From: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org (loud-fans-digest) To: loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Subject: loud-fans-digest V1 #350 Reply-To: loud-fans@smoe.org Sender: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk loud-fans-digest Friday, December 21 2001 Volume 01 : Number 350 Today's Subjects: ----------------- RE: [loud-fans] WARNING: Scott Miller ["Chris Murtland" ] [loud-fans] Fwd: Fw: Peels Sat., Dec. 29/Christmas best wishes [Vivebonpo] Re: [loud-fans] fontgeek query [Aaron Mandel ] Re: [loud-fans] fontgeek query [Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey ] [loud-fans] WARNING your meaning of is is ["Brandon J. Carder" Subject: RE: [loud-fans] WARNING: Scott Miller Hmmm, reading this again it actually seems to come across like I meant something by it, when really I was just experimenting with my version of MadLibs with loud-fans: taking random words from random posts. I am overly sensitive, especially when sleep-deprived, so I'm just making it clear that no offense was meant. Don't hurt me! For some reason, almost every single time I post to this list, I regret it even while I am typing it. This message is no exception. I don't even know what that means. Maybe I should go to bed. |I think it's about relatively obscure sympathetic lazy |American depressed skinny or overweight people with flawed |characters getting records for free and driven to quoting |private e-mail and possibly even suicide by making blanket |statements regarding their lists of top five records of 2001, |none of which included The Ramones, eventually resorting to |stress management and calculating the imposition of their virility. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2001 02:57:17 -0700 From: Stewart Mason Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Swap CD Review Pts. 1 and 2 At 10:59 PM 12/20/01 -0800, Joseph M. Mallon wrote: >My apologies to Stewart, who sent me a great CD in July. De nada. I'm even further behind in reviews, I'm afraid. >"Sad Sing" - Tom Newman >S: Even though this song has "sad" in its title, it's actually very jaunty >and Celtic-sounding. >J: Indeed - very much a sea chanty sound Tom Newman was the staff producer in the early days of Virgin Records -- his first album FINE OLD TOM has a lot of oddly poppy things like this, including a terrific version of "She Said She Said" consisting entirely of what sounds like dozens of vocal overdubs. >"Stand By Your Masses" - John Southworth >J: Off-key polemics. Probably a lot more important than it sounds to the >people who like it The politics of this song are exceedingly tongue-in-cheek and not important in the least -- one of our own recently sent me a boot of a John Southworth show that opens with this song done inna bluegrass stylee, which makes it sound even goofier. (Note to those who care: Hawksley Workman was co-producer on this Southworth album, SEDONA ARIZONA, and he and John do all the instruments and vocals themselves.) >"New Slang" - The Shins >S: This is one of only two songs on this CD that I'd heard previously. I'd >downloaded this from SubPop's web site. Since both Stewart and SubPop >selected it as the representative Shins song, I wonder if that means it's >the stand-out track on their album. It's certainly the prettiest song on the album, but there are at least a couple that I like more. One of my biggest joys this year has been seeing the Shins become a big deal in some quarters -- their keyboardist Marty Crandall is an old friend of mine, and I've known since they were called Flake that they were the best band in Albuquerque. >"Undone" - Autoliner >J: If you love the Raspberries, you'll like this. The third great song in >a row. I've already bought their 2001 CD. Which one is this song on? Their first one, from 1999, called LIFE ON MARS. (Actually, the group was originally called Life On Mars and the album was self-titled, but another band had claim to the name, so it was pulled and they renamed themselves after a song on the album.) > >"Allt Pa Ett Kort" - Bob Hund >S: I saw Bob Hund on TV when we were in Sweden and wasn't motivated to buy >any of their albums, but I've got to say that this track has really grown >on me. However, despite the fact that I speak fluent Swedish, I don't >understand a word they're singing -- the emphasis here is definitely on >the noisy guitars. I think I heard the word "cykel" (bicycle) in there >somewhere. My friend Anna Borg sent me all the Bob Hund CDs after a trip home a couple years ago. I think she said the lyrics are about how the singer doesn't need to have memories of his childhood, because he has photos. Personally, I think Bob Hund are like Sweden's answer to Pavement -- they have that same