From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V8 #305 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Friday, August 13 1999 Volume 08 : Number 305 Today's Subjects: ----------------- A tuna california roll to go, please [Natalie Jacobs ] Neutral Milk Hotel. Robyn Hitchcock ["Partridge, John" ] Help Needed [Terrence M Marks ] verb, verb, schmerb. [Thomas Rodebaugh ] Re: protest stuff ["Russ Reynolds" ] Re: protest tunes ["Russ Reynolds" ] Re: fegmaniax-digest V8 #302 [James Dignan ] Re: fegmaniax-digest V8 #304 [edoxtato@intentia.com] Re: protest ["Russ Reynolds" ] Re: fegmaniax-digest V8 #302 [Terrence M Marks ] Re: verb, verb, schmerb. ["Capitalism Blows" ] Re: Hep me, hep me brainstorm ["Capitalism Blows" ] Re: Neutral Milk Hotel. Robyn Hitchcock [mrrunion@palmnet.net] Re: My other Cars a GBV. [Michael R Godwin ] the other Hitch [hal brandt ] Re: Neutral Milk Hotel. No Robyn Hitchcock [Vivien Lyon Subject: A tuna california roll to go, please > It's Beer Thursday Night. Everyone join me! Goddamn it! I had sushi *tonight*! Does that mean I have to have beer tomorrow? Re. protest songs: Doesn't "Bells of Rhymney" fall into this category? (I can't remember the lyrics off hand.) GNAT "My disk drive is full of cat hair!" THE GNATSTER "I'm glad this type of music is being made." - my friend Marc, upon hearing NMH for the first time ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1999 21:07:32 -0400 From: "Andrew D. Simchik" Subject: Beatle-based pop versus New Romantic >From: Capuchin > >Skipping all that cruft about The Smiths, The Cure, and Siouxsie being >completely different... 'cause they're all in the same mode. What mode? The Cure and Siouxsie I can buy. I hope this isn't going to be one of those "they're all mopey" conversations. >On Thu, 12 Aug 1999, Andrew D. Simchik wrote: >> At the moment, I'm trying to figure out what's to like about Neutral >> Milk Hotel (and possibly I have mortally offended at least one Feg by >> even raising the question), so clearly there are many opinions we >> don't share. > >That kind of boggles my mind. Literally everyone who can enjoy guitar >based pop that I've introduced to NMH has loved them. All it takes is >playing the first two tracks of In The Aeroplane Over The Sea and staring >at them for a reaction. Yes, I keep hearing that they inspire immediate and utter devotion. I could hardly take thirty seconds each of the first two tracks of In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. Maybe it's just that I can't get past the singer's maddening voice, or maybe I just haven't listened to it enough. Or maybe you just have to stare at me to make it work. :) In any event, I can enjoy guitar-based pop, and I don't love NMH. My girlfriend can also enjoy guitar-based pop, and she can't stand them. >OK... according to the overheard CNN on the big TV at the pho place, >Kansas has decided that Creation theories may be taught and evolution is >no longer required. > >So in one sense, it's more liberal. But that doesn't mean it's not >backward and destructive. No argument there. >From: "JH3" >But if you like Ride/Lush/MBV, then presumably you would >at least agree that the mannered vocals are the worse of the >two sins, correct? In which case I would agree wholeheartedly, >though I clearly have a much higher tolerance for both. When you folks say "mannered vocals," what exactly are you referring to? Morrissey and Peter Murphy I can buy, but... >That's kind of what I thought myself. And I also thought that >"post-goth" and "shoegazing" were pretty much the same thing, >but I gave up on trying to keep track of sub-genre classifications >a long time ago. (I think it was last week, to be specific...) They're not the same thing, if what Eb's calling "post-goth" is really just "post-punk." But then he classifies Spiritualized as "shoegazers," so maybe I don't know what he means by that either. >(Btw, my copy of the "The Angel Pool" >shipped yesterday!) Good call! I really hope you like it. I've found it's excellent for, among other things, listening to on planes. It's really lofty, joyful music (at least that's how it makes me feel) and the perfect antidote to airsickness, after Dramamine. >From: Eb > >Andrew: >>Spiritualized are shoegazers? Their vocals are too >>comprehensible, their instrumentation too crisp, their >>style too eclectic to be called shoegazing, to my mind. > >Boy, we must be hearing two different bands, then. No, no, that's Charles Dikkens with two "K's", the well-known Dutch author. >And...uh...obviously >Spacemen 3 was a big influence on the shoegaze movement, if not a direct >participant in it. Uh...obviously. (I've never heard a Spacemen 3 record.) >>Classic shoegazer is really monotonous and homogeneous, >>and Spiritualized isn't, really. > >I disagree with that sentence in about three