From: owner-idealcopy-digest@smoe.org (idealcopy-digest) To: idealcopy-digest@smoe.org Subject: idealcopy-digest V5 #235 Reply-To: idealcopy@smoe.org Sender: owner-idealcopy-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-idealcopy-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk idealcopy-digest Tuesday, July 16 2002 Volume 05 : Number 235 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [idealcopy] Re: ICA [HowardJSpencer@aol.com] [idealcopy] R&B review in Independent ["Uri Baran" ] Re: [idealcopy] Re: ICA [MarkBursa@aol.com] RE: [idealcopy] Blade Runner (Aliens Got Bored) ["Eric Klaver" ] RE: [idealcopy] Naked Film Lunch Exterminator ["Eric Klaver" ] Re: [idealcopy] and i'm spent (a.k.a. recent listenings) ["Steve Loubert"] Re: [idealcopy] mixingit [RLynn9@aol.com] Re: [idealcopy] mixingit [MarkBursa@aol.com] Re: [idealcopy] Beware of Vodsel Makers ["JH3" ] Re: [idealcopy] Naked Film Lunch Exterminator [Paul Pietromonaco ] Re: [idealcopy] Naked Film Lunch Exterminator [MarkBursa@aol.com] Re: [idealcopy] Naked Film Lunch Exterminator [Paul Pietromonaco ] Re: [idealcopy] Bruces Big Organ [RLynn9@aol.com] [idealcopy] A Smashed Case ["Bill Hick" ] [idealcopy] Read & Burn the Independent 01 ["Bill Hick" ] [idealcopy] Re: Naked Film Lunch Exterminator ["Bill Hick" ] [idealcopy] Bearded Lady Security ["Bill Hick" ] [idealcopy] Joining the Stigmata Thing ["Bill Hick" ] Re: RE: [idealcopy] Can Father Yells ha ha ha ha [Eardrumbuz@aol.com] Re: [idealcopy] 15 Organs of Gilbert [MarkBursa@aol.com] Re: [idealcopy] A crashed Case reviewed it seemed [Eardrumbuz@aol.com] [idealcopy] the indie kids agree! [Rain19c@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 05:16:38 EDT From: HowardJSpencer@aol.com Subject: [idealcopy] Re: ICA Got my tickets on Friday because I am disorganised. So for anyone without, it would still be worth a go. Starts at 8, I was told. Wonder when they'll come on? I hope earlier than at the Gareth This Heat gig when the three 'Wire curious' who I had brought along all fucked off in frustration to get trains to outlying areas. Howard ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 10:30:22 -0700 From: "Uri Baran" Subject: [idealcopy] R&B review in Independent Reviewed by Andy Gill on 12/07 Good review!! - -- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 05:55:53 EDT From: MarkBursa@aol.com Subject: Re: [idealcopy] Re: ICA >>Got my tickets on Friday because I am disorganised. So for anyone without, it would still be worth a go. Starts at 8, I was told. Wonder when they'll come on? I hope earlier than at the Gareth This Heat gig when the three 'Wire curious' who I had brought along all fucked off in frustration to get trains to outlying areas.<< Like most London venues, the ICA has to finish at 11, I think...so I guess Wire will be on stage around 10. Mark ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 09:45:31 -0400 From: "Eric Klaver" Subject: RE: [idealcopy] Blade Runner (Aliens Got Bored) on 12/07/02 01:28, Bill Hick at umur_ot@hotmail.com wrote: > I enjoyed the Naked > Lunch film, but it was a pathetic experience compared to the hilarious book, > and the effects were rubbish too. What, you would rather Spielberg or Lucas make the film? Eric in Toronto ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 09:55:43 -0400 From: "Eric Klaver" Subject: RE: [idealcopy] Can Father Yells ha ha ha ha Bill via Andrew: > Of course you should also try to hear everything by Faust, the first couple of > Neu albums & everything by Kraftwerk up to at least Man Machine. Andrew via Andrew: I've *heard*, and like, bits of the first three Neu! albums; I own most of the Kraftwerk, though I don't actually (yet) have TMM. My favourite of theirs is Trans-Europe Express, though. //////////////////////////// The first three Neu! (are there more?) albums are brilliant, I own them all. On another note, I recently got a cheap copy of Cluster, eno and Plank, "Begegnugen II" on Ars Nova (A Ukrainian label I think, if I interpret the Cyrillic correctly). I also own The entire Kraftwerk collection (with the exception of the second Ralph and Florian album). Favourite album is Radioactivity, which I enjoy from beginning to end. Possibly the favourite song is "Europe Endless", more to do woth situation rather than the music. I spent a summer up north in Canada at my parents cottage, diving on silky smooth asphalt; asphalt made with granite which glows pink in the low evening sun. I was driving a friend's Jetta and listening to Europe Endless, the irony of the song and situation