Fegmaniax Digest Volume 4 Number 92 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: ------- ------- Re: A&M does Robyn some justice! More Anti-Commercial Snobbery Re: More Anti-Commercial Snobbery bootleg cd wehreabouts Re: A Modest Proposal (No Johnathon Swift Content) A&M Records email address ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 18:42:37 -0700 (PDT) From: Interstellar Underpants Subject: Re: A&M does Robyn some justice! i was think about this, and what about a two disc thingy that has rare stuff and some live stuff? similar to the ryko soft boys set. and they could put out their compilation thing as well. overall, this looks like an attempt to bury the full length albums six feet under and still provide the public with a greatest hits thing. i fear i will be suckered into buying 14 songs i already have to get one i have on some weird single and one i never have heard of. another thought here is that bobby is now on a major label again, and his old major label is putting out 'new' stuff. this smells of the stone roses/silvertone/geffen happening two or so years ago. i is obvious to see why they, a&m, are now releasing the stuff as opposed to six months ago. thinking device turned off now, .chris ------------------------------ From: RxBroome@aol.com Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 22:47:01 -0400 Subject: More Anti-Commercial Snobbery I. Elated but incredulous to hear of the A&M compilation!!! In his great letter to A&M, Jay writes: "It should be clear that a compilation of Robyn Hitchcock material isn't going to turn him into Nirvana or Pearl Jam overnight, so why not capitalize on the small but furious fan base he does have, and make a killing? It's just a thought." --However, the non-album A&M stuff, if compiled, would produce one of Robyn's more commercial records, and a great one at that! Check it out (we really should discuss this amongst ourselves anyhow, esp. since I'm going to forget a few, before e-mailing A&M with requests): Ruling Class Legalized Murder Watch Your Intelligence Dark Green Energy Alright Yeah -- all highly deserving of album inclusion... and then there's the following smorgasboard of covers, alternate and live versions to keep things appropriately unpredictable: Globe of Frogs (electric) Ghost Ship (alternate version from Y&O) Eight Miles High my beloved Birdshead, live at McCabe's Driving Aloud (alternate lyrics, from "Spectre") Wild Mountain Thyme (unless Imaginary owns the rights) One Long Pair of Eyes (live with monologue) ... and, of course, "Balloon Man", "Madonna", "SYTYIL", and "Yip Song" as bonus tracks... _____________________________________ II: Brooks asks, vis a vis my request for a digital "Mossy Liquor", why I don't get a turntable. Actually, all I need is a cartridge for the one I do own. It's just the principle of the thing. See, I have all of Robyn's commercial releases on CD. Whatever the positive and negative aspects of the CD may be,that's the format on which I collect music, mainly because cassettes suck and LP's were already dying when I started buying music. It now looks like, although some SONGS may be shared by "Moss Elixir" and "Mossy Liquor", none of the actual RECORDINGS will be the same. That makes them two entirely different albums. Meaning that there'll be a whole new album by one of my favorite artists that I can't purchase in my preferred format. And that's IRRITATING and unfair! Different, but almost equally cynical schemes have been practiced by the labels of Pearl Jam and Sonic Youth, among others, where the SAME record was released on vinyl a week EARLIER than its release on CD. I still got my Sonic Youth album on CD, and easily survived the one week during which the vinyl snobs could gloat (over what, I dunno; they probably bought the CD, too) and never bothered with either version of the Pearl Jam record. Robyn, the Sonic Kids, and Pearl Jam probably go along with this because they're into vinyl themselves, which is fine, but I can't be bothered. Most of the vinyl that's available now is by definition used and therefore probably scratchy (the stuff was much more easily damaged than CD's-- ever broken a CD? Just try it!)... and as we've observed, EVERYTHING comes out on CD eventually. This week I got "Trout Mask Replica" and the GoBetweens' "Spring Hill Fair" reissue on CD, along with NEW records by Bob Mould and Magnapop; they're all together in my CD changer now. Good luck stacking 'em up on vinyl. I'm not a digital snob, just a realist. I think the CD is the last permanent storage medium for music. Next stop is just downloading the stuff to your hard drive. _______________________________ III. (No RH content) Jay Hedblade, who works for what my friend from Champaign, IL describes as "the best radio station in America", writes: "Vent, Miles Hunt's new band, have been playing small scale secret shows around England prior to recording their debut album with producer Steve Albini. "Albini wouldn't have been my choice if I was still in The Wonder Stuff," says Hunt, "But we wanted to move on and do something a lot different"...Hunt