From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V8 #270 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Monday, July 26 1999 Volume 08 : Number 270 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: fegmaniax-digest V8 #268 [digja611@student.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan)] Re: Weenie Wanna Be [Joel Mullins ] Re: fegmaniax-digest V8 #268 [Bayard ] Jools force Ophelia [Chris Franz ] you say tinnitis, I say tinnitus ["jbranscombe@compuserve.com" ] Re: Il verdetto (the verdict) de gioielli per il sophia [michelle wiener ] Official QAPAlert Warning to Susan [The Great Quail ] 11/13/96 and JfS [Christopher Gross ] E6 wankery [DDerosa5@aol.com] Re: JfS Post Mortem Redux [Terrence M Marks ] Re: Il verdetto (the verdict) de gioielli per il sophia [Aaron Mandel ] Re: Uncle Robby Drinking Problem??? [ultraconformist@mail.weboffices.com] Jews for Jesus [mrrunion@palmnet.net] MABD: Portland's Roseland Theater, July 25th ["John B. Jones" > did you know that "tinnitis" is not in the dictionary? > >tinnitUs. -itis means a disease. (mr. pre-war lemonade!) >by the way eddie, i am sending you something via post. tinnitis. -itis = an inflammation. tinn- = relating to the eardrum. Tinnitis is a buzzing in the ear caused by damage to the auditory system. But apparently tinnitus is an acceptable alternative. Weird language innit? James (anas=ducklike; -tomy=surgical removal. Anatomy = removal of a duck) PS - I followed a 4WD vehicle with the personalised reg. no. FEG8 today... Unfortunately I never got the chance to find out whether the driver was 'one of us' 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: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 23:08:55 -0700 From: Joel Mullins Subject: Re: Weenie Wanna Be steve wrote: > So can we divide JfS approval into "fun" and "no fun" camps? I guess it > depends on what we're looking for. My bias is always toward the full > band with nifty arrangements Robyn, rather than the deep guy and his > guitar Robyn. Not that I dislike the latter. Well, personally, I like both. I love Respect and EoL and Underwater Moonlight. I also love Eye and IODOT and ME. Those are probably my 6 favorites. I'm just starting to think that JfS is not as good as Respect and the other fullbandniftyarrangement Robyn albums. But I may change mind. > On an even less important note, has anyone else discovered what looks to > be a security strip under the CD holder part of the JfS case? Yeah. It bugged me so I ripped it out. Joel ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 00:20:18 -0400 (EDT) From: Bayard Subject: Re: fegmaniax-digest V8 #268 > > > >tinnitUs. -itis means a disease. (mr. pre-war lemonade!) > > tinnitis. -itis = an inflammation. tinn- = relating to the eardrum. > Tinnitis is a buzzing in the ear caused by damage to the auditory system. > > But apparently tinnitus is an acceptable alternative. Weird language innit? as i understand it tinnitus refers to the actual ringing sensation, noth the condition that causes it. perhaps tinnitis is the condition. "tinnitus" is not in my dictionary though, but i should be near my unabridged one soon. > > James (anas=ducklike; -tomy=surgical removal. Anatomy = removal of a duck) heh heh.. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 23:12:20 -0700 From: Chris Franz Subject: Jools force Ophelia Ed: > The Cheese Alarm > The music for this tune I like. The tablas in the intro, and the slippy > little acoustic guitar are great. I've just replayed the first minnit and > a half or so of the song over and over cos I like it so much. The lyric > bugs the hell out of me. He can record whatever he likes, and likewise, > whenever I like I can skip ahead to the next tune... I had dismissed this as a novelty tune as well, until someone (I think Nick) gave it a different spin. Namely, that billions of people don't have enough to eat; how absurd is it that we are surrounded by a limitless variety of gourmet cheeses? Every time another cheese is mentioned in the song it drives home further that disparity. He sings it in an awfully impassioned way if it's just an ode to cheese. I just wonder if this is another case (think "Yip Song") of Robyn using metaphors obtuse enough that a serious song gets dismissed as a novelty tune. > Sally Was A Legend > This sounds almost like Alright, Yeah, but I like this tune a lot. I