From: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org (loud-fans-digest) To: loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Subject: loud-fans-digest V2 #319 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 Monday, September 9 2002 Volume 02 : Number 319 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [loud-fans] 1984 [Boyof100lists@aol.com] Re: [loud-fans] 1984 [jenny grover ] Re: [loud-fans] Cute band alert! [JRT456@aol.com] [loud-fans] list list list [Miles Goosens ] Re: [loud-fans] list list list [Aaron Mandel ] Re: [loud-fans] Half fag alert! [Boyof100lists@aol.com] [loud-fans] shopping tip (ns) [Dana Paoli ] [loud-fans] Interbrilliant [Boyof100lists@aol.com] Re: [loud-fans] list list list [Miles Goosens ] Re: [loud-fans] Swap Review, Jeff Breman's CD [Bill Silvers ] [loud-fans] chat? ["jer fairall" ] Re: [loud-fans] Cute fruit alert! [Boyof100lists@aol.com] [loud-fans] swap review [jenny grover ] Re: [loud-fans] swap review [Aaron Mandel ] Re: [loud-fans] swap review ["jer fairall" ] Re: [loud-fans] swap review [Paul Seeman ] [loud-fans] Final Spirited Away propaganda [steve ] RE: [loud-fans] Final Spirited Away propaganda ["glenn mcdonald" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] 1984 Mark, I know you're younger than me, but at 18 I sure didn't feel safe. I didn't have to worry so much about murderous classmates, but there were a few scary incidents on my college campus (thank god, the worst one happened after I left- a friend of mine being raped at gunpoint in her own dorm room by a high school kid she had never even seen before). In school, there had always been the threat of tornadoes or fires. And growing up during the cold war we were all under the shadow of "the bomb," as well as the uncertainties caused by things like the Kent State shootings, race riots, etc. I was well out of school and married by 1984, but I remember really thinking that we wouldn't live that long, and I was surprised that we did, and beyond it. The Reagan years terrified and angered me. Taking part in anti-apartheid rallies, I always had it in my mind that someone could start taking shots at us. The sources of fear may be different, but don't go thinking things were too idyllic back then. There were fewer divorces, but probably more abusive and/or unhappy marriages instead. There were unwed mothers, they were just shunned by society. There were sexual diseases, just people didn't take them as seriously, which is one reason AIDS spread. People thought it was a free ride and anything you got you could just kill off with antibiotics. I don't even want to go into what things were like for the mentally ill then. So, you see, every generation has its threats and its curses, as well as its pleasures and blessings. Jen Boyof100lists@aol.com wrote: > > This sort of thing is nothing new, I know. I've seen those e-mails before, > but have you thought about being 18, all grown up (so I've heard) and > wondered what it would be like to be this age now? Most Loud-fans are in > their thirties and forties, right? > > John Lennon has always been dead. The Beatles' output was music your parents > or grandparents were into. Instead of the late '60s being this far away time > to be romanticized, as it was for people my age, it would be the early '80s. > Coupland (yeah, I know...I DO read other stuff, but he's my literary Scott > Miller) once wrote, in that far away time of the early nineties, "the 1960s > are Disneyland." Now it would be the 1980s for this crowd, which would > explain much of current teen T-shirt fashion. > > In their high school years, they got to experience such psyche damaging > incidents as the Columbine shootings, and the World Trade Center attack. How > paranoid would this make someone? The US isn't safe. Your school isn't safe, > no matter where you live. > > Rap has always existed. The Simpsons has always been on TV as long as they > can remember. Nirvana would be classic rock to them. They have had the web > (mainstreamed with Windows '95) and cell phones since they were old enough to > put away the toys and socialize with their peers in adolescence. Non-cable > or non-satellite TV would seem comical, sad, really no matter what your > parents' income level was. Cassettes would be something you would never > listen to music on, maybe a college lecture at best. > > Michael Stipe to them would be a geezer. "Murmur" came out before they were > born. Having gay themed TV shows is a yawner. Food choices have always been > fast and numerous. They've always had AIDS as something real to contend > with. Divorced parents are the norm. So are unwed mothers. > > I'll stop now, but I find this so fascinating. > > I'm so glad I'm not 18 now. I think I had it easy. > > -Mark S. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 8 Sep 2002 07:31:57 EDT From: JRT456@aol.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Cute band alert! In a message dated 9/7/02 8:39:00 PM, Boyof100lists@aol.com writes: << -Mark Staples, wishing he had more Ben and Jerry's and looking for the hidden homersexual subtext on all three English Beat albums, but so far no luck. Wait, what does "Ackee 123" mean??? >> Don't your fellow high-school students get some credit for being correct in their assumptions? As I recall from earlier posts, you turned out to be at least half-a-fag. A lot of kids during those times were a lot less astute. Many of them even thought Duckie was heterosexual. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 08 Sep 2002 10:57:03 -0500 From: Miles Goosens Subject: [loud-fans] list list list First to identify correctly what this is a ranking of wins a prize: 1) Frank 2) Genevieve 3) Vern 4) Hildy 5) Doug 6) Laurie later, Miles ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 8 Sep 2002 12:59:41 -0400 (EDT) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: Re: [loud-fans] list list list On Sun, 8 Sep 2002, Miles Goosens wrote: > First to identify correctly what this is a ranking of wins a prize: > > 1) Frank > 2) Genevieve > 3) Vern > 4) Hildy > 5) Doug > 6) Laurie Designers on Trading Spaces. But what's the scale? It can't be quality, because Frank is the most godawful hack there is. a ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 8 Sep 2002 13:36:42 EDT From: Boyof100lists@aol.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Half fag alert! In a message dated 9/8/02 7:32:35 AM Eastern Daylight Time, JRT456@aol.com writes: > Don't your fellow high-school students get some credit for being correct in > their assumptions? As I recall from earlier posts, you turned out to be at > least half-a-fag. A lot of kids during those times were a lot less astute. > Many of them even thought Duckie was heterosexual. > Ouch. JRT, I've NEVER in my life thought Jon Cryer's character was gay. Ever. What, did you see "Edge of Seventeen" too many times? Talking about that era, it was more like anything that was outside of a rigid code of normalcy was fag central. My point is that, maybe in major metropolitan areas like Chicago, NYC or LA and others, there were a significant amount of teens into that sort of thing, but, as far as the rest of the planet US, no way. It was considered extremely marginal. "He's a punker." "We don't take to kindly to faggot punkers." My pet peeve is, not my sexuality being ridiculed (and perhaps these were excuses to give me a hard time...though honestly I didn't even have sex until my early twenties) but how the media today makes it out like everybody was doin' the Aqua Velva to "Rock Lobster" and wearing early '60s thrift. The same thing went on with the late '60s era, where Hollywood made these heavy assumptions about the amount of hippies that were around. It sells TV and movie scripts, but it just isn't reality. Torn between two sexes, feelin' like a fool, - -Mark S. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 8 Sep 2002 13:51:31 -0400 From: Dana Paoli Subject: [loud-fans] shopping tip (ns) You know, this is pretty obvious, but I thought I'd pass it on as I just landed two CDs that I've been searching for for a very long time. Does everyone know about going to foreign eBay sites? I'd been trying to find some out-of-print things by a couple of Belgian bands (Thou and Nemo, for the curious) with absolutely no luck, and finally decided to check into other countries' eBay sites. While there's some overlap, especially with the UK and Canadian eBays, there are quite a few things that don't show up on the US site. Definitely a good way to go about finding semi-obscure things that never came out in the US or the UK. I'm also starting to think that the Belgians are the most pleasant people in Europe. Not that you can judge a nation's character by the people who sell stuff on eBay, but they really are awfully nice! I wish I could figure out how to navigate the Japanese eBay, but it's a little imposing. Parts of it can be in English, but I'd always be worried on some level that "Sonic Youth Walls Have Ears" would turn out to be a brand of drain cleaner. Celebrity