From: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org (loud-fans-digest) To: loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Subject: loud-fans-digest V2 #8 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 Tuesday, January 8 2002 Volume 02 : Number 008 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [loud-fans] saying goodbye...for good [Vivebonpop@aol.com] [loud-fans] new home for bobby and tim (ns) [dana-boy@juno.com] [loud-fans] tim and bob are adopted (np) [dana-boy@juno.com] [loud-fans] Re: Kevin Tihista [Stewart Mason ] [loud-fans] Ryan Adam's (fools) Gold ["Douglas Stanley" ] [loud-fans] Dear stereo review... (ns) [Dana L Paoli ] [loud-fans] for those of you who aren't broke yet [jenny grover ] [loud-fans] Oops, I swapped it again (ns) [Dana L Paoli ] Re: [loud-fans] Oops, I swapped it again (ns) [Stewart Mason ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 04:35:14 EST From: Vivebonpop@aol.com Subject: [loud-fans] saying goodbye...for good After tossing and turning and not being able to sleep because of being upset about all this crap, I have decided...for good...that I am leaving. I think three times is enough, or was it four? I don't know, but it's the last. This I know for certain. I suppose I am NOT impervious to all, after all. I find myself lashing out at the list, sparing individual names, but lashing out regardless, over my dislike of mores here, and throwing out veiled character assassinations. That is not how I wish to be. I've done this bit before, and don't wish to do it again. I simply cannot call myself a Christian and be that way. I don't like strife, confrontation and ill feelings. I've simply had enough. I just want to say first of all that I approached this list as I would a group of friends. That is why my posts are the way they are. I think that Loudfans should be a group of good friends. I do to others as I would want done to me. I wanted to know how your days were going, what anecdotes you cared to share. That is how I am, have always been, and will always be. I thought, if I kept at it, others would start opening up and loosening their ties, but that doesn't seem to be the case. That is just not the way things are done here. After many, many attempts, I know this to be true. Also, I am an open person, (duh) have always been, and will always be, and I simply don't know how to be any other way but me. I came back the last time, partly because I had mentioned to Scott in an e-mail that I had left the list, and he encouraged me to return, telling me that "community is important," and he said that you all should be more tolerant of me, and that I should be more patient with you all (I write "you all" here, but it really isn't my style, but I don't want ANYONE to think I'm trying to be cute). Plus, I missed my friends here, so I swallowed my pride and returned. But it just doesn't work. Those of you who dislike me will probably always dislike me, ignore my posts and questions, and that's the way it goes, I suppose. That's a shame, but it is reality. I said earlier that if you don't like my posts, ignore them, but I think that ignoring someone is really a crappy way to treat them, and I wouldn't do that, so I really don't want it done to me. I think that Loudfans should be a tight-knit bunch, because I think we should stick together in our devotion to what I think is simply superior music. I've been impressed with peoples taste and knowledge here. But guys, the real world could give a rat's buttocks about what type of recording technique was used on so and so's third e.p.. Because we care in our devotion to such things, I think that Loudfans should be like a close-knit club. Most importantly, we love Scott's records, which, if pressed, I would sell all my other records before I'd ever sell his. Period. I think the man's a musical and lyrical genius, and so do the rest of you, and the world doesn't seem to care about him, so I think we should be united and be close just because we know how great his music is (and he's one of the most unpretentious, nicest musicians out there, IMO). For those of you I've pissed off over the past couple of years. Sorry, and goodbye and good luck. For those of you who've been so nice and written me off-list and asked me to return before, or given me good advice or what have you, thanks, and you know where I live, and don't be a stranger. Again, remember: Nothing says I love you like a parrot. Mark, who would like to be unsubbed now, please ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 10:28:25 -0500 From: dana-boy@juno.com Subject: [loud-fans] new home for