From: owner-good-noise-digest@smoe.org (good-noise-digest) To: good-noise-digest@smoe.org Subject: good-noise-digest V4 #78 Reply-To: good-noise@smoe.org Sender: owner-good-noise-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-good-noise-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk good-noise-digest Saturday, April 14 2001 Volume 04 : Number 078 Today's Subjects: ----------------- TCYK review in 4/13 Post ["jvotel" ] Post's TCYK review ["jvotel" ] Re: TCYK review in 4/13 Post [SMOKEY596@aol.com] Re: TCYK review in 4/13 Post [Togg4@gateway.net] Re: TCYK review in 4/13 Post [ThePsyche@aol.com] Re: TCYK review in 4/13 Post [ThePsyche@aol.com] Re: TCYK review in 4/13 Post ["Mike Smith" ] Re: TCYK review in 4/13 Post [Togg4@gateway.net] Archived Reviews [ThePsyche@aol.com] Re: TCYK review in 4/13 Post [Togg4@gateway.net] Re: TCYK review in 4/13 Post ["Shelley DePaul" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 15:14:56 -0500 From: "jvotel" Subject: TCYK review in 4/13 Post Friday, April 13, 2001; Page WE06 JOHN GORKA "The Company You Keep" Red House John Gorka's new album is called "The Company You Keep," and the singer-songwriter is keeping company with such harmony singers as Mary Chapin Carpenter, Ani DiFranco and Lucy Kaplansky and such folk-rock instrumentalists as John Jennings, Patty Larkin and Michael Manring. As a result, the CD sounds really good, full of sumptuous harmonies and tasteful chamber-pop arrangements. Gorka, however, wrote all the songs himself, and they prove underwhelming. They're underwhelming only in regard to the high expectations that Gorka's past work has raised, but there's nothing here as funny as "I Saw a Stranger With Your Hair," as angry as "Stranger in My Driver's Seat" or as moving as "The One That Got Away." The new songs are full of wry observations and clever puns pulled from a songwriter's notebook that never quite add up to a forceful declaration or a full story. "What Was That," for example, is about a brokenhearted lover trying to forget, but the punch line ("What was that that I just said?") falls flat. "Oh Abraham" wants to be a political commentary along the lines of Steve Earle's "Christmas in Washington," but its obscure references to Jack Kerouac, Dwight Eisenhower and Abraham Lincoln never quite cohere. "When I Lost My Faith" and "Over There" are both promising songs about a loner becoming a family man, but the former lapses into cyberspace satire and the latter into sentimentality. - -- Geoffrey Himes Appearing Wednesday at the Barns of Wolf Trap and Thursday at the Rams Head Tavern.  To hear a free Sound Bite from John Gorka, call Post-Haste at 202/334-9000 and press 8106. (Prince William residents, call 690-4110.) ) 2001 The Washington Post Company - -- Jay Votel (jvotel@megapipe.net) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 15:19:47 -0500 From: "jvotel" Subject: Post's TCYK review Just in case the review won't get posted on the list, visit this address to read the April 13 review of TCYK in The Washington Post. http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/print/weekly/weekend/A10458-2001Apr12.h tml - -- Jay Votel (jvotel@megapipe.net) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 15:44:43 EDT From: SMOKEY596@aol.com Subject: Re: TCYK review in 4/13 Post Wow. I'm underwhelmed by that review. :-) Really tho, there isn't much substance at all to it. Was that the whole thing? It just kind of drops off without really saying anything. SMOKEY ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 16:06:18 EDT From: Togg4@gateway.net Subject: Re: TCYK review in 4/13 Post The only thing I can say about Goeffrey Himes' review of TCYK is that it is hard to take seriously considering he thought "I Saw a Stranger With Your Hair" is a funny song by which other funny songs should be measured. Am I missing something here? Gina ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 16:19:40 EDT From: ThePsyche@aol.com Subject: Re: TCYK review in 4/13 Post Geoffrey Himes, review for the Washington Post writes: > They're underwhelming only in regard to the high expectations that > Gorka's past work has raised, but there's nothing here as funny as "I > Saw a Stranger With Your Hair," as angry as "Stranger in My Driver's > Seat" or as moving as "The One That Got Away." The new songs are full of > wry observations and clever puns pulled from a songwriter's notebook > I guess this is one of the things singer/songwriters have to endure, never measuring up to someone's expectations of what came before. Personally, if John, at 42, was still singing of unrequited love and stolen vehicles, and had not moved