news that might interest some: Jennifer Belle just got married to a short lawyer who was introduced to her by the evil Amy Sohn. They got the spotlight in the Times' wedding/celebrations page this weekend. - --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: Sun, 8 Sep 2002 16:08:48 EDT From: Boyof100lists@aol.com Subject: [loud-fans] Interbrilliant I've been trying to finish some dreaded financial aid paperwork (if I stay in school forever at least half-time, I never have to pay back the money, but with the situation with Iraq right now I may be spared repayment by nuclear apocalypse), so I put on Interbabe and sat down filling in the bubbles, filling all those blanks in with zeros as to what my net worth is (does a really good pop CD collection count?), and I had to just stop and listen to Interbabe. If I could just touch the hem of Scott's garment as a lyricist. Ever had one of those days where Scott's music hits you on a much deeper or more intense level than others? What would David Koresh say? - -Mark S. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 08 Sep 2002 15:53:15 -0500 From: Miles Goosens Subject: Re: [loud-fans] list list list At 12:59 PM 9/8/2002 -0400, Aaron Mandel wrote: >On Sun, 8 Sep 2002, Miles Goosens wrote: > >> First to identify correctly what this is a ranking of wins a prize: >> >> 1) Frank >> 2) Genevieve >> 3) Vern >> 4) Hildy >> 5) Doug >> 6) Laurie > >Designers on Trading Spaces. But what's the scale? It can't be quality, >because Frank is the most godawful hack there is. Aaron wins, but yes, the scale is quality: I love color, I love whimsy, and Frank always includes those things while also having a good sense of doing things that suit the client based on items and colors they're already using. If that means that I have no taste in interior design, so be it. Using the hotness scale: 1) Genevieve (I usually don't go for blondes, but everything about her is sensual, and she has a great, playful attitude) 2) Hildy 3) Laurie (plus for redheadedness and milky skin; minus for always buying hideously expensive but blah-neutral fabrics, which I think somehow would translate into depressing ordinariness in a relationship) later, Miles ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 8 Sep 2002 17:16:02 -0400 (EDT) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: Re: [loud-fans] list list list On Sun, 8 Sep 2002, Miles Goosens wrote: > Aaron wins, but yes, the scale is quality: I love color, I love whimsy, > and Frank always includes those things while also having a good sense of > doing things that suit the client based on items and colors they're > already using. I do like color and whimsy, but I just can't take the Craft Barn frills Frank always throws in. They tend to be the main point in my perception of the room and so it feels repetitive. > If that means that I have no taste in interior design, so be it. Ah, I have no grounds for stating my opinions about design so forcefully, because I have absolutely no clue. Sorry about that. In fact, this may be part of the reason I like the weirdo designers better -- subtle and/or conventional designs are basically lost on me. I like my visuals striking, which in the case of room decor doesn't necessarily mean *assaultive*... rooms tend to look similar enough to each other that unusual ideas grab the eye. Yet I do require that grabbing. a ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 08 Sep 2002 17:16:58 -0500 From: Bill Silvers Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Swap Review, Jeff Breman's CD Andrea rewiewed a swap disc, and asked: > 6&7 Apples In Stereo, Go, Look Away, both 10. These are the best songs > I've >heard from this band so far, and will now finally check out. I'd never heard >enough of them to decide if I liked them, but now I have. What's the best >album to start with? I'd suggest the LP those tunes came from, THE DISCOVERY OF A WORLD INSIDE THE MOONE, from 2000. If that record inspires further exploration, work back chronologically to TONE SOUL EVOLUTION (from 1997) and then to FUN TRICK NOISEMAKER. > 10&11 Nickel Creek, Ode To A Butterfly, The Lighthouse Tale, both 10. Some >of the best songs on the CD. I like bluegrass a lot, and had heard this band >before, but like the Apples, not enough to know if I liked them. I love them. Nickel Creek are the leading, certainly most commercially prominent of what some derisively refer to as "wussgrass," or "bluegrass lite." They're all fine players, but I prefer the more traditional