From: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org (loud-fans-digest)
To: loud-fans-digest@smoe.org
Subject: loud-fans-digest V1 #59
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Precedence: bulk
loud-fans-digest Wednesday, May 2 2001 Volume 01 : Number 059
Today's Subjects:
-----------------
[loud-fans] Vocal range (Scott content!!!) ["Phil Gerrard"
]
Re: [loud-fans] The Doubtful Palace and other miscellany [Dana L Paoli ]
Re: [loud-fans] Blow Pops and part of my peeve menagerie [Jon Tveite ]
Re: [loud-fans] Blow Pops and part of my peeve menagerie [Dan Schmidt ]
Re: [loud-fans] favorite concert experience [Dana L Paoli ]
Re: [loud-fans] Home on the Range [Dan Schmidt ]
Re: [loud-fans] Rotary Connection ["Aaron Milenski"
Subject: [loud-fans] Vocal range (Scott content!!!)
Jeff wrote:
> This is the pet peeve: music critics who cluelessly repeat blather
> about vocal range who clearly don't know what it means. I've heard
> singers described as having up to a *seven*-octave range. To put this
> in perspective, a *piano* has a seven-octave range (okay, seven
> octaves plus a minor third...unless you've got a Bosendorfer, in which
> case add the eighth octave bassward, I think).
Critics have a tendency to misapply musical terminology when
they're impressed with something and want to pretend that they
really know *why* they're so impressed. I've seen the five- to seven-
octave vocal range description applied to both Howlin' Wolf and
Captain Beefheart, neither of whom as far as I can remember
demonstrated anything extraordinary in terms of range, but I think
the critics in question were trying to convey something of the power
of those guys' voices, and perhaps misunderstood 'range' as
something analogous to (and more erudite-sounding) than...
umm... 'depth', perhaps?
Anyway, as with so many other aspects of technique (if vocal
range can even be considered as technique, rather than as a
natural gift) what matters is the application of the skill. For
example, Mariah Carey's falsetto on, what was the song,
'Emotions' (?) is one of the most irritating fingernails-on-a-
blackboard musical moments I've ever been unlucky enough to
hear. On the other hand, the very moment when I fell hopelessly in
love with Scott's music was during 'Where You Going Northern', the
second GT song I ever heard: that effortless glide from his 'regular'
voice to falsetto was the most exhilarating sound I'd heard in years -
peace & love
phil
JP (Just Played, last night): 'Isolation Drills' again. I'd already
decided that Doug Gillard, along with Tommy Keene, was one of
the few players I'd consider to be a spiritual heir to James
Honeyman-Scott - high praise in my book - but for the first time I
realised what an incredibly good sparring partner Nate Farley is. So
when do we get a London show, huh?
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 07:45:45 -0500
From: "Keegstra, Russell"
Subject: RE: [loud-fans] The Doubtful Palace and other miscellany
Mr. Walters Announces:
>I've just launched a music web site called The Doubtful Palace
>(http://www.doubtfulpalace.com)...
Cool site Tim, I will be visiting often. And no bugs that I found.
>...featuring previews of Slaw's SNAKES & LADDERS CD,
>SF local heroes Shackleton, Shouting Distance's cover of
>"Inverness", and many other bands that don't begin with "S".
I recently did a mix tape for no one in particular containing
only bands that start with S that turned out surprisingly well,
and surprisingly well received by it's intended audience.
A shout out to any British etymology fans we may have here,
what is the origin of the phrase "half inch", meaning pinch, nick,
liberate, steal?
And while I'm at it, is "no harm no foul" a legal phrase or simply
lifted from sports?
Holy Zarquon's singing fish,
Russ
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 13:55:30 +0100
From: "Phil Gerrard"
Subject: RE: [loud-fans] The Doubtful Palace and other miscellany
Russell wrote:
> A shout out to any British etymology fans we may have here,
> what is the origin of the phrase "half inch", meaning pinch, nick,
> liberate, steal?
You got the correct derivation immediately - it's simple rhyming
slang for 'pinch'.
phil
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 02 May 2001 09:09:43 -0400
From: "Aaron Milenski"
Subject: [loud-fans] June Tabor
I seem to recall that I'm not the only fan of British folk-rock here. I've
just recently begun reading about June Tabor, who apparently rivals Sandy
Denny as "best British folk singer." Unlike Denny, though, it seems like
her recorded output is inconsistent and really difficult to get a handle on.
