From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V14 #341 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Saturday, December 19 2009 Volume 14 : Number 341 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 ] Best of.... [Adam Kimmel ] Re: Best of.... [neile ] Re: top 50 of the 00's [Karen Hester ] Re: Best of.... [Tim Jones-Yelvington ] Re: top 50 of the 00's [neile ] Hunting My Hoop [Doug ] faeries for Phillip David Morgan [cy ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:00:09 -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********* *************************************************** *************************************************************************** ******************** Tracy Benbrook (no Email address) ******************** *************************************************************************** -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Tracy Benbrook Tue December 18 1973 Sagittarius Mark Lowry Mon December 22 1969 Capricarius Kay Cleaves Wed December 22 1976 Prancing Pony Uli Grepel Wed December 25 1968 Steinbock Joseph Wasicek Sat December 25 1976 Brown Eagle Stuart Castergine Mon December 30 1963 You Are Here Marvin Camras Sat January 01 1916 Tapehead Jeanne Schreiter Tue January 03 1967 Capricorn John Sandoval Wed January 04 1967 Capricorn Aly Fields Thu January 04 1990 Yield 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 - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Dec 2009 02:39:20 -0800 From: Adam Kimmel Subject: Best of.... I'm really intrigued by all these lists, and have been mentally compiling mine, but thanks to neile I now have to wait -- after his recommendation, I got Jesca Hoop's latest, and....crikey. I thought Katy Carr's album was eclectic, this is one weird box o' noise, but utterly fascinating. I must have listened to it about ten times through in the last two days (is it also quite short, or is that just me?) and I love it, but I want to do it more justice -- I think it's already leapt into my top ten. Interesting to see the Fever Ray comments: I got it earlier this year, picking up a copy for myself while buying it for somebody else, and on first listen I absolutely hated it, finding it cold and mechanical. However, after a few more lessons I was hooked: there's something icily beautiful and surreal about it. That one's definitely in my top ten. The weird thing is, although I've said it was a great year, I've checked and I seem to have bought LESS music this year than in recent years, with proportionately less new music. I hadn't realised that until I totted it all up. Blame the recession. A best of the decade list? Man, that will take some pondering.... Adam K (and, if I don't post again, a Merry Ecto Christmas to all) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Dec 2009 07:35:53 -0800 (PST) From: neile Subject: Re: Best of.... Adam wrote: > I'm really intrigued by all these lists, and have been mentally > compiling mine, but thanks to neile I now have to wait -- after his > recommendation, I got Jesca Hoop's latest, and....crikey. I thought > Katy Carr's album was eclectic, this is one weird box o' noise, but > utterly fascinating. I must have listened to it about ten times through > in the last two days (is it also quite short, or is that just me?) and I > love it, but I want to do it more justice -- I think it's already leapt > into my top ten. Glad you like it. I think it's amazing. Just for the record, though, Neile is a she despite the misleading name. > The weird thing is, although I've said it was a great year, I've checked > and I seem to have bought LESS music this year than in recent years, > with proportionately less new music. I hadn't realised that until I > totted it all up. Blame the recession. We bought more than last year, I think, which feels weird, but there's more this year that we wanted. I've been more careful about what I've bought, spending more time replaying samples to be certain I wanted to live with the music. Ecto has helped, of course, as has the Wears The Trousers site. Several good discoveries this year, too, like Smoke Fairies, Sophie Hunger, Tune-Yards, and great music from people I thought I was liking a little less, like Katy Carr and Carina Round. A couple of disappointments, for example I like the Imogen Heap but not as much as I wanted to, Regina Spektor's Far is forgettable, and St Vincent's Actor is now getting on my nerves (my husband likes it way more than I do--I'm about ready to hide it from him). I need to sit down and think about this year's list. I'm not sure I'm capable of a decade list but obviously am happy to critique others'. - --Neile ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:28:03 -0500 From: Karen Hester Subject: Re: top 50 of the 00's From: neile > Wow. Just so show our mileage varies, I would say my favourite Carina is > TYSH followed by TD then FBM, with SMA a very distant