sounding stuff. I'm a fan of Del McCoury (though last year's record wasn't their best) and both of Rhonda Vincent's last two records are particularly worthwhile. > 16&17 Spring Collection, Waiting For The Weekend, The Vapors, both 10. >70's/80s power pop sounds a lot better, and more mainstream, which is kind of >ironic, than what's around to day in mainstream pop. I just know Turning >Japanese, I'm glad they had more than that. Are their albums still in print? CD Now shows all their records as available, though I'd look for VAPORIZED, on the Collectables label, which has both of their LP's (the two songs here are among the better ones from NEW CLEAR DAYS, with "Turning Japanese") on one disc. > 20&21 Remember, Rave Up/ShutUp, The Rave Ups, both 10. I know mainly >their pop period, which was good but not great, these songs are better. >Cowpunk, which is now alt country, was the name for it, and it lives up to >the hype around that scene. I liked The Long Ryders and EIEIO a lot too, but >prefer The Old 97s and Nico Case, Ryan Adams, Caitlin Cary and so on. You >know why Molly Ringwald raved (sorry) about them, she was dating the lead >singer, and now I feel old. I did see Pretty In Pink, good film. What is in >print from them, Mark, Jeff, do you know? I don't think any of them are in print, though you can find CHANCE (particularly) and BOOK OF YOUR REGRETS (less-so) used from time to time. b.s. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 08 Sep 2002 18:49:35 -0400 From: jenny grover Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Cute band alert! Mark Staples wrote: > Wait, what does "Ackee 123" mean??? Ackee is the national fruit of Jamaica. It has 3 lobes, each containing a large seed. Jen ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 8 Sep 2002 20:11:09 -0300 From: "jer fairall" Subject: [loud-fans] chat? Anyone chatting tonight? I'll be hanging out in irc.eskimo.com (#loudfans) for most of the night. Hope to see you there. Jer Care2 make the world greener! Your Actions Can Help! Support Strong Environmental Protections http://www.care2.com/go/z/2532 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 8 Sep 2002 23:25:03 EDT From: Boyof100lists@aol.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Cute fruit alert! In a message dated 9/8/02 6:48:41 PM Eastern Daylight Time, sleeveless@citynet.net writes: > Ackee is the national fruit of Jamaica. It has 3 lobes, each containing > a large seed. > > National *fruit* of Jamaica, eh? Hmmm. Three dollar bills are queer, so maybe three lobed fruits are too. A large seed, huh? Not going there. Some would say I'm reaching, but college English professors bought it, - -Mark S. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 09 Sep 2002 00:47:05 -0400 From: jenny grover Subject: [loud-fans] swap review First off, I want to thank Michael for giving me the opportunity to hear a bunch of bands I'd heard of but never heard. And he did a nice job making the cover out of pretty golden-yellow Japanese paper. So, here goes-- 1-Spearmint- Scottish Pop Loungy! Even has a fish. Goes into pop stuff, complete with la-la-la's and bop-ba-ba-ba's. Fun! 2- Orange Juice- Rip It Up Very 80's poppish sounding. Has that choppy rhythm guitar thing like disco, funky keyboards, saxophone, and sing-songy brit-pop sounding vocals, and a curious reference to the Buzzcocks' "Boredom." 3- The Woodentops- Love Affair With Everyday Living Poppier and happier than the Woodentops stuff I've got. Wouldn't have guessed this was them. 4- Trash Can Sinatras- Obscurity Knocks More 80's sounding pop. Pretty banal. There appears to be a nod to African music in the brief guitar solo. 5- Belle and Sebastian- Lazy Line Painter Jane I have mixed feelings about this band. Much of their output that I've heard I just don't like, but some I do, so I haven't written them off. I like the almost surfy guitar sound in this and the way it plays against the organ, but the female vocals grate on my nerves bigtime. She ruins the song for me, and it's a song I think I would like otherwise. 6- Eliza Carthy- Whispers of Summer Guitar reminds me of "Everybody's Talking." Fiddles, tambourines, a country/folk hybrid female voice. Not bad, but I can only take this sort of thing in small doses. 7- John & Mary- Clare's Scarf Heh I know a couple named John and Mary. This is not them. More fiddle (sounding more like a violin here) and female vocals. Singer-songwritery. Not bad. 8- Linda Thompson- Dear Mary I have to admit to having not heard her stuff sans Richard. This is like old style country music- country in the sense of Emmylou Harris. Not bad, but not the sort of thing I listen to often. 