From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V7 #459 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Sunday, December 13 1998 Volume 07 : Number 459 Today's Subjects: ----------------- how did "pretty" come to mean "moderately"? [Eb ] Re: "I know my rights, man." "You don't know shit, Lebowski." [Ben ] Re: Uncorrected personality traits [Charles Gillett ] Re: how did ["Daniel Barkhouse" ] Re: how did "pretty" come to mean "moderately"? [normal@grove.ufl.edu] Re: "I know my rights, man." "You don't know shit, Lebowski." [zolarox@j] Hooked ! ["Matthew Knights" ] looking for fegpages... [walden@eclipse.net] Re: Top Albums of the Decade! [Victor Schiferli ] Re: "I know my rights, man." "You don't know shit, Lebowski." [Aaron Man] Re: Album Ratings [Joel Mullins ] Re: Top Albums of the Decade! [Eb ] Re: pac man fever ["Capitalism Blows" ] Mostly Momus (RH paragraph at the end if you wanna skip to it) [amadain <] Re: pac man fever [Aaron Mandel ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1998 16:03:30 -0800 From: Eb Subject: how did "pretty" come to mean "moderately"? Terrence: >Robyn's music is pretty good, but I don't think he's made an album in the >same class as Odessey & Oracle, Dark Side of the Moon or Pet Sounds. Now now, Terrence...I raised the bar for Provocative Posts on this list. You'll have to do much better than that. ;) And your above claim is probably true, but just remember: Robyn's *worst* album is better than any Donovan or Spirit record. Eb > From: "Dr. Winston O'Boogie" > Newsgroups: rec.music.marketplace.vinyl > Subject: gap x-mas commercial song...???????? > Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1998 09:54:25 -0600 > > hi all... > Has anyone seen the new Gap Christmas commercial where it has a guy > singing "What are you doing new year's eve" sitting at a grand piano, > with a white background? It simply has a clip of him singing, and then > the gap sign at the end. > Anyway, i really like that guy,sounds great. > So, does anyone know who he is? I bet i'd like his album.. > thanks! :) > Brandon B. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 19:16:37 -0500 From: Ben Subject: Re: "I know my rights, man." "You don't know shit, Lebowski." > Robyn's music is pretty good, but I don't think he's made an album in the > same class as Odessey & Oracle, Dark Side of the Moon or Pet Sounds. I don't think the Beach Boys have made an album as good as Pet Sounds either. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1998 18:12:11 -0800 (PST) From: John Barrington Jones Subject: shut up little man >neutral milk hotel, and the "shut up, little man" recordings. Hey, i discovered these both this year as well!! but i can only attribute one of these to Eb. Eddie--how many volumes do you have? i have 3 and 4. - -jbj ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1998 22:02:04 -0600 From: Charles Gillett Subject: Re: Uncorrected personality traits Sat, 12 Dec 1998 14:37:21 -0600, amadain wrote: >>I was too lazy to respond to the original post, but this Momus song was >>also the one which came to my mind. > >Oh come on! He was mostly just taking the piss out of Barry White! :) Why am I coming on? And I think "Closer to You" removes more urine from Barry White than "Born to be Adored." >Anyway that line about John The Baptist- "like my cock is John The Baptist >saying 'One day someone greater than me shall come'/Or some Moses who leads >an entire nation across her tongue/To Liberation" fills me with glee! I like that bit, but following "some sort of baptism by sperm" with "like my cock is John the Baptist" irritates me with its hard-to-avoid redundancy...I liked the song lots at first, but I like it less and less as time goes by. >Actually, I think it's all pretty great. "What Are You Wearing?", "MC >Escher", "Everyone I Ever Slept With", and the aforementioned unmentionable >track are my favorites. I was just being coy. I liked it all at first, but "Everyone I Ever Slept With" and "Lucretia Borgia" became uninteresting quickly, whereas "What Are You Wearing" and "The New Decameron" have become more interesting. I suppose that means my average enjoyment of the album has remained constant. >The only thing I unequivocally don't like on the album is "Harry K-Tel". >What brought that particular fit of viciousness on, I wonder? Heh heh heh.... I enjoy it. Nothing like a bit of honest viciousness. >I understand, believe me. I feel the same way about Jewel. Why is Jewel >everywhere? Is there some way to stop it? "Suicide is your only way...." I don't know, she's just a