From: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org (loud-fans-digest) To: loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Subject: loud-fans-digest V2 #250 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 Sunday, July 21 2002 Volume 02 : Number 250 Today's Subjects: ----------------- RE: [loud-fans] The Leskosky Way ["Ian Runeckles & Angela Bennett" Subject: RE: [loud-fans] The Leskosky Way Rich writes: > > Velvet Crush - Everything Flows > > My god these guys are great! If it's got their name on it > I'm buying > > it, but I already have this one. > > Is this a cover of the best moment from TFC's A Catholic > Education or one of their own? Velvet Crush have always > seemed to me to be a band on the verge of greatness, but > never quite manage it. Yes, it's the Teenage Fanclub song - it's on their A SINGLE ODESSEY collection. I think TEENAGE SYMPHONIES TO GOD is about as close as they've been so far to greatness (and it's pretty damn close) but I also loved 1999's FREE EXPRESSION - recorded at Matthew Sweet's home, who must have very accommodating neighbours... HEAVY CHANGES is the one that didn't do much for me. > > Inbreds - Amelia Earhart > > This kind of reminded me of REM. Never heard of them. Talking of Amelia, I saw that Plainsong's IN SEARCH OF AMELIA EARHART has been issued on CD at last - I've had this on vinyl ever since I can remember and it's wonderful early 70's soft-rock - and a concept album that works! FRTR arrived here last weekend and has been dominating this week's listening - Joe, Sue, thanks for persevering with this. Ian ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Jul 2002 05:14:01 -0400 From: jenny grover Subject: [loud-fans] another very late review George has an interesting method of presenting swap mixes for review. He sends the tunes without the tracklist, wanting the recipient to review the songs first, without bias of knowing what they are in advance. Even though he emailed me the tracklist before I got time to review the disc (going out of town for half a month can throw a monkeywrench into things), I put aside the tracklist and reviewed the songs without referring to it. So, I will give my review of each track before I knew what it was, followed by my reaction upon finding out what it was, where applicable. 1- It wasn't hard to guess what this track is. Is this typical of Stew's solo stuff, because it's not quite what I expected based on the few tracks I've heard by The Negro Problem (all of which I liked, incidentally). This song is kind of fun, almost poignant at times, but just a little crude in the lyric department for my taste. The circular storyline could be the plot for a novella. *Stew- The Naked Dutch Painter 2- Noticeable Bob Dylan influence. A bit of that country-inspired damaged rock feel, like the dirtier underside of the 70's. * Steve Wynn- Time Fades Away Okay, I'm not too surprised, but I'm surprised that I didn't recognize his voice right off the bat. I usually do. 3- I don't care for her voice. She over-emotes in places, mixed with that breathy girlie thing I never much liked. The guitars sound too simplified and rudimentary to do this song justice, like Beatles for beginners too young to remember them directly. This cover would be better left in the garage. * We Can Work It Out- Heather Nova I'm assuming this is off that soundtrack that everyone has been playing songs from on TV? So far none of the covers I've heard from that have appealed to me. 4- Speaking of garage, this is much more fun. A bit of psychedelia and nice 60's turns of musical phrase. Right up my alley. The find of the mix for me! I don't know what this is, but I want to hear more of this stuff. *Guided By Voices- Everywhere With Helicopter Okay, I'm seriously floored. I've never heard anything by this band I ever cared about one way or the other (including a mix tape of all GBV a friend sent in hopes of "converting" me), and I've certainly never heard anything by them that sounded like this. Is this song unusual in that respect, of have they been doing this sort of thing all along and I just never heard any like that? They mostly lull and bore me, based on what I've heard. This is very lively and fun. 5- Yes, I have this version. Never thought it came close to measuring up to the Monkees. *Paul Revere and the Raiders- I'm Not Your Stepping Stone 6- Production is terrible. Annoying distortion on vocals due to poor recording. Lyrics are about an aspiring death metal band, but lack the cleverness or humor they might have, given the subject matter. This is just pretty boring all around. * Mountain Goats- The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton. 7- Nice rhythmic syncopations. Another one of these pop songs that tries to do or be a few too many things. The guitar sounds are nice, but don't really go with the vocals. The Fender Rhodes is nice. The break is