9- The Crowd Scene- Global Village Idiot Not the same song the Wondermints do. This has a nice stripped down simplicity- heavy on lead guitar, but not self-indulgently, though the way this is produced, the guitar does vie with the vocals at times. Nice vocals. 10- Beth Orton- Concrete Sky I don't know, this song has some nice moments and she has kind of an interesting voice, but overall it's just pretty boring. 11- Human Switchboard- (Say No To) Saturday's Girl I haven't heard this song in ages! I have it on a flexi from Trouser Press or something. I still like it. Nice tune, nice organ, nice vocals, nice straightforward approach. This song has always kind of reminded me of old Elvis Costello, or even some Bruce Springsteen. 12- Kevin Tihista's Red Terror- Sucker Ok, this is my first exposure to a Kevin Tihista song. Wispy vocals, acoustic guitars over an electric band. Low-key and pleasant, but the lyrics are pretty pedestrian and "poor me." Nothing particularly interesting going on here. 13- Matthew Ryan- Guilty Raspy, Springsteenish vocals, but strained, like Bruce struggling to overcome laryngitis. The line "lately I've been dreaming of angels and cranes" really makes me wonder which kind of cranes! Another self-pitying song. Pretty much formula. 14- Kevin Salem- Lighthouse Keeper Somewhat strained vocals, jangly guitars, very mainstream in style with pedestrian production. Predictable and boring. 15- Sarge- Detroit Star-Lite With a name like Sarge, I guess I was expecting something a bit ballsier. This song is better in the moments that it leans to the punk side, rather than when it leans to the poppier side. The guitars have a nice sound. I guess I'm a little disappointed after hearing this band touted on the list so glowingly. It's not bad, but it just doesn't seem particularly special. Is this song typical? 16- Circus Guy- I Wrote It Down The harmonies are nice. There are some fairly interesting things going on in this song, harmonically and rhythmically. Backing vocals come and go in interesting ways. I like this. 17- Ashley MacIsaac- Sleepy Maggie Disco Celt music, heavy on the dancy drums, nice Celtic fiddling, pretty melody, Gaelic vocals. Interesting, but I think I would tone down those disco drums, or at least do something less overbearing and monotonous with them. 18- Varttina- Ottajat Nice! Tell me about this group. disc 2 1- Crack the Sky- Animal Skins Interesting song. Mixes in Indian pop elements. Is this typical? 2- Stump- Charlton Heston Strange and amusing. I like whatever makes those cricket-like noises. Hoe-down style tune with amusing lyrics about Charlton Heston. 3- Robbie Fulks- God Isn't Real Twangy steel guitar style country ballad with lyrics of atheistic doubt. Interesting combination, since the music leans toward some styles of white southern gospel, but I just don't like the music, foremost, and don't care for the lyrics either. Maybe it's intentional, as a parody, but it falls into the same cheesiness and sensationalism that a lot of honkey-tonk and gospel songs do. 4- The dB's- White Train Much more my thing. If I'm going to listen to twang, I'd much rather it was like this. "Like This" Heh! Pun wasn't intended, honest. 5- Paul Kelly & The Messengers- White Train Quite a different song, though the country-western style theme is carried on here. A bit of a Blasters type rockabilly flavor to this one. 6- Old 97's- Rollerskate Skinny The "pretty as a penny" section is alright, but I don't know. It has grown on me some, but I guess I don't care for this style of music very much. It's not bad for what it is. The guy has a decent voice and understanding of what makes for a good vocal performance. 7- Call and Response- Rollerskate Returning from our trip to the country, and back into pop-land. Is that a Fender Rhodes? Do people rollerskate in rinks much anymore? It was kinda big when I was a kid, so this has a nice nostalgic feel. There's a nice innocence about this song and the instruments sound good. 8- Francoise Hardy- Tous les garcons et les filles (Hope I spelled that right). Ok, since Francoise Hardy has been mentioned here and there on this list, I'm curious to know more about her. This sounds like nice late 50's or early 60's girl pop, only French. I don't speak French. What does the title mean? 9- Richard Thompson- She May Call You Up Tonight Yes, this is a cover of the Left Banke. I've always liked Richard Thompson. I don't listen to him as often as I used to, and when I do hear him, then I wonder why. Maybe it's because I've never been sure what I think of his voice, but I love his songs. What album is this off? 10- Planosaurus- A Funny Thing Happened On The A song about going to the toy store, with a toy piano! (Are those toy drums, too?) Fun! 11- The Zombies- Friends of Mine Always love the zombies, literally since '64 when I first heard them. Rod Argent has such a good voice. This is very much on the happier pop side of their material. 