From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V7 #22 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Monday, January 19 1998 Volume 07 : Number 022 Today's Subjects: ----------------- ... Down by the sea ["Matthew Knights" ] gf [dwdudic@erols.com (luther)] this is not a love song!!!!! [dwdudic@erols.com (luther)] Duzy Hug's brivate dreamz are her own bidnez... (I have a code!) [Ed.Doxt] Richard Thompson, Elvis Costello (NO RH) [mbrage@surgery.bsd.uchicago.edu] Re: No Robyn content in #18 [Nick Winkworth ] Re: gf [Bayard ] Susie Hug opening for Robyn [twofangs/randi spiegel ] Re: old folkies [MARKEEFE ] Best of '97 (one last barebones try) [Miles ] Best of 1997 (repeat, massive) [Miles ] Tangerine Dream evolution [Ross Overbury ] fratrock and folky-ness revisited... [jeffery vaska ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 10:01:42 -0000 From: "Matthew Knights" Subject: ... Down by the sea Karen sauteed: A few times, when Robyn has come to Portland, Carole and I and our friend Brian have had a pre-concert dinner of red wine and--what else? sauteed prawns. Ross squeezed: Favourite feg food: Squeeze-a-snack squid inna tube, natch. Over Christmas my mother gave me a stern warning about sea food with the words "When they find dead people under the sea, their bodies are covered in prawns" which just served to remind me of the 'Full Fathom Five' thread. Even so I enjoyed a prawn biryani rice yesterday washed down with half a bottle of Advocaat. It was one of those supermarket microwaveable efforts and tasted astonishingly good. Matt _________________________________________________________________ Matthew Knights mknights@harrywasp.prestel.co.uk `Ton ame est un lac d'amour dont mes desirs sont les cygnes...' _________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 14:35:01 GMT From: dwdudic@erols.com (luther) Subject: gf On Mon, 19 Jan 1998 03:25:13 -0500, you wrote: >...and on a related note, would anyone and everyone involved with glass >flesh please take a look-see at the glass flesh web thingie and send me = any >updates, links, and whatnot. it's at >. Well, as soon as my band stabilizes, we can contribute "Acid Bird" and "Radio Storm"... -luther > >thanks, > >woj > >np: last exit -- iron path Last Exit? wow, free jazz on the feg list!!! (featuring Bill Laswell....now THERE'S a producer for Robyn....) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 14:35:11 GMT From: dwdudic@erols.com (luther) Subject: this is not a love song!!!!! On Mon, 19 Jan 1998 03:25:13 -0500, you wrote: > >I, for one, am not a big fan of the love song. I think it's been >overdone. I mean really, does Celine Dion or Mariah Carrey really have >something to add to the idea of being in love that hasn't already been >covered by Keats or Shakespeare or someone? Occassionally there's a = love >song that describes some inexpressible feeling in just the right way, = but >mostly it's just ridiculousness. Please, there are other things in the >world worth writing about. How many radiosongs aren't love songs? Not >too many. You get some, for sure, but most of them are about "you and = me" >and how it ended or how it should be or should have been or will be. = Bah. > Well, there is ONE person who has brought a fresh (if borderline demented :-) ) perspective to love songs: Richard Thompson. If you like the Smiths, you oughta like him... >I think that's why I like The Smiths. =20 As for people that mostly Don't write 'love songs', per se, well, there is always David Byrne.... -luther ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 10:34:25 +0000 From: Ed.Doxtator@ssa.co.uk Subject: Duzy Hug's brivate dreamz are her own bidnez... (I have a code!) Hedblade wrote: << The private dreams of Suzy Hug ....... are the support band for Robyn on 3rd February. I'm reading a flyer handed to me at the 12 Bar yesterday. >> >OK Feg smarties. Tell me who Suzy Hug is and I'll buy you a drink at the next >Robyn show you attend! (never mind if it isn't in Chicago, I'll send you some >wadded up $$$). Suzy Hug is from America (I believe). The first credit for her I have in my CD collection is on the Blue Aeroplanes "Beatsongs" rekkid where she played guitars and did backup vocals. I canna remember if it's "Suzy" or "Susie". Last time I saw Suzy it was December of 1996 at The Mean Fiddler. She was in a UK band called Loreli, featuring Jake Kyle (bass for Homer and the Aeros), there were one or two other ex-Aeros as well, but I can't remember who. (Trying to name all of the past and present members of the Blue Aeroplanes is... difficult, to say the least. There's been at least 30 different people in the band, I think.) I got to meet Suzy before the show. She's short, has dark hair, is extremely pretty, and was very pleasant despite some pre-show jitters. Their show was very good, I thought. Suzy was playing this enormous red Gibson archtop, and her voice was great that night. Loreli has since gone away, but my friend Alice tells me that Suzy and Jake are in a different band now. I dunno much more than that. Alice, you lurking out there? Little help? >In checking my own source on this, I come up with SUSIE Hug, >so perhaps I'm way off. In any case, the name seems too unique to be >mistaken, but if there is a different "famous" Suzy Hug, I'm going to have egg >on my face (normal, actually). Thinking caps on... and, no, I'm not giving >any hints! I probably have missed the point of your question entirely, but if I didn't and as I'm moving back to Chicago sometime around the end of March, you can buy me an ENCHILADA from Demon Dogs (they used to sell them still wrapped in corn husks, not waxed paper, which the way God intended [or so I hear]). If we're in that neighbourhood, I suggest we move on to Que Rico, where the margaritas are slightly pricey and can melt your head. Can you tell I'm jonzen for Mexican food? Oh, and Eb wrote: >Did Peter Schilling rank? I think you meant "Is", not "Did". Look after