on, grown, settled and discovered new pieces to this thing called life, I am not sure I would still be listening to him. I found his music at a time in my life when I was in the midst of a major life struggle and forever, Land of the Bottom Line will hold the # 1 position in my list of all time best musical journeys. But as I have found peace, self acceptance and joy through family and introspection, I am glad John has too, that I can now share that journey, in my own way, in my own life. Ibve got a place here Ibve got a family More to love, more to feel, more to do And more to lose. The boy became a man....so grow up Mr. Himes. Bryn Benson, music junkie ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 16:23:06 EDT From: ThePsyche@aol.com Subject: Re: TCYK review in 4/13 Post Gina writes: > I Saw a Stranger With Your > Hair" is a funny song by which other funny songs should be measured. Am I > missing something here? > In live performance, John often scrunches up his face on certain lines, or looks sideways with a smile...highlighting parts of the song to illicit a laugh from the audience. I agree with you Gina, it is not what I would call pure Gorka humor, just pure Gorka. Bryn ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 20:25:31 From: "Mike Smith" Subject: Re: TCYK review in 4/13 Post Yeah, I'm always laughing out loud every time I hear "I Saw A Stranger With Your Hair". If he doesn't "get" a line like "What was that that I just said" he obviously doesn't "get" what I like so much about John Gorka's music. Mike, Overwhelmed by TCYK _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 18:24:17 EDT From: Togg4@gateway.net Subject: Re: TCYK review in 4/13 Post In a message dated 4/13/01 3:25:08 PM Central Daylight Time, ThePsyche@aol.com writes: > Ibve got a place here > Ibve got a family > More to love, more to feel, more to do > And more to lose. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 18:26:08 EDT From: ThePsyche@aol.com Subject: Archived Reviews Hey friends. I was just reading some of the archived reviews Susan just put up at the Gorka site. They are written by Jay Votel, long time Gorka fan and frequent contributor to Annie Nugent's Gorka site, the one Susan and I took over about 7 months ago. He is also the write of the wonderful story in the Washington Post that is also now available at the web site. Anyway, as I was looking at the old reviews and reading the set lists, I saw listed Shenandoah and What A Wonderful World. I was lucky enough to see John perform several times back in 98 and he often closed the show with these two beautiful songs. He also did, back in that time frame, a Sinatra song, The Wee Small Hours of the Morning. I wish he would bring them back into his set list. John has the voice to bring so many old songs to life, and his renditions of some of these standards breath new life into them. One more comment, Susan set up a very cool discussion link at the web site, a place to discuss things similar to what I just wrote, and so far, besides myself and Susan, only a couple others have added their voice. I wish more of you would consider checking it out and writing...especially that tiny Asian woman I met on the Christine Lavin discussion board so long ago. Peace Friends, Bryn ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 19:18:57 EDT From: Togg4@gateway.net Subject: Re: TCYK review in 4/13 Post > > Ibve got a place here > > Ibve got a family > > More to love, more to feel, more to do > > And more to lose. > Sounds like eBonics! I B serious about this. Looks like Smokey isn't the only one with B problems. It appears that Bryn has them too! Pardon any redundancy here, but my post to the list came back to me without my original comment. Gina ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2001 01:52:29 -0400 From: "Shelley DePaul" Subject: Re: TCYK review in 4/13 Post >Personally, if John, at 42, was still singing of unrequited love and stolen >vehicles, and had not moved on, grown, settled and discovered new pieces to >this thing called life, I am not sure I would still be listening to him. Well said, Paula. And considering the very active (and loving) role he's taken as a new father and husband, it's amazing he came out with a recording at all. A lot of men in his profession neglect much of the child-rearing and mundane "stuff" that is part of the (not altogether exciting)responsibility of keeping a family together. Not only do they miss a lot, but their families suffer deeply. My father was this type. He did very little "around the house" and was always leaving. It was very painful and unsettling. It's obvious John's not