From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@ecto.org To: fegmaniax-digest@ecto.org Reply-To: fegmaniax@ecto.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@ecto.org Subject: Feg Digest V5 #76 Fegmaniax Digest Volume 5 Number 76 Sunday April 20 1997 To post, send mail to fegmaniax@ecto.org To unsubscribe, send mail to majordomo@ecto.org with the words "unsubscribe fegmaniax-digest" in the message body. Send comments, etc. to the listowner at owner-fegmaniax@ecto.org FegMANIAX! Web Page: http://remus.rutgers.edu/~woj/fegmaniax/index.html Archives are available at ftp://www.ecto.org/pub/lists/fegmaniax/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Topics: ------- ------- Irene, the coast is clear "Fashion is the Bobby Ewing shower scene of life." Other worlds Two tendrils up Re: Don't Stand ... Re: Worlds Wilson/Dylan Bela Fleck Tapes Wanted Throwing Muses/Squeeze/Tris McCall Live Death and Loud Family Imperfections as kinks of luvs manifestation Throwing Muses/Squeeze...1% Robyn content. misc Eye, Bayard and Tom's of Maine Re: misc Re: Muses Loud Family, Let's Active Issue 54 of The BOB ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 15:23:59 -0700 From: "John Chandler [Contractor]" Subject: Irene, the coast is clear If this topic has been exhaustively explored years ago, please point me at the archives. In "Night Ride to Trinidad," there is a throwaway background fragment that seems to consist of the words, "Irene, the coast is clear," set to a melody taken from "Revolution 9." Has this been established as intentional? Are there extant records or memories of anyone asking Mr. H. about this, and if so, has he copped to it, denied it, or given anything resembling a straight answer or at least a straightenable one? If not, has anyone else heard it that way, or should I consider cleaning my tape heads? -jmc ------------------------------ From: HAMISH_SIMPSON@HP-Sonoma-om1.om.hp.com Date: Fri, 18 Apr 97 09:53:25 -0700 Subject: "Fashion is the Bobby Ewing shower scene of life." Item Subject: cc:Mail Text Susan, Actually I'm not sure what it means either. I was trying to say that fashion is fickle and for fickle people and often ends up trying to rewrite history. The Bob Ewing thing flew threw my brain a second before I wrote it and it sounded weird enough to end my post on. Actually, regarding the acoustic guitarry thing, I find generally that I prefer bands and don't listen to much solo guitar/singer stuff. RH is pretty much the only one, although I used to like my brothers collection of Dylan when he only had the first 5 or 6 LPs. () - Overproduced and underproducing (figure that one out!) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Apr 97 15:22:14 EDT From: Jeff Rosedale Subject: Other worlds I agree that RH has created a world of his own and decided to open various doors and windows to allow some visitors to peek in at it. This was apparently a consuming desire of Mervyn Peake when he was contemplating the creation of his Gormenghast trilogy (I have been devouring Peake since learning Robyn thought he was hot stuff- and he comes *highly* recommended). Stumbled across an Armageddon pressing of Black Snake today, but couldn't shell out the extra $$ knowing I have the CD. I guess there are a few more rivers of madness yet for me to cross. What will the western lung of the tour bring? New songs? Green cones? The Dark Princess? Poultry? reverie over for now --Jeff ------------------------------ From: RIELWJ@sbu.edu Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 15:48:23 EDT Subject: Two tendrils up Just a thought: Siskel and Ebert give 'Storefront Hitchcock' Two Tendrils Up. I laughed. I cried. I vibrated internally." I no longer wnat to be adressed as Riel on this list. Henceforth I shall be known as...Lord of The Dance. (I stole that from some dancing guy). Yours, Lord of the Dance, who thinks Luna is the most overlookde band of the decade, and "Strange Days" the most underrated film of the same decade. ------------------------------ From: Terrence M Marks Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 16:00:04 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: Don't Stand ... >Could you use an illegal houseboy or gardener, Terry? I live in a dorm...I don't technically have a house *or* a garden.. By the time I get home, it'll proly stop snowing.. And...what is this "emotional sincerity" factor in Eye that you-all keep raving about? Executioner, Linctus House and Glass have that. Maybe Satellite if you stretch it... I thnk that Respect has as much sincerity as Eye... I mean you've got.. The Yip Song: Raymond Hitchcock is Dead. You can dance to it. Railway Shoes: I dunno...it's got emotion...I think.. Wafflehead: Hey, lust is an emotion, ain't it? Terrence Marks Second Student in the Tendo Kasumi School of Philosophy Remember-Jesus is your friend. normal@grove.ufl.edu ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 13:43:25 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: Worlds >Am I making any sense? I would also say that other artists who have this >effect on me - like they are creating whole worlds, consistent, alien, >and yet strangely familiar - include J.L. Borges, Beck, Kafka, Magritte, >HR Giger, and Sam Beckett. Yeah, Hitchcock achieves that, but I don't think any musician ever did that better than Frank Zappa. :) Eb ------------------------------ From: Terrence M Marks Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 16:44:46 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Wilson/Dylan Note: I'm listening to Brian WIlson's Sweet Insanity right now... On "THe Spirit of Rock and Roll", Bob Dylan is a guest vocalist Hah! Terrence Marks Second Student in the Tendo Kasumi School of Philosophy Remember-Jesus is your friend. normal@grove.ufl.edu ------------------------------ From: Terrence M Marks Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 17:17:50 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Bela Fleck Tapes Wanted SOrry for the unrelated thing... But I need some live Bela Fleck tapes, and I need them fast... this is an emergency (kinda) Willing to trade/pay/send blanks. Please help me... (ObRobyn: Umm...well, I think I've got all the Robyn tapes I need for the moment, at least...Vic Wooten is a better bass player than Andy or Matt...(why do I say this? Vic (Fleck's bassist) can match a mandolinist note-for-note. And this wasn't a slow mandolinist...))) Terrence Marks Second Student in the Tendo Kasumi School of Philosophy Remember-Jesus is your friend. normal@grove.ufl.edu ------------------------------ From: Terrence M Marks Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 19:35:09 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Throwing Muses/Squeeze/Tris McCall 1) I wanna start a Throwing Muses/Squeeze discography.. (I have Argybargy and East Side Story)....could anyone give me reccomendations/summaries of the albums, please? 2) Found Tris McCall's "Broken Loom" in Spec's today...too cool for words... Terrence Marks Second Student in the Tendo Kasumi School of Philosophy Remember-Jesus is your friend. normal@grove.ufl.edu ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 18:31:41 -0700 From: HARVEY SPIEGEL Subject: Live Death and Loud Family Hi to all, Wondering about Live Death...what is it and how do I get it? I'm also curious about Loud Family. I'm reading through the 70 or so feg digests that have accumulated since I was in the hospital, and I've come across the Scott Miller/Game Theory discussion. I have all the Game Theory albums, I love Scott's voice, and I'm assuming that Loud Family is his current project. Any info is as always muchly appreciated. Also, does anyone know what happened to Mitch Easter/Let's Active? Thanks, Randi "I don't want no diversion I don't need no bread and jam I wanna breathe the air and be exactly where I am" ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 20:34:13 -0400 From: WISNIEWSKI Subject: Imperfections as kinks of luvs manifestation -- Kay Lord Wisniewski Wis@Worldnet.Att.Net Lo luvs, O.K.--for me all 4 Beatles solo stuff is flawed because its too fragmented.George gets spiritual and puts you to sleep. John gets so intense you have to be 1/2 mad to really get into it(or he gets lazy and puts you 1/2 too sleep.) Ringo is so bouncy you cant take it after 3 cuts, and need to go to sleep, and Pauls stuff is best listenned to while asleep. What, in my not so humble opnion, made the beatles great was that they each were trying to woe and outdo each other. they were each others ideal audience. John worked on his melodies so not to be bested by Paul, Paul injected wit and even meaning into his stuff so as to impress John. Gearge wanted to impress evryone with the fact that he could keep up. And Ringo took the edge off. Donavan and Davies? Dylan and Wilson? Ahhh---no , no , no, yeah, alright--is all Im going to say on that one. But--sidenotes from someone who remembersd it all from the first time around. The post on Donaven left out , not sure on the title , but the one that begins--"its saturday night, feels like a Sunday in someways." And I liked the bit he did from Much Ado--"Under the greenwood tree, who loves to lie with me etc. And some other such stuff which I cant begin to conjure up--Donavens tragedy was Dylans movie--after that he was dead in the water. I have earlier expressed myself on Mr Wilson and Mr Zimmerman. As for Mr Davies(Im beginning to sound like the NYTs in the seventies, everybody was Mr this and MR that) I left out of my previous post that Id gone thru an intense Kinks-Who phase at the end of the 70s, when , as a mere burnt out shell- I resolved to try to listen to more"wholesome" music with humane"values". VGPS is engrained in my brain. Wish I could say I was on the bandwagon earlier, but... "Who cares if youre jewish(well-1/2), and your breath smells of garlic (often), and your nose is a shiny red light(I believe I have bragged earlier about the splendiferous preposterous