From: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org (loud-fans-digest) To: loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Subject: loud-fans-digest V2 #31 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 Wednesday, January 23 2002 Volume 02 : Number 031 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [loud-fans] Best of 2001 (way too long and self-absorbed, but what you read loudfans for anyway?) [Michael] [loud-fans] An Easter tribute solicitation ["Larry Tucker" ] [loud-fans] introduction [Krueger.Thomas@epamail.epa.gov] [loud-fans] Aimster ["O Geier" ] Re: [loud-fans] introduction ["Andrew Hamlin" ] Re: [loud-fans] Magnetic Fields [dmw ] [loud-fans] New World Archies ["Dennis McGreevy" ] RE: [loud-fans] Aimster ["Larry Tucker" ] [loud-fans] Merritt, Finn, and memories of Dayton [Elizabeth Setler ] [loud-fans] Swap Review: Round & Round [Jon Gabriel ] [loud-fans] Introduction [Dan Sallitt ] [loud-fans] Introduction ["Brendan Curry" ] [loud-fans] The Merritts of Bjork [Tim_Walters@digidesign.com] [loud-fans] Diversity (was: Re: Introduction) [John Cooper ] Re: [loud-fans] Magnetic Fields [DOUDIE@aol.com] Re: [loud-fans] Introduction [John Cooper ] Re: [loud-fans] Diversity (was: Re: Introduction) [AWeiss4338@aol.com] RE: Re: [loud-fans] Introduction ["ana luisa morales" Subject: [loud-fans] Best of 2001 (way too long and self-absorbed, but what you read loudfans for anyway?) Kibbutz Music Reviews #80, "Hand me the letter; do not leave out the words" 22 January 2002 For the umpteenth year in a row, I find myself at the cusp of a new year regretting missed musical opportunities in the past twelve months, constrained as always by the finite limitations of time, energy, budget and geography. So I craft a year-end list fully cognizant of its own enormous liabilities, opening myself to the unlikely accusation of being, simultaneously, an ignoramus and a pedant. Speaking solely in terms of resources expended, I commited less time and energy to music than I would have liked. But in terms of output, I relied heavily on music this year, as I always do. In the form of mix tapes, music provided me one, now overly familar, means of expression emotions over distance. In terms of companionship, CDs, tapes and MP3s accompanied across 3500 miles of highway, a transition from East Coast to West, and from life in the university to the vagaries of my career. A shared love of music continues to provide me with many of my most meaningful friendships, and discussing and arguing about music is one of my principal avenues to emotional intimacy. There are few things in life that excite me more than the chance to meet friends and listen to live performances, and at the very second I'm writing this introductory paragraph sitting in a diner on Haight Street in San Francisco I'm preparing to see another show and rendezvous with friends and acquaintances whose trust and affection I've developed largely over the course of endless discussions about bands, albums, concerts and radio stations. Music, to me, is the equivalent of cocktails for a social drinker, or football to a middle-class European. It provides entrie on the social level to new potential communities of friends and colleagues, serves as the common ground on which to broach new topics of conversation, and provides a framework around which to structure the most pleasurable moments of my life. So, if 2001 will be recalled in collective memory for its blackest moment, it will also be recalled more lovingly in my heart, as well as many others, for three-minute pop songs and concerts stretching deep into the night, for individual and shared experiences of musical revelation through my headphones, on the radio or in smoky clubs joined in communal intensity and quiet passions. BEST ALBUMS: 1. New Pornographers, Mass Romantic.The most irresistable album of the year, a slamming combination of power pop, glam, and gleeful nonsense that entranced audiences on both side of the 49th parallel. There are twelve songs on this album, and each one of them contains enough mammoth hooks, vocal riffs, shout-along choruses and sheer unadulterated joy at music-making to supply a whole album by other bands. 2. Pete Yorn, musicforthemorningafter. "J Mascis singing Replacements songs," scoffed an on-line colleague, but this mature, well-polished debut had enough appealingly ragged edges and more importantly, enough great songs to bring it back to the top of my pile again and again. It doesn't hurt that "Simonize," "Strange Condition" and "Life on a Chain" are naggingly insistent and reminiscent of the best elements of periods and genres of rock's history to which a great many hold lingering fondness. 