From: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org (loud-fans-digest) To: loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Subject: loud-fans-digest V4 #144 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, May 27 2004 Volume 04 : Number 144 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [loud-fans] Wilco tx in NYC? ["Fortissimo" ] [loud-fans] Moz chart action ["Bradley Skaught" ] [loud-fans] So long as we're asking favors... [zoom@muppetlabs.com] RE: [loud-fans] So long as we're asking favors... ["Larry Tucker" ] Re: [loud-fans] So long as we're asking favors... ["Stefaan Hurts" ] [loud-fans] supposed chaotic green slime syndrome ["jer fairall" Subject: [loud-fans] Wilco tx in NYC? Hey - a friend of mine will be in NYC in June, and she'd love to see Wilco at the Irving Plaza on 6/8 but the show's sold out. Does anyone here either have any connections, know of anyone with tickets who can't go, etc. etc.? Let me know offlist - much appreciated... - ------------------------------- ...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: Wed, 26 May 2004 08:37:04 -0700 From: "Bradley Skaught" Subject: [loud-fans] Moz chart action Ah, these beautiful rays of light! I pulled this off the 'net... Bowing at No. 11 with "You Are the Quarry" (Attack/Sanctuary), Morrissey not only scores the highest position of his solo career but also beats out any chart placement he had with the Smiths. The set sold 56,000 copies in its first week, far exceeding 1997's "Maladjusted" (Mercury), which opened with just 19,000 and a No. 61 perch; the set has sold 87,000 to date. - --- An anonymous person writes: YATQ debuts at #11 on the Soundscan chart with 56,399 copies sold first week! To put that into perspective, here are first week sales for his albums since the start of Soundscan in 1992. Your Arsenal - 39,472 - #21 Vauxhall & I - 56,210 - #18 Southpaw Grammar - 14,279 - #66 Maladjusted - 19,020 - #61 You Are the Quarry - 56,399 - #11 Here are the top 15 albums in the US this week along with the number of copies sold last week. 1 USHER, CONFESSIONS 213966 2 METHOD MAN, TICAL 0:THE PREQUEL 164225 3 NEW FOUND GLORY CATALYST, 146816 4 WILSON*GRETCHEN, HERE FOR THE PARTY 138670 5 MORISSETTE*ALANIS, SO-CALLED CHAOS 114525 6 D-12, D12 WORLD 86730 7 HOOBASTANK, THE REASON 78344 8 8-BALL & MJG, LIVING LEGENDS 64641 9 VA-NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL MUSI, VOL. 15-NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL 58262 10 MONTGOMERY GENTRY, YOU DO YOUR THING 57922 11 MORRISSEY, YOU ARE THE QUARRY 56399 12 SHREK 2, SOUNDTRACK 53700 13 WINANS*MARIO, HURT NO MORE 53344 14 KRAVITZ*LENNY, BAPTISM 52194 15 OUTKAST, SPEAKERBOXX-LOVE 50186 - --- Sean writes: According to hitsdailydouble.com, You Are The Quarry has entered the US sales chart at number 10. Based on scanned sales throughout the US, the album sold 54,817 copies during the first week of sales. This does not include sales from stores that don't operate on the Soundscan system. "I don't believe I have time to go over what is wrong" -Felipe Alou - --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.690 / Virus Database: 451 - Release Date: 5/22/2004 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 08:49:25 -0700 From: "Vallor" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Calexico/Giant Sand > & both of these acts are truly outstanding live. highly highly > recommended. covertino & burns are prolly one of the tightest rock > rhythm sections working today. I'd also recommend the Jenny Toomey album "Tempting: Jenny Toomey Sings The Songs Of Franklin Bruno". The backing band is Covertino, Burns & Franklin Bruno and there's a pretty amazing mariachi styled version of "Your Inarticulate Boyfriend". The whole album is more in the torchy jazz vein than you might have expected, but not entirely out of place next to Bruno's albums from "Kiss Without Makeup" forward. Plus Franklin & Scott M are pals, so this is kind of on topic. - - Dan Vallor ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 11:11:20 -0700 (PDT) From: zoom@muppetlabs.com Subject: [loud-fans] So long as we're asking favors... ...anybody out there got a copy of LIVE AT THE OLD WALDORF they'd be willing to burn? I get a decent temp job, a decent bank account balance (although they insist on freezing it for a whole month--since when did that become standard proceedure?), and it goes out of print. Offlist is fine, thanks in advance. I've attended, poorly so far, the Seattle International Film Festival, and from what I've seen so far, it's a crying shame Dan's film didn't get in, although the documentary on Henry Darger was interesting enough. Kurosawa Kiyoshi and Ming-liang Tsai have new ones I haven't seen yet, though... Andy Two questions involving the duration of events: (1) So how long, exactly, was the standing ovation for Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11"? And (2) Did President Bush actually remain in a Florida classroom, reading from