appendage the good Lord (that would be my grandmother on the wasp side) made me with. Anyway, God save the Kinks. Which leads me on to Susans wonderfully wise comment(are you really just 26 and have figured this out already?)that--that the beauty is in the imperfection. When young wippersnapper librarians come to me (Im den-mother it seems) and whine on and on about how they will never find anyone to love them because of this or that awefull, unforgivable flaw, I enjoy throwing them off stride by briskly informing them that those lovely dysfunctional imperfections are precisely why they will find someone to love them. we dont love others for their perfections. For one thing, whats perfect has no need of love, being complete unto itself. We love others because their imperfections touch us in some way Their imperfections are where their carefull masks slip, and expose vunerable surfaces, real flesh, which call to whats reeal in us., Perfectionism is one of evils of our age. There is no empathy where there is perfection. Robyns imperfections are what touch me to the quick, not his cleverness, or cute buns, no--its his goddam bad hair, and anger and sadness which reach me. Now--0n to important matters. Does anyone know if Robyn is circumcised? What brings this to mind is--silly me--I always thought My Favorite Buildings was about erections. Luv in all of you K ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 22:28:40 -0500 From: Lobsterman Subject: Throwing Muses/Squeeze...1% Robyn content. >1) I wanna start a Throwing Muses/Squeeze discography.. >(I have Argybargy and East Side Story)....could anyone give me >reccomendations/summaries of the albums, please? Terry and others- Okay. I am going out on a limb by posting this to the list. I do so A) because its a weekend, and less people post then, and B) because I know that there are other Muses fans on the list. Throwing Muses are a close second or third to Robyn in terms of my favorite bands, so this is my equivalent of you guys gushing about Cale, or VU, or Brian Wilson, or whathaveyou. Here then, is my album by album review of the Muses career: Throwing Muses--Throwing Muses (import only but all that will change April of 1998)....their first album. This album is jarring, primal, and beautiful. I would wait to get this Terry. It will be released on Ryko next year as a 2cd set along with the Chains Changed EP and 1985 demos. Throwing Muses--Chains Changed EP...import only Throwing Muses--House Tornado. This is my favorite of their albums. I said the first album was jarring and primal. On this one, the rhythm section stands out more. Leslie Langstons basslines go ALL over the fretboard within each song--very complex. And the same can be said for David Narcizo's drumming and percussion. Kristin Hersh's lyrics are at their best on this one as well. Throwing Muses- The Fat Skier EP....out of print in USA--available on import (included on the House Tornado import CD). This is the record that hooked me. It was Tanya's song "A Feeling". This is a great record to listen to as a first record--it runs the gamut from their mellow stuff "A Feeling" to their raw, primal guitar stuff (Garoux Des Larmes) to their percussive stuff (Soap and Water) Throwing Muses- Hunkpapa. This album was a disappointment in terms of production and material. The songs were leftovers from the other 2 albums, and the single (Dizzy) was written by Kristin's dad during an acid trip or something. The band never played Dizzy again after the Hunkpapa tour--Kristin hates it now. But 2 songs from Hunkpapa are now classics: Mania, and Bea. Throwing Muses- The Real Ramona. I disliked this album as well. Production was even worse than Hunkpapa (I don't think the Muses were ever meant to be a commercial band--this album tried to make them sound commercial.) I can't think of a single song from that album that i would consider a must hear. Throwing Muses--Counting Backwards EP....This, though, is essential. Counting Backwards was the first single for TRR. The b-sides are top notch, better than the album stuff. Cottonmouth (about K's half-sister and former band member Tanya) is my favorite Muses song. Same Sun gives you a deserty Western feel without being twangy or country. And finally a cover of Amazing Grace. Throwing Muses--Red Heaven. This was the first album made after the band fell apart (Tanya left to form belly). They opted not to fill Tanya's place on second guitar and harmonies and instead concentrated on K's guitar and vocals and David's drums are way upfront in the mix. This is as raw and primal and woman as the very first album, the songs are good by themselves, but don't flow together very well as an album. Throwing Muses- Firepile 1 & 2 EPs. import only, these are brilliant in terms of packaging. The artwork is beautiful. And again, the b-sides are TOP Notch. City of the Dead, Manic Depression (yes, the Hendrix cover) and more. worth getting and having. There is a US promo that combines songs from both eps for