From: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org (loud-fans-digest) To: loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Subject: loud-fans-digest V2 #120 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 Saturday, March 30 2002 Volume 02 : Number 120 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [loud-fans] Re: Miles To Go ["Joseph M. Mallon" ] Re: [loud-fans] the best we're-playing-come-see-us email i've gotten in a while [dmw ] Re: [loud-fans] the best we're-playing-come-see-us email i've gotten in a while ["O Geier" ] Re: [loud-fans] Re: Miles To Go [Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey ] Re: [loud-fans] Re: Miles To Go [Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey Subject: [loud-fans] Re: Miles To Go On Mon, 18 Mar 2002, Miles Goosens wrote: > Donnie Iris, "Ah Leah" > Though I've become familiar with this song over the last ten years, I can't > remember if I ever heard it back when it was a top 25 hit in... 1980? > 1981? I do remember seeing him in magazines like CREEM while folks tried > to figure out if he was underground or not. Anyway, this is a great song > that sounds the way I always wish ELO would have -- the processed layered > vocals on the chorus a la ELO, but a lot more guitar and overall punch. Is > anything else by him this good, or does he look all Elvis Costello but play > all Corey Hart? I bought the MCA best-of (one of many they've been spewing), and there are a couple good tracks, esp. "Do You Compute" from 1983ish, which sounds exactly how you'd expect. > Penelope Houston, "Grand Prix" > One of the big winners here. I've read Loud-Fan praises of Ms. Houston but > have never heard her in any of her incarnations before. If this track is > any indication, she's sassy, smart, and sexy, and she coaxes this song > further than you'd think it could go She's even sexier live, and hella purrty. The whole album TOUNGUE is very good. > Anton Barbeau, "Banana 2000" > I was already an Anton fan, though at the time of this compilation, not yet > an owner of THE GOLDEN BOOT, from whence "Banana 2000" hails. Or maybe it > hails from Pluto, it's hard to tell with Anton. This epic track plays like > a Mad Lib with one variable: "Name a fruit." Anton is a master of reinvention, releasing two, and maybe up to four, versions of "Octagon". I played this song over and over about 20 times when we first got the master. > Jill Olson, "Conquer the World" > I don't *dislike* this track, but it strikes me as pretty standard > Americana/alt-country female singer-songwriter fare. More rocking than > Mary Chapin Carpenter, thank goodness, and nice chiming guitar work on the > outro, but not especially memorable. Jill Olson tidbit #1: her song (w/ Red Meat) "Broken Up & Blue" from MONSTERS BALL was played when Halle Berry won the Oscar. Jill Olson tidbit #2: her next album, MY BEST YESTERDAY, will be released by 125 Records in May/June-ish. Jill Olson tidbit #3: Red meat kicks ass live. If you don't like country music, stay away from their shows, or you will. > Henry Elsesser, "You'll Be Gone" > Seems like this is the "unmemorable" patch of the CD. Again, a nice enough > singer-songwritery track, this one being a ballad, but nothing that Chris > Von Sneidern doesn't surpass five times on every one of his CDs. In fact, > this sounds like a more rootsy version of CVS... I have a solo acoustic version of this that is much better, but Henry went (to Nashville!) and studiofied it. Ditto the track below. > Warren Malone, "Beneath Your Wheels" > The Orange Peels, "So Far" > I have the Alan Clapp & His Orchestra and first Orange Peels record, and > like them both well enough. I never have picked up SO FAR. I ought to > remedy that, and the album's title track does nothing to un-convince me -- > very well-constructed, an ultra-poppy chorus where the word "far" becomes > "fa-fa-fa-fa-fa," etc. But I don't know if an Alan Clapp product will do > more for me than make me go "mmm, that's nice and catchy," though that's > certainly achievement enough. If you like this song, you'll like the album, since it's consistently poppy. > Simple, "Void the Loop" > Electronic, instrumental piece. No Aphex Twin-like beats, but a lot more > structured than Eno's ambient work. From the mind of Joe Mallon, I > believe. And devilishly, seamlessly segued into... You are correct. It's the last song I've done, save a certain cover waiting for TNVM 2. Doug? > Rush, "Madrigal" > Heh. Nice try. At least Joe was merciful about it -- it's only 2:32. Is > that a flute or a flute patch? Geddy Lee's bass playing on this track > sounds remarkably like Andy Metcalfe. Weird. It's a Mini-Moog. This is from A FAREWELL TO KINGS, the Rush album on which Geddy first started playing keys. It can't be that bad, Miles. At