3. Blake Babies, God Bless the Blake Babies. More than a reunion, this record is a veritable time machine back to the early-mid 1990s, when Juliana Hatfield was the heroine to millions and it was OK to be a young sensitive woman who wanted to make rock and roll. It's astonishing to play this next to Innocence and Experience and realize both the extent of the songwriting growth in the intervening years, and the powerful bonds that make this such a moving experience. 4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Once More, With Feeling" musical episode. This is not a proper album yet, but it should and will be. The year 2001 marked a sudden an unexpected reemergence of the musical as a viable film and television form. Buffy, Hedwig the Angry Inch, and Moulin Rouge all found large and attentive audiences for productions whose character development and plots were driven by song. The success of Buffy is noteworthy, because it's probably the only show to have put on two fully-fleshed episodes that were almost entirely without spoken dialogue: one silent, one sung. Ripped to MP3 by a diligent friend with a cavernous hard disk drive, this episode provides a neat 36-minute album spanning musical styles, with comedic, romantic, and tragic songs. "I'm Under Your Spell" is a touching and sexy love song, "Drawn to the Fire" a memorable McKennitt/McLachlan epoch, and "Going Through the Motions" a fine Tin Pan Alley nod. 5. Hedwig and the Angry Inch, original soundtrack. Buffy could playfully depict itself as "some kid's wacky Broadway nightmare," but John Cameron Mitchell's astonishing achievement is a different animal entirely. Owing its heritage to the arch gender caricatures of Bowie, the anthemic scope of Queen, the tawdry explorations of the Velvets and the stomp of the Stooges, the music of Hedwig is some of the most undeniably catchy glam-pop in ages. "The Origin of Love," especially with its lovely cartoon video, is a strikingly imaginative and instantly memorable power ballad, and at least five songs sound like they could have been huge hits on their own. 6. Sam Phillips, Fan Dance. Neither as jangly of Cruel Inventions nor as Beatley-psychedelic as Martinis and Bikinis, her two best albums to date, this is a mature, mostly hushed collection of elegant pop songs that makes good use of husband T-Bone Burnett and chamber settings by Van Dyke Parks. 7. Bjork, Vespertine. I fear that the initial acclaim for Vespertine struck me as self-defeating, because this is scarcely a welcoming album. Much of it is bereft of obvious melodies, but deeper examination does reveal some lovely moments. 8. Over the Rhine, Films for Radio. A band for which I never held any particular fondness returns from semi-obscurity with a strong record tying together its spiritual and romantic yearnings, featuring "I Radio Heaven" and "The World Can Wait" as particular highlights. 9. Rufus Wainwright, Poses. Smarmy at times, and his singing style and presentation have always struck me as snotty, but Rufus has an ear for classic-sounding melodies, and a voice to carry his most operatic ambitions. 10. R.E.M., Reveal. I don't think it a particularly significant record in their catalogue, but each time I return to it with half-reluctance, I find myself enjoying the depths of the musicianship and some fine, ambitious songwriting. MEMORABLE CONCERTS: Pernice Brothers and the Long Winters, Berbati's Pan (Portland, OR) Low and Pedro the Lion, Somerville Theatre (Somerville, MA) Neko Case and Rebecca Gates, Berbati's Pan (Portland, OR) Be Good Tanyas and Oh Susannah, The Blackbird (Portland,OR) Meghan Toohey and Emm Gryner, Emily's (Boston, MA) FIVE COOL SONGS: Neil Young, "Let's Roll." Few artists write topical songs with greater acuity and alacrity than Neil Young, and the terse, roiling "Let's Roll" personalized Sept. 11th in a way that the blandly heroic and patriotic country hits have not accomplished. Jewel, "Standing Still" from This Way. She's made so many grievous missteps in her career that I'm skeptical, but this is a fabulous single that could just win back my affections. Neil Finn, "Driving Me Mad" from One Nil. On the whole, this record was an appalling, amelodic mess that left me almost as bewildered as dismayed. But for this track at least, Neil writes a simmering Together Alone soundalike that tugs at all the right heartstrings. Joe Henry, "Scar" from Scar. Beautifully spare, elegant and simple and entrancing. Dan Bern, "Sweetness" from New American Language. Really, the whole record is shameless Dylan/Byrds/Soul Asylum roots rock posing, and I'm suspicious of his motives at the best of times, but it's catchy as all get-out and ingratiatingly sung. BEST COVERS (RECORDED): Tori Amos, "Rattlesnakes" (Lloyd Cole and the Commotions), Strange Little Girls (Atlantic). My terrible disenchantment with Tori this past year came in the excess and the horribly misguided marketing for Strange Little Girls, as well as some errant experimentations on the Beatles and Neil Young. But an EP of "Strange Little Girls," "Rattlesnakes," "I Don't Like Mondays" and "1997 Bonnie and