From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V15 #250 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Friday, October 20 2006 Volume 15 : Number 250 Today's Subjects: ----------------- RH ebay$$$!!! ["Bri N" ] Re: iTunes' edge of the universe [Tom Clark ] Re: iTunes' edge of the universe ["Spotted Eagle Ray" ] Re: iTunes' edge of the universe ["Spotted Eagle Ray" ] RH&V3 in Katoomba [wojbearpig ] Re: iTunes 7 question [2fs ] Re: iTunes 7 question [Jeff Dwarf ] dr. naughty ["ken ostrander" ] Re: iTunes 7 question [Sebastian Hagedorn ] Re: iTunes 7 question [Sebastian Hagedorn ] Hi Ross! [hssmrg@bath.ac.uk] NEW on DIME: Soft Boys 2002-10-31 KEXP [wojbearpig ] Re: iTunes 7 question ["Spotted Eagle Ray" ] where are the prawns? [wojbearpig ] RE: iTunes 7 question ["Bachman, Michael" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2006 12:29:45 -0700 From: "Bri N" Subject: RH ebay$$$!!! I just saw that some OOP Robyn discs are going for up to $38 on ebay. Fegmania is currently $38.00 and BSDR is $20something.... At 1st I thought 'Shit! I'm glad I have these!' Then I thought how great they are and what a small price $38 would be to hear those for the *1st* time again. Some lucky bastards are about to really enjoy themselves in the next coming weeks... no matter what they pay. Ole'-Nuppy ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2006 13:38:14 -0700 From: Tom Clark Subject: Re: iTunes' edge of the universe On Oct 18, 2006, at 9:49 PM, Eleanore Adams wrote: > I am currently having iTunes anst.... it aint going well..... My > hard drive on my computer is full but the iPod is not, and when i > try to sync manually so as to fill the iPod, it matches up with the > hard drive identically. Bad, being that i want to take stuff off > the hard drive, and just have it on iPod only.... > You want to delete from your computer and have the tracks exist only on the iPod? That breaks the whole paradigm of having the computer be the repository and the iPod the temporary storage. Plus, how do you plan to get the music back from your iPod? (Yes, I know there are hacks out there to pull tracks off the iPod...) Backing those tracks up could prove hairy as well. Larger hard drives are pretty cheap these days, so you might consider replacing or augmenting your computer's storage. - -tc ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2006 14:04:23 -0700 From: "Spotted Eagle Ray" Subject: Re: iTunes' edge of the universe On 10/19/06, Tom Clark wrote: > > On Oct 18, 2006, at 9:49 PM, Eleanore Adams wrote: > > Larger hard drives are pretty cheap these days, so you might consider > replacing or augmenting your computer's storage. Yeah, now I'm considering getting a large drive to back up my large drive, to say nothing of the ulitmate backup of the physical CD's... which I just don't ever wanna goddamn rip again. Here's my iTunes/iPod question... I'm assuming that I'm right that the "SoundCheck" feature doesn't really do that much to equalize volume levels, but I'm also assuming that there's nothing that really could do that without compressing the hell out of the tracks that have the most dynamic range and loudest peaks, right? ("Compressing" is used here in the audio, not data, sense.) It's just that it really bugs having to ride your own faders when listening to your whole library randomized, and I especially notice it when two records from, say, 1981, which sounded relatively sonically similar at the time, have a vast volume differential because one is from an ancient CD and the other was ripped from vinyl last week. So, um, hopeless, huh? - -SER np. "Fall Apart With You", The Posies... best tune from an underrated record, IMHO. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2006 16:25:22 -0500 From: 2fs Subject: Re: iTunes' edge of the universe On 10/19/06, Spotted Eagle Ray wrote: > > > Here's my iTunes/iPod question... I'm assuming that I'm right that the > "SoundCheck" feature doesn't really do that much to equalize volume > levels, > but I'm also assuming that there's nothing that really could do that > without > compressing the hell out of the tracks that have the most dynamic range > and > loudest peaks, right? ("Compressing" is used here in the audio, not data, > sense.) It's just that it really bugs having to ride your own faders when > listening to your whole library randomized, and I especially notice it > when > two records from, say, 1981, which sounded relatively sonically similar at > the time, have a vast volume differential because one is from an ancient > CD > and the other was ripped from vinyl last week. I haven't noticed the "Soundcheck" thing to do all that much...then again, my iTuneses (that would be multiple instances of iTunes) are all on computers (two at workplaces, one at home on my laptop), and therefore are rarely listened to at the sort of volume that would lead to fine audio distinctions being audible. But what is audible - and annoying - is exactly the sort of dramatic