My Pet Goat, for seven minutes after he was informed of the second attack on the World Trade Center? Moore's anti-Bush documentary was received rapturously at its black-tie screening here Monday, and a friend told me the ovation lasted 25 minutes. In my report I suggested that Cannes ovations, like the estimates of parade crowds in Chicago, have a tendency to be exaggerated. Since I attended an 8 a.m. press screening, I was not inside the Palais des Festivals to clock it myself. Now I have another source. The ovation lasted 20 minutes, according to Variety, which may be correct, because its reporters all carry stopwatches to check the running times of movies. In any event it was "the longest ovation in the history of the festival," according to Thierry Fremaux, the festival's director. At a party Monday evening, I asked Moore. "It depends on when you start counting," he said. "Do you start with the beginning of the closing credits or when the lights go up? When they just wouldn't stop clapping, I walked out and they kept applauding in the lobby." And as for Bush's delay in reacting to the attack on the World Trade Center? Conventional wisdom has it that the president was reading to schoolchildren when he got the news and quickly left the room. The Moore version: He was informed of the first attack, went into the room anyway, was informed of the second attack, and remained with the students until a staff member suggested that he leave. "The teacher in that Sarasota classroom happened to tape the whole event," Moore told me. "We'd seen other footage from the networks, but it was all edited. She just left the camera running. She said nobody had ever asked her for the film. Bush didn't instinctively jump up and go into action, but just stayed on autopilot until someone told him what to do." - --Roger Ebert, from http://www.suntimes.com/output/eb-feature/cst-ftr-cannes19.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 14:55:02 -0400 From: "Larry Tucker" Subject: RE: [loud-fans] So long as we're asking favors... > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-loud-fans@smoe.org [mailto:owner-loud-fans@smoe.org] On Behalf > Of zoom@muppetlabs.com > Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2004 2:11 PM > To: loud-fans@smoe.org > Subject: [loud-fans] So long as we're asking favors... > > ...anybody out there got a copy of LIVE AT THE OLD WALDORF they'd be > willing to burn? I get a decent temp job, a decent bank account balance > (although they insist on freezing it for a whole month--since when did > that become standard proceedure?), and it goes out of print. Offlist is > fine, thanks in advance. If you're talking about the Television release try http://www.rhinohandmade.com/ It's been remastered and sounds MUCH better than the original. It was supposedly ltd to 5k copies. There's bound to some to be had. Larry ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 14:53:18 -0500 From: "Fortissimo" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] So long as we're asking favors... On Wed, 26 May 2004 11:11:20 -0700 (PDT), zoom@muppetlabs.com said: > And as for Bush's delay in reacting to the attack on the World Trade > Center? Conventional wisdom has it that the president was reading to > schoolchildren when he got the news and quickly left the room. > > The Moore version: He was informed of the first attack, went into the > room > anyway, was informed of the second attack, and remained with the students > until a staff member suggested that he leave. > > "The teacher in that Sarasota classroom happened to tape the whole > event," > Moore told me. "We'd seen other footage from the networks, but it was all > edited. She just left the camera running. She said nobody had ever asked > her for the film. Bush didn't instinctively jump up and go into action, > but just stayed on autopilot until someone told him what to do." > > --Roger Ebert, from > http://www.suntimes.com/output/eb-feature/cst-ftr-cannes19.html This would make an interesting split-screen moment, if the times could be coordinated. In one screen, footage of the Towers, news broadcasts, etc. In the other, Bush, continuing to struggle through his second-grade level reading... - ------------------------------- ...Jeff J e f f r e y N o r m a n The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com/ :: crumple zones:: :: harmful or fatal if swallowed :: :: small-craft warning :: ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 16:17:58 EDT From: JRT456@aol.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] So long as we're asking favors... In a message dated 5/26/04 3:57:20 PM, tonerbomb@warpmail.net writes: > This would make an interesting split-screen moment, if the times could be > coordinated. In one screen, footage of the Towers, news broadcasts, etc. > In the other, Bush, continuing to struggle through his second-grade level > reading... > There's a sad legacy for 9/11: Douchebags speculating about what was going on in the mind of our President as he contemplated an ongoing terrorist attack. Of course, if Bush had dashed from his chair to man the cockpit of Air Force One, there'd be Leftists whining about him panicking schoolchildren while fleeing for cover. The Damnwells record is a really good country-pop album like people pretended the Bodeans used to make, but you'll have to find out for yourself. Epic is using the promotion money to pay for Shakira's lunch this week. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 16:38:53 -0400 From: "Aaron Milenski" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] So long as we're asking favors... >There's a sad legacy for 9/11: Douchebags speculating about what was going >on >in the mind of our President as he contemplated an ongoing terrorist >attack. Here's my speculation about what was going through his mind: "Yay! Now I have an excuse to attack Iraq!!" P.S. Be careful who you call a "Douchebag." _________________________________________________________________ Best Restaurant Giveaway Ever! Vote for your favorites for a chance to win $1 million! http://local.msn.com/special/giveaway.asp ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 16:48:46 EDT From: JRT456@aol.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] So long as we're asking favors... In a message dated 5/26/04 4:42:25 PM, amilenski@hotmail.com writes: > > P.S. Be careful who you call a "Douchebag." > Why, are you all organizing? The most likely scenario, of course, is that the President was praying. That's likely hi-larious to fans of Michael Moore, but less funny to the millions of New Yorkers who were doing the same as the Towers burned. The Contrast, incidentally, have recorded a surprisingly good new album. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 14:02:49 -0700 From: "West Moran" Subject: [loud-fans] Bush's Brain > Here's my speculation about what was going through his mind: > > "Yay! Now I have an excuse to attack Iraq!!" Here's MY speculation about what was going through his mind: "................................................................" And here's what was going through Co-President Cheney's mind: "Yay! Now I have an excuse to attack Iraq!!" > P.S. Be careful who you call a "Douchebag." I wish I could heed your good advice, but I just can't resist: hey, Ryan Seacrest, you're a douchebag! West... OUT! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 17:04:30 -0400 From: "Stefaan Hurts" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] So long as we're asking favors... On Wed, 26 May 2004 16:17:58 EDT, JRT456@aol.com said: > The Damnwells record is a really good country-pop album like people > pretended the Bodeans used to make, but you'll have to find out for yourself. Epic > is using the promotion money to pay for Shakira's lunch this week. Can't be shaking a malnourished booty. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 19:58:35 -0400 From: "David Seldin" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] So long as we're asking favors... ...he said, speculating about what was going on in the President's mind as he contemplated an ongoing terrorist attack... It's like shooting a fish in a barrel. - ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2004 4:48 PM Subject: Re: [loud-fans] So long as we're asking favors... > In a message dated 5/26/04 4:42:25 PM, amilenski@hotmail.com writes: > > > > > > P.S. Be careful who you call a "Douchebag." > > > > Why, are you all organizing? The most likely scenario, of course, is that the > President was praying. That's likely hi-larious to fans of Michael Moore, but > less funny to the millions of New Yorkers who were doing the same as the > Towers burned. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 17:07:39 -0700 From: "Rex.Broome" Subject: [loud-fans] Giantsexico I'd second "Center of the Universe" as a good GS starting point, but I don't have as much GS as I'd like to, and oddly no Calexico records at all (I've heard a few radio sessions and keep intending to pick some up, but haven't yet). I also rated GS's covers album among my year-end top 10 a few years back. I know I'll probably eventually end up a Howe Gelb/Calexico completist. He's an astonishing solo performer... literally playing guitar, piano, harmonica, and discman at the same time (the guitar and piano thing involves hitting a root note or chord on one and a figure on the other, but I figure if you manage to eke more than a note out of each instrument within one measure, it counts as "at the same time"), without it being "showy" per se... he just seems to want to produce the most noise possible. And he and the Calexico guys just keep showing up on other records by performers I love, too (they're the band on a good piece of Neko Case's "Blacklisted", just for starters, and Gelb has backed PJ Harvey and Kristin Hersh). I kinda consider him a less bombastic, slightly earthier, and even more Neil Young-sounding version of Wayne Coyne. Plus, at the end of his shows, he leaves his guitar case open on the stage with CD's in it which you can take and just leave cash in there, all honor-system like. That just struck me as so cool that I actually overpaid by a couple bucks. - -Rex, who mentioned the Neil thing because if anyone took me up on the recommendation to see Howe in concert they would probably think, damn, Rex screwed me, he only likes this guy because he sounds Neil Young, but that's simply not true... ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 20:16:25 -0400 From: "jer fairall" Subject: [loud-fans] supposed chaotic green slime syndrome Maybe this won't be as funny to people who didn't grow up in Canada in the 80's, but this made me laugh as much as anything in a while-- http://www.theonion.com/news/index.php?issue=4021&n=1 And yeah, I'm really liking the new Alanis album. Jer Support Care2 Email: Stop "scientific" whaling, the whale-killing loophole http://www.care2.com/go/z/12803 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 21:06:01 EDT From: JRT456@aol.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] So long as we're asking favors... In a message dated 5/26/04 8:00:19 PM, david.seldin@french.toast.net writes: > It's like shooting a fish in a barrel. > Sure, as long as you're unable to make a distinction between seriously wondering how our nation's leader was coping in a horrific moment and trivializing a national tragedy. Is that distinction really that difficult for you? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 21:16:15 -0400 From: Jenny Grover Subject: Re: [loud-fans] supposed chaotic green slime syndrome I like this quote: "Once you've been in a food fight with someone, there's a bond that can never really be broken." Jen ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 20:39:30 -0500 From: steve Subject: Re: [loud-fans] So long as we're asking favors... On May 26, 2004, at 3:48 PM, JRT456@aol.com wrote: > The most likely scenario, of course, is that the > President was praying. I guess that's when Jesus the Christ told him that Saddam was behind the attack. Someone seems a bit irritable, could it be those mid-to-low 40s approval numbers? - - Steve __________ The Bush/Nixon bond is a most peculiar union, given the immense class gap between the Man from Whittier and the would-be dynasty in Kennebunkport. And yet there's an important similarity between them after all. Despite the Bush clan's vast advantage, that crew is, oddly, just as thin-skinned and resentful as the Trickster. Like him, they never forget a slight, and always feel themselves impaired; and so-like Nixon-they tend to favor The Attack. - Mark Crispin Miller ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 22:07:37 EDT From: JRT456@aol.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] So long as we're asking favors... In a message dated 5/26/04 9:46:42 PM, steveschiavo@mac.com writes: > Someone seems a bit irritable, could it be those mid-to-low 40s > approval numbers? > No, it's probably because many views from my new home look out to where the WTC Towers once stood. Some of us are still nostalgic for them, you know. There are even many New Yorkers who still don't have much of a sense of humor about the actual events of 9/11. And while it's sweet of you to worry about approval numbers, I don't think Republicans are too concerned. Kerry can't even muster up the numbers that Michael Dukakis once had. As for that really important pop music: That new Tommy Keene rarities disc is pretty good, but it'll sound a lot better if you buy a used copy for cheap. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 22:34:58 -0400 From: "Aaron Milenski" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] So long as we're asking favors... >There are even many New Yorkers who still don't have much of a sense of >humor about the actual events of 9/11. I don't have a sense of humor about it either. I was dead serious when I said Bush's thought was "now I get my war in Iraq." From all accounts, Moore's new movie is a lot less "humorous" than his previous films. Then again, I'd be silly if I expected him not to take a few low blows here and there... _________________________________________________________________ Is your PC infected? Get a FREE online computer virus scan from McAfee. Security. http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 22:48:43 EDT From: JRT456@aol.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] So long as we're asking favors... In a message dated 5/26/04 10:38:34 PM, amilenski@hotmail.com writes: > I don't have a sense of humor about it either. I was dead serious > when I said Bush's thought was "now I get my war in Iraq." > Oh, you're not doing yourself justice. In fact, you said that you believe Bush's first thought was "Yay! Now I have an excuse to attack Iraq!!" I'd like to think that any intelligent person on the Left or Right would understand how pathetic and petty it is to imagine our President reacting with glee to a terrorist attack on American soil. But then, this is the same List where a guy saw a plane hit the WTC, and his first instinct was to post a really excited e-mail about it here. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 23:13:07 -0400 From: Cardinal007 Subject: Re: [loud-fans] So long as we're asking favors... On Wednesday, May 26, 2004, at 10:34 PM, Aaron Milenski wrote: > >> There are even many New Yorkers who still don't have much of a sense >> of humor about the actual events of 9/11. > > I don't have a sense of humor about it either. I was dead serious > when I said Bush's thought was "now I get my war in Iraq." If you weren't trying to be humorous, and if you weren't trying to be clever, but you honestly believe that Bush's thought upon learning of the planes ploughing into the world trade centers was "now I get my war in Iraq," your cynicism exceeds anything I have ever seen from any cynic commenting on a President. Your belief presupposes a level of uncaring, inhumane, manipulative, sophisticated evil that seems utterly belied by the behavior of Bush prior to 9/11. Whether he's a Christian, extremist cocksucker or not, I've never seen any evidence of either the level of quick, sophisticated thought, or the level of sociopathic disregard for those killed and the nation itself. So I would label you not a "douchebag," but the sort of douchenozzle who should be ashamed of himself for falling prey to the easy path of rendering his philosophical enemy a cartoon. You'd take a bazooka to a gnat. You douchebag. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 23:13:23 -0500 From: steve Subject: Re: [loud-fans] So long as we're asking favors... On May 26, 2004, at 10:13 PM, Cardinal007 wrote: > You'd take a bazooka to a gnat. Seen Clancy and Zinni on TV the last couple of days? That bazooka is aimed at something more than a gnat. Bush is a danger to the nation - he has no ideas of his own and doesn't know enough to recognize when his retainers are giving him bad advice. Pampered, empty rich boy + Jesus at 40 + governor of Texas = nothing much. - - Steve __________ George Bush was not elected by a majority of the voters in the United States. He was appointed by God. - Lt. General William G. "Jerry" Boykin ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 00:29:12 EDT From: JRT456@aol.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] So long as we're asking favors... In a message dated 5/27/04 12:17:37 AM, steveschiavo@mac.com writes: > Seen Clancy and Zinni on TV the last couple of days? > Yeah, I saw Zinni with his list of Jews who he blames for leading America to war. That's some classy folks you Leftists align with nowadays. But weren't we discussing something else? Concrete Blonde was important in inspiring many lesbians to give up folk music, and in allowing me to meet Jim Mankey, which certainly didn't seem likely to happen before 1986. Still, this reissued debut album continues to sound kinda clunky. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 23:35:22 -0500 From: "Fortissimo" Subject: [loud-fans] from Ms. Grover's kitchen sink Last month, Jenny Grover sent me a mix CD called _Kitchen Sink_, whose contents are listed below: 1. Bleu "Get Up" 2. Mark Lanegan "Clear Spot" (Beefheart cover) 3. Stewart Copeland & Derek Holt "Love Lessons"* 4. Ben Lee "Something Borrowed, Something Blue" 5. Chris Von Sneidern "Split It"* 6. All Night Radio "Fall Down 7"* 7. The Wrens "Everyone Choose Sides"* 8. The Adverts "New Boys" 9. The Rapture "Pop Song" 10. 90 Day Men "When Your Luck Runs Out" 11. The Church "Sealine" 12. Swell "Sunshine Everyday" 13. Crash "International Velvet" 14. New Folk Implosion "Releast" 15. Toshack Highway "Cannery Row" 16. Absinthe Blind "Bands 1" 17. Truly "Hot Summer 1991" 18. Death of Samantha "Amphetamine" 19. Action Now "I'm Not Trying to Hurt You" * - songs I knew beforehand, in these versions. "Get Up" is a good, swaggering rocker to start things off. Then, Lanegan is a good choice to cover the Captain's growling innuendo, in this case apparently singing through a megaphone (or a filter that makes him sound that way). Some good crunchy distortion on the guitars, including the necessary slide guitar. Just recently I ran across an elderly cassette with that Stewart Copeland/Derek Holt track, and I remembered thinking, hey, this is a pretty good song. (I may even dust off that Klark Kent LP in the basement...) So it was a nice co-winky dent when Jen put this track here. I'm not sure why Copeland collaborated with Holt, who (if AMG is correct) is best known as bass player from the Climax Blues Band (who - if you listened to FM radio in the '70s - were best known for their _FM Live_ 2-LP set - the one whose cover looked like one of those silver-cased tuners you'd see back then) - but it reminded me that Copeland's songs are some of my favorites from the first couple Police albums. (Tangentially, interesting bit about the unfortunate role in our recent