all-over-the-place quality. >"We Are The Dead" - The Bevis Frond >S: I wound up buying VALEDICTORY SONGS, the CD on >which "We Are The Dead" appears, and I'm totally blown away by it -- >probably the best CD purchase I've made all year! Rubric is reissuing the earlier Frond albums a couple at a time -- they'll be up to 1991's NEW RIVER HEAD pretty soon, and after all these years, I still say it's the masterpiece. More noodly, though. >"1970 (Rehearsal, Take 3)" - The Stooges >J: Okay, the Stooges are a great band, etc. I'm starting to get >them. Cheers to Stewart for trying. I love this version for the absolutely squalling free-jazz sax solo, the way the rhythm sounds like a bicycle with a slipping chain pedaling up a mountain, and the original chorus, which once I heard it, I wish Iggy hadn't changed: "All night in a world that's lame." >"Handful of Gimme" - The Killer Shrews >J: Rockin' little rockabilly tune. Great chorus. The Shrews were Gary Lucas (Beefheart), Jon Langford (Mekons, Three Johns), Tony Maimone (Ubu, TMBG) and my former boss Steve Goulding (Mekons, Rumour). They only did one album, but it's a winner all the way through. >"Lots of Hearts" - Wreck Small Speakers On Expensive Stereos >S: I think you've gotta love this for the band name alone. Luckily, it >didn't wreck my small speakers. >J: Reminiscent of Godspeed You Black Emperor, which is okay, I guess. And believe it or not, this was actually recorded in 1983, so imagine how weird it must have sounded then! The main guy went on to form the Dead C, one of the artier Kiwi bands. >"Cargo Culte" - Serge Gainsbourg >S: This is one of the strangest things I've heard in a while. Serge >murmurs softly in French as a rock band jams in the background. It's so >quiet at first that you almost have to turn the volume up on the stereo to >hear it. Eventually, a choir comes in, "oh"-ing in the background. It's >weird and spooky sounding, but also brilliant. I looked this song up on >the web, and it was released in 1971. It must really have perplexed people >back then. Serge was obviously a man ahead of his time. This whole album, HISTOIRE DE MELODY NELSON, is easily one of the freakier records of its time. It's basically a story of Serge's one night stand with a teenage runaway he almost runs over while driving in the south of France. This song, the closing track, is about how her plane back to England crashed and everyone was killed. As Sue and Joe ably illustrate, it's one of those records you either dig or you don't. >"Post-Punk at Cambridgeside Mall" - Ad Frank >S: For the record, this is the second song on the CD that I'd heard >previously. I'm not totally sold on it. It seems a little overdramatic. I think it could be a little less plodding, but I've always really liked the lyrics, about getting harrassed at the mall by the same sort of obnoxious teenager you used to be. "Laugh while you can/Two years from now, you'll be wearing these same shoes." >All in all a fabulous CD. I can't stop listening to it. Well done! Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it! S ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2001 08:55:07 EST From: JRT456@aol.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] glamorous death In a message dated 12/20/01 10:09:11 PM, steveschiavo@mac.com writes of the lovely late Bianca Halstead: << So being stupid and killing yourself by driving too fast is glamorous? Or maybe she was just riding with some idiot. Either way... >> ...she was all about living fast, so I'm sure she could've thought of worse ways to go. And that busload of blind orphans should've just stayed out of her way. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2001 09:17:09 -0800 From: Elizabeth Setler Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Shocking absence of end-of-year best-ofs At 4:42 PM -0500 12/19/01, Aaron Mandel wrote: >Last year we also went through the brief process of people sending in >lists of 2000 releases to be compiled into a list of "nominations" -- not >that other things weren't eligible, just for the benefit of people with >shaky memories. Not too many folks send anything in; is it worth doing >that again? They've done this on the Audities list already, and I've posted it in my webspace as part of my nascent public-service career. The list will undoubtedly read a bit differently than any list loud-fans would come up with, but it's a starting point, anyway... http://fringehead.com/2001eligibles.html I'm outta here for the holiday season... hope everyone has a delightful and sparkly whatever-you-celebrate. - -- Elizabeth ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2001 11:31:43 -0600 (CST) From: Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Swap CD Review