From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V14 #195 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Wednesday, July 15 2009 Volume 14 : Number 195 To unsubscribe: e-mail ecto-digest-request@smoe.org and put the word unsubscribe in the message body. Today's Subjects: ----------------- new sarah blasko and jen cloher. [heidi maier ] more blasko and cloher. [heidi maier ] triple j hottest one hundred and lack of women artists ... [heidi maier <] anthologies - a power for good? [Adam Kimmel ] RE: anthologies - a power for good? [Leonora Christina Skov ] Re: anthologies - a power for good? [Timothy Jones-Yelvington ] Re: anthologies - a power for good? [Steve VanDevender ] Re: anthologies - a power for good? [Aly Fields ] Re: anthologies - a power for good? [morayati@email.unc.edu] Anthologies...a power for ["Varker, Patrick" ] noe venable 7.13.09 ["Donald G. Keller" ] Re: anthologies - a power for good? [Tim Jones-Yelvington ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:48:12 +1000 From: heidi maier Subject: new sarah blasko and jen cloher. greetings ecto folk ... i have been listening pretty much exclusively this past week or so to the new records from sarah blasko and jen cloher and the endless sea, both of them australian artists. they're beautiful records, each in their own ways, and definitely worth listening to. the blasko album comes with a limited edition second disc which is called "cinema blasko" and features sarah covering four of her favourite songs from various films -- i'd describe each record as quite sparse and introspective, though when i say sparse i don't necessarily mean quiet or pared back, as both feature songs with instrumentation that can't really be described as sparse. there is just something ... i don't know ... deeply personal and introspective about each. blasko's was written in the wake of a failed romantic relationship and she's mentioned in interviews experiencing a very dark time in her life, writing and recording "as day follows night." as has jen cloher. those who are curious can read a cloher interview in the age: http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/music/cloher-finds-her-inspiration/2009/07/09/1246732415650.html and a blasko piece in the sydney morning herald: http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/music/how-soul-music-saved-sarah-blasko/2009/07/03/1246127687198.html both are touring this year and i'm really looking forward to seeing them again! also: aimee mann is touring australia! FINALLY! :) i recently saw victoria williams and vic chesnutt and that was a *very* good show ... warmly, heidi. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:54:29 +1000 From: heidi maier Subject: more blasko and cloher. oops ... i'm sorry. i hit "send" without adding in the names of movie songs sarah blasko covers on her bonus disc. there is one song each from "annie hall," "the sound of music," "cabaret," "fame" and "xanadu" :) also: you can watch some performances of songs from the albums on the wonderful shoot the player's website: http://shoottheplayer.com/blog/2009/07/08/sarah-blasko-2/ warmly, heidi. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:02:21 +1000 From: heidi maier Subject: triple j hottest one hundred and lack of women artists ... http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hottest100_alltime/ triple j is a public radio station here in australia, part of the larger ABC network, and aimed at a younger demographic, though i am sure there are many of us who are over thirty and still tune in sometimes :) each year, the station holds its annual hottest one hundred, where listeners vote for their favourite tracks of the year. they recently did a hottest one hundred of all-time and there's been a lot of talk about the lack of female artists who made the list, which i thought might interest ecto-folk, though i know this is a topic that seems to recycle itself every few years in different guises. there have been several pieces in the press. here is the one from the sydney morning herald: http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/music/women-forgotten-in-triple-js-poll/2009/07/13/1247337115504.html thoughts? warmly, heidi. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:12:19 -0800 From: Adam Kimmel Subject: anthologies - a power for good? I don't know how any of you feel about anthologies/greatest hits as a whole -- I knew someone who once declared to me, while in a CD shop, "I don't BUY anthologies", while strong feelings about them had never occurred to me. But my real question is: has anyone out there, after listening to an anthology/greatest hits/best of... ever gone on to buy the artists albums? I was thinking this while I was listening to a Nilsson anthology. I'd heard so much, over the years, about his reptutation as a singer/songwriter, I finally bought one in the hope of getting a tantalising taste but, ultimately, I don't think it's a line I'll be pursuing. Then I realised that I rarely had. I think one of the few times I did was from a 13th Floor Elevators (partly 'cos the sound on the anthology was so bad). Oh, and Elton John's Greatest Hits when I was much, much younger. Anyone else get "turned" by an anthology? What made it happen? Adam K ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 11:08:45 +0200 From: Leonora Christina Skov Subject: RE: anthologies - a power for good? I find this a bit embarrassing, actually, but one of the most eye-opening musical experiences I've ever had was when I stumbled upon two anthologies entitled All Woman 1 and 2. It was back in 1992 and until then I had been listening to Whitney Houston, Kylie Minogue, Belinda Carlisle, and several other female artists of that ilk. But on these cd's were, for instance, Tori Amos (Winter), Kate Bush (This Woman's Work), Alison Moyet (This House), Basia (Time and Tide), Beverley Craven (Holding On), Joni Mitchell (Night Ride Home), and Joan Armatrading (The Weakness in Me). This was my very first introduction to all these wonderful singer/songwriters and I went straight out and bought all albums by Kate Bush, Tori Amos, and Alison Moyet. I lived in a small town in northern Zealand, Denmark, at the time and I remember being the only person listening to that sort of music. The albums were not readily available in the local music store and nobody had ever heard of Tori Amos. The later All Woman compilations didn't really have the same lasting impact on me. However, no. 3 included Dinah Washington (Mad About the Boy) which became my first proper introduction to jazz standards, and no. 4 included Judie Tzuke (Stay With Me Till Dawn), Lisa Stansfield (In All the Right Places), and Karyn White (Superwoman) which I listened to A LOT when I moved to Copenhagen. All best, Leonora "I never go outside unless I look like Joan Crawford the movie star. If you want to see the girl next door, go next door" (Joan Crawford) > Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:12:19 -0800 > From: adamk@inbox.com > Subject: anthologies - a power for good? > To: ecto@smoe.org > > I don't know how any of you feel about anthologies/greatest hits as a whole - -- I knew someone who once declared to me, while in a CD shop, "I don't BUY anthologies", while strong feelings about them had never occurred to me. > > But my real question is: has anyone out there, after listening to an anthology/greatest hits/best of... ever gone on to buy the artists albums? I was thinking this while I was listening to a Nilsson anthology. I'd heard so much, over the years, about his reptutation as a singer/songwriter, I finally bought one in the hope of getting a tantalising taste but, ultimately, I don't think it's a line I'll be pursuing. Then I realised that I rarely had. I think one of the few times I did was from a 13th Floor Elevators (partly 'cos the sound on the anthology was so bad). Oh, and Elton John's Greatest Hits when I was much, much younger. > > Anyone else get "turned" by an anthology? What made it happen? > > Adam K _________________________________________________________________ Word Up! Fe opdateringer fra Facebook og Arto i din Messenger. Gxr det her! http://www.microsoft.com/danmark/windows/windowslive/import-friends/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 02:13:44 -0700 From: Gregory Bossert Subject: Re: anthologies - a power for good? On Jul 15, 2009, at 1:12 AM, Adam Kimmel wrote: > Anyone else get "turned" by an anthology? What made it happen? usually i avoid anthologies by artists with whom i am unfamiliar, since the choice of most popular songs/"greatest hits" (as filtered through the oddities of the broadcast industry, etc.) is often exactly opposite my own tastes, and i'd hate to get turned off to an artist whose "B" sides and non-hits i'd end up loving ;-) however, my very first foray into popular music came through two greatest hits collections. we're talking vinyl here, of course, and it's not a perfect example because i'd heard some of the music before, somehow. my first two music purchases were the Beatles "Red" and "Blue" collections. i listened to them pretty much daily for a year or so, and then proceeded to buy all their original US releases, and then the UK versions, and then the other odd collections, and then the bootlegs... mind you, that was a different era, and many of the songs on those two collections were not on albums, but had been single releases. this is still true of a lot of electronica, which can be very frustrating when that one great track is only available on some $50 import. but that's not so much a "greatest hits" situation; it's just a different distribution model in those genres. ironically, the Beatles were one of the first groups to introduce albums as deliberate, composed units, as opposed to simple collections of singles and other songs, the selection of which