history played by Stewart's father, in the latest _Harper's_: an object lesson against trying to manage other people's cultures...) I have this idea that the entire Ben Lee track arose pearl-like from the grain of the little bent-string guitar figure that opens it: somehow, it has that sinuous, slightly psychedelically menacing feel throughout. The middle sets a couple of fuzzed-out rhythm guitars against a tremolo'd, distorted guitar reminiscent of the little figure in "For What It's Worth" - then into a slightly disorienting middle-eight. "Split It" is, so far, my fave CVS track - oddly, I have it in at least three different places. THanks to Jen's advocacy, I picked up the All Night Radio CD - I think I described it to someone as ELO remaking _Pet Sounds_, or something like that. Anyway, it's good - just don't expect many blank spaces in the sonic canvas: if there's a space to cram yet another keyboard or odd-textured guitar or vocal harmony, these guys'll fill it up. As everyone here probably knows, I love the Wrens - this one begins with a wonderfully distorted guitar - I mean, it sounds like they took the tape and ran it over with a car several times. I like the vaguely clavinet-sounding rhythm doohickey during the verses too - these guys make the most of their limited recording situation. Ah, the early days of new wave: the Adverts' track is fun enough, but it really would have better impact if the band were tighter rhythmically. They try to shift up the beats and tempi here, but it's pretty slack. The Rapture's track builds nicely - I like the guitar sound in its lower register, but the bass & drums are a bit muddy. Then - omigod, the singer sounds like a dying baby seal impersonating Daniel Smith (Danielson Famile). Why the hell did he sing it in that register? I mean, okay: strain to your highest notes because that's the effect, but if they'd played it down a fifth or so, he could actually sing it instead of squalling it horribly. Oh well - can't like everything. For some reason, I can never remember how the 90 Day Men's track goes...watery guitar echoinng the vocal line, acoustic rhythm guitar, some swirly noises, nice little piano countermelody...it's all pretty nice, but for some reason doesn't stick in my head. Give it time... The Church builds up a nice, thick, dense cloud of guitar noise to begin this one, then develops that into a trademark Church sound: midtempo, low vocals doubled an octave up, long, meandering verse structure...but they seem engaged here, whereas when I last checked in with them (an album or two after The Best Selling One) they seemed...not all there. A good, moody track - again, some nice guitar sounds in the solo near the end. The Swell track is a good follow-up - the title literally evokes sunshine, and the misty keyboard sound feels like the clearing away of morning mist - after the foggy night that is that Church track. "International Velvet" is another one I can never quite remember - it's not bad or anything, except the vocalist tends to go flat, and is oddly recorded, with the voice fluctuating oddly in volume as if he's afraid of the microphone. My Barlow immunity continues: I react in no particular way to the New Folk Implosion track, except that its minor-chord melody seems kind of blah. For some reason, despite my Swervedriver fandom, I never checked out Adam Franklin's Toshack Highway project - probably because I kept forgetting the name, and if I saw it somewhere figured it was some country band or something. It's not. It's recognizably Franklin's writing and singing, although in a more intimate, less sonically dense way. If you (for some reason) compare Red House Painters with Swervedriver, then chart Kozelek's evolution since that band (and subtract all the covers), then Franklin's apparently undergone a similar evolution, given his different starting point. That was some sort of mathematical approach - perhaps I should rephrase it in the manner of an SAT question. Anyway, a very nice track, and I'm quite happy Jen included this one. I keep trying on comparisons for the Absinthe Blind track...there's something that reminds me of, of all people, David Gilmour - but the arrangement's slightly gothy at first, and then there's sort of jazzy trumpet solo, so now I'm thinking along the lines of a collaboration between Elysian Fields and Pink Floyd. Uh, okay...anyway, I like it well enough. Truly is one of those vaguely grungey bands made of up second-tier guys from famous bands, right? (Checks AMG - pretty much) Given that recipe, I wouldn't expect to like it too much - but actually, if you can get past the singer's slightly too grunge-ready, gruff, vowel-mangling vocals, this is a nice attempt to put together the somewhat expected '70s hard-rock touches with some psychedelia (mellotron!) and a few left-field touches, like a couple moments of electric piano. Rather an interesting track, actually - I get used to those vocals pretty quick, and I like the instrumental