From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V12 #354 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Monday, September 22 2003 Volume 12 : Number 354 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: sitar & banjo [grutness@surf4nix.com (James Dignan)] RE: Flame Canada ["Bachman, Michael" ] RE: Slapp Happy ["da9ve stovall" ] Blame Canada ["Iosso, Ken" ] When My Crab Went On a Date ["Gene Hopstetter, Jr." ] RE: Blame Canada ["Bachman, Michael" ] RE: Blame Canada ["Iosso, Ken" ] <> not found ["Rex.Broome" ] RE: Whoa, Canada/TbMnBlG [Sweet & Tender Hooligan ] re: Whoa, Canada/TbMnBlG [Aaron Mandel ] RE: Whoa, Canada/TbMnBlG ["Brian Huddell" ] Re: fegmaniax-digest V12 #353 [Devin Lee Ens ] re: Whoa, Canada/TbMnBlG [Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey ] Cher 3, Springsteen 0, Rolling Stones 0 [Eb ] Radiohead [Eb ] REAP [Eb ] RE: Whoa, Canada/TbMnBlG [Capuchin ] RE: Whoa, Canada/TbMnBlG [Capuchin ] RE: Whoa, Canada/TbMnBlG [UglyNoraGrrl@aol.com] RE: Whoa, Canada/TbMnBlG ["Brian Huddell" ] Re: Radiohead [Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey ] Backing bands (was RE: Radiohead) [Capuchin ] RE: Backing bands (was RE: Radiohead) [Sweet & Tender Hooligan A friend just played me a tape with a combination of sitar and banjo on >it. Believe it or not, it sounded very good. I know Stewart is learning >the banjo, so it might be of interest to him. I don't have the title or >artist name - my friend is vague - but can get it if anyone is >interested. From Appalachia to Himalaya might be a good title... you should hunt down a copy of Pentangle's version of the trad "House Carpenter", from about 1970. Main instruments were sitar and banjo. And the lastest, erm, epistle, from the Church of Ultimate Bewilderment was hilarious! 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: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 08:27:21 -0400 From: "Bachman, Michael" Subject: RE: Flame Canada On Sat, 20 Sep 2003 08:51:04 -0700, Eb wrote: > But let's not forget Cowboy Junkies, Jane Siberry, Robbie Robertson, > the Guess Who, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Nelly Furtado, Skip Spence, > Sarah McLachlan, Nomeansno, Jale and the new whiz-kids Hot Hot Heat. > Though I'm sure some of you *would* like to forget a few of those > names. ;) I would add cub to the list and Blue Rodeo. The great jazz pianist Oscar Peterson is also from Canada. Michael B. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 07:14:06 -0700 From: "da9ve stovall" Subject: RE: Slapp Happy >From: "Gene Hopstetter, Jr." >Subject: Dueling Dagmars >I like Slapp Happy a whole lot. I think Dagmar Krause's singing should >be played on public speakers at all times across the world. But why >did they record Casablanca Moon twice? Any ideas? http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=CASS805121333&sql=Adauvad1kv8wj or http://tinyurl.com/o7sd ...does a better job of explaining it than I could. The album cover pictured there is the one for the CD of Acnalbasac Noom, drawn by Chris Cutler IIRC - the Casablanca Moon cover is just a group photo. >I prefer the Acnalbasac Noom version, btw. But it's all good. I'm split almost evenly on Moon/Noom - which is really a testament to Moon, since Noom had several years' head-start in my ears. The biggest musical difference between the two (besides recording quality and some arrangment points) is the improved bridge in "The Drum" on the later recording. >From: Eb >I've never heard a note of them, but I'm told that if I like the Art >Bears, I *must* get the albums by the offshoot News from Babel. (Feverishly checking Allmusic...) Mmmm - sounds right up my alley. I wonder how this has escaped my notice. >> This has concluded the list of Canadian Acts That Don't >> Suck. Please remember to tip your waitresses. The Rheostatics. http://www.chartattack.com/top50/all100.html http://www.chartattack.com/DAMN/2000/06/3001.cfm For a 'cult' band to place consistently so highly in this kind of list means, well, I dunno what it means, but I'm happy they're there. http://www.drog.com/artists/rheostatics.htm and http://www.drog.com/sounds.htm . . . have a few streaming audio files, though the jumbled text on the second page is confusing - there are more Rheos tracks there than on the first, though these wouldn't be my first choices to introduce someone to the band. . . . http://misnomer.dru.ca/2001/11/entries.html . . . has a link to an MP3 of "Rain, Rain, Rain" from Whale Music (and a couple others), which MIGHT be one of my first such choices. Dunno if the link is still live. . . . da9ve ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 09:22:58 -0500 From: "Iosso, Ken" Subject: Blame Canada First of all I hate BNL with a passion. They're bland musically and lyrically and project a smugness that makes me nauseous. But, Canada has