Clyde," released without the hype, a back story, or glamour photography, would have been a definite winner. Mary Lou Lord, "Galway to Graceland" (Richard Thompson), from Rubric 01 (Rubric). Leonard Cohen had his Jennifer Warnes. Why can't Richard Thompson have his? A pity this stunning song has been relegated, respectively, to Richard's boxed set and this sporadically distributed label promotional item. BEST COVER (LIVE): Emm Gryner, "Pour Some Sugar on Me" (Def Leppard) BEST LIVE ALBUMS: Mary Lou Lord, City Sounds (Rubric). As close to bumping into her at the Harvard T station as you can get without risking a toe to frostbite. Various Artists, Concerts for a Landmine Free World (Vanguard). A collection of superb songs and loving performances sharing a common cause. BELATED RECOGNITION: Neko Case. She did a stellar concert, sang on my favorite record of the year as a guest vocalist, and then I discover that her own records are full of passionate songs of heartaches, and road trips and all the essential ingredients of a country music repertoire. She also has a knack for unearthing great songwriting partnerships, from Dan Bejar to Cub to Ron Sexsmith. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 09:49:22 -0500 From: "Larry Tucker" Subject: [loud-fans] An Easter tribute solicitation I have a good friend in Winston-Salem who is putting together a Mitch Easter tribute album and I was wondering if there were any members on the list that would be interested in contributing. I know of at least one loudfan that is working on something. Though this wasn't meant to be any kind of major label thing, it's kind of taken on a life of it's own and has grown exponentially and appears to be growing beyond a limited release CDR. Some of the people already involved who you may know of include Bobby Sutliff, Tim Lee, Doug Powell, and Bill Lloyd. Email me off-list if interested and I can put you in contact with the guy. - -Larry ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 08:50:14 -0600 From: steve Subject: [loud-fans] Re: One Nil On Wednesday, January 23, 2002, at 02:09 AM, Michael Zwirn wrote: > Neil Finn, "Driving Me Mad" from One Nil. On the whole, this record was > an > appalling, amelodic mess that left me almost as bewildered as dismayed. I must respectfully disagree, although it may take a while for One Nil to click. But I see that Nettwerk agrees with you, and will be releasing a remixed version. - - Steve __________ Our previous president studied at Oxford. This one was given a sightseeing tour of London and said it was ''diverse and clean.'' The Times also said Bush gave a ''pep talk'' to children about the advantages of reading over television. The children did not ask him to name the last book he had read. Just good manners, I guess. - Roger Ebert ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 09:00:35 -0600 From: Krueger.Thomas@epamail.epa.gov Subject: [loud-fans] introduction Just as Bill gives up on me: Name: Thomas John Krueger Born: 8/10/59, Madison, WI Current Location: La Grange, IL (since 1988) Previous locations: Oak Park, IL; Charlottesville, VA; South Bend, IN; Madison, WI Job: attorney for the U.S. EPA Married: to Kim since 1982 Children: Anna (12) and Ben (7-1/2) Pets: one cat -- Kiki (6) and two fish -- Sparkle and Frisky (2) Facial hair: goatee Glasses: Yes Met Janet: No, but have seen pictures of her tattoos Loud-fan lurker since: 1996 (what a treat to see Janet, Sue, Amy, Brett, ana! and others return for this thread!) Loud-fans met: Bill Silvers, Stewart Mason. Have undoubtedly been in the same room as, but not met: Jeff Downing. Will meet soon: Brian Jones. Feel like I should have met: Miles Goosens. Favorite LF/GT lp/cd: Tinker to Evers to Chance Favorite LF/GT song: "Room for One More Honey" Other favorite uses of leisure time (beside my musical obsessions): goofing off with wife and kids, baseball, soccer, reading, tv. Favorite things about loud-fans: book, music, movie and website recommendations; jokes (at the risk of encouraging JeFFrey, even some of the bad ones); Paul Henry quotations. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 16:13:09 +0000 From: "O Geier" Subject: [loud-fans] Aimster Wha' happened to Aimster?? I haven't been on in about three weeks, now it's redirecting me to someplace else call Madster (formerly amester-not my spelling). Jesus! getting mp3's for free is getting nearly impossible. Suggestions?? Support anti-Spam legislation. Join the fight http://www.cauce.org/ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: Click Here ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 08:16:15 -0800 From: "Andrew Hamlin" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] introduction > Loud-fans met: Bill Silvers, Stewart Mason. Have undoubtedly been > in the same room as, but not met: Jeff Downing. Will meet soon: > Brian Jones. Dead Rolling Stone Loudfan, sound off