had little or nothing to do with the artist. (and shame on Apple for not having "Beatles" in their spell-checker dictionary!) i am more likely to get a collection in genres i know less about. i bought handfuls (literally) of the MCA "20th Century Masters" and similar collections back when Tower Records was teetering and selling such stuff for a few bucks each -- lots of reggae, blues, old 70s funk, etc. i actually ended up being really pleased with those purchases. i suspect that the source material was old enough that the "greatest hits" selection was less influenced by business and more by the critical filter of time. and i was getting great tracks at a fraction of the individual price via the Apple Music Store. and i did follow up on some of those purchases by buying other "standard" albums from the same artists, so that's an example of the idea working. i also buy a lot of music from around the world -- which is not, i should add, the same thing as "world music" -- and will often start in on a region or style with a collection. though that's an area where being able to sample a few recommended tracks via iTunes comes in handy. of course, these days i get a lot of "anthologies" from friends, via custom playlists and burned CDs. not that that's a new thing -- i spent many years trading cassettes, with a fair number of folks on ecto, for that matter! but that's a bit of a different process, since the selection is being made by someone who either knows my tastes, or whose tastes have proven to be interesting... it's funny that your example is Nilsson. i'm fond of his songwriting and his performances, but he's one of those artists for whom i make my own playlists. (Tori's another, as her show last night reminded me..) he was, of course, a close friend of John Lennon's, and i believe they shared a preference for singles over albums. i also seem to recall that he had nothing to do with, and publicly opposed, the greatest hits compilations of his stuff. - -g - -- www.suddensound.com -- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 02:00:31 -0700 From: Peter Clark Subject: Re: anthologies - a power for good? I avoid them.. Too many times I've checked out a "greatest" something or other for someone I'm familiar with, only to discover I disagree with the compiler about what should counted as "best". Many times my faves are what others consider dreck. So, I generally look with a jaundiced eye at what someone else thinks is a killer collection of someone unfamiliar. If I'm still somehow compelled to act, I almost always go for the first (common) whole release to see what it was that impelled the artist to do the second one. Peter Clark -=High Performance Analogue=- www.redpoint-audio-design.com Adam Kimmel wrote: > I don't know how any of you feel about anthologies/greatest hits as a whole -- I knew someone who once declared to me, while in a CD shop, "I don't BUY anthologies", while strong feelings about them had never occurred to me. > > But my real question is: has anyone out there, after listening to an anthology/greatest hits/best of... ever gone on to buy the artists albums? I was thinking this while I was listening to a Nilsson anthology. I'd heard so much, over the years, about his reptutation as a singer/songwriter, I finally bought one in the hope of getting a tantalising taste but, ultimately, I don't think it's a line I'll be pursuing. Then I realised that I rarely had. I think one of the few times I did was from a 13th Floor Elevators (partly 'cos the sound on the anthology was so bad). Oh, and Elton John's Greatest Hits when I was much, much younger. > > Anyone else get "turned" by an anthology? What made it happen? > > Adam K ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 07:44:40 -0500 From: Timothy Jones-Yelvington Subject: Re: anthologies - a power for good? Joan Armatrading, loved the collection I bought so started going after her albums. Laura Nyro also. I'm pretty sure there are others. On the other hand, I totally get why some music snobs hate collections, how they break apart an albums and aren't necessarily cohesive on their own. I had that experience w/ Nick Drake, and ended up getting "Pink Moon" as much b/c I had trouble listening to the collection I'd started with as because I wanted more. ~tim On 7/15/09 3:12 AM, "Adam Kimmel" wrote: > I don't know how any of you feel about anthologies/greatest hits as a whole -- > I knew someone who once declared to me, while in a CD shop, "I don't BUY > anthologies", while strong feelings about them had never occurred to me. > > But my real question is: has anyone out there, after listening to an > anthology/greatest hits/best of... ever gone on to buy the artists albums? I > was thinking this while I was listening to a Nilsson anthology. I'd heard so > much, over the years, about his reptutation as a singer/songwriter, I finally > bought one in the hope of getting a tantalising taste