Pt. 2 On Thu, 20 Dec 2001, Joseph M. Mallon wrote: > "Don Alfonso" - Mike Oldfield > S: Isn't this the "Tubular Bells" guy? This is pretty freaky -- definitely > nothing like "Tubular Bells." Catchy, though. > J: This is some f'ed up stuff here. A little too camp for repeated > listenings. Assuming this is the Mike Oldfield in question (and not, say, the "Willie Nelson" that Stef Hurts put on my swap CD some time back, doing a dance number...), where is this from? Okay - if it's a different Mike O., I still want to know where it's from. - --Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey, wondering how many blues singers actually did wake up this morning J e f f r e y N o r m a n The Architectural Dance Society www.uwm.edu/~jenor/ADS.html ::glibby glop gloopy nibby nobby noopy la la la la lo:: ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2001 09:34:44 -0800 From: Matthew Weber Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Swap CD Review Pt. 2 At 11:31 AM 12/21/01 -0600, Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey wrote: >On Thu, 20 Dec 2001, Joseph M. Mallon wrote: > > > "Don Alfonso" - Mike Oldfield > > S: Isn't this the "Tubular Bells" guy? This is pretty freaky -- definitely > > nothing like "Tubular Bells." Catchy, though. > > J: This is some f'ed up stuff here. A little too camp for repeated > > listenings. > >Assuming this is the Mike Oldfield in question (and not, say, the "Willie >Nelson" that Stef Hurts put on my swap CD some time back, doing a dance >number...), where is this from? Okay - if it's a different Mike O., I >still want to know where it's from. It's the same Mike Oldfield. The only place I've ever seen the song is on the Virgin Records compilation V. some call me Pedro, but that is not so, Matthew Weber Curatorial Assistant Music Library University of California, Berkeley But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said, I will do as thou hast said. _The Holy Bible: The Old Testament_, The First Book of Moses, Called Genesis, chapter 47, verse 30 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2001 11:37:16 -0600 (CST) From: Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey Subject: [loud-fans] Loudfans Onion Mole? First there was the CDR label story; now we have this item, on the front page of this week's online edition, under "News in Brief," about the art major... (www.theonion.com): Is there an Onion scribe lurking on Loudfans, or what? - --Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey J e f f r e y N o r m a n The Architectural Dance Society www.uwm.edu/~jenor/ADS.html ::Oxygen isn't a text:: __David Robbins__ ps: my apologies to those of you who expected a tasty recipe for a Mexican sauce involving onions. I'll let Dana come up with that one. And Matt: sorry, I've retired that list name: please don't let me know about any reasons there might be to reintroduce it. Instead, send them directly to Roger. np: Rebecca Gates _Ruby Series_ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2001 11:39:40 -0600 From: Wes_Vokes@eFunds.Com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] The terrorists win.. Oooh, oooh, I've played a similar game! It involves varying drink totals for phrases like "Smoke 'em out", "Evildoers", and the like... Best played when our fearless leader is answering media questions unscripted... Wes Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey To: The Scott Thunes and Toby Dammit Porn Fan Club .edu> cc: Sent by: Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Music Licensing owner-loud-fan s@smoe.org 12/19/01 12:05 AM > Now here's a politically oriented idea that even Roger could get behind: that's right, it's the "The Terrorists Win" drinking game. Rules are, read/watch/otherwise experience any media, and whenever anyone says that because of such-and-such, "the terrorists win," take a drink. - - ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2001 12:04:52 -0600 From: "Dennis McGreevy" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Loud-fan 2001 Top 5 I'm the ">"s, JDC is the non-">"s, my new input is all the way at the bottom: >Do people, or do they not, hold the ultimate responsibility for >their own survival and well being in their own grasp... Sounds very fine. But let's say Dennis McGreevy has terminal cancer but doesn't yet know it. Does it make sense to say he holds ultimate responsibility for his own survival in his own grasp? If the answer is yes, in the sense that he has a moral responsibility to fight for survival despite the opinion of experts, then consider a case of brain cancer, or degenerative Alzheimer's, in which the ability of the person to consider and implement a course of self-preservationist action is, in the nature of