Is there anyone here who is familiar enough with her work to suggest her
best work, or at least a good starting point?
Aaron
n.p. Sandy Denny & the Strawbs, of course.
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 09:21:53 -0400
From: Dana L Paoli
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] The Doubtful Palace and other miscellany
A shout out to any British etymology fans we may have here,
what is the origin of the phrase "half inch", meaning pinch, nick,
liberate, steal?
>>>>>>>>>
Cockney rhyming slang, derived from pinch.
http://www.aldertons.com/english-.htm for more.
It's also a great source for band names.
- --dana
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 08:38:56 -0500 (CDT)
From: Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Blow Pops and part of my peeve menagerie
On Tue, 1 May 2001, Matthew Weber wrote:
> >Once again, these words might be emanating from between incorrect
> >cheeks...but I'm pretty confident in dismissing out of hand talk of
> >seven-octave ranges.
>
> You're absolutely right. I'd be amazed to hear a vocalist with 7 octaves
> myself.
And of course, we really should count only notes that can be consistently
produced (in both senses: all of the time and with consistent tone
quality). Yeah, you catch me right after I wake up and I can make a more
or less vocal noise that's quite low - but I certainly wouldn't call the
resulting note "sung." Likewise, I can intake air and contort something in
my throat to make a squeaky noise sort of like air hissing out of a
balloon - but that's only useful if I want to make that scratched squawk
like Mark E. Smith on the word "unclean" in "Muzorewi's Daughter." (I'm
trying to develop it into a James Brown-like squeal...but that's hard to
do, since Rose will throw things at me when I'm "practicing"...) Count
those (I wouldn't) and I suppose that's a four-octave "range" - but
realistically, even on the very best days three is about it.
- --Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey, whose falsetto ain't what it used to be
J e f f r e y N o r m a n
The Architectural Dance Society
www.uwm.edu/~jenor/ADS.html
::beliefs are ideas going bald::
__Francis Picabia__
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 15:01:03 +0100
From: "Phil Gerrard"
Subject: [loud-fans] chitty chitty bang bang? hmmm...
Dana wrote -
> Cockney rhyming slang, derived from pinch.
>
> http://www.aldertons.com/english-.htm for more.
>
> It's also a great source for band names.
This is interesting, but I'd take it with a pinch of salt. About a third
of these phrases are genuine but *very* outdated, another third are
still quite common in East London, while the remaining third I've
never heard in my life before, and I doubt have ever been used
outside of the website itself: 'Rick Witter' is one of the more glaring
examples!
peace & love
phil
Phil Gerrard
Senior Admissions Officer
The External Programme
University of London
E-mail: p.gerrard@eisa.lon.ac.uk
'Phone: 020 7862 8369
Fax: 020 7862 8363
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 10:09:39 EDT
From: DOUDIE@aol.com
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] June Tabor
The two records she did with Maddy Prior (Steeleye Span's lead singer) are
incredibly wonderful, especially Silly Sisters. They are lost (I say lost
because I doubt many people have heard them) classics of that genre.
Steve Matrick
------------------------------
Date: 02 May 2001 10:45:11 -0400
From: Dan Schmidt
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Blow Pops and part of my peeve menagerie
Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey writes:
| On Mon, 30 Apr 2001, Andrew Hamlin wrote:
|
| > Five-and-a-half octave singing range AND he gets to cheat death,
|
| This is the pet peeve: music critics who cluelessly repeat blather about
| vocal range who clearly don't know what it means.
Sing it, brother. I think Mariah Carey is the last person I heard
this about.
|
| Someone - say, someone who's a music librarian ;) - could look through the
| literature and figure what the lowest and highest notes typically called
| for for any vocalists - and I'm still thinking we're barely above five
| octaves *for all vocal ranges*.
According to the Britannica:
The lowest note of serious musical literature is a low B-flat with
58 cycles per second, used in bars 473, 475, 477, and 632 of the
bass voice of the chorus in the fifth movement of Gustav Mahler's
Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection). The highest is a high f3 with almost
1,400 cycles per second sung by the Queen of the Night in Mozart's
Magic Flute.
Which is four and a half octaves: two below middle C and two and a
half above.
| Once again, these words might be emanating from between incorrect
| cheeks...but I'm pretty confident in dismissing out of hand talk of
| seven-octave ranges.
Yeah.
Captain Beefheart had around three, which is good enough for me.