but, ultimately, I don't > think it's a line I'll be pursuing. Then I realised that I rarely had. I > think one of the few times I did was from a 13th Floor Elevators (partly 'cos > the sound on the anthology was so bad). Oh, and Elton John's Greatest Hits > when I was much, much younger. > > Anyone else get "turned" by an anthology? What made it happen? > > Adam K ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 07:47:08 -0500 From: Timothy Jones-Yelvington Subject: Re: anthologies - a power for good? I did something similar w/ the Rolling Stone Women in Rock Collection when I was in HS... I'd been listening mostly to Lilith-era women, and through that collection went back in time and discovered Laura Nyro, Kate Bush, Nico and others. It's a bizarre collection though, kind of a hot mess of a listen. On 7/15/09 4:08 AM, "Leonora Christina Skov" wrote: > I find this a bit embarrassing, actually, but one of the most eye-opening > musical experiences I've ever had was when I stumbled upon two anthologies > entitled All Woman 1 and 2. It was back in 1992 and until then I had been > listening to Whitney Houston, Kylie Minogue, Belinda Carlisle, and several > other female artists of that ilk. But on these cd's were, for instance, Tori > Amos (Winter), Kate Bush (This Woman's Work), Alison Moyet (This House), Basia > (Time and Tide), Beverley Craven (Holding On), Joni Mitchell (Night Ride > Home), and Joan Armatrading (The Weakness in Me). This was my very first > introduction to all these wonderful singer/songwriters and I went straight out > and bought all albums by Kate Bush, Tori Amos, and Alison Moyet. I lived in a > small town in northern Zealand, Denmark, at the time and I remember being the > only person listening to that sort of music. The albums were not readily > available in the local music store and nobody had ever heard of Tori Amos. > > > > The later All Woman compilations didn't really have the same lasting impact on > me. However, no. 3 included Dinah Washington (Mad About the Boy) which became > my first proper introduction to jazz standards, and no. 4 included Judie Tzuke > (Stay With Me Till Dawn), Lisa Stansfield (In All the Right Places), and Karyn > White (Superwoman) which I listened to A LOT when I moved to Copenhagen. > > > All best, > Leonora > > > > > "I never go outside unless I look like Joan Crawford the movie star. If you > want to see the girl next door, go next door" (Joan Crawford) > > > > > > > > > > >> Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:12:19 -0800 >> From: adamk@inbox.com >> Subject: anthologies - a power for good? >> To: ecto@smoe.org >> >> I don't know how any of you feel about anthologies/greatest hits as a whole > -- I knew someone who once declared to me, while in a CD shop, "I don't BUY > anthologies", while strong feelings about them had never occurred to me. >> >> But my real question is: has anyone out there, after listening to an > anthology/greatest hits/best of... ever gone on to buy the artists albums? I > was thinking this while I was listening to a Nilsson anthology. I'd heard so > much, over the years, about his reptutation as a singer/songwriter, I finally > bought one in the hope of getting a tantalising taste but, ultimately, I don't > think it's a line I'll be pursuing. Then I realised that I rarely had. I think > one of the few times I did was from a 13th Floor Elevators (partly 'cos the > sound on the anthology was so bad). Oh, and Elton John's Greatest Hits when I > was much, much younger. >> >> Anyone else get "turned" by an anthology? What made it happen? >> >> Adam K > > _________________________________________________________________ > Word Up! Fe opdateringer fra Facebook og Arto i din Messenger. Gxr det her! > http://www.microsoft.com/danmark/windows/windowslive/import-friends/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:32:02 -0400 From: meredith Subject: Re: anthologies - a power for good? Hi, My very first Kate Bush album was "The Whole Story", mainly b/c the "1986 version" of "Wuthering Heights" was on the radio at the time and I *loved* it and had to have it ... but I also figured it would be a good way to see if I liked ay of her other stuff before shelling out for an entire album, since I was in high school at the time and had no money. To this day, I'm always a bit nonplussed when "Army Dreamers" doesn't start up as soon as "Running Up That Hill" is over. In general I'm not much of a compilation person, though I have enjoyed several of Putomayo's various world music collections over the years. For something like that, where I'd like to dip my toe into the waters of an unfamiliar style of music, I think it's a worthwhile thing. This topic is timely for me actually, as I'm currently involved in the annual process of picking tracks for our "New Arrivals" series at MPress ... our aim there is to introduce people to new indie artists while making money for charity. We do