From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V7 #126 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Monday, March 30 1998 Volume 07 : Number 126 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Production [MARKEEFE ] OTC disc two [griffith ] ReProduction ["Charles Gillett" ] Re: OTC/NMH [Eb ] Re: OTC disc two [nicastr@idt.net (Ben)] Re: OTC/NMH [Terrence M Marks ] Re: Production [Christopher Gross ] Re: Hello to Chris [Christopher Gross ] Addendum [The Great Quail ] MST3K [dwdudic@erols.com (David W. Dudich)] Re: Feg Hootenanny/Quailspiracy etc. [Nick Winkworth ] burning questions/Mr. Gross [lj lindhurst ] Re: Addendum [lj lindhurst ] comments [dwdudic@erols.com (David W. Dudich)] Re: Production [Tom Clark ] HELP! Tom Waits on KCRW tomorrow AM! [hal brandt ] Re: Production [KarmaFuzzz ] Re: Feg Hootenanny/Quailspiracy etc. [The Ghost of Gary ] Anti Podes, producers and plonking [james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (Ja] Fegger Kegger [sdodge@midway.uchicago.edu (amadain)] Addicted to Noise(Tom Waits) ["Hallucinogenic Woodpecker" Subject: Re: Production In a message dated 3/30/98 11:29:51 AM, you wrote: <<> I can't really think of a producer that would work well with Robyn. > Perhaps the person whose name I can't remember right now (he produced "In > Utero" by Nirvana & "Rid of Me" by PJ Harvey among countless others). He > tends to just record instead of produce. That would be Steve Albini. However, while I don't know much about the technical side of music, I get the impression that Albini does a lot more than just record. A lot of people think he actually hurt _Rid of Me_ by emphasizing the guitars at the expense of the vocals.>> Well, as a "producer", Albini *does* do a lot more than just record, usually to the detriment of the music being recorded (except for the Jesus Lizard). As *just* a recording engineer for Palace Music, however, he does a great job. Check out "Viva Last Blues" sometime -- the sound is a little edgy, but surprisingly quite warm(!) and really well mixed (don't know if he did that, too, though). He just needs a little tightening of the reins, I guess. Yeah, Scott Litt would be great! I second (or third, or whatever) that motion. - -----Michael K. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 14:32:32 -0800 (PST) From: griffith Subject: OTC disc two Eb pretty much explained it as: >Guess it's up to me. There was a limited-edition double-disc version of the >OTC album, which included a bonus "ambient" disc called "Explanation II: >Instrumental Themes and Dream Sequences." It's about the same length as the >first disc, and the badly substantiated rumor is that you're supposed to >play the two discs simultaneously a la "Zaireeka." I think this theory was >a hindsight conclusion, however. >I didn't get the limited-edition version, but the band was selling the >ambient disc at their live show last year and I bought it there. I wouldn't >really call it a mandatory purchase, but it's neat to have. I totally agree with Eb on the "mandatory purchase". It is some nice background music at best. I picked my copy at a used CD store for $16. I also found an early Apples In Stereo CD too. later griffith (who is still looking for then new Neutral Milk Hotel - and is tired of getting strange looks from the person behind the counter everytime I ask for it...Neutral what?). = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Griffith Davies hbrtv219@csun.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 16:44:10 +0000 From: "Charles Gillett" Subject: ReProduction On Mon, 30 Mar 1998 13:51:04 -0500 (EST), Aaron Mandel wrote: > oof. albini is more of an expressionist than a photographer. his brutal > production (and inexplicable hatred of vocal tracks) would definitely not > leave robyn's music untouched. I haven't heard a huge number of Albini-produced albums, but the only one with vocal track ugliness I've heard is the PJ Harvey one. He produced Palace's "Arise Therefore," and the vocals are clear and loud throughout. If he produced Robyn the same way I think the results would be dandy. - -- Charles ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 14:49:13 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: OTC/NMH >griffith (who is still looking for then new Neutral Milk Hotel - and is >tired of getting strange looks from the person behind the counter >everytime I ask for it...Neutral what?). This reminds me...I've been real curious about how many people on this list actually own the new Neutral Milk Hotel album. If you have it, could you just send me a blank email with the subject line "I bought it"? I'd be curious to take a tally. (Note that I said send ME the email, not the list.) Eb ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 18:17:12 -0500 From: nicastr@idt.net (Ben) Subject: Re: OTC disc two >griffith (who is still looking for then new Neutral Milk Hotel - and is >tired of getting strange looks from the person behind the counter >everytime I ask for it...Neutral what?). ...there is an article on them in the new Pulse! Magazine from Tower Records, so maybe the employees will catch on! ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 18:17:58 -0500 (EST) From: Terrence M Marks Subject: Re: OTC/NMH Reminds me..does anyone own the recent High Llamas album ("Cold and Bouncy", I believe)? Is it worth purchasing? Terrence Marks normal@grove.ufl.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 18:44:26 -0500 (EST) From: Christopher Gross Subject: Re: Production On Mar 30, 1998, Gene Hopstetter, Jr. wrote: >Does anyone else besides me wish some albums were better recorded? >F'rinstance, the Meat Puppets' second album, which I think is their best, >lacks a certain fidelity and is pretty noisy. If only more could be >squeezed out of it. Or maybe it should just be remastered. The first example that leaps to my mind is Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures. On the other hand, maybe I'm so used to the version I have that a cleaner recording would feel wrong; maybe the less-than-perfect recording is part of its charm. Does anyone out there have the Joy Division box set? How does it sound? Admittedly Joy Division isn't very (Robyn) Hitchcockian.... - --Chris PS: Ah, yes, toast.... ______________________________________________________________________ Christopher Gross On the Internet, nobody knows I'm a dog. chrisg@gwu.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 18:45:19 -0500 (EST) From: Christopher Gross Subject: Re: Hello to Chris On Mon, 30 Mar 1998, oldbie The Great Quail wrote: > Newbie Chris Gross writes: > > >Hi, all. I'm a new Feglist subscriber, here to rescue you all from the > >evil clutches of the Quailspiracy. (Presumably that's what the Quail had > >in mind when he urged me to join the Feglist.) > > Huh? Ladies and gentlemen, I assure you, I have no idea what this Chris > fellow means. As a matter of fact, I have it from good authority that > Chris is an underground cone-seller and squid pornographer, crept on to > this List in order to ply his evil trade. Sorry, Quail, but everyone who has been seven years old at some point knows that whoever first denies doing something is usually the person who did it. Fegs, he's been badgering me (hmm, badgering quails) for months about what a good forum the Feg List would make for my squid-pornography ads. "Come on, are you a serious entrepreneur or not? I double-dog-dare you! etc." He probably hoped that the ensuing controversy would distract Feg attention from his own nefarious schemes. > Well, despite my above fears, I would like to extend my welcome to this > Chris. May he soon find happiness discussing such Robynesque topics as > Neutral Milk Hotel, the Titanic, and why Americans can't say the "c" > word. Cephalopod? Crustacean? Carp? > Well, if you can start by shutting me up, that would be a start. . . . Sorry, Quail. I no longer set myself up for failure by choosing unattainable goals. > you can also buy thirty copies of "Gloss Flesh" and twenty more of > "Monday's Lunch." Oh, wait, I've heard about this. Don't you get fifty CD players and play all these discs at once? np: Come, _Near Life Experience_ - --Chris ______________________________________________________________________ Christopher Gross On the Internet, nobody knows I'm a dog. chrisg@gwu.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Mar 98 19:06:07 -0500 From: The Great Quail Subject: Addendum A late breaking addendum to the Feg Party: Gene Hopstetter, Jr and "Pathetic" Doug (dmw) have both just thrown their hat into the ring - Yipeeeee! No word from Robyn yet, but Doug promised to bring the tranny fluid and the linctus to add to the libation list. - --Quail PS: Who's gonna invite Jeff Mangum? PPS: So am I reaching a posting limit? PPPS: Sick of my sig file yet? - ---------------------------------+-------------------------------- The Great Quail, K.S.C. | Literature Site - The Libyrinth: TheQuail@cthulhu.microserve.com | www.rpg.net/quail/libyrinth www.rpg.net/quail | Vampire Site - New York by Night: riverrun Discordian Society | www.rpg.net/quail/NYBN 73 De Chirico Street | Arkham, Orbis Tertius 2112-42 | ** What is