From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V10 #81 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Monday, March 19 2001 Volume 10 : Number 081 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Parks ["J. Brown" ] Re:beautiful boy ["Russ Reynolds" ] tomorrow [Bayard ] Re: beautiful boy? [hbrandt ] Re: beautiful boy? [Eb ] bush is a nasty little piece of gunk ["jbranscombe@compuserve.com" ] South by Soft Boys ["Cynthia Peterson" ] Re: South by Soft Boys ["brian nupp" ] reap [Eb ] Soft Boys SXSW ["Russ Reynolds" ] Re: South by Soft Boys [Henry Krinkle ] Soft Boys at SXSW ["Gene Hopstetter, Jr." ] answering my own question [Eb ] duke of windsor/sopranos (was Re: South by Soft Boys) [hbrandt ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 02:04:35 -0800 (PST) From: "J. Brown" Subject: Re: Parks On Sat, 17 Mar 2001, Brett Cooper wrote: > Is Van Dyke Parks dead or not? well he was conducting at Brian wilson Concerts this summer so i dont think so! Jason Wilson Brown - University of Washington - Seattle, WA "Put your faith in death because it's free" -Robyn Hitchcock ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 07:45:47 -0800 From: "Russ Reynolds" Subject: Re:beautiful boy In an omen of the apocalypse, Eb & Hal civilly intercoursed: >>> Still left at the top of my (feasible) must-see list: ...Sean Lennon... >> >>Why?! The kid's a no-talent. That first solo CD was just shit. > > I liked his solo album all right. It was no better than "fair," but it was > interesting enough to give me hope that his next album will be better. I > like where he's headed (even if he clearly hasn't gotten there yet), and I > look forward to hearing his next try. That's more than I can say for Julian > (or Ringo, George and Yoko, for that matter). Ringo's next try is of course another All Starr Band tour. The 2001 incarnation includes Greg Lake, Roger Hodgson and Ian Hunter. Now, if Ringo was a member of Ian Hunter's band instead of the other way around we'd really have something. Hunter has kept such a low profile since about the time Mick Ronson died I may have to see this show just to verify he is actualy alive. Wonder if they'll also do "21st Century Schizoid Man".... - -rUss np: aSfB ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 10:51:35 -0500 (EST) From: Bayard Subject: tomorrow so - any plans to meet up before the baltimore gig? how about at the aquarium? (; ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 12:04:16 -0700 From: hbrandt Subject: Re: beautiful boy? Eb on The Lennon Boys: > I *would* "ehhh the shit" out of Julian Lennon, and he has the > same familial connection. There's obviously another variable in play. Of course! Like you said: > actually, the Cibo Matto/Grand Royal connection > is just as enticing to me as the Lennon one. Maybe moreso. Now you're at least making sense. Sean by his lonesome without the benefit of nepotism? Forget it. Zzzzz. > > Would you have jumped on this subject, or even had an established opinion > on Sean, if not for his Beatles connection? I seriously doubt it. That was exactly my point. Sean would be a non-entity if he didn't have a famous father who doted on him and put him in the public eye. Sean Lennon has a lot in common with Cody Gifford; famous parents/no-talent. Maybe they should collaborate! rUss ("the scolder") alerted: > In an omen of the apocalypse, Eb & Hal civilly intercoursed: *shudder!* /hal ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 13:57:00 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: beautiful boy? >> actually, the Cibo Matto/Grand Royal connection >> is just as enticing to me as the Lennon one. Maybe moreso. > >Now you're at least making sense. Sean by his lonesome without the >benefit of nepotism? Forget it. Zzzzz. I keep dozens of lesser albums because of connections to other albums. I recently got Robert Scott's first solo album, The Creeping Unknown. It's weak and mostly trivial, but I keep it because I like the Bats and the Clean a lot. I probably wouldn't own Gravy Deco/Groovy Decoy/Grotty Dayglo, except that the same artist has released a lot of *other* albums I like. That's just the way it is with music-collecting. You can charge that I like Sean's album because it's influenced by the Grand Royal sound (or by Beck, or by the Beach Boys, or even by his daddy), but...um, so what? I don't think Sean is a "no-talent," and I do have an appreciation (however minor) for his album. You feel otherwise. There's not much to say beyond that. - ---- In more general news, I heard disc two of the Underwater Moonlight reissue today. Since I'm not much of a bootleg collector, this stuff was all new to me. I like the first disc's bonus tracks a lot better, but these recordings were still fun to hear. I particularly liked "Alien," "She Wears My