yerselves - -Ed, Doc, AAAAACHHHHOOOO!!! n.p. Jack Frost, "Snow Job" ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 09:42:22 -0500 From: mbrage@surgery.bsd.uchicago.edu (Michael Brage) Subject: Richard Thompson, Elvis Costello (NO RH) Fegs, Apparently the Fair Field Four with guest singer Elvis Costello were on a Mountain Stage broadcast in November. If any one can trade me a copy of this show, I would be most grateful. Second, there is occassional chatter regarding Richard Thompson on this list. While I'm not a fan, I just taped a radio broadcast of his recent performance at the Vic, here in Chicago. If someone wants this, email me off list. Michael ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 09:29:43 -0800 From: Nick Winkworth Subject: Re: No Robyn content in #18 > On Fri, 16 Jan 1998, Gregory and Vince whined: > > Wow, an entire digest with no Robyn Hitchcock content > > whatsoever. Am I the only person who doesn't bother > > to read many digests because of this fact? > No. You are one of a probable growing number of disgruntled fegs who > do not read the digests and do an auto-delete on many posts with > contain things like "frat boy", "chicago transit authority" and > the"beastie boys" Don't forget, guys, this list is is not "mediocre-ated" - that means that anyone who contrubutes can affect the content. That includes you!! If you don't like what you see --POST what you do, start some threads and discussions. If all else fails, your mail readers' "delete" function is always available. Nobody will get upset, no matter how often you use it. ObRob: Did anybody confirm the film release date yet? Soundtrack? ~N ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 13:47:26 -0500 (EST) From: Bayard Subject: Re: gf > >. > > Well, as soon as my band stabilizes, we can contribute "Acid > Bird" and "Radio Storm"... speaking of _glass flesh_, two people have told me there is not a song on the radio that sounds a lot like the first track, "prelude bethesda maryland". can anyone enlighten me? could everyone who is still interested in contributing please email me the robyn song(s) you will be doing, so i can try and minimise overlap. I know what most of you would like to do but not Paul M. nor Aidan M. hope to hear from you soon, =b ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 15:38:51 -0500 From: twofangs/randi spiegel Subject: Susie Hug opening for Robyn Okay Mister Blinking On and Off ;) > who wrote: > OK Feg smarties. Tell me who Suzy Hug is and I'll buy you a drink at > the next Robyn show you attend! Well...maybe I too will end up with 'egg on my face'...or a box of 'smarties'...or a drink if I can drive out to Chicago the next time Robyn plays there ;) Do you mean Susie Hug of the "Katydids"? The same Susie Hug lent her vocals to the "Fatima Mansions" in 1995? The Susie who sang with 'The Mighty Lemon Drops" on Ricochet I believe? And if I'm not mistaken...she even helped out on a "Blue Aeroplanes" album called "Life Model." That's the best I can do...so I'll fade back into yesterday before tomorrow comes, Randi Toronto, Ontario, Canada *what scares you most will set you free* - Robyn Hitchcock *doubt is not a pleasant condition...but certainty is an absurd one* ...Voltaire ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 12:09:34 +1300 (NZDT) From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan) Subject: old folkies >Now, according the defintion I heard not too long ago (on this list? For >some reason, I don't think so), a folk song is a song about a particular >group of people's common concerns and struggles in a particular time. The >extension to Folk-singer is pretty obvious. For this reason, Paul Simon >was a folk rocker, Joni Mitchell was a folk singer, as is Frank Tovey... >It's all about the people of a particular generation, ethnicity, or >geographic area and their common ideas and hardships and joys. so Billy Joel's "Allentown" is a folk song, but the trad. "Sally go round the roses" isn't? Actually, you could make a case for "Smoke on the water" being a folk song, too, by this definition! The story in it is certainly no less a folk song tale than say "The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"... Hmmm... I suppose it depends on your definition. I actually got involved in a good argument a couple of years back for claiming that America's best known folk singer of the 80s was Bruce Springsteen, using a very similar definition to the one you used. Personally, I'd say that Robyn Hitchcock's acoustic stuff is very folk song oriented and inspired, even if not true folk music. There are frequent comparisons with people like Lennon and Barrett, but the album Eye bears just as much comparison with the likes of John Renbourn (for those of you who don't know him, he's been a prominent British folkie for many years, and was a long time member of the band Pentangle, a slightly more hippy and jazz-tinged equivalent of Fairport Convention. Go out and buy "Faro Annie" by Renbourn, and "Basket of Light" by Pentangle). This is particularly true of tracks like "Chinese water python". If I didn't know RH's music, and someone played me CWP, I'd probably say it was Renbourn. Hitchcock's themes at times approach traditional folk themes, as well. "Lady Waters" and "The ghost ship" in particular fit this bill, although I'd make a case for 'IODOT', 'The wreck of the Arthur Lee', 'Winchester', 'St Petersburg', and 'Luminous rose' as well, and probably several others. James ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 17:35:37 -0600 From: Miles Subject: Re: Best of 1997 (repeat, massive) Well, THAT well and truly sucked. So remember, Eudora Pro 4.0 users, that the "send without styles" option mucks up everything... I did what I probably should have done in the first place -- slapped some 
 tags on that baby and sent it to my website.  It should be viewable
through any browser at
http://www.mindspring.com/~outdoorminer/miles/97best.html.