being lost on me at the time. Who knows how many native trails, villages, and burial grounds I was rolling over? Oh yeah, Tago Mago is a must have. Eric in Toronto ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 03:04:01 +0200 From: "janjnoorda" Subject: [idealcopy] mixingit The Helvitis Organ Symphony conducted by Bruce Gilbert can still be listened on www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio3_aod.shtml?mixingit and choose Mixing It ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 10:16:04 -0400 From: "Eric Klaver" Subject: RE: [idealcopy] Naked Film Lunch Exterminator Arrrgh. We are moving and I just discovered that my wife pruned our video collection, including my copy of Scanners. Eric in Toronto - -----Original Message----- From: owner-idealcopy@smoe.org [mailto:owner-idealcopy@smoe.org]On Behalf Of RLynn9@aol.com Sent: July 13, 2002 5:50 PM To: Eardrumbuz@aol.com; idealcopy@smoe.org Subject: Re: [idealcopy] Naked Film Lunch Exterminator In a message dated 7/13/02 4:45:38 PM Central Daylight Time, Eardrumbuz@aol.com writes: > cronenberg films seem to each have their own appeal, and i haven't seen them > > all, but if i had to pick a fave (at the moment) it may be scanners. > > -paul c.d. > "ripe...ripe indeed....THE RIPE PROGRAM MUST BE STOPPED!!!" hahahahahahahahha...i just watched scanners the other day... "Cameron....Cameron...." RL ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 12:09:57 -0500 From: "Steve Loubert" Subject: Re: [idealcopy] mixingit > The Helvitis Organ Symphony conducted by Bruce Gilbert can still be listened > on www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio3_aod.shtml?mixingit and choose Mixing It And if you immediately click on "skip 15mins" three times, you will be positioned a couple of minutes in front of the piece. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 12:14:55 -0500 From: "Steve Loubert" Subject: Re: [idealcopy] and i'm spent (a.k.a. recent listenings) > p.s. has anyone heard the flin flon cd? any thoughts? Still waiting for my copy, but I understand there are only a couple of new tracks on it. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 13:15:59 EDT From: RLynn9@aol.com Subject: Re: [idealcopy] mixingit Yes, that is all well and good, but did ANYBODY burn it onto cd? and is their a second part upcoming?? as number 2 said to number 6 in the Prisoner: "WE WANT INFORMATION !" Robert ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 13:45:14 EDT From: MarkBursa@aol.com Subject: Re: [idealcopy] mixingit Robert, << Yes, that is all well and good, but did ANYBODY burn it onto cd? and is their a second part upcoming?? as number 2 said to number 6 in the Prisoner: "WE WANT INFORMATION !" >> There is no second part of Bruce's contribution. the "second part" is a recording of the following night's concert as part of the same Kitchen Motors weekend. bruce is not involved in this. It will be broadcast next Sunday. And yes. Mark ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 13:21:03 -0500 From: "JH3" Subject: Re: [idealcopy] Beware of Vodsel Makers > >>>>He doesn't know himself. He's just going to hitchhike > and see where it takes him. > Has your friend read Michel Faber's 'Under the Skin'? > Remember how it was the guy hitching to the gig who escaped? > Those who go see Chris Brokaw (www.chrisbrokaw.com) will be > spared the underground meat farm... I thought that was a John Martyn gig? I guess it's possible that going to see Chris Brokaw would help you avoid the needle-in- the-ass treatment, but I wouldn't count on it. (Of course, when I'm in Scotland, I usually travel by rail.) Speaking of M. Faber, I also read his short story collection, "Some Rain Must Fall" -- and while it's quite entertaining and thought- provoking, he completely fails to mention Wire anywhere in the whole collection! Spiritualized and Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel somehow make it in, but no Wire. What's more, his new book is set in the Victorian era, so it's unlikely they'll be mentioned in that one either, unless of course there's a certain amount of time travel involved... Actually, I can't think of a single piece of modern literature in which Wire is mentioned. Am I just missing it? If not, then somehow that situation ought to be addressed, don't you think? Or should that be "redressed"? John "but I do live near a town called Victoria" Hedges ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 13:30:58 -0700 From: Paul Pietromonaco Subject: Re: [idealcopy] Naked Film Lunch Exterminator >>>is "the thing" a uk alternate title for some cronenberg film? i'm pretty >sure the '80s remake of the early '50s movie of that title was done by john >carpenter.