12- Of Montreal- Don't Ask Me To Explain I'm curious to hear more by this band. I've heard a total of 2 songs, now, and, while a bit poppy for my taste, both were just off-kilter enough to interest me. 13- Plumtree- My My This song has an almost reggae-meets-Heart-and-Soul thing going on. Strange. Ordinary poppy female vocals. I could do without the harmonica. Something about this song makes Calvin Johnson's voice suggest itself in my mind as more fitting. 14-NRBQ- Ridin' in My Car More of that updated sunshine pop thing going on here, in a very mainstream sounding way. The vocals have a sort of Dave Matthews-y weird-in-the-throat thing. 15- Guadalcanal Diary- Trail of Tears I still love this song. My favorite by this band and one infused with many wonderful memories. One of the prettiest early-post-REM jangle pop songs ever. 16- Donner Party- John Wilkes Booth Yes! Some noise! This mix has been lacking in noise. Too bad the nerdy vocals and hackneyed tune drag down those nice distorted guitars. 17- Mekons- Hard To Be Human Again Another old favorite! There is something so delightfully sordid and damaged about this song. And then there's that nice backwards piano solo. 18- Archers of Loaf- Web in Front Nothing like hearing someone who has just sung some pretty weird lyrics sing, "and there's a chance that things could get weird." Is this song fairly typical of this band? 19- Spoon- Take the Fifth I always thought the intro to this song started out a lot like Stevie Wonder's "Uptight." I keep waiting for the horns to kick in. The rhythm section (including piano) carries that 60's vibe throughout, but in a very stripped down, not wall of sound arrangement. Nice hand claps, too. The vocals are very rhythmic. Nice song. 20- Richard Lloyd- Alchemy There's that chunky disco rhythm guitar thing again, overlaid with jangle and some bip-bip sounding keyboard notes. Slightly James Mastro-ish vocals. I kept waiting for this song to get to the point it seemed to be building up to. It never did, unless it was the echo on the vocals near the end. 21- The Clean- Stars Noisy guitars, but they get annoyingly repetitive quickly and the vocals and vocal melody do nothing to lift the song above that. This song feels like it's all verse and no chorus, and goes on for over 5 minutes, to boot. So, there are my opinions, for whatever they may be worth. Jen ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 9 Sep 2002 00:51:23 -0400 (EDT) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: Re: [loud-fans] swap review On Mon, 9 Sep 2002, jenny grover wrote: > 18- Archers of Loaf- Web in Front > Nothing like hearing someone who has just sung some pretty weird lyrics > sing, "and there's a chance that things could get weird." Is this song > fairly typical of this band? It's typical of the first album, which is still one of my favorite indie-rock records. They got less catchy as time went on, albeit with increases in other areas that sometimes compensated. a ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 9 Sep 2002 00:59:12 -0300 From: "jer fairall" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] swap review > Tous les garcons et les filles > What does the title mean? Haven't taken a French class since Grade 9 but I'm almost certain it's "All The Boys and Girls." Jer np: Tears For Fears, SONGS FROM THE BIG CHAIR Your Actions Can Help! Support Strong Environmental Protections http://www.care2.com/go/z/2532 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 09 Sep 2002 01:33:35 -0400 From: Paul Seeman Subject: Re: [loud-fans] swap review jenny grover wrote: > 18- Varttina- Ottajat > Nice! Tell me about this group. Holy moly, a Vdrttind reference! Vdrttind was originally a gaggle of kids from Rddkkyld in Karelia, the province in eastern Finland that once surrounded Lake Ladoga (most of Karelia proper is now the Karelian S.S.R. thanks to Mr. Molotov). Something like 20 fiddlers, accordian players and vocalists