From: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org (JMDL Digest) To: joni-digest@smoe.org Subject: JMDL Digest V2005 #372 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk Unsubscribe: mailto:joni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe Archives: http://www.smoe.org/lists/joni Websites: http://www.jmdl.com http://www.jonimitchell.com JMDL Digest Thursday, September 29 2005 Volume 2005 : Number 372 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- re: fun news NJC ["mike pritchard" ] conversation [Oddmund Kaarevik ] Re: better than dylan NJC [Bob Muller ] re: fun news NJC [Bob Muller ] re: fun news NJC [Catherine McKay ] Re: conversation [Nuriel Tobias ] Art ["Cassy" ] ipod browse/NJC ["MIKE HICKS" ] Re: Art [Em ] More on bootlegs - njc ["Gerald A. Notaro" ] bootlegs - njc ["Gerald A. Notaro" ] Re: Art [Jamie Zubairi ] Re: Art [FMYFL@aol.com] RE: ebert on dylan film njc ["Kate Bennett" ] Re: ebert on dylan film njc ["Kate Bennett" ] Dylan, njc [] Re: ebert on dylan film njc ["Bree Mcdonough" ] Re: Art [Smurf ] Re: Art [Em ] Re: The Late Show - Rickie Lee and nothing but Rickie Lee njc ["mack wats] Re: Art [Em ] Men of the Internet -- njc [Smurf ] Re: Subject: RE: DYLAN: MONDAY and TUESDAY NIGHTS, njc ["Michael O'Malley] neat filmstrip njc ["Richard Flynn" ] Re: Art ["Michael Flaherty" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 09:28:06 +0200 From: "mike pritchard" Subject: re: fun news NJC >>Tom Delay was indicted today.<< How does the rest of this poem go? mike in bcn np - John Cale - Island Years ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 10:08:25 +0200 (CEST) From: Oddmund Kaarevik Subject: conversation When morning comes to Morgantown or Treungen or was it a Chelsea morning . . . I don't know. But the rain falls hard on this hum-drum-uffda- in- the middle of nowhere kind of place where I am today. I am tired. But I'm happy, and someone in the room is playing his clarinet, real good for free. . . Makes me kind of wanna dance, almost play soccer. But dearest and funniest and brightest star, almost famous and definately mad, constantly joni-lovable-quoting-persona I've met on this list ('till now!): the one and only: Pattie Parlette, I am afraid your wrong, and Catherine (Anima-rising!) is right. Joni wouldn't be much of a cheer-leader. She would just go off and play pinn-ball in the middle of the game. Or go off to buy cigarettes. And she would laugh hard, needles, guns, and grass lots of laughs lots of laughs, if some of the players fell and broke their leg or neck. But what she could do, I suppose, is to brighten- starbrighten- the cheerleaders with her vivid, warm, engaging, thrilling and catching music. Or if she was in the mood, she could grab her pen and do a really good analysis of both sides, now, the winner, the looser and draw Another borderline, because Everything comes and goes Pleasure moves on too early And trouble leaves too slow. . . Yes that she could do, if she was in the mood. Oh Joni- Oh Canada I am ever so happy that your music reached me. Through the cold and biting and ifreezing irony of N.H. (I'll send him a thank you card, one of these days...) because I'm still on my feet, and still hangin' in here, and on this list: Wish you all: A starbright starbright mroning - day - whatever- with all the lovin' that you like all right Love Oddmund in the middle of nowhere - Norway ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 03:32:19 -0700 (PDT) From: Bob Muller Subject: Re: better than dylan NJC Subject: re: fun news NJC >>Tom Delay was indicted today.<< How does the rest of this poem go?> Just for you, my ballad-loving friend.... Tom Delay was indicted today For his crimes he'll have to pay Funneling money to all his friends To support all their Neocon ends He's guilty of so much sordid stuff Not even jail would be punishment enough Let's just hope that he'll confess And indict Lord Dubya as part of the mess! Bob NP: Ralna English, "Both Sides Now" - --------------------------------- Yahoo! for Good Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 06:51:58 -0400 (EDT) From: Catherine McKay Subject: re: fun news NJC - --- mike pritchard wrote: > >>Tom Delay was indicted today.<< > > How does the rest of this poem go? > His fleece was white as snow? (I have no idea who/what Tom Delay is but it reminds me that we'll be setting the clocks back an hour very soon.) Catherine Toronto - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- __________________________________________________________ Find your next car at http://autos.yahoo.ca ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 04:49:23 -0700 (PDT) From: Nuriel Tobias Subject: Re: conversation You're never at the middle of nowhere when you're here with us:) Take care, Oddmund, Nuri Oddmund Kaarevik wrote: Love Oddmund in the middle of nowhere - Norway - --------------------------------- Yahoo! for Good Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 07:40:38 -0400 From: "Cassy" Subject: Art From: "Richard Flynn" <<< because, face it, she's a true artist only as a musician and songwriter >>> Art is such a personal thing. We don't all like everything by each artist/musician we profess to enjoy and that's OK but I have always had issues with being labelled a "true" anything. I love most of Joni's music and some of her paintings. The fact that I don't like some of her output doesn't necessarily mean she isn't a "true" artist. Hell, even if I hated ALL of her paintings doesn't negate the fact that she IS an artist regardless of my personal taste. No flame retardent suits required, just my personal opinion. Cassy ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 08:03:52 -0400 From: "MIKE HICKS" Subject: ipod browse/NJC My mix of 10 songs that just appeared on my ipod are: Beechwood Sparks - Let It Run Cocteau Twins - For Phoebe Still A Baby Death Cab For Cutie - Line Still Fits Depeche Mode - Everything Counts (in large amounts of course) Folk Implosion - Mechanical Man Interpol - NYC Lovedrug - Spiders N. Lannon - Hollow Heart Red House Painters - Smokey Tahiti 80 - Hey Joe By the way, if you are not