Dan, stuck under two
- --
http://www.dfan.org
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 08:00:18 -0700
From: Tim_Walters@digidesign.com
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] June Tabor
Here's what I wrote for the Music Hound Guide to Folk (my only published
writing, and it's obvious why). Please excuse the weird formatting--it was their
way of processing the submission. "Bones" are "stars". A couple of CDs have come
out since (ON AIR and A QUIET EYE), but neither is a good place to start.
- ----
June Tabor
Born December 31, 1947, in Warwick, England.
June Tabor says that she wasn't allowed to sing in her girls' school choir
because her voice was too low. Little did they know that she would grow up to
wield one of the finest vocal instruments in folk music---a rich, smoky
contralto capable both of great power and of subtle nuance. Throughout her
career, she has avoided all musical compromise; to this day, she refuses to use
overdubs, recording her voice and all instruments live in the studio, or in the
case of [Aleyn], in front of an inaudible audience. Perhaps as a result, she
didn't earn her living from music until quite recently, supporting herself
instead as a librarian and restauranteur. From her early days in the folk clubs
singing a capella ballads to her current work as an interpreter of
contemporary songs, her style has remained immediately recognizable, and her
mastery of dramatic understatement unrivaled.
What to Buy: The album that first brought Tabor to the attention of the world
was her duet with Maddy Prior, [Silly Sisters] (Chrysalis, 1976, prod. Maddy
Prior and Robin Black) <5 bones>. Featuring an all-star cast of musicians
(including Martin Carthy, Nic Jones, and Danny Thompson), and spotlighting the
stunning harmonies of Tabor and Prior, this album remains a touchstone of 1970s
British folk. Following this auspicious debut, Tabor made several excellent solo
records, characterized by stark arrangements and production, and mostly
traditional material. The best of these is [Abyssinians] (Topic, 1983, prod.
Andrew Cronshaw) <5 bones>, an almost unbearably intense set of meditations on
loss, longing, and death. Although Tabor is largely unaccompanied, the
occasional instrumental backing by Martin Simpson (guitar), Dave Bristow (piano
and synthesizer), and Ric Sanders (violin) augments the melancholy mood
perfectly, especially on Mike and Lal Waterson's "The Scarecrow".
What to Buy Next: The same crew returned on Tabor's next record, the somewhat
more congenial [Aqaba] (Topic, 1988, prod. Andrew Cronshaw) <4.5 bones>, which
includes a surprisingly jazzy version of the 10,000 Maniacs song "Verdi Cries".
In the '90s, Tabor changed her band, producer, and record company, and embraced
the role of chanteuse, concentrating more on contemporary songs than traditional
ones. Her three albums in this style benefit from the inventive piano playing
of Huw Warren, but are slightly marred by excessive reverberation and the
occasional weak song. The best of the bunch is [Angel Tiger] (Green Linnet,
1992, prod. John Ravenhall) <4 bones>.
Worth Searching For: [June Tabor: The Peel Sessions] (Strange Fruit, 1986, prod.
Pete Ritzema) is an EP of four unaccompanied songs, three of which are
unavailable elsewhere, and contains one of her finest performances in "Donal
Og". Despite the 1986 release date, it was recorded in 1977.
What to Avoid: Tabor's attempt at jazz standards, [Some Other Time] (Hannibal,
1989, prod. ????) <2 bones>, is an interesting failure, but a failure
nevertheless; she seems uncomfortable and stiff in this new milieu. Her
collaboration with the Oyster Band, [Freedom and Rain] (1990, Rykodisc, prod.
The Oyster Band) <2.5 bones>, aside from a couple of outstanding tracks, is
perfunctory, and a serious disappointment considering the assembled talent.
The Rest:
[Airs and Graces] (Topic, 1976) <4 bones>
[Ashes and Diamonds] (Topic, 1977) <3.5 bones>
[A Cut Above] (with Martin Simpson) (Topic, 1980) <4 bones>
[No More To The Dance] (with Maddy Prior) (Shanachie, 1988) <4 bones>
[Against the Streams] (Green Linnet, 1994) <3 bones>
[Singing the Storm] (with Savourna Stevenson and Danny Thompson) (Cooking Vinyl,
1996) <3 bones>
[Aleyn] (Green Linnet, 1997) <4 bones>
Influences:
Anne Briggs, Lal Waterson
Mary Black
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 08:05:12 -0700
From: Tim_Walters@digidesign.com
Subject: [loud-fans] Home on the Range
At one point in "Remember", Yma Sumac sings the same pitch class four times in a
row, each note an octave higher than the previous one. It's clearly most of her
range; she gets a little lower and a little higher, but not much. So call it
three-and-a-half octaves. And if that's all Yma's got, that's all *anybody's*
got.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 11:19:34 -0400
From: Dennis_McGreevy@praxair.com
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Blow Pops and part of my peeve menagerie
Andy, Jeff, then Dan:
| > Five-and-a-half octave singing range AND he gets to cheat death,
|
| This is the pet peeve: music critics who cluelessly repeat blather about
| vocal range who clearly don't know what it means.