also > think the lyric is brilliant. But it reads like crap off the liner notes. > It needs to be in the context of the song. Nice to not just hear Kimberly > Rew's guitar, but also his voice with Robyn's again. I always liked their > harmonies. I still like this tune, but it's almost too comfortable for me to like TOO much. If that makes any sense. Maybe in that way it IS like Alright, Yeah. (Incidentally, "alright" is one of those non-words people use that really bugs me. It may appear in dictionaries sometimes because it's so common, but it's TWO WORDS, dammit!) Actually, am I the only person reminded by this song of Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark?" > I Dream Of Antwoman > Hoookee Pappa! It's Tomorrow Never Knows! (One of my faves.) I liked > this one when I heard it off of the live tapes that I got a few years back > (Tony are you out there?) and I was curious how he was gonna do this one if > he ever recorded it. I love the play in this song, with the irony of > "being just contaminates the void", but also the sort of Tim Burton images > I get from the idea of an Antwoman, something cartoony and nasty at the > same time. And I really dig the blast of guitar at the very end over the > sort of "call to the mosque" horns. Maybe it's just because I've heard so many rousing live renditions of this one, but this is one place where I feel the percussion doesn't do justice to the song. It's way too understated. Maybe with a few more listens I'll appreciate it more, I don't know. > Elizabeth Jade > Why do I think these guys are all jumping > around in someone's garage? Aw, man, I'd LOVE to see that. Remember that Robyn supposedly wrote a song for that "That Thing You Do" movie? I was thinking the other day about what would happen if he tried to write something for, say, the band in the movie "Airheads." Bayard: >> The answering machine message is hilarious. >Indeed! And that just might be the squeaky fish he was given on stage in >NY in June 98, which he used to good effect at the Ram's Head, making a >guest vocal appearance. Given that much of the recording was done in LA, I'd wager this was the squeaky alligator he brought onstage at Largo one time last year. Just to make the point again: I LOVE this album! I'm still listening to it a LOT. There's really no song that I skip all the time (though there are times when I skip all the slower songs, and other times when I skip most of the peppier ones...) I'm not sure where I'd rank it all-time, but it's definitely my favorite Robyn album of the 90's. later, - - Chris ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 06:50:46 -0400 From: "jbranscombe@compuserve.com" Subject: you say tinnitis, I say tinnitus In all three of my dictionaries (yup, I'm a word weenie) it is tinnitus from the Latin, tinnire - to ring. I'm glad that Chris Franz has pointed out the political dimension to Cheese Alarm. I was going to say the same thing myself, honest. Actually it did strike as a fairly obvious reading when I first heard it. Perhaps people just switch off, or file-under-novelty-song when he catalogues the cheeses for the bulk of the song, and then as a result may miss the more serious pay-off at the close. jmbc. On A Transatlantic Promise. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 10:05:13 -0400 (EDT) From: Vivien Lyon Subject: Nelson Cigarettes- For the Rugged Individualist Trapped in Space - --- "jbranscombe@compuserve.com" > P.S. I don't think anyone has mentioned this during > the to-ings and > fro-ings but Robyn snaffles the odd ciggie now and > then. I've seen him smoke quite a bit and I'm beginning to think he should lay off. His voice ain't getting any younger. Vivien _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 10:51:28 -0400 From: The Great Quail Subject: This time, the art. More quails for Sophia! Ed Darkstar says: >Art Direction >Without question, this is most hideous album I've ever seen. Terrible >photos (what's with the Hammer photo on the inside of the CD, as soon as >you open it up?), and an obnoxious colour scheme (icky nasty black light >poster colours). Nasty. This sucker's even uglier than Mick Jagger's >"Primative Cool". I wish he'd paint another album cover. Hmmm . . . again, I feel like one of the lone gunmen, but I *love* the art in JfS. There's something raw and edgy about it, like the sort of stark