stick in at least a couple tracks each volume from people folks are more likely to have heard of (Jill Sobule, Melissa Ferrick etc.), but so far we haven't been able to land an exclusive track that can't be found anywhere else from the more established artists. I bet if we could do that, we'd sell even more. But as it is, hopefully we've helped some people discover new music they didn't know was out there. Meredith :) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:56:21 -0700 From: Steve VanDevender Subject: Re: anthologies - a power for good? I'm not one to buy compilation albums either, but once I happened to get a copy of the compilation album _The Pink Opaque_ by Cocteau Twins, which greatly increased my interest in finding their album _Head over Heels_, which instantly became my favorite of their albums when I finally found it. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:08:21 -0400 From: Aly Fields Subject: Re: anthologies - a power for good? Aye, Tim, my first exposures to both Joan Armatrading and Laura Nyro were through hits anthologies. I probably buy anthologies for bands I know I like a little bit of but am uncertain about the rest, but this is infrequent at best. I tend to want to jump in head first with an album to really feel an artist - strengths, weaknesses. I also feel like a lot of the music I listen to is album-oriented thematically and musically speaking, so I try to get musical information that way. So, I don't hate them, but I don't love them. That said, I feel like there are some strong compilations out there, though. Speaking of Laura Nyro, she has two terrific anthologies: Time and Love: The Essential Masters and also the 2-CD Stoned Soul Picnic. Both are great and worthwhile collections. Also, 10,000 Maniacs' retrospective Campfire Songs avoids the pitfalls of some collections by including a lot of rarities, which is appreciated more I think by hardcore fans (I had all of their studio releases before buying the set for my girlfriend, and "borrowed" the second disc *grin*). It depends on the artist, too - I would never buy Talk Normal if I wanted an initial exposure to Laurie Anderson! Speaking of her, I haven't listened to her in awhile! *shuffles off* NP: On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 8:44 AM, Timothy Jones-Yelvington wrote: > Joan Armatrading, loved the collection I bought so started going after her > albums. > > Laura Nyro also. > > I'm pretty sure there are others. > > On the other hand, I totally get why some music snobs hate collections, how > they break apart an albums and aren't necessarily cohesive on their own. I > had that experience w/ Nick Drake, and ended up getting "Pink Moon" as much > b/c I had trouble listening to the collection I'd started with as because I > wanted more. > > ~tim ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:11:28 -0400 From: Aly Fields Subject: Re: anthologies - a power for good? Also, Meredith - I don't have anything the Putomayo series (seen them in more cultured shops though), but have you picked up any Rough Guides? Those are good compilations for very basic intros to world music... oh, this reminds me, Oumou Sangare's Oumou is a fabulous anthology. NP: On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 12:32 PM, meredith wrote: > Hi, > > My very first Kate Bush album was "The Whole Story", mainly b/c the "1986 > version" of "Wuthering Heights" was on the radio at the time and I *loved* > it and had to have it ... but I also figured it would be a good way to see > if I liked ay of her other stuff before shelling out for an entire album, > since I was in high school at the time and had no money. To this day, I'm > always a bit nonplussed when "Army Dreamers" doesn't start up as soon as > "Running Up That Hill" is over. > > In general I'm not much of a compilation person, though I have enjoyed > several of Putomayo's various world music collections over the years. For > something like that, where I'd like to dip my toe into the waters of an > unfamiliar style of music, I think it's a worthwhile thing. > > This topic is timely for me actually, as I'm currently involved in the > annual process of picking tracks for our "New Arrivals" series at MPress ... > our aim there is to introduce people to new indie artists while making money > for charity. We do stick in at least a couple tracks each volume from people > folks are more likely to have heard of (Jill Sobule, Melissa Ferrick etc.), > but so far we haven't been able to land an exclusive track that can't be > found anywhere else from the more established artists. I bet if we could do > that, we'd sell even more. But as it is, hopefully we've helped some people > discover new music they didn't know was out there. > > Meredith :) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:38:01 -0400 From: morayati@email.unc.edu Subject: Re: anthologies - a power for good? I hate greatest-hits