familiar with the group Death Cab For Cutie, the album Transatlanticism is a must have. Especially for this elite group of music lovers. Try some excerpts from amazon. Mike ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 05:55:51 -0700 (PDT) From: Em Subject: Re: Art at the risk of doing a "me too" post..I have to say that some of her work I've seen, is pretty good. And some of it is sort of merely "graduate student" level. A couple of things have struck me as fairly brilliant tho (the "dog/wolf" stuff, for example). Em ps have only seen stuff on album covers and the puter screen tho, would like to know how her surface treatment really is, etc.. - --- Cassy wrote: > From: "Richard Flynn" > > <<< because, face it, she's a true artist only as a musician and > songwriter > >>> > > Art is such a personal thing. We don't all like everything by each > artist/musician we profess to enjoy and that's OK but I have always > had > issues with being labelled a "true" anything. > > I love most of Joni's music and some of her paintings. The fact that > I > don't like some of her output doesn't necessarily mean she isn't a > "true" > artist. Hell, even if I hated ALL of her paintings doesn't negate > the fact > that she IS an artist regardless of my personal taste. > > No flame retardent suits required, just my personal opinion. > > Cassy ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 09:47:15 -0400 (EDT) From: "Gerald A. Notaro" Subject: More on bootlegs - njc Music companies sell bootlegs to fight piracy Ethan Smith Wall Street Journal Sept. 27, 2005 11:05 AM Bootleg concert recordings are going legit. The music industry has been fighting a losing battle against illegal recordings of live shows that circulate among fans. That fight is part of wider piracy problems the record labels blame for a steep decline in CD sales. But, now, some of the biggest music companies are betting on the unlikely solution of making and selling their own recordings of concerts, sometimes making them available just minutes after a performance ends. The idea, which has been gaining momentum during the past year, took a leap forward Monday when Vivendi Universal SA's Universal Music and Instant Live, owned by Clear Channel Communications Inc., announced a blanket licensing agreement that lays the groundwork for Instant Live to issue concert recordings by Universal recording artists - provided the acts want to participate. advertisement Other music companies are launching their own efforts. Sony BMG, a joint venture of Sony Corp. and Bertelsmann AG, operates a Web site called ShopBootlegs.com, which sells live recordings of a handful of its acts, including Tori Amos, Jeff Beck and Los Lonely Boys, for $6.98 to $13.98. A new venture backed by Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and Anschutz Entertainment Group Inc. launched last week and is set to broadcast concerts live on the Internet and through other channels. That is on top of the efforts by individual bands like Pearl Jam, which has been selling live recordings for several years. This year the band has begun offering digital versions almost immediately after a show ends. The new services are part of the music industry's efforts to pull itself out of the doldrums. The industry has been battling declining sales since 1999. World-wide sales have fallen 13 percent in the past six years, to $32 billion. This year in the U.S., album sales are down by more than 8 percent compared with last year. That decline has been mitigated - though far from offset entirely - by the rapid growth in online sales of digital tracks through outlets like Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes Music Store. In addition to selling tracks online, music companies have experimented with trying to give customers more for their money by packaging bonus DVDs with some CDs, or selling so-called DualDisc albums, which include video content on the reverse side of a standard CD. Clear Channel's Instant Live was founded about two years ago; the company typically works with bands to record a series of concerts on a tour, quickly turning out 1,000 to 2,000 CDs that are sold to fans for $15 to $40 as they leave the venue. Those that aren't sold are distributed both online and through independent music stores, where they often are sold as collectibles. The service is still working out some kinks. Fans can pay ahead of time for a recording of a concert they are going to. But for now, it can be tough for fans to know if that option is available. The "Tour Dates" section of the Black Crowes' Web site, for instance, doesn't mention the Instant Live option. Fans have to go to the Instant Live site itself to find nearly a dozen coming dates by that band, for which they can preorder a CD. At concerts themselves, Instant Live hangs signs and hands out fliers advertising the service. The discs are typically available for sale as quickly as six minutes after the end of a show, usually near the T-shirts and other souvenirs. Instant Live says it is working on an option to let fans prepay for an authorized "bootleg" when they buy their concert tickets. The company also plans to add a digital-download option. Until now, Instant Live and its primary competitor, Immediatek Inc.'s DiscLive, have focused on a specific niche: acts that record for either small independent record labels or that have no record contract at all. They also have targeted bands with a following of hardcore fans who are likely to want recordings of multiple concerts. Those would include groups such as the Allman Brothers Band and the Black Crowes: The company has released recordings of more than two dozen shows by the Allmans alone. The Universal licensing agreement, which removes a major logistical hurdle from the process of recording major-label acts, aims to expand the roster of artists that are likely to participate. That is because nearly all record contracts give the label exclusive rights to any recordings a band makes while under contract - requiring complex negotiations to work out exceptions. Universal recently road-tested the concept with a 10-show run by a