Fegmaniax Digest Volume 4 Number 72 Send posts to fegmaniax@ecto.org Send subscribe/unsubscribe commands to majordomo@ecto.org Send comments, etc. to the listowner at owner-fegmaniax@ecto.org FegMANIAX! Web Page: http://remus.rutgers.edu/~woj/fegmaniax/ Archives are available at http://archive.uwp.edu/pub/music/lists/fegmaniax/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Topics: ------- ------- Feg Music for an alternate list... Re: Music for an alternate list... FW:Sign Off Re: Music for an alternate list... WARNING- Continuation of Punk Rock Thread the axis Guided By Voices and the Soft Boys Re: the axis is THAT all? Re: Guided by Voices! cheri? huhlo? n'guided by voices Re: Guided By Voices and the Soft Boys ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Apr 1996 16:39:19 +1200 From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan) Subject: Feg I just got an email note from a friend who was involved in an Irish dramatic production... did you know that the Irish equivalent of the Grim Reaper is called "Slough Feg"? So, who is the Hooded One anyway? James ------------------------------ From: RxBroome@aol.com Date: Thu, 18 Apr 1996 01:55:23 -0400 Subject: Music for an alternate list... It's ironic that the primary reply to my last post was a dissertation (and not a bad one!) on the Berkeley punk scene, since I spent the last weekend, yes, stepping over panhandling punks in Berkeley. If this whole thread annoys you, skip this, but I will first list the discs I purchased on this sojourn: American Music Club, "California" (upgrade from cassette); Syd Barrett, "Barrett" (upgrade from cassette); Echo & the Bunnymen, "Crocodiles" (upgrade from vinyl); a Robert Forster EP (because I found it); Grant Hart, "Intolerance" (upgrade fron cassette and because Robert Forster covered a song from this album); Palm Fabric Orchestra (Poi Dog Pondering offshoot); Ride, "Grasshopper EP" (because I'm a Ride completist), and Neil Young, "Trans" (upgrade from vinyl). Now you all hate me. Sorry. The post in reply to mine seemed to focus on the Berkeley punks as living in a zone where politics, lifestyle, and musical allegiance meet... and seemed to indicate an ambivalent, but respectful attitiude towards them in terms of their success in achieving this. I'm at one with such ambivalence. The Berkeley scene, perhaps appropriately, seems to be where punks have become sort of latter-day Deadheads. They live in a progressive, but stultified zone; glomming onto the Clash is an obvious choice, as the Clash were (originally) expressing progressive politics in a relatively conventional form. The fact that all the Berkeley bands haven't at least gotten around to sounding like Gang of Four instead is indicative of the fact that they've stalled out just as all the Grateful Dead knockoffs have (IMHO). I admire the idea of a musical- political- lifestyle- based collective. But I've never found one that works. Take myself and my wonderful friend Dave "Blatzman" Santos, who was my one and only salvation this weekend. We are good friends, and share many musical affiliations. Dave is a staunch Republican, and I am a liberal freak. So what? In a politically stratified society, Dave and I could never be friends, which is bullshit. At the same time, I know many fellow liberal freaks whose musical tastes are abominable (cf. Grateful Dead references above). A prime example of this, oddly enough, is something that Dave and I discussed on the drive home-- the enormous popularity of Rage Against the Machine. What a crap band! And yet, as a liberal and a music afficianado, I am expected by all of my liberal / music afficianado friends to love them! What's to love? A bunch of dinosaur-rock riffs married to the most simplistic, lousily delivered rhetorical claptrap ever to masquerade as vocals and lyrics? Quoth Morrissey, "It says nothing to me about my life..." nothing I don't already know, anyway. Political rock sucks, especially when its musical roots are, contradictorally, reactionary-- as, let's face it, "punk" has now become. Rage sucks mainly (in addition to the fact that their roots are as much vomit-metal as Urband Dance Squad, whom they plunder embarassingly) because they are unable to personalize their politics, as only the Guthrie-> Dylan -> Bragg axis has been able to do consistently. My favorite political rock moment has to be when Michael Stipe, after three albums worth of attempted leftist posturing, put only one political song on "Automatic for the People" and summed up the whole failed experiment in the lines "I know that this is vitriol / No solution / Just being bitter / But I feel better having screamed, don't you?" And that was it. Endgame. My musical addiction, like my addiction to life, is based on the personal-- the indescribable chemistry between two or more individuals, be they friends, lovers, or inexplicably, perhaps temporarily, complementary members