<< > >Correct. Correct to what? Correct to the UK alternate title? Or correct to the '80s remake, etc by John Carpenter? (^_^) The John Carpenter remake I know about. The Cronenberg I don't. And, there's no listing on IMDB.com for an alternate title for any Cronenberg film called "The Thing" - which is odd because IMDB.com usually lists all the worldwide titles of films. There's also no video listed on amazon.co.uk under the title "The Thing" by Cronenberg - just the 50's original and the John Carpenter remake. Bill - are you sure you're not referring to John Carpenter's "The Thing"? Sorry to be picky about this, but I'm a pretty big Cronenberg fan. (^_^) Cheers, Paul ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 21:17:22 +0100 From: Tim Subject: [idealcopy] Bruces Big Organ Any thoughts on the Organ symphony? I'm afraid I didn't enjoy it at all. Maybe I'm too stoopid but it didn't do a thing for me. I'm not mad keen on Farsifa organs anyway. Only vaguely interesting bit was when all the bontempi pre-sets kicked in at the end. I'd be interested to know what other people thought. At least It wasn't as execrable as the Iclandic Muppet thing. An Icelandic friend of mine was there and thought the whole shebang was abysmal. She walked out halfway through the puppets and headed for the bar (returned briefly for the Organ drones...and then fled!) ________________________________________ Two Fat Persons....Click Click Click http://www.kidsindestructible.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 16:54:30 EDT From: MarkBursa@aol.com Subject: Re: [idealcopy] Naked Film Lunch Exterminator Paul. Correct as in: As in "I'm pretty sure the '80s remake was done by John Carpenter" "That is Correct. The 80s remake was done by John Carpenter, and not David Cronenburg, who has never made a film called The Thing. Not never. No siree bob..." Got it?? Mark ;-) > ? i'm > pretty > >sure the '80s remake of the early '50s movie of that title was done by > john > >carpenter.<< > > > >Correct. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 14:05:05 -0700 From: Paul Pietromonaco Subject: Re: [idealcopy] Naked Film Lunch Exterminator >"That is Correct. The 80s remake was done by John Carpenter, and not >David Cronenburg, who has never made a film called The Thing. Not never. >No siree bob..." > Thanks, Mark. (^_^) That's what I thought. I guess I'm just not used to Bill making a mistake. He's usually pretty accurate about these kinds of things. (^_^) Cheers, Paul ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 17:07:58 EDT From: MarkBursa@aol.com Subject: Re: [idealcopy] Naked Film Lunch Exterminator << That's what I thought. I guess I'm just not used to Bill making a mistake. He's usually pretty accurate about these kinds of things. (^_^) >> Caught me out too. He'll be stripped of his golden anroak status and demoted to silver. Mark :-) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 14:32:32 -0700 (PDT) From: Ari Britt Subject: Re: [idealcopy] Bruces Big Organ - --- Tim wrote: > Any thoughts on the Organ symphony? > > I'm afraid I didn't enjoy it at all. Maybe I'm too > stoopid but it didn't do > a thing for me. I'm not mad keen on Farsifa organs > anyway. > Only vaguely interesting bit was when all the > bontempi pre-sets kicked in > at the end. > > I'd be interested to know what other people thought. > > > > At least It wasn't as execrable as the Iclandic > Muppet thing. > > An Icelandic friend of mine was there and thought > the whole shebang was > abysmal. She walked out halfway through the puppets > and headed for the bar > (returned briefly for the Organ drones...and then > fled!) Didn't do a darn thing for me either,(none of it)though I did record it as I know a coupla folk wanted a copy of it.(hi Robert)the things we do for friendzzzz.........Ari> > > ________________________________________ > Two Fat Persons....Click Click Click > http://www.kidsindestructible.com ===== everything in moderation is good for you,including excess. Yahoo! Autos - Get free new car price quotes http://autos.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 17:44:34 EDT From: RLynn9@aol.com Subject: Re: [idealcopy] Bruces Big Organ In a message dated 7/15/02 4:33:04 PM Central Daylight Time, luvjazzz@yahoo.com writes: > Didn't do a darn thing for me either,(none of > it)though I did record it as I know a coupla folk > wanted a copy of it.