portions a lot. If I remember correctly, Death of Samantha was the band the Cobra Verde guy was in beforehand, right? (This time, you can check AMG...) Anyway, this is a nice sort of snotty rocker, built on a guitar riff that sorta sounds like "Ticket to Ride" turned sideways - you can hear the hints of glam that show up later on in CV. (And if I'm wrong about CV, well, sue me: proto-neo-glam it is anyway.) Action Now sounds like one of those late seventies/early eighties acts that really liked the first four Beatles albums - and the Flamin' Groovies. A somewhat odd series of stops doesn't quite work - but I still like it pretty well. All in all, a success here - a couple tracks that make me want to hear more from the bands involved, a couple nicely chosen songs I'm familiar with, and only one or two duds serving as consumer protection devices... Thanks, Jen! - ------------------------------- ...Jeff J e f f r e y N o r m a n The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com/ :: crumple zones:: :: harmful or fatal if swallowed :: :: small-craft warning :: ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 23:45:41 -0500 From: "Fortissimo" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] So long as we're asking favors... On Wed, 26 May 2004 23:13:23 -0500, "steve" said: > On May 26, 2004, at 10:13 PM, Cardinal007 wrote: > > > You'd take a bazooka to a gnat. > > > Seen Clancy and Zinni on TV the last couple of days? That bazooka is > aimed at something more than a gnat. Bush is a danger to the nation - > he has no ideas of his own and doesn't know enough to recognize when > his retainers are giving him bad advice. Not to mention that even conservatives (conventionally defined) are having serious doubts about Bush these days. As well they should: Bush's actions are anything but "conservative." I think there's a bit of tone-impairment going around these days. I read Aaron's comments not as a literal description of Bush's thoughts at that moment, but as a sardonic, caustic tilting of the same. Me, I doubt Bush thought *right then*, hey, I can invade Iraq now - but as Richard Clarke has testified, there was - almost immediately - a feeling that Iraq either was or *should be* behind the attacks - and Iraq was the early choice of target. And of course, the antipathy of Rumsfeld et al. to Iraq, and their desire to overthrow Saddam and have a friendlier government in place is well-known, and predates 9/11 considerably. So while it's unlikely that Bush *immediately* thought "yay! Now I can invade Iraq!" - the gist of his actions in the next few days pretty much amounted to that. As for cynical reactions to the attacks: recall that *within a day or two* of the attacks, you could already see t-shirts for sale with slogans relating to the attack. The presence of those shirts and bumper stickers, etc., means that at least some people's first thoughts, literally within hours of the attack, was, hey, what an opportunity to make a few bucks. - ------------------------------- ...Jeff J e f f r e y N o r m a n The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com/ :: Some days, you just can't get rid of a bomb :: --Batman ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 23:51:48 -0500 From: "Fortissimo" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] So long as we're asking favors... On Thu, 27 May 2004 00:29:12 EDT, JRT456@aol.com said: > Concrete Blonde was important in inspiring many lesbians to give up folk > music And ever since, folkies' vans have been breaking down with no one to repair them, in increasing frequency. Sad, really. - ------------------------------- ...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: Thu, 27 May 2004 00:58:30 EDT From: AWeiss4338@aol.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] So long as we're asking favors... In a message dated 5/27/2004 12:43:42 AM Eastern Daylight Time, JRT456@aol.com writes: Yeah, I saw Zinni with his list of Jews who he blames for leading America to war. That's some classy folks you Leftists align with nowadays. But weren't we I've heard nothing anti Jewish from him, in all the interviews Zimi has done. Unless I'm misinterpreting something, this kind of remark has no place here. Or anywhere. Yes, we Jews, we always start shit don't we. Not! Andrea ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 01:11:40 EDT From: JRT456@aol.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] So long as we're asking favors... In a message dated 5/27/04 1:00:34 AM, AWeiss4338@aol.com writes: > I've heard nothing anti Jewish from him, in all the interviews Zimi has > done. > Unless I'm misinterpreting something, this kind of remark has no place here. > Or anywhere. Yes, we Jews, we always start shit don't we. Not! > Sorry, Andrea, but there's little doubt what Zinni's saying when he lists five Jews as the people who've brought America to war to protect Israel's interests. His most recent public airing was on this past Sunday's "60 Minutes," but this is an old rap from Zinni. Now, unless you're misinterpreting something, you'll have to explain what's supposedly so inappropriate about my noting that the Left (or, in this case, a List member) is aligning themselves with people like Zinni. If, that is, we want this to go off on some new tangent.... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 01:54:11 -0400 From: Jenny Grover Subject: Re: [loud-fans] from Ms. Grover's kitchen sink Fortissimo wrote: >Holt, who (if AMG is correct) >is best known as bass player from the Climax Blues Band > That is correct. >THanks to Jen's advocacy, I picked up the All >Night Radio CD - I think I described it to someone as ELO remaking _Pet >Sounds_, or something like that. > That's not at all a bad description. >Ah, the early days of new wave: the Adverts' track is fun enough, but it >really would have better impact if the band were tighter rhythmically. >They try to shift up the beats and tempi here, but it's pretty slack. > > It's from a live radio show, so there may well be a tighter version out there, but I don't have their studio stuff. Actually, I rather like that slack element, though. >The Rapture's track builds nicely - I like the guitar sound in its lower >register, but the bass & drums are a bit muddy. Then - omigod, the singer >sounds like a dying baby seal impersonating Daniel Smith (Danielson >Famile). Why the hell did he sing it in that register? I mean, okay: >strain to your highest notes because that's the effect, but if they'd >played it down a fifth or so, he could actually sing it instead of >squalling it horribly. Oh well - can't like everything. > > Ha-ha! I love this song for mainly the reasons Jeff doesn't! It sucks you in like an ordinary power pop song and then almost scares the pants off of you with those vocals. That having been said, those vocals continued to grow on me until it became my favorite track on the album. After all the cool (and not so cool) weird shit I routinely heard in the 80's, it was a nice surprise to hear this come out 2-3 years ago. The Rapture pretty much sounds nothing like this album ("Out of the Races and Onto theTracks") now, and I can't say as I like the turn they took. >For some reason, I can never remember how the 90 Day Men's track >goes...watery guitar echoinng the vocal line, acoustic rhythm guitar, >some swirly noises, nice little piano countermelody...it's all pretty >nice, but for some reason doesn't stick in my head. Give it time... > > Yes, do. It's one of those things that floats in like the backing track to a recurring dream and sort of worms into your head over time, or at least it did for me, having heard it numerous times on 3WK before plunking down the bucks. It's also not like most of the rest of the album, which is quite proggy with Geddy Lee-ish vocals (which HAVE to be coming out of a different body than this guy's, but I don't know anything about the bandmembers). >"International Velvet" is another one I can never quite remember - it's >not bad or anything, except the vocalist tends to go flat, and is oddly >recorded, with the voice fluctuating oddly in volume as if he's afraid of >the microphone. > > That would be Mark Dumais. Since this is one of the b-side songs to the "Crash" 12", it may well be a demo. >Truly is one of those vaguely grungey bands made of up second-tier guys >from famous bands, right? > Depends who you ask. I'm not sure just whence Robert Roth came (maybe he sprung fully formed from someone's head), but Hiro Yamamoto and Mark Pickerel are no slouches and were founding members of their previous bands. Hiro retired from music in favor of home and family life. Mark records under the name Dark Fantastic, whose songs that I've put on former Loud-mixes have garnered quite favorable comments. As for grunge-readiness this IS a mid 90's Seattle record, after all. >If I remember correctly, Death of Samantha was the band the Cobra Verde >guy was in beforehand, right? > Actually, 3/4 of DOS are in CV. >Action Now sounds like one of those late seventies/early eighties acts >that really liked the first four Beatles albums - and the Flamin' >Groovies. > And indeed they are! Or were. They existed from '81-'84, and the master of their first album, which had only been released in France, and which makes up about half of the CD this is from, was thought lost for 20 years. Avebury Records sent me this as a promo and I'm quite glad they did. It's enjoyable in a very nostalgic way. I reviewed it in Tone and Groove, for anyone interested: http://toneandgroove.com/core/archive/core0304.html >All in all, a success here - a couple tracks that make me want to hear >more from the bands involved, a couple nicely chosen songs I'm familiar >with, and only one or two duds serving as consumer protection devices... >Thanks, Jen! > > You're welcome! Glad you're enjoying it and hadn't heard it all before. Jen ------------------------------ End of loud-fans-digest V4 #144 *******************************