From: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org (loud-fans-digest) To: loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Subject: loud-fans-digest V1 #357 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 28 2001 Volume 01 : Number 357 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [loud-fans] beware of Dr. Giggles [Vivebonpop@aol.com] [loud-fans] something truly scary ["Larry Tucker" ] [loud-fans] For the mass romantics... ["Larry Tucker" Subject: [loud-fans] something truly scary This will entertain you for a few minutes. See anyone you know...that you'll admit to? www.rockandrollconfidential.com/gallerymain.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2001 17:12:13 From: "Brian Block" Subject: [loud-fans] 2001 top tentatives (long post) Hello, all! Although I expect my Best of 2001 list to be receiving new additions for at least another year, Im quite happy to add my current list to the discussion, because propaganda is fun. My reviewing career has been on a long hiatus due to lack of solitude (a good thing; my wedding is set for May 25th), lack of chances to stay up to 4 a.m. (night people are the least recognized victims of massive group discrimination in the world), and a recently-ended grad school class which required me to devote my writing energies to nineteen separate essays on multicultural education. So, my list comes with explanations: 1. Count Zero, ROBOTS ANONYMOUS A mad-genius triumph of sonic layering, pitched somewhere between Nine Inch Nails, Midnight Oil, and the really weird hip-hop act of your choice. I also like the wordplay, left-wing politics, and self-awareness about how ideology can be a disguise for being pissed off on a more personal level; but those features remain ignorable if you dont like them. 2. Rheostatics, NIGHT OF THE SHOOTING STARS A band I love as much as the Loud Family, and whose songs and album structures I see as essentially similar: although the Rheostatics warp folk music melodies where Scott Miller would warp power-pop, the Rheostatics seem happier, and the Rheostatics have made odd use of vocal harmonies and and flugelhorns and brass where the Loud Family have toyed more with synthesizer sounds and piano. The new Rheostatics album is, for the first time, emphatically a rock record, all guitar/guitar/bass/drums; and Martin Tiellis abstract poetry newly outshines Dave Bidinis storytelling. Still great. 3. Atom and his Package, REDIFINING MUSIC Twerp with whiny voice and goofy synthesizer patches sings about whatevers on his mind, be it Mercator projection maps, racist sports team names, or his worry that a co-worker maybe doesnt like him very much. Smarter than 99% of weblogs and infinitely more hummable. Also does quite serious and intelligent covers of three Mountain Goats songs. 4. Rebecca Moore, HOME WRECKORDINGS Comparable to Bjorks VESPERTINE, but weirder, more intimate, and more disorienting, which is saying something. 5. Dan Bern, NEW AMERICAN LANGUAGE Straightforward music, usually in the range from Dylanesque folk to Tom Petty-ish heartland rock to the graceful melancholy of radio-era Soul Asylum. The lyrics fuse an eye for detail, an ear for wordplay, attention deficit disorder, compulsive irreverence, and romanticism into songs that are ridiculous and affectingly sincere at the exact same time. 6. They Might Be Giants, MINK CAR No, theyre no longer killing Jason off and countless screaming Argonauts; theyre no longer sticking fingers in LBJs ear and coming out with Johnsons Wax; the Shriners are no longer loaning them cars. They were phasing out humor in favor of empathy as far back as 1994s JOHN HENRY (perhaps my favorite of their records), and on this record, alas, they mostly phased out empathy in favor of vacuousness. But theyve never flagged as the worlds best major-key tunesmiths. Theyve retained their genius for low-fi arrangements even while mastering full-band arrangements, 80s overproduction, and (for the first time) hipster dance arrangements. And Flansbergh and Linnell have each developed several of the best singing voices in the biz. 7. Rachael Sage, PAINTING OF A PAINTING Both glenn mcdonald, a music guru with enviable budget and attention resources, and my fiancee, who owns around 30 cds and was half-listening to Ms. Sage for the first time, compared Sage to a halfway point between Ani DiFranco and Alanis Morissette, so I guess she must be one. For me, though, her music seems much more lushly Adult Contemporary and much more beautiful, closer to Emm Gryners territory. Any of the above strike me as good things. 8. Elastica, THE MENACE The most visceral record of the year for me: intensely rhythmic, completely lacking in superfluous feedback and resonance, with synths, basses, guitars and voice all usually set on stun. Sometimes the dronier, more abstract aspects of the synths and of Justine Frischmanns voice take over, and its a lovely way to recover for the next ruckus. 