Sorry about the whole muckety-muck...

later,

Miles


==============================================================
JASON WILKINS (of Neilson Hubbard): Victor's was just starting 
to happen, then it burned down. 
BILL LLOYD: That's a pretty good metaphor for the Nashville 
rock scene. 
                             -- NASHVILLE SCENE, Jan. 15, 1998
Miles Goosens
outdoorminer@mindspring.com

http://www.mindspring.com/~outdoorminer/miles
==============================================================

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 19:04:56 EST
From: MARKEEFE 
Subject: Re: old folkies

      I don't know.  To me, folk music seems to speak of a people and a time,
or is, at the least, rooted in a tradition. . . and James brought this up,
too.  It remains to be seen whether or not, years from now, Robyn's music will
be considered "the voice of a generation" (doubtful, but a cool thought).
Safe to say a lot of his music has some folksy qualities -- hard to play
acoustic music without bringing that out (that or jazz, of course).  But
Robyn's absolutely a pop writer at his core.  Musically and lyrically, there
are, of course, a few exceptions within his canon of music (he's thoughtful
and skilled enough to move outside the pop realm from time to time), but he's
a pop-dude, you betcha.

- ------Michael K.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 18:29:27 -0600
From: Miles 
Subject: Best of '97 (one last barebones try)

O.K., this is the "just the facts, m'am" radio edit of my '97 list.  The
unabridged version, with comments aplenty, is available for your viewing
pleasure at http://www.mindspring.com/~outdoorminer/miles/97best.html.  And
please do read those comments, and feel free to praise 'em or yell about
'em, in public or private.  One last time:

THE TOP FOUR ALBUMS OF 1997, IN ORDER:

1) Radiohead, O.K. COMPUTER 
2) Yo La Tengo, I CAN HEAR THE HEART BEATING AS ONE 
3) The Dambuilders, AGAINST THE STARS 
4) James, WHIPLASH

ALBUMS THAT AREN'T QUITE AS GREAT AS THE FIRST FOUR, BUT ALL OF YOU SHOULD
BUY 
THEM ANYWAY (LISTED IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER):

David Byrne, FEELINGS 
The Verve, URBAN HYMNS 
Mark Eitzel, WEST 
Fluid Ounces, BIG NOTEBOOK FOR EASY PIANO 
Barbara Manning, 1212 
U2, POP 
The Chemical Brothers, DIG YOUR OWN HOLE 

OTHER WORTHIES:
Julian Cope, INTERPRETER 
Jim White, WRONG-EYED JESUS! 
Peter Holsapple, OUT OF MY WAY
Bjork, HOMOGENIC 
Rod McGaha, THE SERVANT 
David Bowie, EARTHLING 
The Minus Five, THE LONESOME DEATH OF BUCK McCOY 
Echo and the Bun(n)ymen, EVERGREEN 
Kate Campbell, MOONPIE DREAMS
Veruca Salt, EIGHT ARMS TO HOLD YOU 
Blur, BLUR 
Chris Whitley, TERRA INCOGNITA 
Lori Carson, EVERYTHING I TOUCH RUNS WILD
World Party, EGYPTOLOGY
Beth Orton, TRAILER PARK
SPACE GHOST'S MUSICAL BAR-B-QUE
Prodigy, THE FAT OF THE LAND
AUSTIN POWERS: INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY soundtrack 
Aphex Twin, THE RICHARD D. JAMES ALBUM
Love Spit Love, TRYSOME EATONE
Poster Children, RTFM 
Colin Newman, BASTARD
Richard Thompson and Danny Thompson, INDUSTRY
Self, THE HALF-BAKED SERENADE
LOST HIGHWAY soundtrack 
Sloan, ONE CHORD TO ANOTHER
The Features, THE FEATURES EP
John Lydon, PSYCHO'S PATH

