From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V16 #2612 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Saturday, September 7 2019 Volume 16 : Number 2612 To unsubscribe: e-mail ecto-digest-request@smoe.org and put the word unsubscribe in the message body. Today's Subjects: ----------------- Bat For Lashes [Tim Jones-Yelvington ] Re: Bat For Lashes [Eric Volker ] Re: vintage Arson Garden shows [Gregory Bossert ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 6 Sep 2019 17:40:49 -0500 From: Tim Jones-Yelvington Subject: Bat For Lashes Hi all, I will be eager to hear your thoughts about Natasha Khan's latest that was finally released today. I've listened three times since this morning and have thoughts: I think that I was one of the only folks here who liked THE BRIDE well enough to include it on their list of 2016 favorites (it's possible I'm overstating that, and it's only that a few folks expressed that they were underwhelmed). That said, it was oddly restrained for a narrative concept with such potential for high drama. With "Lost Girls," Natasha recaptures some of the drama of her early work, but perhaps sacrifices some complexity in the process. The result is satisfying, but not quite revelatory. When I heard that she'd be going full on 80s synth pop on this album, I was somewhat nervous. We are now two decades deep into the 80s synth pop revival, to the point it now seems more accurate to call it not so much a revival as its own ongoing genre. Natasha has always had elements of this in her work, but been the kind of artist whose vision is too far beyond any existing conventions to be confined by them. I worried about what she could bring to the table that would be new in such an already overcrowded space. This year alone, we've already seen some of the eccentric women artists who came up behind her, like Lydia Ainsworth and Tamaryn, also decide to go full-on synth pop with their sounds that were previously more hybrid (or in Tamaryn's case, more in the established mold of gauzy shoegaze/"dream pop"). Reading some of her recent interviews, it felt weird to see such a vanguard artist talk about discovering the joy of 80's movie soundtracks in much the same way Ladyhawke was doing ten years ago. But I also knew that she was probably too singular an artist not to bring something distinctive to the table. Which she doesbshe's too talented and idiosyncratic an artist for this record not to be more compelling than the majority of what is out there. But it still feels ever so slight compared to some of her peak recordings, like Two Suns and The Haunted Man. That said, I'm not sure that it was her goal to create something that rivaled those achievements, and since I believe in judging art against its own aims and not my expectations for what it will be, I'd consider this album a success. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 6 Sep 2019 18:08:11 -0500 From: Eric Volker Subject: Re: Bat For Lashes Thanks for your thoughts Tim. I greatly enjoyed her debut album, but was underwhelmed by her subsequent efforts. I did however hear just one track off the new album and was quite pleased with it. Thanks to you, I now know the rest of the album is probably worth a listen. Eric On Fri, Sep 6, 2019 at 5:53 PM Tim Jones-Yelvington wrote: > Hi all, I will be eager to hear your thoughts about Natasha Khan's latest > that was finally released today. I've listened three times since this > morning and have thoughts: > > I think that I was one of the only folks here who liked THE BRIDE well > enough to include it on their list of 2016 favorites (it's possible I'm > overstating that, and it's only that a few folks expressed that they were > underwhelmed). That said, it was oddly restrained for a narrative concept > with such potential for high drama. With "Lost Girls," Natasha recaptures > some of the drama of her early work, but perhaps sacrifices some complexity > in the process. The result is satisfying, but not quite revelatory. When I > heard that she'd be going full on 80s synth pop on this album, I was > somewhat nervous. We are now two decades deep into the 80s synth pop > revival, to the point it now seems more accurate to call it not so much a > revival as its own ongoing genre. Natasha has always had elements of this > in her work, but been the kind of artist whose vision is too far beyond any > existing conventions to be confined by them. I worried about what she could > bring to the table that would be new in such an already overcrowded > space. This year alone, we've already seen some of the eccentric women > artists who came up behind her, like Lydia Ainsworth and Tamaryn, also > decide to go full-on synth pop with their sounds that were previously more > hybrid (or in Tamaryn's case, more in the established mold of gauzy > shoegaze/"dream pop"). Reading some of her recent interviews, it felt weird > to see such a vanguard artist talk about discovering the joy of 80's movie > soundtracks in much the same way Ladyhawke was doing ten years ago. But I > also knew that she was probably too singular an artist not to bring > something distinctive to the table. Which she doesb she's too talented and > idiosyncratic an artist for this record not to be more compelling than the > majority of what is out there. But it still feels ever so slight compared > to some of her peak recordings, like Two Suns and The Haunted Man. That > said, I'm not sure that it was her goal to create something that rivaled > those achievements, and since I believe in judging art against its own aims > and not my expectations for what it will be, I'd consider this album a > success. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 6 Sep 2019 22:28:04 -0700 From: Gregory Bossert Subject: Re: vintage Arson Garden shows I saw them play at The Middle East in Cambridge, MA - it was a fantastic show, and we got to talk to them a bit before-hand and maybe again afterward? Itbs a bit of a blur now. Must have been b92 or 93. Who was there? I pull out their CDs a lot for driving music. (Yes yes, Ibve got an old car with a CD player and no bluetoothb&) Other Ecto driving favorites of that era: early/mid Heather Nova, Bettie Serveert, Belly b something about snarly b90s music works for non-commute traffic. (For the day to day commute itbs the local classical station, and I do the snarling myself, and for long distance b e.g. driving down to LA b the ecto choices mellow out to Heidi Berry or Lisa Germano or Cocteau Twins or such.) Anyway, cool link. > On Sep 6, 2019, at 3:04 PM, Jeffrey Burka wrote: > > Ooh. Through one of those odd confluences of scrolling through my library to a > random letter, I ended up listening to some Arson Garden today (Ibd scrolled > to the Hs and kicked it off with Honneycombs), which led to me finding this > web page with a bunch of Arson Garden music available: > > http://www.musicalfamilytree.com/band/arson_garden > > I think I was only at one of the shows represented (Collins LLC, the dorm > where the band met and lived until the spring semester before I arrived in the > fall of b87!). > > For those who might not have ever heard the band, you can read more about them > in the ecto guide:B http://ectoguide.org/alpha/a/arson.garden&p=3 > > Now please excuse my while I go relive my youth. > > > > > jeff - -- www.gregorynormanbossert.com -- - -- www.suddensound.com -- ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V16 #2612 ****************************