shifts in general volume level Rex describes. And I think he's right: it's probably insoluble without massively changing the audio signal by compression. Problem is, of course, that at least since the late '80s, the "volume wars" have led to signals being ever more compressed (in terms of dynamic range) and louder (in terms of average peak level), with some newer CDs reading at outrageous average peak levels of like -8dB (compared to older CDs that might be in the -20 or -18 range). Plays hell in making mix CDs: I've taken the position that so long as I have an unfuckedwith version of a track, I'll play with audio software to try to bring the levels more in sync on a mix CD - so I'll compress and amplify older tracks to get them closer to the newer ones, and reduce the overall volume on newer ones to make them less blaring compared to older ones. I suppose other folks would consider this blasphemous - but then, if you compare reissues to original issues, you'll see that this sort of thing (at a more sophisticated scale, with, one assumes, more fine-tuned and discriminating equipemnt) is done in the studio as well. Or maybe not: sitting diligently at my laptop trying to match up levels and make fades work exactly takes time - I've seen mass-produced reissue and compilation CDs with absurd track breaks, etc., presumably because taking the time to get it exactly right cuts into the profit margin...and there's more profit in a repackaged greatest hits CD than in a new one whose costs haven't yet been (and may never be) recouped. There are several informative Wikipedia articles on the "noise wars" - I forget if they're under that term, or if you need to start digging around audio-recording articles under "compression," "limiting," etc. - -- ...Jeff Norman The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2006 15:10:43 -0700 From: "Spotted Eagle Ray" Subject: Re: iTunes' edge of the universe On 10/19/06, 2fs wrote: > > Plays hell in making mix CDs: I've taken the position that so long as I > have > an unfuckedwith version of a track, I'll play with audio software to try > to > bring the levels more in sync on a mix CD - so I'll compress and amplify > older tracks to get them closer to the newer ones, and reduce the overall > volume on newer ones to make them less blaring compared to older ones. I used to do this for mix discs, too; generally it involved using ProTools (super-stripped down demo version) to boost the peaks of the quieter tracks to even out withe the louder ones, so nothing got compressed, and many blasphemies were thus avoided. I don't think I ever reduced the volume on anything, though. This created a small cache of tracks that I kept after mailing off the mixes, labeled "Song X (Volume-Boosted Version)" which I have to this day (similar to the ones I made with custom fades or lopped off intros that weren't part of the song "proper", for that whole compilation flow thing). That had the sad side effect of making me kind of a lazy compiler, though... if I wasn't going to have time to troubleshoot a mix disc, I would tend to think, "Well, I never put 'Giant Normal Dwarf' by the Nits on a comp for this friend, and I went to all the trouble to volume-boost it, so..." > > Or maybe not: sitting diligently at my laptop trying to match up levels > and > make fades work exactly takes time - I've seen mass-produced reissue and > compilation CDs with absurd track breaks, etc., presumably because taking > the time to get it exactly right cuts into the profit margin... Will there ever be a version of "The Needle and the Damage Done" that doesn't have applause that just clips off violently in the middle of the applause at the end? And if not, is that a profit margin thing or just Neil's cantankerosity? - -SER ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2006 19:16:23 -0700 (PDT) From: J Subject: Re: iTunes 7 question > Scientologists kidnapped the real R.E.M. and put out a fake R.E.M. album > just to discredit the band - _Around the Sun_ was the result. Haha! Whoo boy, it must be pretty awful. So, as someone whose devotion to REM ended with disgust at Green, why is Around The Sun so horrendous? Musically? Lyrically? I'm sincerely curious. Julie ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2006 22:40:03 -0400 From: wojbearpig Subject: RH&V3 in Katoomba - ----- Forwarded message from bill gibson ----- To: RobynHitchcockClub@yahoogroups.com From: "bill gibson" Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 02:24:57 -0000 Subject: [RobynHitchcockClub] RH&V3 in Katoomba Well, it was a very different set last night. Probably only 50% of what they played had got an airing the previous night. For starters, Robyn opened solo with I Often Dream Of Trains, then Buck (wearing a particularly lurid floral shirt) came out and they did Vibrating, Birds Head and Flesh #1. Robyn said "someone will be along soon with a set list, I expect he's just downloading it from the internet...", then Scott and