she played in NYC this past year, and I'm surprised so many here on ecto are so enthusiastic about her. I've heard much less about Kate Havnevik, whose album was another excellent recent discovery for me. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2009 20:12:03 -0800 From: Neile Graham Subject: Sarina Simoom Hey, all-- Sarina Simoom has re-surfaced with a digital-only (so far, except at shows I gather) ep. Check out their site for info. Tracks also available at amazon.com and their MySpace page and probably iTunes. http://www.sarinasimoom.com" http://www.myspace.com/sarinasimoom From my brief listen, I think fans of their amazing Thread bone bare will be pleased. - --Neile - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ - - Neile Graham .... neile@sff.net/@zipcon.com ... www.sff.net/people/neile Les Semaines: A Weekly Journal ........ www.sff.net/people/neile/ semaines Editor, The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music ........... www.ectoguide.org Workshop Administrator, Clarion West ................ www.clarionwest.org ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2009 22:22:59 -0800 From: birdie Subject: Re: Was Best of 2008...Now worst. On Dec 28, 2008, at 10:08 AM, Marypt51@aol.com wrote: > > I didn't hear this Adrienne person's work, but as to the complaints > above, I can't say that the failure to use loops and backing tracks > would cause me to dislike a person's work. For some, the simpler, > less artificial a work is, the more powerful and real. It depends on > the person's talent and ability to convey feeling with what they > record. I wouldn't want to hear, for example, a great gospel or > blues singer drowned in atmospheric loop trappings. There are > performers who have the ability to move people a capella, for that > matter, more than some with full orchestration depending on what > they sing and how they sing it. Oh, the issue is about too much strum strum strumming...as in bore bore boring.....very 2 dimensional. Looping and samples can create all kinds of atmosphere and for that - you do not need loads of layers... You just need a good ear and some taste. an insecure player that over plays and adds all sorts of bits that were never there to begin with on the record...isn't something fans appreciate, either, anymore than a singer appreciates a drummer that overplays and speeds things up.... With looping stations now - you can become an amazing one person band....whether thats Imogen Heap or Carina Round. > Although I might have certain instrumentation preferences, I try to > listen with a mind to receive what an artist is trying to express. > If they seem like they are trying and inspired, I will usually feel > something from it. I don't necessarily need an artist to load up on > layered complexities to sense some magic. Oh, I agree - the issue is that any hope of magic was strum strum strummed out of the picture.... > > > There are those who are good at atmospheric layering, which is part > of their self expression, and that is great too, but I don't expect > everyone to do the same mode of expression. Also sometimes artifice > gets on my nerves. In the late 1980s, many bands were into synthetic > drums, a very popular trend at the time. I preferred the old > fashioned non-synthetic drums during that period. But I tried not to > hold it against those who insisted on using them at the time even > though I found the synth drums had a phony sound to them that I > tried to put aside in focusing on what realness and energy did come > through from the singer. A few like The Human League and Erasure could convey it - but, on the most part the synth drums came over from Disco...and morphed with the Linn Drum into R&B, Pop, New Wave et al. > > > Also some artists start out more derivative than they wind up > (including the Beatles, who started out playing covers); there is a > period of development that people go through. This is true, but so...I tend to view artists on how mature they are... (this has nothing to do with age) .if they are playing other peoples songs, badly - I say - they need to stay in the bedroom and keep practicing....you don't say, as a promoter - book them - or even dream of booking them again, if you discover they are at that level... It's just unprofessional and people will remember that.... > For some, interpreting the songs of others may be what their gift > is, but for others, creating increasingly complex original works may > be their path. I don't think one gift is superior to another. > Everybody has a different gift including those who are not musically > inclined. Again, I totally agree but people who mess up great songs cos they poorly interpret them, I cannot defend. > > The few times I've ever uttered a criticism of some artist in the > past I have usually come to both change my mind and also to regret > having made the comment so my timidity shouldn't make others afraid > to opine. In this case, people I know - agreed and other people on this list - who I respect - came to all the same conclusions... Sometimes people are creations more of who they have around them (producers, band, songwriters, etc) than they are of their own stand alone talent....therefore, someone who should have been left in the bedroom to play can totally tank them.... I mean, if anyone is stuck with a crummy guitarist....it's a known problem....people hear it - see it. No hiding. > > And you're right, sometimes a good producer can pull some > interesting sounds from an artist. > > Sometimes, it's better to stay home and work on an act than take off with one where your audience isn't gonna like it! Let alone the venues bookers! But, hey....some people need to learn the hard way. ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V14 #4 *************************