produced Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Kathleen Edwards, and the Band. None of whom suck. Ken Iosso - -----Original Message----- From: Capuchin [mailto:capuchin@bitmine.net] Sent: Friday, September 19, 2003 9:36 PM To: Nerdy Groovers Subject: Re: SF in TO On Fri, 19 Sep 2003, Stewart C. Russell wrote: > Can I just say I was in the same room as Steven Page last night? He's a > member of the wind co-op of which I'm a director. > > I suspect I might like BNL, since I like TMBG. Any recommendations? I really like TMBG, but I find BNL just too sickly sappy and faux soulful. They want to be TMBG and Squeeze or something (and, if you ask me, TMBG out-Squeezed Squeeze with Pet Name) and, um, aren't. I'm sitting here trying to express a qualitative difference in certain things that I see all the time, but can't express. Canadian music is almost totally and consistently of this one quality for which I have no name. It's a sort of direct-to-video, carob-filled, decaffeinated, Big Fun, don't-think-about-it-too-much kind of quality. I don't have a word for it, but pretty much all Canadian music falls into that category... along with the Amiga, Avon products, Washington state, Jay Leno, and Tour Easy recumbents. Anyway, I'm going to descend back into tech hell. I really wanted out of this shit. See y'all later. J. - -- _______________________________________________ Capuchin capuchin@bitmine.net Jeme A Brelin ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 09:30:18 -0500 From: "Gene Hopstetter, Jr." Subject: When My Crab Went On a Date I found a Robyn short story generator: Here are some other generators: Here's my story: When My Crab Went On a Date One day I took my crab outside for a little vibrating. I got super luminous so I went inside to get some ice cold lager . Then I remembered I left my crab outside. I went outside as fast as I could, but I was too late. He had disintegrated away. I knew he would go to the potting shed so I went there with my mom. I looked and I looked until I found him. He was dating a prawn, so I took him away from the prawn, but he phoned after me. I brought the prawn home with my crab. He lived happier then any crab ever! ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 10:52:12 -0400 From: "Bachman, Michael" Subject: RE: Blame Canada I might get flamed on this one, but Diana Krall should go on the list. True, she's no Sarah Vaughn or Carmen McRae, but she does have talent. She can play a pretty good jazz piano and her voice is more than passable. I don't like all of her cd's but her tribute to the Nat King Cole Trio, "All For You" is damn good IMHO. The latest crop of female jazz singers over the past 10 years has been impressive. Stacey Kent, DK, Karrin Allyson, Cassandra Wilson, Tierney Sutton. Stacey is also a native Canadian who now lives in England. Michael ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 10:11:48 -0500 From: "Iosso, Ken" Subject: RE: Blame Canada Oh...and Bachman Turner Overdrive!!!!:) Ken Iosso - -----Original Message----- From: Bachman, Michael [mailto:Michael.Bachman@fanucrobotics.com] Sent: Monday, September 22, 2003 9:52 AM To: Nerdy Groovers Subject: RE: Blame Canada I might get flamed on this one, but Diana Krall should go on the list. True, she's no Sarah Vaughn or Carmen McRae, but she does have talent. She can play a pretty good jazz piano and her voice is more than passable. I don't like all of her cd's but her tribute to the Nat King Cole Trio, "All For You" is damn good IMHO. The latest crop of female jazz singers over the past 10 years has been impressive. Stacey Kent, DK, Karrin Allyson, Cassandra Wilson, Tierney Sutton. Stacey is also a native Canadian who now lives in England. Michael ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 10:03:54 -0700 From: "Rex.Broome" Subject: <> not found Gnat: >>p.s. On another subject, I bought a Geraldine Fibbers record ("the orange >>one" as Carla Bozulich called it) and I love it - any other recommendations >>as regards their other stuff would be welcome. There are really only three full-lengths, one of which is a (very worthy) odds-n-sods comp. Just get 'em all. There are a few other EP's and stuff including one very nice promo of a live set. The Scarnella record (Carla & Nels) is pretty experimental and never really caught fire with me, although live they were pretty fascinating. Turns out Carla's version of Willie Nelson's Red Headed Stranger is finally being released tomorrow. I've been waiting for that one for a good long while. And, erm, Nat? No Neil Young? What is it, the usual issues? We can help. >>the Sonic Youth T-shirt that I bought when I saw them in Leeds, U.K. in 1993, >>and left in Ann Arbor when I moved. The shirt is way too big, stinks of >>turpentine because my mom wore it when she was doing artwork, and it's >>really ugly, but I'm still very happy to have it back. I