Bill came on. Not nearly as many songs from the new album, but a couple from Spooked that didn't get a run the previous night (Television and Creeped Out), as well as Not Dark Yet (a corker!) and Somewhere Apart. No new song, no Destroy You, but they did Bells Of Rhymney instead of Eight Miles High as the token Byrds song. The sound wasn't quite as good as at the Basement, though, and the vocals seemed struggling to be heard over the guitars all night. Overall it felt like a better set then the previous night and they seemed to be having more fun. Robyn was more talkative, not having to tell his stories over a room full of chatter. The set was a bit more laid-back, and the crowd, although very polite, were more receptive. Obviously a night for the die-hards. Probably about 60 - 70 punters in total? The venue was VERY straight-laced, though....I was on the guest-list, so I was ushered to the table at the very back of the room (I'm surprised they didn't put us right next to the bathroom!), where I was expected to sit and not move all night. Fortunately I'd brought the zoom lens, so I still got some good pics, although Caroline (their agent) got a bit nervous when I moved up near the front and started taking lots of flash pics in rapid succession (she did ask me to send her copies, though...), then the management asked me to return to my seat. (Wish I'd thought to take the camera to the Basement show - I could have got pics of Buck's nasal hairs from where I was.) Had a good chat to Scott afterwards (we have friends in common in Seattle/Vancouver, it turns out), and he was stoked when I told him I wore my Young Fresh Fellows shirt (which of course I was wearing last night, being the slavering fanboy I am) when I played on Conan. Pete reports that there'll be a new album from that other band he plays with in the new year, and "it's gonna be all guitars!" And despite having met Robyn twice before, I still can't make conversation with him, it's just too unnerving. They were staying over at the venue last night, so they were all still hanging around out the front when I drove off, doing their best to empty the venue's wine cellar.... - ----- End forwarded message ----- ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2006 21:41:00 -0500 From: 2fs Subject: Re: iTunes 7 question On 10/19/06, J wrote: > > > Scientologists kidnapped the real R.E.M. and put out a fake R.E.M. album > > just to discredit the band - _Around the Sun_ was the result. > > Haha! Whoo boy, it must be pretty awful. So, as someone whose devotion > to REM ended with disgust at Green, why is Around The Sun so > horrendous? Musically? Lyrically? I'm sincerely curious. (Momentary niceness, to be disrupted by meanness shortly) Well, actually there are 3-4 songs that are kinda halfway decent, even if the arranging and production are a bit stifling and anonymous (can you even tell who's playing any more?). However... Everything you need to know about the inanity of this album may be revealed by the earlier comment that there is, in fact, on a CD released in 2004 (or whatever) by one of the whitest bands on the planet, a "guest rapper" making an appearance (Q-Tip). The concept of a guest rapper appearing on a white band's utterly non- black-music-influenced CD was awkward and outdated when R.E.M. did it way back on _Out of Time_; in 2004 it's positively excruciating to imagine what possessed them to think it was a good idea. Stipe becomes more and more sentimental, and more and more persuaded that directly talking about emotions is the way to go...I much preferred the days when he'd mumble about lanterns and carpenters in the street to psychobabble. (Okay, I'm not entirely sure what ATS's lyrics actually are, since the copy I have was burned for me by my brother-in-law...but from what I remember, they were even more along those lines than the worst lyrics on _Reveal_. I don't remember if ATS had any real defenders here - I think my "3 or 4 good-ish songs" was about the highest praise it received. - -- ...Jeff Norman The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2006 20:48:23 -0700 (PDT) From: Jeff Dwarf Subject: Re: iTunes 7 question 2fs wrote: > On 10/19/06, J wrote: >>> Scientologists kidnapped the real R.E.M. and put >>> out a fake R.E.M. album just to discredit the >>> band - _Around the Sun_ was the result. >> >> Haha! Whoo boy, it must be pretty awful. So, as >> someone whose devotion to REM ended with disgust >> at Green, why is Around The Sun so horrendous? >> Musically? Lyrically? I'm sincerely curious. The real problem is that, when push comes to shove, ATS wasn't even interesting enough to be horrendous. It was painfully bland, every song at the same slow-to-mid-tempo (save one song which was mid-tempo). All pretty much in the same key. > Stipe becomes more and more sentimental, and more > and more persuaded that directly talking about > emotions is the way to go...I much preferred the > days when he'd mumble about lanterns and carpenters > in the street to psychobabble. It's more than just being direct -- he's devolved into being schmaltzy. He's spent two albums now basically trying to re-write "Everybody Hurts," not realizing that he barely got away with it the first time. "The fact that the public in general does not understand and appreciate the best things is the reason people like me get famous." -- Johannes Brahms . Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 02:25:07 -0400 From: "ken ostrander" Subject: dr. naughty ElBroome@earthlink.net>>>In my efforts to keep my finger on the very pulse of all the latest Hitchcock doings, I heard his new album "Spooked" this morning....too many lazy tunes like "Television" (great lyric, though)<<< have you heard _time (the revelator)_? long languishing folk excursions that are certainly reflected in _spooked_. for me, the effect is very calming. currently the most heavily played hitchcock song in our household. my wife made her own "tv mix" that comes in handy to help her stay relaxed in the minivan. does anyone have guitar tab for 'television'? >What's with that weird glitch/fragment at the beginning of "English >Girl"? It's unpleasant, rather than endearing. i think it's a reference to 'one l' from the previous album. hssmrg@bath.ac.uk <> i've been spinning _fegmania!_ lately and andy's basework still wows me. i doubt i'll get to see the current lineup live though they undoubtedly rock like pharohs. quail@libyrinth.com>>>Does anyone else have that problem? I mean, the inconsistent Fegmail, not the premature postulation.<<< sometimes it takes ages for me to get the digest and sometimes i don't get the digest at all. if it goes for a while i go and check the archives. what irks me (and most of you i imagine) is the formatting gobbledygook. returns are ignored and extra returns injected for that staggered effect. and then there's the apostrophe's that sometimes show up as little trolley buses. spottedeagleray@gmail.com> > Okay... is "Mr." between "Mq" and "Ms", or "Mh" and "Mj"? Same question > > with "Dr". I mean, I know what iTunes would do with them, but what's > the consensus? i would definitely put them together (misters with mr.'s and doctors with dr.'s) between _q and _s so to speak. then again, only my vinyl records are actually alphabetized. the cd's are crudely grouped by letter...and that's if my daughter doesn't get them and reshelve them herself. at this point she seems to favor the shelf at eye level with lou reed and the red hot chili peppers...or maybe she really wants to hear _the blue mask_. not a lot of misters; but a few doctors in the house: dre, john, hook, demento, teeth, seuss, sticky ...and the medics ElBroome@earthlink.net>>> reap coming: "Sunset 60 on the Sunset Strip." The ratings news gets > worse, every week. Hagedorn@spinfo.uni-koeln.de >the parallels to West Wing are glaring and I'm also not very fond of the backstage relationship aspect. I enjoy the show, but it wouldn't break my heart if it got canceled.<<<< only love can break your heart. first i thought "sunset 60" (not funny) was "30 rock" (which i finally got to see tonight...very funny) and then i thought it was the white house. couldn't sorkin have at least tried to use a different font for the credits? >>> Scientologists kidnapped the real R.E.M. and put >>> out a fake R.E.M. album just to discredit the >>> band - _Around the Sun_ was the result. watch your back. they could lurk here too. i found this one in the used bin and 'final straw' is the only song that had any fire for me. i enjoyed the other albums in the trilogy much more. protay6@fastmail.fm>>>I> posted some in the early part of this yet-unnamed decadematt_sewell@hotmail.com>>Oh, and 'round these parts, we call this decade The Noughties<<<< yeah; but i prefer the more suggestive spelling. ken " inside a head parade " the kenster - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Use your PC to make calls at very low rates ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 10:13:32 +0200 From: Sebastian Hagedorn Subject: Re: iTunes 7 question - --On 19. Oktober 2006 19:16:23 -0700 J wrote: >> Scientologists kidnapped the real R.E.M. and put out a fake R.E.M. album > > just to discredit the band - _Around the Sun_ was the result. > > Haha! Whoo boy, it must be pretty awful. So, as someone whose devotion > to REM ended with disgust at Green, In that case you have missed out on some great music. To me New Adventures In Hi-Fi is at least as good as the I.R.S. years. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 10:20:37 +0200 From: Sebastian Hagedorn Subject: Re: iTunes 7 question - --On 19. Oktober 2006 21:41:00 -0500 2fs wrote: >> Haha! Whoo boy, it must be pretty awful. So, as someone whose devotion >> to REM ended with disgust at Green, why is Around The Sun so >> horrendous? Musically? Lyrically? I'm sincerely curious. >> > Everything you need to know about the inanity of this album may be > revealed by the earlier comment that there is, in fact, on a CD released > in 2004 (or whatever) by one of the whitest bands on the planet, a "guest > rapper" making an appearance (Q-Tip). The concept of a guest rapper > appearing on a white band's utterly non- black-music-influenced CD was > awkward and outdated when R.E.M. did it way back on _Out of Time_; in > 2004 it's positively > excruciating to imagine what possessed them to think it was a good idea. Maybe it's because I'm in Germany and the separate culture's don't register as much, but I really like *both* guest rapper appearances. I don't like rap in general (all I have is the first De La Soul and some Beastie Boys), which probably goes a long way to explaining that ;-) > Stipe becomes more and more sentimental, and more and more persuaded that > directly talking about emotions is the way to go...I much preferred the > days when he'd mumble about lanterns and carpenters in the street to > psychobabble. Hm, you have a point. > (Okay, I'm not entirely sure what ATS's lyrics actually are, > since the copy I have was burned for me by my brother-in-law...but from > what I remember, they were even more along those lines than the worst > lyrics on _Reveal_. Well, I think that Reveal is much stronger musically than ATS. > I don't remember if ATS had any real defenders here - I think my "3 or 4 > good-ish songs" was about the highest praise it received. Yup, true enough for this list but as I said before, I have friends who *don't* like R.E.M. and who *did* like ATS! It's the R.E.M. CD for the R.E.M. hater! And they are still huge in Europe, especially in Germany. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 10:49:20 +0100 From: hssmrg@bath.ac.uk Subject: Hi Ross! Quoting fegmaniax-digest : > fegmaniax-digest Thursday, October 19 2006 Volume 15 : Number 249 > Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2006 18:21:50 -0400 > From: protay6@fastmail.fm > Subject: "Which means the guy's back with his stump ..." > My basic facts are pretty much the same -- occasional poetry, occasional > fiction, occasional busking, continuous working in a law library, > continuous getting my daughter ready for college. Still don't have TV, > but sure enjoyed all those Firefly DVDs. I don't see Kay in the recent > archives, but if she's lurking, Hi Kay, I hope all is well. I don't > have your email any more. I specifically want to know which of the > dancers in the Blind Faith DVD is Mike Godwin. * Hi Ross! I was further back with my Cossor battery tape recorder, with which you can also see me on the back of the Family double CD reissue that came out a couple of years ago (I'm the one in a Panama hat). As Jim will confirm, I only do idiot dancing when people play The Magic Band or Syd. Didn't record much of the Blind Faith performance but got a moderately playable recording of Donovan singing a song about 'My daughter Janet' which I have never heard before or since. The Broughtons were also on the bill and I met them again this year when they played The Cheese and Grain in Frome. Great! > This is a fine whirlpool in the thankfully still turbulent internet. * I can relate to that! > From: "Michael Wells" > Subject: wouldn't you like to...hear the current band play these? > Brenda's Iron Sledge * Yes > Sleeping With Your Devil Mask * Yes, though I've seen him perform it so many times that I always worry about whether he is going to hit the high notes (about 1 in 3 is my estimate) > The President * Not particularly. > Freeze * Yes. > Furry Green Atom Bowl * You're weird, Michael! They might just as well do 'Uncorrected Personality Traits'. >> >> grutness@slingshot.co.nz wrote: >> > James, in the "Edinburgh of the South" (so described officially) >> From: "Stewart C. Russell" >> I didn't know you lived in Athens? > > The "other" south... :) 'Dun' means 'Burgh' so it is a literal translation from the Garlic. - - Mike 'raychack' Godwin (yes, I've been reading 'Whisky Galore') n.p. John Barleycorn - Traffic PS Kay unsubscribed years ago. Anybody have any news of her? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 10:57:00 -0400 From: wojbearpig Subject: NEW on DIME: Soft Boys 2002-10-31 KEXP http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=117476&hit=1 - ----- Forwarded message from DIME ----- A new torrent has been uploaded to DIME. Torrent: 117476 Title: Soft Boys 2002-10-31 KEXP afternoon in-studio lossless stream Size: 254.44 MB Category: Alternate Uploaded by: gilde Description - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soft Boys (Robyn Hitchcock) 2002-10-31 Afternoon Live in-studio peformance KEXP Studio Seattle, WA 1.413Mbps uncompressed 44.1kHz/16-bit Internet feed > WAV 01 introduction 02 Memphis Blues 03 Narcissus 04 interview 05 Unprotected Love 06 interview 07 Strings 08 interview 09 Sleeping With Your Devil Mask 10 outro 11 Robyn's KEXP promo ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 08:44:17 -0700 From: "Spotted Eagle Ray" Subject: Re: iTunes 