least it doesn't mention Objectivism. > Stew, "Bermuda Love Triangle" > Stew remains a glorious exception, plying the treacherous > Bacharach/David waters but staying buoyant with spectacular lyrics and a > personality that transcends the sounds themselves -- the sounds don't work > him, he works the sounds! This little morality tale is no exception, > floating through its verses with the pacing of a good short story, and > Melissa laughed out loud when she heard the "don't hate the player, hate > the game" line. Great stuff. This is from SWEETBOOT, which might still be available from the TNP web site. Stew's got a new record coming out next week. I'll have it ASAP, and so should all of you. > Hilarius Bookbinder, "Blue Distraction" > Joe has to be thinking at this point, "So he liked Penelope Houston and not > any of my other recommendations, hrmph." Well, hold your horses, and > pshaw. And such like. This track intrigues me, from its almost Fripp-like > opening guitar figure to the phrasing in the vocal delivery to the unusual > word choices. Unlike the Olson-5 Chinese Brothers sequence, "Blue > Distraction" leaves me wanting more. The Bookbinders, as Sue calls them, have two CDs for sale. THere's a link to their site from the Joe's Cafe jukebox (http://www.joescafe.com - follow the link), but Randy, 1/2 of the group, has just moved to - wait for it - Nashville! You'll see much more of him than I will, Miles. > Badly Drawn Boy, "Everybody's Stalking" > Despite the massive hype surrounding Badly Drawn Boy in 2001, this is > the first song I've ever heard by him/them. I could never tell from > the reviews if I'd like Badly Drawn Boy or not, making him/it an ideal > candidate for inclusion on a swap. I like what I hear on "Everybody's > Stalking" -- good energy, ominous chords, Bunnymen-like guitar timbre, > half-intelligible words to puzzle out. I'd still like to hear two or > three more songs before taking the plunge, but this track works for > me. The style varies from this song to more acoustic noodlery, with some noise thrown in. The voice can get tiring after a while, but it's good for a one-or-two-song listen now and then. > Liz Phair, "Dead Shark" > Like with Stew and Anton Barbeau, I don't need to be sold on Lizzez > Phaire. But believe it or not, I don't own JUVENILIA. Is this the version > from it? It is. That EP has four songs from the GIRLYSOUND tapes, which are worth whatever you have to do to get a copy if you're a Liz fan. Even though the sound quality is horrid, the songs are terrific. I hope she releases them officially one day. SOW, rumor has it Genesis are starting an "Archive Club", most likely modeled on the King Crimson Collector's Club. Seems like this idea would be a cash cow for bands no longer, shall we say, at the height of their popularity. CMC Music now signs these acts, but releasing live records to the rabidly faithful would generate a good second stream of income. > Yuji Oniki, "Tokyo Clover" > See the first comments under Stew (above). But here there's not Stew-like > transcendence: the early '70s E-Z listening chordings, '70s E-Z listening > vocal stylings, and worst of all, the damn '70s horns just kill it for me. Yuji's latest album TVI has the same hallmarks, but I like it much more. It does *not* rock in any way, but it's catchy enough for me. > The Kirby Grips, "Fireman" > Chirpy, saucy, catchy! It's got its own little rhythm to it, that > insistent groovy woodblock thing in the verses alternating with the > sustained power chords in the choruses. And it's about having a girlhood > crush on the fireman dad of the singer's best friend, I think. Cool, > unique lil' song! I'm ready for recommendations to follow up. Buy THE CHERRY STEM CONCERTOS, and then buy extra copies for everyone you know, since you'll be raving about it to them. These girls kick ass live, and put on a really good show. Will they be playing anywhere but the Bay Area any time soon? Probably not. > The Donnas, "40 Days in 40 Nights" > I'm not sure that we hadn't already established that women can do kick-ass > songs where men are treated as sex objects, but if it wasn't, this song > oughta do the trick. Are the rest of their records this poppy and > fun? Bonus points for using *and* rhyming the word "Decatur." This song sounds to me like the best Kiss song Kiss never recorded. It's mastered way hot, too, so it jumps out of the speakers. > Shalini, "Conviction Overturned" > This is some of the most forceful singing I've heard Shalini do on record, > and I'll reiterate that she ought to throw caution to the wind more often, > especially when the songs rock this much. Of course Godlike Genius Mitch > Easter serves up the guitar hooks, but it's really Shalini's vocal that > makes it work. Shalini & Mitch are working on more