bobby and tim (ns) Found a CD copy of "At Home With Bobby and Tim" by the Windbreakers this weekend in a $.99 bin. Not being a big fan of power pop, I think I can live with a minidisc copy of it. Anyone interested, email me off list. It seems to contain their "Teminal" album as well. - --dana ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 10:36:38 -0500 From: dana-boy@juno.com Subject: [loud-fans] tim and bob are adopted (np) Like the wind, the Windbreakers CD is gone. - --dana ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Jan 2002 10:52:58 -0700 From: Stewart Mason Subject: [loud-fans] Re: Kevin Tihista At 07:33 AM 1/4/02 -0500, Dana L Paoli wrote: >5. Kevin Tihista "Don't Breath a Word" > > Already discussed plenty by me. Worth noting that Parasol was going to >release a CD of twice the length, before he was snatched away by a major >label. Thank god for all that major label promotion, or we'd never have >heard of him!! Right?? Interestingly, although the CD came out on a major back in September, Parasol's promo department has taken over the publicity; they sent me a copy over the weekend. Sounds like Tihista's major label career is close to over already. S ______________ Prosciutto is ham. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 10:11:26 -0800 From: "Douglas Stanley" Subject: [loud-fans] Ryan Adam's (fools) Gold Someone earlier made a disparaging remark regarding Ryan Adams and I'd like to add my thoughts as well: At first listen, I thought "Gold" was a complete waste of time. Here was a songwriter I greatly admired aping other songwriters I admire as well. I heard Van Morrison, Lou Reed, and the afore mentioned The Band. Nobody does Van better than Van - why would I want to listen to Ryan do Van? After repeated listens, my opinion of the album hard been somewhat tempered, but not by much. Is it worth the hype - no. Is it worth your time, probably not. Here's the first realistic review of Gold I've run across: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/a/adams_ryan/gold.shtml I'll tell you what is worth your time: Whiskeytown's last disc - Pneumonia. Here's the same Ryan Adams being no one but himself. Great songs about things I could care about. Allow me to make one more comment. I am not going to qualify it with an "I think" or an "arguably". There is a song on Gold called "Tina Toledo's Street Walkin' Blues" which is absolutely the worst song I've ever heard an artist I care about perform. It sounds like something Aerosmith threw away. This type of dreck is usually reserved for Mick Jagger solo albums or B-movie soundtracks. The worst part about it is that it drags on and on and on for over six minutes. Why didn't someone, somewhere along the way point out how bad this song is? The only explanation can be either too much cocaine or too much Winona Ryder. Doug S. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 17:52:54 -0500 (EST) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: [loud-fans] another 2001 list Before I get to my own picks, I want to remind/encourage people to vote for their own favorites at http://www.pastemob.org/lf01/ The poll closes sometime around the beginning of February. Anyway, what I myself dug from last year's crop, presented a little too wordily... - -- top 20 albums -- 1. THE FAINT - Danse Macabre (Saddle Creek) It seems like my #1 2001 album should have some emotional significance to me. That idea's hanging around the fringes of this ritual, anyway. However: I listened to this record more than any other this year; I like all the songs; I think their electro approach to synth-pop kicks particular asses that haven't quite gotten kicked at all in the last two decades. This record encapsulates a lot of why I like music so much; it just doesn't have much of why, in the larger sense, I like *art*. 2. EMM GRYNER - Girl Versions (Dead Daisy) On the other hand, Emm's plenty emotional, though hearing her improve ten songs (ranging from formerly awful, like "Pour Some Sugar On Me", to already great, like Fugazi's "Waiting Room") by playing them on piano with only occasional strings as backup also brings a certain technical joy. 3. THE LUCKSMITHS - Why That Doesn't Surprise Me (Candle) As good as Happy Secret for most of its length, though Mark Monnone's songs stick out more. One can always skip those. Though I did finally start enjoying Low somewhat this year, I still don't like most of what the Lucksmiths rhapsodize as "music to hold hands to". These guys are special. 