THEY'RE NOT OMISSIONS, I JUST HAVEN'T BOUGHT THEM OR HAD THE TIME TO LISTEN
TO 
'EM YET:
Tindersticks, CURTAINS 
Everclear, SO MUCH FOR THE AFTERGLOW 
that dog., RETREAT FROM THE SUN 
The Orange Peels, SQUARE 
Sleater-Kinney, DIG ME OUT 
Foo Fighters, THE COLOR AND THE SHAPE 
Mike Watt, CONTEMPLATING THE ENGINE ROOM 
Papas Fritas, HELIOSELF 
Belle and Sebastian, IF YOU'RE FEELING SINISTER 
Bob Dylan, TIME OUT OF MIND 
The Apples in Stereo, TONE SOUL EVOLUTION 
Cornershop, WHEN I WAS BORN FOR THE SEVENTH TIME 
TMBG, FACTORY SHOWROOM 
Elliott Smith, EITHER/OR 
Richard Buckner, DEVOTION + DOUBT 
Steve Earle, EL CORAZON 
Eric Matthews, THE LATENESS OF THE HOUR 
Geraldine Fibbers, BUTCH

later,

Miles


==============================================================
JASON WILKINS (of Neilson Hubbard): Victor's was just starting 
to happen, then it burned down. 
BILL LLOYD: That's a pretty good metaphor for the Nashville 
rock scene. 
                             -- NASHVILLE SCENE, Jan. 15, 1998
Miles Goosens
outdoorminer@mindspring.com

http://www.mindspring.com/~outdoorminer/miles
==============================================================

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 16:43:46 -0600
From: Miles 
Subject: Best of 1997 (repeat, massive)

O.K., it looks like the message went out in HTML format the first time --=
 not
intentional!=A0 I must have [ENTERE]ed right through Eudora's "Send Stlyes?"
dialogue box.=A0 So here it is again, sans formatting...

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

Apologies in advance to those of you (doug mayo-wells, Andy Snyder) who
will be
subjected to this gargantuan missive more than once.=A0 And without further
ado...


THE TOP FOUR ALBUMS OF 1997, IN ORDER:

1) Radiohead, O.K. COMPUTER =20
This album took forever to sink its hooks into me, and even longer to move=
 up
from the "very good" to the "great" division.=A0 And from the moment I took=
 the
shrinkwrap off and plopped the disc in the CD player, I knew that it would
take
a while, given my limited listening time these days.=A0 Playing O.K. COMPUTE=
R
the
first time was like thinking you were going to sit down for an hour an=
 evening
with a nice Carl Hiassen or Harry Harrison novel, but upon opening the book,
you discovered you had been slipped ULYSSES instead. You know it's going to=
 be
good, you know it will reward you seven-fold for the time you spend with it,
but it demands all your attention. You can't be casual about reading it; you
have to immerse yourself in it.=A0 And O.K. COMPUTER is an immersive=
 experience
of the first rank.

"Airbag," the album's opener, lets you know immediately that you're in for
something completely different than THE BENDS:=A0 giant notes ring from=
 Jonny
Greenwood's "shock guitar," yet they don't recall any of THE BENDS' anthems=
 as
much as they do AQUALUNG.=A0 The rhythm section falls in and out of 4/4 as
though
it's caught in a sputtering machine press.=A0 Dreamlike and disconnected,
half-unintelligible, Thom Yorke's voice glides above it all, carried on the
breeze like the hero of BRAZIL's dream sequences.=A0 Before you can even get
started, you're face to face with something completely different, something
that compels you to slam the "off" button immediately lest you spend the=
 next
hour of your life transfixed.

O.K. COMPUTER is a study in contradiction.=A0 The album is unapologetically
ambitious, yet it manages to avoid the Scylla and Charybdis of ambition:=A0=
 on
the one hand, U2-like stadium bombast (a real concern given the "event"=
 songs
of THE BENDS, despite the genuine magnificence of those songs); on the=
 other,
virtuosity for virtuosity's sake, like TALES OF TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS or the=
 ELP
catalog.=A0 One wouldn't think that the punk/new wave explosion of 1977=
 would
make a compatible bedfellow with the prog ethos that immediately preceded
(yea,
even precipitated) it, much less suffuse the volatile mixture with an
undercoating of trip-hop beats, yet Radiohead has somehow managed to fuse=
 them
all successfully.=A0 O.K. COMPUTER is a concept album about Modern Man,
Alienation, and Technology, yet it's a story told by emotion rather than
narration, the sounds in the room saying everything and nothing
simultaneously.

It's dense, it's nearly hookless, and it shouldn't work.=A0 Yet it's my=
 album of
the year.=20

2) Yo La Tengo, I CAN HEAR THE HEART BEATING AS ONE =20
This one and the Dambuilders spent most of the year taking turns at the #1
spot, before succumbing to Radiohead's late rush.=A0 They slid to #2 and #3=
 not
because of any inherent flaws but because Radiohead put a death grip on the
top
slot in December.

