From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V8 #139 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Thursday, April 15 1999 Volume 08 : Number 139 Today's Subjects: ----------------- SH into Chill, part IV... [DDerosa5@aol.com] Joy Electric ["Paul Christian Glenn" ] Linguistics paper [Joel Mullins ] 45% Robyn [Joel Mullins ] Re: 45% Robyn [MARKEEFE@aol.com] re: Joy Electric, etc. [Eb ] Lisa's comment on Robert Carlyle [digja611@student.otago.ac.nz (James Dig] separated at birth! [Bayard ] Re: 45% Robyn [Ethyl Ketone ] further adventures in sound [Natalie Jacobs ] *There's* your mama! ["Colonel Tom Parker" ] Dreaming in Feg [Ethyl Ketone ] Re: further adventures in sound [MARKEEFE@aol.com] More Matrix bashing ["Jason R. Thornton" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 13:50:41 EDT From: DDerosa5@aol.com Subject: SH into Chill, part IV... So I just got off the phone with Charles Coleman, the booking agent at Facets Multi-media here in Chicago, who sounds very interested in booking Storefront. He has asked Warner Brothers for a vid of it, and is interested in talking with fegs, WXRT, and anyone else who would get the word out (not yet, like in a month or so...) Bad news is, he just finished doing the schedule for May/June, so July would be the earliest time to show it. As we talked, I pointed out that a) Robyn's album is theoretically coming out in July--how will this affect the movie's availability, or lack thereof?--and b) we'd heard this rumor he might do a tour to open for his film (anybody heard any more on this?). If it happens, might not post-July be the time to do it? I just want to see the damn film somewhere, and I even told Charles that Natalie would come in from Ann Arbor just to see it (he seemed impressed, if a bit scared...), and who knows what other middle-western fegs might surface? Anyway, I am simply posting this for your information/tantalization, and to see what else you all might have heard or thought about the tour deal. How many towns would be on such a tour? Where do you think Robyn would likely do a show/movie in your towns? I can't help thinking that the Vic Theatre here in Chicago would be likely, where I saw him with Billy Bragg a few years back, since they also show movies ("Brew and View") when they have no live music. Not that he'd need a big stage if he was playing solo...but won't he still be in his Rawking out phase? lurking in the shadows, 'cause it hasn't happened yet... dave ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 16:02:16 -0500 From: "Paul Christian Glenn" Subject: Joy Electric >np: Joy Electric/Christiansongs (woo! nudges past Bailterspace as the worst >release I've heard this year) Okay, okay... As a die-hard Ronnie Martin fan (I have every Joy Electric cd except the new one, plus Ronnie's previous incarnations as Dance House Children and Rainbow Rider), I just can't let this jab slide. Now, I haven't yet heard "Christiansongs", but I've just got to point out that Joy Electric is one of the most creative and inspiring artists I am aware of. Martin's lyrics are superbly whimsical and melancholy, his storytelling is fascinating, and his melodies are just plain magical. Joy Electric is just fabulous escapism (and, hey, if you were living *my* life, you'd find that important!). Unless "Christiansongs" is a MAJOR departure from his previous offerings ("Five Stars For Failure", "We Are The Music Makers", and "The Land of Misfits" being among the very, very best), I can't imagine it to be as godawful as "the worst release" of the year (fercryinoutloud, *Cher* released a new record this year!). 'Course, since JE has a total of, I think, seven or eight fans, we tend to be overly-defensive when it comes to our favorite monosynth-man. I'll put my soapbox away now and resume lurking... :) Paul Christian Glenn | "Besides being complicated, trance@radiks.net | reality, in my experience, is http://x-real.firinn.org | usually odd." - C.S. Lewis Now Reading: "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 16:12:24 -0700 From: Joel Mullins Subject: Linguistics paper Okay, the last thing I want to do is start that same damn sexism argument over again. But now that my paper idea is more concentrated, I need to start researching and thinking about what songs to look at. Here's what I'll be doing: I'm gonna pick performers (male and female) from two separate categories: 1) mainstream, and 2) non-mainstream (I really don't know what to call this second category. Indie would imply that each artist is on an independent label. My prof suggested I call it alternative but I hate the term. Alternative music *is* the mainstream. The category should include those artists that have achieved more of a cult status instead of mainstream popularity. Robyn would fit here). Then I will look at the communication techniques of both the men and the women from both categories. I'll look for trends in both groups and then see if the two groups are different in any way, and if so, what in the culture has caused this? Although I didn't agree with most of what Jeme said, he did have a good point or two. Mainly, he made me think about how far from the mainstream all of us