different ways. OK! >>I knew we'd disagree again eventually if I read you long >>enough. For one thing, it's intensely bizarre to see >>Bauhaus, Duran Duran, and the Smiths lumped together >>as like-minded bands, when in reality they were just >>contemporary. Their approaches couldn't have been much >>more disparate, if you really look. > >Ehhh. There's a thread. If it's one you feel like pursuing, you're welcome to email me. If not, no big loss. >>I spent most of my formative years in the 80s and so it's >>no wonder that I'm appreciative of rock stars who aim for >>that post-Bowie larger-than-life image. > >I was "formative" during the '80s too, and I'm NOT generally keen on >"larger-than-life images." So clearly, there's no direct cause and effect. Clearly not! >Your other comments didn't really warrant a response. Naturally...that's why I wrote them. Drew - -- Andrew D. Simchik, wyrd@rochester.rr.com http://home.rochester.rr.com/wyrd/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1999 18:32:57 -0800 From: Eb Subject: Re: Beatle-based pop versus New Romantic >>From: Eb >> >>Andrew: >>>Spiritualized are shoegazers? Their vocals are too >>>comprehensible, their instrumentation too crisp, their >>>style too eclectic to be called shoegazing, to my mind. >> >>Boy, we must be hearing two different bands, then. > >No, no, that's Charles Dikkens with two "K's", the well-known Dutch author. What did we decide was the penalty for superfluous Python quoting? Do I get to punch him in the arm now? ;) Eb np: Spiritualized Cover The Scott Joplin Songbook, Eclectica Series Vol. 1 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1999 19:00:49 -0700 From: "Partridge, John" Subject: Neutral Milk Hotel. Robyn Hitchcock So on the strength of multiple recommendations I overheard on this list, I bought the Aeroplane Over the Sea CD and I'm sorry I did. In the spirit of your mileage may vary, this is one listener's warning against wasting money and time on NMH. Balance it out with all the lavish praise and see where you are. I. can. not. stand. the lead singer's voice. On most songs I prayed he would just clear his throat but he likes shrilling instead. If he'd stuck to novelty songs like They Might Be Giants then it might have worked; I dunno, maybe not. So anyway his voice didn't really appeal to me. Usually I like acoustic guitar based songs with lots of different chords because I like the way chord transitions sound. These songs were OK on that score but not as good as I had hoped. Not to trivialize the point, but I really like My Favourite Buildings and I Used To Say I Love You. Ironically, since writing those Robyn has said he prefers fewer chords. So anyway I didn't get any chord transition payoff from NMH. The NMH lyrical content was trite. Listening to these songs was like sitting on a packed bus next to a teenager who's having an episode of adolescenct despondence. At first, you're like, "Hey it's Ok, you'll be alright"; then it's "Dude, c'mon. Get a grip"; and by the fourth song it's "will you shut the fuck up already?". Any song that starts with "Daddy please listen to my song" is either going to be a really harsh parody or excruciatingly awkward. Believe me, *nothing* about NMH is parodic. The recurring imagery was sophomoric and felt as if it was there for its own sake, not as an illuminating theme. So, lyrically, it was a bust. In summary, I listened to the *full* duration of *every* song. Some I listened to a couple of times just to check my arithmetic but the answer was always the same: this sucks. On to pleasanter topics: JFS which I like quite a lot. Most of my thoughts on the CD have already been expressed on the list (and much more eloquently than I could have expressed them) so I'll just submit my votes on some of the varying points of view: 1. Production. I like all the touches. I like the treatment of his vocals. I like the arrangements. I don't know production well enough to say if it was poorly done on his other albums; I like Respect plenty and at least partially (I think) because of the production. 2. Song choice/order. The album steadily ascends an emotional ramp for me that peaks on Dark Princess and then turns edgy and frantic on Jewels. I liked this effect, especially as it turns odd abruptly on the Mr. Tongs detour and is finally resolved with the easy Gene Hackman. So I guess I'm saying it worked for me. 3. Connection. Dark Princess, No I Don't Remember Guiltford (hehe), I Feel Beautiful, these all connect to me powerfully through some kind of out-band channel that I don't really understand but cherish. His ability to produce two or three songs every couple of years that do this to me have kept me coming back for more for the last fifteen years. It's as good as it gets for me. I won't be able to tell for another five years whether I like it as much as IODOT or BSDR but I like it a *ton* now and that suits me fine. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1999 22:29:54 -0500 From: David Dudich Subject: Feg-bands performing friday night in DC fHey ya'll fegs- > After 4 years under different names and with different line-ups, > I have decided that the time has come to "rip up the rails" > of Number Nine Line (after contributing "Only the Stones Remain" for the 'Glass Flesh 2'). > > Therefore, this friday night, at Tavern on the Hill, will be the LAST > PERFORMANCE of the Number Nine Line. > 233 2nd St NW Washington, DC 20001 (202) 639-0441 > > I have been burning out after 4 years without a real break from music, > so I feel now is the time to hang it up (at least for a while- remember, Uncle Bobby retired for a while too...). > > So,come on out to the show, and enjoy it while you can. > I plan to go out on a high note. > > Christopher Russell opens the show acoustically at @ 9:30 PM; > "Pathetic Doug's" Feckless Beast closes it Electrically. > > Thanks to all who have seen us over the years. > > "Hey Hey, Bye Bye". Yeah, I know it's the same night as "MABD" at 9:30- but Robyn oughta do his six songs earlier in the evening, so show up for us off Constitution Ave on the Mall, in the Shadow of the Dept. of Labor complex. Hell, Robyn, if your people are reading this, YOU are invited to come on out and check out some of your fans-your, for butter or hearse, "musical offspring." -luther > > Luther W. Dudich > Alliance to Save Energy > 1200 18th St., NW, Suite 900 > Washington, DC 20036 > 202/530-2243 > 202/331-9588 (fax) > ldudich@ase.org > www.ase.org > > "When I was dead I wore a strong perfume > When I was dead I never left the room > and I saw the apples hanging, like moments in the orchard > But falling into action, the moment soon is over- no returns" > - robyn hitchcock > > "The more you drive, the less intelligent you get." -- Repo Man > ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1999 20:09:12 -0700 From: Tom Clark Subject: Interesting British Eclipse Story http://www.theregister.co.uk/990811-000009.html yer not just dealin' with chimps here, - -tc ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1999 23:21:19 -0400 (EDT) From: Terrence M Marks Subject: Help Needed Due to circumstances beyond my control, I can't letter today and yesterday's comic strips. I don't have the software. Could one of you do it, please? (requirements: ability to resize and add lettering to .gif files, ability to use TrueType fonts and promptness. Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop are very good for this sort of thing, or at least they're what I usually use.) Terrence Marks Unlike Minerva (a comic strip) http://grove.ufl.edu/~normal normal@grove.ufl.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1999 23:38:01 -0400 (EDT) From: Thomas Rodebaugh Subject: verb, verb, schmerb. now that it has been pointed out that i should have said: "is it just me or is the [series of words that could be formed, possibly, into a sentence but is not actually a sentence in its present form because "produced by" is more reminiscent of a descriptive phrase, even though if you were writing it (and reading it) quickly you might miss it and think it was passive voice (and therefore a bad sentence but still a sentence); a series of words that is, in fact, a noun clause (one might opine) in which "produced by ric ocasek" modifies "album" which is also modified by "guided by voices"; a series of words that could be turned into a sentence with a "this" and an "is" but which the author strangely decided not to turn into a sentence that way, that is. . . ]" would anyone care to speak on the *content* of the said series of words? that being the juxtaposition of an 80's pop remnant (said ric) playing producer to a bunch of lo-fi indies? lacking commentary on that, might someone please correct my grammar? obrobyn: imho the "listening to the higsons" tonight at the cat's cradle with full backing band rocked. cheers, tom FREE music: http://www.mp3.com/tlr3 or FREE instrumentals: http://www.mp3.com/automaton ************************************************************************ *++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--------- data collection at 4/5s!