hallucinations you get at three in the morning after a zillion hits of acid during a week-long music festival in some strange field in some strange city when you are all alone in your tent and trying to sleep, but your twitchy mind keeps randomly projecting distorted images onto the tent roof that seem hell-bent of keeping you awake, if not amused . . . or that half-sleep/half-awake insomnia that traps you in a restless dreamy loop, a parade of innocent-yet-somehow sinister objects pregnant with an inscrutable significance that vanishes the second you try to apprehend the real meaning. . . . That star, it really sticks in my head, honestly, I think about it at weird times, I'll be like, eating at a restaurtant and suddenly that gaudy yellow and purple star will appear in my mind's eye like an Elder Sign designed by Ralph Bakshi or Peter Max; or I'll be watching "The Nanny" and suddenly Fran Drescher will say, "Allen, go look at the Jewels for Sophia artwork again." If that's Michelle's artwork, I'd love to see more. And the pictures of Robyn are way cool. He looks, well, *dangerous* but sexy, like he does in the photos for "Invisible Hitchcock." All my favorite pictures of Robyn make him look sort of attractively spooky. Those two pictures of him in JfS, the purple and yellow ones -- wow! He looks like some furtive Englishman who was wandering alone in a Nicolas Roeg movie and suddenly realized that he was actually an alien, or a changeling, or maybe Mark Gloster. - --Quails for Sophia PS: I just re-read the above two paragraphs and realized that I made no sense but used a lot of turgid prose and runion sentences to do so. Sorry, the coffee has yet to kick in, and I am still feeling fuzzy from all the beer, smack, eight-balls and plutonium niborg that Tom Clark made me take during his jaunt into the City after MacWorld 99. And Tom, thanks for all the free 10-Gig hard drives! I am sure we'll find them very useful. +---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+ The Great Quail, K.S.C. (riverrun Discordian Society, Kibroth-hattaavah Branch) For fun with postmodern literature, New York vampires, and Fegmania, visit Sarnath: http://www.rpg.net/quail "The people asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven." --Psalms 105:40 (Also see Exodus 16:13 and Numbers 11:31-34 for more starry wisdom) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 10:53:58 -0400 From: The Great Quail Subject: Re: JfS Post Mortem Redux Michale Wolfe writes: >My takes on a couple of songs from JfS: Jesus. On behalf of the whole Board and Department of Comparative Lyrics, I hereby pass your defense of your doctoral dissertation and bestow upon you a Doctorate of Robynology. Now do the same for "Desolation Row." - --Quail ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Great Quail, Keeper of the Libyrinth: http://www.libyrinth.com The places I took him! I tried hard to tell Young Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell A few brand-new wonderful words he might spell. I led him around and I tried hard to show There are things beyond Z that most people don't know. I took him past Zebra. As far as I could. And I think, perhaps, maybe I did him some good... Because finally he said: "This is really great stuff! And I guess the old alphabet ISN'T enough!" --Dr. Seuss, "On Beyond Zebra" ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 11:24:17 -0500 (EST) From: michelle wiener Subject: Re: Il verdetto (the verdict) de gioielli per il sophia On Sun, 25 Jul 1999, Bayard wrote: > To cap it all off, what the hell does "Before him the rain" > mean? before people had heard of kurt cobain, they flocked to seattle because of the rain. that's my take, anyway. actually, does he mean that people flock to seattle to pay homage to cobain, or is this a past reference to people going to see cobain perform? and chris f asked if "sally" reminded anyone else of "dancing in the dark." YES!!!! it's that "i can point to norway/i can point to norway with my fist" part that did it for me. it was driving me crazy to figure out what it reminded me of, and all i could think of was "flesh cartoon," and i knew that wasn't it. i'm not sure if this makes me like the song less, though. just the "norway" part bugs me a little. cheers, michelle ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 11:28:14 -0400 From: The Great Quail