now! > Favorite things about loud-fans: book, music, movie and website > recommendations; jokes (at the risk of encouraging JeFFrey, even > some of the bad ones); Paul Henry quotations. Paul doesn't do much but play with his TiVo, lately. For generous helpings of his wit, wisdom, globetrotting and bile through days past, though: www.phenry.org "You'd think that a city whose most prominent monument is a 17th-century statue of a small boy taking a whiz might be just a tad embarrassed about it, but Brussels is very proud of the Manneken Pis. The great-granddaddy of all those tacky lawn decorations, the Manneken Pis has been standingand micturatingin his niche on an obscure Brussels street corner since 1619, when the city commissioned a sculptor to build him to replace an older, dilapidated statue. So really, nobody knows how long Brussels has had a Mannekin Pis; there are records of a fountain by that name going back to the 15th century. I guess Tom Green really isn't the first person to find humor in bodily functions." - --Paul H. Henry, from http://www.phenry.org/europe/day11.html Andy ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 11:28:28 -0500 (EST) From: dmw Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Magnetic Fields On Tue, 22 Jan 2002, John Cooper wrote: > Oh, and I'd like to add that while I'm not a super big fan of drag > queen performances, I don't find the gay themes on "69 Love Songs" > troublesome or overdone. But if the mere thought of men loving men > makes you quake way down to your manly boots, yes, you might want to > listen to other bands instead. urp. merritt is lyrically less forthcoming about his sexuality than, say, morrissey; i tend to think of merritt in the same category as mark eitzel: some of the songs may recognizably describe homosexual relationships, but it doesn't really matter much. and some of the songs on _69 love songs_ are, if memory serves, recognizably hetero-oriented. i can't remember which of the _69_ discs i thought was best stand-alone; they each have a few of my faves. so i'll go with _charm of the highway strip_ as the best single disc pick. it's a little bit country, in a very weird way, but if any trace of johnny cashism nauseates you, you might want to steer clear. incidentally: i'm firmly fence-sitting. yes, he's a good songwriter; yes he's too jokey and too clever-for-clever's sake. his most recent projects have sunk beneath the weight of that a bit, in my seldom humble opinion. - -- d. np amos _strange little girls_ (better than i expected) - ------------------------------------------------- Mayo-Wells Media Workshop dmw@ http://www.mwmw.com mwmw.com Web Development * Multimedia Consulting * Hosting ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 10:49:30 -0600 From: "Dennis McGreevy" Subject: [loud-fans] New World Archies Lou Pearlman, from Andy's .sig: "Musically, it's going to capture today's pop-culture market...." <><><><><><><><><><><> Maybe it's just me, but I find the combination of simple certainty of the future, together with the specific choice of words here to be really frightening, and indicative of exactly what's wrong with this sort of "music". More of the same: ...Last year's movie version of the comic book scored decent reviews for its pop-punk soundtrack, but the film starring Rachael Leigh Cook and Tara Reid bombed at the box office. [&] Pearlman, however, says this latest version of the Pussycats will be more "Spice Girls-meets-Britney Spears." "I think [the makers of the film] were more interested in making a movie, and we're more interested in making a show and music that will last," he says. <><><><><><><><><><> ???? I see. The music is what needs to be redone, because the producers of the movie were more interested in making a movie, which was not well received, than music, which was. or, well, it might be the future, - --Dennis ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 08:49:58 -0800 (PST) From: Jer Fairall Subject: [loud-fans] Top 10, 2001 I intended to annotate this and may still do so at some point, but for now: Top Ten Albums: 1. Jimmy Eat World, BLEED AMERICAN 2. Atom & His Package, REDEFINING MUSIC 3. Bill Janovitz, UP HERE 4. Rainer Maria, A BETTER VERSION OF ME 5. Ben Folds, ROCKIN' THE SUBURBS 6. Sorry About Dresden, THE CONVENIENCE OF INDECISION 7. Emm Gryner, GIRL VERSIONS 8. Black Box Recorder, THE FACTS OF LIFE 9. Kings of Convenience, QUIET IS THE NEW LOUD 10. Dashboard Confessional, THE PLACES YOU HAVE COME TO FEAR THE MOST Jer ===== Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 11:51:11 -0500 From: "Larry Tucker" Subject: RE: [loud-fans] Aimster |-----Original Message----- |From: O Geier [mailto:ocgiii@hotmail.com] |Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2002 11:13 AM |To: loud-fans@smoe.org |Subject: [loud-fans] Aimster | | |Wha' happened to Aimster?? I haven't been on in about three |weeks, now it's