From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V14 #201 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Saturday, August 20 2005 Volume 14 : Number 201 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: 3.5 minute chunks of dull ["Brian Nupp" ] Re: Pie finally and just say no to Wal-Mart. [Jeff ] RE: Pie finally and just say no to Wal-Mart. ["Bachman, Michael" ] in defense [Jill Brand ] Intriguing [Eb ] Re: PG [James Dignan ] Re: PG [Eb ] Re: in defense [Capuchin ] The new beginning. [Capuchin ] Re: in defense [Aaron Mandel ] Re: The new beginning. [Dolph Chaney ] Re: The new beginning. [Eb ] Re: The new beginning. [Jeff Dwarf ] Re: The new beginning. [Capuchin ] Re: in defense [Jeff Dwarf ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 13:52:52 -0400 From: "Brian Nupp" Subject: Re: 3.5 minute chunks of dull >Honestly, I'm not all that familiar with DCFC or Stars, but heard a >few from the latter that seemed enjoyable. > >-Steve Stars: Set Yourself On Fire, has been in very heavy rotation since April for me. Just back in from being out a week and still no new Robyn CD in my mailbox! :( - -Nuppy np: Minutemen 11-15-85 Jesus and Tequila ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 12:55:02 -0500 From: Jeff Subject: Re: Pie finally and just say no to Wal-Mart. On 8/19/05, Benjamin Lukoff wrote: > On Fri, 19 Aug 2005, Sumiko Keay wrote: > > > Mine arrived yesterday too -- I am also planning on listening to it > > over the weekend. > > > > Good job keeping out Walmart! My town has a gigantic Walmart -- what > > a blight it is. > > I bet the residents love the prices, though. Which are so low only because they pay their workers so little, and are lower when they first move to a locality, which allows them to drive competitors out of business, which increases unemployment in the area and decreases the taxbase - and which ultimately, for these and other reasons, means that Wal-Marts are a net *drain* on area economies.... What good is saving a buck on stuff if you're making less money as a direct result? Here's one study: . You can find a lot more. In other words, those residents *shouldn't* love those prices. Pretty much like playing the lottery: just because lots of (mostly) poor people do it, that doesn't mean it benefits them. - -- ...Jeff The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 13:20:30 -0500 From: "Gene Hopstetter, Jr." Subject: Re: the Holy Quartet of Awesomeness > From: "Michael Wells" > > Well, first off "COS" was their third album; the transition from > "Fly by > Night" was not such a large stylistic jump. OK, I got the album order incorrect (and then my argument fell apart completely). You may dock me 5 Rush Club Points (hey, I was busy at work yesterday). I think FBN is cringeworthy and that's probably why I forgot about it. > Plus I don't think you can rate an artist's 'best' work simply by > differences with the immediately > preceding work. It would be insane to downplay the excellence of > "Moving > Pictures" simply because it was part of a run of spectacular albums. Good points. I'll admit it; there are just some Rush albums I can't stomach (and Michael is a #1 Rush Superfan). But there is the Holy Quartet of Awesomeness: COS, Hems, PermWaves, MP. >> However, it's a proven scientific fact that "Hemispheres" is better >> than "Moving Pictures." > > But "A Farewell to Kings" is better than both, so there you go. AFTK better than Hemispheres? You're funny ;-). > Or at least a more handsome one [air band, that is]. Awesome. My moustache is just getting long enough to wax and curl, like Neil used to do. > Michael "break out the skull bong, and let's talk about it" Wells Damn straight. I'll turn on the black light. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 14:43:29 -0400 From: "Brian Nupp" Subject: Re: 3.5 minute chunks of dull I said: >Just back in from being out a week and still no new Robyn CD in my >mailbox! :( I stand corrected. Just came minutes ago. "Briggs" is better here than live. The piano was needed. Why why why redo "Madonna" and "Arms of Love" and others while beauties like Surfer Ghost have never seen a proper release. So far I like the experimentation on this disc. New ground. - -Nuppy ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 14:52:56 -0400 From: "Bachman, Michael" Subject: RE: Pie finally and just say no to Wal-Mart. On 8/19/05, Benjamin Lukoff wrote: > On Fri, 19 Aug 2005, Sumiko Keay wrote: > > > >Mine arrived yesterday too -- I am also planning on listening to it > > >over the weekend. > > > > >Good job keeping out Walmart! My town has a gigantic Walmart -- what > > >a blight it is. > > >I bet the residents love the