of the same great band... or the equally inscrutable ability of an artist-- such as, yes, Robyn-- to get to the crux of the matter: love, or you know, whatever, the mystery of life or whatever. The thing that makes me write songs myself. The idea that when I didn't care if I lived or died myself, I could access a voice that seemed to be asking itself the same questions, and finding, in the act of asking, a reason to keep on living. Having found such a salvation, there's an impulse, however futile, to contribute to that which sustained you. In my examintation of this phenomenon I've evoked musicians to whom the Berkeley kids probably wouldn't give a second listen. Oh, well. Again, music has sustained me on a personal, rather than a social level. To my detriment? I dunno. I was hanging out with a bunch of very stoned people this weekend (yes, in Berkeley), all of whom had guitars and insisted on doing endless covers of Stone Temple Pilots, the Spin Doctors, latter-day Pink Floyd and the Cranberries. Needless to say, I declined to participate. But then, spontaneously, someone led the Whole Sick Crew into "She Doesn't Exist"... and for a brief moment, I was at home. I just love the thing that transcends the political and makes us all freaks. I refer you again to the liner notes to "Globe of Frogs" which, however despised, is probably the quintessential Robyn album and therefore justified in including as part of its packaging the Man's Manifesto. And I call it a night. Rx ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Apr 1996 07:31:17 -0400 (EDT) From: Terry Marks Subject: Re: Music for an alternate list... >This Guthrie-Dylan-Bragg axis... Woody Guthrie or Arlo Guthrie or both? Terry "The Human Mellotron" Marks a013645t@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Apr 96 08:22:16 PDT From: "Screamin' Jay" Subject: FW:Sign Off Since we're all victims of Majordomo, and in the interest of anyone who is afraid of getting beaned in the head by a stray bottle from the "who's more punk" fray and wants of the list, I think this needs to be added to the list mechanics section of the web site. jay >>On Fri, 12 Apr 1996, Myers, Bill wrote: >>> How do you get off this list? I have tried the majordomo and I still get >>> mail even though it says I'm not on the list. >> >> >>This is what you need to do. Please read these instructions carefully >>before beginning. >> >>tools needed: one Hammer, one scredriver, one pair of pliers, one >>heavy-duty pair of wire cutters, one bucket of saline water, a box of >>sani-wipes. >> >> >>Step #1: Stop payment on any checks that you may have sent to your >>Internet Service Provider (GOD). >> >>Step #2: If GOD is unresponsive and you are still receiving mail from this >>list, you will need to find the "mailhost". This is a machine usually >>located in a locked office. Every day around noon, the mailman will >>deliver a box of diskettes with that day's mail messages, including yours >>from this list, to this machine. Typically, only a handful of people have >>keys to the "mailhost". The reason why this machine is locked up is >>because this is typically the best, fastest, most powerful computer at >>your facility and the people with keys don't want to share it. If you >>must, break or pry the door down with one (1) hammer (you did get all the >>tools needed?). >> >>Step #3: find the ON/OFF switch for this machine. Using the pliers, set >>the switch to the OFF position by tugging downwards until the disposable >>plastic switch breaks away from the computer casing. Discard the >>disposable plastic switch in an environmental-friendly manner. This will >>alert the mailman to not deliver the diskettes with the messages to the >>"mailhost" not unlike the little red flag found on mailboxes. This should >>resolve your mail problem immediately. >> >>Step #4: You may experience a recurrence of mail within 72 hours. >>If this should happen, you will need to disable the "mailhost" once again >>with more forceful measures. Repeat Step #2. Don't be suprised if there >>is a sturdier door in place than the one you destroyed previously. This >>is due to the fact that the "Have Key" clique found out that someone has >>seen their private stash of computer equipment. >> >>Step #5: After you have once again regained entry into the >>"mailhost" room, open up the back of the "mailhost". There may be a >>large tv-like device on top of the "mailhost" You will need to remove >>this first. Take your wire cutters, and cut any cables binding the >>tv-like device to the "mailhost". Set the tv-like device to the side. >>With your screwdriver, remove each and every screw that you can find on >>the "mailhost". Once this is done, the "mailhost" should break away into >>two or more pieces. >> >>Step #5: Find a large box with a fan attached to it. It will be clearly >>marked with the following labels: "Danger" "High Voltage" "Do not open - >>no