From: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org (loud-fans-digest) To: loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Subject: loud-fans-digest V5 #61 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 Saturday, March 5 2005 Volume 05 : Number 061 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [loud-fans] CD Giveaway cont. ["Michael W. Zwirn" ] [loud-fans] Audioscrobbler [Michael Mitton ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 4 Mar 2005 15:49:43 -0800 From: "Michael W. Zwirn" Subject: [loud-fans] CD Giveaway cont. Still more CDs to disperse.... I'll add a bit of supplementary info if needed. CD LIST Lynnfield Pioneers, Emerge (1997 Matador Records) - AMG says "emerge seeks out the common ground between the Beastie Boys and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, slicing and dicing meaty hip-hop beats, crazed garage-rock riffs and vintage keyboard squawking; what could have amounted to little more than primordial pomo sludge is actually quite impressive when it catches fire" Here Comes Everybody, Thirteen (1998 self-released) - "Portland's original 3-piece piano-rock band" - TMBG/Ben Foldsy Cindy Bullens, Somewhere Between Heaven and Earth (1999 Artemis Records) - AMG says "Somewhere Between Heaven and Earth is a heart-rendered requiem for Bullens' young daughter who died of cancer in 1996, though it's largely about hope for the living. The singer/songwriter, who debuted in 1979 with Desire Wire, recorded this tribute with the help of a few friends. Bonnie Raitt and Beth Nielsen Chapman sing along on the soulful anthem "Gotta Believe in Something," and Bryan Adams guests on the title track; Lucinda Williams, Benmont Tench, and Rodney Crowell also contribute." Merrie Amsterburg, Little Steps (2000 Zok Records) - With unrelenting smarkiness, AMG says "Although Merrie Amsterburg has been working as a solo act for some time, you can still tell that she had an earlier career as a band singer because she has developed a mannered singing style that finds her purring and murmuring, rounding her syllables, and slurring in a breathy tone, a style designed to draw attention to itself in competition with a rock band. You can't avoid the comparisons; she sounds like she's listened closely to both Tori Amos' career-long imitation of Kate Bush and Natalie Merchant" Carla Werner, Departure (2003 Columbia Records) - AMG: "New Zealand-born, Sydney-based Carla Werner's first album is a moody, often downbeat work that showcases her remarkable voice. Somewhat like Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval, she infuses these introspective songs with passion and integrity." Sandy Weltman, The Klezmer Nuthouse (2000 self-released) RIYL: Klezmer. Or nutcases. The Secret Stars (1996 Shrimper Records) - Ida name-dropped them "en frangais" in one of their songs. They've gotta be good! Amy X Neuburg & Men, Utechma (1995 Racer Records) - AMG: "A very strong first record for Amy X Neuburg & Men, Utechma is a definite improvement from Amy X Neuburg's 1992 solo album. Of course, the instrumentation is richer and more varied (despite still relying heavily on synthesizers), but more importantly, the Men bring with them an improvisational dimension (in the short "Man Jam" tracks) that seem to give Neuburg the possibility to stretch her wacky side." A Brian Block favorite. Brendon Massei, No More Sad Eyes (2000 Broken Porch Records) - singersongwriter, using banjo as his primary instrument rather than acoustic guitar. Greg Douglass, If I Were a Man (1998 self-released) - sensitive songwriter, RIYL Greg Brown or Bill Morrissey Don Dixon, Romantic Depressive (1995 Sugar Hill) - legendary producer (R.E.M., etc.) doing swamp rock/blues. Cindy Lee Berryhill, Garage Orchestra (1994 Cargo Records) Cindy Lee Berryhill, Straight Outta Marysville (1996 Cargo Records) AMG writes of her, "Cindy Lee Berryhill is a folk-rock singer/songwriter who, although one hates to say it, plays better on paper than on record. Those who bemoan the decline of fresh singer/songwriter talent in the pop and rock mainstream have to admire her obvious respect for classic singer/songwriter values, and her determination to present them in a present-day context that doesn't merely ape the sound of the '60s and '70s. She has the desirable liberal and feminist politics, and is conscious of delivering these with a sense of humor." Brian Block again a big fan. Hedningarna, The Heathens (1996 Silence Records). Swedish modern folk, with English translations. Oddly this does not show up on their AMG discography. Again, free to good homes.... - --------------------- Michael W. Zwirn, michael@zwirn.com (t) 503-234-3901 (c) 503-887-9800 http://zwirn.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 4 Mar 2005 22:42:31 -0800 From: Michael Mitton Subject: [loud-fans] Audioscrobbler I just discovered Audioscrobbler. I only tried it out because it was integrated into my music player (plugins are available for most players), but I've decided it's pretty cool. If you have it enabled on your player, and you sign up for a free account, your player will send the tracks you play to Audioscrobbler, which will then locate your musical "neighbors". This is fine enough--by checking out my neighbors, it's clear I need to check out Iron & Wine. But the cool part is that you can go to any other users page, neighbor or otherwise, and by clicking on their personal radio button, Audioscrobbler will stream music to you based on that person's tastes (at 128kbps). If you don't want to listen to a particular song, just skip it, or permanently ban it from ever being played to you again. So thanks to my neighbor "krabbe", in the past 20 minutes I heard music from Tori Amos, Cat Power, Calexico, and Physics, all particular songs that were new to me, and skipped over the Galaxie 500 I already knew. It's worth checking out. mm ------------------------------ End of loud-fans-digest V5 #61 ******************************