prices, though. Jeff came back with: >Which are so low only because they pay their workers so little, and >are lower when they first move to a locality, which allows them to >drive competitors out of business, which increases unemployment in the >area and decreases the taxbase - and which ultimately, for these and >other reasons, means that Wal-Marts are a net *drain* on area >economies.... What good is saving a buck on stuff if you're making >less money as a direct result? Here's one study: . You can find a lot more. >In other words, those residents *shouldn't* love those prices. Pretty >much like playing the lottery: just because lots of (mostly) poor >people do it, that doesn't mean it benefits them. Exactly. Those are some of the same things we were talking about in my area. I also didn't want the value of my house to decrease with a Wal-Mart close by. They can stick it two exists south of mine where all the other large box stores are, Home Depot, Best Buy etc. I saw no reason to put it and a Lowes so close to exiting homes and our practically brand new high school. Michael B. NP Wayne Shorter - Night Dreamer ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 15:18:49 -0400 (EDT) From: Jill Brand Subject: you can always learn something new TC wrote: "Downtown L.A. Madam Wong's, someone puts a tape on - a couple of songs advertising the place next door Madam finds out she'll sure get sore Out come the coolies, swinging their lead get those rockers, take their heads those poor souls must pay the price they wind up in tomorrow's fried rice" I was a big-time Graham Parker fan back in the day (I swear to God, that's the first time I've used that expression...I think), but I never knew to whom that was referring. Thanks, Eb. Thanks, Tom. Jill ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 15:33:34 -0400 (EDT) From: Jill Brand Subject: in defense I think it was Ben who defended the Kinks list after I said that it was so constrained that it was no fun. First of all, I think Neil Ottenstein is a very wonderful, caring person and listdad (and someone I've broken bread with more than once). However, the culture of the list has developed as a result of its controlled enviromment and, as a result, little else is brought in. When a band/artist is in full swing, maybe it isn't necessary to stray from the topic of the band, but when nothing is happening, the recycling gets wearisome. But I still love Neil and the Kinks. I just think that the feglist is more fun all around. Oh, yeah, today's main thread on the Kinks list was "Kinks music to play while you are at the gym." 'nuff said. So will the Decemberists be the Death Cab of two years from now? Will people be dumping all over them, too? It's already started in the college scene. My friend's son told me that the Decemberists used to be good but now they are too cool. I'm not guilty of dumping on DCFC because it's the thing to do. I didn't know who they were until about 6 months ago. Jill, 54 hours and counting till Colin on the Cape (my friend Miriam figured out that he's going to use it as a tax write-off) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 15:42:12 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Intriguing http://uk.news.launch.yahoo.com/dyna/article.html?a=/19082005/344/ hunt-on-missing-singer-peyroux.html&e=l_news_dm A record label is hiring a private detective because one of its artists - - jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux - has gone missing. Peyroux's album Careless Love is set to crash into the top 10 on Sunday. But the singer, whose voice has been compared to Billie Holiday's, has disappeared and not turned up for any promotional work, according to Universal Classics. This is not the first time Peyroux has done a disappearing act - she walked away to spend seven years busking on the streets of Paris after the launch of her debut album, Dreamland. Peyroux, who was born in Georgia in the US, returned to the music scene but signed up with a small independent label, Rounder Records, which has since been involved in a licensing deal with Universal Music. The singer has played three concerts in the UK and her album has sold over 150,000 copies to date. Her track Don't Cry Baby was used in a million pound advertising campaign by beauty company Simple and her album has become Starbucks' UK best-seller. A spokeswoman at Universal said: "The enigmatic singer who tasted early success should be overjoyed with the album's chart position, but she has now returned to America and is proving impossible to track down. "Anxious record company bosses and her management company have been trying to contact her for nearly a week to no avail. She has simply disappeared. Universal have gone to great lengths to protect Madeleine from burnout through too much promotional work. "But it would seem that despite these efforts Ms Peyroux has had enough. She is that rare thing, an artist more interested in her music than in the glitz and glamour of showbusiness. This is one of those classic cases that proves that no matter what, talent will always out." ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Aug 2005 12:25:14 +1200 From: James Dignan Subject: Re: PG > >From: The Great Quail > >Eb writes, > > > >> And "San Jacinto" still raises the hair of my neck, every >time I hear > >> it. So do those *amazing* swirling vocal harmonies which >end "The > >> Family and the Fishing Net." And, darn it, why can't PG >write chord > >> progressions as interesting as "Wallflower" anymore? > > > >My thoughts exactly! (Er, I mean, "me too!") > >Gotta say, I listened to SECURITY the other morning, and I >need to backpedal on my criticisms a little bit. There are >few 1-2 album openings by an established major-label artist as >gutsy and risky as 10 minutes 30 seconds of "The Rhythm Of The >Heat" and "San Jacinto." Many of the album's textural choices >would only have occurred in the '80s, but only on the upbeat >material ("I Have The Touch," "Kiss Of Life," and arguably >"Shock The Monkey") does that translate to feeling dated. >"Lay Your Hands On Me" and "Wallflower" are clearly arranged >like dramatic 80s ballads, but as Eb says, the writing is of >such quality that the songs transcend the setting. perhaps I need to explain my criticism slightly more... the individual *songs* are great - San Jacinto with that haunting "hold the line" ending, the Ghanaian drums of Rhythm of the heat... but taken as a whole, the 80s production values and sound aesthetics builds up to the point where listening through the whole album in one sitting is wearying. 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, 19 Aug 2005 18:11:02 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: PG James Dignan wrote: > but taken as a whole, the 80s production values and sound > aesthetics builds up to the point where listening through the whole > album in one sitting is wearying. Your Hunters & Collectors and Church albums say "hi." ;) Lawndart is seeing Neil Diamond at Madison Square Garden right now, and forcing me to look at his cellphone pix/movies of the spectacle. Oh dear. Down is up, up is down. Apocalypse imminent. Eb ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 18:14:09 -0700 (PDT) From: Capuchin Subject: Re: in defense On Fri, 19 Aug 2005, Jill Brand wrote: > So will the Decemberists be the Death Cab of two years from now? Will > people be dumping all over them, too? It's already started in the > college scene. My friend's son told me that the Decemberists used to be > good but now they are too cool. Ah, see, no. Because the amount of "cool" The Decemberists carry has no direct effect on the quality or novelty of their music. I can see why bringing Death Cab For Cutie into the light of popular attention killed the band's popularity -- the cache of obscurity was the most appealing draw for a body of bland, lifeless music. The Decemberists, however, are catchy, clever, creative, and thoughtful. This doesn't necessarily change because of sales and press coverage. J. - -- _______________________________________________ Capuchin capuchin@bitmine.net Jeme A Brelin ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 19:55:42 -0700 (PDT) From: Capuchin Subject: The new beginning. So, I've been really getting into some of the stuff from 1970s that I'd neglected to date. Rush can go hang, if you ask me, because their holy four-streak can't possibly compare to the genius that is the Propaganda -> Kimono My House - -> Indiscreet -> Big Beat grand slam from Sparks. In addition that incredible stuff (which are absolutely loaded with originals that I've heard only in covers from other artists before now), I've been grooving on the works of one Yusuf Islam. Anybody have any good suggestions for music from the start of this modern age, 1974-1977? With the exception of obvious New York scene protopunks, I've avoided this era for most of my life. And please, don't tell me to get a Dylan album (although I do hear this was his most genuinely non-sucky period from some -- isn't this when he did "The Man In Me"?). J. - -- _______________________________________________ Capuchin capuchin@bitmine.net Jeme A Brelin ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 23:51:19 -0400 (EDT) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: Re: in defense On Fri, 19 Aug 2005, Capuchin