From: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org (loud-fans-digest) To: loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Subject: loud-fans-digest V3 #229 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 Thursday, August 7 2003 Volume 03 : Number 229 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [loud-fans] Johns Cars eels Lips [Miles Goosens ] Re: [loud-fans] time has come today [Stewart Mason ] Re: [loud-fans] Neew Ween (ns) [Jenny Grover Subject: [loud-fans] Johns Cars eels Lips At 08:53 PM 8/5/2003 -0400, Stewart Mason wrote: >At 04:40 PM 8/5/2003 -0700, G. Andrew Hamlin wrote of TMBG: >>Still love'em, still can't tell the voices apart. Lyrically, if it's got >>a dark undertone, it's probably Linnell, which is why I like him better. > >I've always heard people talk about how they can't tell their voices apart, >but it's always been quite easy for me: Linnell has the extremely nasal >voice and Flansburgh has the thick townie accent. I didn't have a good handle on it until I saw them live. I didn't really get into them until FLOOD, and that was exactly when I didn't have MTV, so I'd never seen which John sang what before I saw them onstage. There's still a song now and then that'll throw me, though. On the other hand, I'm still shocked that most folks between here and Fegmaniax didn't know the Cars had two lead vocalists, but the solid majority was on the "I thought Ric Ocasek sang 'em all" side. Gearing up for the eels' first Nashville concert, at the Uptown Mix tonight. I'll be psyched to see them, but I wish their Nashville debut was a headlining gig instead of an opening slot. Still haven't decided whether to stick around for the Flaming Lips after the eels set -- the Lips aren't one of those acts I abhor (unlike FOW and Ben Folds, to take two recently discussed acts -- in fact, take 'em, please), but they've never interested me either, whether in their earlier weird-noise-pop phase or their current weird-orchestral-pop phase. Y'know when Dan Sallitt says that he's never been interested in a single musical idea he's heard out of Wilco? That's how the Flaming Lips have been for me. later, Miles ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 06 Aug 2003 11:06:04 -0400 From: Dan Sallitt Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Johns Cars eels Lips > Y'know when Dan Sallitt says that he's never been interested > in a single musical idea he's heard out of Wilco? That's how the > Flaming Lips have been for me. It's not quite that dire: I hear ideas I like in Wilco, and sometimes even songs (I think one is "Nothing's Every Gonna Stand in My Way Again" on SUMMERTEETH). My problems with the Flaming Lips are similar, actually. - Dan ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 06 Aug 2003 10:36:47 -0500 From: Miles Goosens Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Johns Cars eels Lips At 11:06 AM 8/6/2003 -0400, Dan Sallitt wrote: > > Y'know when Dan Sallitt says that he's never been interested > > in a single musical idea he's heard out of Wilco? That's how the > > Flaming Lips have been for me. > >It's not quite that dire: I hear ideas I like in Wilco, and sometimes >even songs (I think one is "Nothing's Every Gonna Stand in My Way Again" >on SUMMERTEETH). Oh, cool! Maybe having the girlfriend into Wilco is having a beneficial effect! :-) Lest I appear disingenuous, I searched my e-mail archives and found the Sallitt quote I was thinking about when I wrote that (from the Richard Thompson list nearly four years ago -- geezus, it's been four years?!?): >>I know Wilco has a number of fans on this list, but I've never been able >>to get into them; somehow their musical ideas don't make a dent in me. So there ya go. I wasn't trying to exaggerate, though now that I'm looking at the actual quote, I can see where I overstated a bit, though I think my memory was also factoring in your indifference to them live at the Beacon that year ('99). later, Miles ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 06 Aug 2003 09:31:50 -0700 From: Steve Holtebeck Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Johns Cars eels Lips Miles Goosens wrote: > Gearing up for the eels' first Nashville concert, at the Uptown Mix > tonight. I'll be psyched to see them, but I wish their Nashville debut > was a headlining gig instead of an opening slot. Still haven't decided > whether to stick around for the Flaming Lips after the eels set -- the > Lips aren't one of those acts I abhor (unlike FOW and Ben Folds, to > take two recently discussed acts -- in fact, take 'em, please), but > they've never interested me either, whether in their earlier > weird-noise-pop phase or their current weird-orchestral-pop phase. Stay for the Lips, Miles! I'm not a huge fan (loved THE SOFT BULLETIN, lukewarm on everything else), but their live shows are multimedia extravaganzas not to be missed.. video, smoke, lights, balloons, extras dancing onstage in all kinds of animal costumes (pigs, chickens).. they're like Alice Cooper shows as choreographed by Sid & Marty Krofft, or one of those 1967 Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd "happenings" at the UFO Club in swinging London. Some online reviews of the Lips live show (which don't do it justice!) http://us.