about to let this happen, and I think it's also obvious from some of the lyrics on this album that it's not always easy or "cut and dried". He was on his own for a long time before having a family and I'm certain there are times he misses the freedom, although he feels (and is) blessed as well. These are many of the main issues he deals with in this recording and it is honest, transitional, and important. Having said that, I have to comment on Mr. Hinderhole's (did I get that right?) whimsical review; because I'm miffed. (I once said to John, a while ago, referring to the "troubles" that he was having with Windham Hill and to other "dinosaur" reviewers, (what a pit!) that if I were he, I'd become a hermit! Thank the stars for all of us that he has more guts than I do.) BUT it's obvious that this guy, first of all, doesn't know John's style very well, and second doesn't have the attention span to really sit down and listen. "What Was That," (Joint of No Return too)for example, has more to do with a world-weary individual going through a stage we all go through at least once in our lives when we discover we can't change the world, or even meet our own expectations, or are powerless to help our own loved ones, etc.; furthermore, anyone dealing with any type of difficult forgiveness process knows that it's a back and forth type of thing...No it's not.....Yes it is!...er, I mean.... what do I mean?...OH Rhett!...what was that that I just said?...etc., etc., et al.. And "cyberspace satire"??? What was that that he just said? What IS that?? Can somebody tell me? Methinks, he's trying to be clever, Underwhelmingly so. Falls flat. Doesn't quite cohere. Embarrasing. Just in case Mr. What's his name missed it, the coherent line is the first line, a completely coherent and proper topic sentence. John's high school Espanol teacher would be very proud. Not only is it coherent. It's relevant. A hot topic these days... Lots of lonely people, as Greg Brown put it, "Road Kill on the information highway." As far as "Sentimentality" goes, I heard Ferron (He HAS heard of Ferron, but what does she know?)once say that the key to being a good songwriter is being able (unafraid) to be sentimental. Sappy is one thing. Sentimental is another. Love is never wasted. Furthermore the man completely bypasses the best songs on the CD altogether, and I suppose by "clever puns pulled from a songwriter's notebook" he means phrases like the ones in Wisheries, which if you take each one and think about it for a while, contains a little universe all its own, which is what makes the song so amazing. Finally (Yes I'm done) none of John's songs are what they seem on the surface. Even "Around The House" has a lot more to do with "Walking" than picking up toys, although you'll never get him to admit it. And why should he. Thanks for listening to my rant, guys, that is if you made it this far. It's so long you'll probably never get it. May be forever lost in the universe of cyberspace satire. But for myself, I feel much better now. I'm going to bed. g'night Shelley - ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Friday, April 13, 2001 4:19 PM Subject: Re: TCYK review in 4/13 Post > Geoffrey Himes, review for the Washington Post writes: > > > > They're underwhelming only in regard to the high expectations that > > Gorka's past work has raised, but there's nothing here as funny as "I > > Saw a Stranger With Your Hair," as angry as "Stranger in My Driver's > > Seat" or as moving as "The One That Got Away." The new songs are full of > > wry observations and clever puns pulled from a songwriter's notebook > > > > I guess this is one of the things singer/songwriters have to endure, never > measuring up to someone's expectations of what came before. > > Personally, if John, at 42, was still singing of unrequited love and stolen > vehicles, and had not moved on, grown, settled and discovered new pieces to > this thing called life, I am not sure I would still be listening to him. > > I found his music at a time in my life when I was in the midst of a major > life struggle and forever, Land of the Bottom Line will hold the # 1 position > in my list of all time best musical journeys. But as I have found peace, self > acceptance and joy through family and introspection, I am glad John has too, > that I can now share that journey, in my own way, in my own life. > > Ibve got a place here > Ibve got a family > More to love, more to feel, more to do > And more to lose. > > The boy became a man....so grow up Mr. Himes. > > Bryn Benson, music junkie ------------------------------ End of good-noise-digest V4 #78 *******************************