redirecting me to someplace else call Madster |(formerly amester-not my spelling). Jesus! getting mp3's for |free is getting nearly impossible. Suggestions?? I like Audiogalaxy and Morpheus in that order. You can find a lot with Audiogalaxy, but beware the spywhere on the install. http://www.audiogalaxy.com/ http://www.musiccity.com/ - -Larry ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 08:55:50 -0800 From: Elizabeth Setler Subject: [loud-fans] Merritt, Finn, and memories of Dayton I started off my Merritt obsession by purchasing "69 Love Songs" without having heard a note. Well, more precisely, I accidentally bought two copies without having heard a note. This was quite a commitment for me, as I usually can put off buying box sets of artists I love for months on end. (Still having not heard a note, I gave the spare copy to Jeff from the Solipsistics, assuring him that he'd love it. He actually did.) It was my favorite album of that year, and it'd have a good shot at favorite of the decade. My feeling is, if you're liking "Zebra,' you're probably down enough with the 69LS sound to buy the whole thing. I've often wanted to burn a CD of my favorite tracks from the album, but my silly-ass Philips consumer-model CD burner will only read one of the three discs on the "play" side. It also refuses to recognize Anton Barbeau's "A Splendid Tray" or Hawksley Workman's "For Him And the Girls," thus changing the character of many of my intended mix CDs. Anyone know a workaround for that problem? As for the 6ths, I need to bust out "Wasps' Nests" again now that we've got really good speakers; it's always been in the slim category of CDs I never listen to because the sound is too murky to hear the vocals, but I'm finding that audiophile technology has overcome that problem in some of the others. In my head, there exists a version of "Hyacinths and Thistles" with Merritt handling all the vocals that would be one of my favorite records; as it actually exists, the disparity between his level of fondness for baby-voiced girlies (high) and mine (almost nonexistent) is a stumbling block. Any thoughts on either Merritt's soundtrack for Eban & Charley or sometimes-MF member LD Beghtol's Moth Wranglers album? I spent way, way too much of my time this year trying to get Neil Finn's "One Nil" to click with me. I probably listened to it 30-40 times, after which I found I still couldn't have told you what any of the songs were or hummed a few bars or anything else that would indicate an iota of retention. I put it away for six months, gave it a few more spins, had exactly the same non-reaction, and traded that puppy in. (Five years ago, if you'd suggested that I'd ever trade in a Neil Finn album, I might have fainted.) And yet I'm *still* tempted to buy the US version to see if a few different tracks shake things up for me. This annoys me. Older brother Tim, on the other hand, has a new album I can totally get behind. Matthew mentioned having lived in Dayton, OH, which triggered one of my more indelible childhood memories. When I was little, I was allergic to about, oh, 90% of all foodstuffs, so my mom took me to a famous allergist in Dayton. His recommendation was that I eat nothing but hippo meat for a certain period of time. (Oh, don't worry, he had some hippo meat for sale right there at the office.) Perhaps needless to say, I declined this treatment. Just thought I'd share. - -- Elizabeth ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 09:03:05 -0800 From: Matthew Weber Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Merritt, Finn, and memories of Dayton At 08:55 AM 1/23/02 -0800, Elizabeth Setler wrote: >Matthew mentioned having lived in Dayton, OH, which triggered one of my >more indelible childhood memories. When I was little, I was allergic to >about, oh, 90% of all foodstuffs, so my mom took me to a famous allergist >in Dayton. His recommendation was that I eat nothing but hippo meat for a >certain period of time. (Oh, don't worry, he had some hippo meat for sale >right there at the office.) Perhaps needless to say, I declined this treatment. > >Just thought I'd share. That's really funny. I had no idea there was a famous allergist in my home town, much less one that prescribed the flesh of hippopotamus as a treatment... Matthew Weber Curatorial Assistant Music Library University of California, Berkeley Thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent. _The Holy Bible: The Old Testament_, The Second Book of Moses, Called Exodus, chapter 7, verse 9 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 12:16:44 EST From: JRT456@aol.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Merritt, Finn, and memories of Dayton In a message dated 1/23/02 9:00:25 AM, elizabeth@fringehead.com writes: << Any thoughts on either Merritt's soundtrack for Eban & Charley or sometimes-MF member LD Beghtol's Moth Wranglers album? >> Begthol, who's another Merritt protege who I prefer to Merritt, just released a fine 3-song EP by his Flare band. It's titled "Definitive" and can be found at www.motherwest.com/flare. There's no Merritt presence, but John Wesley Harding appears. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 12:52:13 -0500 (EST) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Merritt, Finn, and memories of Dayton On Wed, 23 Jan 2002, Elizabeth Setler wrote: > Any thoughts on either Merritt's soundtrack for Eban & Charley It's substantially a ripoff -- six okay-not-special Merritt songs and some interesting instrumental background pieces. Not quite junk, but I'd get The House Of Tomorrow EP and the Gothic Archies record (both similarly overpriced) first. > or sometimes-MF member LD Beghtol's Moth Wranglers album? His voice bothers me, but one cursory listen to the album (I don't own it) made it sound not bad at all. Someday... a ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 08:18:21 -1000 From: "R. Kevin Doyle" Subject: RE: [loud-fans] Magnetic Fields Thanks for all the Magnetic Fields/Merrit information. I will try checking out a couple of the albums y'all have recommended. Now what can you tell me about Built to Spill. :P R. Kevin Doyle Honolulu, HI ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 10:21:32 -0800 (PST) From: Jon Gabriel Subject: [loud-fans] Swap Review: Round & Round Continuing through my pile of swapped music... One John Bartlett, United Kingdom, sent me a swap CD last summer which I shall review at this time. The artwork was endearing, titled "A Rainbow" and drawn in marker by Rachael, aged 7. The CD was named "Round and Round"; Imagine my disappointment to find no songs by Ratt. The artists, paired with corresponding song titles, are listed alongside my pithy and insightful parentheticals. Evelyn Forever, "Imagine My Surprise" - (A tidy little pop number, reminiscient of Matthew Sweet. Lyrics include, "Eye-yi-yi-yiah" and "Wha-oh-oh-ohhh." Catchy.) XTC, "Stupidly Happy" - (God's favorite atheists play what sounds like an earlier track in their repetoire.) The Orgone Box, "Judy over the Rainbow" - (Great pairing with previous song. Sunny 60's Brit-pop.) You Am I, "Get Up" (I didn't care for this song at first but it's "emo" qualities revealed themselves over time.) The Liquor Giants, "Town Bike" (Kind of a T.Rex feel to this one. Good, fun track. Lyrics include the Swap CD's title.) Teenage Fanclub, "Accidental Life" (In my psycho-shoegaze days, Teenage Fanclub really pissed me off. They released a single that sounded like Ride, so I bought the album expecting the same. Needless to say [but I will anyway], I was very annoyed when the rest of their stuff wasn't shoegaze at all. I know that many on this list love TF, but I never forgot the treachery that diverted $14 of my meager college funds from caramel cappuccinos and clove cigarettes. I guess this is a decent song though. Bastards.) Red Guitars, "Good Technology (12")" (Reminds me of Suede or Pulp. I like the lyrics and dischordant gee-tars.) The Masticators, "He's the One" (My most recent Fantasy Football team was named The Masticators. This track sounds like "The Tide Is High" by Blondie. A lot.) Let's Active, "Every Word Means No" (I'm probably one of the only people on this list that doesn't own any Let's Active. Cool number.) Cherry Twister, "Maryann" (I *really* like this song. Sunny music, clever lyrics, great pop.) The Skids, "Working for the Yankee Dollar" (Good Irish drinking song. Revise to "Working for the Belgian Euro"?) Badfinger, "No Matter What" (I own no Badfinger, either. Great stuff! Which album should I start with?) The Apples (in Stereo), "Bird You Cannot See" (In about '95, before I had ever heard of The Apples or their Elephant 6 brethren, these guys played at a Phoenix area "Beautiful Noise" festival. I remember that all the entire band did the pogo throughout the set. I remember calling them "the Banana Splits without costumes." If you get a chance, check out the vid they did for the Cartoon Network's "Power Puff Girls".) Francine, "Jet to Norway" (Not to be confused with Jets to Brazil. Very cool space-rock guitar fills. Me like. Excellent lyrics include, "You try to get rock from the blood of John Tesh." More info please.) Einstein's Sister, "Solar Circle Girl" (Reminds me a lot of Squeeze. Any relation?) Silver Sun, "I'll See You Around" (GREAT song. I need more info on these guys too.) Little Feat, "Dixie Chicken" (Don't care for southern rock.) The Paranoids, "Real by Reel" (Zappa joins Skynyrd?) Half-Man, Half-Biscuit, "Dickie Davis Eyes" (Another good drinking song. ) Sparkejets UK, "Haircut Girl" (Another fine pop gem. Lyrics include, "She stole my heart when she did my 'do/Sold me some conditioner too.") The Exponents, "Why Does Love Do This to Me" (I can't believe there are this many straight-forward pop bands that I've never heard