user-servicable parts". Don't worry, these labels are merely in place >>to satisfy OSHA requirements and you are not in any danger at all. Take >>the bucket of saline water and pour it into any vents or ports that the >>large box may have. Any extra water should be poured directly into the >>computer chassis, be sure to properly soak each and every component. >> >>Step #6: In the event of fire (OSHA has been known to be right on >>occassion), douse any flames with the sani-wipes. >> >>This solution is provided without warranty. It is not bio-degradable or >>fat-free. In the event of sudden death, contact a physician immediately. >> >>_________________________________________________________________________ >> | Reengineering Half-A-Glass >>Steven Johnson | >> | An optimist is someone who says a glass >>johnson@stpt.usf.edu | is half full. A pessimist says it's >>http://www.stpt.usf.edu/~johnson | half empty. A reengineering consultant >> | says, "Looks like you've got twice as >>(813) 893-9551 | much glass as you need." >>---------------------------------+--------------------------------------- >> >> >> > >-----------------End of Original Message----------------- > >------------------------------------- >Jay Lyall >Channel Sales Director >Livermore Software Laboratories, Intl. >2825 Wilcrest, Suite 160 >Houston, Texas 77042-3358 >1-713-974-3274 >jay@lsli.com >Date: 4/17/96 >------------------------------------- > > -----------------End of Original Message----------------- ------------------------------------- Jay Lyall "The All Amerikan Cid" E-mail: rasputin@onramp.net Date: 4/18/96 ------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Apr 96 07:38:00 -0800 From: Russ Reynolds Subject: Re: Music for an alternate list... ======== Original Message ======== >This Guthrie-Dylan-Bragg axis... Woody Guthrie or Arlo Guthrie or both? Terry "The Human Mellotron" Marks a013645t@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us ======== Fwd by: Russ Reynolds ======== Obviously Rex is referring to JANET Guthrie, the race car driver. And Dylan, the character played brilliantly by that master thespian Luke Perry on "Beverly Hills 90210". And Fort Bragg (though I'm somewhat puzzled by his inclusion of a military base in connection with a race car driver and a TV character). ------------------------------ From: DARAMSEY@vassar.edu Date: Thu, 18 Apr 1996 15:13:44 -0400 (EDT) Subject: WARNING- Continuation of Punk Rock Thread Sorry to stretch out this punk rock thread which has tenuous connections to Robyn, I just wanted to comment on a post from Rex, where he says >"I admire the idea of a musical- political- lifestyle- based collective. But I've never found one that works.> A fine, fine example of a "musical-political-lifestyle based collective" that did work, at least for a time, can be found in the music and writings of the English anarchist punk band Crass. Check out their album "Yes Sir, I Will", and you'll understand what really can be accomplished if you set your mind to it instead of wasting your day panhandling and complaining. Crass combined intelligence, compassion, and a refusal to cave in to the system in a lifestyle and musical expression which is brilliant in its uncompromising, passionate, and ultimately uplifting message. Quite possibly one of the most intelligence and compassionate punk bands to EVER exist, Crass are an example of what punk rock should have turned into after the Sex Pistols first paved the road. Check them out. Again, sorry about the non-robyn content. But here's a tidbit. I heard Robyn's next album (after the elusive "Surfer Ghost/Shadowcat" intrigue) is going to consist entirely of Green Day covers. And you know what's weird? I was listening to Green Day's "Dookie" backwards last night, and there was the strangest message coming out of my speakers. It said, in Billy Joe's voice: "Man, those Soft Boys, they really rocked back in the old days...if it hadn't been for punk rock, just think of where they could've gone. Ha ha ha ha!" daveR ---there's only one way of life, and that's your own--- Levellers. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Apr 96 16:03:14 CDT From: Truman Peyote Subject: the axis There are those outside the Guthrie/Dylan tradition who have succeeded notably in writing personal/political (sinister but happy :)) songs, and I was thinking particularly of Ray Davies circa 67-68 with songs like "Shangri-La" and "Dead End Street" among others, and of "old creeepy drawers", the celibate adored by millions, Mr. (Just Plain) Morrissey. In fact, there's this guy named Robyn Hitchcock who seems to think that Morrissey is particularly talented at writing this type of song. But I mean to say, really, what would HE know about it :), seeing as he is just another charming and clever English songwriter according to miss Gina Arnold of the Spin Alternative Record Guide. Which leads me to something else- I