Subject: Official QAPAlert Warning to Susan >Love on ya, >Susan > > >'Momus? That guy is sinister!' Marilyn Manson, as reported by Haig Bedrossian OK, Susan. According to QAPAlert (Quail Analysis of American Culture) you have exceeded the allowable Momus allusions for this List. Your QAP Momus Influence Density (QAP M ID) has reached 10.99, which teeters you well into the "destructive influence" range and places you far beyond your previous abuses of the QAP KINKS ID and the QAP SM/BD ID. I am sorry to inform you that unless you can drive your QAP M ID back down to acceptable levels (Have you really *tried* discussing an alternative, healthier music, say, Charlotte Church or Getting Gay with Kids?) the QAP will institute an advertising boycott on all Susan Dodge products and postings. QAP agents will break into your home and replace all your Momus CDs with bootleg Stryper concerts and plaster your walls with Amy Grant posters. Not to mention placing a copy of "Jewels for Sophia" in every CD slot in your carousel and then welding the changer shut. I'm sorry, Ms Dodge, but someone has to think of the children. - --Dr. Lophortyx Californicus of the Quail Care Action Committee ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 11:44:00 -0400 (EDT) From: Christopher Gross Subject: 11/13/96 and JfS On Sat, 24 Jul 1999, Andrew D. Simchik wrote: > I can't help you "acquire" any, but fall '96 was actually when I saw my very > *first* Robyn Hitchcock show, and I fell in love all over again. It was the > 9:30 Club in Washington, DC. That was my first Robyn show, too! And while I had a few of his CDs already, this show really confirmed and deepened my fandom. Seeing him live and up close was an amazingly intense experience. However, his tourmate Billy Bragg annoyed me a little. Socialist sermons, fine, whatever. But to come as a guest to a foreign country, then get up onstage and mock that country's national sports, and even ridicule the name of the local soccer team, seemed rather rude to me.... Speaking of Jewels for Sophia, I quite like it. (Not sure how this fits in with the divide some people noticed, where fans of the more rocking albums like JfS while fans of the solo/acoustic albums don't. My favorite Robyn album is IODOT, but Respect and EOL are close seconds and ME is back in the middle of the pack.) Here's my take on some of the issues that have been raised: Mexican God is a great start. I like Cheese Alarm, but I actually liked it more live and acoustic in NYC last November; somehow the guitar and vocals seem to me to distract from each other simultaneously, in some way I can't quite explain. BTW, I agree that it has a political message, summed up in the line "Half the world starves and half the world bloats;" but unlike a lot of Fegs, I would like this song even if it was just about cheese. I like cheese. And I have no problem with "novelty" songs (except in excessive numbers). Not every song has to be about a big, or even medium, theme.... The "Everybody" in Antwoman is hilarious: "C'mon, folks, let's sing this depressing sentiment together!" At first I preferred the Storefront version of Guildford, but now I think I like them equally. Hoot Hoot doesn't do much for me, but I'm not sick of Gene Hackman (the song) yet. I love the artwork, especially the front cover; it's definitely a departure from his previous albums, innit? Though a story would have been nice. There doesn't seem to be a security strip on my copy. On the whole, I'd give it *at least* eight out of ten tentacles. This unsubstantiated personal opinion brought to you by, Chris ______________________________________________________________________ Christopher Gross On the Internet, nobody knows I'm a dog. chrisg@gwu.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 13:35:20 EDT From: DDerosa5@aol.com Subject: E6 wankery So, as I went online at LoungeAx.com to get Apples in Steroe tickets, I noticed that the Music Tapes are playing August 7. I remember some talk onlist of them, should I go? can I afford to? can I afford not to? dave still no sign of the instore tape I was supposed to get from Indiana. dammit. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 14:26:45 -0400 (EDT) From: Terrence M Marks Subject: Re: JfS Post Mortem Redux On Mon, 26 Jul 1999, The Great Quail wrote: > Now do the same for "Desolation Row." If you look behind all the symbolism, it's just a wacky song about cheese. Terrence Marks Unlike Minerva (a comic strip) http://grove.ufl.edu/~normal normal@grove.ufl.