very cliche. Overall, a pleasant enough listen, but the potential is there for it to be better. It may grow on me over time, or I may tire of it quickly. I guess only time will tell. *Brendan Benson- Good To Me I've only ever heard a song or two by him. Is this one pretty typical, or not? 8- Michael Quercio's voice is impossible to mistake, even if I didn't know this song already. Still, nice as it is, I'd much rather listen to it done by Scott. And I could certainly do without the accordian. * Three O'Clock- Girl With a Guitar 9- Nice voice. Reminds me of John Wesley Harding. * Mark Eitzel- Rehearsals For Retirement. Oh. Okay. You know, I really enjoyed his set when I saw him live, but he doesn't fully come across for me on record. 10- Another sad folk/pop, singer/songwriter thing. Not a kind of tune I like. I swear I've heard this song before... oh duh! It's a David Bowie cover. Not one of my favorite Bowie songs, really, but I like his version a lot better than this one. I'd call it a subway singer style cover. * Tim Easton- Five Years (live) 11- This one has a nice Western thing going. Nice vocals. Her voice sounds very familiar. I like this. That guitar sustain at the end sure could use a whammy bar bend, though. *Barbara Manning- Smoking Her Wings I've heard of her, but not sure I've heard her, or was she in a band? Is this typical of her stuff? 12- Dandy Warhols-ish keyboards and beat. The backing keyboards get a bit intrusive at times and could be toned down a bit. Not sure what I think about this song. It's fun, but probably not something I would listen to a lot. *The Zambonis- Andy Moog Meets Robert Moog Well, that would explain all the keyboard sounds, I guess. 13- Violins over a Mancunian beat. Has a pretty sappy mood and the vocals aren't very good. Too repetitive and boring overall. *eels- Fresh Feeling 14- Girl singer laments memorabilia her family lost in a flood. Pretty blah, really. For a song about loss, it lacks any real emotion. *Jill Sobule- Sonny Liston (live) 15- Is this the same girl in this band? I don't like this. Fluffy and inept with annoying as hell lyrics. *Jane Wiedlin, Charlotte Caffey, and Lloyd Cole- So Jill (demo) heh... guess I probably just kicked some sacred cows there. I can't help it, though. This song is just lame. 16- Another ordinary slice of life, self absorbed, hackneyed power pop song, like so many out there. This sort of thing tends to grate on me. Utterly disposable. And those woo-ooh-ohh's in the chorus have got to go! It's not a good thing when a three minute song has you looking at your watch. *Ben Kweller- Commerce, TX 17- Ah! Hunters and Collectors song. Very pretty. *Neil Finn- Throw Your Arms Around Me Wow. I wouldn't have guessed this was Neil Finn. I wonder why I didn't recognize his voice. Is this from the live CD? 18- Blue Aeroplanes? Sounds like their typical poet jangle, but I don't know this song. Lyrics tell the life story of a cricket player, and it does go on a bit long. Is this about a real player, or a fictional character? I know nothing about cricket. *Paul Kelly- Bradman So, who is this? He really sounds like Gerard Langley to me. 19- Hmmm... interesting. I like the piano. Song starts out a little weak, but changes and builds nicely. Vocals a little hard to sink one's teeth into, but overall I like this song. * Wilco- Poor Places Ah. You know, I saw them open for REM and thought they were okay, but they didn't really grab me. That was a while back, though. Is this a new song? - ---- So, there ya have it. Kind of a slap-dash review, I know, and I'm sorry for that. I haven't gotten to listen to this mix very much, or anything else, for that matter lately. I wish my life would get a little bit less busy. But thanks, George, for an interesting mix and a chance to hear a lot of new stuff. Jen ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Jul 2002 09:04:11 -0400 (EDT) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: Re: [loud-fans] another very late review On Sat, 20 Jul 2002, jenny grover wrote: > 1- It wasn't hard to guess what this track is. Is this typical of > Stew's solo stuff, because it's not quite what I expected based on the > few tracks I've heard by The Negro Problem (all of which I liked, > incidentally). This song is kind of fun, almost poignant at times, but > just a little crude in the lyric department for my taste. The circular > storyline could be the plot for a novella. > > *Stew- The Naked Dutch Painter Each of his solo albums has one repetitive "story" song, and they both drive me to the 'skip' button. If I were you I'd get the Negro Problem albums first, but do not shun the solo stuff. a ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Jul 2002 13:04:50 -0400 From: Michael Bowen Subject: [loud-fans] A Show For Francis and Mark http://search.fayettevillenc.com//cgi-bin/search/display-online.pl?id=37299&keywords=%def% ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Jul 2002 14:01:18 EDT From: Boyof100lists@aol.com Subject: [loud-fans] Declan Declan Doo, where are you? I saw a release date for three more Costello CDs as this past Tuesday, but no show at th' sto. Anybody have any info? Have they been pushed back? - -Mark Staples p.s. Is it just me or does the new celluloid Velma make Daphne look rather plain? best line in the movie: The bartender, off camera, to Velma: "Nice Sweater" np: Fetchin Bones "Cabin Flounder" ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Jul 2002 14:35:45 EDT From: Boyof100lists@aol.