FEGMANIA? ** "The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents." -- H.P. Lovecraft ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 00:26:46 GMT From: dwdudic@erols.com (David W. Dudich) Subject: MST3K On Mon, 30 Mar 1998 09:51:23 -0500 (EST), you wrote: >Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 01:31:25 -0500 >From: nicastr@idt.net (Ben) >Subject: Re: mst3k > >>At 10:56 PM 3/29/98 -0500, you wrote: >>I've only seen it >>>a few times, but it has its moments. One of them occurred when several >>>cuts seemed not to make sense, resulting in pretzel logic. >> >>I love this show. They are sooo funny--it's more corny when they're not >>watching the film but the comments about the movies are hysterical. I'm >>usually pretty hard to please comically (I hate Chris Farley/Adam Sandler; >>I love _Frasier_, for example) and I laugh preeeety darn hard at mst3k. >> >>Marcy > >Yeah, it's one of the few funny shows on TV. I never saw the one where they >mention Robyn Hitchcock though, what was the movie? > I forget, but it was a Joel Episode, if that helps. Considering the number of references to King Crimson, Brian Eno, and the like (plus the frequent appearance of Joel playing barre chords when he was still hosting), I am convinced that show was originally created by a band, which became the cast... What do ya'll think of the new season so far? It doesn't surprise me Robyn fans would like it... they is a sort of dark humor that prevades the show, that Robyn has (well, had with the Soft Boys, at least)... (Actually, I am half expecting some body in an attrocious biker film ("Sidehackers", anyone?) to be refered to "James riding his 1952 Vicent Black Lightning"!) -luther ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 16:44:05 -0800 From: Nick Winkworth Subject: Re: Feg Hootenanny/Quailspiracy etc. Sadly I will not be able to attend this august event (or was it May?), although I _am_ considering sending my toaster. I would strongly suggest that all those unable to attend provide a suitable appliance or other object to represent them. This is going to be such an historic event that it would be a shame not to be able to tell your children, and your children's children, that you were there - even if only by proxy. On reflection, I realize of course that Tracy "QOT" has prior claim to be represented by a toaster, so I guess I will have to choose some other object to represent me. An empty photo album waiting to be filled, perhaps? I'll let you know what I finally decide. In the meantime the rest of you still have time to decide on an appropriate stand-in. Some are obvious of course: Capuchin: a yo-yo Mark: a rubber shark (a smaller than large one, of course) Eb: a shirt Zelda: a plastic vegetable of her choice Glen: a quantity of hop-flavored beverage James: a flag ...and so on. Others may require some thought. To see what you may be letting yourself in for, prospective attendees should should check out http://home.earthlink.net/~njaz/quail-lj.html By the way, the owner of the cone so elegantly displayed here is none other than new Feg Chris G. Welcome Chris! In the unlikely event that someone in this photograph _in any way_ resembles one of the pictures on http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/tenlist.htm I would suggest you consider reverting to Plan A, above. Personally, I have not dared look. ~N BTW If you'd like to see a nice new picture of Bayard and the Bay Area boys, all this and more can be found on http://home.earthlink.net/~njaz/fegfotos.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 18:40:39 -0600 From: Miles Goosens Subject: Re: Production At 01:51 PM 3/30/98 -0500, Aaron Mandel wrote: >oof. albini is more of an expressionist than a photographer. his brutal >production (and inexplicable hatred of vocal tracks) would definitely not >leave robyn's music untouched. Loud-Fans listers may leave now, as they've heard this before from both of us, but I agree -- St. Albini would be a colossal mistake as a Robyn producer, given his 1990-96 track record. Before he fetishized crappy sound, Albini did turn in one killer production job, the Pixies' SURFER ROSA. Given that Plant and Page let him get his mitts on their forthcoming new one, I'm willing to hold out some hope that maybe Albini can redeem himself. later, Miles ====================================================================== "If a million people say a stupid thing, it is still a stupid thing." -- Anatole France Miles Goosens outdoorminer@mindspring.com http://www.mindspring.com/~outdoorminer/miles ====================================================================== ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 19:48:00 -0500 (EST) From: lj lindhurst Subject: burning questions/Mr. Gross our newest bestest friend and Big Toe Chris wrote: I love Robyn's music, I >have a cone, I can understand the attraction of fish, and I've read enough >of the archives to get a feel for what's going on here I've also heard that you have a baby growing out of the side of your head. Is there any truth to this? do you know anything about outboard motors? do you like Oasis? Can I have a dollar? lj ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 19:50:47 -0500 (EST) From: lj lindhurst Subject: Re: Addendum Who is Jeff Mangum? lj, cleaning her dentures in anticipation of spin-the-bottle-- hell, I might even glue in the missing ones too ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 00:55:00 GMT From: dwdudic@erols.com (David W. Dudich) Subject: comments On Mon, 30 Mar 1998 17:03:24 -0500 (EST), you wrote: >As I have said before, the more the merrier! And all attendees are >welcome to bring a guest or two -- spouse, significant other, Feg buddy, >favorite stalker, Carl Palmer. . . . Uh, let's not bring Carl Palmer and say we didn't! So, where the hell is this thing gonna be? i was just curious about something. I discovered Hitchcock through his work with Peter Buck of REM and discovered many other artists through their work with Buck, namely Mark Eitzel. For some reason the people on the Eitzel list hate Buck with a passion. I was wondering if anyone else discovered Hitchcock in the same manner, or if anyone hates the work that he does with Buck and why. Well, Eitzel and Hitchcock are different creatures... while both seem to be sprouts off of the (surprise!) Richard thompson tradition, Eitzel goes in for the 'doom and gloom' a LOT more than Robyn. Robyn is more byrdsy pop, so Pete buck works better. All the same, Pete and Mark ARE making another album. Also, in REM news, they are working on a new album with the drummer of Tutara, and may play some secret gigs soon. ps. Don't be fooled by "Lex" Luther's 'oh it's all too weird' ploy. He's >the whackiest feg I've met [and I've met more than anyone]. You'll see. Cool! I just hope that when Bayard's 4th personality emerges, Luther's going to throw his lot in with the rest of us. Those shoggoths, man, I tell you -- let one get outta control, and it's blood on *all* the damn carpets. . . . Hey, I work on capitol hill *and* for a haughty-taughty non-profit organization...I don't let my Robyn-esqe sid ecome out there...but when it DOES...well, you'll see the photos soon...:-) . . . ? By the way, he *is* invited, you know. (Robyn, now's your time to delurk, my friend! Or, um, send a squad car to my house, that is.) Well, we could send an email to antwoman or something... NOW *that* would be a mindfucker! -luther ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Mar 98 17:04:54 -0800 From: Tom Clark Subject: Re: Production On 3/30/98 4:40 PM, Miles Goosens wrote: >Before he fetishized crappy sound, Albini did turn in one killer production >job, the Pixies' SURFER ROSA. Given that Plant and Page let him get his >mitts on their forthcoming new one, I'm willing to hold out some hope that >maybe Albini can redeem himself. The cosmic inverse of this was John Paul Jones producing The Butthole Surfers. Apparently the two worlds can coexist! L Dopa Fix Me! - -tc ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 18:57:19 -0700 From: hal brandt Subject: HELP! Tom Waits on KCRW tomorrow AM! This is an urgent call to anyone in the KCRW-FM listening area. Tom Waits will be live in the studio tomorrow (Tuesday) morning at 11:00 AM PT. Please...if anyone is willing to tape this for me, I will compensate with a tasty Robyn Hitchcock morsel from my tape collection: http://users.milehigh.net/~hbrandt/rhlist.txt Thanks in advance for any help. Now back to our regular programming. /hal np: "Civilization Phase III" - Zappa ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 21:42:49 EST From: KarmaFuzzz Subject: Re: Production In a message dated 98-03-30 14:28:35 EST, jthornton@ucsd.edu writes: << That guy's name is slipping my mind right now as well. Didn't Nirvana fight with this guy a lot over the sound of the album? Didn't his production give the "In Utero" tracks too "industrial" (in Nirvana's opinions) a sound which was eventually toned down by the time it was released? Or did they fire one guy, and hire another? >> a) It's Steve Albini. b) Scott Litt ended up remixing a few of the songs, with the rest of their problems with Albini's work being "corrected" during the mastering (Bob Ludwig i think). basically, they thought the vocals were too low, and the bass was too mushy sounding. they offerred Albini first shot at the remixing, but he declined saying they should have someone else do it, since he'd just do them the same way again. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 22:16:06 -0500 From: The Ghost of Gary Subject: Re: Feg Hootenanny/Quailspiracy etc. I will not attend, and my favorite person on the list will have the reason. I will donate something for the party, either a clay sculpture of myself, or something more smelly. Maybe a lock of hair, or a picture of a frog. Maybe a dead battery or an old sock. But something for you all to remember me by. My next avaialable date for a party on the weekend is not until September 19th. Nick Winkworth wrote: > > Sadly I will not be able to attend this august event (or was it May?), > although I _am_ considering sending my toaster. > > I would strongly suggest that all those unable to attend provide a > suitable appliance or other object to represent them. This is going to > be such an historic event that it would be a shame not to be able to > tell your children, and your children's children, that you were there - > even if only by proxy. > > On reflection, I realize of course that Tracy "QOT" has prior claim to > be represented by a toaster, so I guess I will have to choose some other > object to represent me. An empty photo album waiting to be filled, > perhaps? I'll let you know what I finally decide. > > In the meantime the rest of you still have time to decide on an > appropriate stand-in. Some are obvious of course: > > Capuchin: a yo-yo > Mark: a rubber shark (a smaller than large one, of course) > Eb: a shirt > Zelda: a plastic vegetable of her choice > Glen: a quantity of hop-flavored beverage > James: a flag > > ...and so on. Others may require some thought. > > To see what you may be letting yourself in for, prospective attendees > should should check out > http://home.earthlink.net/~njaz/quail-lj.html > > By the way, the owner of the cone so elegantly displayed here is none > other than new Feg Chris G. Welcome Chris! > > In the unlikely event that someone in this photograph _in any way_ > resembles one of the pictures on http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/tenlist.htm > I would suggest you consider reverting to Plan A, above. Personally, I > have not dared look. > > ~N > > BTW If you'd like to see a nice new picture of Bayard and the Bay Area > boys, all this and more can be found on > http://home.earthlink.net/~njaz/fegfotos.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 15:21:35 +1200 (NZST) From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan) Subject: Anti Podes, producers and plonking anyone care to tell me what antipodeans means? aren't those the guys who sing that "Party of Five" song? literally 'against the feet', it refers to anywhere which is at the exact opposite side of the earth. For instance, the antipodes of Singapore would probably be somewhere in Brazil. However, due to the Eurocentric nature of global exploration, it has, over the years, come to refer to anyone from the opposite side of the world to Europe viz, Australia and New Zealand. FWIW there is also a small chain of islands off the south coast of New Zealand called the Antipodes - it is almost exactly at the antpodes of London, IIRC. These islands are uninhabited, and are famous for a rare species of quail, first reported by Charles Darwin. :) > Well worth your plonking, Susan. I should note that plonking is banned in several moslem countries, and can only be performed by adults over the age of 21 wearing protective clothing in most of the western world. Even here in New Zealand it is against the law to plonk in public within 200 metres of a kindergarten or junior school. Remember that plonking may be hazardous to your health - most doctors advise caution. James (wishing hecould make it to the fegparty..) PS - producers? How about Nick Lowe? Or possibly (um...is this the name?) David Lord? PPS - welcome Alex and Chris. Sounds like you should fit right in... James Dignan___________________________________ You talk to me Deptmt of Psychology, Otago University As if from a distance ya zhivu v' 50 Norfolk Street And I reply. . . . . . . . . . Dunedin, New Zealand with impressions chosen from another time steam megaphone (03) 455-7807 (Brian Eno - "By this River") ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 21:53:49 -0600 From: sdodge@midway.uchicago.edu (amadain) Subject: Fegger Kegger Just a quick post wondering