wore my first SY shirt to death and I wish I still had it... from the Goo tour... black with a Pettibone drawing, chick in jail with a gun and the caption "We don't like the grub in here". Memories indeed. About half of that show is available on the EP of "Dirty Boots". It was held in a gymnasium on the UC Irvine Campus, but I've noticed recently that those live tracks are usually listed as being recorded at "Irvine Meadows", which is funny. To me. ____________ Barbara: >>A friend just played me a tape with a combination of sitar and banjo on >>it. Believe it or not, it sounded very good. Oh, I believe it. They're actually similar sounding as lead instruments. Banjo has only one "drone" string to the sitar's seven thousand or whatever, but it gets a lot of mileage out of it. _________ JeFFrey: >>Anyway - it probably helps that Wire Mk. 3 rocks impossibly harder than >>any bunch of guys in their 50s have a right to be expected to - it's rather >>laughable what some of those folks half their age think being loud and >>aggressive is. Not to mention that Wire does that, impeccably, while still >>being smart, even melodic. Oh hell, it's fantastic stuff, but I didn't expect it to catch one with the kids because of, well... the whole "smart" thing, and the "old" thing. But I can only vaguely guess what the "kids" are into these days, other than of course the Powerpuff Girls and Arthur and stuff. Actually, my older daughter really likes those new Wire records when I play them. Jeff D: >>Back to the Barenaked Ladies/They Might Be Giants question that started this: Thank GOD someone finally spelled out what BNL stood for. Now I kind of follow the Canadian thread. I think what came out of it was ultimately that Canadian acts are either quite slight indeed or just untouchable primal forces of art and emotion, with little middle ground at all. Divvy 'em up as you please. Oh, and good to see Miles back. - -Rex ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 10:08:47 -0700 (PDT) From: Capuchin Subject: re: Whoa, Canada/TbMnBlG On Sun, 21 Sep 2003, Jeff Dwarf wrote: > I'm just surprise that 24 hours later no one's mentioned > Skinny Puppy! I'm not. > Back to the Barenaked Ladies/They Might Be Giants question that started > this: it seems like a reasonable comparison to me, in that they are both > artists that if I'm listening to them straight through, after 3-4 songs > they start grating on my nerves tremendously (Primus effects me the same > way). Is that all it takes to be a "reasonable comparison"? > I think both have some decent tunes and can be funny, but both also lack > a sense of gravity attatch that keeps them from being too cloying after > too much exposure, unlike other frequently funny artists like Bauhaus. > Or whatshisface. I have no freakin' idea where folks get the idea that They Might Be Giants is a FUNNY band. Barenaked Ladies TRIES to be funny (and fails, natch). Their songs are either just sentimental pop-culture worship (Yoko Ono, Brian Wilson, One Week, etc.) or strings of bad punchlines (If I Had a Million Dollars) or obvious and crappy sentimentality (Shoebox, Old Apartment). They Might Be Giants write about existential dread, the eternally looming specter of death, inevitable pain and loss, and, occassionally, longing for a world in which those forces do not rule and the delusional modes we must adopt in order to sustain sanity. (I think it's fair to except the entire album "No!" in this analysis.) There's nothing funny about most They Might Be Giants songs and I really have no idea where folks get this idea or why it persists. Any insights would be helpful. J. - -- _______________________________________________ Capuchin capuchin@bitmine.net Jeme A Brelin ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 10:59:09 -0700 From: Sweet & Tender Hooligan Subject: RE: Whoa, Canada/TbMnBlG > I have no freakin' idea where folks get the idea that > They Might Be Giants is a FUNNY band. [snip] > > They Might Be Giants write about existential dread, > the eternally looming specter of death, inevitable pain > and loss, and, occassionally, longing for a world in > which those forces do not rule and the delusional > modes we must adopt in order to sustain sanity. It's the sincerity that makes their songs funny. = s&th hooligan@apostate.com "You told her things, didn't you? You let her behind the curtain, didn't you? You let her behind the curtain, I know you did. You never let 'em behind the curtain, Will. You never let 'em see the little old man behind the curtain working the levers of the great and powerful Oz. They're all sisters, Willy. They aren't allowed back there. They mustn't see." - Paul Kirkwood, "Beautiful Girls" ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 13:15:00 -0500 From: "Iosso, Ken" Subject: RE: Whoa, Canada/TbMnBlG Capuchin wrote: "They Might Be Giants write about