4. AD FRANK - Mr. Fancypants (Stop Pop & Roll) Former songwriter from Miles Dethmuffen and Permafrost, sounding better and better now that he can write songs around his own beautiful voice rather than having a band and co-vocalist. I've even started liking the songs where his misery builds into hard-rock anger. 5. SAUL WILLIAMS - Amethyst Rock Star (American) A slam poet whose style combines the best of that world and the world of MCs. Unfortunately, about a third of the album involves Rage Against The Machine-like guitars and should probably be adduced in producer Rick Rubin's trial for contributory wackness. When rapping over strings and breakbeats, though, Williams is huge. 6. cLOUDDEAD - s/t (Mush) Meanwhile, a bunch of white kids with chips on their shoulders about making hip-hop (the Anticon crew) finally got over themselves and created this hour-long collage of ambient sounds, rapping, sing-song rhymes, and beats. This is Pere Ubu's Dub Housing revised for the listening pleasure of calmer lunar lifeforms. [Technically a reissue, as it collects 6 cLOUDDEAD 10"s that came out in very limited quantities the year before.] 7. glenn mcdonald - The Sleep Ward EP Would probably rank higher except (a) I know glenn and am not used to liking my friends' art, so I feel weird raving about it too much (b) it's too short and (c) it came out at the end of December and thus hasn't proven its staying power, though by an educated guess that won't be a problem. Anyway: pretty synths playing off dirty synths, sweet thoughts expressed skeptically and vice versa. 8. BOB HILLMAN - Welcome To My Century (Brave New) This reminds me so much of Freedy Johnston, with neither one of them making the sort of music I really listen to much, that I can't think of another way to describe it. Sing-along folk rock (by which I mean, even I can hit all these notes and it's Hillman's delivery that sells it). 9. ATOM AND HIS PACKAGE - Redefining Music (Hopeless) Funny, sometimes, but no longer really a joke; Atom's a big geek who, by his own description, programs hardcore punk songs into his sequencer and gets 80's pop out. What strikes me with this record is that he's really making new-wave in the lost skinny-tie vein, not the clubs-and-haircuts style his instrumentation might make one think of. 10. ROOTS MANUVA - Run Come Save Me (Big Dada) Even though this was the year I learned to love straight-up hip-hop, this third hip-hop record in my top ten is yet another "but also" album - -- in this case, "but also the reggae and dancehall beats of London's sound-system subculture". Run Come Save Me is the sound of being surrounded, by concrete club walls, by family, by shame. Even the self-aggrandizing single "Witness" has a certain circumspection to it. 11. THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS - Mink Car (Restless) Liked it more until I noticed how consistently weak Linnell's contributions were, which makes me sad. Also, having heard a lot of their great unreleased songs through their mp3 fan club thing, the disappointing parts leave me questioning only their judgment, not their skills. 12. JON BRION - Meaningless (Straight To Cut-Out) One of the few rock producers who I really like, writing songs with the same crispness. 13. PETER JEFFERIES - Closed Circuit (Emperor Jones) His best since The Last Great Challenge In A Dull World, reminiscent of Robyn Hitchcock's solo records minus the reticence. 14. SMOKE CITY - Heroes of Nature (Jive) Like if Ivy didn't suck, or EBTG had found new energy outside the dancefloor, etc. 15. BASEMENT JAXX - Rooty (Astralwerks/Sony) Fun fun fun house/garage dance music that I guess everyone but me had heard already. (Even if you don't *realize* you've heard them, they're the incidental music to many MTV shows now, the soundtrack from the Coke ad with kids dancing in the forest, and probably will be selling cars soon.) 16. TRACY + THE PLASTICS - Muscler's Guide To Videonics (Chainsaw) The way to my heart is shrill, arty post-punk. This would have been higher up were the production not so brittle all the way through. 17. hollAnd - Drums EP (Pulcec) "Lack of warmth is not a problem resulting from too much technology, but too little." - S. Merritt [Not, as I feared, an all-drum hollAnd record; it's more of Trevor's usual.] 18. NOW IT'S OVERHEAD - s/t (Saddle Creek) Somebody's still making indie-rock! This is a terrific stew of orch-pop, early REM, mild emo yowling and some other stuff, all the better for having apparently simmered since the last time anyone took the lid off (which would be somewhere in Chapel Hill about 8 years ago). 