Indeed, I CAN HEAR THE HEART BEATING AS ONE sounds just as wonderful to me
today as it did when "Autumn Sweater" became the soundtrack of my summer.=A0
Ira,
Georgia, and James are riding a colossal winning streak, their every album
since MAY I SING WITH ME effortlessly raising the bar.=A0 The watchword here=
 is
"variety":=A0 different sounds (Bacharach/David by way of Stereolab, the
organ on
"Autumn Sweater") break up the feedback fests, making the feedback fests=
 more
effective than ever.=20

3) The Dambuilders, AGAINST THE STARS =20
It's a great pop album, full of the hooks Radiohead left off O.K. COMPUTER
(and
even sporting its own technology-themed tunes, like "Digitize").=A0 "Break=
 Up
With Your Boyfriend" is one of those songs that's The Story of My Life.=A0
"Wished on the Wrong Star" reaches Prefab Sprout-like heights of beauty,=
 "Seek
and Destroy" is the sound of Iggy falling on his own grenade, and "Burn This
Bridge"'s chorus is as big as all outdoors.=A0 It's big and it's fab, full=
 of
tension and fear -- and unforgettable songcraft.=20
4) James, WHIPLASH =20
Memo to Damon Albarn:=A0 experimenting with your sound is all well and good,=
 but
there's a right way and a wrong way to do everything, and James' WHIPLASH
is an
instructive example of the RIGHT way.=A0 Not that James' two previous=
 projects,
the Eno-produced LAID and WAH-WAH, weren't a 90 degree turn from their work=
 to
that point, but Eno mostly seemed to bring the hothouse effect to seeds
already
planted.=A0 There are things on WHIPLASH that you'd never suspect you'd be
hearing on a James album.=A0 "Greenpeace" alternates scary, creaky Tom
Waits-like
verses (perhaps influenced by 1996's Booth / Badalamenti project) with an=
 icy
techno-diva chorus.=A0 "Go To the Bank" is propelled by a sinuous Middle=
 Eastern
rhythm that bleeds into the song through Trent Reznor's malfunctioning=
 radio.=A0
"Play Dead" opens with hip-hop style beats, which quickly recede into the
background but give this more typically James-style song a curious
undercurrent.=A0 "Avalanche" delivers a knockout punch in its first seconds=
 --
bracing guitar and massive drums, Tim Booth's voice dripping with
unprecedented
venom, all leading to a devastating (and contrapuntal!) chorus.=A0 "Watering
Hole" is all atmosphere -- distant bass rumblings, voices and synth bleeps
drifting in on the breeze.=A0 The album's closer, "Blue Pastures," clings
tenuously to this world, Booth whispering a lullaby in our ears as the=
 song's
narrator and the barely-there instruments behind him slide gently into
oblivion.=A0 The range, the diversity, and the emotion of WHIPLASH is=
 stunning.=20

This experimentation isn't just an exercise in globe- and trend-hopping
dilettante-ism.=A0 It's the sound of a band supremely confident in their=
 ability
to make the music in their souls come fully, organically alive.=A0 Tim Booth
still has the best, most expressive voice in rock music, but James has never
been about star turns; like precious few other bands, the members of James
play
without ego, working as a team to create the perfect sound for every song no
matter what the source or the cost.=A0 The first thing you hear on "Play
Dead" is
a sampled voice saying "music depresses me."=A0 As long as the world can=
 produce
albums as courageous as WHIPLASH, it'll give the lie to that line.=20

ALBUMS THAT AREN'T QUITE AS GREAT AS THE FIRST FOUR, BUT ALL OF YOU SHOULD=
 BUY
THEM ANYWAY (LISTED IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER):

David Byrne, FEELINGS =20
I'm not one of those people who looks at everything Byrne's done since (pick
one:=A0 FEAR OF MUSIC / REMAIN IN LIGHT / LITTLE CREATURES) as one long=
 career
decline -- I like NAKED, I like REI MOMO, I like OH GOD, I like DAVID BYRNE,
o.k.?=A0 So when I say this is the best thing he's done since SPEAKING IN
TONGUES, it doesn't imply that everything in between was dross like it
would if
someone else said it.=A0 What it does mean is that this is a very fine=
 record, a
record that doesn't so much evoke past glories as it synthesizes Byrne's=
 Heads
work with the further explorations of his post-1988 career, creating a
seamless, accomplished hybrid, Byrne's acerbic smarts honed to sharp edge by
the spiffiest set of tunes he's written in many a year.=A0 If you'd given up=
 on
David Byrne, FEELINGS is a great way to get reacquainted with him.=20

The Verve, URBAN HYMNS =20
It's the album the Stone Roses should have made instead of the jam-happy
SECOND
COMING.=A0 Richard Ashcroft and company still rattle the cabinet of
hallucinogens
now and then, but most of URBAN HYMNS is dominated by an eerie contentment=
 --
my friend Dean Carlson has dubbed it "quiet instability," and I don't think=
 I
can improve on that.=A0 A NORTHERN SOUL offers more contrast between peaks=
 of
noise and valleys of calm, and is still the best place to start listening to
the Verve, but this album has a strength of spirit that their previous work
only hints at.=A0 Ashcroft may still be a tortured soul, as evidenced not
just by
the louder material but the resigned sadness of "The Drugs Don't Work."=A0=
 But
"Velvet Morning" radiates a pure light that=A0 cleanses the listener in its
transcendent radiance.=A0 The album may work better if you know how hard-won=
 the
victory has been, but lines like "Lucky Man"'s "Happiness, more or less /=
 it=92s
just a change in me / something in my liberty" should convey the rapture to
neophytes and Verve veterans alike.=A0 Welcome back, guys.=20