kind of a best of, if you can find it. Throwing Muses- The Curse. import only live album. I don't listen to this much. Fans talk about how muddy the recording is. I don't notice that, all the shows I've ever seen of the Muses always have Kristen's vocals buried in the mix, so I'm used to it. The album does highlight Kristin's triumph of taking a 4 piece band to a 3 piece band.. Raw, with no luxury of having Tanya's harmonies or extra guitar parts. Throwing Muses- University. Great album. This is the first time they put commercial production on a muses record and I didn't mind it. The songs are incredibly well written and though the flow gets interrupted about 2/3rds through, the first 2/3rd of the album goes lickety-split. Hazing, Shimmer are great. Bernard Georges is now a full time member on bass and they are really sounding like a team now. Kristin's songwriting is as good as its ever been. Throwing Muses--Limbo. Just when I thought the Muses couldn't get better, they did. Limbo features a stripped-down sound--not alot of effects or production. That's what the songs called for, Kristin said. This is their best album since House Tornado. Incredible, at least in my opinion. Some muses fans I know hate this album, but these are generally the ones that love The Real Ramona. Real Ramona is to the Muses as Perspex Island is to the Egyptians. And now the Muses are no more. There was a recent LA times article where Kristin says they couldn't carry on anymore, though they really want to, there is just no money. they are not making enough to continue. but they are not going to officially say that the band is no more, because they are hoping that one of them will win the lottery or something. IF you didn't find this too annoying Terry I could do another one for Squeeze, although I gave up on them after "Play". I did get the A&M greatest hits that came out last year tho. -jbj /-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-//-/-/-/-/-/-/- John B. Jones e-mail:jojones@mailbox.syr.edu web: http://web.syr.edu/~jojones "Driving Aloud" was originally called "Driving to Portland." -Robyn Hitchcock \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- ------------------------------ Date: 19 Apr 97 22:20:40 EDT From: sCoTtO <102465.41@CompuServe.COM> Subject: misc >Also, does anyone know what happened to Mitch Easter/Let's Active? Good question- I can't seem to find their stuff new or used anywhere. Actually, this reminds me of one of my first Robyn experiences. A friend of mine had EOL on one side of a tape and Big Plans for Everybody on the other, but the whole tape was marked Robyn. Took me quite a long time and many Robyn Albums to figure out the truth.... Speaking of unknown songs: When I was about 15 I used to make tapes from WPRB, Princeton (still IMO better than any of the LAME Philly radio stations!) . Two sort of new-wavy songs from these tapes have not ceased to come into my head some 13 years later and I have no idea who they are. The one has a chorus of "If I only have one life, let me live it as a lie." The other "Blue is the color, the color of my heart" blah blah something else "she's painting red on my heart" A few months ago I found Pillar to Post by Aztec Camera and eliminated the third unknown new wave so tell me there's hope. ALSO: >Two of his better albums, IMHO. I also like the quirky, backroom, 'tossed-it-off-one-weekend' feel of _McCartney II_. "Temporary Secretary" remains one of my favourites of the "Macca Opus" Can someone who has the CD of McPaul II confirm that the extra tracks listed are NOT actually on the CD (Lunch Box Odd Sox- I think I used to have as a 45 B-side- neat moog piece).... Palpitate while you may..... Scott ------------------------------ From: Ross Overbury Date: Sat, 19 Apr 97 22:38:56 EDT Subject: Eye, Bayard and Tom's of Maine I've been more silent on the renewed discussion of Eye than I might have wanted to be, because my copy of same recording was rendered unplayable about a year ago. I'm now listening to the Linctus House, which once played back in about half the normal time, at the normal pitch. This was a great loss, since as a 41 year old fart, I have seen former lovers after more than 20 years and have known that sad strangeness. Thanks to Bayard and Tom's of Maine (no artificial additives) and a few circular finger motions destined to take the place of the mudshark in my mythology, I have regained this bittersweet pleasure. That being said, I'm still mad at Robyn for not fixing up the tempo and pitch problems in Executioner. My GF contribution, if I can ever get it out, will inevitably suffer for lack of time to do justice to the concept, but Robyn doesn't have anything more pressing to do. Not professionally. Is it intentional? Maybe, but if so, I don't find it entirely successful. If it was due to a lack of time, it's maddening. When I hear the obvious guitar fluff in "College of Ice" I think "he could easily have given us better than that". But in the end, the songs are his, not