Sing it, brother. I think Mariah Carey is the last person I heard
this about.
<><><><><><><><><><><>
I repeat: synthesizer flute patches.
- --D
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 11:23:55 -0400 (EDT)
From: Aaron Mandel
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] June Tabor
On Wed, 2 May 2001, Aaron Milenski wrote:
> Is there anyone here who is familiar enough with her work to suggest
> her best work, or at least a good starting point?
the album she did with the Oyster Band, Freedom And Rain, would be the
first thing i'd look for; it's also the only thing i've heard by her that
remotely fits the description "folk-rock". the other albums i have by her
(of which my favorite is probably Against The Streams) are all very
un-rock, often entirely a cappella.
it appears that i disagree entirely with Tim, except that he calls
Abyssinians "almost unbearably intense", and i agree that it's almost
unbearable. i guess i just like to hear a rhythm section every once in a
while; Tabor's voice sounds much richer to me when she's murmuring a
Pogues lyric rather than showing off what i assume would be impressive
chops if i had an ear for that sort of thing.
a
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 11:05:00 -0500 (CDT)
From: Jon Tveite
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Blow Pops and part of my peeve menagerie
Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey writes:
| Once again, these words might be emanating from between incorrect
| cheeks...but I'm pretty confident in dismissing out of hand talk of
| seven-octave ranges.
Can human beings even detect seven octaves of distinct notes? I have a
hard time imagining that I could.
Jon
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 00:40:58 -0700
From: "Andrew Hamlin"
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Blow Pops and part of my peeve menagerie
>Now think of that '70s song, "Lovin'
>You" or whatever that was sampled on that Orb track about ten years ago
Minnie Riperton's "Lovin' You" indeed--and hey, don't forget the song's
South Park episode, far more >au courant< than the Orb business.
Incidentally, I read that Minnie sang in a band called Rotary Connection
before she went solo. They sounded, from the descriptions I've heard, like
a biracial (and of course bi-sexed) Vanilla Fudge. Could somebody
elucidate, and recommend an album or two to start?
>I'm guessing that in his recorded output, Tim Buckley (the first one)
>displayed a range (including falsetto) from maybe an E or F an octave and
>a half below middle C upwards nearly to the C two octaves above middle C.
Tim Buckley was actually Timothy Charles Buckley III. His grandfather never
recorded, dooming retroactive ascertainments of his displayed range to
damndable imprecision.
His dad had a steel plate in his head, though.
You want the trigger on the doot'n'doo,
Andy
The pictures were grainy, the movements jerky. But when CNN transmitted live
pictures by videophone of a U.S. spy plane crew taking off from Hainan to
freedom on April 11, it marked a pivotal moment for television news
technology...
"There was a knee-jerk reaction the next day," said Peter Beardow, president
of the London-based 7E Communications Ltd. "Most major networks rang up and
said, `Can we have brochures?"'
While the technology used by CNN is not new to TV, and most competitors own
some variation of it, the Hainan story represents the videophone's
coming-out party. It's likely to popularize a tool used somewhat sparingly
to date.
A museum that collects journalism artifacts asked CNN to donate its
videophone for display, if the network can get it back. Chinese authorities
confiscated it.
"It was an incredible journalistic coup and a great news story for us," said
Cissy Anklan, a curator at the Newseum in Arlington, Va. She believes it was
the first unauthorized live TV broadcast from China.
CNN's competitors that night had to drive to a satellite facility to
transmit pictures. The pictures were better quality than those through the
videophone, but came 25 minutes afterward, a clear disadvantage in the
competitive world of 24-hour news networks.
The videophone's competitive edge is muted in the United States, where in
most areas stations have easy access to satellite transmitters. The real
advantage comes when a reporter must get to a remote area, particularly
overseas.
