From: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org (loud-fans-digest) To: loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Subject: loud-fans-digest V4 #84 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 Tuesday, March 23 2004 Volume 04 : Number 084 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [loud-fans] Since someone mentioned XTC... ["David Seldin" ] [loud-fans] Stroke-alikes, etc. ["Rex.Broome" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 09:12:19 -0500 From: "David Seldin" Subject: [loud-fans] Since someone mentioned XTC... ...I can finally contribute to the "surprising muzak" threads of the past: "Senses Working Overtime", sung by some chipper young thing, in a K-B Toystore, in suburban Cleveland. It got my attention, that's for sure. David ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 08:47:33 -0600 From: steve Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Since someone mentioned XTC... On Mar 22, 2004, at 8:12 AM, David Seldin wrote: > ...I can finally contribute to the "surprising muzak" threads of the > past: "Senses Working Overtime", sung by some chipper young thing, in > a K-B Toystore, in suburban Cleveland. It got my attention, that's > for sure. Did the chipper young thing sound like Mandy Moore? It could have been the lead track from her COVERAGE album. http://www.mandymoore.com/ You can hear clips in the music section. 1. Senses Working Overtime 2. The Whole Of The Moon 3. Can We Still Be Friends 4. I Feel The Earth Move 5. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters 6. Drop The Pilot 7. Moonshadow 8. One Way Or Another 9. Breaking Us In Two 10. Anticipation 11. Help Me 12. Have A Little Faith In Me - - Steve _______ vial abalone expiate associable immobility ben chinquapin confrontation zilch gauguin ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 09:54:03 -0500 From: Dan Sallitt Subject: [loud-fans] XTC, Star no Star > ...I can finally contribute to the "surprising muzak" threads of the > past: "Senses Working Overtime", sung by some chipper young thing, > in a K-B Toystore, in suburban Cleveland. It got my attention, > that's for sure. Rick Gagnon played this for me a while back: Mandy Moore did an album of covers, and this was the leadoff song. The rest of the covers weren't quite this esoteric, but the album seemed an attempt by Moore to expose her audience to indie and classic rock. I wonder if some loud-fans might enjoy this seemingly unsigned LA group, Star no Star. There are five mp3s at: http://www.starnostar.com/sounds.php Kind of a big, noisy pop-rock sound, with some nice chord changes. Reminds me a little of Shoes, or maybe Cheap Trick. "I Shine" is my favorite so far. - Dan ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 10:06:51 -0800 From: "Rex.Broome" Subject: [loud-fans] Stroke-alikes, etc. Bradley: >>And the mention of bad cover art transfers immediatly made me think of those >>recent Let's Active reissues--what a shame they couldn't be bothered to make >>those look halfway decent. Sigh. Collector's Choice. You gotta love 'em, and yet you gotta hate 'em. A never-ending source of reissues that no one else is going to do, and yet something is profoundly wrong with just about every single one of them. At least they're usually cheap. Which reminds me, they just put out that Rosebud record I've wanted to hear for years. Probably mastered off vinyl or something, but hey, they're the Collector's *Only* Choice, often as not. Re: the various bands being said to sound like the Strokes hereabouts... happened to hear one live last week myself, The Pleased, and I can't help thinking that it's been a really rapid turnaround since I thought that Strokes guy sounded just like Lou to a climate where I can tell that people are ripping him and *not* Lou off. I guess he added just the one little thing to that vocal style that the singers of the world can zero in on and replicate. Odd. Miles: >>Lambchop is one that doesn't do much for me. When I first saw them, I was intrigued >>with their Vic Chesnutt-w/horns-n-wrenches-n-keening-weird-synth sound, and had >>generally favorable things to say about them, but as time's moved on, I've become less >>interested in their stuff, even bored a lot of the time. I'll add my two cents here by saying that the album they did with Vic himself, The Salesman and Bernadette, is probably a rare case where the backing band is too good a match for the artist. Some good songs, of course, but the overall sound leaves you thinking you might be listening to Lambchop themselves, or to Vic with a band who's adept at aping Lambchop, and it kinda slides together... and at the same time, every time I've heard Lambchop since then, I've felt like Vic was supposed to be there. Shoulda been good, and kind of actually is, but somehow both artists lost points in my book. - -Rex ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 09:55:14 -0800 From: "Bradley Skaught" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Franz Ferdinand >My initial impressions were of Postcard bands like >Orange >Juice and Josef K There's plenty of