Mark Eitzel, WEST =20
It's easy for me to see why hardcore Eitzel fans disliked this record.=A0 I
mean,
if you liked American Music Club so much that Eitzel was already in your
pantheon, it means that you were happy with the way AMC sounded and didn't
perceive any need for Eitzel to change his formula.=A0 However, for me,=
 Eitzel's
previous work was too far too samey -- sure, Eitzel's words and singing were
charged with passion, but it seemed like he was singing the same song over=
 and
over and over again.=A0 WEST remedies this problem -- co-conspirator Pete=
 Buck
and a stellar cast of additional musicians bring pop smarts and varied=
 musical
backing to the mix, resulting in the first Eitzel product that holds my
interest from start to finish.=A0 "In Your Life" may sound like=A0 a=
 throwaway to
some, but it makes the trademark Eitzel tales of desperation and resignation
("Helium," "Three Inches of Wall," "Fresh Screwdriver") more effective by=
 way
of contrast. And no, Brian, I don't like Counting Crows, not in the least...=
=20

Fluid Ounces, BIG NOTEBOOK FOR EASY PIANO =20
Another record that I'd had most of the year but didn't quite realize how=
 good
it was until November and December.=A0 Like the Ben Folds Five, a piano is a=
t
the
center of the music of this Murfreesboro, TN, quartet, but Seth Timbs isn't
interested in scoring cheap digs at his audience or in smart-arse=
 cutsiness.=A0
Instead, the Fl. Oz. songbook consists of complex but surprisingly catchy
tunes, heavy on the smarts rather than the smarm.=A0 Musically, they sound
nothing like either of Scott Miller's bands, but Fl. Oz. is the first band
I've
ever heard that deserves the Scott comparison -- odd time signatures,
unabashedly intelligent lyrics, you know the drill.=A0 If you doubt the=
 veracity
of the Scott comparison, I submit to you this lyrical passage from
"Birdbrained," especially that first line:=20
=20
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 Resort to jaded ways, we had excuses made.=20
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 When I am gnarled like Nicademus,=20
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 I'll need someone to attend me.=20
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 Can I count on you to do this?=20
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 A quite untreatable, prolonged inevitable.=20
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 Something crawled out from the wreck,=20
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 Washed the dirt off from its face,=20
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 Joined the upright and the uptight and the=
 miserable=20

Judging by their January 3rd show, which consisted entirely of new material,
their next album looks to be even better.=20

Barbara Manning, 1212 =20
One of this year's brightest discoveries for me -- I know she's been around
for
years, but I only heard of her this past February (though I now know I had
heard "Every Pretty Girl" plenty of times before, but never understood her
name
when the mushmouthed, whispering VandyGirl DJs said it).=A0 It's got an
audacious
side-long twisted-firestarter suite ("The Arsonist's Story"), a cover of the
most depressing song ever written (Richard Thompson's "End of the Rainbow"),
and Manning's unadorned, perfect oval of a voice throughout.=A0 What more=
 could
you ask for?=20

U2, POP =20
By far, the most unjustly trashed album of the year, maybe ever.=A0 After=
 the
first couple of listens, I too thought the record was dull and uninvolving.=
=A0
But repeated listenings have opened up the album to me, and it's become my
favorite U2 product since THE JOSHUA TREE.=A0 POP is an album that takes=
 chances
and succeeds a surprisingly high percentage of the time.=A0=20

In some ways, U2 is after the same alienation/technology theme that=
 Radiohead
nails down more successfully on O.K. COMPUTER.=A0 It goes without saying=
 that
where Radiohead opts to pursue things obliquely, U2 would tackle the same
problems head-on, but sometimes the sledgehammer provides more satisfying
results than the chisel, and the members of U2 still have a great deal more
artfulness in them than Gallagher.=A0 The struggle of Modern Man to maintain=
 any
kind of spiritual existence in the modern world is POP's subject matter --
grand, but were you expecting Bono to sing about scratching his cat's=
 belly?=A0
There are misfires, and of course Bono meets his usual quotient of lyrical
clunkers, but when it hits, it hits hard.

POP is saddled with some dull tracks, but the "good" and "bad" songs aren't
the
ones you might think.=A0 The worst songs by far are the more=
 familiar-sounding
ones. "Last Night on Earth" is "Until the End of the World" with only a=
 slight
change of lyrics, and "Staring at the Sun" and "If God Will Send His Angels"
also tread familiar ground -- wasn't one "One" enough?=20