ours, right? I've recently bought Lenny Kravitz' "Are You Gonna Go My Way". The recording is conspicuously analog, with amplifiers left to hiss away halfway through the song until the lead break finally yields an acceptable signal to noise ratio. It's so contrived. Not unenjoyable, but less enjoyable (to me) because of the device. Buddy Holly's recordings were better. There's a cut on Hendrix's Smash Hits where the producer pans the guitar from side to side, and there's a sickening SKRITCH as the dirty pan pot adds its own voice to the recording. This artifact had nothing to do at all with Jimi's vision of the song, and yet here we are stuck with it decades later because some producer couldn't care enough to find a clean channel to mix down the guitar. Jimi's guitar, for Christ's sake. I wouldn't have shown that disregard to anyone's material. The song is "Can you Hear Me" or "Can You See Me". I don't have the CD ready and I'm not a big Hendrix fan. This was the first JH recording I ever bought - last winter. I've spewed. PS: Eye is sloppy in spots, but now that I can hear it again, it's not nearly as sloppy as I remembered. What does that mean? I think I know. -- "Let's try that again, but see if you can screw up a bit more next time" Ross Overbury Montreal, Quebec, Canada email: rosso@cn.ca ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 21:08:45 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: misc >>Also, does anyone know what happened to Mitch Easter/Let's Active? Well, a year or so ago, Easter was touring as backing guitarist with Velvet Crush. And of course, he helped produce the new Pavement album.... Eb ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 21:13:50 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: Muses >Throwing Muses--Red Heaven. This is as raw >and primal and woman as the very first album, the songs are good by >themselves, but don't flow together very well as an album. I like this one more than you do. >Throwing Muses--Limbo. Just when I thought the Muses couldn't get better, >they did. Limbo features a stripped-down sound--not alot of effects or >production. That's what the songs called for, Kristin said. This is their >best album since House Tornado. Incredible, at least in my opinion. Some >muses fans I know hate this album, but these are generally the ones that >love The Real Ramona. I don't like Limbo OR The Real Ramona much. Otherwise, I pretty much agreed with your views, though I certainly would take the debut album over House Tornado. I just heard about the breakup today -- I may run down to their show tomorrow night. I don't think I can resist seeing their final weekend of shows. I'll be happy when the Rykodisc package comes out -- Throwing Muses' debut has long gotten my vote for the best album never available domestically. Eb ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 20 Apr 1997 01:29:37 -0500 From: Outdoor Miner Subject: Loud Family, Let's Active At 06:31 PM 4/19/97 -0700, HARVEY SPIEGEL wrote: >I'm also curious about Loud Family. > >I'm reading through the 70 or so feg digests that have accumulated since >I was in the hospital, and I've come across the Scott Miller/Game Theory >discussion. > >I have all the Game Theory albums, I love Scott's voice, and I'm >assuming that Loud Family is his current project. Any info is as always >muchly appreciated. Hope you've gotten well from whatever was ailin' you -- quickly, the Loud Family evolved out of the post-'88 Game Theory line-ups, and is more straigh-ahead rockin' than Game Theory, though "straightforward" is a VERY relative term when you're talking about Scott Miller. There have been three Loud Family albums and an EP -- PLANTS & BIRDS & ROCKS & THINGS (1993), SLOUCHING TOWARDS LIVERPOOL EP (1994), THE TAPE OF ONLY LINDA (1994), and INTERBABE CONCERN (1996). All are currently available on Alias Records. Alias sells regular CDs for $12 each, or places like CDNow also stock 'em. They're all good -- IBC is LOLITA NATION-like in its complexity and length, TTOOL is a shorter, more straighforward album (not unlike TWO STEPS FROM THE MIDDLE AGES in that respect), and P&B&R&T is somewhere in between. Buy 'em all. >Also, does anyone know what happened to Mitch Easter/Let's Active? Well, in this incestuous little world, Mitch is currently involved with Scott Miller's ex-wife, Shalini Chatterjee. He plays on the latest single from Shalini's group, Vinyl Devotion (if anyone wants to know where to order the 45, write me off-list), and is still producing plenty of folks, including the latest Pavement effort (or lack thereof...). later, Miles ------------------------------ From: bootlegs@ix.netcom.com Date: Sun, 20 Apr 1997 00:07:54 -0700 Subject: Issue 54 of The BOB All LA Fegs, I got my copy of Issue 54 of The BOB with the flexi disc "Alright Yeah" toady at Penny Lane in Westwood. They had four copies left. Good Luck. Peter ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The End of this Fegmaniax Digest. *sob* .