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 15:02:04 -0400 (EDT) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: Re: Il verdetto (the verdict) de gioielli per il sophia On Mon, 26 Jul 1999, michelle wiener wrote: > and chris f asked if "sally" reminded anyone else of "dancing in the > dark." YES!!!! it's that "i can point to norway/i can point to norway > with my fist" part that did it for me. waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa yes! i was also going crazy trying to pin this down. didn't help that i kept thinking it was a song off Eye. thank you. it's funny; looking back at Moss Elixir, i'd forgotten how many of those songs i loved. i just didn't like listening to the album much. JfS is the opposite. a ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 14:09:41 -0600 From: ultraconformist@mail.weboffices.com Subject: Re: Official QAPAlert Warning to Susan >I am sorry to inform you that unless you can drive your QAP M ID back down >to acceptable levels (Have you really *tried* discussing an alternative, >healthier music, say, Charlotte Church or Getting Gay with Kids?) I've tried discussing "Jewels for Sophia", quite a big lot in fact One question: is there a QAP for Sword and Sorcery content? Or random Gong content? I think someone needs to get in touch with Fane. >posters. Not to mention placing a copy of "Jewels for Sophia" in every CD >slot in your carousel and then welding the changer shut. That changer doesn't actually belong to me, so that would be a very rude thing to do. Plus, give a little consideration to the fact that the person whom it actually belongs to makes me listen to Melissa Etheridge on it, which makes me perhaps a little wacky. Please think twice. And I think it's a very funny sig file, even if Marilyn Manson -probably- meant to say Boyd Rice and didn't because Boyd Rice actually -is- scary and probably would come after him and put Beubonic plague in his personal water supply and call it performance art. Love on ya, Susan 'Momus? That guy is sinister!' Marilyn Manson, as reported by Haig Bedrossian ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 14:24:53 -0600 From: ultraconformist@mail.weboffices.com Subject: Re: Jools force Ophelia Chris Franz: >I just wonder if this is another case (think "Yip Song") of Robyn using >metaphors obtuse enough that a serious song gets dismissed as a novelty >tune. Nah, I picked up on that. "Half the world starving and half the world bloats" is not obtuse at all, that's pretty clear. I just think it's not that great a song and I still don't think it fits that well. Opinions, opinions. Incidentally, the artwork doesn't bother me at all. I kinda like the psychedelic blacklight inside picture. And Bayard- it's hard for me to speak for Gnat, obviously, but if I understood her correctly, neither one of us thinks this is a terrible horrible no good very bad record, we just don't think it's -amazing-. It's kind of unlikely that it's going to ever become that for me, tho I think that with multiple listens I will grow fonder of some of it. Love on ya, Susan 'Momus? That guy is sinister!' Marilyn Manson, as reported by Haig Bedrossian ------------------------------ Date: 26 Jul 1999 12:45:54 -0700 From: "John B. Jones" Subject: yet another JfS review from The Rocket, a music rag covering the Portland and Seattle scenes: Robyn Hitchcock Jewels For Sophia He's getting quite prolific, isn't he? The amazing thing is, the more he puts out, the better he gets. Robyn Hitchcock has carved himself a niche, and he's filling it to capacity with truly original songs, from pop to introspection. Jewels For Sophia is a major one for a number of reasons: Some of his best songs in years, a reunion with former partner Kimberley Rew, and the fact that part of it was recorded in Seattle, with various Young Fresh Fellows and Peter Buck (who's worked with Hitchcock before), giving us the best song ever about Seattle: "Viva! Sea-Tac" (Viva Sea-Tac/ They've got the best computers, coffee, and smack"). While people seem to eat each other a lot on this record (and no, I'm going nowhere near that one), overall it's a celebration of love and some of life's more positive- and bizarre- things (like the live ode to Gene