* ************************************************************************ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1999 20:42:08 -0700 From: "Russ Reynolds" Subject: Re: protest stuff Gary S. sez: >What's Going On could be the greatest protest album of all time. At this point I'd like to chime in with what I believe to be my first full fledged "me too" in four years on this list. - -rUss ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1999 20:49:15 -0700 From: "Russ Reynolds" Subject: Re: protest tunes >"Bangladesh" George Harrison, et al Believe it or not, I heard this song between periods of a Sharks game once (was this supposed to inspire the team to victory????). I figure I was one of maybe three people in the arena who knew the tune. TC was likely one of the other two. - -rUss ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 16:01:34 +1200 From: James Dignan Subject: Re: fegmaniax-digest V8 #302 >"And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda"- Ewan McColl, also Pogues try Eric Bogle's original version, if possible! Other aussies worth mentioning include Midnight Oil's "Beds are Burning" and "Truganini". Anyone mention any Bob Marley yet? Um, the Bootles "Revolution"? Terry, what about "Circle sky"? Does that count? My god! Someone on the list has heard of David Baerwald! >Baaaaaa. Baaaaa, > >- --Quail FWIW, Australians tell sheep jokes about New Zealanders, and New Zealanders tell sheep jokes about Australians. If that joke had come from a NZer, you'd have heard it the same but those two nationalities would have been reversed! James (just back from the first public performance of "Tiny Frogs") 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: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 04:08:05 GMT From: edoxtato@intentia.com Subject: Re: fegmaniax-digest V8 #304 >OK... according to the overheard CNN on the big TV at the pho place, >Kansas has decided that Creation theories may be taught and evolution is >no longer required. I grew up in a small town in western Nebraska, population 5,400. Gawd-fearin' and all that. Nearly thirty churches for that many people, all thriving. Made for some interesting times with the "libbrals" that taught in the school system. The first day of Biology I class, our instructor got up in front of the class and gave the usual introductions about class and grading and tests and so forth. And then he said something like "This summer our school board insisted that we teach alternate theories of evolution. So, I'm going to do this right up front and get it out of the way." And then he read the first couple of verses of Genesis, about the earth being created and all of the fish and the fowl and man being created. After that, he shut the Bible and said, "OK, now you know how the church thinks its done. This is the main alternative theory to evolution, and I've told you about it. If you want to know more, ask me or go look in the library or ask a minister, but we're not waisting any more class time on it. It's ridiculous." I found out later he got a blizzard of shit from the School Board, reading the Bible aloud to students during school hours. Same idiots what mandated that alternative theories be presented, but in the end, wouldn't allow them to be presented during class time, or drawing directly on the source of the information. Anyway... I expect I'll find out the real story on this evolution stuff eventually. I always do. :) - -Doc, "...the night was evolving... biblically..." ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1999 21:07:36 -0700 From: "Russ Reynolds" Subject: Re: protest > Kinks: "All God's Children" How 'bout "Father Christmas" and "20th Century Man"! - -rUss ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 00:17:21 -0400 (EDT) From: Terrence M Marks Subject: Re: fegmaniax-digest V8 #302 On Fri, 13 Aug 1999, James Dignan wrote: > Terry, what about "Circle sky"? Does that count? Well, it would if it were protesting something. It doesn't seem to be about anything, as far as I can tell, and coherence is a necessary requirement for protest songs. Terrence Marks Unlike Minerva (a comic strip) http://grove.ufl.edu/~normal normal@grove.ufl.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1999 23:43:47 PDT From: "Capitalism Blows" Subject: Re: verb, verb, schmerb. pray, who were the "full backing band"? it's really pretty exciting the way robyn's mixing up his setlists, and using other musicians from the pool lately. exciting, that is, if they're all being taped! _______________________________________________________________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 00:06:24 PDT From: "Capitalism Blows" Subject: Re: Hep me, hep me brainstorm if there's a deeper meaning, i'm afraid i don't see it. perhaps you could spell it out? and i don't mean that to sound condescending or snide. it could very well be that i've never really understood what the song's supposed to be saying, hence the disdain in which i've held it. i'd agree with eb that the song may not have been intended as a protest song per se. but that's how it's perceived, and so, i've always held it against dylan. but that's probably not fair, i'll acknowledge. and i guess i'd have to admit that, in general, i don't care for a lot of poetry or metaphor in my protest songs. Praise boss for bits of overtime Praise boss when morning work bells