From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V8 #148 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Thursday, April 22 1999 Volume 08 : Number 148 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: by the way... [hal brandt ] Re: Marmalaid [Terrence M Marks ] Re: Marmalaid [Eb ] I'll go to Frisco buy a wig and... ["Russ Reynolds" ] re: "enlightening" [Miles Goosens ] re: "enlightening" [amadain ] Kilby [Joel Mullins ] Rumours of NMH's demise... [Stewart Russell 3295 Analyst_Programmer ] more death [dwdudic@erols.com (David W. Dudich)] more Wire, including Robyn content [Miles Goosens ] Re: Kilby ["Paul Christian Glenn" ] Re: Kilby [Aaron Mandel ] Re: Marms...they aren't just for breakfast anymore... [Michael Wolfe ] Re: top albums poll [Joel Mullins ] Rumours ["Ghost Surfer" ] Lists Galore ["Angel Jones" ] Re: Kilby, Lists [Mark_Gloster@3com.com] Re: by the way... [MARKEEFE@aol.com] Re: Rumours of NMH's demise... [MARKEEFE@aol.com] Re: Kilby, Lists [Terrence M Marks ] Re: Rumours of NMH's demise... [Eb ] Re: top albums poll [MARKEEFE@aol.com] Re: Rumours of NMH's demise... ["Jason R. Thornton" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1999 20:05:33 -0600 From: hal brandt Subject: Re: by the way... > > ...I hope you all are rushing out to buy Mule Variations tonight. ;) It doesn't come out on CD until next week. Vinyl and cassette only for now. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1999 22:35:51 -0400 (EDT) From: Terrence M Marks Subject: Re: Marmalaid On Wed, 21 Apr 1999, Bayard wrote: > "Quivering pouches"? do i want to know what you're talking about? > I just want to know how you through a naked party with pajamas. Terrence Marks Unlike Minerva (a comic strip) http://grove.ufl.edu/~normal normal@grove.ufl.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1999 19:46:41 -0800 From: Eb Subject: Re: Marmalaid >> "Quivering pouches"? do i want to know what you're talking about? > >I just want to know how you through a naked party with pajamas. Oh, we didn't actually WEAR the pajamas. We just used them like towels afterwards, to wipe up the various viscous pools. Ebunny ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1999 20:22:42 -0700 From: "Russ Reynolds" Subject: I'll go to Frisco buy a wig and... >Not true at all. It's not impossible that someone else turns me onto an >artist. Hell, someone else turned me onto that Owsley disc which I recently >mentioned. I heard this CD for the first time today. Only the first couple of tracks but I was quite impressed. Apparently there are quite a lot of people excited by this disc--unfortunately none of them seem to be representatives of Warner Brothers Records. Doesn't say much for Robyn's chances of a hit any time soon. - -rUss ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1999 22:25:39 -0500 From: David Librik Subject: Re: re: "enlightening" Eb wrote: >Yes, yes, David...I'm so shallow and so quick to judge based on >surfaces...blah blah blah. Is this directed at me? It seems so unrelated to my post, yet the subject line echoes a word I used, and you mention Chris Chandler at the end (whose show I reviewed in the same article) that it's made me curious. If you saw my posting as a veiled insult, I don't know what to say -- it certainly was not intended as such. It's easy in a public forum to start subconsciously assembling an "enemies list" and to assume that the people on it are sniping at you. Typically that's not the case, and it certainly wasn't here. >I know what I like. I'm very good at guessing what I will like, as well. Reasonable and fair. But then how does one discover good, enjoyable, whee-some bands who work in disliked genres? I don't mean someone who transcends (sorry about that word) their field by "really" doing something you enjoy more, but folks who are undeniably (say) folk singer-songwriters, or klezmorim, or country blues guitarists (pick the least interesting), yet who do it so well that you really enjoy the hell out of them -- AS folk singer-songwriters, etc. I don't know what the right thing to do is. But I haven't found any technique other than paying attention to the hosannas of genre fans. Reading articles and checking the "buzz" seldom works successfully for me: more often, it turns me off of things I might really like. I guess I'll toss this question out: how do y'all find the neat musicians in a genre different from the ones you like? (I don't mean the important ones, I mean the enthusiastic exceptions to your usual lack of interest.) - - David Librik ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1999 22:42:38 -0500 From: Miles Goosens Subject: re: "enlightening" Right Said Eb: >Here are the simple facts. In the last year and a half or so, there were >exactly *five* groups whom I discovered affection for, when I had no >positive expectations at all. To wit: Fluid Ounces, Kristian Hoffman, >Little Red Rocket, Money Mark and the Grassy Knoll. I'm overjoyed to see another Feg mention Fluid Ounces at all, even if a sentence later Eb damns them as a "minor, minor" discovery and threatens them with pruning shears. I've probably