From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V12 #317 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Saturday, August 23 2003 Volume 12 : Number 317 Today's Subjects: ----------------- re: "oh this stuff totally blows - stop already" ["Rex.Broome" ] A nice obituary [Eb ] Re: top 40 of the 80's [Dolph Chaney ] 40 into 80 goes twice [Tom Clark ] Twang & Jang ["Rex.Broome" ] Greendale: Prog rock, now with 98% fewer chords! ["Rex.Broome" ] Re: 80s, we got 80s! aka: a straggler ["Roberta Cowan" ] re: reap ["Marc Holden" ] XP (IE) Question [Mike Swedene ] Re: XP (IE) Question [Ken Weingold ] REAP [Ken Weingold ] Reap #2 ["Glen Uber" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 13:50:15 -0700 From: "Rex.Broome" Subject: re: "oh this stuff totally blows - stop already" Jeme: >>Belinda Carlisle -- Heaven On Earth >>Men Without Hats -- Pop Goes The World >>"Weird Al" Yankovic -- In 3-D Dude... seriously? On the other hand, Mike G: >>John Cougar Mellencamp, Scarecrow This I can kind of get behind (although I'd go for "Lonesome Jubilee")... it's worth remembering that while your average Mellencamp or Petty fan might've thought all the other bands we've been listing were total fags, both artists put out solid rock records that sound better today for what were then retro-seeming tendencies. They would be more likely to get played alongside Huey Lewis than Mission of Burma, but that doesn't make those records bad. Ken: >>A side-note: Dylan (Self Portrait, Planet Waves), Neil Young (the 80s), and >>Lou Reed (more or less between the Velvets and Blues Mask) all went through >> extended periods where their fans and critics in general said "oh this stuff >>totally blows - stop already" Add Bowie, too, although the when and how of his various fall-offs and comebacks would probably inspire more debate than the other three. (To me he's never recovered from Let's Dance, but various of his recent albums have their devotees out there.) I read a review of Greendale yesterday that called it Neil's 28th studio album, and I thought, whoa, surely more than that? But I did a quick mental tally and it's actually *less* than that since Time Fades Away and arguably Rust Never Sleeps, as well as big chunks of several other records, are not studio recordings at all. It would be proper to say it's his 28th record of, erm, mostly original material under his own name. Still seems like less than you'd expect. But I'll actually talk about the record under separate cover. - -Rex ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 13:55:37 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: top 40 of the 80's >Daryl: >Pere Ubu -- The Tenement Year Ah, so there's SOMEONE else who remembers this record. :) >Mike Godwin: >Bonnie Tyler - Faster than the speed of night You're a brave, brave man. Though I think Nora still may be *the* bravest, for listing Lionel Richie. ;) >Rex, on Dolph: > >>King's X - Gretchen Goes To Nebraska > >>The Choir - Wide-Eyed Wonder > >Oooh! Christian-Rock alert! He listed a Daniel Amos album too, didn't he? Eb ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 13:57:54 -0700 From: Eb Subject: A nice obituary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: WESLEY WILLIS 1963-2003 A letter from one of his biggest fans, Jello Biafra: We lost Wesley Willis some time before 9PM Chicago time August 21, 2003. Word is he died peacefully. The likely cause may be heart failure. Wes had been battling leukemia for less than a year. No services are planned as of yet. There will probably be a memorial concert, or at least a gathering in his honor in Chicago in the near future. We will let you know. Wesley will go down as one of the most unique songwriters and entertainment personalities in history. His music, lyrics, drawings, insight and the way he put them together are like no one else. Ever. There will never be another. As I got to know Wes, what really struck me was his sheer will power, his unrelenting drive to succeed and over come his horrifically poor background, child abuse, racism, chronic schizophrenia and obesity among other things. He was the most courageous person I have ever known. Yet through it all he had such a deep, all-encompassing love of life. Little things, big things. He loved bus rides. He loved watching trains. He loved writing songs about how much he loved his friends. He loved travelling to new towns so he could headbutt new friends. Is there any band he saw that escaped being in their own song about how much he loved their show? He was so warm, so sweet, so giving. He could be a handful when he came to visit; but as soon as he left, we'd miss him immediately. As his long time friend Dennis Cooper said, "No More Demons." The voices in Wesley's head can't yell at him and put him down any more. Wes was deeply religious. He was afraid that if he died he would