19. DILATED PEOPLES - Expansion Team (Capitol/EMI) It took me months to accept this as peer to Dilated's first album; I now see the light. I think Evidence is a great MC and Iriscience isn't bad, but they aren't kidding when they go out of their way to give DJ Babu his proper adulation as the star of the show. 20. NO DOUBT - Rock Steady (Interscope) Always hated this band before. Still defensive about liking them now. The near-total banishment of Gwen's pout and the band's lame ska influences explain it, though. And I consider "Hey Baby" nearly perfect, which should tell you whether or not you care about my opinion on the rest of the record. - -- top 20 other songs in no order -- Death Cab For Cutie - "All Is Full Of Love" Craig David - "Fill Me In" Silver Scooter - "Goodbye" k. - "Fighter Dove" Aesop Rock - "Daylight" Joel RL Phelps & The Downer Trio - "Apology Accepted" Mark Robinson - "Dilated Pupils" Sixto - "The Jackals, The Cocks" TFUL 282 - "You In A Movie" My Favorite - "Le Monster" Radiohead - "Packd Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box" Mum - "Smell Memory" Kleenex Girl Wonder - "Coda" The Lune - "My Side" Loose Joints - "Tell You Today" (reissue) Tracy Shedd - "Faint Pale Smiles" Sparklehorse - "Piano Fire" Paula Frazer - "This Is A Song" Ben Folds - "Not The Same" The Cure - "Cut Here" - -- some great reissues -- THIS HEAT - Deceit (These) 1981 masterpiece by this art band, like Wire without punk rock. THE STICK MEN - Insatiable (Cuneiform) Hot, spastic Philadelphia funk/punk. BOYRACER - Boyfuckingracer (555 Records Of Philadelphia) Very, very loud pop music laden with distortion; though it doesn't completely obviate the other Boyracer CDs, this compilation (created on the occasion of the band reforming) is as good as a single disc could be, and has lots of rarities, vinyl-only blah blah. THE WAKE - Harmony (LTM) Alongside Joy Division, Comsat Angels and others for that northern British guitar gloom. They later got twee-er and moved to Sarah Records. THE JAZZ BUTCHER CONSPIRACY - Cake City and A Scandal In Bohemia (Vinyl Japan) I thought this band had its moments, but never loved them until I heard some of this early stuff, when the name actually fit and they were capable of rocking, if not always so inclined. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 18:29:33 -0500 From: Dana L Paoli Subject: [loud-fans] Dear stereo review... (ns) Those with too much time on their hands might recall that a few weeks before Xmas I asked the list if anyone had used or heard of the semi-legendary etymotic ear phones (which I first heard of at minidisc.org). Someone was kind enough to point me to a review site, and my dad seems to love me enough to have sprung for $300 for my Xmas/birthday present, and today they finally arrived. I thought that some on the list might be interested to know that, assuming you can deal with sticking things into your ears, these are pretty hot stuff. They seal out most outside noise, so you can keep the volume fairly low. The bass is, as advertised, sort of surreal coming from these little things. And I've never quite understood what people meant by "detail" until now. You really can hear all kinds of stuff that's just inaudible on regular (cheap) headphones, which is sometimes a little disconcerting. I probably wouldn't wear them while walking around, as it'd be a little to easy to space out and not notice the cement truck that had just hurtled onto the sidewalk. For anyplace where you're not likely to be struck by out-of-control objects, though, these would seem to be the shit, as they say. From what I understand, etymotics is coming out with a cheaper version that sells (or will sell) for $150 or so. The web site, if memory serves, is www.etymotic.com, or maybe it's etymotics. - --dana np: The Divine Comedy/"RE: Regeneration promo" ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Jan 2002 19:23:35 -0500 From: jenny grover Subject: [loud-fans] for those of you who aren't broke yet One album I haven't seen mentioned for 2001 on here yet (that I recall, and I think I would recall, since I then would have known it had come out last April before a couple weeks ago) is The Dark Fantastic "Goodbye Crooked Scar." Dark Fantastic songs from the first album seem to always get favorable comments when I put them on mix tapes, and I think I like this album even better. Dark lyrics, soft, gentle vocals, haunting, pretty melodies with Western roots overtones. For those who don't know, Dark Fantastic is Mark Pickerel's solo project. Guests on this album include Mike Johnson and Vanessa Veselka, as well as Martin Feveyear, who also produced it. And I'm tellin' ya, I haven't heard anything yet that he's produced that I didn't think was