know Ms. Arnold has been discussed on this thread (in fact, there was a discussion going on about her when I first signed up, in the days before I had fully been infected with the Robyn madness and actually considered unsubscribing :)). But it's not as though she's the first critic to dismiss our boy thusly. In fact, the standard review seems to be "clever, offbeat, cult followers and devoted Anglophiles only need apply". Wazzup with THIS? Let's try to make the thread something other than "critics are obtuse" and maybe try and get at the reason this sort of thing is said (I ask that we refrain from critic-bashing because a: it's the obvious thing to do and b: my prog rocker roommate, the author of a Rock Opera, is constantly yammering at me about the stupidity of critic-types and their failure to appreciate his genius, and I'm getting real bored with hearing about it :)). If possible, I'd like some Gen-YOU-Ine English people to comment on this Anglophile thing that at least a few of the American fegs can and ought to plead guilty to. This theme actually sparked some fairly interesting discussion over on the Kinks list and I thought it would be relevant over here too. Any thoughts? Susan yes, I grew up watching Masterpiece Theater and reading P.G. Wodehouse- but neither of these had ANY effect on my taste or sense of humor :) and to quote Peter Cook as the Devil in "Bedazzled"- "Everything I've ever told you has been a lie, including that. Scout's honor" :). ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Apr 1996 18:45:36 -0400 From: Nitnit Subject: Guided By Voices and the Soft Boys I found this in a local newsgroup. Anyone have an opinion on Guided By Voices? I've never heard of them. Wanda >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >eye WEEKLY April 18, 1996 >Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >ON DISC ON DISC > > GUIDED BY VOICES > Under The Bushes Under The Stars > Matador > > by > JASON ANDERSON > >The apparent canonization of Guided By Voices is, for me, chief among >the horrors perpetrated by SPIN magazine (excepting, of course, >inciting that civil war in Andorra). Like most people who aren't >record clerks, I have a lotta trouble believing the fanzine hyperbole >and enduring their albums. My pet theory is that GBV Record No. 4 (or >3) is so incandescent that everyone who's heard it projects its >excellence onto the rest of the oeuvre despite it all being so >obviously not-up-to-snuff. Or something like that. (Like I bought the >box-set.) > >On the rare occasions that GBV are in the zone, they're a simulacrum >of Robyn Hitchcock's psych-vegetable band The Soft Boys -- Syd- >Barrett-beating-Beatles-with-bricks rock -- but with cruddy sound >quality and indifferent delivery. Like leeches they suck the energy >out of the late-'60s Brit rock (Kinks, Small Faces, Pretty Things) >motifs they pilfer. I tremble when I imagine the sort of schlub that >would snigger at a Mary J. Blige video then perceive this as exciting >music. (Recent exception: GBV's "Postal Blowfish" on the Brain Candy >soundtrack is at least as good a Weezer song as "The Sweater.") > >Under The Bushes Under The Stars is posited as GBV's breakthrough >because it was recorded in a studio and features songs over 60 seconds >long. Somehow, the songs herein are actually less catchy and sound >even more sloppy than the ones on last year's Alien Lanes. Out of the >24 tracks, the only moments that stand out are Robert Pollard's >appropriately desolate vocal on "Look At Them" and the feeble guitar >solo in "Take To The Sky." As much as I distrust their bloated >Beatlesque equivalent across the Atlantic, "Champagne Supernova" is a >stone cold masterpiece next to this jive-ass drivel. So where were you >when we were getting high? > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright >http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available >music archives at ------------> http://www.interlog.com/eye/Arts/Music >eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421 > ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Apr 1996 15:50:01 -0700 (PDT) From: Glen Uber Subject: Re: the axis On Thu, 18 Apr 1996, Truman Peyote wrote: > and to quote Peter Cook as the Devil in "Bedazzled"- "Everything I've > ever told you has been a lie, including that. Scout's honor" :). ^^^^^ Shouldn't it be "honour"? ;) Just wondering, --g "It's a shame that everyone who knows how to run the country is either driving a cab or working as a bartender." --George Burns Glen Uber hirsute@u.washington.edu *Note my new WWW address: http://weber.u.washington.edu/d83/hirsute/ Dept. of Linguistics Univ. of Washington Seattle, Washington USA ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Apr 96 18:23:26 CDT From: Truman Peyote Subject: is THAT all? Well, yes, it probably should be "honour", I'm just in the terribly bad habit of spelling honor without a "u", as