wrote: > I can see why bringing Death Cab For Cutie into the light of popular > attention killed the band's popularity -- the cache of obscurity was the > most appealing draw for a body of bland, lifeless music. Hi, I'm right here. Please don't call me a sucker unless you have a lot more to back it up than "I listened to their music once" and your neo-Kantian belief in the objective truth of aesthetic judgments. a ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 23:07:42 -0500 From: Dolph Chaney Subject: Re: The new beginning. At 09:55 PM 8/19/2005, Capuchin wrote: >Anybody have any good suggestions for music from the start of this modern >age, 1974-1977? My first thought is to get some early Pere Ubu -- TERMINAL TOWER, THE MODERN DANCE, or DUB HOUSING would each be a mighty fine way to start. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 21:18:35 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: The new beginning. > Rush can go hang, if you ask me, because their holy four-streak > can't possibly compare to the genius that is the Propaganda -> > Kimono My House -> Indiscreet -> Big Beat grand slam from Sparks. I recently downloaded a bunch of early Sparks mp3s and was surprised to find that I *did* like Propaganda and Kimono My House, much to my horror (considering how rare those records are, and how many times I probably saw them used in years gone by). Although Indiscreet didn't quite grab me. > Anybody have any good suggestions for music from the start of this > modern age, 1974-1977? > With the exception of obvious New York scene protopunks, I've > avoided this era for most of my life. And please, don't tell me to > get a Dylan album (although I do hear this was his most genuinely > non-sucky period from some -- isn't this when he did "The Man In > Me"?). That's off New Morning, from 1970. "Non-sucky"...jesus. Databasin' for some good 1974-1977 albums which are neither Dylan nor "New York scene protopunks": Badfinger Badfinger 1974 Badfinger Wish You Were Here 1974 *Big Star Radio City 1974 *Brian Eno Another Green World 1975 *Brian Eno Taking Tiger Mountain (by Strategy) 1974 Brian Eno Before and After Science 1977 *Bruce Springsteen Born to Run 1975 Bryan Ferry Lets Stick Together 1976 Bryan Ferry Another Time, Another Place 1974 Can Soon over Babaluma 1974 Can Landed 1975 Can Unlimited Edition 1976 Can Saw Delight 1977 Cecil Taylor Silent Tongues 1975 Cheap Trick Cheap Trick 1977 Cheap Trick In Color 1977 Cluster & Eno Cluster & Eno 1977 *David Bowie Low 1977 *David Bowie Heroes 1977 David Bowie Diamond Dogs 1974 David Bowie Station to Station 1976 *Elvis Costello My Aim Is True 1977 *Fripp & Eno Evening Star 1975 *Genesis The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway 1974 *Genesis A Trick of the Tail 1976 Genesis Wind & Wuthering 1976 Graham Parker Heat Treatment 1976 Graham Parker Howlin Wind 1976 Graham Parker & the Rumour Stick to Me 1977 Gram Parsons Grievous Angel 1974 Henry Cow Unrest 1974 Iggy Pop Lust for Life 1977 Iggy Pop The Idiot 1977 Jethro Tull War Child 1974 *Jethro Tull Minstrel in the Gallery 1975 Jethro Tull Songs from the Wood 1977 *John Cale Fear 1974 John Cale Slow Dazzle 1975 John Lennon Walls and Bridges 1974 *King Crimson Starless and Bible Black 1974 *King Crimson Red 1974 King Crimson USA 1975 *Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti 1975 Led Zeppelin Presence 1976 Lou Reed Coney Island Baby 1976 Miles Davis Pangaea 1975 Miles Davis Agharta 1975 *Miles Davis Big Fun 1974 Mott the Hoople The Hoople 1974 Neil Young & Crazy Horse Zuma 1975 Ornette Coleman Dancing in Your Head 1977 *Paul McCartney & Wings Wings over America 1976 Penguin Cafe Orchestra Music from the Penguin Cafe 1976 *Peter Gabriel Peter Gabriel (1) 1977 *Phil Manzanera Diamond Head 1975 *Phil Manzanera/801 801 Live 1976 *Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here 1975 *Pink Floyd Animals 1977 Quiet Sun Mainstream 1975 Randy Newman Good Old Boys 1974 *Richard & Linda Thompson I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight 1974 Richard & Linda Thompson Hokey Pokey 1975 Richard & Linda Thompson Pour Down Like Silver 1975 Richard Hell & the Voidoids Blank Generation 1977 *Robert Wyatt Rock Bottom 1974 Robert Wyatt Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard 1975 *Roxy Music Siren 1975 *Roxy Music Country Life 1974 Roxy Music Viva! Roxy Music 1976 *Stevie Wonder Songs in the Key of Life 1976 The Damned Damned Damned Damned 1977 *The Raspberries Starting Over 1974 The Residents Third Reich n Roll 1976 The Residents Fingerprince 1976 *The Sex Pistols Never Mind the Bollocks, Heres the Sex Pistols 1977 The Who The Who by Numbers 1975 *The Who Odds & Sods 1974 *Tom Waits Small Change 1976 Tom Waits The Heart of Saturday Night 1974 Tom Waits Nighthawks at the Diner 1975 Ultravox Ultravox! 