Hair" (huh...heavier Dylan influence than typically found in the Soft Boys catalog) and "Goodbye Maurice or Steve." I wish I could still hear Captain Beefheart in Robyn's recent music. Eb ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 18:22:13 -0500 From: "jbranscombe@compuserve.com" Subject: bush is a nasty little piece of gunk I know that loads of people who are able to respond are on the road at the moment, but Bush has just said that when he said that he'd be reducing CO2 emissions as one of his election pledges he was lying...OK, maybe Gore was lying as well but it seems to me that Bush was talking shit from the word go... Am I stupid, or is anyone who voted for the the bare-arsed little wank a complete twat? jmbc. Yes, Gore might have done this as well, but really Bush is the end surely...? ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 15:34:16 -0700 From: Eb Subject: [Ebmaniax] Whoa! Back at the El Rey I returned to the El Rey last night, to see Nelly Furtado. The second of two sold-out shows. During the drive over there, I was thinking "Oops...I forgot to wear green! How gauche." But I forgot this was too-cool L.A. -- the crowd was no more green than on any other night. Heh. Speaking of the crowd, now I know why Furtado is suddenly a hot-selling artist (#65 on Billboard), after such a slow start. Yup, the Christina Aguilera kids have latched onto her. Her music and voice have a much different tone from Aguilera's, but I guess there's a similar teen-girl appeal. This was one of those rare shows (for me, at least) where the audience was more female than male. And quite young, too -- I felt tall and old, standing amongst these homely, vulnerable teenyboppers looking for a girlie role model. Now, there *were* older folks too (how many younger fans would see how the album cover echoes the look of '60s A&M releases?), but I was one of the few willing to endure the "pit" upfront. I did see one guy wearing a Sonic Youth T-shirt...I dug that incongruity. :) Due to drunken Paddy's Day accidents on the freeway (both to *and* fro), the drive took longer than expected, but I ended up arriving with perfect timing: about 10 minutes before Furtado hit the stage. The girls shrieked when her band walked on and started vamping, but they really squealed when Furtado made her delayed, big-star entrance. She was playing their game from the very beginning: touching hands, come-on urging for more applause, covering all ends of the stage, "Whee, she looked at me!" eye-contact, etc. I arrived a little suspicious about her, based on her Saturday Night Live performance, which I thought came off a bit jive (her "yeah yeah" vocal embellishments, mostly). But dang, this girl really does have the spark. Firstly, her photo sessions are no high-maintenance contrivance -- she's just as model-beautiful in person. She was wearing baggy black/gray/white camouflage pants, topped with a tight, white, sleeveless shirt with "Luscious" written in gold glitter. Um...yeah, exactly. However, the best surprise was that her voice is just as strong, outside the studio. This is one polished 21-year-old. She has all the stage moves, and her voice is sharp and clear. She's going places. Her visual, interactive performance style is geared toward arenas, and she may just get there. I believe the material was purely from the album, except for one mellow tune which she crooned in a foreign language that I couldn't identify. (French? Portuguese?) The songs were stretched out a bit from the album (some extra instrumental showcases and climactic vocal vamping), but the best songs were the same as the best ones on the album. "Shit on the Radio," "I'm Like a Bird," "Turn Off the Light," "Legend" (always reminds me of Stevie Wonder in the chorus), "Hey, Man!"...simply great pop, with memorable melodies and a lyrical point of view. There were probably some pre-programmed rhythm tracks in play, but I didn't mind. In any case, this was another show with two drum kits! One guy was a "straight" drummer, the other was more of a Third World percussionist. Actually, the second guy's contribution seemed totally inaudible, half the time. He played an interesting, authentic percussion instrument during two songs, though -- it looked like a large archer's bow with a taut string, and then had sort of a gourd at the bottom which he tapped? Can anyone identify this? The other three musicians were just the expected guitar, bass and keyboards. Furtado herself strummed acoustic guitar on two songs, but the rest of the time, she was purely the hoop-earringed, funky-fresh diva. And her presentation wasn't totally mainstream: She was edgy enough to do a call-and-response with the crowd where she called out "SHIT!" and the crowd answered with "...ON THE RADIO." That minor subversion was appreciated. (On the