of!) Thanks to John for an excellent disc and giving me even more to place on my ever-expanding CD Want List. (My wife won't be quite as thankful for the increase in the music budget.) Best, Jon Gabriel ===== 777777777777777777777777777777 JON GABRIEL mesa, arizona usa inkling communication + design 777777777777777777777777777777 Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 10:41:13 -0800 (PST) From: Dan Sallitt Subject: [loud-fans] Introduction I'm still 110 posts away from being caught up, but I feel as if I should get in on this. Name: Dan Sallitt Location: New York, NY Occupation: Unemployed. Usually work in computers as a tech writer or in some sort of sous-programmer capacity. Make movies when I can, but it's not a job coz no one pays me Married: No, but it looks promising Children: No Pets: Inherited two cats when my girlfriend Erica moved in with me last summer Birthday: 27 July 1955 (I always wondered why Larry Tucker and Ian Runeckles were the loud-fans whose taste is closest to mine! Oh, and Michael Bowen, but I always think of him as a Richard Thompson lister. Guess you can't get around the age thing, however much you try) Beard: Most of the time since 1982. Shaving is too painful for me Vision Correction: I had the worst eyes (20/2000) before lens-replacement surgery in 1996. My vision is still so-so; I may have the beginnings of retinal degeneration Met Janet: Yes, and I adore her Loud-fans met: Too many to name. I see quite a lot of Paula Carino and John Sharples here in NYC How I became a Loud Fan: I used to buy everything with a Big Star cover on it. (Can't do that anymoer, can you.) SLOUCHING TOWARD LIVERPOOL piqued my interest, and REAL NIGHTTIME cinched it Favorite LF/GT LP: TWO STEPS TO THE MIDDLE AGES ================ I guess the community thread is over, but I had one thought that I don't know if anyone voiced: community is easier when there's less diversity. One of the reasons I always valued loud-fans is that it wasn't as diverse as, say, the Richard Thompson list: that made it easier to know where music recommendations were coming from. Sometime around ATTRACTIVE NUISANCE, I had the sense that the list's membership broadened a bit, and the old-time listers had to cope with more people who weren't exactly of their tribe, so to speak. I admire the listers who made an effort to accept this greater diversity (I especially appreciated the generous words of Jeff Norman, Matthew Weber, and doug mayo-wells during the last Mark Staples controversy), but it seems to be human nature that groups protect their boundaries, and that's what I think has been happening for the last year or two. - Dan ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 19:16:30 +0000 From: "Brendan Curry" Subject: [loud-fans] Introduction Name: Brendan Joseph Curry Born: 6.20.79 Left/Right Handed: Write with my left. Throw baseballs/footballs/darts with my right. Current Location: New York, New York (Been here for all of 3 months.) Previous Locations: Scranton, PA. J.O.P. (Just outside Philadelphia, PA) Job: Sales Rep at a Publishing House Married/Committed: No. Yes. She's a right-handed Gemini with no facial hair who could care less about Scott Miller's music. Children: One Phalaenopsis orchid. Facial hair: Too sparse for a beard as of yet. Plan to try for one after I go bald. Vision: Glasses. Met Janet: Not yet. Loud-fans met: None so far. Why I bought my first Loud Family album: glenn mcdonald's "The War Against Silence," which I learned about from Michael Zwirn's "Kibbutz Music Reviews." The album purchased: Interbabe Concern Favorite LF/GT song: Probably "Sister Sleep." "Ballad of How You Can All Shut Up" + "Give in World" combo is a close second. Recently Read: _Why Buildings Stand Up_ by Mario Salvadori Next Up: _The Human Stain_ by Philip Roth Last Concert: The New Pornographers Last CD listened to: _Streethawk: A Seduction_, Destroyer Why I Lurk: I have to know you pretty well before I subject you to my opinion(s). Comparatively small knowledge bank. Why I stay: Great music/film/etc recommendations. Gleeful banter. Arcane minutia. Odds: I'm aware that my e-mail address misspells antaeus, the word i was going for. I'm too lazy to change it. Ends: Authentic Dasein-hood. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 11:18:04 -0800 From: Tim_Walters@digidesign.com Subject: [loud-fans] The Merritts of Bjork >7. Bjork, Vespertine. I fear that the initial acclaim for Vespertine struck >me as self-defeating, because this is scarcely a welcoming album. Much of it >is bereft of obvious melodies, but deeper examination does reveal some >lovely moments. I guess it just goes to show: "welcoming" is exactly how I'd describe the album. I had missed the whole Bjork thing, but some friends of friends were on the album and I thought I'd give it a try. I fell in love with it on first listen. It gives me an amazing feeling of comfort and reassurance, as if it were impossible for anything to be wrong with the world when it's playing. I'm afraid to listen to it too often, lest the magic wear off. It's also the closest thing I've heard to what music of the future was supposed to sound like, according to old science fiction novels. On the MagFront, a few listens to HOLIDAY didn't leave much of an impression--it seemed rather bland and murky--but I haven't given up on it yet. Also, I heard "Busby Berkeley Dreams" on the radio and liked it a lot. That's one of the 69, right? I'm sorry to report that I remember very little about San Angelo, Texas. But what I do remember is nice. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 11:20:51 -0800 From: John Cooper Subject: [loud-fans] Diversity (was: Re: Introduction) On 1/23/02, Dan Sallitt wrote: >I guess the community thread is over, but I had one thought that I don't >know if anyone voiced: community is easier when there's less diversity. There has been far more diversity on the list in the past two weeks than at any time in the past two years, particularly if you measure it in the number of list members posting. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 14:26:19 -0500 (EST) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: Re: [loud-fans] The Merritts of Bjork On Wed, 23 Jan 2002 Tim_Walters@digidesign.com wrote: > On the MagFront, a few listens to HOLIDAY didn't leave much of an > impression--it seemed rather bland and murky--but I haven't given up > on it yet. Also, I heard "Busby Berkeley Dreams" on the radio and > liked it a lot. That's one of the 69, right? It is, and one of the prettiest, I think. Holiday's my MF fave, but there's no denying its auditory thinness. I strongly recommend you play with your stereo settings until it sounds better before giving it another try. It's also a good headphones album, just because of all the funny noises. a ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 14:37:33 -0500 From: jenny grover Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Magnetic Fields "R. Kevin Doyle" wrote: > > Now what can you tell me about Built to Spill. :P I like them live better than on record. But then, I only have one of their records thus far, "Perfect From Now On," so maybe there are better ones. Jen ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 14:41:45 EST From: DOUDIE@aol.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Magnetic Fields In a message dated 1/23/02 2:37:34 PM, sleeveless@citynet.net writes: << I like them live better than on record. But then, I only have one of their records thus far, "Perfect From Now On," so maybe there are better ones. Jen >> KEEP IT LIKE A SECRET is a more solid, less meandering record than PERFECT FROM NOW ON. "Carry the Zero" may be the best Neil Young song, Neil Young didn't write and is my favorite to such a degree of their songs, that I am not sure I can whole-heartedly recommend any of their other records. The song "Car" from THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH LOVE also towers above the rest of that record. ANCIENT MELODIES OF THE FUTURE was a huge disappointment to me. And yes, they are a fantastic live act. Cheers, Steve Matrick n.p. The Webb Brothers- Marooned (If you don't have this record, simply read the lyrics to Liars Club and you'll see that you should buy it immediately) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 11:47:49 -0800 From: John Cooper Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Introduction On 1/22/02, Matthew Weber wrote: >Loud-fans met: Steve Holtebeck, Canadian postmodernist >Paul-whose-last-name-I-can't-remember Paul Murphy, I think, although I'm terrible with names. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 14:49:01 EST From: AWeiss4338@aol.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Diversity (was: Re: Introduction) I was remiss before in not giving this info on my intro post: Frist Heard Scott: WPRB Princeton NJ, they played Here It Is Tomorrow a couple of times and I ran to get BSC as I loved it. That the album was produced by Mitch Easter was also a plus. Became a True Gamester soon after. Didn't see them live until 1998, no drivers license because of me being learning disabled, so I couldn't get into clubs. Fave GT CD LN, LF PABARAT. Fave Song: Throwing the Election, Just Gone. Andrea ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 11:58:55 -0800 From: "ana luisa morales" Subject: RE: Re: [loud-fans] Introduction *"no symmetry"**albany california u.s.a.* >--- Original Message --- >From: John Cooper >On 1/22/02, Matthew Weber wrote: > >>Loud-fans met: Steve Holtebeck, Canadian postmodernist >>Paul-whose-last-name-I-can't-remember > >Paul Murphy, I think, although I'm terrible with names. i can verify that it was indeed paul murphy. - --ana ------------------------------ End of loud-fans-digest V2 #31 ******************************