many other Americans are :). Since I was quoting a Britisher, I probably should have thought of that, but I didn't. I always write "flavor of night" too, rather than "flavour". Don't pass judgment/judgement upon me for this tiniest of sins :). Susan ------------------------------ From: DARAMSEY@vassar.edu Date: Thu, 18 Apr 1996 20:10:29 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: Guided by Voices! Wanda, that review of Guided by Voices you posted is COMPLETE SHIT! There, I just had to say it. Guided by Voices are one of the greatest bands to appear on the American indie ROCK (and I stress rock, 'cause GbV are pure rock, not that twee fiddly indie crap) scene in ages. Allow me to give a brief history/description of the band for those who have not been lucky enough to encounter them. Guided by Voices were formed around 1986 or 1987 by Robert Pollard, his brother Jim, and a few of their friends, in Dayton Ohio. Bob sang, a guy called Tobin played guitar, a guy called Mitch Mitchell played another guitar, Greg Demos played bass, and Kevin Fennell played drums. These guys would sit around and play rock n' roll for each other, because they loved the music. Bob would come up with words, lyrics, and the rest of them would fill in the blanks, and the end results were 99% of the time amazing. As I mentioned once before on this list, Bob Pollard cites among his top ten musical influences the Soft Boys, also The Who, Wire, and The Beatles. And THAT is what Guided by Voices sound like- they are a synthesis of the BEST (I repeat, BEST) elements of each of these bands: beautifully elliptical lyrics like Robyn and the Soft Boys, great rhythym and arena-rock atmosphere like The Who, punk rock attitude like Wire, and an unearthly, beautifully amazing melodic sense like the Beatles. These guys are the real thing, man. I'd like to quote some of their lyrics, but reading them on the computer would not do them any justice at all. I would recommend that all of you on this list who love rock n' roll songs that move your heart, your mind, and your body and which make the world appear a different kind of beautiful than you've ever experienced, go out right now and buy either "Bee Thousand" or "Under The Bushes Under The Stars" by Guided by Voices. GbV's songs are like those fleeting magical thoughts that occasionally pop into your head as if beamed to you from somewhere far far away, in a different, wonderful rock and roll galaxy. Sorry for the long-winded post, but I HAD to contradict that ridiculous and ludicrous review. Fans of Robyn Hitchcock's lyrics and the Beatles' melodies and The Who's energy will LOVE Guided by Voices. I one-hundred percent guarantee it. daveR. ---there's only one way of life, and that's your own--- Levellers. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Apr 96 22:00:43 -0500 From: "T.L.R. III" Subject: cheri? huhlo? n'guided by voices sorry for this stupid part of the post: cheri (i think that's your name?) i'm tlr121@psuvm.psu.edu, tom, on your video tree list--could you email me? if the vids aren't out before may, my mailing address is gonna change, since they'll kick me out of the dorms.. . . . robyn content, pseudo re: this green day debate which i've only vaguely followed. . . what do fegs think of guided by voices? (if you've heard them). one might well argue that they, to some degree, are derivative of robyn's derivatives of the beatles (and lennon). maybe. they seem to like warlocks, queens, and witches more than fish, though. no accounting for taste. also: are there any fegs who *haven't* watched dr. who? i was surprised so many of us have. . .i guess many of us are uk'ers, though. . . (so can we imagine robyn in the village, prisoner fans?). . .. . . tom * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * "questions are a burden for others. addresses: * * answers are a prison for oneself." small documents: tlr121@psuvm.psu.edu * * --village sign large documents: tom@tlr121.rh.psu.edu* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Apr 1996 21:40:06 -0400 (EDT) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: Re: Guided By Voices and the Soft Boys On Thu, 18 Apr 1996, Nitnit wrote: > I found this in a local newsgroup. Anyone have an opinion on Guided By > Voices? I've never heard of them. [Total rubbish snipped] I saw that review earlier today. I will try and refrain from talking about the author's (clear) critical flaws and (inferred) total failings as a human being. Instead, let me echo daramsey's enthusiasm about them and add this: Under The Bushes... may be their most accessible if you want to access GBV from the perspective of "normal" music, but the album that provides the deepest insight right into the core of their groove right away is Propeller. Go get it and don't believe anything you read on the net. Aaron ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The End of this Fegmaniax Digest.