chime Praise boss whose wars we love to fight Praise him: fat leach and parasite! and its like have always worked just fine for me. although someone mentioned ANIMALS. damn, that's a great album! but of course, its metaphors are pretty transparent. my favorite anti-war song: Us And Them. "Forward he cried/From the rear/And the front rank died/The General sat/And the lines on the map/Moved from side to side" also, i've argued on the dan list that City Of Models may well be the catchiest, most singable protest song ever. and, yes, one of the best. _______________________________________________________________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 07:05 +0000 From: mrrunion@palmnet.net Subject: Re: Neutral Milk Hotel. Robyn Hitchcock John Partridge (a favorite ebay nemesis) opin'd 'bout NMH: >So on the strength of multiple recommendations I overheard on >this list, I bought the Aeroplane Over the Sea CD and I'm >sorry I did. > >I. can. not. stand. the lead singer's voice. > >The NMH lyrical content was trite. >So, lyrically, it was a bust. > >this sucks. Interesting. I know there are several vocal voices on the list that pretty much abhor this band/album. I guess it's another instance of "I think it's great" but "you don't". I suck at defending things I like, so I'm not going to try. I can see where Jeff's voice could rub some people the wrong way. I can see where the lo-fi clunky production could be offputting, and the lyrics could seem juvenile. I *LOVE* this band though. I guess the disagreement is along lines of Eb's "good annoying vs. bad annoying" postulates. What I find intensely more interesting is why seemingly so many people and publications liked this record (ITAOTS). I can grasp personal taste and preference, but at the larger macro social level, I loose my grip. Why was the album #88 in Spin's Top 90 of the 90's? Why did it rank so high in so many end-of-year lists? Why did *the world* think it good (irregardless of me thinking it good)? Does the album make us nostalgic for the post-punk 80's, early REM, etc? More pessimistically, is it just a case of one blind critic following another blind critic? Does the album have so many nuances and layers that almost anyone can find a good resting place within it? (I don't think that's the answer though) Is it just weird, and weird is cool at the moment? I think what I'm asking is above and beyond this album and dips back into the "greatness" debate. Ugh. Forget it... By chance does anyone know how many copies of ITAOTS did NMH sell? It couldn't have been very many...it's hell finding a copy, and I look everywhere I go. Mike n.p. Something Else By The Kinks...my first Kinks record, and it has taken a while to grow on me, but it's coming on strong now. Damn this list! ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 15:29:05 +0100 (BST) From: Michael R Godwin Subject: Re: My other Cars a GBV. On Thu, 12 Aug 1999, Bayard wrote: > not to revive the whole religion thing, but I hear Kansas has outlawed the > teaching of evolution in school. Hmmmmm... Next thing you know, REO Speedwagon will be demanding that kids learn Lysenkoist genetics! - - MRG ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 09:06:31 -0600 From: hal brandt Subject: the other Hitch It's Friday the Thirteenth and today marks the 100th birthday of Alfred Hitchcock. I think I'll make it a 'good eve-ning' with a letterboxed viewing of "Vertigo". /hal ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 08:21:21 -0700 (PDT) From: Vivien Lyon Subject: Re: Neutral Milk Hotel. No Robyn Hitchcock - --- mrrunion@palmnet.net wrote: > John Partridge (a favorite ebay nemesis) opin'd > 'bout NMH: > >So on the strength of multiple recommendations I >> overheard on this list, I bought the Aeroplane Over >>the Sea CD and I'm sorry I did. > Interesting. I know there are several vocal voices > on the list that pretty > much abhor this band/album. I guess it's another > instance of "I think it's > great" but "you don't". I suck at defending things > I like, so I'm not > going to try. I suck at this too, but I'm going to try. John, I have to admit that when I first read your post, I struggled very hard with an impulse to tell you to fuck off. But that's not proper form, and I don't really want you to fuck off. It's just that this album is so overwhelmingly magnificent and complete, I have a hard time hearing criticism of it. I grant that Jeff Mangum's voice isn't naturally pleasing to the ear. If you don't like it, you don't like it. But to call the lyrics juvenile and trite? This album's greatness lies in its agonized honesty. He's confessing his abiding fantasy, an embarrassing but somehow noble obsession with a dead girl. The fantasy is so consuming and real that it's wrenched out of him, he *has* to sing about this- it isn't a choice. >Any