seen Fluid Ounces live more than any other band except for Jason & the Scorchers (both local acts, hence the high attendance number -- Fl. Oz. is from nearby Murfreesboro; I'm in Nashville), and have been wowed each and every time. For those who want actual description: unapologetically intelligent piano-driven pop, with odd time changes and other jazzy touches, but always melodic and hook-filled. For those who want the easy comparison: Ben Folds Five without the smarm and with a rockin' electric guitar. For you Chicagoland Fegs: coincidentally, the band is in the midst of a month-long stand in Chicago and environs; their schedule can be found at http://www.spongebath.net/floz/chicago.html... If you go see 'em, tell Seth and/or Brian that I sent you... later, Miles ================================================== Miles Goosens R. Stevie Moore website, now with sound! http://www.rsteviemoore.com My personal page, all silent all the time: http://www.mindspring.com/~outdoorminer/miles Join the Wire Mailing List: http://www.mindspring.com/~outdoorminer/wire ================================================== ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1999 23:47:10 -0600 From: amadain Subject: re: "enlightening" >For you Chicagoland Fegs: coincidentally, the band is in the midst of a >month-long stand in Chicago and environs; their schedule can be found at >http://www.spongebath.net/floz/chicago.html... If you go see 'em, tell OK, I'll look out for 'em. See, now I can say that, since now that I've moved it is no longer a major production just to go see music :). Anyway, this reminded me of something...... A couple days ago we were having dinner at this restaurant near my house. This place hosts bands every so often, and on that particular evening they were hosting "Arthur Lee and The Next Step". We couldn't stay so I did not actually see them, although I did see that their equipment was already there and it included a shitload of psychedelia-producing materials (including a talk box and two wah wahs). I asked the waitress and she didn't know anything about them- "must be a Deadhead band", she sez, astutely noting the tie-dye cover on one of the amps. I just had to ask. Someone here would probably know. It -isn't-, is it? Love on ya, Susan ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 00:33:15 -0700 From: Joel Mullins Subject: Kilby Hey, has anyone else been watching The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn? It's a little shaky right now, but it has a lot of potential. First of all, there's a full-stocked bar on the set and guests sometimes drink and smoke cigarettes (but not too often). Also, the musical guests actually get interviewed. And instead of playing their latest single with a full band, they usually do an acoustic set of one or two songs, sometimes including covers. The whole show is really laid back. I've been enjoying it quite a lot. Any show with porn stars has gotta be good. Tonight, they had a guest who "made his network television debut on Cops." He was one of the criminals that got arrested. They even scrambled his face. Craig interviewed him and asked him questions like "what was it like working with officer Hardy?" Of course, it was all a joke but it was a pretty damn good one. - --Joel, who's just trying to come up with reasons to send email so he doesn't have to start the paper that's due tomorrow evening. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 08:37:59 +0100 (BST) From: Stewart Russell 3295 Analyst_Programmer Subject: Rumours of NMH's demise... ...may be exaggerated. Sounds like most of the band members are out touring, so Jeff's on his lonesome for a while. Remember, there was three (four?) years between Avery Island and Aeroplane, and big personnel changes. Stewart ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 08:48:55 +0100 (BST) From: Stewart Russell 3295 Analyst_Programmer Subject: Fegbooks: You might like this. [0% Robyn, 50% elephant, 10% Fred Lane] I think I've mentioned this before, but it needs airing again; some great children's books by J P Martin about Uncle, a rich and adventurous elephant and his friends and enemies. The only excerpt I can find of these long out of print books is here: http://www.ibmpcug.co.uk/~owls/springs.htm I'm trying to track some copies down. A re-issue would be too much to hope for. Stewart [Talking of re-issues, it seems that the rare and bizarre "Raudelunas 'Pataphysical Revue", featuring Fred Lane, will be re-released in a much expanded CD form in the fall. This is very probably down to my web s(h)ite acting as a contact point for the original musicians and a publisher. Whee! Also, the other Fred Lane fan on this list should note I've just found out about Fred's dadaist 'zine "Liquid Basketball". A reprint shouldn't be impossible.] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 21:29:25 +0930 From: dlang Subject: Quails feet and the curse of the filter! Quails feet. wee Lj wrote >I also hate when they show skin diseases, warts, nail fungus, or >people's feet in any way! ooh gross! Lj, you have a foot phobia ! Who would have thunk it,a tough cookie like you. So ,do you make the quail wear socks all the time or what ? Or is this phobia restricted only to adverts and you can contemplate feet in the flesh with impunity ? This is definitely something we ALL need to know and is possibly more interesting than lists -but yet again probably not..... The curse of the filter I was flabbergasted when I just tried to submit my Robyn Hitchcock site to jayde search engine and was refused because my submission included the word cock - part of Hitchcock I hasten to add, with no gap between Hitch or cock -which they reckoned indicated I was trying to advertise a porno site - the curse of the indiscriminate filter strikes again ! feg x -who is thinking of changing his name to Feg Reflux due to the unmitigating discomfort he is suffering from this vile complaint. visit The Abandoned Brain, my Robyn site ,plus all the other crap, posse, doglist, Beefheart ,etc http://users.senet.com.au/~tortoise/index.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 11:20:48 GMT From: dwdudic@erols.com (David W. Dudich) Subject: more death On Wed, 21 Apr 1999 21:51:28 -0400 (EDT), you wrote: > >Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1999 13:26:43 -0800 >From: Eb >Subject: reap > >So I hear that professional wrestler Ravishing Rick Rude died of a heart >attack. Boy...first Jimmy Durante, now this. RIP Mr. Rude. Ok, now that I've got that out of the way, does Anybody know what the hell "time will get you like a mexican god" sounds like? it wasn't on "Robyn's Xmas party". - -luther the Fegneck ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 07:34:11 -0500 From: Miles Goosens Subject: more Wire, including Robyn content Jeme's disdain for even possibly gleaning the slightest further knowledge of Wire has produced at least one beneficial result: a reliable off-list source to whom I forwarded the message told me that the Soft Boys played a support gig opening for Wire. Is that one in the Eddie gigology? hoping Jeme will take me up on my offer of a free self-compiled Wire sampler tape, Miles ================================================== Miles Goosens R. Stevie Moore website, now with sound! http://www.rsteviemoore.com My personal page, all silent all the time: http://www.mindspring.com/~outdoorminer/miles Join the Wire Mailing List: http://www.mindspring.com/~outdoorminer/wire ================================================== ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 10:12:14 From: "she.rex" Subject: top albums poll I like the idea of lists, esp. as Gnat and others have mentioned, *annotated* ones. This is much more likely to interest me in a band or album enough to check it out. This list has several people on it with similar tastes to mine, and if the annotations have people's names on them (like the fegbooks list, which BTW I will update soon, promise), it helps even more because one can gather info about the tastes of certain people and know whose choices are likely to click with one's own. I often jot down a note on a recommendation after reading my email but a detailed account is more likely to be followed up on than the simple _np:_, though those are kind of neat as sort of an in the moment thing. Just wondered if the poll will have some form of annotation capability? She.Rex, in the throes of writing 2 weeks' worth of thank you notes of the dinner variety - arghh! - ----------- I Do the Rock by Tim Curry (annotated by Linda Fletcher) The Literature Verse Edith Sitwell giving readings 14 Moscow road Osbert giving champagne parties Sachi's got a cold Gertrude's hanging pictures Alice is making tea Me I do the only thing that still makes sense to me I do the Rock I do the Rock Rock - --The Sitwell family: Edith, Osbert and Sacheverell. - --Edith Sitwell (1887-1964) was a writer, editor, and poet. - --Her two brothers were poets. - --Description from list of British authors: - --"..a truly remarkable woman, who, with her brothers, - --Osbert and Sacheverell, formed a celebrated and - --redoubtable literary triumvirate." - --Gertrude Stein, patron of the arts--Picasso & the Surrealists - --her lifelong companion, Alice B. Toklas, of marijuana cookie fame - --guess the tea was to wash 'em down. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 09:37:13 -0500 From: "Paul Christian Glenn" Subject: Re: Kilby >Hey, has anyone else been watching The Late Late Show with Craig >Kilborn I haven't given it a shot. Kilborn didn't impress me much on "The Daily Show" - he's just a little too smarmy. I always feel like slapping that little smirk off his face... 