playing hopped-up versions of traditional songs (which loom large in Karelia--most of the fodder for the Ossianic epic Kalevala comes from Karelia). Their first two CDs, Vdrttind and Musta Lindu, are unmistakably juvenalia, but each has its moments (Musta Lindu in particular has some spookily evocative stuff). After jettisoning some members and picking up a few seasoned folk musicians, they recorded their first masterpiece, Oi Dai, as a ten-piece (four female singers, six musicians). Everything on Oi Dai, from what I remember, is acoustic, and every song's an arrangement of a traditional folk tune, but the thing rocks. Lots of unusual time signatures, much like Balkan music, only somehow homier and more gently rollicking. The vocals remind a lot of people of the Bulgarian Women's Choir, only Vdrttind's arrangements tend to allow each singer her own part for stretches before bringing them all together for big blasts of close harmony. Seleniko followed Oi Dai; it's fuller, poppier, bouncier and altogether wonderful. Aitara has some awfully good stuff, too, but to my ears it's the first of their albums that tips the folk/pop balance decidedly toward pop. Kokko, the album what gave us Ottajat, went even further, sort of like when the Bothy Band started using synthesizers--not anything that could inhibit a great band, necessarily, but for some of us not as satisfying as their earlier, rawer stuff. I haven't heard their latest two, Ilmatar and Vihma, but I just snooped around and found some heartening comments about each from people who'd been a bit chagrined by Kokko. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 9 Sep 2002 00:57:53 -0500 From: steve Subject: [loud-fans] Final Spirited Away propaganda Spirited Away will be released in a little less than two weeks, so here's one last link, to a pretty well written article by Charles Solomon of the L.A. Times. http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/cl-ca-solomon8sep08.story If you have children that are old enough to go to movies, this would probably be a good choice. It's rated PG, like Lilo & Stitch, but has a couple of scenes that might be too intense for kids that scare easily. - - Steve __________ Does pop music really change anything other than the width of a teenager's trousers? Is there really no Santa Claus on the evening stage? Does the shed hold only a push bike, or is there a lawn mower in there too? Well, I've done the research, talked to the culprit's parents and come to my own conclusions. The answer is this: God's atoms have been scattered and re-assembled in the form of a fluffy bunny. - Bill Nelson ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 9 Sep 2002 02:45:21 -0400 From: "glenn mcdonald" Subject: RE: [loud-fans] Final Spirited Away propaganda I finally got around to watching my Japanese DVD of this film over the weekend. It is, indeed, very nice. And I would be very, very surprised if it's a particularly big hit in the US. US animation audiences have been trained to expect computer-generated hyper-reality, wisecracking sidekicks and extravagant spectacle. _Spirited Away_ is a quiet, nuanced little story about a young girl getting swept into another world. It is beautifully done, with a marvelous sense of handcraft throughout, but held up against the Pixar and Disney state of the art, I think it will seem very old fashioned to most people here, if not dull. Plus, the theatrical version will be an inherently icky English dub, so unless you're taking children, my recommendation is to watch it on DVD with subtitles. The region-2 DVD has been available for a month or two, and I'm sure there'll be a region-1 version next year. Incidentally, the English title, "Spirited Away", is not a direct translation of the film's Japanese title, "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi". A more-literal translation would be something like "Sen and Chihiro's Concealment by the Gods". Not only does this not flow, since English doesn't have a word for the state of being hidden by gods, but the further trick is that in Japanese the word "Sen", meaning a thousand, is written with a single kanji character, which is also the first character in the two-kanji name "Chihiro", which means "thousand fathoms". In a scene shown in the trailer, the girl Chihiro has part of her name stolen, and is thus left as Sen. How they have dealt with this idea in the English dub, I have no idea. glenn ------------------------------ End of loud-fans-digest V2 #319 *******************************