Journalists carry the equipment in a box the size of a briefcase. They use a
video camera to take pictures and a small dish antenna beams the data via
satellite to an earth station linked to their home office. The data is
transmitted at up to 128 kilobits per second, or about twice as fast as a
standard telephone modem.
Each portable unit costs $7,500, with the office-based receiving unit going
for $6,500, Beardow said.
The product, called the Talking Head, was developed with CNN and the BBC to
provide a live picture of a correspondent reporting on location. Instead,
the networks began using it to take pictures of events, not just reporters.
"We've gotten all the publicity we could dream of by CNN using the equipment
exactly the way we told them not to," Beardow said...
[--excerpted from an Associated Press article by David Bauder,
http://www.salon.com/tech/wire/2001/05/01/videophone/index.html ]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 02 May 2001 10:15:30 -0600
From: Stewart Mason
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] June Tabor
At 09:09 AM 5/2/01 -0400, Aaron Milenski wrote:
>I seem to recall that I'm not the only fan of British folk-rock here. I've
>just recently begun reading about June Tabor, who apparently rivals Sandy
>Denny as "best British folk singer." Unlike Denny, though, it seems like
>her recorded output is inconsistent and really difficult to get a handle on.
> Is there anyone here who is familiar enough with her work to suggest her
>best work, or at least a good starting point?
AIRS AND GRACES is my all-time favorite June Tabor album, especially "Pull
Down Lads." It's very simple and straightforward, and a fantastic
collection of songs. ABYSSINIANS is nearly as good, as is her first duet
album with Maddy Prior, SILLY SISTERS.
There are no June Tabor albums I outright dislike (I think she's much more
consistent than Maddy Prior, actually), but there's something unsatisfying
about her collaboration with the Oyster Band--as much as I like both June
and the Oysters, I should really like this album more than I do. Others
might disagree with me, but I think June's albums are only inconsistent and
difficult to get a handle on is you're coming at them from a folk-purist
perspective. Her recent albums have been introducing a pretty strong jazz
influence and incorporating instrumentation that you wouldn't expect based
on the simple acoustic arrangements of, say, AIRS AND GRACES, and that's
been turning some people off. Given that you're not a folk purist, I don't
think that'll be a problem, but it would probably be best to go in
chronological order anyway.
Be warned that listening to June Tabor can be a mightily depressing
experience. Or, as Charity put it, "She can find depths of existential
angst in 'Happy Birthday To You.'"
Stewart
------------------------------
Date: 02 May 2001 12:16:49 -0400
From: Dan Schmidt
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Blow Pops and part of my peeve menagerie
Jon Tveite writes:
| Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey writes:
|
| | Once again, these words might be emanating from between incorrect
| | cheeks...but I'm pretty confident in dismissing out of hand talk of
| | seven-octave ranges.
|
| Can human beings even detect seven octaves of distinct notes? I have a
| hard time imagining that I could.
Mm, well, as Jeffrey points out, 7 octaves is 84 notes, and a piano
has 88, so that's a good test case. Even with perfect pitch, I have
trouble hearing the very lowest few notes on a piano as having any
particular pitch; they just kinda rumble. I can identify all the ones
at the top end, though. So my distinct-identifying range is probably
about 7 octaves.
- --
http://www.dfan.org
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 12:21:03 EDT
From: MarkWStaples@aol.com
Subject: [loud-fans] favorite concert experience
I'm interested in knowing what other Loudfans' favorite concert experience
was. Which concert just absolutely was THE spiritual, transcendent
experience that stayed with you for a long time thereafter. The kind where
the band/artist was dead on, there wasn't someone around you being a jackass
and screaming "FREEBIRD" or whatever, and when it was over, you wished it
lasted much longer. The absolute creme de la creme. Perhaps it was a Loud
Family set or, for those of you who were so lucky, a Game Theory set (feeling
pangs of jealousy). I rounded it down to four...the most memorable for me
are FINALLY getting to see the LF last year in Athens, Ani Difranco a few
years back in Asheville, Dar Williams at Variety Playhouse in Atlanta in
early '98, and Suzanne Vega at Spirit Square in Charlotte in 1990. Thinking
about it and rounding it down to one, the absolute best concert experience
for me ever was Suzanne Vega. Spirit square was once a church, so the venue
was exquisite; the audience was polite and adoring, and SV was very receptive
and told stories to the audience between songs. The whole experience was
flawless and captivating.