produced superbly- clean, clear, straight, and well balanced. So, whether you're looking to sneak a few more listens in under the wire for your top ten, or just want a good album, give this one consideration. It's headed for my top 5 for sure. Jen ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Jan 2002 21:11:21 -0500 From: Subject: Re: [loud-fans] saying goodbye...for good Vivebonpop@aol.com wrote: > After tossing and turning and not being able to sleep because of being upset > about all this crap, I have decided...for good...that I am leaving. That can only mean that it's once again time to start the "When will Mark resub to Loud-Fans" pool! I call "by January 31st," though I'm tempted to go for "before I can post this message to the list." later, Miles ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 21:19:19 -0500 From: Dana L Paoli Subject: [loud-fans] Oops, I swapped it again (ns) Loud-fan John had initially written to ask me if I had any preferences for my swap minidisc, and I had responded with a list of mostly Amerindie types. He countered with an offer of Beatle influenced power pop. We finally settled on a minidisc full of teen pop, courtesy of his daughter's collection. As it turns out, the result was the best loud-swap that I've ever received. In fact, I've actually made copies for several friends. Let's just hope that John's daughter doesn't get ahold of this post, or he'll never live it down. What struck me initially was the astounding sound quality of the teen-pop tunes. I often listen to music on a pair of self-powered computer speakers that are easily moved from room to room, hooked up to my portable minidisc player. I was amazed to find that this stuff makes those little speakers sound like my Boston Acoustics set-up. Additionally, the songs sound good at low volume, at high volume, down the hall, etc. They work as background music, at regular listening volumes, and at concrete splitting volumes. All hail modern production techniques!! One of my long-held suspicions is that many people dislike top-40 pop because they encounter it mainly on the radio or on tv, with attending lousy sound quality. Suffice it to say that on a bad stereo, this stuff sounds pretty darn good, and on a good stereo, this stuff kicks some serious ass. The selections: 1. Britney Spears - Oops I Did It Again I've heard that her videos are a little tacky in a Lolita Ya Ya sort of a way, but her singing is much, um, blacker than I would have expected, without any affectations that bring little girls in plaid skirts to mind. This song uses a ton of production tricks, from scratchy vinyl sounds to distorted vocals to little funky guitar squiggles that pop up irregularly, to an interestingly varied rhythm track. I think that a lot more work may have gone into the music than was really necessary, though I'm glad to have the result. And then there's that cinematic spoken word interlude in the middle, which is pretty ingenious. I don't see how anyone can deny that this is an out-and-out incredible hit with amazing sonics and a cute lyric. 2. S Club 7 - Reach Coming after Britney, this is a slight let down, but it's actually a fairly sweet "uplifting" song, which steals it's main riff so blatently that I can't hold a grudge. S Club 7 seem to be a racially and genderly varied bunch of genetically gifted teenagers, and they take turns with the main verses. Oddly, I could actually imagine Comet Gain or Dexy's Midnight Runners doing something very similar to this, though without the super-clean production. The lyrics are all about reaching for the stars and climbing mountains, and if I had a child I'd be thrilled to have them listening to this (if Comet Gain were doing this, they'd change the words to be about Fidel Castro's hairstyle, but that's another story). Shari and I both thought that S Club 7 reminded us of the band from the tv show "California Dreaming" in case anyone's seen that. I think it's on after "Small Wonder" but I haven't seen tv in a while. Shari says "I prefer "josie and the pussicats" when it comes to manufactored bands, but it cannot be denied that S Club 7 are teen popolicious." 3. Kylie Minogue - Spinning Around Sounds a lot like Madonna in the '80s. This is more grown-up sounding than the previous tunes, with a lot of great retro-70's touches. I could imagine Gloria Gaynor performing "Spinning Around" on Solid Gold. Demonstrates the tendency for dance songs to start with the chorus before hitting the first verse. You can tell that Kylie has a better voice than many of her peers as there are fewer background singers coming in on the chorus. Nice vocoder bridge...Funkytown lives on in the '00s (and not for the last time on this mix). I can not figure out what this song is about for the life of me, though all the words are audible. 