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/07/flaming.lips/ http://www.drownedinsound.com/articles/51.html http://www.livedaily.com/news/5055.html At least stay for a few songs. The eels and Flaming Lips sounds like a great bill. When the Lips played SF a few months ago, Liz Phair opened for them, playing solo, which was kind of painful to watch. - -Steve ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 10:33:22 -0700 From: "Rex.Broome" Subject: [loud-fans] Do you sing like Olive Oyl on purpose? JeFFrey: >>To the rest of the world, it seems, which songs are Forster's and >>which McLennan's must be glaringly obvious - to me, for some reason, >>their voices are so similar I have to struggle to tell who's singing. >>Similarly, my ears have trouble distinguishing the Johns in TMBG >>(although that one's a little easier). Wow. If you really have trouble, I don't think describing the differences is going to help, since I am certainly part of the rest of the world to whom the difference is glaringly obvious. Although you could go by lyrical concerns and melodic tics in both of those cases as well; that might help. Forster is always described as more "literary" and favors intentionally awkward rhymes and phrasing; McLennan is the pop classicist with the penchant for turning a lyric sour at the last minute even in the pretty singles (battered wives, taking the eyes from his head, that kind of thing). I sometimes have trouble making the distinction between the Posies and Teenage Fannies, but I think that's fairly common. For TMBG I figured it out instantly because that was back when I still watched videos, so the impression of the singer of "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head" was so different from the guy singing "Don't Let's Start" that it's always been clear who's who. Except when they do weird "character" voices (and I usually assume that's Linnell, for some reason). Never realized that Linnell sings the singles since "Puppet Head" was the first tune I ever heard, but I guess that's been true ever since then. ____ Steve: >>"Rock and Roll Friend" was covered by Franklin Bruno and Nothing Painted >>Blue on POWER TRIPS DOWN LOVERS LANE It was also revived by Forster on his quite good LP "Warm Nights". That version adds a "Positively 4th Street"-style organ that's distracting if you're familiar with the original, but quite appropriate to the tune. >>"Wait Until June", and "Casanova's Last Words") every one of them >>top drawer and none of them on the album. The first two are on the >>1978-1990 compilation that Rex mentioned, but I've never been able to >>find the last two on CD. If memory serves, the vinyl version of 78-90 has several more rare tracks than the CD issue. I've always meant to seek out a copy and digitize the other stuff, but as the reissues have been coming fast and furious I've been assuming that everything's going to see the light of day fairly soon. Now I wonder if that's the case... Beggars doesn't even list the GB's on their artist roster, despite the "new" release. I don't get it. - -Rex ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 06 Aug 2003 13:57:03 -0500 From: Miles Goosens Subject: [loud-fans] time has come today So Melissa and I, who live largely radio-free lives these days, kept hearing this song in restaurants. It's centered around a piano riff, the singer sounds all Thom Yorke at some points and all Bono at others (yet I'm one of those people who doesn't hear that U2-Radiohead comparison!), the verses would have a downright Julian Cope-like feel if they had an oboe counterpoint, it's got a swelling crescendo, and I could never make out a lyric unless you count the "ooooooh ooooooooh"s in the chorus. Dang those restaurant sound systems! Anyway, without a lyric to hang our search on, we couldn't rightly Google the artist. My initial thought was "one of those Radiohead-alike bands," like Starsailor or late-model Travis. Well, when we were having lunch at a restaurant on Saturday, it got played again, and we hailed down a goateed twentyish waiter who looked like he'd know the song and the artist. Turns out that he did! It's "Clocks" by Coldplay. So my "Radiohead-alike band" instinct was vindicated. Now that I know what this song is, is anything by Coldplay worth following up on? We liked this song pretty well, though we're both wary that we won't like it as well now that the thrill of ID'ing the "mystery song" is gone. I know very well that I've seen them play on late night talk shows supporting both PARACHUTES and A RUSH OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD and I never could form a thought about them beyond "well, that'll sell to the kids who wish Radiohead was still doing THE BENDS." Anyone remember that Big Head Todd song from a few years ago that had this bizarrely Cope-like (c. WORLD SHUT YOUR MOUTH) chorus? I was always pretty shocked to hear it, like if John Mayer did his usual J.T. meets DMB thing for two verses and then dropped in a chorus from "Jimmy Still Comes Around." later, Miles ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 12:11:07 -0700 (PDT) From: "Joseph M. Mallon" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] time has come today On Wed, 6 Aug 2003, Miles Goosens wrote: > So Melissa and I, who live largely radio-free lives these days, kept > hearing this song in restaurants. It's centered around a piano riff, > the singer sounds all Thom Yorke at some points and all Bono at others > (yet I'm one of those people who doesn't hear that U2-Radiohead > comparison!), the verses would have a downright Julian Cope-like feel > if they had an oboe counterpoint, it's got a swelling crescendo, and I > could never make out a lyric unless you count the "ooooooh ooooooooh"s > in the chorus. The "ooohs" in "Clocks" sound like Sigur Ros, so the Radiohead comparison is even more apt. I thought it was Radiohead at first, too, until I realized it was too simple. Catchy song, though. > Anyone remember that Big Head Todd song from a few years ago that had > this bizarrely Cope-like (c. WORLD SHUT YOUR MOUTH) chorus? I was > always pretty shocked to hear it, like if John Mayer did his usual > J.T. meets DMB thing for two verses and then dropped in a chorus from > "Jimmy Still Comes Around." To tie it all together, John Mayer does an acoustic cover of "Kid A" that's pretty faithful. It's around on the Internet... Joe Mallon jmmallon@joescafe.