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] A Show For Francis and Mark This is great: This is not a joke. Talk about a free Def Leppard concert at a local Wal-Mart appears to be legitimate. bbOoohh,b said Kevin Fields of Fayetteville. bb Where? What new Wal-Mart, and how do I get there?b Neat-O!! I'll be there in my "Dale Earnhardt Forever" muscle tee (which I got in the men's dept.), and Oakley wraparounds, and my Winston Cup baseball hat. Look for the red and primer Firebird with the Confederate flag on the hood and the ever-so-slight oil leak in the parking lot, by the Garden Department. Come over and say hey. I guess I better watch it. One of my friends used to say, "We ALL have a redneck cousin who lives in Travelers Rest" (a little country 'burb on the outside of G-ville). But by the grace of God, that could've been me. - -Mark Staples ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Jul 2002 15:00:45 -0400 From: jenny grover Subject: Re: [loud-fans] A Show For Francis and Mark Boyof100lists@aol.com wrote: > > I'll be there in my "Dale Earnhardt Forever" muscle tee (which I > got in the men's dept.), and Oakley wraparounds, and my Winston Cup baseball > hat. Geez, you mean you don't have the Team Viagra hat? They have a whole slue of them in our Walmart. Jen ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 23:42:08 -0500 (CDT) From: Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey Subject: [loud-fans] The Classical (warning: rant!) On Mon, 15 Jul 2002, steve wrote: > On Monday, July 15, 2002, at 05:25 PM, Steve Holtebeck wrote: > > > Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey wrote: > > When I win the lottery, I'll build a *round* listening room... The reference was to Doug's problems w/square & rectangular rooms... I probably would have guessed a round room wouldn't be the best, if I were serious. But when am I? > > In other audio news, there's an article in today's SF Chronicle about > > the decline of classical music in the 21st century. Apparently their > > audience is dying off, and baby boomers haven't stopped drinking beer > > and listening to rock & roll as they get older, like they're supposed > > to. > > I saw a passing reference in one of the hifi mags about the percentage > of total sales for classical music - it was something like 3 or 4 > percent. There would be several reasons for this...at least some of which can be laid squarely at the feet of the classical music establishment. For example, locally there's some program whereby businesses fund these cheesy artworks & in some way draw attention to and benefit the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra's education program. Now, the way the program's set up, it seems to imply that symphonic music is something one *needs* to be educated about. Of course, one might argue that all music is richer the more one knows about it...but the notion that symphonic music is necessarily difficult, elitist, must be listened to while wearing a suit & tie or a dress (I always dress *down* to go to the symphony just to counteract that utterly stupid notion - which is the sort of classist issue that's killing the music...but I digress. Actually, I don't.), etc. etc. Further, by separating "classical" music from other kinds of music - in fact, by insisting on genre rules and barriers in the first place - it only reinforces existing stereotypes as to who listens to classical music & why. I can't even begin to tell you the number of people who do not think there's any difference between muzak and classical music! (Oh - and yet another death sentence reserved for folks who use the word "relaxing" in connection w/classical music: Ex-Lax relaxes, music engages, no matter how peaceful its effect might be.) And a dirty little secret, too: in my experience, a lot of classical musicians are, well, not hacks, but their musical taste & interests often leave lots to be desired. I'll stop now - but just add a rant that you imagine me writing about the concept of "music appreciation," as if it's some superior, empyrean thing only the nose-in-the-air can properly experience... - --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 ::beliefs are ideas going bald:: __Francis Picabia__ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Jul 