4. Stephen Gately - New Beginning This is kind of a New Kids on the Block version of a Survivor type song, and could easily have been featured in a Rocky movie. More uplifting lyrics, about starting over and changing things for the better. Actually, the verses are fine, but the chorus is a little overdone, with banks of strings and background singers piling up into an inspirational mush. But then, on the bridge, there's this incredible rip of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" which was utterly unexpected. This then fades away into an acoustic guitar bit, followed by a great "Yeah!!" going into a final recap of the chorus, all of which pretty much redeems the whole thing. The fade out is lovely as well, with an orchestra playing a harmonically souped up version of the chorus before floating away. 5. Backstreet Boys - The One Really well produced rhythm track that's fun to listen to. Fairly catchy song too, with yet another uplifting lyric. At this point, the future parent in me is wondering why anyone would complain about teen pop. Would you rather have your kids listening to Enslaved and blowing up frogs, or listening to the Loud Family and growing up to spend their time teaching nettiquette to pizza delivery guys? This has a nice bridge with the Boys singing over an acoustic guitar and drums, before the final chorus. I'm noticing that the bridges on most of these songs are clever as hell. 6. Spiller - Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) Starts with one of those great bongo-inclusive drum tracks that could come off of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. I'm assuming that the guitars are a sample, but I'm bad at identifying such things. The overall feel is much like Blondie's "Rapture" but more authentically disco. This song was refreshing, as the production was a little more basic, without quite as many swooshes and bloops and echo and reverb as those coming before. The lead diva actually sings with an pronounced English accent, which is kind of rare in my experience with this kind of material. 7. Alice Deejay - Will I Ever Very New Wave, though the drum programming is more modern. I'm assuming that people who listen to this type of music would like this for all the '80's sounds. Not my favorite song on the mix, but by no means bad. It's just a little too reliant on its chorus. 8. Vengaboys - Uncle John From Jamaica This is all about a girl singer who works hard every day and feels tired, but her Uncle John from Jamaica keeps calling up telling her to come visit. She sounds kind of young, and I wonder about this Uncle John's motives. But it's a nice song, with a cute fake reggae thing going on and a chirpy, almost Cindy Lauper-ish, attitude. This is more pop than dance. The best part is the "Na-na-na-na-na-na-na hey hey hey" that comes up periodically. She pronounces "holiday" as if it's "holly-day" which is strange. Shari adds, "Beware: you will catch youself chirping the chorus while doing dishes; brushing your teeth; procrastinating on housework; and so forth. As relentless, although certainly more fun, as "Who let the dogs out" (Ahhhhh!!!!!). Makes me want to do a conga line with the girls from the "Pert" shampoo adds while drinking rum." 9. Atomic Kitten - I Want Your Love This is just a killer song, which apparently features a sample of "Big Country" though I couldn't pick it up. My friend the dance music fan told me that the chorus has about 5 samples that he recognizes, going on all at once. Regardless, from the repeating string motif to a great chorus to the "Push it, don't push it" chant that explodes from all different directions, to the drums that periodically go nuts, to the horns on the chorus, this is incredible. One of the best songs I've heard this year, and I *really* recommend that everyone try to at least hear this once. 10. Steps - Deeper Shade Of Blue This was sort of a dud, written very much in the mold of a Backstreet Boys balled. I thought that the lyric "Deeper Shade of Blue" was a little odd...you see, his girl has left him (though it seems that it was just a summer fling, so I'm not sure why he's all that depressed. Hasn't he seen Grease?). Anyway, between the fact that I keep thinking of "Lighter Shade of Pale" *and* someone who has asphyxiated, I find the words distracting. Finally, I think that this group has both boys and girls taking the lead, so I'm wondering if there was some sort of bisexual menage going on. All in all, it's confusing. Later, I think they say that they're a "darker shade of me" which isn't so hot either. 