(hi Robert)the things we do for > friendzzzz.........Ari> > I am a huge Gilbert fan...so i am interested in anything he does...i may not like it either but at least i will get to hear it ! It's the experience that counts for me...then i if enjoy it and want to listen again, well that's a big bonus....and thank you Ari, appreciated as usual !...you are a good man... Robert ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 03:13:22 +0100 From: "Bill Hick" Subject: [idealcopy] A Smashed Case >>>i almost went for the boards of canada, but both copies of music has the right... had smashed jewel cases Some shops will replace smashed cases. Too much trouble for the big chain stores I suspect, but you could always ask for a discount equivalent to the price of a jewel case? Cracked Machine Highly Irregular Cyberzine http://www.webinfo.co.uk/crackedmachine ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2002 00:24:42 +0100 From: "Bill Hick" Subject: [idealcopy] Read & Burn the Independent 01 (from Friday's Independent by Andy Gill) date as per review Album: Wire Read & Burn, Pinkflag 12 July 2002 They've traversed vast distances since their birth in the cauldron of punk's early days - from grandiose neo-psychedelic excess to brittle avant-garde experimentation - but this six-track mini-album finds the newly resurgent Wire almost back where they started, with their most direct and focused performances since their Pink Flag debut. That album defined a kind of bleached, minimalist punk aesthetic that eschewed rebel attitude in favour of condensed sonic power, a one-inch-punch approach that hit hard and quick, then vanished before the listener had time to pick himself up and respond. So too here, with songs such as "In the Art of Stopping", a concise, streamlined buzzsaw guitar riff that powers along hypnotically, snapped here and there by contrasting single-bar drop-outs before slamming back in; or "Germ Ship", a short, dark miniature that finds Wire still searching for the magical minimalist clash of chords, like Sonic Youth stripped of pretension and longueurs. The surly manner of early classics like "Mannequin" and "12XU" is back too, especially in "I Don't Understand", a declamatory sneer of frustration and baffled anger: "Face the facts, you're in a bad dream/ Your time is up/ The lights are out, there's no one home". The characteristic off-the-cuff deconstructive strategies that marked the band's early work, meanwhile, are most evident in "Comet", a fast punk thrash whose chorus goes, "And the chorus goes/ Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-bang!", like a temporary outline that was never filled in: the impression is one of furious industry, of ideas tumbling out with such speed that there's no time to finish one before another bursts forth. Cracked Machine Highly Irregular Cyberzine http://www.webinfo.co.uk/crackedmachine ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 03:37:50 +0100 From: "Bill Hick" Subject: [idealcopy] 15 Organs of Gilbert >>>Well I'll be recording it both off Digital satellite broadcast and via the net, so we should have a decent take one way or another! And to think some of us are still perfectly happy to record off an analog tuner to cassette! Turned out fine & the whole program was worth recording, although I thought this Auxpan fella wasn't doing anything that I haven't heard done many times better by many others (including, er, me, but then I'm not from Iceland) and the puppet show people might've sounded better minus the narration (which is probably missing the point). Hilmar Jensen (gtr) & Skulli Sverisson (bs, sure I have some tracks by him on an old Extreme compilation w/ merzbow & otomo yoshihide) played a beautifully understated duet that rose in intensity and really should be released sometime by Kitchen Motors if they are sensible, as should the Helvitis Organ Symphony. It won't much surprise anyone that the 15 organists started with a drone. They continued to drone and got denser. At some point someone started to play Silent Night and was of course quickly drowned in stuttering jabbering keyboard. At the end it sounded like someone was picking up disco on a radio. It was a nice noise. Perhaps it was the kind of thing that makes the parallel between Wire and Charlemagne Palestine seem more obvious? Next Sunday they broadcast Mum, who should also be worth recording as they are pretty good. Cracked Machine Highly Irregular Cyberzine http://www.webinfo.co.uk/crackedmachine ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2002 00:44:43 +0100 