existential dread, the eternally looming specter of death, inevitable pain and loss, and, occassionally, longing for a world in which those forces do not rule and the delusional modes we must adopt in order to sustain sanity. (I think it's fair to except the entire album "No!" in this analysis.) There's nothing funny about most They Might Be Giants songs and I really have no idea where folks get this idea or why it persists. Any insights would be helpful." "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" is clever and funny and doesn't seem to touch on existential dread. "I Palindrome I" is a great song but it seems mostly to be a word game - very clever. Even in "Dead" - obviously about "eternally looming specter of death, inevitable pain and loss" they sneak weird, funny images or ideas in. "I didn't apologize for When I was eight and I made my younger brother Have to be my personal slave" is a funny sort of regret and it makes me laugh. The larger idea is maybe not so funny but if they were to sing about pain and death without a sense of humor I probably couldn't stand to listen to it. Kind of like Woody Allen once he got depressing and profound. He was more profound when he was funny. Hope this is helpful. Ken Iosso ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 14:19:11 -0400 (EDT) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: re: Whoa, Canada/TbMnBlG On Mon, 22 Sep 2003, Capuchin wrote: > There's nothing funny about most They Might Be Giants songs and I really > have no idea where folks get this idea or why it persists. "Istanbul", for one thing. I mean, you and I know it was a cover, but most people don't care, and a lot of them heard it before anything else by the band. That, and they're very whimsical. I think they do mean to be funny sometimes, and there's no harm in that; it does seem odd that they have a reputation for making "jokes" and, say, Eminem doesn't. A lot of their lyrics are *shaped* like jokes, but there's no punchline. a ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 13:21:50 -0500 From: "Brian Huddell" Subject: RE: Whoa, Canada/TbMnBlG Capuchin: > I have no freakin' idea where folks get the idea that They > Might Be Giants is a FUNNY band. I think it's because they work out of Brooklyn. Hasn't anybody else noticed that, almost without exception, bands from Brooklyn are hilariously funny? +brian in New Orleans ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 12:25:22 -0600 From: Devin Lee Ens Subject: Re: fegmaniax-digest V12 #353 Quoting fegmaniax-digest : > > Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 20:35:12 -0700 > From: glen (') > Subject: Re: Flame Canada > > On Sat, 20 Sep 2003 08:51:04 -0700, Eb wrote: > > > But let's not forget Cowboy Junkies, Jane Siberry, Robbie Robertson, > > the Guess Who, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Nelly Furtado, Skip Spence, > > Sarah McLachlan, Nomeansno, Jale and the new whiz-kids Hot Hot Heat. > > Though I'm sure some of you *would* like to forget a few of those > > names. ;) > > C'mon, people! Rick James! > > What about Moxy Fruvous? Gordon Lightfoot? The Band minus Levon Helm? > > Anybody remember a country band called Prairie Oyster. They were > Canucks, IIRC, and they were damn good. > Furnaceface, The Russian Futurists, Big Sugar, The Tragically Hip (even though I'm sick of them, I must give them their due), Diana Krall. Cockburn, however, I think is an example of what's bad about much Canadian music and the forced culture that CBC is often trying to doctor: contrived social conscience stuffiness. Gordon Downey's sometimes more of a historian than a poet, too. Mitchell and Cohen are great songwriters who let American producers ruin their music with cheesy, instantly dated, production. The Stampeders do suck, tho. - --devo beavo ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 13:52:53 -0500 From: Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey Subject: re: Whoa, Canada/TbMnBlG Quoting Capuchin : > They Might Be Giants write about existential dread, the eternally > looming > specter of death, inevitable pain and loss, and, occassionally, longing > for a world in which those forces do not rule and the delusional modes > we > must adopt in order to sustain sanity. Well, yes - but so did Woody Allen in his prime. Quod erat demonstrandum. I mean, it's not as if "being funny" and "writing about existential dread" etc. are mutually exclusive, are they. I think there's an artist we're all familiar with who might also be fairly described as doing both, often simultaneously. ..Jeff J e f f r e y N o r m a n The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com/ :: This album is dedicated to anyone who started out as an animal and :: winds up as a processing unit. :: --Soft Boys, note, _Can of Bees_ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 12:31:23 