no longer get to go see bands play. If there is a hereafter I hope he's right up front as Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, his beloved Otis Redding and his dear friend Bradley from Sublime "storm the stage" as the crowd "roars like a sea monster." All opening for Wesley, of course. It will be hard now that he's gone, but I'm not going to let myself stop enjoying the funny stuff, or the look on people's faces when they first hear "Rock n Roll McDonalds," or the memories of the good times and Wesley's many adventures. He wouldn't want it any other way. There are many down times when all I have to do is think of one of Wes's songs, something he said or simply marvel at his Wesley-isms, and the clouds part and a smile comes to my face. I think he does that for a lot of people. He always will. Rock over London Rock on Chicago Sail on, Wes. I love you. Jello Biafra 8-22-03 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 16:36:52 -0500 From: Dolph Chaney Subject: Re: top 40 of the 80's At 03:55 PM 8/22/2003, Eb wrote: >>Daryl: >>Pere Ubu -- The Tenement Year > >Ah, so there's SOMEONE else who remembers this record. :) Me too! It didn't make my 40-bust, but I totally dig that one. Eb, quoting Rex, re me: >> >>King's X - Gretchen Goes To Nebraska >> >>The Choir - Wide-Eyed Wonder >> >>Oooh! Christian-Rock alert! > >He listed a Daniel Amos album too, didn't he? I did, I did. I'm glad other fegfolk even know who the Choir and DA are! - -- dolph who heads to divorce court September 9th ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 14:44:55 -0700 From: Tom Clark Subject: 40 into 80 goes twice Off the top of my head... Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians - Element of Light The Replacements - Pleased To Meet Me (close 2nd: Hootenanny) Pixies - Surfer Rosa Joe Jackson - Night & Day Graham Parker - Another Grey Area King Crimson - Discipline Roxy Music - Avalon Husker Du - Flip Your Wig Mudhoney - Mudhoney Black Flag - Who's Got The 10 1/2?* Butthole Surfers - Locust Abortion Technician Big Black - Atomizer Minutemen - Three Way Tie For Last Camper Van Beethoven - Key Lime Pie The Coolies - Doug The Soft Boys - Underwater Moonlight Julian Cope - Fried ABC - The Lexicon of Love Dinosaur, Jr. - Bug Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking R.E.M. - Murmur They Might Be Giants - They Might Be Giants Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense The Church - Starfish The dB's - Like This Donald Fagen - The Nightfly Zappa - You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore (Volume 3) The Jesus & Mary Chain - Darklands Joy Division - Substance X - More Fun in The New World Love & Rockets - Earth Sun Moon Lyle Lovett - Pontiac Marshall Crenshaw - Marshall Crenshaw Nick Lowe - Nick The Knife Public Image, Ltd. - Album The Pursuit Of Happiness - Love Junk Rockpile - Seconds of Pleasure Squeeze - East Side Story Violent Femmes - Hallowed Ground Devo - Freedom of Choice Wow, that was tougher than I thought. This looks like a good playlist for the ol' iPod! - -tc *answer: Kira's got the 10 1/2! ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 16:06:00 -0700 From: "Rex.Broome" Subject: Twang & Jang Ross T. on Luxor: >>I think one reason the "blues" numbers work better here is the continuing >>influence of "Time Out of Mind" and "Love and Theft." That's a great observation that hadn't occurred to me before. I think that there's also been a greater consciousness of roots forms in general over the past few years, alt-country and "O Brother" being the big avatars thereof, but throw in the reissue of Harry Smith's Anthology, some of the bluesier Garage Revival bands, the PBS "Root Music" series, and a few traditional-cover-heavy records (Dylan, Cat Power, Kristin Hersh, Be Good Tanyas, Nick Cave, Bragg/Wilco/Guthrie, an unheard but nifty Snakefarm record, the Dirt Band's Circle Vol III and reissue of the original, etc. etc. etc.)... I mean, this stuff has always been around; a lot of the bands showing up on our '80's lists did country-esque numbers, but I think those songs were often viewed as goofs or borderline parodies. In today's environment, a folk- or blues-inflected number is more likely to be taken seriously... if not all too often *too* seriously. Some alt-country strikes me as almost dangerously earnest about its "noble" heritage, to the point where you just wanna shake those guys and say, "Dude, there's been a cornpone* component to it from day one, loosen up!" _____ JeFFrey: >>of course, the move away from the arpeggiated style of their early records >>(I refuse to use the awful j-word), and on recent albums, their reluctance to >>use Mike Mills' intertwining vocal lines - presumably to avoid stagnation, >>but strengths are strengths, even ifthey become overfamiliar through >>influence (eighties, j-word...). Reading that