song that starts with "Daddy please listen to my >song" is either going to be a really harsh parody or >excruciatingly awkward. Why, precisely, is that the case? Because parents are uncool to sing about? Fathers are a poor topic to address in a 'rock and roll' song? At any rate, in a way I agree with you, the album is excruciatingly awkward. It's awkward to hear a person expose themselves so thoroughly. But I admire his courage, and I identify with his longing. > I think what I'm asking is above and beyond this > album and dips back into > the "greatness" debate. Ugh. Forget it... John admits that nothing on this album is parodic, and that is just exactly why it's great, in the deepest sense of that word. I have never heard a singer mean what they say so intensely. It's potentially embarrassing, it's incredibly personal, but he unflinchingly reveals it. He's super-human in his humanity. Vivien _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 09:02:41 -0700 From: "Partridge, John" Subject: RE: Neutral Milk Hotel. Robyn Hitchcock > John Partridge (a favorite ebay nemesis) opin'd 'bout NMH: Which eBayer are you!? I was too dumb to use an alias so it's obvious who I am and I have no idea who anybody else is. > > >So on the strength of multiple recommendations I overheard on > >this list, I bought the Aeroplane Over the Sea CD and I'm > >sorry I did. > > > >I. can. not. stand. the lead singer's voice. > > > >The NMH lyrical content was trite. > >So, lyrically, it was a bust. > > > >this sucks. > > Interesting. I know there are several vocal voices on the > list that pretty > much abhor this band/album. I guess it's another instance of > "I think it's > great" but "you don't". I suck at defending things I like, > so I'm not > going to try. I can see where Jeff's voice could rub some > people the wrong > way. I can see where the lo-fi clunky production could be > offputting, and > the lyrics could seem juvenile. I *LOVE* this band though. "Shack ah son goo", as the frenchies would say. > I guess the > disagreement is along lines of Eb's "good annoying vs. bad annoying" > postulates. > > What I find intensely more interesting is why seemingly so > many people and > publications liked this record (ITAOTS). I can grasp > personal taste and > preference, but at the larger macro social level, I loose my > grip. The macro trends of fashion are incomprehensible to me too so I cop out and dismiss them as examples of chaos theory in action. There's a book called "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" that takes a shot at explaining manias ranging from tulipmania to the Great Crusades. > Why was > the album #88 in Spin's Top 90 of the 90's? Why did it rank > so high in so > many end-of-year lists? Why did *the world* think it good > (irregardless Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Pick "regardless" XOR "irrespective". > of > me thinking it good)? Does the album make us nostalgic for > the post-punk > 80's, early REM, etc? More pessimistically, is it just a > case of one blind > critic following another blind critic? Does the album have > so many nuances > and layers that almost anyone can find a good resting place > within it? (I > don't think that's the answer though) Is it just weird, and > weird is cool > at the moment? > > I think what I'm asking is above and beyond this album and > dips back into > the "greatness" debate. Ugh. Forget it... > > By chance does anyone know how many copies of ITAOTS did NMH > sell? It > couldn't have been very many...it's hell finding a copy, and I look > everywhere I go. > > Mike > > n.p. Something Else By The Kinks...my first Kinks record, and > it has taken > a while to grow on me, but it's coming on strong now. Damn this list! > > > ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 12:29:23 -0400 From: Stephen Buckalew Subject: RE: Neutral Milk Hotel. Robyn Hitchcock Just to put my one cent in, I liked ITAOTS, but not as much as On Avery Island, which I love. "She Passed" is a truly haunting song (no pun intended). Beautiful. On J.M.'s voice...I can see how this could be really off-putting for someone. Both my oldest friend and a coworker of mine have musical tastes quite close to mine...but they can't stand Robyn H. because of *that voice*. It drives them nuts. It's one of those things that either grate on you or you're ok with it. BTW, The main singer in my one of my old bands, "The Blurry Amoebas", sounded *exactly* like J.M. I think he's in some kinda surf-trash band now.... S.B. **************************************************************************** "...everythings all on...it's rosy...it's a beautiful day!"--Syd Barrett **************************************************************************** ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V8 #305 *******************************