hum in the background for me. My Orton problem has gotten better since buying the CD, but I can't recommend that in Jewel's case. Sarah McLachlan has been more irritatingly omnipresent than Jewel in my life. All that aside, I bought _Storefront Hitchcock_ and I like it. - -- Charles ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1998 20:44:19 PST From: "Daniel Barkhouse" Subject: Re: how did >just remember: Robyn's *worst* >album is better than any Donovan record. I beg to differ. http://www.everything2000.com/ ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1998 23:52:55 -0500 (EST) From: normal@grove.ufl.edu Subject: Re: how did "pretty" come to mean "moderately"? > >Robyn's music is pretty good, but I don't think he's made an album in the > >same class as Odessey & Oracle, Dark Side of the Moon or Pet Sounds. > > Now now, Terrence...I raised the bar for Provocative Posts on this list. > You'll have to do much better than that. ;) I'm serious. (And I even put 70s album in there. If I wanted provocative, I would've put in something like Days of Future Past or Close to the Edge) > And your above claim is probably true, but just remember: Robyn's *worst* > album is better than any Donovan or Spirit record. Now you're just baiting me. I dunno. If Perspex Island and The Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus had a fight, I wouldn't put my money on Perspex Island. (Or Can of Bees or Globe of Frogs. And Album 2 of Gift From a Flower to a Garden is probably about even with Queen Elvis) And I bet Spirit was more influential than Robyn, given the moderately large numbers of bands in the 70s who covered their songs (Water Woman, Fresh Garbage, Uncle Jack, 1984 and Animal Zoo, mainly) and, well, compare Taurus to Stairway to Heaven. Most impressive thing I've heard this week: Ravel's Forlane from "Le Tombeau de Couperin", as performed by Walter Gieseking. I didn't think you could do things like that with a piano. Terrence Marks normal@grove.ufl.edu ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1998 23:44:32 -0800 From: zolarox@juno.com (Debora K) Subject: Re: "I know my rights, man." "You don't know shit, Lebowski." On Sat, 12 Dec 1998 18:47:48 -0500 (EST) Terrence M Marks writes: It wasn't the nicest of things, but, well, we won. A fair >number >of people take/took pride in having a large, powerful country. beware....beware the lurker that is Vince ("Dances with Fegs"). Vince (having a small, powerless Reservation) np: Rush-Presto ________________________________________________________________ Get secure free e-mail that you don't need Web access to use from Juno, the world's second largest online service. Download your free software at http://www.juno.com/getit.b.html. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 13:45:43 -0000 From: "Matthew Knights" Subject: Hooked ! Was peacefuly scavenging for food on the oceon floor when suddenly ... >Robyn's music is pretty good, but I don't think he's made an album in the >same class as Odessey & Oracle, Dark Side of the Moon or Pet Sounds. ..a hook lodged itself in my upper lip and I was wrenched to the surface ! I do like Pink Floyd (Piper, Relics, More) but I have to respectfully disagree about Dark Side of the Moon. I know it's a 70's icon, topping all time album charts effortlessly but for me it's such an 'obvious' effort. The song 'Money' is positively embarassing. As an early teen I didn't care for the album and I feel the same way now. As someone else on this list said last month, Relics surpasses it with ease. Surely, DSOTM just has to be the most overrated album in Christendom. By contrast Moss Elixir is a joy and a musical triumph. If I can't say that here where can I? ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 03:32:06 +0000 From: walden@eclipse.net Subject: looking for fegpages... i'm working on my site and would like to include links to any and all feghomepages.... please email me your URLs.... also, Quail and Glenuber, i believe you have a bunch of URLs.. can you remind me of the pages on which they are stored? The more URL the merrier.. let's URL till we hURL.... ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 14:13:47 +0100 From: Victor Schiferli Subject: Re: Top Albums of the Decade! At 14:18 12-12-98 EST, MARKEEFE@aol.com wrote: > So, the 90's are now nearly 90% over. In about one year's time, there >will be the inevitable onslaught of pulications listing out the best 'x' >number albums of the decade. I say we beat 'em to the punch! These are the best of the 1990s IMHO: 1. American Music Club - United Kingdom/California (2-on-1 cd) 2. Jeff Buckley - Grace 3. Nick Cave - The Boatman’s Call 4. Mark Eitzel - 60 Watt Silver Lining 5. Ron Sexsmith - Ron Sexsmith 6. Freedy Johnston - The Trouble Tree 7. Lyle Lovett - I Love Everybody 8. Daryll-Ann - Daryll-Ann Weeps 9. Kevn Kinney - MacDougal Blues 10. The Replacements - All Shook Down I guess you could say I have a fascination with singer-songwriters, and generally I like individual people with guitars just singin their _songs_ better than bands who seem to be striving for a certain sound, or a certain attitude, or a certain haircut. Daryll-Ann is not only the best band from my country, The Netherlands, it is also one of the best bands on this planet. Best of 98 (I know the thread is over, but I thought I'd add my 2 cts) 1. Beck - Mutations 2. Mark Eitzel - Caught In A Trap And I Can’t Back Out Because I Love You Too Much Baby 3. Lyke Lovett - Step Inside This House 4. Zita Swoon - I Paint Pictures On A Wedding Dress 5. Neil Finn - Try Whistling This 6. Elliott Smith - XO 7. Elvis Costello with Burt Bacharach - Painted From Memory 8. Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels On A Gravel Road 9. Mark Hollis - Mark Hollis 10. Pulp - This Is Hardcore ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 12:55:50 -0500 (EST) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: Re: "I know my rights, man." "You don't know shit, Lebowski." On Sat, 12 Dec 1998, Capitalism Blows wrote: > i mean, jesus jeme, if someone were to compare *you* to napolean, > would you take that as a compliment? john and john didn't make that one up. he was called "Napoleon Of The Stump" back when he was alive. > and do you really think *any* sane person would sing approvingly such > lines as "achieve our manifest destiny," and "seized the whole southwest > from mexico"? i've always thought the band were lefties and therefore the song was satire, but now that i sit down to think about it i can't come up with any real proof. that said, i think they probably came up with the idea for the song because it was retro, rather than because they wanted to praise or vilify Polk. a ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 13:20:01 -0800 From: Joel Mullins Subject: Re: Album Ratings Message-ID: <36742F26.45FC@swbell.net> Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 13:18:30 -0800 From: Joel Mullins Reply-To: skmull@swbell.net X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01C-SBXA (Win95; I) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: MARKEEFE@aol.com Subject: Re: Album Ratings References: <2d28185e.36735f79@aol.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > << So, how do you know you still feel the same way about it now that you did > in 1983?! >> > > Oh, probably I don't. How could I? I don't feel the same way about > anything that I did back in 1983. But I still love some albums from that era > just as much as ones from this year . . . and that's what matters: what I like > listening to today, regardless of when it was made, what style it is, or for > how long I've been listening to it. What I meant by the 1983 comment was that there must be albums on your top 1000 list that you haven't heard since 1983. But if you own a CD store, then I guess it's feasible that you might listen to a few thousand albums in a year. Obviously, when an album is made doesn't matter. > << Top 1000 albums, huh? That's just plain ridiculus! >> > > The Village Voice listed something like the best 800 to 1,000 albums of > 1997 alone! Now *that's* ridiculous! But, over the course of the entire > history of music (I include some classical on my list), it's really not too > far-fetched to think of coming up with 1,000 albums that are truly great and > personally meaningful. Maybe by the time I'm 40. But don't you think that's going a little overboard? By the time you got to listing the second 500, you'd have changed your mind about the some of the first. Tastes are always changing. And mood has a lot to do with it too. One day, I may think that Element of Light is the best album Robyn Hitchcock has ever done, and the very next day, I may say the same thing about I Often Dream of Trains. When you're talking about albums that you like *that* much, it's really hard to ever say for sure which ones you like best. - --Joel > > -----Michael K. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 13:14:41 -0800 From: Eb Subject: Re: Top Albums of the Decade! Victor: >These are the best of the 1990s IMHO: > >1. American Music Club - United Kingdom/California (2-on-1 cd) >2. Jeff Buckley - Grace >3. Nick Cave - The Boatmanís Call >4. Mark Eitzel - 60 Watt Silver Lining >5. Ron Sexsmith - Ron Sexsmith >6. Freedy Johnston - The Trouble Tree >7. Lyle Lovett - I Love Everybody >8. Daryll-Ann - Daryll-Ann Weeps >9. Kevn Kinney - MacDougal Blues >10. The Replacements - All Shook Down > >I guess you could say I have a fascination with singer-songwriters Indeed. Eb ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 14:21:25 PST From: "Capitalism Blows" Subject: Re: pac man fever yes, i'm sure it probably was, historically. but i don't think the giants intended it as such. again, satire. well, it's all in the eyes of the beholder, i suppose. me, i'd have a tough time thinking of worse people to be compared to than someone in any way involved with a fucking military. uhhhhh...ok, all in *favor* of imperialism stand up. all *opposed*? i give you credit for being so blatant about it, though, terry. much better than the fuckers who lie about "preserving democracy," or "they're not capable of governing themselves," or what have you. fine, but could you at least be honest with yourself and rephrase it to, "celebrating genocide"? on the surface, you're probably right. but i think deep down, most people are pretty ashamed of our history/"place in the world." god, i hope so, anyways. yes, "might makes right" is the way diplomacy has *always* worked at *every* point in history. doesn't make it, um, right, though. the point was, the *way* we industrialized (state intervention/protection) as opposed to the way it's commonly perceived/taught. i have been a bit grumpy of late, yes. it usually happens about this time of year, as the days are about to start getting longer, and i don't like that one little bit. the sun sets at 4:00, exactly what i'm rejoicing! and wishing it would do year-round! but i *wanted* to like The Truman Show. lord knows i wanted to. there are worse people to admire than robyn hitchcock. well, the alternative is that it's a VERY *pro*-imperialism song, which is pretty unthinkable. dontcha think? really? i'll admit that i wasn't introduced to the giants until about '92 or so, and probably didn't snag the Istanbul single until '95 or so. so maybe i've got the timing all wrong. but FLOOD came out in 1990, and i just assumed that James K. Polk was written in the latter half of 1990. in other words, right as we were building up for the war crimes in the gulf. because, you know, iraq's annexation of kuwait and our subsequent bleats of "injustice!" make a very nice contrast to our annexation of the southwest. basically the same thing, right? a border dispute taken to its "logical" conclusion. only, when the good guys do it, it's "manifest destiny," but when the bad guys do it, you go in and massacre them because the "civilized" world doesn't believe in territorial acquisition by force. and making that connection in people's minds is the whole point of "correctly implemented" satire, of course. but if the song was written *prior* to the war crimes buildup, then...well, then that's awfully spooky, isn't it? i'll have to sleep on my fave albums of the decade for a while. but i think i can maybe do my ten fave movies: 1. Delicatessen 2. The Kingdom I & II 3. Barton Fink 4. Jesus Of Montreal 5. Goodfellas 6. Searching For Bobby Fischer 7. Fargo 8. A River Runs Through It ...hmm. i guess that's all i can do. a haiku: benvolent, but never underestimate brewer tom's power ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 16:44:55 -0600 From: amadain Subject: Mostly Momus (RH paragraph at the end if you wanna skip to it) >Why am I coming on? And I think "Closer to You" removes more urine >from Barry White than "Born to be Adored." "Closer To You" was written at a time when Momus's satirical aim was a good deal more deadly, and is a lot more effective. It's sharp and sexy, and has more of the individual in it than "Born To Be Adored" does. "Born To Be Adored", while certainly a song I can't imagine anyone but Momus writing, doesn't have the same personal feel to it. I like the way that "Closer To You" is something of a satire, but also very erotic, causing the listener to think about notions of "what is erotic? what is romantic? where do we draw lines between romantic and disturbing?". It's very provocative. "Born To Be Adored", while it contains much of the peculiar wit that makes Momus great, is pretty much a pale shadow. >I like that bit, but following "some sort of baptism by sperm" with >"like my cock is John the Baptist" irritates me with its hard-to-avoid >redundancy... I just get a big kick out of the