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Cher 3, Springsteen 0, Rolling Stones 0 Damn...I had 31 virus-generated email messages this morning. Never received that many at once before. I just wanted to pass on something which I learned last night, while watching a discussion about Emmy dresses: "Ivory is the new white." Thanks, Eb ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 12:39:27 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Radiohead http://www.eastbayexpress.com/issues/2003-09-17/music.html/1/index.html This rocks. :) Eb ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 13:08:58 -0700 From: Eb Subject: REAP LAUNCH Radio Networks Stop the presses: '80s metal band Quiet Riot has apparently called it quits after more than 20 years. Fans surfing to the band's website, quietriotforce.com, were undoubtedly crushed to find the following message: "Thank you for 20 years of rock and roll. Goodbye, Quiet Riot." LAUNCH contacted drummer Frankie Banali for confirmation, and he responded with a cryptic message of his own: "I can only confirm that Quiet Riot with members Kevin DuBrow, (bassist) Rudy Sarzo, (guitarist) Carlos Cavazo, and myself has ceased to exist and further dates will not be performed." Quiet Riot was formed in 1975 by lead singer Kevin DuBrow and future guitar legend Randy Rhoads (news). That band broke up after two albums that were issued only in Japan, but DuBrow put together a new version and released Metal Health in 1983. The record spawned a smash cover of Slade's "Come On Feel The Noize" and was the first metal album to hit Number One on the Billboard Top 200. The group suffered various ups and down--well, mostly downs--in the years since, firing DuBrow in the late '80s before breaking up once again. But he resurrected the group in 1991, turning out records on tiny labels throughout the rest of the decade. Their last release was 2001's appropriately-named Guilty Pleasures. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 13:29:40 -0700 (PDT) From: Capuchin Subject: RE: Whoa, Canada/TbMnBlG On Mon, 22 Sep 2003, Iosso, Ken wrote: > "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" is clever and funny and doesn't seem to > touch on existential dread. That's a cover, so I wouldn't really count it. > "I Palindrome I" is a great song but it seems mostly to be a word game - > very clever. Goodness, no. The wordplay is just the McGuffin. As in most of their songs (most of Linnel's songs, I would imagine) the cleverness is a kind of mask to cover the pain... like a fat kid who makes fun of himself or something. I Palindrome I is about dying parents with a tiny bit of Oedipal subtext. "See the medical chart with the random zigzag." > Even in "Dead" - obviously about "eternally looming specter of death, > inevitable pain and loss" they sneak weird, funny images or ideas in. I don't think they're funny. They're just metaphors for confused feelings and a sincere belief that people internally cheer at the suffering of others. > "I didn't apologize for When I was eight and I made my younger brother > Have to be my personal slave" is a funny sort of regret and it makes me > laugh. See above. > The larger idea is maybe not so funny but if they were to sing about > pain and death without a sense of humor I probably couldn't stand to > listen to it. And if you don't think about those things with a sense of humor, you're going to just break down and cry. I think They Might Be Giants are all about walking that line. > Kind of like Woody Allen once he got depressing and profound. He was > more profound when he was funny. I suppose we just insert humor into the grim in order to keep from losing our minds. So the dread isn't funny, but we laugh because we don't know what else to do. J. - -- _______________________________________________ Capuchin capuchin@bitmine.net Jeme A Brelin ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 13:31:34 -0700 (PDT) From: Capuchin Subject: RE: Whoa, Canada/TbMnBlG On Mon, 22 Sep 2003, Brian Huddell wrote: > Capuchin: > > I have no freakin' idea where folks get the idea that They > > Might Be Giants is a FUNNY band. > > I think it's because they work out of Brooklyn. Hasn't anybody else > noticed that, almost without exception, bands from Brooklyn are > hilariously funny? My two favorite Brooklyn artists are They Might Be Giants and Brian Dewan. I don't think either of them are funny. In fact, I think both of them are only barely keeping their shit together. J. - -- _______________________________________________ Capuchin capuchin@bitmine.net Jeme A Brelin ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 16:52:56 -0400 From: UglyNoraGrrl@aol.com Subject: RE: Whoa, Canada/TbMnBlG Jeme wrote: > My two favorite Brooklyn artists are They Might Be Giants > and Brian Dewan. > > I don't think either of them are funny. In fact, I think > both of them