Instead, it's the more electronic-heavy tracks that provide most of the
punch.=A0
Given the album's themes of alienation and discontent, Flood, Alan Moulder,
and
Howie B. provide the perfect aesthetic backdrop with their dense, cold, yet
incendiary mix.=A0 The slow burn of "Miami" brings home the coldness of a=
 world
of Fake Plastic Trees, but it's "Mofo" that does most of the damage.=A0=
 "Mofo"'s
backbeats are dervishes, the bassline throbbing, and the Edge's guitar
screaming from above and howling from below, and in the middle, almost=
 buried
by everything else, is a voice, a voice "lookin' for to fill that GOD-shaped
hole," "looking for little baby Jesus under the trash."=A0 The sound IS the
song,
and the squalling wall of electronic noise brings home the themes U2 was
trying
to convey with POP -- the electronic sounds aren't trend-hopping to bolster
sagging sales (why not make every damn song a Chemical Brothers wannabe
then?),
they're tools to viscerally convey a world rattling and humming our souls=
 into
static, and they're used exceedingly well.=A0 When most of it's stripped=
 away or
buzzing far in the background for the album's concluding sequence ("If You
Wear
That Velvet Dress," "Please," and "Wake Up Dead Man"), and Bono asks us to
listen to the reed of the saxophone and the "traffic and circulation" and=
 his
last-ditch plea for the dead man to wake up, we're listening harder than we
would have without the din of before.

And yes, even "Discotheque" earns a badge of honor.=A0 It appears vapid on=
 first
glance -- all sonic gloss and emptyheaded lyrics.=A0 But then there's the=
 Edge
launching riffs from above like flashes of lightning (especially potent in=
 the
"Hexidecimal Mix" on the CD-5), and the emptiness at the core of the song
isn't
the band's but the world's.=A0 "Discotheque"'s dancers bring to mind the
desperation of the protagonist of Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark"=
 ("wanna
change my clothes my hair my face").=A0 When the instruments drop out and=
 Bono
all but whispers "LOVE... but you take what you can get / 'cause it's all=
 that
you can find / oh you know there's something more / but tonight tonight
tonight," well, that's the heart of the matter, and the colossal BOOM CHA=
 BOOM
CHA UM DISCOTHEQUE re-crescendo offers the visceral, immediate, temporary
release of the dancefloor, simultaneously obliviating and making its point.=
=A0
And Jesus H. Christ, when I saw them live and they came out of the giant=
 lemon
for the first encore, launching right into "Discotheque" in the "b-stage" in
the middle of the Liberty Bowl, it was one of the most powerful moments I've
ever witnessed in rock 'n' roll.

So listen without prejudice, 'k?=A0 POP ain't O.K. COMPUTER, but it sure=
 ain't
RATTLE AND HUM, not by a long shot.=A0 Its heart may be throbbing and
electronic,
but it's in the right place.=20

The Chemical Brothers, DIG YOUR OWN HOLE =20
Rock critics' year-end lists all seemed to include an obligatory swipe at
"electronica," revelling in snide joy that the dance-music revolution didn't
happen, and that U2 and Bowie's "electronica"-influenced albums sold poorly.

Or did it?=A0 For the time being, let's put aside the anti-dance music
prejudices
of these critics, as well as the fact that they're inverting their usual
formula by using LACK of sales to prove that the same buying public they've
regularly lambasted for sucking up Whiney Houston and Boyz 2 Men crap has
suddenly developed taste in this particular matter.=A0 The simple fact is=
 that
both the Chemical Brothers' DIG YOUR OWN HOLE and (the?) Prodigy's THE FAT=
 OF
THE LAND both debuted at #1 and went multi-platinum, not in the trend-happy
U.K. but in the good ol' U.S. of A.=A0 I don't know about you, but I find=
 those
numbers very significant -- two years ago electronic acts couldn't get
arrested
on these shores, now they're going platinum?=A0 Sounds like the revolution's
made
plenty of headway to me...

Anyway, hype or no hype, DIG YOUR OWN HOLE delivers the goods.=A0 The=
 Chemicals
represent the pinnacle of the mixer's craft, revving songs into a frenetic,
fascinating cacophony, juxtaposing just the right sounds to keep the=
 listener
hooked yet constantly looking around the corner for the next surprise.=A0=
 "Block
Rockin' Beats" actually lives up to its title, whomping the listener
deliriously and mercilessly.=A0 "Setting Sun" actually makes good use of a
Gallagher (something the entirety of BE HERE NOW couldn't manage), and the
lilting, "Tomorrow Never Knows"-like "Where Do I Begin" makes even better=
 use
of the considerable talents of Beth Orton.=A0 If this is "just" dance music,
then
color me a dancin' fool.=20



OTHER WORTHIES:

Julian Cope, INTERPRETER =20
More great songs about druids and aliens, delivered as only Cope can.=A0
Pales in
comparison only to the mighty 20 MOTHERS, which you'll all remember was my=
 #1
album of 1995...=20
Jim White, WRONG-EYED JESUS!=20

Peter Holsapple, OUT OF MY WAY

Bjork, HOMOGENIC =20
More of the same, but it's a fabulous same.=20
Rod McGaha, THE SERVANT =20
Purple-sounding local artist; expect him to become big in the near future.=
=20
David Bowie, EARTHLING =20
See the POP comment -- another very good album subsumed by electronica
backlash.=20
The Minus Five, THE LONESOME DEATH OF BUCK McCOY =20
It's the album title of the year!=20
Echo and the Bun(n)ymen, EVERGREEN =20
Splendid comeback from the dismal Electrafixion project.=20
Kate Campbell, MOONPIE DREAMS