compilations. Loathe, detest, despise, abhor, everything in the thesaurus. Why? - - They're often a way for record companies to rip you off by selling you the same songs you've heard before once again, often at an inflated price. If your ultimate goal is to acquire the artist's entire back catalog, your compilation is useless. (It's even more useless now that we have CD burning, Winamp, and etc. removing the rationale that it's sometimes easier just to play the compilation.) And there is a special hell reserved for those who decide to add ONE original song to these things. - - On too many occasions, they might as well be assembled by a chimpanzee flinging lowest-common-denominator crap onto a CD in whatever order it lands in. - - If someone does go back and purchase the actual CDs, the way they were meant to be heard, they're not going to be able to experience them the way they were meant because subconsciously they keep getting jarred every time Global Smash Hit 2 doesn't come right after Adult Contemporary Placid Ballad 3. - - This is the age of the Internet. If you can buy a greatest-hits album you can go online and research the albums from whence such hits came. You can read reviews, check sales data, even listen to some of the songs. Now then. Tribute albums are another story, and I seem to be one of the few people in the world who quite likes them. This is where artists let their freak flags fly a bit, and I heartily endorse freak flags. And oftentimes, it's original material. Multi-artist compilations aren't really my thing, but they're somewhat less superfluous than single-artist compilations. They seem to fall more under condensed research than condensed targeted marketing. I realize this is a bit of a fuzzy distinction, Quoting Steve VanDevender : > I'm not one to buy compilation albums either, but once I happened to get > a copy of the compilation album _The Pink Opaque_ by Cocteau Twins, > which greatly increased my interest in finding their album _Head over > Heels_, which instantly became my favorite of their albums when I > finally found it. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:35:45 -0400 From: "Varker, Patrick" Subject: Anthologies...a power for I must admit that my introduction to Happy Rhodes was Rhodesongs (which also happened to be her latest release at the time). I had heard about and read about Happy for sometime. I finally went into my local independent record store and had them look her up as to what was available. I picked Rhodesongs because it looked to be a "best of". Needless to say, as soon as it arrived and I popped it into my player...I was hooked. I immediately went back in to the record store and ordered her entire catalog. Only then did I discover this magical place called Ecto. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:32:27 -0400 From: "Donald G. Keller" Subject: noe venable 7.13.09 Let's see: - -Kristeen Young programs her keyboard to play by itself in a corner while she sings center stage - -Imogen Heap employs a battery of hi-tek toys that she coordinates live, on the fly - -Kate Havnevik fires up her laptop to provide the rest of the voices for her choral, a cappella version of "Unlike Me" - -Smoosh adds an extra lead instrument in some of their songs via a sampler triggered by the drummer - -Many bands use delay units to loop extra parts on their instruments - -[insert any tech strategies I've forgotten] - -And Noe Venable uses her iPod to add the background texture to one of her songs On the rest of the songs of this typically excellent set Noe played acoustic guitar, accompanied by Greta Gertler on piano/second voice and Yair Evnine on cello. About half the set was new songs (she says a new album is about to begin recording), mostly strictly alternated with older songs, sometimes thematically paired (a new song about birds followed by the transcendant "Sparrow I Will Fly"). Among the perennial favorites were "Boots," "Midsummer Night's Dream," and the now less-often heard "Look, Luck"; newer songs ranged from good to excellent... ...and then there was "Fathering Sun." I had heard her play this new song once, sometime last year, and it completely knocked me sideways; but as my aural memory is not that great, I could only remember my impression rather than anything specific. The best I could do was say: Imagine the brief moment at the beginning of the second verse of "Sparrow I Will Fly" ("Higher, higher")--where Noe's and Greta's voices harmonize then glide past one another--extended to the length of an entire song, at least five minutes long at that. I was quite disappointed that at her most recent Rockwood show she didn't do it; but Monday night she restored it to the set. When she announced it a thrill went through me: at last another opportunity to hear it. And it lived up to my memory. I remember the vocals as being more contrapuntal, but actually Greta harmonizes with Noe's complicated melody