is looking at an August release." "Wonder Stuff fans REJOICE!!!" --I do rejoice-- but this whole Steve Albini / "new direction"/ "four-letter-band-name" thing is worrisome; let's hope it doesn't turn out like Electrafixion! Rex ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 09:52:49 -0400 From: flaky white stuff Subject: Re: More Anti-Commercial Snobbery Also sprach RxBroome@aol.com: >I >--However, the non-album A&M stuff, if compiled, would produce one of Robyn's >more commercial records, and a great one at that! Check it out (we really >should discuss this amongst ourselves anyhow, esp. since I'm going to forget >a few, before e-mailing A&M with requests): don't forget the live covers of "ghost in you" and "more than this" and the two b-sides from "the yip song" promo single: "the live-in years" and "bright fresh flower". >II >It now looks like, although some SONGS may be shared by "Moss Elixir" and >"Mossy Liquor", none of the actual RECORDINGS will be the same. That makes >them two entirely different albums. Meaning that there'll be a whole new >album by one of my favorite artists that I can't purchase in my preferred >format. And that's IRRITATING and unfair! i agree that it's irritating (though less so for me since my turntable is still in operation and i'm one of those anachronisms that will buy vinyl over a cd given a choice - not because i'm a vinyl snob or because the sound is better, just because), but you can hardly call it "unfair". i find it amusing to see the pendulum swing back the other way, even if only a little. what about vinyl afficiandos (snob or not) were unable to buy music in *their* preferred format in the recent past? what about cd-only bonus tracks? was that "unfair"? we don't need to start a cd vs. vinyl war here - that battle has been fought (and is being fought still) many times elsewhere and, as most of you know, has approached religious proportions. if you're one of the people cheesed off by the vinyl-only thing, i'd suggest writing a letter of complaint to warner brothers, much as a fair number of you are writing suggestions to a&m about the compilation's contents. i think that if enough of you make a stink, they may reconsider, especially if they realize that it's the core of robyn's fans complaining. i doubt that the vinyl people will raise a stink if wb decides to put _mossy liquor_ on vinyl as well, so don't expect a battle of missives. >III. (No RH content) >--I do rejoice-- but this whole Steve Albini / "new direction"/ >"four-letter-band-name" thing is worrisome; let's hope it doesn't turn out >like Electrafixion! hear hear! woj ps. many profuse thanks to whomever suggested the verlaines. i picked up _ready to fly_ in a cut-out bin and it's caused muchos enjoyment. ------------------------------ From: SPIFFINGNY@aol.com Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 16:25:48 -0400 Subject: bootleg cd wehreabouts Bill Forsyth at Minus Zero Records (London) forwarded me a list the other day of some rather sundry Robyn bits in his current catalog but what I think seems important to a number of people out there are the Invisible History and Stand Back Dennis CD's, which he has a supply of. The email address is minusero@dircon.co.uk The warehouse in Germany that stored these things was raided sometime late last summer so the supply is apparently very limited as the EU seems to be doing more to stop bootlegging than the US. Just thought you should know... Carl of SpiFFinG ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 10:50:11 -0800 (AKDT) From: Brett Cooper Subject: Re: A Modest Proposal (No Johnathon Swift Content) >Why don't you just go out to a pawn shop and buy a turntable? You can get a very decent one for around thirty dollars. Besides, vinyl sounds better. Oh, God. We just ended the debate of CD vs. Vinyl on the Alice Cooper mailing list! I will keep my stance that CD has a much higher frequency respone range than vinyl could *ever* have, allows more minutes of music to be put on the recording, and is easier and more portable than vinyl. Sorry, you vinyl buffs, but CD is here to stay and DAT's will not ever be as much of an accepted standard as CD due to what almost seems a regression of technology (back to tape). God bless digital! :) Brettie "I'm the loudest one laughing at the saddest wake... I'm pain." -Alice Cooper, "Pain" ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 15:48:54 -0700 From: afink@ix.netcom.com (Aaron Finkelstein) Subject: A&M Records email address Before we all go nuts with the email to A&M, I should mention that the email address we were provided is the comment address for the third party service that maintains the site. I don't know whether they'll be of any help. I also wonder if A&M still owns anything useful, other than the albums themselves, at least two of which I understand are officially out of print. I assume they'll just compile tracks from those. We may plead with them to be interesting with us, but they may not be able to oblige. Guesses, anyone? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The End of this Fegmaniax Digest.