1977 *Wire Pink Flag 1977 *Yes Relayer 1974 Yes Going for the One 1977 I still have almost no idea what you look for in music, besides music which is either They Might Be Giants or Robyn Hitchcock. So, I couldn't reduce the list any further. (Asterisks for albums of special note added verrrrry quickly, and without much reflection.) Eb ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 23:18:12 -0700 (PDT) From: Jeff Dwarf Subject: Re: The new beginning. Eb wrote: > Databasin' for some good 1974-1977 albums which are > neither Dylan nor "New York scene protopunks": > [snip] > Richard Hell & the Voidoids Blank Generation 1977 In what way is this not "New York scene protopunks?" :) "I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it." -- Mitch Hedberg . Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 23:23:14 -0700 (PDT) From: Capuchin Subject: Re: The new beginning. On Fri, 19 Aug 2005, Eb wrote: > I recently downloaded a bunch of early Sparks mp3s and was surprised to > find that I *did* like Propaganda and Kimono My House, much to my horror > (considering how rare those records are, and how many times I probably > saw them used in years gone by). Yeah, and both were released in 1974, which kind of amazes me. Would have been a hell of a double album. > Although Indiscreet didn't quite grab me. I think it's nicely consistent with that stream of records. Probably the weakest individual tracks, though. > That's off New Morning, from 1970. "Non-sucky"...jesus. Noted. I might look for that. > Databasin' for some good 1974-1977 albums which are neither Dylan nor > "New York scene protopunks": [snip -- rearrange] > I still have almost no idea what you look for in music, besides music > which is either They Might Be Giants or Robyn Hitchcock. So, I couldn't > reduce the list any further. For your ebification, I've gone through the list and put them into chunks. Here they are in decending order of length: > Badfinger Badfinger 1974 > Badfinger Wish You Were Here 1974 > Can Soon over Babaluma 1974 > Can Landed 1975 > Can Unlimited Edition 1976 > Can Saw Delight 1977 > Cluster & Eno Cluster & Eno 1977 > *Fripp & Eno Evening Star 1975 > *Genesis The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway 1974 > *Genesis A Trick of the Tail 1976 > Genesis Wind & Wuthering 1976 > Jethro Tull War Child 1974 > *Jethro Tull Minstrel in the Gallery 1975 > Jethro Tull Songs from the Wood 1977 > *King Crimson Starless and Bible Black 1974 > *King Crimson Red 1974 > King Crimson USA 1975 > Miles Davis Pangaea 1975 > Miles Davis Agharta 1975 > *Miles Davis Big Fun 1974 > Mott the Hoople The Hoople 1974 > Neil Young & Crazy Horse Zuma 1975 > *Peter Gabriel Peter Gabriel (1) 1977 > *Phil Manzanera Diamond Head 1975 > *Phil Manzanera/801 801 Live 1976 > *Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here 1975 > *Pink Floyd Animals 1977 > *Yes Relayer 1974 > Yes Going for the One 1977 Um, I've (perhaps unfairly) lumped these mentally into a category of, err, wankery. > Cecil Taylor Silent Tongues 1975 > Cheap Trick Cheap Trick 1977 > Cheap Trick In Color 1977 > Graham Parker Heat Treatment 1976 > Graham Parker Howlin Wind 1976 > Graham Parker & the Rumour Stick to Me 1977 > Gram Parsons Grievous Angel 1974 > Henry Cow Unrest 1974 > Iggy Pop Lust for Life 1977 > Iggy Pop The Idiot 1977 > Ornette Coleman Dancing in Your Head 1977 > Penguin Cafe Orchestra Music From The Penguin Cafe 1976 > Quiet Sun Mainstream 1975 > Richard Hell & the Voidoids Blank Generation 1977 > *Robert Wyatt Rock Bottom 1974 > Robert Wyatt Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard 1975 > *The Raspberries Starting Over 1974 > The Residents Third Reich n Roll 1976 > The Residents Fingerprince 1976 > Ultravox Ultravox! 1977 About these, I know either nothing or little enough to have no judgment to be made and no compulsion to investigate. > John Lennon Walls and Bridges 1974 > *Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti 1975 > Led Zeppelin Presence 1976 > *Paul McCartney & Wings Wings over America 1976 > Randy Newman Good Old Boys 1974 > *Richard & Linda Thompson I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight 1974 > Richard & Linda Thompson Hokey Pokey 1975 > Richard & Linda Thompson Pour Down Like Silver 1975 > The Who The Who by Numbers 1975 > *The Who Odds & Sods 1974 > *Tom Waits Small Change 1976 > Tom Waits The Heart of Saturday Night 1974 > Tom Waits Nighthawks at the Diner 1975 These almost made the above list, but I have heard enough of the artist (though, in every case, not this period of their work) to be reluctant to pursue much more. Various reasons, I suppose. > *Big Star Radio City 1974 > *Brian Eno Another Green World 1975 > *Brian Eno Taking Tiger Mountain (by Strategy) 1974 > Brian Eno Before and After Science 1977 > *John Cale Fear 1974 > John Cale Slow Dazzle 1975 > Lou Reed Coney Island Baby 1976 > The Damned Damned Damned Damned 1977 These are all things I expect to seek out without further convincing. Big Star is just universally praised. I'm pretty sure I've heard the Eno over the years and liked it. His new record is getting loads of play at my house. I have a few tracks from John Cale around and I really like them. Doesn't Fear have "Gun" on it? That's a great track. > Bryan Ferry Lets Stick Together 1976 > Bryan Ferry Another Time, Another Place 1974 > *Roxy Music Siren 1975 > *Roxy Music Country Life 1974 > Roxy Music Viva! Roxy Music 1976 I think I have some of these on vinyl, but I can't say that I've played them. I have Avalon, of course, and know that I've liked a few singles I've heard. Someone want to champion this stuff and try to express what's great about it? > *David Bowie Low 1977 > *David Bowie Heroes 1977 > David Bowie Diamond Dogs 1974 > David Bowie Station to Station 1976 Just plain can't do it. All of Bowie's work comes off, to me, as arrogant and pretentiously flamboyant. Sure, he can write a pop song, but it's either dead cold or eye-rollingly over-the-top. > *Elvis Costello My Aim Is True 1977 > *The Sex Pistols Never Mind the Bollocks, Heres the Sex Pistols 1977 > *Wire Pink Flag 1977 I have and enjoy these records. > *Stevie Wonder Songs in the Key of Life 1976 I have "Original Musiquarium Volume I" and I think it's all the Stevie I need. Besides the well-known tracks, is there a real gem on here that I'm missing or is there a cohesiveness or overall thematic synergy that comes from the album as a piece? I'm not usually a "song collector" and appreciate albums in context, but with certain artists I've found that collections work fine for me. Prince is another in this category. > *Bruce Springsteen Born to Run 1975 Everyone told me to get Nebraska a few years back and I have to say that I've only played it twice. The mood of the record isn't one that jives well with the moods I'm in when I want to listen to music. Also, the "soulful" quality of his voice and guitar are annoying. While some people consider that quality "emotional" and "spontaneous", I find it sloppy and self-absorbed. If you want to illicit an emotional response, do it with a deliberate arrangement; include it in the very structure of the song. Just showing the emotion is vulgar, weak, and insulting. I've always defined "art" to be the perfection of a craft to the point of emotional or spiritual evocation. There's not even much craft in telegraphing like that, let alone art. I'm not dismissing Springsteen as a whole based on this. Hell, I imagine this record is so common that I can give it a download and listen without any effort, so I'll probably do just that. I'm simply explaining the framework that upholds my tastes. So that's that. Thanks so much for taking the time. I'll hit up the favorable ones first and see if anything comes from discussion of the others and new suggestions. This is what happens when your Friday night party turns out to be a bunch of semi-literate punks who don't quite understand why they're vegan or what it means to be an anarchist getting drunk and breaking things. At least I'll get to bed early. J. - -- _______________________________________________ Capuchin capuchin@bitmine.net Jeme A Brelin ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 23:21:16 -0700 (PDT) From: Jeff Dwarf Subject: Re: in defense Aaron Mandel wrote: > On Fri, 19 Aug 2005, Capuchin wrote: > > I can see why bringing Death Cab For Cutie into the > > light of popular attention killed the band's > > popularity -- the cache of obscurity was the > > most appealing draw for a body of bland, lifeless > > music. > > Hi, I'm right here. Please don't call me a sucker unless > you have a lot more to back it up than "I listened to > their music once" and your neo-Kantian belief in the > objective truth of aesthetic judgments. Get out now; there's no use trying to argue with a fundamentalist. Not to mention someone who once got his panties in a bunch over They Might be Giants being referred to as "funny." "I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it." -- Mitch Hedberg . __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - You care about security. So do we. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V14 #201 ********************************