in overlapping phrases; at times the cello makes a third elaborate voice. Frequently Noe taps with both hands on the body of her guitar to add a haunting percussion part. She referred to it as her "Wicker Man" song, and it indeed has a hushed, eerie quality similar to several of the (more traditional folk) songs on that soundtrack. The overall effect is jawdroppingly intense: less pop or folk than classical, with a modality that suggests "early music." It is by a significant margin the longest, most complex, most ambitious, and (in my opinion, by those yardsticks) best song Noe Venable has written to date. The set continued for a couple more songs, ending with "Feral," not a favorite of mine but a very effective live number. I'm already looking forward to seeing her open for Rachel Sage at month's end. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 11:52:05 -0700 (PDT) From: Tim Jones-Yelvington Subject: Re: anthologies - a power for good? Rarities, yes! That reminded me that "A Piano" or whatever that Tori boxes set was called was one anthology I've enjoyed, since I was never an obsessed enough Tori fan to go around collecting all those great b-sides so it was nice to have them in one place. tim - ----- Original Message ---- From: Aly Fields Cc: Untitled Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 1:08:21 PM Subject: Re: anthologies - a power for good? Aye, Tim, my first exposures to both Joan Armatrading and Laura Nyro were through hits anthologies. I probably buy anthologies for bands I know I like a little bit of but am uncertain about the rest, but this is infrequent at best. I tend to want to jump in head first with an album to really feel an artist - strengths, weaknesses. I also feel like a lot of the music I listen to is album-oriented thematically and musically speaking, so I try to get musical information that way. So, I don't hate them, but I don't love them. That said, I feel like there are some strong compilations out there, though. Speaking of Laura Nyro, she has two terrific anthologies: Time and Love: The Essential Masters and also the 2-CD Stoned Soul Picnic. Both are great and worthwhile collections. Also, 10,000 Maniacs' retrospective Campfire Songs avoids the pitfalls of some collections by including a lot of rarities, which is appreciated more I think by hardcore fans (I had all of their studio releases before buying the set for my girlfriend, and "borrowed" the second disc *grin*). It depends on the artist, too - I would never buy Talk Normal if I wanted an initial exposure to Laurie Anderson! Speaking of her, I haven't listened to her in awhile! *shuffles off* NP: On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 8:44 AM, Timothy Jones-Yelvington wrote: > Joan Armatrading, loved the collection I bought so started going after her > albums. > > Laura Nyro also. > > I'm pretty sure there are others. > > On the other hand, I totally get why some music snobs hate collections, how > they break apart an albums and aren't necessarily cohesive on their own. I > had that experience w/ Nick Drake, and ended up getting "Pink Moon" as much > b/c I had trouble listening to the collection I'd started with as because I > wanted more. > > ~tim ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 11:53:47 -0700 (PDT) From: Tim Jones-Yelvington Subject: Re: anthologies - a power for good? ...The Numero project does some cool anthologies of rare and forgotten material. I have one of long-forgotten Joni Mitchell-influenced songwriter women from the early 70s... many of the women on the disc probably only distributed a few hundred copies of their records at the most, some only to families and friends and churches and such. - ----- Original Message ---- From: Aly Fields To: meth@smoe.org Cc: ecto Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 1:11:28 PM Subject: Re: anthologies - a power for good? Also, Meredith - I don't have anything the Putomayo series (seen them in more cultured shops though), but have you picked up any Rough Guides? Those are good compilations for very basic intros to world music... oh, this reminds me, Oumou Sangare's Oumou is a fabulous anthology. NP: On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 12:32 PM, meredith wrote: > Hi, > > My very first Kate Bush album was "The Whole Story", mainly b/c the "1986 > version" of "Wuthering Heights" was on the radio at the time and I *loved* > it and had to have it ... but I also figured it would be a good way to see > if I liked ay of her other stuff before shelling out for an entire album, > since I was in high school at the time and had no money. To this day, I'm > always a bit nonplussed when "Army Dreamers" doesn't start up as soon as > "Running Up That Hill" is over. > > In general I'm not much of a compilation person, though I have enjoyed > several of Putomayo's various world music collections over the years. For > something like that, where I'd like