The little plastic castle is a surprise every time,
- -Mark, who just discovered that the guy that murdered the retired couple and
kidnapped their daughter here where I live was the guy who cut down the pecan
tree at my sister's house a few weeks ago...NEAT-O.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 02 May 2001 10:28:33 -0600
From: Stewart Mason
Subject: [loud-fans] Re: Rotary Connection
At 12:40 AM 5/2/01 -0700, Andrew Hamlin wrote:
>Incidentally, I read that Minnie sang in a band called Rotary Connection
>before she went solo. They sounded, from the descriptions I've heard, like
>a biracial (and of course bi-sexed) Vanilla Fudge. Could somebody
>elucidate, and recommend an album or two to start?
No, they weren't as heavy as Vanilla Fudge. They were more like a less
funky and more psychedelic-pop version of Sly and the Family Stone. If
you've heard the Supremes' "Reflections," that's pretty close to the Rotary
Connection sound. There's a best-of on Chess, and I think the two or three
albums are also available on their own.
S
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 13:04:10 -0400
From: Dana L Paoli
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] favorite concert experience
I'm interested in knowing what other Loudfans' favorite concert
experience
was. Which concert just absolutely was THE spiritual, transcendent
experience that stayed with you for a long time thereafter.
>>>>>>>>>>
For most questions like this (i.e. best album of all time, favorite song
of all time, etc.) I have to make a guess, but in the case of best
concert experience it's easy. The Feelies playing Slipping Into
Something, which they nailed every time I saw them. Even at the time, I
was very aware that it was an untoppable moment, and made sure to catch
them whenever possible.
One of the things in life that I don't understand is that 1. everyone
seemed to realize at the time that the Feelies were something special
live 2. they played a ton of concerts, and 3. they were always (as far as
I can tell) great, partly thanks to the three hour sound checks they
seemed to insist on. So why are there so few live recordings, and why do
the ones that I've found stink?
- --dana
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------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 10:17:17 -0700
From: "Andrew Hamlin"
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Home on the Range
>At one point in "Remember", Yma Sumac sings the same pitch class four times
in a
>row, each note an octave higher than the previous one. It's clearly most of
her
>range; she gets a little lower and a little higher, but not much. So call
it
>three-and-a-half octaves. And if that's all Yma's got, that's all
*anybody's*
>got.
Sorry..."pitch class"? Does that mean she's singing the same figure in
different octaves, or which?
Tim Buckley (the third) was an intense Sumac fan by the way,
Andy
"The world's biggest pair of panties, made from acrylic and lace,
measured 29.4 ft. (8.97 m.) x 14 ft. (4.26 m.)? They were strung across
London's Oxford street as part of a promotion."
- --from www.GuinnessWorldRecords.com
------------------------------
Date: 02 May 2001 13:31:06 -0400
From: Dan Schmidt
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Home on the Range
"Andrew Hamlin" writes:
| Sorry..."pitch class"? Does that mean she's singing the same figure
| in different octaves, or which?
Technically, 'C' is a pitch class. 'Middle C' is a pitch.
There are 12 pitch classes in Western music, but you can sing each one
in a number of different registers, creating different pitches.
- --
http://www.dfan.org
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 02 May 2001 13:33:24 -0400
From: "Aaron Milenski"
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Rotary Connection
>Incidentally, I read that Minnie sang in a band called Rotary Connection
>before she went solo. They sounded, from the descriptions I've heard, like
>a biracial (and of course bi-sexed) Vanilla Fudge. Could somebody
>elucidate, and recommend an album or two to start?
Minnie wasn't a lead singer for the Rotary Connection, a bizarre somewhat
pyschedelic bi-racial band that's more interesting in concept than on
record. I'd describe them as a soft-pop/soul/psychedelic mix, I suppose.
Minnie's contributions tend to be some really ghostly-sounding backing
vocals. Their first album is generally considered their best by most
people, because it has some really weird cover versions of well-known songs
(thus the Vanilla Fudge comparison, even though the bands don't sound at all
alike). I find it a fun novelty, but one that wears off pretty quickly, to
be honest. I like the first few songs on ALADDIN, on which they wrote the
songs, because of some bizarre string arrangements and other pysch-era
weirdness, but the rest of that album is pretty dull. The one album of
theirs I'd definitely recommend, though, is PEACE, an album entirely
composed of Christmas songs. It's great fun.