are. So, I started thinking that I might need to separate artists like the Backstreet Boys from artists like Robyn. I'm expecting to find a lot of obvious trends in the mainstream group, whereas trends in the non-mainstream may be a lot more subtle. Anyway, if any of you have some suggestions for songs to look at (from either category), then please let me know. If you just want to bitch, please bitch somewhere else, because this semester's getting to be a bitch and I just don't have the time to deal with anymore bitching. Later Joel ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 16:58:19 -0700 From: Joel Mullins Subject: 45% Robyn Well, I finally got The Apples in Stereo's Tone Soul Evolution yesterday. So far, I've really been enjoying it. However, I understand the comment someone made about all the songs sounding alike. There's not much variety on the album and sometimes everything just sounds a little too pretty, if that makes any sense. But the harmonies and instrumentation are great, which make it a really nice listening experience. On a somewhat related note (only related because it also has to do with music), I was wondering what everyone's RH listening habits were. Personally, I don't listen to Robyn on a regular basis. He's my all-time #1 favorite, right ahead of the Beatles and VU, but I don't listen to any of those guys on a regular basis. I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm just so familiar with all the songs that they don't have the quite the same impact if I listen to them regularly. Sometimes, I might even go a couple of months without ever putting in a RH CD. But then, after awhile, I'll get into some sort of FegObsession where I listen to Robyn and only Robyn for an entire month. The same thing happens with the Beatles and VU, but it's not quite as intense or long-lasting as it is with RH. I'm wondering if I'm the only one who listens to RH in this cyclical fashion. What made me think of this is that I can feel the FegObsession getting ready to start, but I'm trying to put it off a littl while. I'd rather it start about a month before the new album comes out. I don't want to be in the middle of a VelvetObsession when Jewels for Sophia is released. I've never tried controlling it before, so I don't know if I can. I figure if I can resist the temptation to listen to nothing but Robyn, then I should be fine. Anyway, does anyone else do this, or am I alone? Also, I need to comment on the new Wilco album. Most people have compared it to Brian Wilson but it sounds more like ELO to me. Even Jeff Tweedy's voice sounds a lot like Jeff Lynne's on some songs, especially We're Just Friends. Anyway, this is just an observation. Later Joel ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 18:56:43 EDT From: MARKEEFE@aol.com Subject: Re: 45% Robyn In a message dated 99-04-14 18:08:12 EDT, you write: << On a somewhat related note (only related because it also has to do with music), I was wondering what everyone's RH listening habits were. >> I'm sure there's a slight waxing and waning of how much I listen to Robyn, but I'd say it's been pretty steady for the past ten years now . . . not daily or anything! But, you know, I doubt more than a month has gone by without my listening to at least one RH album. And there have certainly been times where I've listened to a whole lot more. That pretty much describes my listening habits for most artists/bands, I guess. I think David Bowie is the only one who comes in big waves for me. I've probably only listened to 2 or 3 Bowie CDs over the last six months, which is really, um, "low" for me. I consider him one my Top Tier bands/artists, and most members of that category form the aural bedrock of my listening habits . . . but the Bowie sediment tends to appear more in discrete ephocs (if I can extend this haphazard geological metaphor just a little too thin). Furthermore, and more specifically, my "Eye" has probably never enjoyed more than, oh, 4-6 weeks vacation at any time during the past 9 years. Other RH CDs cycle through, but "Eye" is always there. - ------Michael K. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 16:18:33 -0800 From: Eb Subject: re: Joy Electric, etc. Because I don't "database" my reject albums, for the last couple of years, I've been jotting down releases that *really* irritate/annoy/repel me, right as I hear them. That way, if someone asks me for a "Worst of..." list later, it doesn't require much effort to cough up. At the end of a year, there's usually only five or six albums on this list. I think last year's list was Orgy, 12 Rounds, Emma Townshend, Imogen Heap and a couple of others. So far, this year's list is: Bailterspace, Grand Mal and, yep, Joy Electric. That's out of just under 100 new releases I've heard this year. So, sorry...Joy Electric gets a big ol' raspberry from me. Fairly unbearable. Cloying, fey and woefully outdated. Even worse, they're from Orange County. ;) And yes, I don't like Science Park or the Magnetic Fields, either. I find the underground acclaim for the Magnetic Fields highly mystifying. On the positive end, I've heard several good discs lately: three Meat Puppets reissues (damn, Meat Puppets II and Up on the Sun really should be a lot more widely renowned than they are), the Super Furry Animals' Radiator, Springsteen's 18 Tracks (well, about 9 Tracks, anyway) and (finally!) the Nuggets box. Plus, the first Beulah album, courtesy of the Fgz' own Michael Keefe. Eb (no, I didn't die over the weekend...I just haven't had anything worthwhile to post) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 14:02:50 +1200 From: digja611@student.