9. Laurie Anderson, LIFE ON A STRING Shes long since become a credible singer, a talent she uses more often than her brilliance as a reciter. Shes fairly comparable to mid-80s Jane Siberry in both, and in the airiness of her arrangements. But her album also has as much to do with jazz and Latino music as did Joe Jacksons NIGHT AND DAY II, and has as much to do with chamber music as Jacksons HEAVEN & HELL did with symphonic classical music. The academic and the avant-garde in the service of pop songs; pop songs in the service of philosophy and observation. 10. Ani DiFranco, REVELING Thirty years old, married (albeit to someone named Goatboy), and maturing into the sharpest, subtlest writer of relationship songs around. She didnt necessarily win her fanbase on subtlety, and she certainly didnt win her all-white fanbase by incorporating so much funk, R+B, hip-hop, jazz and swing into her music that, without a label, I wouldve mistaken the first two songs here for Dionne Ferris. But her folk roots still show, her experiments get more innovative, her guitar-playing just gets better and better, and if Dionne Ferris writes lyrics a third this good then Im an ass for not buying her records too. 11. Kristin Hersh, SUNNY BORDER BLUE Smart folk-rock marked by peculiar melodies written for a peculiar singing voice, and by a peculiar outlook on love and life. 12. Jims Super Stereoworld, S/T As singer / lyricist of Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, Jim Bob raged against the moral flaws of humanity until hed written himself into a corner, his sense of defeat overwhelming his sense of humor. Three years later he emerges to write music as well as words, with the ebullience of music-halls and dancefloors, and seems, of all things, happy. He has his old awarenesses - this isnt Prozac. Hes just learned how joy and doom can co-exist. 13. Actual Tigers, GRAVELED AND GREEN My favorite debut of the year. Reminds me strongly of early Paul Simon solo albums, but their singer also has some of Art Garfunkels delicacy, and seems nicer than Paul. 14. Jesus Jones, LONDON If you remember Right Here, Right Now, you have what remains a good idea of what Jesus Jones sound like. Theyre a bit more of a power-chord rock band now, but Mike Edwards was always as capable of putting somber reflection into anthems as he was of putting delight there, so the mix of both isnt new. 15. Ark, WE ARE THE ARK. Placebo, BLACK MARKET MUSIC. Hawksley Workman, LAST NIGHT WE WERE THE DELICIOUS WOLVES Glam-rock from Norway, England, and Canada, respectively. Of the three, Placebo use the heaviest guitar effects, Workman has the strongest show tune influence, and the Ark sound the most like David Bowies HUNKY DORY being recorded in the age of New Wave. Effusively, -Brian _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2001 09:16:23 -0800 From: "Douglas Stanley" Subject: [loud-fans] Lance, Lord, and a boy named Sue I saw Lance Loud's obit this weekend in the LA Times and was surprised at how much attention they paid to him. The obit took up over half a page. I read it thinking that they might mention The Loud Family. Here's a link that appears to be working now. http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-000102020dec25.story I too saw LOTR:FOTR this weekend. As someone who has never so much as cracked open a Tolkien book, I think the movie was made for me. It can't get too complicated or middle America won't be able to follow it. The only part that lost me was when - seemingly all of a sudden - there was a romantic scene between Liv Tyler and the king of the humans (forgot his name). What was that all about? Anyhow, I whole-heartedly recommend this movie to any non-Hobbit fans. Now, onto the real reason I'm writing. Recently I picked up Johnny Cash - Live at Folsom Prison. I am bowled over by some of the stuff on here. This is some seriously heavy, heavy shit. In addition to the traditional themes of God/Love/Murder there's healthy(?) doses of drugs, adultery, and suicide. If, over thirty years after the fact, someone as hardened as me is taken aback by his brutal honesty, I can't imagine what it was like in 1968 - especially if you were in Folsom and saw him perform. Is anyone here old enough to remember what the response was when this came out? I suspect it flew pretty well under the radar. Doug S. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2001 20:08:39 GMT From: "Highland Telephone" Subject: [loud-fans] Re: Lance, Lord, and a boy named Sue Douglas Stanley writes: > Now, onto the real reason I'm writing. Recently I picked up Johnny Cash - > Live at Folsom Prison. > Is anyone here old enough to remember what the response was when this came > out? I suspect it flew pretty well under the radar. No, it was a major hit on both the pop and country charts. "Folsom Prison Blues" and "A Boy Named Sue" were both massive country singles; there may have been pop crossover, but I don't remember because I was in my pure country phase back then. Cash also had a pretty good variety show on TV around that time as well. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2001 13:05:59 -0800 From: "Andrew Hamlin" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Death in the Family Odd...the obit states that Lance is survived by "his parents," but I had the distinct impression that his father, Bill, had been dead for some time. Anyone know more? Lance's mother, Pat Loud, did write a book, PAT LOUD: A WOMAN'S STORY, about her experiences with and after the documentary. Out of print, but perhaps worth hunting down at a library or used book store. Now if only Lance had a book, Andy "While I like some, others I just don't 'get'." - --Ely Zero III on http://www.geocities.com/cecil137/pictograms ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2001 16:05:41 -0500 From: "Larry Tucker" Subject: [loud-fans] For the mass romantics... ... as I'm sure there's some of you out there. Here's a live streaming download recorded in Vancouver, BC earlier this year. http://www.justconcerts.com/concerts/concert.cfm?Concert_Id=60&Act_Id=10 4&Concert_IsLive=1 - -Larry ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2001 15:29:35 -0600 From: Miles Goosens Subject: [loud-fans] [ns] ALIAS correction Just back from WV and wading through piles of accumulated stuff both at home and at work. Anyway, I wanted to correct my previous statement about the ALIAS New Year's Day marathon. It's not airing on ABC proper, but on the cable channel ABC Family. The marathon runs 12 PM EDT to 10 PM EDT. ABC Family is apparently a rechristened Fox Family, and therefore may already be on a cable network near you. public service announcements sans guitar, Miles ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2001 19:24:10 -0500 From: jenny grover Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Lance, Lord, and a boy named Sue Douglas Stanley wrote: > > Now, onto the real reason I'm writing. Recently I picked up Johnny Cash - > Live at Folsom Prison. I am bowled over by some of the stuff on here. This > is some seriously heavy, heavy shit. In addition to the traditional themes > of God/Love/Murder there's healthy(?) doses of drugs, adultery, and suicide. > If, over thirty years after the fact, someone as hardened as me is taken > aback by his brutal honesty, I can't imagine what it was like in 1968 - > especially if you were in Folsom and saw him perform. > Is anyone here old enough to remember what the response was when this came > out? I suspect it flew pretty well under the radar. I seem to recall it being considered daring (playing live in a prison), but also quite a popular record. Most of those themes are pretty common in country and roots music, so I don't think it was considered shocking. I was pretty young then, but I was certainly aware of it and Johnny Cash was very popular. Jen ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2001 18:38:09 -0800 From: "Jeff Brenneman" Subject: [loud-fans] Tape Swap: Jer Fairall's "December Snapshots" OK, here we go again. I won't whine this time about how difficult is for me to write a review. I certainly appreciate the time spent, in this case by Jer, to create another wonderful mix for my enjoyment. The least I can do is take a few minutes to share my opinions. Before I begin, I must apologize to Andrea for going out of sequence here as I still owe a review the "Rocking The Suburbs" tape that hasn't left my car tape deck since I received it. On to Jer's "December Snapshots": 1. Cut Here - The Cure. I've liked their stuff since the first show I caught of theirs back in the 80's that nearly scared the hell out of me. Just entering my high school years, I attended a Cure show held at an Orange County (California) college. Upon entering the gymnasium I found myself walking among the dead. Never being one to spend time with my appearance (and it shows! Certainly not proud of that!) I was slightly out of place with my shorts, Three O'Clock T-shirt and sandals. "Cut Here" falls into the typical Cure format, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I quite enjoy the song. It could have easily fit into any other Cure release of the past decade. The song very much reminds me of a James' tune off their s/t release. 2. Was It All? - Plumtree. I practically fell out of my seat when the intro to this song began. The intro is so amazingly close to an intro of a song of a band I was in. We recorded the song for one of the 2 CD's we released. Could it be a copyright infringement? Maybe we can get huge royalties from Plumtree. Anyway, beside the terrible intro :-) the song is growing a little on me. I imagine if the song was toward the end of the mix, I would skip it altogether. Not a favorite! 