From: "Bill Hick" Subject: [idealcopy] Re: Naked Film Lunch Exterminator > on 13/07/02 20:35, Bill Hick at umur_ot@hotmail.com wrote: > > > > I've seen the Naked Lunch film once > > The first time I saw it I didn't understand a bloody thing. I think the one > common thing for Cronenberg movies is that they get better with each > viewing. Crash was much better the second time - it's really odd for me to go & see a film twice in the cinema, but my wife wanted to see it when it came around again. Noticed a lot of detail that passed me by first time. Still haven't read the book though - I have a problem with Ballard which is that every book of his I've read I've been able to guess the plot, which kind of spoils it - he's always too obvious! Haven't read Atrocity Exhibition though, which is one I've always meant to. Rushing to Paradise is the one that stands out in my memory... >Has anyone seen his new one? I thought Existenz, his >last one, was > really brilliant. > Didn't see either In what ways was Existenz brilliant? > Naked Lunch > I think Cronenberg was the first one to admit that the film is quite limited > compared to the book. And he did insist of making it a narrative film, so > had to virtually change the whole concept and make into a film (mainly) > about writer's block. This is the wonder of cut ups. The perfect antidote to writer's block! >So as an adaptation it probably sucks, but it's still > a great film. I think Burroughs was quite satisfied with the results - > wasn't he? > > > Wasn't Ian Holm playing a warped version / vision of Paul Bowles? He's > > another great writer, especially The Spider's House. > > Yes, that was him. > Up Above the World & The Sheltering Sky are also good books, but Bowles is a master of the short story. The Midnight Mass collection is probably my favourite Bowles book, now I come to think of it. > > -- > > IMC ISRAEL > http://www.indymedia.org.il/ > NP Bruce Gilbert directs 15 Organists of Mixed Ability for Helvitis Kitchen Motor Symphony "Western values mean nothing to her" (The Pop Group - She is Beyond Good & Evil) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 02:29:55 +0100 From: "Bill Hick" Subject: [idealcopy] Characters of Dick > Rereading The Man in the High Castle last year I was > struck by how there isn't really a bad person in the book, despite the less > than savoury political situation. Few authors like their characters this > much >>>That's one of Dick's strongest appeals. On the one hand his characters are pathetic small people with very materialistic aspirations and ridiculous dreams of grandeur, but they are described so empathically that you can't help identifying with them. Here I always compare Dick to Pinter, whose pathetic characters just remain pathetic, riding on the high waves of estrangement (that's not a qualitative judgement, I'm a great Pinter fan). With Dick, this combination of identification with pitiable characters is what creates his great sense of bitter irony My take on this is that Dick can't actually get beyond himself to characterise - - I see all his characters as gabbling fragments of the same schizophrenic (?) personality battling to put across new ideas and visions. I always found Dick's books to be all about concepts and the characters just tools to convey them. In some ways the most convincing characters occur in the later books when it becomes glaringly obvious that they are Dick himself. The characters that supposedly aren't aspects of his own personality are often based on people he knew and was sympathetic towards, but he imposes so much of his own interpretation on them that they seem to become aspects of the same brilliantly shattered mindbrain trying to relocate the shards back in place. I question the schizophrenic definition, as I'm not sure it's really such a useful model, even though Dick himself explored it with some degree of experience...? Cracked Machine Highly Irregular Cyberzine http://www.webinfo.co.uk/crackedmachine ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2002 00:44:15 +0100 From: "Bill Hick" Subject: [idealcopy] Bearded Lady Security > Though a bearded woman with tattoos threatening to rip yer fookin' head off > might make for entertaining adventures. There are usually a few hanging > round down Oldham Street. Not now. The council has received a new Holy Law from Wrongbrain Wilson and all the Oldham Beardies have been rounded up and cheaply trained to do security for the Commonwealth Game (ie. stand around bored for #5 an hour). This is because if a bomb went off whilst people who have travelled from all over the world to run about and chuck things are running about and chucking things, IT WOULD NOT LOOK GOOD. Not to mention the damage to the tourist trade. Cracked Machine Highly Irregular Cyberzine http://www.webinfo.co.uk/crackedmachine Rob Newman on the Commonwealth Games: "We go over there and plunder these foreign lands and then on the way out we turn around and say, Fancy a Game of Badminton?" ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 02:04:57 +0100 From: "Bill Hick" Subject: [idealcopy] Joining the Stigmata Thing >>>is "the thing" a uk alternate title for some cronenberg film? i'm pretty sure the '80s remake of the early '50s movie of that title was done by john carpenter. It was John Carpenter - which perhaps explains why the effects were better? My mind is going... (oh no thats Stanley Kubrick isn't it?) >>>dan, intrigued by how cronenberg might bring 3 stigmata to the screen ... The final part of the book would be a challenge... Cracked Machine Highly Irregular Cyberzine http://www.webinfo.co.uk/crackedmachine ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 19:52:30 EDT From: Eardrumbuz@aol.com Subject: Re: RE: [idealcopy] Can Father Yells ha ha ha ha In a message dated 7/15/02 9:53:59 AM, eklaver@elysium-sl.com writes: >I spent a summer up north in Canada at my parents > >cottage, diving on silky smooth asphalt i hope that didn't hurt too much paul (sorry i couldn't resist, i'll get me hat) c.d. p.s. sorry you lost your scanners tape :o( nobody should be without an exploding heads video ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 20:16:03 EDT From: MarkBursa@aol.com Subject: Re: [idealcopy] 15 Organs of Gilbert << And to think some of us are still perfectly happy to record off an analog tuner to cassette! >> Join Ludd Gang! Mark ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 21:42:45 EDT From: Eardrumbuz@aol.com Subject: Re: [idealcopy] A crashed Case reviewed it seemed In a message dated 7/15/02 7:47:50 PM, umur_ot@hotmail.com writes: > >Some shops will replace smashed cases. Too much trouble for the big chain >stores I suspect, but you could always ask for a discount equivalent to >the >price of a jewel case? i have extra jewel cases. it's more that i'm worried about getting a scratched disc when the case has taken abuse. >Next Sunday they broadcast Mum, who should also be worth recording as they are >pretty good. are they just good to listen to, or are they also good to watch in a hot sweatbox standing room only venue on a weekday night, an hour's drive or train ride away from home? they're playing in nyc later this month. from review by andy gill: >The characteristic >off-the-cuff deconstructive strategies that marked the band's early work, >meanwhile, are most evident in "Comet", a fast punk thrash whose chorus >goes, >"And the chorus goes/ Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-bang!", like a temporary outline that >was >never filled in: the impression is one of furious industry, of ideas tumbling >out with such speed that there's no time to finish one before another bursts >forth. really nice review. i especially like the above part. >Cronenberg movies ...crash... Noticed a lot of detail that passed me by first time. i find that to be the case with many of his movies. always more to see when rewatching. as far as the brilliancy of existenz (i liked it but someone else called it brilliant), i think the premise was really good, and the overall surreal atmosphere of the whole thing, visuals and storyline, was brilliant. just the overall execution was slightly off. it ended up being just a little too simplistic compared to what it had the potential to become. the best parts were everything from the gas station scene up til just before the climax. climax and denouement went way too fast. - -paul (as if response were based on fact) c.d. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2002 00:26:24 EDT From: Rain19c@aol.com Subject: [idealcopy] the indie kids agree! a review of R&B from pitchfork, a haven for american indie rock/independent reviews.... http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/w/wire/read-and-burn.shtml ~michael Wire Read & Burn 01 EP [Pinkflag; 2002] Rating: 8.0 There are storm clouds looming just over the horizon, kids, and that can only mean one thing. Legend has it that when the planets come into a very careful misalignment, and the economic climate is just so, it's possible for one of those seminal, gone-but-not-forgotten punk bands of yesteryear to rise from the ashes. And now, as the mighty, infinite cosmos would have it, it's Wire's turn to have a go at resurrection. It's a risky prospect-- one that so often detracts from the legacy of legends-- but if they succeed, they prove themselves beyond any talent we could ever have conceived they originally harbored, because to re-enter the rock-making fray after 11 years of silence spells certain doom for anyone except the truly mighty. If you're acquainted with any Wire beyond "Eardrum Buzz" or "Outdoor Miner" from some awkward punk compilation, feel free to play through, but as minority whip for my Rock Historians Union local 154, I'm obliged to inform the uninitiated. When punk first crossed the Atlantic and crash-landed in England, Wire hit the ground running, and as the flag-bearers for the artier end of the movement, they strip-mined pure gold from its crusty veins while scores of imitators simply half-assed it Sex Pistols-style. Pink Flag, to this day one of the finest statements the genre ever produced, was followed by the more experimental 154 and Chairs Missing, proving that Wire had eclipsed the limitations of mere punk. But rather than burn themselves in effigy as many of their contemporaries seemed content to do, they soon bowed out, claiming they'd plain run out of ideas. It was a move so tasteful it's a wonder that more deserving bands haven't done it (I'll give you a second to think of twenty). Of course, Wire didn't completely heed their own advice, coming back from 86-91 to be swept along in the tail-end of the new wave riptide. But for better or worse, after more than a decade's absence, Wire has fired a warning shot of the coming onslaught, and they call it Read & Burn. By its second track, Read & Burn had far surpassed my expectations. This is indeed the Wire we all know and love, but not exactly as they are known and loved. Here, they've cultivated a sound as lean and raw as anything off even Pink Flag (like they decided to forget their instruments all over again to get a fresh start), but where there their old songs had a minimal sterility, the hooks on this album drip with a wicked venom. Maybe I'm just a sucker for a sneering cockney accent, but the nasty vocal tone and angry, droning guitar buzz employed on most of these six tracks comes as a pleasant surprise; old men that they are, what a shock that they can still summon teen rage on a whim. Any vestiges of their old electronic forays have been mostly abandoned, and they take it to the streets with nothing but the basic elements of rock: guitars, bass, and drums. The newer, more aggressive Wire seems like the right tack for the boys from across the pond, and they've warmed to the role capably, cutting through all eighteen minutes of this EP like an industrial-strength arcwelder through a tub of Parkay. It's comforting to know that beneath it all, though, the same vital, driving energy that Wire has always had forms the foundation of this release. After ten years, "I Don't Understand" seems just like a more forceful version of "Brazil," right down to the clanging bass and spitfire vocal delivery. There are echoes of "Reuters" under the screeching assault of "Comet" (albeit echoes of a much, much faster version). Fundamentally, Wire's minimal approach is still present in the arrangements, even if it's a little harder to detect due to the single, blistering tempo of most of these cuts. "Germ Ship" shows up about ten minutes in and immediately shifts the feel of the record, however briefly. The bass is set apart from the frantic grind of the guitar work, which relaxes things ever so slightly before the disturbing vocals come in. Whispered as faintly and insidiously as a death sentence before the chorus shows up to pull the lever, the track stands out from the pack on vocal strength alone. It's excellent, though admittedly, it's also the least Wire-y offering presented. For those die-hards, they've included "In the Art of Stopping," which almost approaches the ultimate paragon of Wire's career, "Ex-Lion Tamer," in sheer anthemic power. Yep, Read & Burn is still Wire, and without even retreading the past. Instead, they've kept much of their essential Wiriness and filtered it through the post-punk filter of years to arrive at sort of a hybrid. It's not going to win them a place in the hearts of Wire fans who can't handle a little change, but if not for a need for change, why else did Wire break up in the first place? - -Eric Carr, July 15th, 2002 ------------------------------ End of idealcopy-digest V5 #235 *******************************