fourth. My ranking would be similar but I've seen her live so many times this year and the 'Slow motion addict' songs solo with gloss removed sound more like 'Things you should know'. She's dropped them from her set-lists now though. Carina refers to 'First blood mystery' disparagingly but she plays a couple songs from it now and then. (do you write in non-American English? - 'u' in favorite. It's nice to see :) Jeff - > I'll also have to put LIsa Gerrard's Black Opal on the list once I track down a copy. Has anyone got this? I completely forgot about it. K ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:36:17 -0800 (PST) From: Tim Jones-Yelvington Subject: Re: Best of.... This has been a very strange year for me, music-wise. I've been paying less attention to music because the obsessive energy I've in the past directed to music I've devoted instead to reading and writing fiction and also to engaging w/ folks in the indie lit community. Also, I've for some reason been on quite an extended dance pop-disco-neo new wave-uptempo-electro, etc. kick (I too would probably place La Roux and Lady Gaga on my year-end list, but might also add Annie's "Don't Stop")... sometimes I blame it on my desk job (need something escapist to keep me going), other times I think maybe I'm getting older and am just not as ponderous and emo as I used to be. The truth is, I think my dance-pop interest began a few years ago w/ Roisin Murphy's incredibly "Ruby Blue" and has deepened over time. Many of the things I enjoyed this year -- Bat for Lashes, Florence and the Machine, Fever Ray, Neko Case & Imogen Heap would probably make my list as well -- I did not listen to anywhere near as extensively as my favorites from previous years... nothing I obsess over like Noe Venable's Summer Storm Journals or St. Vincent's Marry Me or Unmentioned stuff I would add to others' to-listen pile: ~New Patrick Wolf record, I'm blanking on the name right now -- he really is one of the most ecto-friendly male artists working right now, y'all should listen ~Devil's Halo by Meshell Ndegeocello - this is an awesome album, and she has always been incredibly eclectic, by far the most ecto-friendly "R & B" artist... more adventurous listeners should give her a chance ~Taken by Trees... I forgot the name of the album but it's completely gorgeous. Heavily influenced by trad Pakistani music. ~New Yoko Ono and Plastic Ono Band album (forgot the name)... it's pretty great. I love Yoko Ono. She's a first class weirdo. ...I might really like the new Rickie Lee Jones and Jane Siberry albums, but have not listened much yet. Another record from this year I keep forgetting exists is Marianne Faithfull's. She's a huge favorite of mine and I thought "Before the Poisin" was one of the best albums of the past several years (it might go on my decade list), but I've only listened to this one once or twice. Also the newer Bird & the Bee album, the one w/ rayguns in the title... for some reason, it didn't get under my skin like the first one did. I've only listened to Tori's "Abnormally Attracted to Sin" once, said, "meh," and haven't tried again. I'm feeling kind of "done" with her right now. I'd second Neile on St. Vincent's "Actor" and Regina's "Far," altho.... I expected to be greatly disappointed by "Far" after everything I read on ecto and elsewhere, and set my expectations really low and waited months to buy it, but whenever I listen to it, actually really enjoy it. I need to spend more time with it, I think. ...And "Actor" is far from a bad album, it's just.... I think it's ambition might outweigh its listenability. I respect it a lot, but it feels transitional. I am realizing I like melody a lot, and "Actor" doesn't strike as... narcotic (seriously, I listened to "Marry Me" compulsively) a balance between accessibility and experimentation as did "Marry Me." ...I still think she's one of the most interesting musicians working right now, and can't wait to see what she does next. ...I am interested in working on a decade list. I might give it a try. I can repost it at the lit-blog website I'm currently writing for (www.bigother.com). ~tim - ----- Original Message ---- From: neile To: Ectophiles Sent: Fri, December 18, 2009 9:35:53 AM Subject: Re: Best of.... Adam wrote: > I'm really intrigued by all these lists, and have been mentally > compiling mine, but thanks to neile I now have to wait -- after his > recommendation, I got Jesca Hoop's latest, and....crikey. I thought > Katy Carr's album was eclectic, this is one weird box o' noise, but > utterly fascinating. I must have listened to it about ten times through > in the last two days (is it also quite short, or is that just me?) and I > love it, but I want to do it more justice -- I think it's already leapt > into my top ten. Glad you like it. I think it's amazing. Just for the record, though, Neile is a she despite the misleading name. > The weird thing