From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V15 #235 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Friday, October 1 2010 Volume 15 : Number 235 To unsubscribe: e-mail ecto-digest-request@smoe.org and put the word unsubscribe in the message body. Today's Subjects: ----------------- shameless contest promotion [=?iso-8859-1?Q?anna_maria_stj=E4rnell?= ] Za7ie by Zazie [Karen Hester ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:26:10 -0700 (PDT) From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?anna_maria_stj=E4rnell?= Subject: shameless contest promotion Hi. The site is write some stuff for Lunakafe.com has a contest where you can win a cd called "I like it better here", featuring some top singer-songwriters singing about the concept of home. http://lunakafe.com/moon172/smyt172.php You have until the 13th of october and there's a question you need to answer correctly. Hope no one minds this contest promotion. Anna ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2010 11:57:14 -0700 From: Sue Trowbridge Subject: Sharon Van Etten One of the nice things about gmail is that it creates a searchable archive of every email message I have received since I started using it. So if I ever wonder, "Has [artist] ever been mentioned on ecto?" all I have to do is search for a name! I see, therefore, that Sharon Van Etten was only mentioned here once, back in 2005, so it seems high time to bring her up again :) Her 30-minute EP was only supposed to be streaming at NPR.org through Sept. 28, but it's still up: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129859757 This is the only thing I've ever heard by her (she has 2 previous albums) and I'm really enchanted by it. It's a bit folky, but several songs have more of a beat that almost places her more on the beautiful-but-fierce side of the ecto spectrum. My favorite song on the EP is "Peace Signs." This is a pretty obscure reference, but I'd compare her to Rachel Taylor Brown. NPR's Robin Hilton writes: Van Etten first appeared on our radar a year ago, when TV on the Radio's Kyp Malone played some of her music during his guest DJ spot on All Songs Considered. He said Van Etten had passed him a CD of her songs at one of his live shows. And while he normally doesn't have time to listen to fan submissions, Malone popped in the disc when he got home and fell in love. "She's been silencing rooms in drunken bars for a long time," Malone says. "Really very arresting. She just sends me." Here are a couple comments from listeners: I'm an admitted snob when it comes to music. I can usually tell within a few seconds whether I'm going to write an artist off or not. So when I come across something I like it is definitely a treat. However, listening to this album was more like a religious experience. Sharon Van Etten's voice and the moody yet driving guitars made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.. I don't know about the description of her as another earnest folk artist. That almost dissuaded me from listening to it but listen to it I did. It's really a very melodic and enjoyable record. Great stuff! There is enough of a beat, enough rhythm section prominence to make me say- no this does not resemble folk as I know it. The harmonies are great and I have got to give more attention to the lyrics which sound to me at this point, having picked up bits and pieces, intelligent and poignant. Thanks for alerting me to this music! - --Sue ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2010 21:54:56 -0400 From: Karen Hester Subject: Za7ie by Zazie Zazie's 'Za7ie' is all filler, an album of grout. The songs are the dry cake you must plow through to unearth the creamy chocolate mousse filling, the sugary tasteless icing you scrape off a rich almond cake. You can get past the similar tempos, production, melodies - the samey-sameyness, to be technical - by taking one of the songs away from the herd and studying it alone. Scrutinize the markings, assess the musculature, pry open its mouth and view the teeth (then wash the saliva from your hands). Then you discover "Hey, many of these songs are good!" But when you reintroduce the song to the herd it will soon disappear amongst its fellows. My favorites are 'La place du vide', in which her male duet partner doesn't sound like a bad French movie lothario (unlike le dude in 'Je te tiens'); mysterious 'Pas que beau' with its unnerving key changes, 70s-disco-tinged single 'Chanson D'Amour', cute 'Amazone' with French accordion, and serviceable 'L'amour dollar'. But none of these songs are sparkling enough to be an album's featured tracks. These are the 14 songs Zazie chose to feature of the 49. Will be interesting to see if I can construct a full album I like when the rest of the songs are released. Karen ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V15 #235 ***************************