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: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 11:19:01 -0400 (EDT) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: Re: Kilby On Thu, 22 Apr 1999, Paul Christian Glenn wrote: > I haven't given it a shot. Kilborn didn't impress me much on "The > Daily Show" - he's just a little too smarmy. I always feel like > slapping that little smirk off his face... no kidding. Jon Stewart is a lot better. for true slappable smarminess, though, there's that guy on Talk Soup. i don't know his name. i don't watch it voluntarily (the roommates often have it on when i come back from work). i just hate him. a ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 15:38:43 +0000 (GMT) From: Michael Wolfe Subject: Re: Marms...they aren't just for breakfast anymore... eb wrote: >I can read the tea leaves quite well, at this point. Tea leaves?!? Wow... Eb, I'm _so_ disillusioned. I had you pegged as part of the vulture-entrails-and-rat-bone school of critical thought, for sure. - -Michael Wolfe ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 10:51:12 -0500 From: "JH3" Subject: Re: Kilby >On Thu, 22 Apr 1999, Paul Christian Glenn wrote: >> I haven't given it a shot. Kilborn didn't impress me much on "The >> Daily Show" - he's just a little too smarmy. I always feel like >> slapping that little smirk off his face... And Aaron M. wrote: >no kidding. Jon Stewart is a lot better. OUCH! I probably agree with you 99% of the time, Aaron, but here you are just *dead wrong!* Stewart has single-handedly turned the half-hour from 10-10:30 Central Time into an opportunity to read a nice book or listen to some of those piled-up CD's, as far as I'm concerned. The guy is simply not funny AT ALL. Kilborn, on the other hand, was (and is) fantastic. It's like he was born to be in front of a camera, and it doesn't hurt that he has the best hair on television. Admittedly, I'm probably biased because I went to the same college as Jon Stewart (real name: Jon Liebowitz), were he was basically a frat-boy (Pi Kappa Alpha) soccer player, and not a very good one at that. I never got along with frat-boys or soccer players. True, Kilborn was a frat-boy basketball player, but at least he admits it, and at least he didn't go to William & Mary. John "not necessarily my real name" Hedges ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 11:38:25 -0700 From: Joel Mullins Subject: Re: top albums poll she.rex wrote: > > I like the idea of lists, esp. as Gnat and others have mentioned, > *annotated* ones. This is much more likely to interest me in a > band or album enough to check it out. Okay, it seems that most people want annotated lists. So, maybe on the final list, there should be a couple of detailed reviews on each album. Is that cool? Michael? Aaron? Joel ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 09:55:41 PDT From: "Ghost Surfer" Subject: Rumours Well, following my rumour, some months back, that NMH were no more (as such), which was poo-pooed at the time, i have a couple more for you...... RH is to be part of Peter Blegvad's band when he plays in London sometime in June (14'th) at the Improv (or whatever it's called now). The Terrastock festival is due in London in the first weekend of Sept and might take place somewhere in NW London, or maybe central. Of course, they might be rumours.... - ----------------************************************************------------ "There are times when i can't think about the future, when all my days seem so dark and life seems cruel" - Mojave 3 & "Make a moment last forever, gaze across the ocean to the sun" - Unknown !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 10:59:39 +0100 From: "Angel Jones" Subject: Lists Galore I believe anyone vehemently reluctant to compose a list of their favorite whatever is in a state of denial. Composing a list takes soul-searching, getting in touch with that magic bean that makes you *you.* I love lists! Bring 'em on! I like a list for any occasion. For what I'm going to do in the next ten minutes, to ranking my all-time favorite albums, magazines, dish pans, flowers, sponges, moisturizers, tampons, used kleenex tissues...yes, I have *way* too much free time. - -fegmaniacally yours, 1.Angel 2.Sophia 3.LaCanfora 4.Jones ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 11:47:14 -0700 From: Mark_Gloster@3com.com Subject: Re: Kilby, Lists Kilborn used to be our sports guy on the central coast (Monterey, Salinas, Santa Cruz.) It seemed like it killed him to avoid saying the clever things that came up in his head. When they slipped out, it was a riot. I think he's tremendously gifted and talented. It's pretty hard to be funny every day without leaning on some kind of schtick, tho. Yea, he's also better looking than some of us. His schtick involves some amount of smarmyness and avuncularity (though I would protest that he is merely doing this to make major fun of other talk show hosts.) Yes, you can hate him for those things, but he does say some funny stuff. I might regret that I do not have cable, so there are only about four-and-a-half channels of shit on my teevee, instead of hundreds from which to choose, and my 4.5 don't have CK. - -- Top 40 lists: I think I'd like it, too, if the lists were made to allow a comments box for each of the entries that could be perused by those of us whose interest becomes piqued, peeked, peaked, poked, creaked, creeped, or croaked by the choices of other fegs. I have a great deal more interest in what fegs think is great (and maybe why) than the sad zillions who remain feglistless. I'll even participate, if only to provide y'all with