things, impaired. Can that person be judged irresponsible? >...and is callously chucking that, or is it not, on some level >pathetic or contemptible? What level of mental/emotional torment must a person endure in order for their suicide to escape your contempt? What amount of sustained physical torment might drive you to suicide, and would you expect to be forgiven for it? Just curious, and I don't mean any disrespect to the judgmental. <><><><><><><> No disrespect taken, thanks. First of all, I did not call the responsibility I cited a moral one. I would call it a functional one; if one is in a situation which threatens terminality, one should not twiddle one's thumbs while counting on someone else to save the day. Ignoring this constitutes an exceptionally dangerous gamble. Accepting shades of grey in this means finding some premature loss of life to be alright. Speaking only for myself, I find this not to be so. Regarding the hypothetical terminal cancer situation, without citing emotionally charged personal anecdotes, I will point out that this thing which I described as a "responsibility" is something at which everyone ultimately fails. I will to, but I refuse to hasten the process. Note please also that I said "on some level", buy which I intended to indicate that my comments were not the summary of my entire take on the topic. Given that existence is of value, and I think it is, the notion of the ultimate obligation of the individual to fight like hell to continue to exist seems to me to be a diamond-hard, irrefutable facet of the situation. Regarding your last two questions, John: 1. A fuck of a lot more than a self inflicted non-infectiously pathological "illness" like alchoholism. Sorry. 2. I have yet to find out; I am still here. I intend to remain so for a long time. [and] At that point forgiveness would be something of a moot point as regards my ability to experience or appreciate it; were such a process to occur, it would be for the benefit of the peace of mind of those who might survive and continue to care. No amount of abstract conceptualizing can refute the fundamental preciousness of life. If that belief makes me judgemental, so be it. - --Dennis P.S. I feel like I need to make a few more dick jokes to compensate for this heaviosity. "So this suicidal guy walks into a bar with a leprachaun hanging halfway out of his fly..." ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2001 13:15:55 -0600 (CST) From: Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey Subject: [loud-fans] fontgeek query Does anyone know what typeface _The New Yorker_ uses to caption its cartoons? Offlist, probably... - --Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey J e f f r e y N o r m a n The Architectural Dance Society www.uwm.edu/~jenor/ADS.html ::Californians invented the concept of the life-style. ::This alone warrants their doom. __Don DeLillo, WHITE NOISE__ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2001 14:34:57 EST From: Vivebonpop@aol.com Subject: [loud-fans] Fwd: Fw: Peels Sat., Dec. 29/Christmas best wishes Everyone have a great holiday. See you soon. May you awake Christmas morning to find a mint condition Beatles "butcher" cover under your shiny pink aluminum '60s Christmas tree. Personally I've always wanted one of those white trees from the '70s with a light shining through a colored motorized rotating filter on it...fabulously bad taste...enjoying it while warming up by the faux fireplace in Snoopy slippers, listening to my scratched-up copy of "Christmas With the Chipmunks" from childhood. It just couldn't get any better.... TMI again? Love, Mark Return-Path: Received: from rly-xe05.mx.aol.com (rly-xe05.mail.aol.com [172.20.105.197]) by air-xe03.mail.aol.com (v82.22) with ESMTP id MAILINXE31-1221140648; Fri, 21 Dec 2001 14:06:48 -0500 Received: from m24.jersey.juno.com (m24.jersey.juno.com [64.136.16.87]) by rly-xe05.mx.aol.com (v83.18) with ESMTP id MAILRELAYINXE53-1221140621; Fri, 21 Dec 2001 14:06:21 -0500 Received: from cookie.juno.com by cookie.juno.com for <"JcfjFq8WpVQe68ssybBerDDEHMqnWvnZQgIftSUerhtIOTpd+uNNt2nF0okGLKI/"> Received: (from markwaltonstaples@juno.com) by m24.jersey.juno.com (jqueuemail) id GN73SMT9; Fri, 21 Dec 2001 14:06:01 EST To: vivebonpop@aol.com Date: Sat, 22 Dec 2001 14:09:41 -0500 Subject: Fw: Peels Sat., Dec. 29 Message-ID: <20011222.140942.