7 question On 10/19/06, 2fs wrote: > > > I don't remember if ATS had any real defenders here - I think my "3 or 4 > good-ish songs" was about the highest praise it received. It has remarkably few defenders anywhere, I think. Almost everyone would list it as a career low, except for maybe people who had a bad year when Monster came out or took the move to the majors too personally with Green, or were too techno-experimentophobic to enjoy Up. Jeff D: > The real problem is that, when push comes to shove, > ATS wasn't even interesting enough to be horrendous. That's exactly what made it horrendous, though. "Reveal" was s nod in that direction with enough songs that evoked either the old-old sound *or* the experimentalism of "UP" (a record that I for one love) to leave me with hope that it was just a momentary lull, but after ATS I tend to view its few virtues as lucky accidents. Sebastian: > In that case you have missed out on some great music. To me New Adventures > In Hi-Fi is at least as good as the I.R.S. years. I totally agree with that! Reminds me of Reckoning. Admittedly more in spirit more than sonics, but it's a hell of a spirit, and some great songs. > Yup, true enough for this list but as I said before, I have friends who > *don't* like R.E.M. and who *did* like ATS! It's the R.E.M. CD for the > R.E.M. hater! Hmmm, what do those friends usually like, musically? This is curious. I would imagine the target audience for ATS was people who like Train and Goo Goo Dolls, but it doesn't seem-- and this is pretty dreadful-- to have enough good hooks for that crowd. Oddly, I thought Stipe's lyrics the least bothersome aspect of ATS. It sounded like at least he was trying something new. And his "direct" approach has paid off occasionally: "Sad Professor" from Up is killer, as are a few other moments there. His story-songs suck, though, especially when they're about wanting to be a star or some shit. Blech. - -SER - -- > > ...Jeff Norman > > The Architectural Dance Society > http://spanghew.blogspot.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 12:04:25 -0400 From: wojbearpig Subject: where are the prawns? down by the ... cosmic sea? http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061020.html woj ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 12:46:49 -0400 From: "Bachman, Michael" Subject: RE: iTunes 7 question Sebastian: >> In that case you have missed out on some great music. To me New Adventures >> In Hi-Fi is at least as good as the I.R.S. years. SER: >I totally agree with that! Reminds me of Reckoning. Admittedly more in >spirit more than sonics, but it's a hell of a spirit, and some great songs. I guess it's time that I pony up and buy a copy. I stopped buying any new REM after Monster, but maybe I should have extended it one more album. Since it's the last one with Bill Berry, and based on Sebastian and Rex's praises, I'll do it. I doubt if I'll pop for the subsequent ones sans Berry though. Michael B. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 16:25:43 -0500 From: 2fs Subject: Re: iTunes 7 question On 10/20/06, Bachman, Michael wrote: > > Sebastian: > > >> In that case you have missed out on some great music. To me New > Adventures > >> In Hi-Fi is at least as good as the I.R.S. years. > > SER: > >I totally agree with that! Reminds me of Reckoning. Admittedly more in > >spirit more than sonics, but it's a hell of a spirit, and some great > songs. > > I guess it's time that I pony up and buy a copy. I stopped buying any new > REM after Monster, but maybe I should have extended it one more album. > Since > it's the last one with Bill Berry, and based on Sebastian and Rex's > praises, > I'll do it. I doubt if I'll pop for the subsequent ones sans Berry though. NAIHF took me years to get. At the time, I was pretty bored with it - thought its songs were all too long, for one thing. While I still think many of the songs would be improved by cutting off a half a minute or so, I've come around on the merits of the CD as a whole. I also think _Up_ was a fine attempt to do something different after Berry left. At the very least, check out some tracks to see if you'd like it. _Reveal_, though, suffered from creeping MORishness and was incredibly poorly sequenced: the first five or six tracks are all in the same key and tempo. (Or nearly so: one might be C major instead of A minor, but the effect is the same.) ATS was the first R.E.M. album I never bought. When the next one arrives (about which I'm cautiously optimistic...given the reports that Berry might be involved on a few tracks, and Buck's enthusiastic "it's all guitars!"), I will probably try to sample tracks before diving in. Sad, though: from _Reckoning_ onward I bought every R.E.M. album the day it was released (until ATS). I'm hoping they're not utterly washed up - but I won't be surprised if they are. - -- ...Jeff Norman The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V15 #250 ********************************