ammunition for future sharkboy taste ridicule. Wishing you warmest of fuzzies, - -Markg ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 15:26:47 EDT From: MARKEEFE@aol.com Subject: Re: by the way... In a message dated 99-04-21 22:12:44 EDT, you write: << ...I hope you all are rushing out to buy Mule Variations tonight. ;) >> I have to say, I don't think it lives up to Eb's hype. It's good, sure, but I wouldn't rank it anywhere near "Bone Machine" or "Rain Dogs." It's got a nice, consistent dark blues mood, but there seems to me to be this slight detachment from the songs, almost like Tom's interpreting someone else's material and he's really concerned about whether or not it'll come off as sounding cool enough. I just don't really believe that he hopes his pony will find it's way home or that he has a creepy neighbor who's building something weird (although the *mood* of that song *is* pretty spooky). And, sure, it's not like any of his songs are objectively all that believable, but it's often easy to suspend disbelief. I find it harder to do so on "mule Variations." I guess I'd give the music a pretty high rating, but would actually say that the lyrics and/or Waits' dedication to the lyrics isn't quite there . . . I'd say the album is slightly better than Spin thought (6/10), but I can't stand behind Eb's rating (was it 18/20?). I'd give it a 7. Then again, I'm not a hardcore Waits' fan. I like him quite a bit, but the only albums I own are the two I listed above. If I had nothing but room for CDs in my house, I'd probably also own "Swordfish" and "Heart of Sat. Night," too . . . just for the record . . . just so's ya know where I'm comin' from. - ------Michael K. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 15:34:59 EDT From: MARKEEFE@aol.com Subject: Re: Rumours of NMH's demise... In a message dated 99-04-22 03:45:20 EDT, you write: << ...may be exaggerated. Sounds like most of the band members are out touring, so Jeff's on his lonesome for a while. Remember, there was three (four?) years between Avery Island and Aeroplane, and big personnel changes. >> Well, two, actually -- 1996 to 1998. But, yeah, NMH seems to me to be one of those "bands" that's more like a project and the band is whoever's on board at that particular time . . . like the The or something. But maybe it just seems that way. Maybe Jeff feels like NMH wouldn't be NMH with different people in it. But I think there'll be more awesome Mangum music in the future. I ain't worried. - ------Michael K. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 15:45:31 -0400 (EDT) From: Terrence M Marks Subject: Re: Kilby, Lists On Thu, 22 Apr 1999 Mark_Gloster@3com.com wrote: > Yea, he's also better looking than some of us. His schtick involves some amount > of smarmyness and avuncularity (though I would protest that he is merely doing > this to make major fun of other talk show hosts.) Yes, you can hate him for The Onion had a really cool article "Craig Kilborn, John Henson meet in first annual Smug Bastard Conference", which they failed to archive. It was, scarily enough, spot on. Terrence Marks Unlike Minerva (a comic strip) http://grove.ufl.edu/~normal normal@grove.ufl.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 12:48:13 -0800 From: Eb Subject: Re: Rumours of NMH's demise... I looked at the NMH website recently...zero mention of the band breaking up. However, it did say there probably wouldn't be any NMH live shows during 1999. Eb np: Add N to (X)/Avant Hard (this group still gets an ehhh -- all dicking around, no compositional discipline -- but I do give it points for being engineered by *Ebby* Acquah) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 15:46:09 EDT From: MARKEEFE@aol.com Subject: Re: top albums poll In a message dated 99-04-22 12:51:46 EDT, you write: << Okay, it seems that most people want annotated lists. So, maybe on the final list, there should be a couple of detailed reviews on each album. Is that cool? Michael? Aaron? >> Well, sounds cool to me. We'll have to figure out some good way to do that. Maybe whoever voted for an album could submit a 30 word review of the album and then all of thse could be linked form the list (possible? yes?). - ------Michael K. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 13:29:07 -0700 From: "Jason R. Thornton" Subject: Re: Rumours of NMH's demise... At 08:37 AM 4/22/99 +0100, Stewart Russell 3295 Analyst_Programmer wrote: >...may be exaggerated. Sounds like most of the band members are out >touring, so Jeff's on his lonesome for a while. Speaking of whom... I caught The Music Tapes opening for The Olivia Tremor Control last night. As far as The Music Tapes went, the first few numbers were really rather dull: a lot of dreadfully monotonous rhythm banjo, and one impressive musical saw moment, from Julian Koster. The only thing that made the first three or four songs even somewhat worthwhile were the very occasional colorizations from horns and various odd instruments. But, these were few and far between. The final two songs of the set were a REAL turnaround, though, and infinitely more interesting. Joined on-stage