idea of a cock being Moses leading masses of sperm across a tongue to liberation. It slays me :). Actually I think this one is less of a novelty song than it first appears. To me it's a very funny, self-aware and self-deprecating take on some males' fascination with/private celebration of their own genitalia. >"What Are You Wearing" and "The New Decameron" have become more interesting. It's interesting that you would mention these two, because they're the ones that really remind me of the early Momus. Those albums, while both just as "precious" and clever and foppish as this one, also contained a lot of pointed social observation and sympathetic and understanding portraits of non-mainstream sexuality, and seemed to have a lot more heart in them. I like "Little Red Schoolbook" a lot, but I really miss that. >Heh heh heh.... I enjoy it. Nothing like a bit >of honest viciousness. OK, so admittedly that was actually kind of amusing- warning to fegs who were actually reading this discussion *grin*, there is some vague ick content on this page, as it tells about an alledged incident of, um, Harry K-Tel leading some spermies across an actress's hair to liberation *LOL*. Anyway, "Harry K-Tel" kinda goes beyond that page. It goes into the realm, in my perception anyway, of "if this guy didn't run over your dog or something, and you have never, in fact, met him- this much vitriol may be cause for worry". Obviously this is going to be subjective. But I for one, was really shocked by it. Bitchiness I expect from Momus, but there's some deeper well of hatred and resentment here that is fueled by something I don't understand. And here's a real trip- when I heard that Momus had been involved in a lawsuit I immediately assumed it was a defamation suit by Mr. K-Tel. Nope. It was WENDY CARLOS who was suing. Damn! Now that's odd. Haven't heard his take on it, but I would have to think he was very upset. >background for me. My Orton problem has gotten better since buying the >CD, but I can't recommend that in Jewel's case. That is not an option, you are correct. >All that aside, I bought _Storefront Hitchcock_ and I like it. Here's a question- how come Robyn Hitchcock isn't omnipresent? He's been out and about a little, this upcoming chat, a paragraph or so in "Rolling Stone", but nothing spectacular. Why is that? Are there going to be any singles from "Storefront"? Film clips on VH-1? Stuff like that? Why am I getting the feeling this whole "Storefront" thing is actually sort of a debacle? I didn't expect that it was going to break box-office records or bring in legions of new faithful, but I did expect to see a bit more than this, frankly. Love on ya, Susan ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 19:20:12 -0500 (EST) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: Re: pac man fever On Sun, 13 Dec 1998, Capitalism Blows wrote: > but i *wanted* to like The Truman Show. lord knows i wanted to. me too. i think it could have been great, too -- but if you strip away the interesting premise, the underlying pacing is so straightforward Hollywood. it reminded me of (don't hit me) Twelve Monkeys, another movie whose prior billing as brilliantly thoughtful and complex set me up for a disappointment. > well, the alternative is that it's a VERY *pro*-imperialism song, which > is pretty unthinkable. dontcha think? nah... the alternative is that it's a neutral song, an example of the Johns riffing on a piece of history that is completely gone from the public consciousness and is therefore funny to write a song about. consider "The Sun Is A Mass..."; i believe they recorded that because it's an artifact from the past that's amusingly dated now. the song's rah-rah attitude toward nuclear energy is probably part of what makes it funny, but recording a cover of it isn't a pro- or anti-nuclear act. in my opinion. > but FLOOD came out in 1990, and i just assumed that James K. Polk was > written in the latter half of 1990. in other words, right as we were > building up for the war crimes in the gulf. my memory is pretty hazy, but i think i bought that single before going off to evanston for the second half of summer, which is where i was when the whole august invasion thing happened. and while you'd have to consult some of the really crazed fans to corroborate this, i had always thought that "James K. Polk" was around well before even Flood, on their Dial-A-Song service. eddie's best movies of the decade: Fargo better than The Big Lebowski? a ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V7 #459 *******************************