to dip my toe into the waters of an > unfamiliar style of music, I think it's a worthwhile thing. > > This topic is timely for me actually, as I'm currently involved in the > annual process of picking tracks for our "New Arrivals" series at MPress ... > our aim there is to introduce people to new indie artists while making money > for charity. We do stick in at least a couple tracks each volume from people > folks are more likely to have heard of (Jill Sobule, Melissa Ferrick etc.), > but so far we haven't been able to land an exclusive track that can't be > found anywhere else from the more established artists. I bet if we could do > that, we'd sell even more. But as it is, hopefully we've helped some people > discover new music they didn't know was out there. > > Meredith :) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:04:33 -0700 (PDT) From: Tim Jones-Yelvington Subject: Re: anthologies - a power for good? "And there is a special hell reserved for those who decide to add ONE original song to these things." Yes, and then invariably make them unavailable for single track download on iTunes. I think anthologies make the most sense for mainstream pop acts whose singles are really the only thing worth hearing or having. No way do I want single albums by Cher, Tina Turner, Bon Jovi, or other crap like that whose best-ofs I've enjoyed. I have a bunch of single album releases by Stevie Nicks and have often felt her greatest hits was all I ever really needed. The Killers first hits collection, whenever it comes into existence, may be the first album of theirs I ever consider buying. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:23:32 -0700 (PDT) From: Tim Jones-Yelvington Subject: Re: noe venable 7.13.09 Oh wow, I need to hear that song like right. now. Frigging amazing, that one. - ----- Original Message ---- From: Donald G. Keller To: ecto@smoe.org Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 1:32:27 PM Subject: noe venable 7.13.09 Let's see: - -Kristeen Young programs her keyboard to play by itself in a corner while she sings center stage - -Imogen Heap employs a battery of hi-tek toys that she coordinates live, on the fly - -Kate Havnevik fires up her laptop to provide the rest of the voices for her choral, a cappella version of "Unlike Me" - -Smoosh adds an extra lead instrument in some of their songs via a sampler triggered by the drummer - -Many bands use delay units to loop extra parts on their instruments - -[insert any tech strategies I've forgotten] - -And Noe Venable uses her iPod to add the background texture to one of her songs On the rest of the songs of this typically excellent set Noe played acoustic guitar, accompanied by Greta Gertler on piano/second voice and Yair Evnine on cello. About half the set was new songs (she says a new album is about to begin recording), mostly strictly alternated with older songs, sometimes thematically paired (a new song about birds followed by the transcendant "Sparrow I Will Fly"). Among the perennial favorites were "Boots," "Midsummer Night's Dream," and the now less-often heard "Look, Luck"; newer songs ranged from good to excellent... ...and then there was "Fathering Sun." I had heard her play this new song once, sometime last year, and it completely knocked me sideways; but as my aural memory is not that great, I could only remember my impression rather than anything specific. The best I could do was say: Imagine the brief moment at the beginning of the second verse of "Sparrow I Will Fly" ("Higher, higher")--where Noe's and Greta's voices harmonize then glide past one another--extended to the length of an entire song, at least five minutes long at that. I was quite disappointed that at her most recent Rockwood show she didn't do it; but Monday night she restored it to the set. When she announced it a thrill went through me: at last another opportunity to hear it. And it lived up to my memory. I remember the vocals as being more contrapuntal, but actually Greta harmonizes with Noe's complicated melody in overlapping phrases; at times the cello makes a third elaborate voice. Frequently Noe taps with both hands on the body of her guitar to add a haunting percussion part. She referred to it as her "Wicker Man" song, and it indeed has a hushed, eerie quality similar to several of the (more traditional folk) songs on that soundtrack. The overall effect is jawdroppingly intense: less pop or folk than classical, with a modality that suggests "early music." It is by a significant margin the longest, most complex, most ambitious, and (in my opinion, by those yardsticks) best song Noe Venable has written to date. The set continued for a couple more songs, ending with "Feral," not a favorite of mine but a very effective live number. I'm already looking forward to seeing her open for Rachel Sage at month's end. ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V14 #195 ***************************