album sleeve, "Shit" is asterisked out, naturally.) That's about all I have to say, really...it was a good show by a notable new talent. I just hope she keeps it real with her Brazilian-roots influences and things, and doesn't succumb to the homogenizing star machine on future releases. I'd like to stress that she *does* have a songwriting credit on all of her album tracks, and that half the songs are written by her alone. (The other six are co-credited to her two producers, and that's probably due merely to their Odelay-style creativity with rhythm tracks. I suspect the music and lyrics are all Nelly.) Check out the album, and some soundclips: http://www.cdnow.com/cgi-bin/mserver/SID=246961974/pagename=/RP/CDN/FIND/album.html/artistid=FURTADO*NELLY/itemid=1273896 . Not something which the average Robyn Hitchcock devotee *should* like by any means, but you never know.... Eb, hoping DreamWorks does as good a job promoting the upcoming Rufus W. album (I still don't have an advance copy...ack!) np: Tipsy/Uh-Oh! ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 16:56:17 -0800 From: "Cynthia Peterson" Subject: South by Soft Boys Just wanted to check in and say I saw the Soft Boys last night in Austin, but this isn't meant to be an official report. I didn't write down the set list, and I don't have exhaustive notes. So hopefully someone else will provide the details you crave! All I can really tell you is, I was there, they were there, the room was packed, the songs sounded fantastic, and the crowd went wild! I fell asleep that night with Underwater Moonlight stuck in my head...and it was still there when I woke up 3 short hours later to leave for the airport. (Yawn) One observation: While it was good to see so many people in attendance, the venue and stage were a little too large, I thought. The boys were all quite far apart from each other, so there wasn't a real strong "Soft Boys" vibe coming across. I think this will change on a smaller stage, but all the same, I was a little surprised at how much it just seemed like "Robyn Hitchcock" with a back-up band. Maybe it was just that they were all so tight-sounding and professional, and I was hoping for what I like to imagine as the ragged glory of old. Or maybe it was just that he was wearing the same lavender and green floral pants that we saw on an earlier tour... In any case, In lieu of a setlist, I do have a few snaps from the show I'd be happy to send to whoever wants them. Just e-mail me offlist and indicate your attachment capacity: Small (375k), Medium (1.1 MB), or Large (2.9 MB). Four shots are included, though the quality is really only decent on two of them (sorry -- it was my first attempt at digital photography in a club setting). Cynthia p.s. The rest of the festival was also fantastic, and nearly did me in. I discovered this year that the non-SXSW parties during the day are much more fun than the night-time showcases, and they often serve free food and beer at them. I'll never buy a badge again! Though I'm glad I tried it once... ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 20:52:25 -0500 From: "brian nupp" Subject: Re: South by Soft Boys >From: "Cynthia Peterson" < >Just wanted to check in and say I saw the Soft Boys last night in >Austin, but this isn't meant to be an official report. I didn't write >down the set list, and I don't have exhaustive notes. Good work Cynthia, I'm sure most of us wish we could've been there, but a lot of us will get our chance soon! :) If anyone's interested www.underwatermoonlight.com has a lovely mp3 of QoE from last night. Man, they work quick! And for all of you who were wondering about the quality, I'm sure you'll be happy. I would still like to see a set list or review if anyones got one. Nuppy _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 18:14:32 -0700 From: Eb Subject: reap Sunday March 18 3:55 PM ET John Phillips of Mamas And Papas Dead at 65 LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rock and roll veteran John Phillips, the founder and main songwriter for the 1960's California pop group the Mamas and the Papas, died of heart failure Sunday morning, his spokeswoman said. He was 65. Phillips, who received a liver transplant several years ago after years of drug and alcohol abuse, died at UCLA Medical Center at 8:15 a.m. PST (11:15 a.m. EST), surrounded by family and friends, said spokeswoman Elizabeth Freund. The Mamas and Papas recorded some of the most memorable tunes of the pop era, including ``California Dreamin,''' ``Monday, Monday'' and ``Creeque Alley.'' Phillips also helped organize the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, which introduced artists such as guitarist Jimi Hendrix and English rock band the Who to American audiences. Just before his death, Phillips had just completed an album of new material, tentatively titled ``Slow Starter.'' He had also completed a record he started over 25 years ago with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, entitled ``Pay Pack and Follow,'' which is set for release in May, Freund said. He is survived by his wife, Farnaz; daughters McKenzie, an actress; Chynna and Bijou, both pop singers; sons Jeffrey and Tamerlane; step-daughters Atoosa and Sanaz. No funeral or memorial arrangements have been made yet. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 18:56:12 -0800 From: "Russ Reynolds" Subject: Soft Boys SXSW Cynthia vowed: > I'll never buy a badge again! ...proving once again that we don't need 'em. - -rUss np: Creeque Alley. RIP, John Phillips. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 21:11:14 -0600 From: Henry Krinkle Subject: Re: South by Soft Boys Hey...I was there too. There's not much to report, since the 'boys only played for 45 minutes...but those 45 minutes were really good. The venue was too large, and the fan base was spread out too broadly between Stephen Malkmus, Mogwai, and Mark Eitzel. The majority of the people near the front of the stage were there to see Mogwai. I overheard comments like, "You know who Robyn Hitchcock is? Y'know the guy who opened for the Flaming Lips? Well, this is his old band. I think they're from England." The Mogwai fanboys seemed to be getting into the show, at least they liked it better than Mark Eitzel, who opened. I'm not the best at memorizing set lists, but here's an attempt: Tonight You'll have to go Sideways He's a Reptile Human Music Underwater Moonlight Sudden Town I Wanna Destroy You Queen of Eyes Insanely Jealous The sound at the Music Hall has always been a bit tinny, but the band played well. It's always great fun to watch Kimberley, and Matthew seemed to be enjoying his new "rock star" image. I wish I could've seen Morris, but he was obscured by a giant amp from my perspective. I'm going to check my schedule at work and see if there's any way for me to get some time off to see another show...maybe San Francisco. 45 minutes of the Soft Boys was not enough! Over and out, Stacy (sometimes known as Zelda) on 3/18/01 6:56 PM, Cynthia Peterson at cynthiap@microsoft.com wrote: > Just wanted to check in and say I saw the Soft Boys last night in > Austin, but this isn't meant to be an official report. I didn't write > down the set list, and I don't have exhaustive notes. So hopefully > someone else will provide the details you crave! All I can really tell > you is, I was there, they were there, the room was packed, the songs > sounded fantastic, and the crowd went wild! I fell asleep that night > with Underwater Moonlight stuck in my head...and it was still there when > I woke up 3 short hours later to leave for the airport. (Yawn) > > One observation: While it was good to see so many people in attendance, > the venue and stage were a little too large, I thought. The boys were > all quite far apart from each other, so there wasn't a real strong "Soft > Boys" vibe coming across. I think this will change on a smaller stage, > but all the same, I was a little surprised at how much it just seemed > like "Robyn Hitchcock" with a back-up band. Maybe it was just that they > were all so tight-sounding and professional, and I was hoping for what I > like to imagine as the ragged glory of old. Or maybe it was just that he > was wearing the same lavender and green floral pants that we saw on an > earlier tour... > > In any case, In lieu of a setlist, I do have a few snaps from the show > I'd be happy to send to whoever wants them. Just e-mail me offlist and > indicate your attachment capacity: Small (375k), Medium (1.1 MB), or > Large (2.9 MB). Four shots are included, though the quality is really > only decent on two of them (sorry -- it was my first attempt at digital > photography in a club setting). > > Cynthia > > p.s. The rest of the festival was also fantastic, and nearly did me in. > I discovered this year that the non-SXSW parties during the day are much > more fun than the night-time showcases, and they often serve free food > and beer at them. I'll never buy a badge again! Though I'm glad I tried > it once... ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 21:46:37 -0600 From: "Gene Hopstetter, Jr." Subject: Soft Boys at SXSW My dream came true. I saw the Soft Boys perform live -- I've dreamt of it for 16 years, and it finally happened. I heard their sound check, they did three songs: 1. Where Are The Prawns? 