developing act called ... And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead. Larry Kenswil, president of Universal's eLabs, the unit that is responsible for digital music and other new initiatives, says the new deal represents an important way to reach out to a "key group" of potential customers: concertgoers who already have demonstrated a willingness to pay for music. Nonetheless, it remains to be seen just how widely the new products are embraced - both by fans and by artists. Some bigger acts, like Universal's U2, may not ever participate, given the more challenging task of distributing recordings to their large audiences. "When someone's doing a stadium show, getting these thousands and thousands of CDs ready and pressed at the end of a show - the logistics would be much greater," says Mr. Kenswil. Also, bands that are more particular about how they sound to fans, he adds, may not welcome live recordings that are mixed on the fly. Those can sound muddier than more painstaking productions, and can end up including blown notes or other mistakes. Network Live, the venture backed by XM, AOL and AEG, aims to sell live music not directly to consumers, but to content distributors, including some of its backers. The company was launched last week with a Bon Jovi concert in New York City. Network Live licensed its feed for rebroadcast on AOL's music service and on XM satellite radio, and on television in foreign markets. The company also plans to beam concerts live to movie theaters in dozens of cities, where fans will be charged around $15 each, and is in the process of negotiating a domestic cable-television deal. Network Live plans to produce seven more concerts before the end of the year, including one next month by Green Day. Next year, says Chief Executive Kevin Wall, the company plans to carry about 70 concerts. Even though Network Live's offerings are available without extra charge to AOL and XM users, Mr. Wall predicts his company's efforts won't cut into box-office revenues. "We really feel this is going to help drive concert ticket sales," says Mr. Wall, who in the past has served as the executive producer of the television broadcast of this year's Live8 concerts, and was involved in the broadcast of the Live Aid concert in 1985. That is because Network Live plans to broadcast concerts early in an artist's concert tour, which he says will serve as advertising for future dates. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 09:45:45 -0400 (EDT) From: "Gerald A. Notaro" Subject: bootlegs - njc In The Fade: Bootlegging Is Not A Crime By: David George-Cosh on Sep 28, 05 | 9:46 pm || Comments [0 so far] David@TheGATE.ca Ladies and gentlemen, I stand before you today and can proudly admit that I am a bootlegger. No, I'm not the kind of person that brews their own moonshine  even better, I proudly collect and distribute recorded live concerts, or bootlegs. Bootlegs have been around for years. I'll define them in this column as audio that is recorded outside of the studio that is released into the public domain. Not only does this include live concerts, but also recorded studio tracks that were not intended for release by the artist, label, etc. In a world where the popular opinion of downloading music is at extremes -- either considering it to be threatening or saving the music industry, bootleg trading is highly welcomed into the music lexicon. With the artist's consent to distribute these shows, as long that no one's making a profit off of them, everything's gravy. According to US law, it is not illegal to record a performance with the permission of the performer. Live concerts have always been part of an artist's discography. But usually, the hardcore fans (and there's a lot of them) want more. Much more. Bands such as The Grateful Dead and Phish are known for their extensive live concert catalogue. But not every band has taken the time to release a concert with crisp sound and production. That's where fans, armed with the latest in recording technology come to the rescue. How to make your own bootlegs? Well, go to a fairly large concert in say, Toronto, and check out the soundbooth around the back or middle of the venue. If you see a couple mic stands being attended by some dude with a rock shirt, that show is probably being bootlegged. The recording is made onto a DAT tape or minidisk, copied onto the computer and then burned or uploaded on the net for mass distribution. It's a tough job but someone's got to do it. Thankfully, bootlegger's love of live concerts and satisfaction they get from sharing provides all the motivation they'll need. And that's important because recording is quite expensive when you factor in ticket prices and equipment costs - this becomes an expensive hobby. I remember being younger, heading off to the post office with a bundle of envelopes filled with cassette tapes (remember those?). I collected everything from rare Beatles White Album demos to every single recorded Jeff Buckley concert of which I knew. Now, although people still mail off burned CD's, most bootleg trading has been made simpler with the advent of the internet and broadband connections. The internet has transformed bootleg trading from something you'd have to scour newsletters for, which came out monthly, to downloading a show that was just recorded 24 hours earlier. The increased popularity of BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer protocol, has also made it that much easier to get shows. A recent Reuters article puts BitTorrent sucking over one-third of all Internet bandwidth. If we assume that only 1% of that is from online bootleg trading, then there's a pretty large amount of data being transferred which are solely live concerts. When trading bootlegs, keep a few things in mind. One, never profit off a trade  not only is it bad karma, but you're essentially taking money away from the artist you're listening to. Secondly, always help people new to the game out  remember, everyone started out with nothing, even you. The trading community may seem quite selfish and at times pretentious, so don't be taken aback if some jerk screws you over for postage. Lastly, make sure that you're not trading any copyrighted material that go against the wishes of the band and/or the band's label. The US Code, Title 17, Section 1101 specifically addresses any grey areas that may arise in bootlegging, so you should probably check that out if you're still uneasy. Bootlegs are a nice treat for fans who know where to find them. When listening to your favourite album starts to get boring, live recordings often add that extra lyric or solo that changes the song entirely. Add a few covers and an ever-changing setlist and maybe you'll begin to see why I love bootlegs so much. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 15:21:31 +0100 (BST) From: Jamie Zubairi Subject: Re: Art Pleas see http://www.jonimitchell.com/DiaryDecade/art.htm Yes, Art is entirely subjective (well, in my opinion!). I do love Joni's artwork especially the late 70's to 1994 stuff. I haven't seen anything that I particularly liked after that period as figurative art is more about personal taste and I think even she said that she painted things to match her couch... which is fine, actually... I'm doing a painting for my mother's 60th and it's going to hang in the dinig room so it'll have to have a warm peach undertone. Which is already a limitation... I wonder what colour Joni's couch is? Em, having seen her art at an exhibition, her tratment of surface changes. The Mingus painting is very much flat colour, where the medium is almost ground into the canvas, also from the the same period 'Malibu Fire' and 'Before The Avalanche' the surface is really flat. but her mid-80s work where she got into abstract expressionism, the surface gained more texture and vibrancy (The Basket Weavers, or The Junk in Ole's Yard, or the wonderfully titled, sadly not included, Pealing Sheep Like Tangerines) The last favourite painting of hers I like is Turbulent Indigo, just because she gets it right, it is perfectly sculpted in paint. Sadly I have never seen it, just in reproduction on posters. Yes, her later works (see paintings in Dreamland or TTT or even BSN, apart from the cover of BSN, which I love, the later works seem more homely 'would go nice in the hall' type efforts. I do like the paintings in TBOS though... And so what, she works fm photographs, I work from slides so that's cheating even more! It's a compositors tool... I love talking JoniArt, we could ALL have a say... Much Joni Jamie Zoob who should've un-subbed weeks ago, but I can't help myself!!!! - --- Em wrote: > at the risk of doing a "me too" post..I have to say > that some of her > work I've seen, is pretty good. And some of it is > sort of merely > "graduate student" level. > A couple of things have struck me as fairly > brilliant tho (the > "dog/wolf" stuff, for example). > Em > ps have only seen stuff on album covers and the > puter screen tho, would > like to know how her surface treatment really is, > etc.. > > --- Cassy wrote: > > > > Art is such a personal thing. We don't all like > everything by each > > artist/musician we profess to enjoy and that's OK > but I have always > > had > > issues with being labelled a "true" anything. > > > > I love most of Joni's music and some of her > paintings. The fact that > > I > > don't like some of her output doesn't necessarily > mean she isn't a > > "true" > > artist. Hell, even if I hated ALL of her > paintings doesn't negate > > the fact > > that she IS an artist regardless of my personal > taste. > > Cassy ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 10:55:37 EDT From: FMYFL@aol.com Subject: Re: Art Jamie writes: > I do love Joni's artwork especially the > late 70's to 1994 stuff. I haven't seen anything that > I particularly liked after that period as figurative > art is more about personal taste and I think even she > said that she painted things to match her couch... > which is fine, actually... I'm doing a painting for my > mother's 60th and it's going to hang in the dinig room > so it'll have to have a warm peach undertone. Which is > already a limitation... I wonder what colour Joni's > couch is? > First off, put me in the "me too" category! Although there are some of her pieces I don't particularly care for, I love my of Joni's artwork, even her newer pieces. I have her BSN painting hanging in my living room, and it looks beautiful. As for Joni's couch, I can't tell what color it is but the walls in this photo are a dark dark blue. http://jonimitchell.com/JoniTrip.html Jimmy ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 08:52:31 -0700 From: "Kate Bennett" Subject: RE: ebert on dylan film njc Deb> In the early part of the film there were hints of Dylan as an ordinary musician with an understandable ambition to be famous, and of Dylan as a guy who scrupulously cultivated his persona. *That,* I buy.< I think that theme ran throughout the film & was there at the end too... when he said something like he 'had to find a new bob dylan' when he was too tired to sing... he's a Gemini I think- the twins... which sort of explains his sometimes contradictory personality... whether it was ambition or just certainty of his music it had to take enormous chutzpah to tour with a booing audience every night & not give up... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 09:15:42 -0700 From: "Kate Bennett" Subject: Re: ebert on dylan film njc >You can't talk about Joplin or Hendrix or Morrison without reference to drugs, nor the Beatles, nor Woodtsock, nor Johhny Cash, nor Dylan. So why was it left out? I have no idea. But to leave something out so vital to the story says the film was not complete, or may even have been santized or trying to present a sanitized Dylan.< In my opinion I don't think it was necessary to include substance use or abuse in this film... we all know it was part of the culture but to include it would have been to mention the obvious... there was a reporter who was hammering dylan with questions who had never listened to his songs... I think it's the same deal here... if you didn't see the actual film its kind of difficult to talk about what might be missing... there were plenty of things that I thought could have been included or left out but to me it was mostly just wonderful to see all that footage of those times & those people.... & to hear some of the stories from people looking back... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 12:37:46 -0400 From: Subject: Dylan, njc When I started branching out from the Beatles, "Blood On the Tracks" was new. Rolling Stone dedicated more than a dozen pages to it. I read about it before I heard it for myself. Like most people who bought that disc, I "got it". As I explored the back catalog, there were no other Dylan fans around. Everyone around me was listening to Bachman Turner Overdrive or something and said, "Dylan CAN'T SING!" They didn't see the other side, all of those literary skills. They didn't understand the conflict of being a Dylan fan. Anyway, I got a lot out of watching his folk fans alternately praising and cursing him. At first I smirked at them, because they didn't see how great the new songs (with a rock band) were. In the next moment, I remembered seeing Dylan with G.E. Smith in the hockey arena about 12 years ago. In my mind, almost every electric song was twisted beyond comprehension. The hockey arena swallowed every syllable and presented a steady drone. I loved the acoustic portion and hated the electric, full band numbers. That was one of the solar plexus moments of "No Way Home". I appreciated Dylan's relentless, sometimes misguided, creativity. (Remember Miles Davis doing "Human Nature"?) I rejected, then accepted the limitations of being in the audience. Ultimately, in "No Way Home", I found a kinship with the fans of 30 years ago. Each understands the rich paradox of listening to Bob Dylan. All the best, Jim L'Hommedieu Covington, KY, US ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 13:03:19 -0400 From: "Bree Mcdonough" Subject: Re: ebert on dylan film njc I agree with kate here... also...Dylan didn't succumb to drugs...he's living ...thriving..unlike the people mentioned below. In fairness to J. Cash he died from complications of diabetes. I don't like things sanitized either (except my kitchen and bathroom) but ..Em.. I know where you are coming from. Bree NP> Air America. (but not for long...I've heard they are in trouble. $$$$$$$? ) >> >You can't talk about Joplin or Hendrix or Morrison without reference to >drugs, nor the Beatles, nor Woodtsock, nor Johhny Cash, nor Dylan. So why >was it left out? I have no idea. But to leave something out so vital to >the story says the film was not complete, or may even have been santized or >trying to present a sanitized Dylan.< > >In my opinion I don't think it was necessary to include substance use or >abuse in this film... we all know it was part of the culture but to include >it would have been to mention the obvious... there was a reporter who was >hammering dylan with questions who had never listened to his songs... I >think it's the same deal here... if you didn't see the actual film its kind >of difficult to talk about what might be missing... there were plenty of >things that I thought could have been included or left out but to me it was >mostly just wonderful to see all that footage of those times & those >people.... & to hear some of the stories from people looking back... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 20:07:17 +0000 From: "J Harney" Subject: Neil Young interview in Time magazine (03 Oct. 05)--njc Like another recent poster, I admit that I don't read every post, therefore I must apologize if this is old news or a redundancy in any way. I am just catching up with an interview Neil Young gave to Time in which he talks about his recent illness and his new album. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 20:21:32 +0000 From: revrvl@comcast.net (vince) Subject: njc white sox Chicago White Sox:: 2005 Central Division Champions - -- http://www.southsiders.net ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 16:23:29 EDT From: OzWoman321@aol.com Subject: NJC - Dar in Folkwax (Nobody Does It Better - Carly Simon) Hello, All - If you do receive the Folkwax e-newsletter, you might have seen this already - - if you don't, I highly recommend... for their news, reviews and trivia of our national folk community... http://www.visnat.com/login.cfm?CFID=808340&CFTOKEN=72738933 Dar Williams' new CD, My Better Self (released September 13), is discussed this week - review follows (I've been meaning to post an overview anyway, so this is a good start)... Many of you know that Dar covers Rachel Bissex's song Just Like That on the Remembering Rachel project - one aspect that touched me greatly is that Dar dedicated one of the songs on her new CD, Blue Light of the Flame, to Rachel. I personally see the title as a blend of Rachel's Royal Blues and In White Light, spanning her catalog and her spirit - the verse of Dar's that hits me in the heart every time: So this is where it all led With the flowers by your bed And your friends come to you As the light turns to dark But the light shines through ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dar Williams' Better Self, (09/28/05) review by Arthur Wood (a founding editor of FolkWax) My Better Self marks the first occasion that Dar Williams has recorded a studio album supported by her four-piece road band. In fact, Dar indulged in a deal more tightrope walking while creating this collection! That apart, the quartet of Ben Butler (guitar), Steve Holley (percussion), Mike Visceglia (bass), and Julie Wolf (keyboards) are augmented by Washington D.C.