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------------------------------
Date: Wed, 02 May 2001 13:41:28 -0400
From: "Aaron Milenski"
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] favorite concert experience
>I'm interested in knowing what other Loudfans' favorite concert experience
>was. Which concert just absolutely was THE spiritual, transcendent
>experience that stayed with you for a long time thereafter. The kind where
>the band/artist was dead on, there wasn't someone around you being a
>jackass
>and screaming "FREEBIRD" or whatever, and when it was over, you wished it
>lasted much longer
Well, since the early 80s pretty much every concert experience I've had has
been lessened, if not ruined, by annoying slam-dancers or smoke-filled rooms
or idiots throwing things at the band, or the concert starting after
midnight on a work night, so I'd say that no matter how much I love a band I
can't really remember any concert I wished had lasted much longer.
That said, this is one of those unanswerable questions to which I really do
have an answer. Absolutely, without question, the best live band I've ever
seen is Yo La Tengo. I like them on record, but the recordings don't even
give a glimpse into the hypnotic brilliance of their live show. The first
time I saw them, the at least 15-minute "Blue Line Swinger" was the greatest
thing I'd ever heard, and most of what led up to it was almost as
mesmerizing. I've often heard cult bands describved with "you really can't
tell how great they are until you've heard them live," and this is the only
instance in which I understand what that statement means. It makes me wish
I could have seen Bad Brains, because they seem to be the most often cited
"greatest live band I've ever seen; too bad their recordings don't live up
to it" band of my lifetime.
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------------------------------
Date: 2 May 2001 10:51:42 -0700
From: mbowen@samoyedsoft.com
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] June Tabor
On Wed, 02 May 2001, Stewart Mason wrote:
>
> There are no June Tabor albums I outright dislike (I think she's much more
> consistent than Maddy Prior, actually), but there's something unsatisfying
> about her collaboration with the Oyster Band--as much as I like both June
> and the Oysters, I should really like this album more than I do.
I totally agree; there's something perfunctory about an awful lot of the songs on this album. There's apparently a live version of FREEDOM AND RAIN floating around - a tour sampler that totally cuts the studio version, including the smashing version of "White Rabbit" that they did as an encore. I saw that tour, and was totally blown away.
MB
np: Paul Westerberg - SUICAINE GRATIFACTION
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 02 May 2001 11:58:30 -0600
From: Stewart Mason
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] favorite concert experience
At 01:41 PM 5/2/01 -0400, Aaron Milenski wrote:
>That said, this is one of those unanswerable questions to which I really do
>have an answer. Absolutely, without question, the best live band I've ever
>seen is Yo La Tengo. I like them on record, but the recordings don't even
>give a glimpse into the hypnotic brilliance of their live show. The first
>time I saw them, the at least 15-minute "Blue Line Swinger" was the greatest
>thing I'd ever heard, and most of what led up to it was almost as
>mesmerizing. I've often heard cult bands describved with "you really can't
>tell how great they are until you've heard them live," and this is the only
>instance in which I understand what that statement means.
Ditto. I was not a particular Yo La Tengo fan until I saw them live the
first time, on Halloween 1995, but that concert, which started with a
shaggy, Neil Young-like version of the Dream Syndicate's "Halloween,"
climaxed with a "Blue Line Swinger" that lasted over 20 minutes and had
both a reiteration of the opening five-beat drum pattern and a second
go-round of the vocal section--this was apparently a rarity--and ended with
an extended encore that featured James McNew singing "Turning Japanese,"
was easily the best live show I've ever seen. The other two times I saw
them were great, but not this great.
S
------------------------------
Date: 02 May 2001 14:05:15 -0400
From: Dan Schmidt
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] favorite concert experience
I'll have to third Yo La Tengo. Plus it's so cute the way that Ira
writhes around while keeping his feet planted on the ground.
Other memorable concert experiences:
Sonic Youth around a dozen years ago. Never have I so much perceived
sound as a physical object.
Jonathan Richman, any time. Whenever I go see him (and it's probably
been around five times, now), I'm high on life for a week afterward.
I saw Imperial Teen open for Bettie Serveert, and the show was
running late, and they kept playing regardless, until finally the
soundman pulled the plug, first on their mics, then on their
instruments, then on the entire stage lighting, during their last
song, which they however continued to performed until its end,
all screaming at the top of their lungs.
Naked City. Wow.