that, too. Especially since FF seems less stern and "punk" than a lot of the current post-punk-ish bands. They've got some humor and good hooks and a certain buoyancy. My immediate reaction was Monochrome Set, though--not the jazzy lounge aspects, but the melodic wink-wink fun, and yet dark, aspects. Got that? > Over here they are definitely getting the benefit of the > next-big-thing tag, My idea of the new "it" band comes from reading nme.com every day and watching the sales at Amoeba Berkeley and Mod Lang (essentially a brit-import boutique shop, also in Berkeley.) It gives me the feeling of being on the cutting edge (although I tend to finally "get" stuff a year after everybody else.) > although I'm not sure how easily some of their stuff will > assimilate into > the mainstream. I don't see it, really--it's catchy stuff, but I don't seeing getting much beyond the size of, say, The Libertines. The local modern rock station will probably play a bit of them, though--the new station manager has worked hard to integrate newer, hipper stuff into the previous "all rap metal all the time" playlists. Now you're likely to hear Ash, Strokes, White Stripes and even Postal Service-size bands along with Bizkit, etc. It's quite a nice change. > btw - biggest bargain of the year so far, Graeme > Downes - Hammers and Anvils > from a couple of years ago. Those who know me know I swear by Mr. Downes as one of the greatest songwriters around, so I second it. Shame the U.S. dollar is so weak--there's a stellar Verlaines best-of out in New Zealand and it doesn't really look like anyone's putting it out here. The Verlaines are a tough sell, toughest of the classic NZ bands maybe, but I think they're really brilliant--one of the great lost catalogs in pop. So, do we think the Downes album was the worst selling pop album on Matador? B - --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.634 / Virus Database: 406 - Release Date: 3/18/2004 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 12:47:47 -0600 From: "Fortissimo" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Stroke-alikes, etc. On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 10:06:51 -0800, "Rex.Broome" said: > Re: the various bands being said to sound like the Strokes hereabouts... > happened to hear one live last week myself, The Pleased, and I can't help > thinking that it's been a really rapid turnaround since I thought that > Strokes guy sounded just like Lou to a climate where I can tell that > people are ripping him and *not* Lou off. I guess he added just the one > little thing to that vocal style that the singers of the world can zero > in on and replicate. Odd. Okay, am I the only one here who hears hardly any VU in the Strokes, or hardly any Lou in the singer? I really don't - to me, they're more early '80s, slightly arty, melodic post-punk. I mean, it's not as if I'm not familiar with the VU or Lou - I think I have nearly complete catalogs in both cases. I just don't hear it. Of course, once a media nibblet like that takes hold, there's no dislodging it: first the Strokes were the greatest thing since money, then they were the worst ripoff artists ever (exacerbated by the sin of having connections and being from money - as if all that many musicians in recent rock, particularly indie rock, come from poor families...). The hype made me suspicious, and the backlash made me curious. I like the first album pretty well (and the EP versions are different, but I haven't decided if they're better) - what I've heard of the second makes me think it's pretty similar, so I'll probably pick it up someday but no huge rush. All this, incidentally, reminds me why I don't generally read the BRitish music press (even at the price of being way out of the loop on New Hot Things) - there seems to be almost no relation between hype and quality. (All those sold on Gay Dad please raise your hands.) Of course, it's easy enough now to actually *hear* bands if you're curious - thank god for mp3s. - ------------------------------- ...Jeff J e f f r e y N o r m a n The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com/ :: Solipsism is its own reward :: :: --Crow T. Robot ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 11:36:17 -0800 From: "Bradley Skaught" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Stroke-alikes, etc. > Okay, am I the only one here who hears hardly any VU > in the Strokes, or > hardly any Lou in the singer? Yeah, I don't hear this at all. Nor do I hear any Television (the other big initial comparison.) Really, none. I'm amazed at how these comparisons take hold in the zeitgeist. I have co-workers, who may never have seriously listened to The Strokes, who will dismiss them along lines of the artists they've somehow heard they rip off. I mean, I realize that all desire is essentially imitation and so we all walk around with a fair amount of borrowed opinion, but it seems to me there's a difference between borrowing an opinion wholesale and looking into whether or not you agree with that opinion before you adopt it as your own. I suppose those who adopt the opinion