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan) Subject: Lisa's comment on Robert Carlyle My ex, a Carlylophile (great word, that), had this to say... >Nope, I have no idea what the answer is, except I have never ever seen >mention of any siblings in any article or interview with him. He has >talked about his mum and dad and upbringing, and never mentioned a sister. >So I would say no. James 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: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 22:04:43 -0400 (EDT) From: Bayard Subject: separated at birth! read about two people you know! (or ARE they two different people?) see the link under what's new at http://travel.to/glasshotel also featuring mp3's and video clips! (see respective links) next up: separated at birth, ginger spice and lj! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 19:33:51 -0700 From: Ethyl Ketone Subject: Re: 45% Robyn At 4.58 PM -0700 4/14/99, Joel Mullins wrote: But then, after awhile, I'll get into some sort of >FegObsession where I listen to Robyn and only Robyn for an entire month. I've been listening to Robyn pretty steady for about 14 years. At least a couple of weeks doesn't go by without something of his going on the deck or cd player or whatever. But once in awhile I get obsessed. I don't know the trigger or even how to stop it. Like right now for instance. I've been listening to Robyn, and only Robyn, for a little over 3 weeks now. I tried, god knows I tried to stop. I put on Blonde on Blonde (one of my faves) and took it off after Visions of Johanna. I put on The Boatmans Call and didn't even get through the 2nd song. And I go back to Robyn. The worst part is that I've begun making compilations for friends and now find I am taking my deck in the car no matter where I go and have him playing there! I take RH cds in to work and listen to them while working but take 'em home at night because I know I can't be without when I get home. Glad to know I'm not alone. Be Seeing You, - - Carrie "Questions are a burden for others. Answers are a prison for oneself." **************************************************************************** M.E.Ketone/C.Galbraith meketone@ix.netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 00:05:12 -0400 (EDT) From: Natalie Jacobs Subject: further adventures in sound I've been working on an audition tape for the college radio station - this was where I scratched "Tigermilk," in an attempt to cue it. I didn't do too much damage tonight: I just managed to rip the hell out of an LP liner in an attempt to get the record out (it was already ripped part way, and I thought that was the way to get it out...). But I didn't feel too bad - their copy of "Forever Changes" had a giant chip taken out of the edge! For shame! On the audition tape, you're supposed to play a lot of music you've never heard before. So I made some discoveries. Tom Waits - "Get Behind the Mule" (off the new album): I was kind of disappointed by this because a) it doesn't sound any different than his older material (not that that's bad, but I guess I was expecting some development) and b) it was almost seven minutes long and not much happened in it. Maybe the other tracks are better. Shelleyan Orphan: I had heard these guys (and gal) were annoyingly ethereal, but they were actually not too bad - sort of folky orchestrated stuff, like if Nick Drake had recorded for 4AD. (I've also read that they're Drake fans, which makes them OK in my book.) The singer doesn't sound like a 12-year-old, which is nice, too. While the record was playing, I noticed it was produced by Hayden Bendall, who produced "Apple Venus Vol. 1." I guess he's a strings specialist. Beulah: I only heard a couple of brief snippets from the album, but what I heard elicited a definite "Wheee!!" It's the Elephant 6 lo-fi psychedelic pop thang with this really rich, dense layered sound - there's about twenty people playing on the damn thing - and the tunes are really catchy and enjoyable. When the heck is this going to get into the stores so I can buy it? Ninian Hawick, "Scottish Rite Temple Stomp" (as recommended by someone on this list): Jeez, I was expecting this to be a huge orgasmic psychedelic rave-up, and instead it's just a fun pop song with cute lyrics. I liked it, though. Gastr Del Sol, "Rebecca Sylvester": Not nearly as math-rockish as I expected - a tiny, delicate little tune with a guitar and some sound effects, and nice lyrics - "the wind picks up where it left off the night before." I know their other stuff is more geeky, I just picked this one because it's short. The Love song I picked ("Good Humor Man," or something like that) didn't make much of an impression on me because I was desperately trying to cue up a record on the other turntable at the time. Of course, I couldn't play the first song on either side because of the gigantic chip! At least I didn't do that to "Tigermilk." I should go to bed, anyway. n. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 03:23:49 PDT From: "Colonel Tom Parker" Subject: *There's* your mama! three two one cinema! , wherein it is revealed that three of my all time ten favorite movies will be playing on one of the largest screens on the west coast, all in the next few weeks! i think i'm most excited about Bridge On The River Kwai, even though it's my "least" favorite of the three, as i've never seen it on the big screen; while i've seen Lawrence Of Arabia six times, and Dr. Strangelove twice, on the big screen. i'd like to believe that i somehow deserve this "manna from heaven", even though i know deep in my heart that nothing could be further from the truth. of course, it's going to be a bit tricky getting to see them all, as they're only playing for a day or two each. but i'm going to give it that "old college try", believe you me! michael wolfe, you are urged to attend. oh, that Phantom Menace pre-screening they mention at the bottom of the article is $500 a head ($1,000 with the reception). i shan't be at that one. in other news, i tried passing a "stop the bombing" flyer to a cop yesterday, but he refused to take it. fucking fuzz are so rude these days. "when i get my superpowers, i'm gonna smote you assholes off the planet!" _______________________________________________________________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 08:43:08 -0700 From: Ethyl Ketone Subject: Dreaming in Feg Wow. Had my first Robyn dream ever! Seems some friends were making a documentary about him in my house. I spent the dream trying to find my jeans so I could get out of my pajamas and go meet them. They left before I found 'em. Oh, and he was wearing a grren shirt with black polka dots. This was strange as I've never dreamed of Robyn but we are having some intense wind storm this morning - maybe that had an influence. Be Seeing you, - - Carrie ps: Finally saw the Matrix. Found myself liking the stylish, dark, hong kong influenced, sorta gilliamesque/geigeresque-ness of it. Even Keanu was OK since he played a sorta dumb guy who made mostly bad decisions. But the script was weak in places which effected the pacing (IMHO). And maybe I'm too close to the source but this felt a bit like a 3rd person action shooter computer game, don't cha think? "Questions are a burden for others. Answers are a prison for oneself." **************************************************************************** M.E.Ketone/C.Galbraith meketone@ix.netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 11:34:57 EDT From: MARKEEFE@aol.com Subject: Re: further adventures in sound In a message dated 4/14/99 8:06:39 PM, gnat@cyberspace.org writes: << Beulah: I only heard a couple of brief snippets from the album, but what I heard elicited a definite "Wheee!!" It's the Elephant 6 lo-fi psychedelic pop thang with this really rich, dense layered sound - there's about twenty people playing on the damn thing - and the tunes are really catchy and enjoyable. When the heck is this going to get into the stores so I can buy it? >> Same question I'd been wondering. So, I called up my distributor and found out that it's already out! Came out on the 6th (while I was on vacation -- sneaky bastards). I'll be excitedly (but somewhat cautiously) checking it out tomorrow. So, Natalie, head to your nearest store and *demand* that they get the CD for you! - -----Michael K. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 14:32:23 -0700 From: "Jason R. Thornton" Subject: More Matrix bashing >ps: Finally saw the Matrix. Found myself liking the stylish, dark, hong >kong influenced, sorta gilliamesque/geigeresque-ness of it. Personally, that's another thing I'm REAL sick of seeing in sci-fi flicks... that whole Geiger dark green bio-cybernetic gooey tentacle look. >Even Keanu was >OK since he played a sorta dumb guy who made mostly bad decisions. But the >script was weak in places which effected the pacing (IMHO). Yeah it was. From the place where the trailer ended, to the place where the credits started rolling. Weak. There were infrequent strong moments and scenes (none of which pop to mind at the moment), but overall...BLEH! No wait...offhand, I'd say I really liked that Fed-Ex-guy/cell-phone moment. >And maybe I'm >too close to the source but this felt a bit like a 3rd person action >shooter computer game, don't cha think? I think I made a similar comment about a week or so ago, so you're not the ONLY one that thought so. And I never play computer games, so I'm nowhere near the source. Well, I admit, I have TRIED a couple... which is how I became familiar enough with their format to be able to be able to make the initial comparison. ;) I've since decided...well, since last posing...that "Futurama" is LOADS better sci-fi than "The Matrix." "Futurama" is much less cartoonish, and the robots are more realistic looking. - --Jason ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V8 #139 *******************************