11. Blue - All Rise This sounds more "urban" as the radio programmers say. It's about a hypothetical court case between a guy and the woman who done him wrong; Blue spends the song laying it on the line: apparently she took his money and some free rides, she lied to him, she used his phone and she was faking something. Hmmmm. I wonder just what it was she was faking? Maybe she's got a thing or two to intruduce into evidence as well. In the end Blue rests his case, but we never do find out the judge's decision. I find myself singing the chorus "I.Rest.My.Case!!" throughout the day. 12. Geri Haliwell - It's Raining Men A great, over the top, kitchen sink version of a song that was pretty hot to begin with. I prefer this version, with it's Moroder synths and all. Geri's voice sounds terrific and there's a neat morse code motif that keeps coming up. Cute little wooshes pan around a lot also, and I love panning wooshes. I keep being bothered by the line "Tonight for the first time...for the first time in history..." 'cause that repetition seems unnecessary. Otherwise, though, this is great. 13. S Club 7 - Don't Stop Movin' Much better than their first offering on this mix. The Lipps Inc. synth voice makes a reappearance here, with a cool-sounding "Don't Stop Moving To the Funky, Funky Beat." Much more "Solid Gold" than their first song, with a great "Fire on the Dance Floor!" shout leading into the chorus which is all about dancing and transcendance through dancing. Hey, folks, these kids get high on dancing. Don't you feel lame, you there, rolling a joint on your Jethro Tull album in your bedroom?? Why don't you get out more? Meet some nice friends and go to a disco. You'll thank me (and S Club 7). 14. Britney Spears - Baby One More Time This sounds an awful lot like "Ooops..." which I think was an answer song to this. I'm not sure though. It's nice, but "Ooops...." is better. I'm still struck by how much her singing style seems to have been influenced by Morris Day or something. A friend pointed out that it's interesting that there are so many songs in minor keys these days, which was (he says) much less common in the '70s. Cool. 15. Robbie Williams - Rock DJ Like a raunchier version of "One Night in Bangkok," and contains my favorite line on the mix, "No head, no backstage passes" which sounds obnoxious, but he's got the charm to pull it off. This was the best song on the mix, and I've already ordered Robbie's last two CDs. Hey girls, he's also really good looking in a rakish sort of way!! I wish him well, and look forward to his conquest of the US, if such a thing is fated to be. 16. Baha Men - Who Let the Dogs Out This, on the other hand, was crap. Irritating, and no wonder that sports fans adopted this as an anthem, given that they've already proven their lack of taste by...being sports fans. Couldn't we just go back to "We are the Champions" or some other fascist anthem?? Plus the synth bass on the chorus is more metallic than V8 from a can. 17. Joe Ongie - Let Me Down Easy This is sort of Elvis Costello-ish, kind of geeky power pop, but not that powerful. Hey, where'd all the dancing Swedish girls go?? And where'd all these geeks with glasses come from? I'm sorry I mocked the Baha Men. Turn the disco lights back on!! Come on!! Rats. I guess the rest of the minidisc is rock 'n' roll. Note the different attitudes: Blue, who sounded like a cool dude, said "This case is closed!" knowing full well that that no good ho' was going to pay. These geeks just say "Let me down easy" in their courtroom drama tune. Whine whine whine, you miserable nerds. That's why she's hangin' out with Blue now, using his phone and riding around in his car. 18. The Andersons - No One Rides for Free Hard rockin' power pop. Starts out full throttle, but the chorus is a little fussy and loses momentum. 19. Farrah - Living For The Weekend Has that same lo-fi vocal thing that the Strokes use, on the initial verses. This is lyrically in the same vein of Fountains of Wayne's "Sick Day" and, in fact, is probably the kind of song that those snide jerks in FoW were being flippant about. Sounds like it could have been on the soundtrack of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." 