I just saw Guided By Voices last night and it was one of those 'reaffirm
your faith in the power of rock and roll' experiences, 3 hours, 50+
songs, everyone in the audience singing along, bellowing nonsense lyrics
as if the fate of the world depended on it.
- --
http://www.dfan.org
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 11:10:29 -0700
From: Tim_Walters@digidesign.com
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Home on the Range
>Sorry..."pitch class"? Does that mean she's singing the same figure in
>different octaves, or which?
"Pitch class" is a note name without a specified octave. I.e. "C" is a pitch
class, "C#" is a pitch class, etc., while "middle C" and "high E" are pitches
belonging to the pitch classes of "C" and "E" respectively.
So what I was trying to say is that she sings a note, then the note an octave
higher, etc.
>Tim Buckley (the third) was an intense Sumac fan by the way,
I've been listening to HAPPY SAD a lot lately (ever since I saw a local band do
a cover of "Strange Feeling") and am wondering what to get next. STARSAILOR is
supposed to be the big deal, right?
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 02 May 2001 14:19:42 -0400
From: Dan McCarthy
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] favorite concert experience
At 12:21 PM 5/2/01 -0400, MarkWStaples@aol.com wrote:
>I'm interested in knowing what other Loudfans' favorite concert experience
>was. Which concert just absolutely was THE spiritual, transcendent
>experience that stayed with you for a long time thereafter. The kind where
>the band/artist was dead on, there wasn't someone around you being a jackass
>and screaming "FREEBIRD" or whatever, and when it was over, you wished it
>lasted much longer. The absolute creme de la creme. Perhaps it was a Loud
>Family set or, for those of you who were so lucky, a Game Theory set (feeling
>pangs of jealousy).
For me it's also gotta be a four-way tie, Mark. The Magnetic Fields were
fantastic, but I can't figure if it's due to the performance or just the
fact that I adore them so heavily. Nick Cave had a crackling charisma, and
the show was absolutely electric. I highly recommend anyone who's even
partially into Nick Cave's music to see him the next time he comes around
on tour; you'll be glad ya did! My very first concert experience was a
biggie not only because it was my first but also because it was seeing
David Bowie during the Outside tour, which is a hard show to top in my
opinion (what's more, I was living in Japan at the time, so I saw it at the
Budokan! What a great venue, acoustically!). The Legendary Pink Dots round
out the collection; it was a great, intimate show, which I'm sure they'll
not be repeating ever here in Portland, Maine, because part of the reason
the show was so intimate was that there were only about 30 people in the
audience. The band was very accessible, though, mingling with the audience
before and after the show, and all in all it was just a warm and pleasant
experience.
Them's my picks...
(the other) Dan
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 11:20:58 -0700
From: Tim_Walters@digidesign.com
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] favorite concert experience
>One of the things in life that I don't understand is that 1. everyone
>seemed to realize at the time that the Feelies were something special
>live 2. they played a ton of concerts, and 3. they were always (as far as
>I can tell) great, partly thanks to the three hour sound checks they
>seemed to insist on. So why are there so few live recordings, and why do
>the ones that I've found stink?
Not that this answers your question, but I did see the Feelies suck once. I
don't know if they had a big fight backstage or what, but I've never seen a band
take less pleasure in playing music than they did that night.
Normally, though, they were great, and I agree that "Slipping (Into Something)"
was always the highlight.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 11:25:03 -0700
From: Tim_Walters@digidesign.com
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] June Tabor
>There's apparently a live version of FREEDOM AND RAIN floating around - a tour
sampler
>that totally cuts the studio version, including the smashing version of "White
Rabbit"
>that they did as an encore. I saw that tour, and was totally blown away.
Same here. I wish they'd toured first and recorded second rather than vice
versa. ON AIR
has a few tracks from the tour: "White Rabbit", "All Along The Watchtower",
"Wheel's on Fire". "White Rabbit" is definitely the standout.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 11:27:24 -0700
From: Tim_Walters@digidesign.com
Subject: Re: [loud-fans] favorite concert experience
>It makes me wish
>I could have seen Bad Brains, because they seem to be the most often cited
>"greatest live band I've ever seen; too bad their recordings don't live up
>to it" band of my lifetime.
I kick myself very hard about this one, because I lived in D.C. for most of the
Eighties and somehow never made it to a Bad Brains show. I'd certainly like to
see a show that I AGAINST I doesn't live up to.
------------------------------
End of loud-fans-digest V1 #59
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