if anyone who's in the Midwest or will be driving through Chicago on their way to this extravaganza would be interested in carpooling. I don't have a driver's license but I'm willing to share expenses and help navigate, and I do a very amusing Petula Clark imitation (or not, if you find it annoying- I aim to please :))). So get in touch privately please, if this'll work. I wanna attend this here function! Alternately if you have a line on cheap airfares, that'd be good too. Love on ya, Susan ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 22:52:18 -0500 From: "Hallucinogenic Woodpecker" Subject: Addicted to Noise(Tom Waits) Greetings Fellow Fegs, I picked this up from Addicted to Noise. I hope this is the start to a long string of Tom Waits' appearances. Dave....wondering how much longer his voice can last Vedder, Waits Rally Against Death Penalty All-star cast of artists sings to raise money for Hope House and to discourage capital punishment. Correspondent Eric Hellweg reports: LOS ANGELES -- Gone were the hordes of Hollywood paparazzi and the litany of flashbulbs. In their place were makeshift tables and activists handing out political fliers and clamoring for signatures on their anti-death-penalty petitions, and rock stars such as Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and folk-punk songstress Ani DiFranco rarin' to rock in support of the cause. Some among the attendees paused to listen to the spiels, but most headed straight for the gilded hall. Inside awaited the night's most highly anticipated guest, folk-rock legend Tom Waits. Entering calmly through the multiple doors of L.A.'s Shrine Auditorium, a majority of the crowd seemed most eager to see Waits perform as part of Sunday night's "Not In Our Name" Dead Man Walking: The Concert, an event which in every way starkly contrasted the Academy Award crowd that had graced the same entrance less than a week earlier. Organized by actor Tim Robbins (director of "Dead Man Walking") and Sister Helen Prejean (the nun whose book formed the basis of the film), the official benefit concert for the 1996 Oscar-nominated film sought to entertain and enlighten. Proceeds from the show will go to Hope House, an urban social service organization in New Orleans where Sister Helen -- as she's widely known -- works, and to the group Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation. "I came because I really liked the soundtrack to the film, and I'm intrigued to see Tom Waits," said Andrea Leydon, a 26-year-old social worker from neighboring Redondo Beach who was standing outside in the unseasonably cold and windy L.A. dusk. "The fact that I'm helping out a good cause is an added bonus." Aside from seeing Waits and aiding a cause they believe in, people lucky enough to score a ticket received many bonuses in performances by Steve Earle, Michelle Shocked, Lyle Lovett, DiFranco and Pearl Jam's Vedder and his bandmate Jeff Ament, with Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Dildar Hussain. The first half of the show easily could have been subtitled "Texans Against the Death Penalty" as Lone Star State representatives Earle, Shocked and Lovett played in succession. Each mentioned their home state but also railed against Texas' status as execution leader of the United States. Earle got the show off to a poignant start with a stark solo rendition of the haunting "Billy Austin," a first-person tale of an inmate on death row. It quickly became apparent that this was not going to be a simple concert; these artists had a common cause to promote and a largely supportive, if somewhat unenthusiastic, crowd to entertain. Earle, a man with an eighth-grade education and more than one near-career-ending run-in with the law, effectively presented his tales with an authentic everyman approach. The sedate and sobering mood established by Earle's 20-minute set livened up with emcee Robbins' introduction of Shocked and her backing band. The quartet bounded onto the stage and leapt right into a rolling blues number, during which Shocked spun a true tale of a young New York man killed by police officers who were eventually set free because the coroner "lost" key pieces of evidence. Each of Shocked's tunes stretched out to allow for her riveting stories. Closing with an a cappella gospel number, Shocked aptly set the stage for Lovett, whose reserved manner shone through the spare acoustic sounds of his opener, "Promises," off the "Dead Man Walking" soundtrack. Accompanied only by a cellist, Lovett was the least politically minded of the evening's performers. After a brief intermission, the