by a few more people, including a second member of The OTC proper, the bass player John Fernandes, (both bands shared some horn guys) a whole collective group energy really kicked in. Beautiful, somewhat catchy, and extremely quirky music-noise textures erupted from a lot of people having a great deal of fun making it. The big goofy props however, while cute, didn't work too well - literally. The giant metronome didn't seem to keep time, and Eric Harris, the drummer from The OTC, broke the giant clapping hands device. I'm not sure what The Music Tapes sound like on record. If it's a lot of solo banjo stuff like the performance last night, I'll probably skip the album when it comes out. Nothing against the banjo as an instrument of course - Koster is just about as interesting on it as Jewel is on guitar. On the other hand, if "they" sound anything like the closing numbers, it might be worth checking out. I'm definitely sure it would appeal to fans of Neutral Milk Hotel...like myself. I dunno - it just seems like Koster would be unable carry it on his own... I think he works well enough as an member within a "band," I mean I adore the spooky sounds he makes with a saw and a bow, but I really feel he falls far short of achieving much as a solo artist or frontman. Who knows... maybe he makes up for it lyrically? Like Ben Lee, I couldn't make out enough of his lyrics to say one way or another. He did perform some saw and banjo on some songs with The Olivia Tremor Control, and added some cool elements to the pieces. Overall, I rather enjoyed the OTC performance, although there was one audience participation moment the bordered on the stupid. But, it was kind of refreshing to see an "art music" group do something really patently "uncool." For some reason, I expected them to be sort of pretentious - but, instead, I got the impression of six to eight guys just having a terrific time making wonderfully bizarre music before a tiny crowd. There were a few technical problems (with crappy gear like that, how could you expect otherwise?), which, unfortunately, the guy playing telecaster allowed to throw him off. In fact, The OTC ended up skipping a few songs, including "...'Train Director'", because he couldn't hear himself in the monitor. While quite an understandable glitch, I don't think his discussions with his fellow bandmembers about how he couldn't "do it," went over very well with the audience...even though his complaints were legitimate. I actually didn't mind missing a few songs, as it was getting late, and I had an hour and half drive to look forward to , but it's probably a good idea to remember that when you're on "stage," people within earshot are going to be listening to every word you say, and some of them are going to be quite critical. Minor difficulties aside, The OTC put on an admirable show. I'm really very fond of the way they mix experimental noise and banging into a pop song format. They're one of those bands that can superbly balance chaos and structure, showing you can play some "far out stuff," and still retain a pop sensibility. I'm not sure - perhaps too many ivory tower elitist "experimental music" gigs where the performers have no sense of musicality, and merely rely on their own smug cleverness and snobbish noisescapes, have really jaded me. I'm often turned off by this sort of thing nowadays. I'm not saying there isn't a place for this sort of experimenting, just that there's often a reliance on "innovativeness" and academic in-jokes, over depth and composition; a one-sideness to it, if you will. The OTC, on the other hand, have found a fresh way of blending this sort of thing in with other forms. When it comes right down to it, The OTC write some enticing little tunes, and have as much a sense of melody as they do a sense of "artiness." They're able to experiment without overusing the experimental, employing a variety of techniques and approaches into a scrumptious mixture which includes a pleasant dose of subtly and compositional diversity. And, those wonderful '60's pop-rock vocal harmonies throughout the evening... :) Mmmmmmmmmm. Tasty stuff. At one point, the other guitarist (the one playing the Strat with the nature scene pickguard) and the keyboardist were standing right above me, respectively playing a drum and a clarinet pretty much in my face... this was during the "let's go dance around the audience members" segment of the evening's festivities. The band played with film images projected onto and behind them pretty much the entire time. Lots of the film clips reminded me of the cover of REM's "Document," so I'm assuming it's the work of the same guy. Wasn't he an Athens artist? Interestingly enough, the between song silences were sprinkled with ambient noise played through a boom box back at the paraphernalia table. Tickets were $3 a pop. I ended up purchasing the Black Swan EP ($8), and an OTC tee ($12) which I plan on wearing to the Smashing Pumpkins show tomorrow evening. I'm not sure why... Cheers! - --Jason PS: Thanks again, Eb. ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V8 #148 *******************************