Hackman on the album's hidden track). Hitchcok has developed a unique lyrical way of looking at the world, twisting the mundane into a new, intoxicating shape. There's still a touch of Dylan (he did a concert recreating Dylan's Albert Hall appearance), particularly on "No, I Don't Remember Guilford" from Storefront Hitchcock (1998), and there are many things of sheer lustrous beauty. Oh, and there's lots of rock 'n' roll. The jewels may be for Sophia, but they're all from the mind and pen of someone who deserves by now to be called one of the greats. And no, I didn't use the word eccentric once, did I? -Chris Nickson ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 14:48:07 -0600 From: ultraconformist@mail.weboffices.com Subject: Re: Uncle Robby Drinking Problem??? >but today a friend at breakfast told me that apparently robyn has been >having drinking problems lately...appearing on stage drunk and >incomprehensible. what? i've seen him many times and have never found >this to be the case - aside from his general rambling. any insights? My thoughts on this are that your friend has probably been seeing typical Robyn shows and just isn't used to the rambling :). If that's not the case, it could also be that, well, frankly, he DID look very tired both times I saw him here in Chicago, and did stumble over some lyrics at the in-store. But that appeared to be really a matter of being tired and playing songs he hadn't really rehearsed. He certainly was not "drunk and incomprehensible". You see, I've -seen- drunk and incomprehensible. It was Jack Logan, about a year ago. I'll never forget him wandering off the stage to head to the bathroom after having consumed what appeared to be a sixpack just in the hour or so he'd been on stage. Whew! It's probably my all time worst show memory. It ranks as -the saddest- thing I have ever seen from the audience floor. I've never seen Robyn looking like that in the three years I've been going to Robynshows, certainly not at these. Love on ya, Susan 'Momus? That guy is sinister!' Marilyn Manson, as reported by Haig Bedrossian ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 15:08 +0000 From: mrrunion@palmnet.net Subject: Jews for Jesus Hey all, Thought I'd peek my head in for a bit and post my JfS thought. Got the album yesterday finally and gave it a good twice over on the CD player whilst lounging supine on the sofa. My initial quivery thoughts aside (the same quiveriness, by the way, I've felt at first listen to almost all Robyn albums), I think I'm going to be pleased as time wears on and listens start piling up. It's definitely growing on me. I played the disc a few times today, most notably as I drove off center to meet my wife for lunch, and I crossed over the Indian River bridge and the sun was out and the water was all sparkly and there were little boats going by and Antwoman was playing. I felt a giddy thrill driving through the KSC gates a bit later, flashing my badge to security while NASA Clapping blared through my truck. (I've even got a picture of Buzz on my desk!) I agree with whoever said that the second half of the album really did it for them. For me, it's the last 2/3 probably. Mexican God is a great opener, but Cheese Alarm and Viva! Sea-Tac leave me a bit limp. But pretty much the run from I Feel Beautiful to Jewels For Sophia is just a really nice slab of music. I really like that Robyn's voice is so up front on the record. In general, I'm quite pleased with the production, aside from a few minor yet very annoying parts, most notably the heavy reverb/echo drown-out applied to the "ba-da-dap" of Guildford, along with some of the overdubs. Mostly I think it's a case of knowing the solo versions far too well. There's a reason live albums get released AFTER studio releases. I'm having to relearn the songs and force myself to forget what I already knew. I think the ME vs. JfS division-lines make some weird sense to me, and unfortunatly, I'm probably lean heavily to the ME side. That's not to say I wish Robyn had put out another pastoral folky album...not at all. ME and Storefront are both of a period, and I'm thrilled with the rock-out on JfS. It's just when all is said and done, the ME style appeals to me more. On a positive note, one listen to JfS enticed me to pick up the guitar and write a song. ME didn't do that for me, so... I agree that it's a really