sort of makes me want to reclaim that word as has been done with various racial epithets. And why not? I'm jangly and I'm PROUD! I've got a Rickenbacker and I'm going to USE it! Out my way if ya don't want yo ass arpeggiated! - -Rex "alt-jangly, jangle with attitude, etc." Broome ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 16:34:47 -0700 From: "Rex.Broome" Subject: Greendale: Prog rock, now with 98% fewer chords! Ross on Greendale: >>?Spoilers? I know, that's weird, huh? I did that when I reviewed the live show, too. Consider the warning in effect for the below as well. >>Over all, it seems not so much like a rock record (tho there are some great >>one-guitar jams) as a very interesting performance which *feels* like rock, sort of >>like "Songs for Drella" (but not that good--that was very good). Agreed, although if anything it's more like Reed's "New York", which is more of a rock record than "Drella". Both "New York" and "Greendale" have a feeling that the music is there to support the lyrics, and the lyrics to both are comments by veteran artists on "current" affairs (whereas "Drella" was a period piece/reminscince) and highlight areas where these "old guys" are still engaging the modern world (or trying to, sometimes laughably). The three-piece Crazy Horse is okay for most of thus material, although I'm surprised he billed it as Crazy Horse without Sampedro. The extra guitar would've allowed for som more dynamics and textures on some of the longer pieces (they need 'em). But it's a really raw recording, even by Neil's standards. >>I like the fact that some of the most exciting songs don't deal w/ major action, >>i.e. the service for a dead cop is more gripping than the scene where he's shot. That eulogy song ("Carmichael") is my favorite piece on the record; a close runner-up would be the acoustic number "Bandit" which has more of a song-like structure than most of the two-chord rambles, featuring an actual chorus (and a gorgeous one at that). Some reviews have panned that song as hippie-idealistic, but (A) it's actually really downbeat with a semi-positive refrain, and (B) it's Neil Young, whaddaya want? That said, the "finale" is godawful and hypocritical and counter to the more nuanced stuff before it. Skip it unless you really wanna hear a guy who collects vintage gas-guzzling cars get all morally indignant about Big Oil. Anyhow, it's flawed as hell but I find myself fairly involved in it... maybe even moreso due to its problematic nature. You kind of expect that from Neil, but it hasn't been in evidence for a while. It'll be interesting to see how it goes down. Some reviews have been glowing, others vicious... and that makes it an even more polarizing record than any of his others (usually critics are fast to agree when his albums are either great or terrible, although almost universal revisions occur on some (Tonight's the Night) and not on others (Trans)). Well, I know you'd all care. Interestingly the cover art is far less lame than usual, despite the fact that it's designed by the same guy who did the hideous/hilarious cover to Zuma. As a result I was able to buy a Neil Young t-shirt which is *actually aesthetically inoffensive* at the concert. Don't worry, there were some thoroughly fugly ones available too. - -Rex *cornpone... is there anything else that gets the suffix "-pone" other than corn? Shouldn't there be? Could disco be considered "cheesepone"? ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2003 11:39:07 +1200 From: grutness@surf4nix.com (James Dignan) Subject: Re: 80s, we got 80s! >>>R.E.M. Life's Rich Pageant > >Wow, you don't see that one on a lot of people's top 5 REM album lists, I almost picked it - it was a toss up between that and Fables ot R. Didn't realise it was disliked by the true faithful. I hipe someone is compiling and tallying the lists... Jeme's one kinda weirded me out a bit at first, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. And there were some interesting some forgotten/unlikely names coming through it. Whoda thought anyone would remember Peter Schilling? De-lurking Daryl added: >Split Enz -- True Colours was this released in the 80s overseas then? It was definitely 1979 here in NZ. James James Dignan, Dunedin, New Zealand -.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.- =-.-=-.-=-.- You talk to me as if from a distance .-=-.-=-.-=-. -=-. And I reply with impressions chosen from another time .-=- .-=-.-=-.-=-.-=- (Brian Eno - "By this River") -.-=-.-=-.-=-.-= ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 17:03:10 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: 80s, we got 80s! >Whoda thought anyone would remember Peter Schilling? I remember reading a really infuriating quote from that guy about his one hit...he was explaining the genesis of the song, and yet made *no reference at all* to the Bowie tune. And then he said something about how he just pulled the name "Major Tom" out of the air, and could have called the character something else just as easily. What a blatant liar. Eb ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 20:44:58 -0400 From: "Roberta Cowan" Subject: Re: 80s, we got 80s! aka: a straggler OK, here's some of what I listened to a lot in the 80's. Hey to delurker Daryl too since Mike W. isn't around to do it. 8-) Roberta Laurie Anderson--Big Science David Bowie--Scary Monsters Kate Bush--The Dreaming Chills--Kaleidoscope World The Church--Heyday Cocteau Twins--Treasure Elvis Costello & the Attractions--Imperial Bedroom Dream Syndicate--The Days of Wine and Roses Eurythmics--In the Garden Feelies--Only Life Peter Gabriel--Peter Gabriel (Melt) Michael Hedges--Aerial Boundaries Robyn Hitchcock--I Often Dream of Trains Jazz Butcher Conspiracy--Sex & Travel/A Scandal In Bohemia King Crimson--Discipline Love & Rockets--7th Dream of Teenage Heaven John Martyn--Grace & Danger Monochrome Set--Eligible Bachelors Bill Nelson--The Love That Whirls (Diary of a Thinking Heart) Sinead O'Connor--The Lion & the Cobra Opal--Happy Nightmare Baby Sam Phillips--The Indescribable Wow Pixies--Surfer Rosa Plan 9--Dealing With the Dead Psychedelic Furs--Talk Talk Talk Rain Parade--Emergency Third Rail Power Trip R.E.M.--Reckoning Split Enz--Time & Tide Stone Roses--Stone Roses David Sylvian--Secrets of the Beehive Talking Heads--Remain In Light Teardrop Explodes--Kilimanjaro Richard & Linda Thompson--Shoot Out the Lights Three O'Clock--Arrive Without Travelling This Mortal Coil--It'll End In Tears Throwing Muses--Throwing Muses Tiny Lights--Prayer For the Halcyon Fear Pete Townshend--Empty Glass Violent Femmes--Violent Femmes XTC--English Settlement Some Runners Up: Bongwater--Double Bummer//Camper van Beethoven//Slickee Boys--Cybernetic Dreams of Pi//Bevis Frond//Lloyd Cole & the Commotions//Undertones //In Love With These Times (Flying Nun comp)//Roches--Keep On Doing//Let's Active//Love Tractor//Pylon//Lonely Is An Eyesore//Died Pretty//Smithereens//Richard Barone//Henry Badowski//Dumptruck//Woodentops//The Cure--Faith & 17 Seconds//Legendary Pink Dots//Killing Joke//Game Theory//The Fall//Mekons//The The//Depeche Mode--Black Celebration and of course Roxy Music--Avalon//plus cheers to Mike G. for choosing Live Love Larf & Loaf and to Jeffrey for remembering Plasticland--I honestly think I spent the 80's listening to music constantly. Every minute of every day. I enjoy silence more now than I did then. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 17:56:37 -0700 (PDT) From: John Barrington Jones Subject: Re: 80s, we got 80s! aka: a straggler On Fri, 22 Aug 2003, Roberta Cowan wrote: > Three O'Clock--Arrive Without Travelling Oh wow - this was a great one! Did this ever come out on CD? Its not in print these days, is it? I find myself wishing I hadn't jumped the gun and made a slipshod off the cuff list based on what was in my head while I was at work. I should've written from home, and taken a good look at my cds before posting. There is some great stuff that I've seen on others lists that makes me want to go back and give some of these cds some listens. I know its a boring, cliched thread, but I still listen to 80's music quite a bit. I just recently added the Style Council box set to my iPod, and get a little nostalgic whenever songs from it pop up. That, and I just found The Stranglers-Aural Sculpture on usenet not too long ago - I never remember liking that album back when I bought it, but it sure is enjoyable today. I can hear the Laurie Latham sheen applied, but back then it bothered me - - now I just take it in stride. Have a good weekend! TAFKA Lobstie ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 18:03:25 -0700 (PDT) From: John Barrington Jones Subject: speaking of living my life in the 80's... someone has been posting their entire collection of 45's in the alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1980s newsgroup. He has encoded them at 192kbps, and the quality on most of the files is very good, with just a hint here and there of vinyl noise. I've missed a few days of posting, but have still managed to grab about 150 or so of these records. There is ALOT of good stuff in there - stuff that I had wanted to hear back then, but never did. Alot of 80's punk, too - what a time trip to hear DOA's "Fucked Up Ronnie" or Angry Samoans "Todd Killings". Its not all punk, though - lots of stuff like Comsat Angels, The The, Joy Division, Eyeless IN Gaza, Mission Of Burma, Pylon, Throbbing Gristle, Bow Wow Wow, etc. If you are interested in a cdr of this stuff, let me know. I'd be glad to burn you a copy. Now, if I only I could find someone to digitize and post MY 45 collection. Its mostly indie from the 90's though. byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, =jbj= ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2003 03:33:08 +0200 From: Sebastian Hagedorn Subject: Re: The peanut gallery speaks (30% Baywatch content) - -- Tom Clark is rumored to have mumbled on Freitag, 22. August 2003 11:08 Uhr -0700 regarding Re: The peanut gallery speaks (30% Baywatch content): >> I don't get this sentiment, which seems to be prevalent in the US. They >> are still critically acclaimed in Europe, at least in Germany. > > So is David Hasselhoff! Where did you get that particular bit of info? What's true is that he used to be (and maybe still is) *popular* as both an actor and a singer. But I *never* read any positive reviews or articles about him ... I guess you were kidding? - -- Sebastian Hagedorn Ehrenfeldg|rtel 156, 50823 Kvln, Germany http://www.spinfo.uni-koeln.de/~hgd/ "Being just contaminates the void" - Robyn Hitchcock ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2003 03:23:43 EDT From: UglyNoraGrrl@aol.com Subject: Re: A nice obituary Eb forwarded Jello Biafra: > Rock over London > Rock on Chicago > Sail on, Wes. I love you. OK, that obit almost made me tear up. I never expected to be touched emotionally by anything about Wesley Willis or anything written by Jello Biafra. Later, Nora ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2003 00:36:17 -0700 (PDT) From: Capuchin Subject: Re: A nice obituary On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 UglyNoraGrrl@aol.com wrote: > OK, that obit almost made me tear up. I never expected to be touched > emotionally by anything about Wesley Willis or anything written by Jello > Biafra. Huh. Clearly you didn't listen to Dead Kennedys' Straight A's when you were fourteen. Man, that you used to get me every time. J. - -- _______________________________________________ Capuchin capuchin@bitmine.net Jeme A Brelin ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2003 10:50:00 -0700 From: "Marc Holden" Subject: re: reap >wesley willis, 40 Man, that really is sad. Wesley was a really nice guy. I dug up an old post I sent to the friend who first mentioned Wesley to me. He never did come back to the area. Later, Marc - ----- Original Message ----- From: Marc Holden To: Ron Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2002 1:35 AM Subject: Wesley Willis Thanks for the heads up on Wesley. I started picking up some of his stuff the week you mentioned him. I have about 8 {20, Aug '03} albums now. He played here last night. I bought some stuff from him and hung out with him after the show. He asked if he could stay at my house when he comes back here in August. Thanks dude. Later, Marc This rock band played at Nita's Hideaway. About 300 people were at the rock show The jam session was awesome. It whipped a camel's ass. Wes ley Will is Wes ley Will is Wes ley Will is Wes ley Will is The rock band played it on. The rock band stole the stage. The crowd roared like a sea monster. The rock jam session whipped a monkey's ass. Wes ley Will is Wes ley Will is Wes ley Will is Wes ley Will is The rock show was over at last. A lot of rock fans met Wesley. He is a good person to the max. I like him a lot like shredded wheat. Wes ley Will is Wes ley Will is Wes ley Will is Wes ley Will is Rock over London, Rock on Tempe. Greyhound, Leave the driving to us. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2003 11:46:46 -0700 (PDT) From: Mike Swedene Subject: XP (IE) Question Sorry about this mates... My dad's computer (running XP) keeps going into "VIEW OFFLINE" for his IE. Is there anyway to disable this? I checked Microsoft's websight and they said they are working on a fix. Any suggestions? mike ps -> going to see "EVIL DEAD THE MUSICAL" In toronto tonight. :0) ===== - --------------------------------------------- Rebuilding my websight: http://www34.brinkster.com/bflomidy/ _____________________________________________ __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2003 14:54:16 -0400 From: Ken Weingold Subject: Re: XP (IE) Question On Sat, Aug 23, 2003, Mike Swedene wrote: > Sorry about this mates... > > My dad's computer (running XP) keeps going into "VIEW > OFFLINE" for his IE. Is there anyway to disable this? > I checked Microsoft's websight and they said they are > working on a fix. Any suggestions? Yeah, get him Firebird or Mozilla, both available from mozilla.org. I gave up on IE a long time ago for Windows. Never looked back. - -Ken ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2003 16:27:29 -0400 From: Ken Weingold Subject: REAP John Geoghan. Maybe there is a god afterall. :) - -Ken ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2003 13:45:32 -0700 From: "Glen Uber" Subject: Reap #2 Barry's dad, Bobby Bonds, 57. - -- Cheers! - -g- "Soylens Viridis Homines Est" ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V12 #317 ********************************