20. Andy Partridge - My Train Is Coming Aside from the voice, this could be an early Beatles tune. The first time I heard it, I was in another room and thought it *was* the Beatles. Serious competetion for the Knickerbockers!! I must admit that I prefer XTC when they're in their Rutles mode. 21. Liquor Giants - Town Bike Great glam-rock tune finishes out the mix. Is that a sample from "Rock and Roll Part 2" forming the drum track? This band should change their name to "Mama, We're Crazee in the Ballroom" or "The Glitter Sliders" or something. "Liquor Giants"?? What the hell were they thinking?? I love the line "Smack your Bum" assuming I'm hearing that correctly. In sum, everyone needs to run out and hear the tracks by Britney (well, you've probably heard those), Atomic Kitten, S Club 7, and Robbie Williams. Liquor Giants need to change their name and then conquer the world. And John makes the best mix minidiscs, bar none. - --dana ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 22:12:01 -0500 From: "glenn mcdonald" Subject: RE: [loud-fans] Oops, I swapped it again (ns) > 3. Kylie Minogue - Spinning Around I was pretty disappointed with the formula disco of her last two albums, but I still think _Impossible Princess_, the one before them with the Manic Street Preachers collaborations, was fabulous. > 6. Spiller - Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) > ... diva actually sings with an pronounced English accent ... If I remember correctly, the "diva" in this case is Sophie Ellis-Bextor, formerly lead-singer with the excellent Sleeper-esque UK band theaudience, more recently (but post-Groovejet) an aspiring solo artist, although her solo album sounded painfully like bad Kylie to me. > 10. Steps - Deeper Shade Of Blue Not my favorite song of theirs, but they've got plenty of better ones. Their cover of the Bee Gees "Tragedy" is particularly spiffy. One other teen band I like that would fit right in with this set is the co-ed Swedish group A*Teens, whose first album was entirely ABBA covers, but the second one is "original" songs. "Upside Down (Bouncing Off the Ceiling)" nearly made my top ten. glenn ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 19:43:21 -0800 (PST) From: Mark P Subject: [loud-fans] Let's Get Ledz Active(ns) I was sent recently from a freelance jounalism chap down in North Carolina a new Mitch Easter interview. Great interview by the way. Said interview can be viewed here -- http://www.raleighmusic.com/articles/features/MitchEasterInterview.html Now if any of you lot dare humor me and commence to reading this piece the subject line may become just a smidge clearer. I know there may be few Loud/GT peeps still vaguely interested in a Ledz reunion ...a Mitch, Faye and Sara Ledz reunion! If you are indeed interested and would like to prove to ME that Let's Active was valid and vital and not just some vapidly eightiesesque MTV fodder well you can go here and proclaim whatever you wish -- http://pub32.bravenet.com/forum/show.php?usernum=2728647241 The guy knows this is happening, this "poll" of sorts and he's prolly laughing about it but hell ...stranger things have happened, no? And this IS an EXTREMLY selfish thing ...me, myself, I want this to someday happen REAL bad! Thanks for yr indulgence! (the other) Mark Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Jan 2002 20:52:42 -0700 From: Stewart Mason Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Oops, I swapped it again (ns) At 09:19 PM 1/7/02 -0500, Dana L Paoli wrote: >21. Liquor Giants - Town Bike > > Great glam-rock tune finishes out the mix. Is that a sample from "Rock >and Roll Part 2" forming the drum track? This band should change their >name to "Mama, We're Crazee in the Ballroom" or "The Glitter Sliders" or >something. "Liquor Giants"?? What the hell were they thinking?? I love >the line "Smack your Bum" assuming I'm hearing that correctly. Most Liquor Giants songs fit their name extremely well (this tune's a bit of an aberration for them) -- imagine if the LET IT BE/PLEASED TO MEET ME-era Replacements had sobered up just enough to decide that deep down, they really wanted to be the '65-'68 Kinks. HERE and EVERY OTHER DAY AT A TIME are the standouts for me, but I've never yet met a Liquor Giants record I didn't love. Lead Giant Ward Dotson was formerly co-leader of the more Faces-style Pontiac Brothers...before that, incongruously enough, he was in the Gun Club. Stewart ______________ Prosciutto is ham. ------------------------------ Date: 08 Jan 2002 01:05:48 +0000 From: "D. McCarthy" Subject: [loud-fans] DB's reissue In case anyone hasn't heard, cares, and hasn't got them already... Stands for Decibels/Repercussion are released on 1/8/02 as a 2-on-1 CD from Collector's Choice. H'ray! (the other) Dan ------------------------------ End of loud-fans-digest V2 #8 *****************************