material now, so y'all should get some in the near future (no date known). Similarly rockin' stuff. Larry sees them when they play out, so he can confirm. Glad you liked the CD, Miles. I'm enjoying yours now. Review to follow... J. Mallon ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 14:33:22 -0500 (EST) From: dmw Subject: Re: [loud-fans] the best we're-playing-come-see-us email i've gotten in a while > Anybody who actually books bands, or is/was in a touring band, care to > speak to the weirdnesses and quirks of where a band plays? well, i talk to bands about their touring woes, and i know a buncha booking people and promoters. does that count? it's a freaking nightmare, and there's a lot of personality politics. if a booking agent has rubbed a promoter/venue the wrong way, or vice-versa, well, that makes things harder, and might explain why a given band shuns a given venue, even if the band never made there even once. and: getting the last few shows locked in is like one of those chess problems where you have to put some number of pieces on the board so they're not killing the king or whatever, becuase you're dealing not nly with the available/not available dates but the physical logistics of moving the band from point a to point b. there's a trade off, too, at that point: do you take a booking where you've had good shows the last three times over one where you haven't been and might have no draw? mostly, i think i would. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 14:36:09 -0500 (EST) From: dmw Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Re: Miles To Go On Fri, 29 Mar 2002, Joseph M. Mallon wrote: > > Simple, "Void the Loop" > > Electronic, instrumental piece. No Aphex Twin-like beats, but a lot more > > structured than Eno's ambient work. From the mind of Joe Mallon, I > > believe. And devilishly, seamlessly segued into... > > You are correct. It's the last song I've done, save a certain cover > waiting for TNVM 2. Doug? i'm here, sorta. my band will kill me if TNVM happens before the feckless cd does. it will be a limited ed. cdr type thing on a burn-on-demand basis, i think. good news: i've now got enough equipment/software to finish it. - -- d. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 20:13:03 +0000 From: "O Geier" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] the best we're-playing-come-see-us email i've gotten in a while Peter Case told a great story of a gig where the club owner wanted to weasel out of the fee for the band. Peter says 'no way', pay me as agreed. The owner opened a drawer, takes out some bills, and starts counting '20-40-60-80-FUCK YOU!, 20-40-60-80-FUCK YOU!', etc... Support anti-Spam legislation. Join the fight http://www.cauce.org/ - ----Original Message Follows---- From: dmw To: where they have to let you in Subject: Re: [loud-fans] the best we're-playing-come-see-us email i've gotten in a while Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 14:33:22 -0500 (EST) MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: from [66.89.201.78] by hotmail.com (3.2) with ESMTP id MHotMailBE6E0C90008D4004324C4259C94EBA550; Fri, 29 Mar 2002 11:33:39 -0800 Received: from smoe.org (ident-user@localhost [127.0.0.1])by smoe.org (8.12.2/8.12.2) with ESMTP id g2TJXQVU009918for ; Fri, 29 Mar 2002 14:33:26 -0500 (EST) Received: (from majordom@localhost)by smoe.org (8.12.2/8.12.2/Submit) id g2TJXQYt009901for loud-fans-outgoing; Fri, 29 Mar 2002 14:33:26 -0500 (EST) Received: from mail1.radix.net (mail1.radix.net [207.192.128.31]) by smoe.org (8.12.2/8.12.2) with ESMTP id g2TJXOVU009873 for ; Fri, 29 Mar 2002 14:33:24 -0500 (EST) Received: from saltmine.radix.net (saltmine.radix.net [207.192.128.40]) by mail1.radix.net (8.12.2/8.12.2) with ESMTP id g2TJXNCm008555 for ; Fri, 29 Mar 2002 14:33:23 -0500 (EST) From owner-loud-fans@smoe.org Fri, 29 Mar 2002 11:33:46 -0800 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Sender: owner-loud-fans@smoe.org Precedence: bulk > Anybody who actually books bands, or is/was in a touring band, care to > speak to the weirdnesses and quirks of where a band plays? well, i talk to bands about their touring woes, and i know a buncha booking people and promoters. does that count? it's a freaking nightmare, and there's a lot of personality politics. if a booking agent has rubbed a promoter/venue the wrong way, or vice-versa, well, that makes things harder, and might explain why a given band shuns a given venue, even if the band never made there even once. and: getting the last few shows locked in is like one of those chess problems where you have to put some number of pieces on the board so they're not killing the king or whatever, becuase you're dealing not nly with the available/not available dates but the physical logistics of moving the band from point a to point b. there's a trade off, too, at that point: do you take a booking where you've had good shows the last three times over one where you haven't been and might have no draw? mostly, i think i would. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: Click Here ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 12:55:33 -0800 From: Steve Holtebeck Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Re: Miles To Go Joseph M. Mallon wrote: > > The Orange Peels, "So Far" > > I have the Alan Clapp & His Orchestra and first Orange Peels record, and > > like them both well enough. I never have picked up SO FAR. I ought to > > remedy that, and the album's title track does nothing to un-convince me -- > > very well-constructed, an ultra-poppy chorus where the word "far" becomes > > "fa-fa-fa-fa-fa," etc. But I don't know if an Alan Clapp product will do > > more for me than make me go "mmm, that's nice and catchy," though that's > > certainly achievement enough. > > If you like this song, you'll like the album, since it's consistently > poppy. With the departure of Mark Staples, there isn't anyone to keep loud-fans updated on Allen Clapp's musical doings, so I'll mention that he's got a new solo album coming out very soon, and a single/ep (with three songs not on the album) that's out already. The album is called AVAILABLE LIGHT, on March Records, and it's available now at their online store futurepopshop.com. The ep is called WHENEVER WE'RE TOGETHER, on Bus Stop/Parasol, and now available at parasol.com and record stores everywhere. A different version of the song "Whenever We're Together" is on the album, but the other two songs on the EP aren't on the album at all. It's kind of a departure from the Orange Peels, definitely poppy, but mostly piano-based, and very much a "solo" album in the one-guy plays-everything Todd Rundgren/Emitt Rhodes sort of way. Probably not everyone's cup of ginseng, but I'm enjoying it more and more with each listen. It's like 1970s AM radio without the obnoxious DJ chatter between the songs. > This is from SWEETBOOT, which might still be available from the TNP > web site. Stew's got a new record coming out next week. I'll have it > ASAP, and so should all of you. Speaking of obnoxious chatter, I scored a promo of Stew's NAKED DUTCH PAINTER last week in LA, which is a fabulous collection of songs that everyone should own, but the between-song chatter (it's a combination of live and studio songs) is driving me up the wall. I saw one of the July Knitting Factory shows where parts of this album was recorded, and stories that are entertaining to hear once grow weary with repeat listenings, and it's nearly impossible to program out, so I might have to burn a copy of without the talking, just like I did with STOREFRONT HITCHCOCK. Both NAKED DUTCH PAINTER and SWEETBOOT should be available through www.negroproblem.com, but the new Stew site listed on the new album (www.stewsongs.com) isn't up yet and the site hosted by his former label (www.stewmusic.com) is frozen in early 2001. And I thought the duality between allenclapp.com and orangepeels.com was confusing! > > Yuji Oniki, "Tokyo Clover" > > See the first comments under Stew (above). But here there's not > > Stew-like transcendence: the early '70s E-Z listening chordings, > > '70s E-Z listening vocal stylings, and worst of all, the damn > > '70s horns just kill it for me. > > Yuji's latest album TVI has the same hallmarks, but I like it much > more. It does *not* rock in any way, but it's catchy enough for me. I think Yuji is only easy listening in the sense that I find his music extremely easy to listen to. Not a lot of variety in tempo or tone, but he's got a great voice and writes good songs. The "damn 70s horns" in "Tokyo Clover" are by Bill Swan of Beulah, and having heard the song with and without horns, I think the horns make the song. Oh well, whatever.. Steve ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 15:01:48 -0600 (CST) From: Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Re: Miles To Go On Fri, 29 Mar 2002, Steve Holtebeck wrote: > With the departure of Mark Staples, there isn't anyone to keep loud-fans In case anyone's curious, Our Beloved Revolutionary Pizza Deliveryman has a letter in the latest issue of _Magnet_ magazine (the one with Ride on the cover - no, they haven't re-formed; it's a "dreampop" retrospective), niggling over the definition of "paraphrase" and corraling misattributed Winona Ryder quotes. - --Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey J e f f r e y N o r m a n The Architectural Dance Society www.uwm.edu/~jenor/ADS.html ::Some see things as they are, and say "Why?" ::Some see things as they could be, and say "Why not?" ::Some see things that aren't there, and say "Huh?" ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 16:09:47 -0500 From: Stewart Mason Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Re: Miles To Go At 12:55 PM 3/29/02 -0800, Steve Holtebeck wrote: >Both NAKED DUTCH PAINTER and SWEETBOOT should be available through >www.negroproblem.com, but the new Stew site listed on the new album >(www.stewsongs.com) isn't up yet and the site hosted by his former label >(www.stewmusic.com) is frozen in early 2001. And I thought the duality >between allenclapp.com and orangepeels.com was confusing! Far as I know, the only place to purchase SWEETBOOT is www.bandproducts.com, also home of the too-fucking-fabulous-for-words Rehab t-shirt, which all should own. S ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 15:10:10 -0600 (CST) From: Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Re: Miles To Go On Fri, 29 Mar 2002, Steve Holtebeck wrote: > > > Yuji Oniki, "Tokyo Clover" > > > See the first comments under Stew (above). But here there's not > > > Stew-like transcendence: the early '70s E-Z listening chordings, > > > '70s E-Z listening vocal stylings, and worst of all, the damn > > > '70s horns just kill it for me. > > I think Yuji is only easy listening in the sense that I find his music > extremely easy to listen to. Not a lot of variety in tempo or tone, but > he's got a great voice and writes good songs. The "damn 70s horns" in > "Tokyo Clover" are by Bill Swan of Beulah, and having heard the song > with and without horns, I think the horns make the song. I was going to say something about this when Miles first posted his comments, but I didn't - because last week wasn't "Pick on Miles" week and this week is ;) I say it's not "easy listening" because the aesthetic is entirely different (even if the sound is similar): "easy listening"'s whole point is to smooth out all difference to create an entirely non-threatening sonic environment (i.e., Erik Satie on too much Prozac). The kinds of arrangements Miles derides have nearly the opposite goal, I think: to provide huge swatches of sonic color and interest. (Incidentally, why Esquivel really isn't "easy listening"...) To me, the hallmark of easy listening arrangements is cliche: a swamp of strings, flutes and horns used exactly where you'd expect, etc. At least when done right, the orchestral, post-Pet Sounds pop in question uses *surprising* orchestrations, blending (say) a bassoon, a mellotron flute, Latin percussion, and a distorted bass harmonica. (No, I can't think of a song with that particular orchestration...made it up right now. Feel free to steal it and annoy Miles with it.) - --Jeff J e f f r e y N o r m a n The Architectural Dance Society www.uwm.edu/~jenor/ADS.html ::part of your circuit of incompetence:: np: Blur s/t ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 15:47:34 -0600 From: Miles Goosens Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Re: Miles To Go At 03:10 PM 3/29/2002 -0600, Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey wrote: >I was going to say something about this when Miles first posted his >comments, but I didn't - because last week wasn't "Pick on Miles" week and >this week is ;) I'm hoping it's over by noon Sunday. "Pick on Miles" week got off to a roaring start at that point last Sunday, when my Strat-O-Matic baseball league's draft turned into a desperate scramble for innings pitched, and I ended up with luminaries like Andy Benes, Osvaldo Fernandez, and Amaury Telemaco anchoring my starting rotation. But I digress. >The kinds of >arrangements Miles derides have nearly the opposite goal, I think: to >provide huge swatches of sonic color and interest. (Incidentally, why >Esquivel really isn't "easy listening"...) To me, the hallmark of easy >listening arrangements is cliche: a swamp of strings, flutes and horns >used exactly where you'd expect, etc. At least when done right, the >orchestral, post-Pet Sounds pop in question uses *surprising* >orchestrations, blending (say) a bassoon, a mellotron flute, Latin >percussion, and a distorted bass harmonica. I don't know enough music theory to articulate what it is about these sounds that I dislike. Maybe "EZ listening" isn't the best adjective, though I will still contend that many songs with these sounds could have been found on any 1970-1980 Easy Listening station. It's what Sharples called (and I'm paraphrasing, since I don't seem to have saved the exact quote, darn it) "it's the '70s and my parents are getting divorced" music (I keep wanting to throw something about a reel-to-reel player in there, but that might just be my own parents' divorce). PET SOUNDS itself is exempt (though it inspired a lot of it then and now), but Sergio Mendes, the Carpenters, Bacharach/David, the 5th Dimension aren't. I don't know if