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 23:01:11 -0400 From: dana-boy@juno.com Subject: [loud-fans] Neew Ween (ns) The simple review: Ween fans should like this, and some non-fans may like it as well (though the non-fans really should have gotten on board with "White Pepper" whose "Back to Basom" in particular is as good as anything Styx ever did*). Sadly, I don't find myself laughing anymore, but that's not really the point of what Ween are doing these days anyway. Still, they're walking a kind of fine line, as their "parodies" (in quotes because they were never exactly parodies) are a boognish's breath from the real thing, which is more problematic than I would have thought back when they "sounded just like Prince" on LMLYP. Don't think about it too much and "Quebec" sounds like a fun walk through the band's back catalog, with nods to many of their previous phases. Play it next to "God Ween Satan" and you'll start to cry for what's been lost. Oh well. - --dana *unironic Styx appreciation ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 06 Aug 2003 22:32:12 -0500 From: Jack Lippold Subject: Re: [loud-fans] time has come today Speaking of Julian Cope inspired outfits, there is a band called The Coral that had a song in rotation on Music Choice that sounded quite intriguing. Haven't heard much else by them though. >So Melissa and I, who live largely radio-free lives these days, kept >hearing this song in restaurants. It's centered around a piano riff, the >singer sounds all Thom Yorke at some points and all Bono at others (yet >I'm one of those people who doesn't hear that U2-Radiohead comparison!), >the verses would have a downright Julian Cope-like feel if they had an >oboe counterpoint, it's got a swelling crescendo, and I could never make >out a lyric unless you count the "ooooooh ooooooooh"s in the chorus. Dang >those restaurant sound systems! Anyway, without a lyric to hang our >search on, we couldn't rightly Google the artist. My initial thought was >"one of those Radiohead-alike bands," like Starsailor or late-model Travis. > >Well, when we were having lunch at a restaurant on Saturday, it got played >again, and we hailed down a goateed twentyish waiter who looked like he'd >know the song and the artist. Turns out that he did! It's "Clocks" by >Coldplay. So my "Radiohead-alike band" instinct was vindicated. > >Now that I know what this song is, is anything by Coldplay worth following >up on? We liked this song pretty well, though we're both wary that we >won't like it as well now that the thrill of ID'ing the "mystery song" is >gone. I know very well that I've seen them play on late night talk shows >supporting both PARACHUTES and A RUSH OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD and I never >could form a thought about them beyond "well, that'll sell to the kids who >wish Radiohead was still doing THE BENDS." > >Anyone remember that Big Head Todd song from a few years ago that had this >bizarrely Cope-like (c. WORLD SHUT YOUR MOUTH) chorus? I was always >pretty shocked to hear it, like if John Mayer did his usual J.T. meets DMB >thing for two verses and then dropped in a chorus from "Jimmy Still Comes >Around." > >later, > >Miles ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2003 00:59:25 -0400 From: Stewart Mason Subject: Re: [loud-fans] time has come today At 10:32 PM 8/6/2003 -0500, Jack Lippold wrote: >Speaking of Julian Cope inspired outfits, there is a band called The Coral >that had a song in rotation on Music Choice that sounded quite intriguing. >Haven't heard much else by them though. The Coral are from the same approximate area of Liverpool as Copey himself, I believe. Their first album sounded kind of like a cross between the Teardrop Explodes and Madness during their Ray Davies-inspired period around the time of THE RISE AND FALL, and it wasn't bad at all. (The song on Music Choice was almost certainly "Dreaming of You," which is probably their best tune.) Haven't heard their new one yet. S ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2003 00:33:06 -0500 From: Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey Subject: [loud-fans] this week's TWAS... ..contains vague yet evident spoilers (at least as far as I read before stopping) about the fifth Harry Potter book. ..Jeff J e f f r e y N o r m a n The Architectural Dance Society www.uwm.edu/~jenor/ADS.html :: crumple zones:::harmful or fatal if swallowed:::small-craft warning :: ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2003 01:56:45 -0400 From: glenn mcdonald Subject: Re: [loud-fans] this week's TWAS... I just re-tweaked one particular paragraph to not reveal one particular detail. I think the thing is now no more dangerous than you'd expect a newspaper book review to be. And anyway, if I've had time to finish the book by now, I figure everybody else should have... glenn ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2003 02:45:18 -0400 From: Jenny Grover Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Neew Ween (ns) dana-boy@juno.com wrote: >Still, they're walking a kind of fine line, as their "parodies" (in >quotes because they were never exactly parodies) are a boognish's breath >from the real thing, > A what? Jen ------------------------------ End of loud-fans-digest V3 #229 *******************************