2002 22:29:15 EDT From: GlenSarvad@aol.com Subject: [loud-fans] Re: Sudden Spate of New Releases I brought this up and got shot down last year, but I remain convinced that the August-October timeframe brings the critical mass of the year's best albums, presumably for the dual marketing objectives of building awareness for the holiday gift-giving season, and arriving at radio stations just as the "regular" college DJs are returning to campus (and audiences are returning to their normal routines). Based on first listen, I'll add to the list of high flyers the new Flaming Lips and Sue Garner (due out early September). In addition, one of the two new Frank Black discs due in August sounds to me like the best thing he's done since Doolittle (though I know there are some big Teenager of the Year fans out there....) > Date: Sat, 20 Jul 2002 01:20:36 -0400 > From: Stewart Mason > Subject: [loud-fans] sudden spate of fine new releases > > All of a sudden, I've gotten a good half-dozen great albums in the space of > about a week, a stretch good enough to erase any lingering doubts about the > quality of the year's output so far. Add in the remarkable string of shows > in Boston and Cambridge this week and next and suddenly things have gotten > quite music-intensive in the Mason-Stafford household: > > ALDHILS ARBORETUM -- Of Montreal (Strong contender for album of the year so > far, from a band I've never ranked very highly before) > OK GO -- OK Go (I worry that their labelmates the Vines are getting all the > press, since this album is about 500 times better -- Sugarplastic and Redd > Kross fans in particular take note) > WHAT IT IS -- Cordelia's Dad (western Mass. folk-rockers release their > first album of original material and promptly kicks Radiohead's ass in the > artsy dread and apprehension department -- I'd just like to see Thom Yorke > try to deliver a song as horrifyingly alienated as "Brother Judson") > WHAT DID FOR THE DINOSAURS -- The Bevis Frond (Nick Saloman's best album > since 1991's NEW RIVER HEAD and a particular gem considering how fed-up > 2000's VALEDICTORY SONGS was) > OUT LIKE A LAMB -- The Doleful Lions (A huge improvement over the > scattershot and monochromatic SONG CYCLOPS, VOLUME ONE, this is much more > along the lines of the glorious THE RATS ARE COMING, THE WEREWOLVES ARE > HERE) > FUN WITH HUMANS -- Stretch Princess (They still sound like the early > Darling Buds, and that's still fine by me) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Jul 2002 22:45:39 -0400 From: "jer fairall" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Declan Declan Doo, where are you? > I saw a release date for three more Costello CDs as this past Tuesday, but no > show at th' sto. Anybody have any info? Have they been pushed back? Nothing at all on Rhino's site about them. They do, however, list Expanded and Remastered editions of The Ramones' END OF THE CENTURY, PLEASANT DREAMS, SUBTERRANEAN JUNGLE and TOO TOUGH TO DIE set for release on 20 August. I bought the first four but do I really need anything beyond that? I was under the impression that their post-ROAD TO RUIN work was mostly weak. Jer Will antibiotics work in 20 years? End the misuse of Antibiotics: http://www.care2.com/go/z/1425 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Jul 2002 23:07:37 -0500 From: Miles Goosens Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Declan Declan Doo, where are you? At 10:45 PM 7/20/2002 -0400, jer fairall wrote: >> I saw a release date for three more Costello CDs as this past Tuesday, but >no >> show at th' sto. Anybody have any info? Have they been pushed back? > >Nothing at all on Rhino's site about them. They do, however, list Expanded >and Remastered >editions of The Ramones' END OF THE CENTURY, PLEASANT DREAMS, SUBTERRANEAN >JUNGLE and TOO TOUGH TO DIE set for release on 20 August. I bought the >first four but do >I really need anything beyond that? I was under the impression that their >post-ROAD TO >RUIN work was mostly weak. While there's probably a pretty good argument to be made that you only need one Ramones album total, since they're all pretty much one song (and a darn good song), anyone who'd characterize END OF THE CENTURY or TOO TOUGH TO DIE as "mostly weak" has different copies of those records than I do. I'd recommend at least those two, if for nothing else getting to hear what Phil Spector producing the Ramones actually sounds like (EOTC) and for a huge dose of spot-on vitriol (TTTD). I also remember TTTD as one of the most bracing things the Ramones ever released, maybe the only album since the first salvo to sound that raw and rockin'. I like the other two titles as well, and will be buying all four. Plus ANIMAL BOY if they intend to carry through the entire catalog. later, Miles ------------------------------ End of loud-fans-digest V2 #250 *******************************