Veruca Salt, EIGHT ARMS TO HOLD YOU =20
"With David Bowie" being the most Game Theory-sounding song I've ever heard
anyone else do.=20
Blur, BLUR =20
The disappointment of the year.=A0 Trying to forge a new sound wasn't a bad=
 idea
at all, but THEY FORGOT TO WRITE ANY SONGS!!!=A0 As a certain acquaintance=
 of
mine said this summer, Pavement already made this record.=A0 The inane dada=
 of
"Song 2" and the wheezing, spooky ennui of "Death of a Party" provide
tantalizing hints of the Album That Could Have Been (sigh)...=20
Chris Whitley, TERRA INCOGNITA=20

Lori Carson, EVERYTHING I TOUCH RUNS WILD

World Party, EGYPTOLOGY

Beth Orton, TRAILER PARK

SPACE GHOST'S MUSICAL BAR-B-QUE

Prodigy, THE FAT OF THE LAND

AUSTIN POWERS:=A0 INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY soundtrack=20

Aphex Twin, THE RICHARD D. JAMES ALBUM

Love Spit Love, TRYSOME EATONE

Poster Children, RTFM=20

Colin Newman, BASTARD

Richard Thompson and Danny Thompson, INDUSTRY

Self, THE HALF-BAKED SERENADE

LOST HIGHWAY soundtrack=20

Sloan, ONE CHORD TO ANOTHER

The Features, THE FEATURES EP

John Lydon, PSYCHO'S PATH


THEY'RE NOT OMISSIONS, I JUST HAVEN'T BOUGHT THEM OR HAD THE TIME TO LISTEN=
 TO
'EM YET:

Tindersticks, CURTAINS
Everclear, SO MUCH FOR THE AFTERGLOW
that dog., RETREAT FROM THE SUN
The Orange Peels, SQUARE
Sleater-Kinney, DIG ME OUT
Foo Fighters, THE COLOR AND THE SHAPE
Mike Watt, CONTEMPLATING THE ENGINE ROOM
Papas Fritas, HELIOSELF
Belle and Sebastian, IF YOU'RE FEELING SINISTER
Bob Dylan, TIME OUT OF MIND
The Apples in Stereo, TONE SOUL EVOLUTION
Cornershop, WHEN I WAS BORN FOR THE SEVENTH TIME
TMBG, FACTORY SHOWROOM
Elliott Smith, EITHER/OR
Richard Buckner, DEVOTION + DOUBT
Steve Earle, EL CORAZON
Eric Matthews, THE LATENESS OF THE HOUR
Geraldine Fibbers, BUTCH

later,

Miles


=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
JASON WILKINS (of Neilson Hubbard): Victor's was just starting=20
to happen, then it burned down.=20
BILL LLOYD: That's a pretty good metaphor for the Nashville=20
rock scene.=20
                             -- NASHVILLE SCENE, Jan. 15, 1998
Miles Goosens
outdoorminer@mindspring.com

http://www.mindspring.com/~outdoorminer/miles
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 19 Jan 98 22:30:52 EST
From: Ross Overbury 
Subject: Tangerine Dream evolution

James said:
> Don't forget also that Tangerine
> Dream started out as heavy metallers (according to legend - how true this
> is, I don't know).
> 

I spent a couple of hours partially re-organizing my LP collection
after I read this, so that I could find a Tangerine Dream recording
I bought in '73.  It's on a compilation called "Ohrenschmaus - Neue
Pop-Music Aus Deutschland". The title of the Tangerine Dream cut
translates as "Journey Through a Burning Brain".  Because of my lack
of understanding of German, all I can determine from the liner notes 
was that it was recorded sometime between 1966 and 1969.

They sound like west coast wannabes more than heavy metal in this
recording.  It features 6 and 12 string guitars, flute and organ.
The song is an 8-minute drone with remarkably sloppy lead guitar
pentatonic/noise improvisations, dissolving in the last minute or
so to just organ and flute.

Awful as it is, it is eclipsed by the painful "protest music" of
Witthuser & Westrupp, which features alternating moaning vocals
and high-school-band flugelhorn.  

Ouch.

- --
Ross Overbury 
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
email: rosso@cn.ca		

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 20 Dec 1997 19:55:11 -0800
From: jeffery vaska 
Subject: fratrock and folky-ness revisited...

hi fegs...

i just wanted to point this out...the current cool thread about what is
folk is actually a DIRECT by-product of the dreaded "fratrock" thread i
(and a few others) were involved in.  for those who slammed us for being
involved with that thread...hmmmm...there you go.

i just HAD to say something...

ciao...jv


> >Now, according the defintion I heard not too long ago (on this list?  For
> >some reason, I don't think so), a folk song is a song about a particular
> >group of people's common concerns and struggles in a particular time.  The
> >extension to Folk-singer is pretty obvious.  For this reason, Paul Simon
> >was a folk rocker, Joni Mitchell was a folk singer, as is Frank Tovey...
> >It's all about the people of a particular generation, ethnicity, or
> >geographic area and their common ideas and hardships and joys.

------------------------------

End of fegmaniax-digest V7 #22
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