-bred guitar magician Steuart Smith [See Note #1] and keyboard man for The Hooters, Rob Hyman. Plus, there are a few guest vocalists that I'll mention in the review. Recorded in upstate New York in Woodstock's Allaire Studios, the disc opens with the social commentary "Teen For God," and features a guest vocal from local resident Marshall Crenshaw (and Razor & Tie label-mate). The lyric comes across as equal part irony and innocence, concerning one of those rites of passage we undertake from birth to adult maturity. There's wickedly intentional humour in the line that references horses and swearing, and the narrator goes on to seek heavenly guidance concerning her future with "Help me know four years from now/I won't believe in you anyhow" and a few lines later adds "Then I'll laugh that I fell for the lure." The title of this album appears in the bridge to "I'll Miss You Till I Meet You," in which the narrator is searching for that certain special someone. Rhetorically speaking, who would have believed that one day Dar Williams would pen what is tantamount to a conventional love song! The short repeating keyboard riff that appears throughout the chorus to "Echoes," a tune penned by solo artist Jules Shear, Hyman [See Note #2] and My Better Self producer Stewart Lerman, is straight out of the OMD [See Note #3] songbook. As for the message embraced in the lyric of this melodic chunk of Pop, it amounts to the "perform a good deed" adage that lay at the heart of the Y2K movie Pay It Forward. And in that chorus, Dar also delivers oodles and oodles of angelic "Aah's." Hyman stepped up to the plate once again (with his pen) to assist Williams with "Blue Light Of The Flame," and their lyric references environmental catastrophes and man's mortality. In the liner booklet, below the lyric, there's a simple dedication to the late Vermont-bred singer-songwriter Rachel Bissex, who passed away earlier this year. Like Dar (and unlike those possessing the power to exercise change), Bissex possessed an awareness that our planet's environment is currently in a state of flux [See Note #4]. Neil Young's "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" is now three and a half decades old and here features another support vocal from Crenshaw, while I'd judge that Dar included it on My Better Self as commentary on the slippery slope her homeland is currently descending. The Woodstock-based trio Soulive and Dar's guitarist Ben Butler provide the slow bluesy backdrop to "Two Sides Of The River." Another "journey of discovery" lyric, the closing verse alludes to a nuptial event. Subjectively speaking, "Empire" is a barbed exposition of American foreign policy post-9/11. Enough said, no names or events are mentioned. The forty-second-long outro to this cut finds Dar's road band painting an appropriately dense sonic maelstrom. "Comfortably Numb" first appeared on the thematic Pink Floyd recording The Wall [1979]. In that setting this David Gilmour/Roger Waters co-write saw Pink's [See Note #5] medical advisor make a house call and dispense "the little pinprick" that allows his patient to get by. Later in the lyric, Pink voices feelings of alienation. This cover deliberately follows "Empire," not to directly add weight to it, but as a "cause and effect" twist to 11/02/2004 (the presidential election), that is. Supporting Dar's vocal on "Comfortably Numb" is the seemingly ghostly voice of Ani DiFranco. "So Close To My Heart" is a mother's highly personal reflection on pregnancy and the eventual arrival of her, now, one-year-old son. Once again, enough said. While you might be magnanimous enough to acknowledge that a person possesses some talent or skill, it's part of our nature as humans to exercise the choice of "liking" or "disliking" that person, with vastly varying degrees of intensity. The words to "Beautiful Enemy" are so cleverly constructed that the emotion be judged locally, nationally, or internationally, as can the recipient(s). And if we're really lucky, and where there is no possibility of a combative situation arising, we can simply ignore them! What a concept! A world of privilege is painted in opening verses of "Liar," but there's also an air of mystery evidenced by the (repeated) line, "And they want to know where the kid came from." "You Rise And Meet The Day" is a positive invocation to live life to its fullest extent. Dar was raised in Chappaqua, New York, and later spent time in Middletown, Connecticut, and Massachusetts' Pioneer Valley, before moving to New York City, so the "The Hudson," as in the river, has been a significant presence in her life and the closing cut is by way of a eulogy. Folksinger Patty Larkin shares vocal duties with Dar on this cut. Thinking back, having delighted in repeatedly listening to her debut and sophomore discs, I never had the courage to submit my original review of Dar's third solo release, End Of The Summer, which, in my mind at least, ran to the seasonal yet concise, "Comes the fall!" From the latter collection onward I have struggled with the contents of Williams' recordings. There's no doubting that she's a talent of genuine depth and ability and thankfully, My Better Self reopens a door that closed, at least for me, following Mortal City. If there is a reservation I have with the contents of My Better Self it's that I would have preferred all the songs to be Williams' originals - hence the FolkWax rating of "8." That said, in terms of her intentional statements, I understand - nay applaud - the reason(s) for two of the cover songs. Being the astute cookie that she is, why pen a retread when there's a song already out there that says it all - and with pinpoint precision. Finally, let's all agree that the girl with the acoustic guitar that exploded on to the Folk music scene just over a decade ago, nowadays trades in Pop songs albeit that a goodly number retain Williams' lyrical sting. For instance, listen to "Beautiful Enemy" and convince me that it's not a Pop song... Notes Note #1: Currently a moonlighting road warrior with those twilight Country-Rock gods The Eagles, in his time Smith has picked guitar for some of the best singer-songwriters on the planet, including Rodney Crowell, Shawn Colvin, Rosanne Cash, Suzzy Roche, and Mary Chapin Carpenter. Note #2: Hyman and Lerman co-produced William's previous studio effort, The Beauty Of The Rain. Note #3: For the uninitiated OMD is the Liverpool, England-bred, 1980s combo Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark. Note #4: This album review was written one week after Katrina made landfall in Louisiana. Dar contributed to a 2-CD Rachel Bissex tribute album details of which can be found at rachelbissex.com ; Note #5: Pink, a musician, is the main character in The Wall, and the story charts his descent into madness and his subsequent resurrection. Susan http://www.heartsdesireconcerts.com http://www.horseofadifferentcolorbooking.com "But after all the colored lights are gone Time will leave the ashes and the dawn You rise and meet the day..." ~ Dar Williams ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 14:03:54 -0700 (PDT) From: Brian Gross Subject: Re: Neil Young interview On tomorrow's (Friday Sept 30) broadcast of Fresh Air, Terry Gross will interview Neil Young. Many NPR stations webcast their shows, and I also believe that npr.org will also have the show in their archives after the broadcast. - --- J Harney wrote: > Like another recent poster, I admit that I don't read > every post, therefore I must apologize if this is old > news or a redundancy in any way. I am just catching > up with an interview Neil Young gave to Time in which > he talks about his recent illness and his new album. I've looked at love from both sides now From give and take, and still somehow It's love's illusions I recall I really don't know love at all --Joan, with the wisdom of the ages __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 14:39:21 -0700 (PDT) From: Smurf Subject: Re: Art - --- Em wrote: << ps have only seen stuff on album covers and the puter screen tho, would like to know how her surface treatment really is, etc. >> Hi, Em! Someone who attended the Mendel show a few years ago noted here that the surfaces on some of Joni's paintings are extremely over painted and are already starting to chip, flake and otherwise deteriorate. She may be an "artist" as a painter, but Joni's paintings, to me, are derivative of stuff I've seen elsewhere many times -- particularly her "snapshot" paintings, which have been a staple of her recent art. And speaking of snapshots, why on earth does she rely so much on photographs for her paintings? That just seems wrong to me, or at best, something a painter might experiment with, but not something worth getting hung up on for years, particularly when the result has been so-so at best. In words and music, however, I think Joni's output cannot be beat, period. For me, that is where her art has been much more than just the kind of "art" that we're all capable of making in one way or another. In words and music her work has been masterful. So perhaps as a lonely painter she is an artist, even by more strict definitions of the word "artist" than mine. But as a musician/singer/songwriter, she has been a genius. If Joni wants to paint for the rest of her life, that's fine with me. (As if I get a vote.) If that's what makes her happy, I truly would prefer that she do that from now on, rather than giving me more music for the soundtrack of my life. I'm beyond thankful. I've been listening to her for more than 30 years now and I am still discovering new things about her music all the time. But the simple fact is, I won't hold my breath waiting for Joni to paint a painting that rivals even the *lyrics* of, say, the songs 'Blue' or 'Amelia', let alone their music or vocal and instrumental performances. - --Smurf, sitting up here -- the critic! -- and not even thinking about getting into the whole concept of the validity judging art because I do it all the time __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 14:47:42 -0700 (PDT) From: Em Subject: Re: Art - --- Smurf wrote: > But the simple fact is, I won't hold my breath waiting > for Joni to paint a painting that rivals even the > *lyrics* of, say, the songs 'Blue' or 'Amelia', let > alone their music or vocal and instrumental > performances. Hehhehh, good thing we're not holding our breath, huh Smurf? for paintings OR for new songs! :) Em ps: by the way, finally gave Chinese Cafe a good listen the other night when it popped up on my iPod after having bought it way back a few months ago when some listers were talking about it. Had only listened superficially before. So I'm wanting to know, is the rest of the album just as good? Just read this RS review http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/_/id/109162/jonimitchell?pageid=rs.ArtistDiscography&pageregion=triple1&rnd=1128030246328&has-player=unknown and, hmm I don't trust it for some reason, lol, maybe I should. Is it as decent as the review suggests? hard for me to judge from sound clips ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 15:38:05 -0500 From: "mack watson-bush" Subject: Re: The Late Show - Rickie Lee and nothing but Rickie Lee njc Mark Scott. A fabulous review I must write and being quite smitten with Ms. Jones myself, I thank you. Mack Np: Arabesque- Debussy ( And thinking that it could play very well with some Rickie Lee vocals) reached for those notes 'I don't think you > know......You break my heart Car-ol....Car-ol.....oh-oh, oh-oh, > oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh' and it was devastating. 'Living it Up' was another > one that challenges her full emotional range and she rose to the challenge > and more than met it. She made some funny remarks during the final lines of > 'The Horses', something like 'I was young myself not so long ago...and I did > stupid things too...I don't suppose there's anything you could do that your > mother and probably your grandmother didn't do too..' 'On Saturday > Afternoons in 1963' was infused with quiet beauty and just a tinge of > melancholy. 'Pirates' took her up to bid so long to Lonely Avenue and to > every stop in between with ease and grace. And 'Coolsville' had all of it's > eerieness and nostalgic regret. She did her usual playing with her voice > and with the lyrics on the last lines...'Well I hear you wanna go back to > Coolsville...Well come on, I'll take you back....to Coolsville..' You could > have heard a pin drop at the end of it. > > Finally she got up from the piano, acknowledging the applause with a bow and > her signature flip of her long blonde hair. She picked up the guitar and > said she would play a couple of more songs. 