-369381.0.MarkWaltonStaples@juno.com> X-Mailer: Juno 5.0.33 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Juno-Line-Breaks: 0-68,70-80,82-84,86-93,95-105 From: Mark W Staples - --------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Opeels@aol.com To: AdrienneD1@aol.com, adurjmovic@sjmercury.com, AJRTTEN@aol.com, alubarsky@enterusa.com, amadeo@netspace1.com, anna@tallboyrecords.com, arzebra@hotmail.com, asianized@surfy.net, avi_e@ix.netcom.com, aycarranza@usa.net, Bistmbgxtc@aol.com, bob@afterclap.every1.net, BPater1032@aol.com, brian@red-maple.com, Buck@humdaisy.com, cclapp@iopener.net, cdarling76@yahoo.com, chris@tunefilter.com, christy@thecannery.com, cmswanson1@yahoo.com, datura@killradio.org, davejasper@hotmail.com, dave_queen@hotmail.com, debiwin@yahoo.com, dkwallis@earthlink.net, donna.koren@frontiercoop.com, doug@dougphelan.net, drjewett@earthlink.net, egraves@socrates.berkeley.edu, emma@twelve13.com, eric_fang@slip.net, ethan@monkey.org, fabianovedder@hotmail.com, fabiano_ms@bol.com.br, fessel@mojocreative.net, Fixtureco@aol.com, gargunza@worldnet.att.net, GntlTuesdy@aol.com, gstoncius@hotmail.com, heidichiao@yahoo.com, hero_1@swbell.net, hil-dog@excite.com, jenleduc@hotmail.com, jessbess1@yahoo.com, JFenwick99@aol.com, jkivi@artic.net, jlcullen@texas.net, jleonilla@yahoo.com, joel@jdrdesigns.com, JoelCSUH@aol.com, joelmidd@yahoo.com, johndempster@hotmail.com, johnmav@sirius.com, joydvsn@earthlink.net, judlind@earthlink.net, jweiner@mail.com, kenneth.brandell@zurichna.com, kenzilla69@hotmail.com, kevin@carhart.com, lara_hall@hotmail.com, latexloof@yahoo..com, laurie_cameron@yahoo.com, lisarland@yahoo.com, mardelnort@hotmail.com, MarkWaltonStaples@juno.com, Marucl@aol.com, matt@insound.com, mcauley@onebox.com, MDiska@yahoo.com, methodmal@yahoo.com, miclopez@deloitte.com, misa@saburi.com, modern@marginalized.com, momanley@hotmail.com, motorway@air.linkclub.or.jp, MrHonorama@aol.com, mrosberg@rccmpls.com, MrT@timholl.com, mskrzypek@hotmail.com, mwestfal@kumc.edu, nlucey@hotmail.com, NotatallMike@aol.com, oceanblue81@yahoo.com, Oranginadiva@aol.com, pbpeter@uclink.berkeley.edu, pjakew@yahoo.com, plonev@yahoo.com, prefab@pacbell.net, PrimeMinister97@cs.com, psoup@home.com, punkskaboy77@hotmail.com, p_caparotta@hotmail.com, Rainykeith@aol.com, rhenc@hotmail.com, Rockapink@aol.com, rodentia_confidentia@yahoo.com, rurouni_drove@yahoo.com, ryan@relax2paris.com, saintetienne81@hotmail.com, schultzd@gte.net, scotmoris@thedoghousemail.com, scully85@hotmail, sebadooh@yahoo.com, seetheoceanblue@yahoo.com, sjarvis@sjarvis.com, skrubi@earthlink.net, sneezelimbo@home.com, sobasic72@hotmail.com, subgenius@mindless.com, summerspice24@hotmail.com, SuskaP@aol.com, tallam@uclink4.berkeley.edu, tbond@aztrib.com, Themosf@aol.com, Theeggertmarine@aol.com, tommetz@flash.net, tony_mirra@hotmail.com, Trailer1trash2@aol.com, tvsucks@juno.com, VujaDeDejaVu@aol.com, Weathercat@aol.com, weird@wallys.com, white729@juno.com, wiley@aaxion.com Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2001 01:01:08 EST Subject: Peels Sat., Dec. 29 Message-ID: <171.60331c3.29542a24@aol.com> Received: from mx3.jersey.juno.com (mx3.jersey.juno.com [64.136.16.53]) by m24.jersey.juno.com with SMTP id AAA8CFWQLAGV5JS2 for (sender ); Fri, 21 Dec 2001 01:08:10 -0500 (EST) Received: from imo-m07.mx.aol.com (imo-m07.mx.aol.com [64.12.136.162]) by mx3.jersey.juno.com with SMTP id AAA8CFWQLAEBCBEJ (sender ); Fri, 21 Dec 2001 01:08:10 -0500 (EST) Received: from Opeels@aol.com by imo-m07.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v31_r1.9.) id 5.171.60331c3 (4568); Fri, 21 Dec 2001 01:01:09 -0500 (EST) X-Mailer: AOL 4.0 for Mac sub 189 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Return-Path: Message-ID: <171.60331c3.29542a24@aol.com> Greetings, Orange Peel fans, Hope y'all are well. We've been laying low, writing new material for our next album, but are stepping out for one last show before 2001 wraps up. If you're in town, come catch us at Slims in San Francsico Saturday, Dec. 29 at 10 p.m. playing with Imperial Teen. What is not to love? Thanks to everyone who made 2001 such a great year for us. Don't be a stranger! Visit our cozy li'l modernist web home, and have a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Adios! Allen, Jill, Larry and John www.theorangepeels.com Oh yeah, if you don't want to receive these mailings, jus' let us know, y'know? ________________________________________________________________ SAY NO TO AOL PRICES! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/taga/. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2001 14:50:12 -0500 (EST) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: Re: [loud-fans] fontgeek query On Fri, 21 Dec 2001, Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey wrote: > Does anyone know what typeface _The New Yorker_ uses to caption its > cartoons? I don't, but it's possible that the smart toy at http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/ will. a ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2001 14:02:06 -0600 (CST) From: Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey Subject: Re: [loud-fans] fontgeek query yOn Fri, 21 Dec 2001, Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey wrote: > Does anyone know what typeface _The New Yorker_ uses to caption its > cartoons? I've got what I need on this - although not definitively. (Caslon Italic of some variety seems to be the consensus.) Thanks to thos ewho responded. - -j ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2001 13:12:34 -0700 From: Stewart Mason Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Swap CD Review Pt. 2 At 11:31 AM 12/21/01 -0600, Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey wrote: >On Thu, 20 Dec 2001, Joseph M. Mallon wrote: > >> "Don Alfonso" - Mike Oldfield >> S: Isn't this the "Tubular Bells" guy? This is pretty freaky -- definitely >> nothing like "Tubular Bells." Catchy, though. >> J: This is some f'ed up stuff here. A little too camp for repeated >> listenings. > >Assuming this is the Mike Oldfield in question (and not, say, the "Willie >Nelson" that Stef Hurts put on my swap CD some time back, doing a dance >number...), where is this from? Okay - if it's a different Mike O., I >still want to know where it's from. As Matt said, this is from a Virgin Records comp called V that came out in 1974 -- it might have shown up on some Oldfield comp or another, but I've never paid attention to any of those. This is an extremely silly song with a camp vocal and lyrics about a bullfighter; it may be a semi-traditional pub song, because it certainly has that sort of knees-up feel about it. First time Charity heard this, she said "This *can't* be Mike Oldfield!" At that moment, that twiddly double-speed guitar that's all over TUBULAR BELLS kicked in and she said, "Oh. I guess it is." Stewart ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2001 13:13:09 -0800 From: "Brandon J. Carder" Subject: [loud-fans] WARNING your meaning of is is I KNOW I'LL READ LIKE A CRYING BABY IN YOUR MEMOIRS AGE TWENTY-NINE IS A SAIGON PRISON AND I'M THE BARS From what I gather, this track was an early addition to the batch of songs that would become Interbabe Concern. It would date from around the time of Scott's break-up with Shalini. Anyone know her age? MISS JOVAN SEES YOUR CARDS AND KNOWS YOU PLAYED THEM RIGHT MISS JOVAN KNOWS THAT YOU WERE LOOKING TOWARD THE LIGHT MISS JOVAN WATCHED YOU DREAD EACH NIGHT I see Miss Jovan as Scott's version of Madame Sosostris, Eliot's famous clairvoyant. The association is fairly arbitrary, but aside from her knowledge of the cards, Jovan is a common brand of Musk scent sold in department stores. This calls attention to the nose and sense of smell that troubled Madame Sosostris who "had a bad cold." Miss Jovan knows Shalini (or whomever) was yearning for freedom (the light) and coming to despise her time (each night) with Scott (or whomever). Miss Jovan fits right in to Interbabe's motifs of brand names and chemicals, troubled relationships and lyrics you could pull from your medicine chest. "Madame Sosostris, famous clairvoyante, / had a bad cold, nevertheless / is known to be the wisest woman in Europe, / with a wicked pack of cards. Here, said she, / is your card, the drowned Phoenician Sailor (those are pearls that were his eyes. Look!) / Here is Belladonna, the Lady of Rocks, / the lady of situations" I KNOW I'M GOD'S LITTLE STAMP COLLECTOR, SEEN THROUGH YOUR EYES SOMEONE WHO SENDS FOR THE SIX-TAPE PROGRAM THEY ADVERTISE This is very Scott. He wants to get everything right. (He probably spent a year on this very song before jettisoning it.) He wants to understand and collect the whole of Human thought/emotion/knowledge/product (God's little stamps you might say) and somehow make it all clear. At the same time he knows it makes him prickly and hard-to-be-around. He also knows that he gets duped all the time chasing down loose ends from people who aren't worth his time when all he wanted was a quicker and easier way (the six-tape program)to make these feelings clear. MISS JOVAN KNOWS THAT THIS WAS HEADED FOR DECLINE MISS JOVAN KNOWS THAT YOUR EXCUSES ARE IN LINE MISS JOVAN LOVES TO HEAR YOU WHINE "I see crowds of people, walking round in a ring./ Thank you. If you see dear Mrs. Equitone, / Tell her I bring the horoscope myself:/ One must be so careful these days." Miss Jovan knew but Scott didn't. She can also see that Shalini had plenty of reasons to leave and even took some pleasure in listening to her arrive at those reasons/excuses. Shalini was getting along in age and, after all, one must be so careful these days. AND I ALMOST BOOKED A FLIGHT TO CHICAGO AND I ALMOST GOT MYSELF ON A ROLL Scott almost got away from himself. It seems like Chicago is just one of those places you might go to for the sake of going. On the other