fun record, something I haven't heard from Robyn since probably Globe Of Frogs. So, where do I stand? Who knows. Ask me tomorrow but not today... Mike (gearing up for Solas, Quails, and lots of New York wine this weekend) ------------------------------ Date: 26 Jul 1999 13:17:48 -0700 From: "John B. Jones" Subject: MABD: Portland's Roseland Theater, July 25th I'm posting a review of last night's show. There are others out there with alot of good stories to tell, so stay tuned. First of all, security was lax, and I could just kill myself for not bringing my recorder. I brought a backpack in with me, and they never even bothered to search it, or frisk, or even look me over or anything. Hell, Eddie (Eb all over the world Eddie) had his D3 hanging from his neck like Flavor-Flav's big gold watch, and no one said a word! All of you with a recorder, and half a love for any of these bands, you really owe it to yourself to try and get in and use the headphone aspect of the concert to your advantage. The t-shirts have changed now. They didn't have the lime green shirts everyone mentioned previously. The shirts are now purple, with "Robyn Hitchcock" and "Jewels For Sophia" printed in pink lettering, and the big yellow star in the middle. Very nice design. I purchased an extra one in case any of you list people aren't able to make it to this tour and still want a shirt. Just email me. The headphone idea worked great. I think the idea is that normal PA sound you hear at gigs is so bass-heavy that it tends to drown out some of the higher frequency instruments and such. The mix in the headphones focused on the high end, so by adjusting the volume on the little walkman you are issued, you can mix the room mix with the headphone mix, and get something that in the end sounds pretty nice. IQU came out first, and I really liked them. They are a trio. This bjorky-looking girl played keyboards, and a bloke played the big standup bass (ala Soul Coughing). The third member was a DJ/lead guitar/drum machine operator/ theremin whiz and did all the rest. There was scratchin' and sampling, and breakbeats, and other cool noises and stuff. All instrumental. They are on K records, so go seek 'em out. Sonic Boom was next. One man and a row of six Speak and Spell machines. He has rewired the circuitry on them so they produce odd alien sounds, and for the next 30 minutes, proceeded to weave this big rumbling ambient Aphex Twin/Eno-like soundscape. After the first five minutes or so, I was bored of it. But the ability to take something as everyday as a Speak and Spell, and come out with something akin to Apollo is pretty laudable I think. Then out pops Robyn. Polka dot shirt. And played these songs, tho I might screw up the order: Gene Hackman I Something You enter Tim Keegan: De Chirico Street Jewels For Sophia Beautiful Queen exit Tim, then Robyn plays Freeze and leaves, and then Robyn and Tim come back and play Queen of Eyes. I believe I have it right. Do I? Eddie? Michaels? After Robyn, Michael and I walked around a bit, and ran into Eddie, and ended up skipping the Sebadoh set. Oh well. Finally, Flaming Lips. I was looking forward to seeing them after finally getting to hear Soft Bulletin and loving it. The show was a multimedia event, with video synched up to backing tracks, and Flaming Lips playing and singing along to it. I would've enjoyed less backing tracks, and more live music, but the video show was enjoyable. The best part of the video show for me was the drummer. The Flaming Lips have no drummer on tour, but they managed to film a few different drummers playing drums for the various songs before they went out on tour, so you see this cyber drummer on the big screen behind them, providing the beats for the songs, and kind of smiling down on the three Lips who are playing on the stage. Wayne (lead singer) did lots of theatrical stuff, like banging a huge gong every now and then, and throwing lots and lots of confetti into the crowd. And had some puppets sing the songs for him as well. I left about 45 min. into the Lips set, as my feet were killing me, and it was about 1am. I had a blast. Great show, great concepts, great musical acts, great t-shirts (and tomato pen!!) and great as always to meet up with the PFC (Portland Feg Contingent). =jbj= ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V8 #270 *******************************