'What do you wanna hear?' > Someone asked for 'Company' but she said she couldn't do 'Company', that > needed a piano player. Finally someone down front called out for 'Rebel > Rebel' and she said ok she'd do that. It was the most uptempo song she had > done all night and I suspect it drained off the last of her energy. It was > spirited and fun but she didn't do another and we couldn't get her back for > an encore. > > Seeing Rickie perform solo got me to thinking about the difference between > this show and the 'Evening of My Best Day' tour when she had a stage full of > players and instruments. All of that audience's attention on Sunday night > was focused on Rickie Lee. There was nobody to take a solo or add a backup > vocal. Nothing to cover up a mistake or give her a small break. What a > huge burden that must put on a performer, particularly someone of Rickie's > stature whose audiences expect so much from her. For me, she delivered the > goods in spades. We could see every emotion and thought that passed across > her face and through her body as she performed. Our table was on the same > side of the stage as the piano and I could see her face and the upper half > of her body the whole time she was at the piano. It was amazing and > wonderful. Her voice navigated her complex songs with ease, grace, > flexibility and heartstopping intensity of feeling. The show was short, an > hour and 20 minutes and there were many, many other songs I would have loved > for her to do. But I think I am even more in awe of her now than I was > before. She is a great artist and I feel so priveledged to live in her time > and to have been able to see her perform on three separate occasions. Each > show had it's own atmosphere and flavor and each was special in its own way. > This was was no exception and in some ways was the most special of all. > Thank you, Rickie Lee Jones. > > Mark E. (so much in Love) in Seattle ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 15:32:40 -0700 (PDT) From: Em Subject: Re: Art hi Jamie. just went and looked; thanks for that link. Some I find quite attractive and think that as objects (things that take up space in the room with you) they must be fairly fascinating too. I'd let one smile on my wall anytime. :) Em - --- Jamie Zubairi wrote: > Pleas see > http://www.jonimitchell.com/DiaryDecade/art.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 17:08:06 -0700 (PDT) From: Smurf Subject: Men of the Internet -- njc Men of the Internet, 2004 A web project which consists of a compilation of found images of the cornerstone of any good teen movie: computer nerds. 'Men of the internet' presents the idea of the computer nerd as a species of human that have had their bodies literally transformed and modified as a result of prolonged computer use. A collection of real life altered physiognomy and biological/technological modification: bigger brains, protruding craniums and enhanced eyesight with enormous glasses. www.ianhaig.net/men __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 00:37:30 +0000 From: "Michael O'Malley" Subject: Re: Subject: RE: DYLAN: MONDAY and TUESDAY NIGHTS, njc I felt the same thing. On a certain level both, both Joni and Bob sought validation for the originality of their contributions, and both refused to be pigeonholed as the poster boy/girl of their generation. They made telling observations, they asked a lot of questions, but they didn't necessarily have any more answers than the rest of us. In retrospect, it's eye opening to see how much the media vainly attempted to `get `Dylan. I'm not so sure that Dylan limited his own success, however. He seems to have done very well by the media. He seemed impatient and fearless with them, and he also seemed to understand how to use the media to his advantage. From Baez we get the feeling that Dylan was quite calculating - aware of both what he was doing and which pitfalls to avoid. Michael in Quebec NP: Refuge of the Roads, Joni in the Hague, 1983 I thought a lot about Joni while watching this film; both Bob & Joni kept moving and growing, it seemed like when their audience had caught up with them they were gone to something else, and neither would properly play the game of popularity, simultaneously limiting their success but sealing their genius. Bob NP: Damien Rice, "I Remember" _________________________________________________________________ Scan and help eliminate destructive viruses from your inbound and outbound e-mail and attachments. http://join.msn.com/?pgmarket=en-ca&page=byoa/prem&xAPID=1994&DI=1034&SU=http://hotmail.com/enca&HL=Market_MSNIS_Taglines Start enjoying all the benefits of MSN. Premium right now and get the first two months FREE*. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 21:01:55 -0400 From: "Richard Flynn" Subject: neat filmstrip njc I don't know if this is old news, but this will make the lefties on the list laugh out loud. The righties might laugh though they will undoubtedly be infuriating. Requires broadband and well worth the long loading time: http://filmstripinternational.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 19:45:48 -0500 From: "Michael Flaherty" Subject: Re: Art On Thu, 29 Sep 2005 14:47:42 -0700 (PDT) Em wrote: > ps: by the way, finally gave Chinese Cafe a good listen >the other night > when it popped up on my iPod after having bought it way >back a few > months ago when some listers were talking about it. Had >only listened > superficially before. So I'm wanting to know, is the >rest of the album > just as good? IMO, no. I think CC is by far the best track. The album (WTRF) begins the 80s period: fairly slick and very "rock", especially after DJRD and M. That said, w/ Love, Ladies Man and a couple others, it's worth getting. In fact, I can't imagine not owning any of her albums; I just wouldn't put this one anywhere near the top. Michael Flaherty ------------------------------ End of JMDL Digest V2005 #372 ***************************** ------- Post messages to the list by clicking here: mailto:joni@smoe.org Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:joni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe ------- Siquomb, isn't she? (http://www.siquomb.com/siquomb.cfm)