3. The Sound Of - Jann Arden. My least favorite on the disk. 4. Chester The Molester - Sloan (by request). Ok, I'm convinced I need to purchase a CD or 2 by these guys. Now, if I can just convince my boss to give me a raise to afford to budget some entertainment funds. I've heard these guys compared to the Fab Four, but I can't say I hear much of that on this song. Sounds a little more like the Stones (only slightly though) than anything else. I like this one! 5. Coming Up Close - Til Tuesday. They recorded another song besides "Voices Carry"? I've heard so many good things about Aimee Mann but so little from her. I can certainly see why this is one of Jer's favorites songs! Very nice. I think I'll have to request more from Ms. Mann on future mixes. 6. Emma Blowgun's Last Stand - Beulah (by request). Lives up to the hype! I bet these guys are a blast to see live! This is great! 7. Jackie Wilson Said - Dexy's Midnight Runners. I'm really glad Jer included this one! I used to love these guys, even beyond "Come On Eileen." I always thought this was one of their songs until I eventually got into Van Morrison (who by the way, is one of my favorites!) I still think the DMR version is cool! 8. December - Teenage Fanclub. A buddy of mine talked me into buying my first TFC disk ("Songs From Northern Britain" title?) a few years back. I immediately fell in love with their sound and bought all their CD's. Love them all with the exception of that "king" ep they did to piss off their label. Still haven't heard anything from Howdy. 9. The Christians & The Pagans - Dar Williams. I really like this song! Has this song been around for awhile? OK, nevermind, looking back at Jer's notes, it was released in '96. 10. Time Of No Reply - Nick Drake. I bought the 3 proper releases after Jeffrey turned me on to Nick. Still trying to budget to order the TIME OF NO REPLY disk! Another amazing song by Mr. Drake, R.I.P. 11. Medallion - Largo. Love them bagpipes! Sounds like 2 totally separate songs in one. I like this. Do they use (overuse) bagpipes often or is this an isolated case? 12. You Bowed Down - Elvis Costello & The Attractions. Is there an EC box set? I'm thinking since I don't own anything yet, that would be the way to go. Any suggestions? 13. The Authority Song - Jimmy Eat World. Not as punky as I've heard them described as. I'd say this would fall into what I think of power pop. Just OK. 14. Pumping Iron For Enya - Atom & His Package. A great title! Otherwise, I'm not too found of this track. 15. Not The Same - Ben Folds. From Rocking The Suburbs, which reminds me of a certain tape I still need to review. I like both this song and the title track included on the aforementioned mix. Without the other 2 members of BF5, it's easy to understand now why he was the band's namesake. 16. A Good Man Is Easy To Kill - Beulah. Thanks for including 2 songs Jer! It's easier to get a feel for a band the more you hear (how obvious is that?!) I still say I bet these guys are a hoot live! Dig that brass! 17. The Marquee & The Moon - Sloan. Ditto the appreciation for multiple tracks by this artist. Still don't hear the Beatle connection. Hmmmm...Great song though! 18. Schooldays - Starjets. Just OK. 19. From Hank To Hendrix - Neil Young. Classic! 20. Silent Night/7 O'Clock News - Simon & Garfunkel. I've never heard this before. I found this to be very powerful. It certainly is as appropriate today as when it was released. Peace On Earth! (bonus cut) Smurfing Bells! Simply Smurrific! I turn bluer with each consecutive listen! I've been listening to Jer's mix in my cubicle and I always get the coolest looks from my coworkers when this 'un comes on. THANKS Jer! GREAT MIX! - -Jeff _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2001 21:12:02 -0500 From: "Vallor" Subject: [loud-fans] New New permanant email & web URL From Dan Vallor: Hello to friends and families- For the second and seemingly final time in a month Shannon and I have changed email addresses. Our @home addresses are officially and permanently gone and have been replaced by: vallor@attbi.com I'm am happy to say that the King Records Lathe Universe Web is back up and running at: http://home.attbi.com/~cassetto/ If you have a link to my page on yours, I feel confident that this will be the permanent home for my site, so updating your link will be a one time thing. There are a number of minor improvements to the site the most laborious and satisfying of which is that the scans of my Xpressway and New Zealand Vanguard articles from Popwatch magazine are now available on the site's EXTRAS page. Kind regards- Dan Vallor ------------------------------ End of loud-fans-digest V1 #357 *******************************