hand Chicago had a lot going on at the time. Maybe this is Scott's little fantasy where he's better off without Shalini because now he can go off and marry Liz Phair, sign to Capitol and have his record produced by Brad Wood and live happily ever after in Guyville. BUT HURRICANES DON'T BLOW YOU BACK AND GARDENING DOESN'T GROW YOU BACK AND THE DEVIL DOESN'T OWE YOU BACK YOUR SOUL On the other hand, things like that never work. You can never get away from yourself and once you've gone over to something it has no inclination to help you back out. Besides: I KNOW I'M GOD'S LITTLE HEALTH INSPECTOR GOD'S LITTLE DOT CONNECTOR GOD'S LITTLE SMOKE DETECTOR GOD'S LITTLE LEAD PROTECTOR GOD'S LITTLE DISINFECTOR I am what I am (what you don't particularly like). MISS JOVAN'S LAND-O-MAT IS HERE FOR YOUR NEW START MISS JOVAN KNOWS YOU BORE NO MALICE IN YOUR HEART MISS JOVAN SAW YOU WORKING SMART Enter the "Land-O-Mat". This must be another one of Scott's more or less intentional mis-hearings/spellings. (Good there are no lines in the street, Aerodelivery) Laundromat in this case. (I think this came about in the fifties when everything became 'omatic. The term is extant in many older Laundry Mats) Anyway, Land-O-Mat fits in perfectly with our wasteland undertow: "I do not find/The Hanged Man. Fear death by water." Miss Jovan knows you didn't mean to hurt anyone. You were smart and you left him hanging well. The land-o-mat wipes your slate clean but be careful- you could get sucked back in by him in which case you drown. Shalini (the Lady of Rocks, / the lady of situations) goes to the land-o-mat to get away from the water. AND I ALMOST BOOKED A FLIGHT TO CHICAGO AND I ALMOST GOT MYSELF ON A ROLL BUT HURRICANES DON'T BLOW YOU BACK AND GARDENING DOESN'T GROW YOU BACK AND THE DEVIL DOESN'T OWE YOU BACK YOUR SOUL Maybe Scott almost went after her. Maybe he almost worked up enough self-righteous courage to follow her to Chicago before Scott realized that it wouldn't make a difference- that a force of nature couldn't make her come back; that taking up a hobby or trying to change his life around to suit her couldn't make it okay (grow back the parts in her that initially cared for him); and that in the act of leaving she lost whatever it was that made him need her in the first place. NO, THE DEVIL DOESN'T OWE YOU BACK YOUR SOUL All of which makes me wonder why this track didn't make it onto Interbabe Concern. I don't think the reason is musical (I burned a disk with Chicago in place of Uncle Lucky that works beautifully and makes me love the album all the more.) It must be Scott's insistence on making "accessible music that gets [his] feelings across." Of course you can pretty easily substitute Shalini for People in General in the above analysis, in which case it is a rumination on how everyone should know better than to hang around listening to Scott. Funny that the same things that make Scott so swell are also what make him difficult and he knows it. I can't help but think that even in '95 he was thinking about quitting the game. It makes me profoundly sad to think that maybe Scott quit us so he wouldn't have to sit around like a chump while we quit him. Damn, bjc ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2001 16:03:42 -0600 (CST) From: Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey Subject: Re: [loud-fans] WARNING your meaning of is is I think a lot of Brandon's interp is compatible with mine: in general, he's tying the lyrics to a specific situation whereas I put them in more generalized terms. For one thing, I read "you" as a shift in p.o.v. rather than a literal second person: the narrator's sort of talking to himself, and "you" is the same as "I" (except, probably, in the first stanza). I guess I see the song primarily as being about the attempts to evade responsibility: specifically, via assigning one's own choices to outside factors, like "fate," or to escape their consequences by literally moving out. Miss Jovan (I forgot about the brand-name) reminded me of one of those 1-900 TV psychics. Anyway: > I KNOW I'LL READ LIKE A CRYING BABY IN YOUR MEMOIRS > AGE TWENTY-NINE IS A SAIGON PRISON AND I'M THE BARS Already, our narrator is self-aggrandiving and projecting his idea of the situation onto someone else - allowing himself a neat out. After all, if she thinks of him as a "crying baby" and the bars to a prison (but not just any - Saigon: Vietnam, big stakes, big debate, divisive, blah-blah-blah), then it'd be a bad thing for him to stick around...for her sake, even. (Connect to recent suicide thread re the potential suicide's belief s/he's essentially a burden to others.) Not to mention that she's become the sort of person who'll write memoirs...and he's confident he'll be