is, although I've said it was a great year, I've checked > and I seem to have bought LESS music this year than in recent years, > with proportionately less new music. I hadn't realised that until I > totted it all up. Blame the recession. We bought more than last year, I think, which feels weird, but there's more this year that we wanted. I've been more careful about what I've bought, spending more time replaying samples to be certain I wanted to live with the music. Ecto has helped, of course, as has the Wears The Trousers site. Several good discoveries this year, too, like Smoke Fairies, Sophie Hunger, Tune-Yards, and great music from people I thought I was liking a little less, like Katy Carr and Carina Round. A couple of disappointments, for example I like the Imogen Heap but not as much as I wanted to, Regina Spektor's Far is forgettable, and St Vincent's Actor is now getting on my nerves (my husband likes it way more than I do--I'm about ready to hide it from him). I need to sit down and think about this year's list. I'm not sure I'm capable of a decade list but obviously am happy to critique others'. - --Neile ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:53:07 -0800 (PST) From: neile Subject: Re: top 50 of the 00's Karen Hester wrote: > (do you write in non-American English? - 'u' in favorite. It's nice to see :) Though I currently live in the Altered States of America, I'm Canadian by birth and inclination. I'm at the stage now where if I'm writing personally use the Canadian spelling, but at work I rarely have to correct things. When I'm writing for publication I use the spelling common wherever I'm submitting the piece. Canadian spelling = Canadian Tire Centre (some U.S. some U.K.) Music content: Really enjoying Espers III. Like a dreamier Pentangle. - --Neile ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:08:58 -0500 From: Doug Subject: Hunting My Hoop Thanks to this wonderful list I discovered Jesca Hoop only last week...I'm already hooked. Kismet really struck me hard, and I was reluctant to listen to Hunting My Dress (too much goodness too soon) but of course I couldn't restrain myself. IMO HMD is better in some ways than Kismet, but not as good in others. Both are in my top 50 for the 00s (of course). My favorite song on Kismet is one that I really don't hear people commenting on: Out The Back Door. IMO that song just rocks...I love the processing and voice box effects she's chosen, and how she uses them. Just marvelous. (bump that roof!) There really isn't anything on Kismet that I don't care for, but on HMD I could do without Angel Mom, Feast of the Heart, and Murder of Birds (even though that name gets my Neat-o! award for song names). I think the volume knob is broken on my player...everytime Tulip starts the knob rotates all the way up to 23. Funny how things like that happen. :-D - --Doug ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:17:19 -0800 From: cy Subject: faeries for Phillip David Morgan dear Ectos, sorry to post this but I think Phillip David does not work at the Library anymore and that was the only email I had for him. So I'm posting my faerie calendar info for him here. don't flame me man...thanks and merry beeee to all, have an Ecto Christmas-Solstice....love Cyoakha Grace dear Phillip David- I know you ordered and loved my faerie calendar last year. I sold out this year's (even prettier!) first publishing order within 2 weeks, twice as many as I sold last year! Plus, I got them in art galleries and high end stores this year, wheee.....anyway, i ordered another 25 and they just arrived 3 days ago. Luckily, I had so many people waiting for calendars, now they are all shipped off, leaving me with only the last 6, one week before Christmas. So, they sell on Amazon and Lulu for $20 with $4 shipping....selling in stores for $20 also. I lowered them to $18 on line but now, I don't want to be left with the last 6 giving them out to family for gifts, so I'll lower it again to $15, shipped! (but if you want them in time for Christmas, it's $8 shipping, if you just want it regular mail, I'll pay for it!) They cost me $11 each, (really nice printing) plus shrink wrap soooo I'm not making anything once I pay to mail it but I'd rather sell them at cost to folks that bought a full priced one last year, than give em as gifts. If you want to look at the images http://www.faeriefotos.com (all pan religious holidays, all moon phases, & monthly Celtic faerie poems) let me know fast if you want one before they are gone! love Cyo http://www.landoftheblind.com/ ordering BLIND's CDs direct/Gig Listings http://www.myspace.com/landoftheblind FREE samples new CD: Shamans of Sound http://www.faeriefotos.com Cyoakha's new faerie photography calendar 2010 http://youtube.com/user/cyo2cyo blind videos: Peace Concert/ & Burning Man ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V14 #341 ***************************