2. Tonight 3. Kingdom of Love And it thrilled me to the bone. Instead of hearing the songs coming out of a car stereo, the band was only a short distance away. After playing the songs, they sang a few harmonies, to check the mics and PA, I guess, and they sounded wonderful. The band walked out of the building to get into a car for dinner, and Robyn encountered a long line of traffic cones. "Nice cones!" he said to the facilities guy who was moving things around. "You have to align them properly. Don't you feel the force field they give off?" And then I waited in line in the cold drizzle to get into the show. Mark Eitzel and his band opened. Mogwai and Stephen Malkmus followed the Soft Boys (and the Matador records people were handing out shwag and promo CDs by the bucketload). Then the band came on. Here's a breakdown of the details: 1. Robyn: blue/white Telecaster; blue t-shirt, green flowered pants, and black boots. There was no blinking, but a lot of flipping his bangs out of his face. His hair is entirely gray, silver, and white, and shorter than the last time I saw him. 2. Morris: a red, three-piece kit, with two Zildjian cymbals, and a neat tiny tambourine on his hi-hat. He wore sunglasses for the whole set and seemed to be having a real good time. 3. Kimberly: the grinning gnome face action was in full force. He jumped around a lot, too. He is a Laugh Riot. He played a white Stratocaster. 4. Matthew: he played a black Fender Precision bass (iirc). He wore the only Soft Boys t-shirt I saw that night. The only things for sale was Matador records stuff. Not a single Soft Boys t-shirt for sale anywhere. The one Matthew was wearing was white, and simply had the words Soft Boys in black in a sans-serif typeface. It sure woulda been nice to have been able to buy one. The performance? Amazing. They only had time for a short set, so Robyn kept the banter to a minimum. The songs didn't have the piss-and-vinegar that they did back in 1980 (like, say, they did at the Maxwell's gig back then), but they still rocked. The songs were more "comfortable," I guess. The coolest thing was that they all played the songs as though they had lived with them for a very long time -- it didn't sound like they had rehearsed them for a month after not playing together for 20 years; Matthew in particular surprised me with the numbers of new fills and feels he found in the songs. he is one helluva bass player. I met Greg Shell there, and he snuck in his MD recorder, so he can provide a full song list. Here it is, off the top of my head (I may have missed one or two or got one wrong): 1. Tonight 2. You'll Have To Go Sideways 3. Human Music 4. Old Pervert 5. Queen of Eyes 6. I Wanna Destroy You 7. Underwater Moonlight ("in the beginning was the door...") 8. Sudden City (?, a new one, I guess) 9. He's A Reptile 10. Where Are The Prawns? 11. Kingdom of Love 12. Insanely Jealous (Robyn played this even though he broke a string on his Telecaster, the third from the bottom) Starfucking factor was nil. I did not see one notable Rock Star in the audience. But I left after the Soft Boys got off stage. And it was filmed, too. There were at least three people on stage with (handheld digital, i believe) cameras, and there was a camera on a tripod at the sound desk. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 20:57:07 -0700 From: Eb Subject: answering my own question The odd, bow-like percussion instrument I asked about in my Nelly Furtado commentary is apparently called the "berimbau." http://web.altavista.com/cgi-bin/query?q=%22berimbau%22&ipht=1&igrph=1&iclr=1&ibw=1&mmW=1&micat=0&imgset=1&stype=simage&pg=q&Translate=on Eb ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 22:40:00 -0700 From: hbrandt Subject: duke of windsor/sopranos (was Re: South by Soft Boys) Nuppy: > If anyone's interested www.underwatermoonlight.com has a lovely mp3 of QoE I've heard this one a multitude of times, but this new SB's version sounded mmm-mmm good. I think it has a lot to do with the at-long-last return of superb drumming to Robyn's songs. Go Morris! /hal PS - The Sopranos episode tonight was gut-wrenching. What a great fucking show. "Twin Peaks set in New Jersey" - David Chase ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 10:55:46 +0000 (GMT) From: Michael R Godwin Subject: Re:beautiful boy On Sun, 18 Mar 2001, Russ Reynolds wrote: > Ringo's next try is of course another All Starr Band tour. The 2001 > incarnation includes Greg Lake, Roger Hodgson and Ian Hunter. Now, if > Ringo was a member of Ian Hunter's band instead of the other way > around we'd really have something. Hunter has kept such a low profile > since about the time Mick Ronson died I may have to see this show just > to verify he is actualy alive. Wonder if they'll also do "21st Century > Schizoid Man".... As long as they do "Once bitten twice shy", "Roll away the stone" and "All the young dudes" I'll be happy! - - Mike "last saw Ian Hunter in 1974" Godwin PS Who Roger Hodgson? Must be a keyboard player, presumably. ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V10 #81 *******************************