it's the chords, the bevy of instruments, the sickly lazy Sunday morningness of it. But I just don't like it. And puzzling out what's presumably nifty about it seems considerably less interesting than playing Local H's PACK UP THE CATS again. So that's what I do. Get thee behind me, High Llamas! later, Miles ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 15:21:15 -0800 From: "me" Subject: Re: Re: Re: [loud-fans] the best we're-playing-come-see-us... hey - at least the guy is an equal opportunity snake oil salesman. there are clitoral and nipple enlargers as well. no pictures of those in use, though. - -- b - -- - ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2002 8:05 PM Subject: Re: Re: Re: [loud-fans] the best we're-playing-come-see-us email i've gotten in a while > On Thu, 28 Mar 2002 21:44:13 -0600 (CST) Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey wrote: > >I think there's a website - www.drjoelkaplan.com > > (Ira's bro, perhaps?) - which does suggest > > that Kaplan's got a swollen head. > > Jeff, how many times I have I told you to filter all messages where the "from:" field includes "Hamlin" or "Winston" directly to the Trash folder? Sheesh. > > later, > > Miles O'Keefe ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 16:46:06 -0700 From: Matthew Weber Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Re: Miles To Go Is TNVM the loud-fans tribute recording? Matt ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 15:46:39 -0800 (PST) From: "Joseph M. Mallon" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Re: Miles To Go On Fri, 29 Mar 2002, Matthew Weber wrote: > Is TNVM the loud-fans tribute recording? THE TAPE OF ONLY LOUDFANS: FRIENDS OF THE FAMILY is the tribute CD, and is available at http://www.reignoffrogs.com/scottrib.html. TOGETHER NOW, VERY MINOR is a 2-CD collection of songs by Loudfans and their bands. I put it together about 2-3 years ago. There was some talk of treeing it a while back, but I don't have time to organize such a thing. If anyone else wants to do so, I'll gladly supply the masters and a print copy of the original booklet to send out with the CDs. Contact me off-list, but remeber that organizing a tree is hard work. J. Mallon ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 22:05:25 -0500 From: marmoset@freeke.org Subject: [loud-fans] Bored of Canada (ns) [for Dana Paoli] I realize you asked about this over a month ago, but it looks like no one ever answered (at least not on-list) and your query definitely deserves a followup... > My question, and I'd love responses from people who don't know much > about the genre: I guess you'll have to settle for me :-P > is it an album that transcends the electronica label? Meaning, if I read this correctly, is it enjoyable by people who aren't terribly enamored of electronic music? I certainly think so, with the following caveat: I've heard more than one person say (I've even said it myself, in fact) that Boards of Canada's 1998 debut album, _Music Has The Right to Children_ is maybe the best album to recommend to rock fans who are curious but perhaps a tad distrustful of this whole "robot rock" thing. _MHTRTC_ is probably more immediately accessible than the new one, _Geogaddi_, since _MHTRTC_ contains a handful of unabashed pop songs (in the melodies-you-can-hum-in-the-shower sense -- "Roygbiv", "Aquarius, "Happy Cycling"), while _Geogaddi_ sports a noticieably darker tone. > Will it change my life? Do I *need* it? Will it be looked upon as an > era-defining album, that finally convinces America to love music that > comes from a laptop? Not unless we manage to overthrow the Great Satan-- er, Clear Channel. I imagine the pent-up demand for _Geogaddi_ probably comes from the way that BoC appeared out of nowhere (well, they'd released a handful of really keen singles on a label called Skam) with a breathtaking first album, then disappeared back into their art commune in Scotland for four years, releasing only one (great) single in the interim. They have a really wonderful and singular sound, one I like to describe as 70's filmstrip music. They play these wonderful, blurry, vague melodies on analog synthesizers that waver in and out of tune, like the "Logan's Run" soundtrack with little snippets of laughing children, numbers stations, shortwave static and slow-motion hip-hop loops. They never play it for cheese, unlike any number of indie bands goofing off with moogs -- they respect these melodies, and there's always a slight current of unease in the music. > When I'm forty, will there be a "That '00's > Show" with a theme song by Boards of Canada? Yep, they'll use "Roygbiv", I reckon. -d.w. np: Geogaddi - Boards of Canada ------------------------------ End of loud-fans-digest V2 #120 *******************************