in them. > MISS JOVAN SEES YOUR CARDS AND KNOWS YOU PLAYED THEM RIGHT > MISS JOVAN KNOWS THAT YOU WERE LOOKING TOWARD THE LIGHT > MISS JOVAN WATCHED YOU DREAD EACH NIGHT Again, he's reassuring himself: he did the right thing. But notice how that's expressed in terms of fate and fortune - he's beginning to sneak out of self-responsibility. > I KNOW I'M GOD'S LITTLE STAMP COLLECTOR, SEEN THROUGH YOUR EYES > SOMEONE WHO SENDS FOR THE SIX-TAPE PROGRAM THEY ADVERTISE This is a *gesture* at responsibility - w/trademark (for Scott) self-deprecation in the first line (I take as being someone who pays overmuch attention in seeking out the significance of small details), and an admission of trying to take the easy way out (just the tapes, ma'am). A sly dig at the essential irony of "self-help" programs, too: if you're *really* supposed to help yourself, why would you need to buy books and tapes so someone else can help you (and help themselves, too)? > MISS JOVAN KNOWS THAT THIS WAS HEADED FOR DECLINE > MISS JOVAN KNOWS THAT YOUR EXCUSES ARE IN LINE > MISS JOVAN LOVES TO HEAR YOU WHINE Given what I've said so far, the first two lines are obvious: "it's not my fault." If 1-900-MISS-JOVAN can know things were going bad, clearly there was nothing he could have done about them. The last line is, again, a feint at self-awareness, whose sarcasm also allows escape from emotional responsibility. > AND I ALMOST BOOKED A FLIGHT TO CHICAGO > AND I ALMOST GOT MYSELF ON A ROLL The escape is imagined literally here, I guess. "Chicago" is basically just "somewhere else," I think - quite possibly chosen as much for meter as anything else. > BUT HURRICANES DON'T BLOW YOU BACK > AND GARDENING DOESN'T GROW YOU BACK > AND THE DEVIL DOESN'T OWE YOU BACK YOUR SOUL On the one hand, these seem to acknowledge that actions have consequences. But there's an air of "it's not my fault" about them as well - as if hurricanes blew "you" away in the first place, as if there's no point in trying to *cultivate* a relationship, as if somehow deals with the devil were made in the first place, so there's no point in trying to change anything. > I KNOW I'M GOD'S LITTLE HEALTH INSPECTOR > GOD'S LITTLE DOT CONNECTOR > GOD'S LITTLE SMOKE DETECTOR > GOD'S LITTLE LEAD PROTECTOR > GOD'S LITTLE DISINFECTOR I think all of these are variations on the same basic idea: of someone who tries to glean large significances from trivia: looking for symptoms, assembling an image from a series of random dots, concluding there's fire at the first hint of smoke. The last three evoke a sort of paranoia as well: perhap the tendency among those who scan the stars, read tarot cards, and consult psychics to imagine vast plots and conspiracies (how *could* anything lack significance? and as Don DeLillo said, all plots tend deathward). "Significance" in the absence of everything going one's way must of course mean malevolence: so best wear radiation-proof lead smocks and spritz disinfectant everywhere. (Musically, the way these lines are set works, too: the song not only drops a bar here, making these three-bar phrases, but an extra beat is elided as well, for an 11-beat phrase. The effect is somewhat breathless - as if the narrator just has to get all these excuses in, as quickly as he can.) > MISS JOVAN'S LAND-O-MAT IS HERE FOR YOUR NEW START > MISS JOVAN KNOWS YOU BORE NO MALICE IN YOUR HEART > MISS JOVAN SAW YOU WORKING SMART I think a "land-o-mat," aside from being a misread/hearing of "laundromat," is like a vending machine for land - more literally, perhaps, a fly-by-night real estate outfit. Whether literally interpreted or not, we see Miss Jovan here as an opportunistic businessperson: not only can she tell your fortune but, if it so happens that fortune dictates a change in circumstance, hey, she'll sell you a plot of (Florida swamp?)land to make your "new start," and reassure you that you're doing the right thing. (I love the allusion to business-speak in the last line: "work smarter, not harder.") And of course, our narrator's just the sort of guy to whom this sale is perfectly pitched. > AND I ALMOST BOOKED A FLIGHT TO CHICAGO > AND I ALMOST GOT MYSELF ON A ROLL > BUT HURRICANES DON'T BLOW YOU BACK > AND GARDENING DOESN'T GROW YOU BACK > AND THE DEVIL DOESN'T OWE YOU BACK YOUR SOUL > NO, THE DEVIL DOESN'T OWE YOU BACK YOUR SOUL I like the song a lot, too; although I don't think it fits as well into IBC as Brandon does. (And I like "Uncle Lucky" too - I like Paul's songwriting.) - --Jeff J e f f r e y N o r m a n The Architectural Dance Society www.uwm.edu/~jenor/ADS.html ::Let's quit talking about it and start watching it on TV:: __Susan Lowry__ ------------------------------ End of loud-fans-digest V1 #350 *******************************