are only barely keeping their shit together. Wow! You really are a humorless asshole. gss is an asshole too but at least he has a sense of humor. I know you are just expressing an opinion but you really do have a talent for coming off like you are scolding others for not seeing your wisdom. Oh and fuck you for equating my home state with the Barenaked Ladies. Love and kisses, Nora ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 16:15:36 -0500 From: "Brian Huddell" Subject: RE: Whoa, Canada/TbMnBlG Cap: > > > I have no freakin' idea where folks get the idea that They > > > Might Be Giants is a FUNNY band. Me: > > I think it's because they work out of Brooklyn. Hasn't anybody else > > noticed that, almost without exception, bands from Brooklyn are > > hilariously funny? Cap: > My two favorite Brooklyn artists are They Might Be Giants and > Brian Dewan. > > I don't think either of them are funny. This message about Things That Are Not Funny comes from someone who apparently can't tell when he is being parodied ;-) +brian ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 17:40:47 -0500 From: Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey Subject: Re: Radiohead Quoting Eb : > http://www.eastbayexpress.com/issues/2003-09-17/music.html/1/index.html > > This rocks. :) My favorite sentence: "But slowly, they begin drawing. One kid starts scrawling a guitar; the girl next to him immediately begins copying -- an apt metaphor for music criticism." Snarkiness aside, though, to me the article actually proves the power of Radiohead's music, at least on an emotional level: most of the images *do* seem to fit the overall Radiohead, uh, vibe. Also (Critical Miscopying Notification Act compliance) _Hail to the Thief_ was supposed to be sorta a return to "guitar-based" "melodicism" - so what's with this critic's referring to _Kid A_ as "slightly *less* clinical"? Also: "clinical" is almost always a negative term in music criticism - except perhaps in describing Clinic, I suppose. And yet, "probing" and "incisive" are usually positive. Paging Dr. Freud... I think more records should be reviewed by fifth-graders armed with Sharpies. On another subject entirely: someone somewhere has to name their ad hoc group of backing singers, horn players, whatever, "the Synonyms." The barely visible minitrend of giving names to such assemblages is one that should be paid more attention to... ..Jeff J e f f r e y N o r m a n The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com/ :: sex, drugs, revolt, Eskimos, atheism lp: The Minders _Golden Street_ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 17:02:49 -0700 (PDT) From: Capuchin Subject: Backing bands (was RE: Radiohead) On Mon, 22 Sep 2003, Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey wrote: > On another subject entirely: someone somewhere has to name their ad hoc > group of backing singers, horn players, whatever, "the Synonyms." The > barely visible minitrend of giving names to such assemblages is one that > should be paid more attention to... You know, the moment I read "someone somewhere has to name their ad hoc group of backing...", I thought to myself "Oooh, we should make a thread of our favorites... I know mine." So I'm throwing in mine. Perhaps the all-time best (in my limited knowledge and memory) is certainly Violent Femmes' "The Horns of Dilemma". I also quite like the fact that They Might Be Giants (while we're on the subject) seems to have reverted back to using that name only for John and John (rather than the name of a full band as on the somewhat lamentable John Henry [a collection of good songs that makes a terrible album]) and calling their backing group (a new one superior to the old one in nearly every way) the "Band of Dans". It only makes sense for two front men named John to be backed up by three guys named Dan. J. - -- _______________________________________________ Capuchin capuchin@bitmine.net Jeme A Brelin ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 17:28:42 -0700 From: Sweet & Tender Hooligan Subject: RE: Backing bands (was RE: Radiohead) > Perhaps the all-time best (in my limited knowledge and memory) is > certainly Violent Femmes' "The Horns of Dilemma". For years, Steve Taylor's backup group was called "Some Band." It always gave me a chuckle to hear them introduced as "Steve Taylor and Some Band!" = s&th hooligan@apostate.com "You told her things, didn't you? You let her behind the curtain, didn't you? You let her behind the curtain, I know you did. You never let 'em behind the curtain, Will. You never let 'em see the little old man behind the curtain working the levers of the great and powerful Oz. They're all sisters, Willy. They aren't allowed back there. They mustn't see." - Paul Kirkwood, "Beautiful Girls" ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V12 #354 ********************************