From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V8 #373 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Sunday, October 3 1999 Volume 08 : Number 373 Today's Subjects: ----------------- here and there ["jbranscombe@compuserve.com" ] Re: speaking of Korn, Limp Bizkit and NIN... ["Chris!" ] oh, and I almost forgot! [Eb ] Re: Don't believe the hype!!! [Jeff Dwarf ] Re: here and there ["Capitalism Blows" ] you're gonna reap just what you sow ["Andrew D. Simchik" ] Re: David Bowie on SNL last night (zilch Robyn content) [Jason Thornton <] Re: Don't believe the hype!!! [Eb ] Robyn Hitchcock handwriting font? ["Ariel Green" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1999 19:49:11 -0400 From: "jbranscombe@compuserve.com" Subject: here and there To refine what Matt Sewell initiated about the differences between American and British reactions to RH. At the Dingwalls he had a fair few rowdy, repititive requests and might have shut up between songs as a result. I've seen a similar if not exact reaction at recent-ish Mean Fiddler and 12 Bar appearances. Often, in the past, I have stood next to people who love the songs but can't bear it when he launches into any kind of surreal excursion. I've never seen anyone report this kind of pattern at American gigs. jmbc. PS Is there no-one else with a Cambridge set list? I'll do it if I have to...Initial snippets - I Wish I Liked You - an extraordinary blues new-y I'd never heard before. And Surgery which I haven't heard live since the late 80s. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 02 Oct 1999 17:22:19 -0700 From: "Chris!" Subject: Re: speaking of Korn, Limp Bizkit and NIN... Eb wrote: > > I just found this on the Nine Inch Nails newsgroup (I've been checking the > group lately, because I'm curious about the fans' reaction to the new > album). Supposedly this is email which Courtney Love sent to Rockrgrl > magazine? Keep in mind that she's not the most reliable witness in the > world, but...yikes. > > Sorry this is kinda long, but it's interesting, eh? I could see both > Courtney-haters AND Korn-haters running with this.... There was a reasonable article about such bands in MISC. recently... http://www.miscmedia.com/8-25-99.html Later, the same column... http://www.miscmedia.com/9-20-99.html ...mentions the source... http://members.tripod.com/amused_2/weblog.html ...for the e-mail... http://members.tripod.com/amused_2/courtney.html I cannot vouch for this, but it has been around for some time. I am surprised it had not made the rounds sooner. But, given the nature of the bands and fans involved, I think most don't feel surprised by such statements. .chris ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1999 22:56:53 -0800 From: Eb Subject: Don't believe the hype!!! I heard the new Bowie album tonight. It is *weak*. Ebscale(tm)? A mere 12/20. And a soft 12, at that. You know why the hype machine is comparing it with Hunky Dory? Because there's one song called "The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell." That's all. It doesn't *sound* anything like Hunky Dory material, but the obvious allusion is there. Whoopee. You know why the hype machine is comparing it with Heroes? Because the next-to-last song is a two-minute instrumental which vaguely resembles the tinkling Asian instrumentals on the second side of Heroes. Except it's not nearly as good. Whoopee. You remember how exciting it was that Bowie seemed fresh and cutting-edge again, with Outside and Earthling? Well, he's back to being boring. How could he go from the sharp keyboard textures of Earthling to these flaccid fake-string patches? Amazing. I was *not* bored by two tracks: the aforementioned "Pretty Things" (the only song which manages to almost rock, and isn't just a midtempo roll in the mud) and the following tune, "New Angels of Promise." That's *it*. The rest are listless, unmemorable and lyrically sleep-inducing. Good gawd almighty. Another of the year's major disappointments. David, give Eno a call. *Plead* with him to come back. Eb, who will be astonished if he finds any reviewers willing to go belly up and kiss this album's ass ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1999 22:59:52 -0800 From: Eb Subject: oh, and I almost forgot! Throughout his whole uneven career, what has been the one dependably fine aspect of a David Bowie album? That's right -- his great voice. Well, even *that* doesn't come through on this album. Quite possibly his weakest-sung album ever. He just walks through the whole thing. I think age has finally caught up with him. Eb ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Oct 1999 00:05:23 -0700 (PDT) From: Jeff Dwarf Subject: Re: Don't believe the hype!!! Eb wrote: > [I']ll be astonished if he finds any reviewers willing > to go belly up and kiss this album's ass you obviously haven't seen this weeks people (with the babies having babies revisited). ===== "America's greatest natural resource, still, to this day, is the moron" --Martin Mull __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 03 Oct 1999 02:08:45 PDT From: "Capitalism Blows" Subject: Re: here and there , . ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Oct 1999 11:27:28 -0400 From: "Andrew D. Simchik" Subject: you're gonna reap just what you sow >From: MARKEEFE@aol.com [I said:] ><< While I still feel that it's only necessary to own one NIN >album (I feel >the same way about Stereolab, Combustible Edison, and -- to a lesser extent -- >Dead Can Dance and Ani DiFranco, but Stereolab is the only case in which I've >put this maxim into practice), I also feel that there's plenty of talent at >work there. >> > > I agree almost 100%! Except for Dead Can Dance. Our shelves here at >home seem to reveal the need for 3 DCD CDs. My shelves suggest the need for, um, all of them (except for _The Serpent's Egg_ and _A Passage Through Time_...which I, um, have on cassette...). :) If I had to pick three, I'd probably pick _Into the Labyrinth_, _Within the Realm of a Dying Sun_, and...hmm...maybe _Aion_, though it would be hard to give up _Toward the Within_. >From: MARKEEFE@aol.com > >In a message dated 10/1/99 7:59:32 PM, wyrd@rochester.rr.com writes: > ><< Responsibility in the sense of causality! not blame! >> > > I think Drew must be the only person out there who doesn't have some >sort of a tape in the back of their heads with a parent figure saying, "Okay, >now who's responsible for this mess?!" I think I do, even though my mom >never would've said something like that (must've been some TV parents or >something). Anyway, yeah, while I can see how the "responsible" really only >connotes "blame," the two words seem much more strongly linked in my mind. Oh, they probably are linked. I'm explaining what I meant after the fact and I'm willing to cop to poor word choice if it helps. >From: The Great Quail >And by the way, DREW, I think that "The Perfect Drug" was a *great* song. You only *think* you think that! :) It just sounded too much like self-parody to me. NIN-by-numbers, souped up with a little pop to make the medicine go down. But maybe that's just what the doctor ordered. >Tori -- I must say I am disappointed. The Live disc is just fine, but >the studio one comes across as mushy and samey to me. I like her >industrial thing just as much as I like her solo piano thing, but >this disc seems to play far too much to rhythms and surreal lyrical >repetitions rather than her real strength, which is superior >song-crafting around unique melodies and delightful piano >arrangements. (Do I sound like Eb? I'm trying hard.) I don't hate it, >and like *all* Tori CDs it will certainly grow on me somewhat, but >overall it seems murky and fairly uneventful save for a few songs >here and there. I can't argue with anything you say there. I think "uneventful" is just the right word for it. However, I must say I'm relieved that there was no "Raspberry Swirl," nor truly any "Hotel" track, among the new stuff. I thought it all hit just the right spot...it just, as you say, needed some sort of eventfulness to it. I'll repeat myself: thinking of it as a B-sides collection makes it very enjoyable. It's a "check out some doodles I made while you wait for the next real album" stopgap, and that makes me happy. >From: Eb > >http://www.gothic.net/~squee/net_goth_pix/a.html (start with A...see how >far into the alphabet you can get without wetting your pants with laughter) I can't get very far, period. What's with gothkidz these days that their web sites don't even *work*? Drew - -- Andrew D. Simchik, wyrd@rochester.rr.com http://home.rochester.rr.com/wyrd/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Oct 1999 12:33:42 -0700 (PDT) From: Carole Reichstein Subject: David Bowie on SNL last night (zilch Robyn content) Damn, but did David Bowie look good or what? I'm so glad he got rid of that goatee he'd been sporting for years, and the longer hair suited him too. Er, I hope I'm not the only one who noticed this. Carole ps--Robyn's never been on SNL, has he? ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Oct 1999 12:58:47 -0700 (PDT) From: Jason Thornton Subject: Re: Don't believe the hype!!! At 10:56 PM 10/2/99 -0800, Eb wrote: >I heard the new Bowie album tonight. It is *weak*. Man, I was worried about this. I remember reading about or seeing Bowie (maybe it was the interview before the MTV music awards?) discussing "hours" and he was worrying about whether or not he was still relevant as an artist. He didn't seem really sure of the new material. He really liked the NIN album, though. Then again, he really liked Lauryn Hill. Of course, he's always been a big fan of soul... >You know why the hype machine is comparing it with Hunky Dory? Most of Bowie's '90's albums, whether terrific or not, were inappropriately compared to some '70's Bowie work or another. That "Hunky Dory" comparison begs the question: is Mike Garson on it? >You remember how exciting it was that Bowie seemed fresh and cutting-edge >again, with Outside and Earthling? I thought Bowie seemed fresh and cutting-edge again as far back as "Buddha of Suburbia." In fact, some of the Tin Machine stuff and "Black Tie White Noise" material really gave me hope. Neither the TM albums, nor "Black Tie," were really consistent - and perhaps the extreme-suck/major-wow dichotomy of both sum up his career pretty well - but they were a big improvement over the dreaded '80's triad ("Loving the Alien" aside). >I was *not* bored by two tracks: the aforementioned "Pretty Things" (the >only song which manages to almost rock, and isn't just a midtempo roll in >the mud) and the following tune, "New Angels of Promise." That's *it*. The >rest are listless, unmemorable and lyrically sleep-inducing. The lyrics to one song, I can't remember which, were written by a fan, and chosen for songhood in a contest. That alone should make you cringe a bit. >Good gawd almighty. Another of the year's major disappointments. David, >give Eno a call. *Plead* with him to come back. Where the hell is Eno right now, anyhow??? Especially now, when the world needs him so badly... Has he given up his superprowess for a woman? Fuck! ;) >Eb, who will be astonished if he finds any reviewers willing to go belly up >and kiss this album's ass I thought some reviewers were already calling it "Bowie's best work of the '90's." At least, that's what the Bowie website was reporting. I'm sure, however good or poor the album, at least a few reviewers will still be sucking his dick. - --Jason "Only the few know the sweetness of the twisted apples." - Sherwood Anderson ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Oct 1999 13:01:54 -0700 (PDT) From: Jason Thornton Subject: Re: David Bowie on SNL last night (zilch Robyn content) At 12:33 PM 10/3/99 -0700, Carole Reichstein wrote: >Damn, but did David Bowie look good or what? > >I'm so glad he got rid of that goatee he'd been sporting for years, and >the longer hair suited him too. Is his still sporting that Jennifer Anniston haircut he had a few weeks ago? - --Jason "Only the few know the sweetness of the twisted apples." - Sherwood Anderson ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Oct 1999 14:46:14 -0800 From: Eb Subject: Re: Don't believe the hype!!! Carole: >Damn, but did David Bowie look good or what? Yes. And damn, was the new song a bore or what? ;) >ps--Robyn's never been on SNL, has he? No. Jason: >That "Hunky Dory" comparison begs the question: is Mike Garson on it? Oh Jason, Jason, Jason...turn in your proggie credentials! Shame on you. The pianist on Hunky Dory is not Mike Garson, but an obscure session musician/Strawb named *Rick Wakeman*. And boy, I could die a happy man if I could do what Wakeman does on "Fill Your Heart" so effortlessly.... As for hours..., there isn't really a keyboardist per se, just Bowie and others switching off. As I said before, the keyboard parts are fairly anonymous on this album, mostly just faux-string atmospherics. And I don't recognize the names of any other participating musicians, except for Reeves Gabrels (Tin Machine, Iggy Pop). Gabrels also shares writing credits for practically every track. And hey, do you think it says anything about the quality of the new album, when Bowie devotes one of his SNL slots to another jaunt through "Rebel Rebel"? Yup.... Eb PS The "enhanced" portion of the CD is nothing but a plug for www.davidbowie.com. An attractive, well-designed plug, but a plug nonetheless. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 03 Oct 1999 19:37:34 PDT From: "Ariel Green" Subject: Robyn Hitchcock handwriting font? Didn't someone mention such an animal awhile back? If so, I'd like to know where I can get it. Thanks in advance! Ariel ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V8 #373 *******************************