blindly are either a) just trying to sound in the loop or b) just accepting the dismissive snobbery they try to apply to everything anyhow. Or, maybe, there's c) not being able to quite put their finger on what's going on and use idea that was relatively well put together that approximates their gut feeling. Option b is quite popular--that kind of cynicism is maddening to me. I have a co-worker who's never heard more than a few GBV songs, but likes to dismiss them as "an 80's indie sound-alike with fake British accents" and will whip that phrase out every time GBV comes up--he's been doing it for years without ever listening to the band to see if that opinion holds water, or even if it might have changed. It also seems like comparisons can make or break people's feelings about the album once they've adopted the comparison as fact. When the Television comparison was popular, people would hear the album and say, "Well, they're no Television"/"I'm a big Television fan, and they don't do it half as well"/"I'd rather just listen to Television"/etc. Somehow, the idea that they don't sound like Television wasn't an option. That said, I like The Strokes a lot--especially the second album. B - --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.634 / Virus Database: 406 - Release Date: 3/18/2004 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 13:58:49 -0600 From: "Fortissimo" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Stroke-alikes, etc. On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 11:36:17 -0800, "Bradley Skaught" said: Nor do I hear any Television (the other > big > initial comparison.) Really, none. Television? The Strokes? My mind is a forest of question marks. Weird. - ------------------------------- ...Jeff J e f f r e y N o r m a n The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com/ :: Miracles are like meatballs, because nobody can exactly agree :: what they are made of, where they come from, or how often :: they should appear. :: --Lemony Snicket ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 17:24:18 -0600 From: Miles Goosens Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Stroke-alikes, etc. At 10:06 AM 3/22/2004 -0800, Rex.Broome wrote: >Bradley: >>>And the mention of bad cover art transfers immediatly made me think of those >>>recent Let's Active reissues--what a shame they couldn't be bothered to make >>>those look halfway decent. > >Sigh. Collector's Choice. You gotta love 'em, and yet you gotta hate 'em. It's not just that it's a bad transfer, it's that their logo is plastered on it, and if it's a twofer, they do an unsatisfying cut-n-paste of both covers rather than going Ryko-deluxe-booklet on you and giving you your choice of full-size cover art from both releases. >Miles: >>>Lambchop is one that doesn't do much for me. When I first saw them, I was >intrigued >>>with their Vic Chesnutt-w/horns-n-wrenches-n-keening-weird-synth sound, >and had >>>generally favorable things to say about them, but as time's moved on, I've >become less >>>interested in their stuff, even bored a lot of the time. > >I'll add my two cents here by saying that the album they did with Vic >himself, The Salesman and Bernadette, is probably a rare case where the >backing band is too good a match for the artist. Some good songs, of >course, but the overall sound leaves you thinking you might be listening to >Lambchop themselves, or to Vic with a band who's adept at aping Lambchop, >and it kinda slides together... The songs on that are great, but Vic's voice is buried in the mix... sort of like Kurt Wagner's usually is. I did catch a show on their joint tour (Josh Rouse opened, with the amazing Will Kimbrough on guitar, and it's still the best set I've seen Josh do), and live, Vic's voice energized the band and knocked everything up several notches, bringing the fire lacking in the studio (and with Lambchop in general). After that show, I find the studio album even *more* disappointing, because now I know what those songs could be like. The Sessions at West 54th episode with Vic and Lambchop is another able demonstration of the live versions of those songs, though Kurt Wagner had to poison things for me in a Byrne interview segment. Wagner, responding to Byrne's anecdote about the announcer at the Talking Heads' 1977 Exit/In show (the infamous "punk rock comes to Nashville for the first and last time!" guy), conspiratorially disses Nashville's rock scene, at the very time that the rock scene was at its apogee here. Maybe that's the beginning of my dislike of Lambchop, who I'd convivially followed until that point... later, Miles ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2004 00:23:32 -0600 From: steve Subject: [loud-fans] Miyazaki, Wave II Totoro, Nausicaa, and Porco Rosso deluxe sets due on August 31. - - Steve __________ The homosexual activist movement is now closer than it has ever been to administering a devastating and potentially fatal blow to the traditional family.' - James Dobson, Focus on the Family ------------------------------ End of loud-fans-digest V4 #84 ******************************