man whom many had come to see -- Tom Waits - -- took the stage with his band and received thunderous applause. The crowd welcomed home the man they lost to the rolling hills of Northern California some years ago. "It's good to be back in Los Angeles," Waits said, "where everyone has an angle." Waits performed both of the songs he contributed to the soundtrack, "Walk Away" and "Fall of Troy," the first a tale of redemption, the second a haunting personal examination of the homes wrecked by a murder. Waits contorted and wrenched every word out of his body. Alternately playing piano or guitar and howling into a megaphone, he offered seven songs in total, including "A Little Rain" and "Jesus Gonna Be Here," then left the stage to a riotous standing ovation before returning for an encore. Perhaps realizing how unfair it was to expect an artist to immediately follow Waits' epic performance, Robbins quickly introduced Sister Helen to discuss the reasons why the show was put together in the first place. Warm and grandmotherly, Prejean first confessed to not knowing much about today's music and said she had thought Pearl Jam was a new Smucker's flavor before meeting Vedder backstage. The crowd respectfully acknowledged her speech but was clearly restless for DiFranco. If anyone could follow Waits and show no apprehension, it's DiFranco, the lone performer at the show who didn't appear on the soundtrack. In a preshow press conference, Robbins explained why the punk folkie wasn't on the soundtrack, confessing, "She didn't appear because I was lame. I didn't get hip to her until after the soundtrack was wrapped up." DiFranco opened with a rare but appropriate "Crime for Crime," an older song about someone who's about to be put to death. Afterwards, she explained her longstanding concern with the anti-death-penalty cause, saying, "I was living in Austin, Texas, and running with these crazy lefty lawyers who were working day and night to stay executions. The lawyers had artwork from the prisoners on their walls, and it was amazing how much beauty could come forth from a death-row setting." After her brief set, Vedder took the stage alone, wearing what looked like a lab coat and sitting cross-legged on some throw pillows that had been assembled for the final act. He played a quick number before calling Pearl Jam bassist Ament to join him on a song he had written for the soundtrack. He called it "Dead Man Walking." The tune didn't make the recording because Bruce Springsteen had recorded a song of the same name. "Tim [Robbins] told me it was a seniority thing," Vedder deadpanned, "but we got a B-side out of it." Vedder then called for the rest of his guests, who included former Doors drummer John Densmore on bongos and Pakistani vocal superstars Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and percussionist Dildar Hussain. The group sat on the floor and played well over 10-minute versions of the two songs Vedder had done with the deceased Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan for the soundtrack, "The Face of Love" and "The Long Road." Vedder's baritone was offset by Ali Khan's octave-scorching chants, the combination of which induced a trancelike state. Vedder himself appeared to be in a trance, seated next to Ali Khan, mesmerized by his performance. All the artists came back on stage for an encore. In the tradition of most "all-star jams," this one was a mess, with none of the backup vocal mics working until the last chorus of Waits' "Innocent When You Dream." Vedder once again seemed mesmerized; this time, however, by Waits. At one point Vedder stepped back from the mic to simply stare at Waits on the piano, lurching through the old school melody. It wasn't until DiFranco tugged on his jacket that he returned to the mic to assist on vocals. It's a rare benefit show that brings together such a disparate group of artists, each of whom has material directly related to the topic at hand, but "Not In Our Name" Dead Man Walking: The Concert was one such event. ========================#**********#============= For million of years mankind lived just like the animals Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination We learned to talk ' ' ' From the desk of, /'^'\ Hallucinogenic Woodpecker ( o o ) - --------------------------------------oOOO--(_)----OOOo--------------- e-mail: trentd@claynet.com .oooO ( ) Oooo. - ---------------------------------------\ (--------( )--------------- ) ) / (_/ ========================#**********#============= ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V7 #126 *******************************