From: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org (loud-fans-digest) To: loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Subject: loud-fans-digest V5 #111 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 Wednesday, May 4 2005 Volume 05 : Number 111 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: [loud-fans] The Mann Act [A52boy@aol.com] [loud-fans] if anybody knows... [A52boy@aol.com] RE: [loud-fans] if anybody knows... ["Larry Tucker" ] Re: [loud-fans] The Mann Act ["jer fairall" ] Re: [loud-fans] The Mann Act [Michael Zwirn ] Re: [loud-fans] The Mann Act ["Roger Winston" ] Re: [loud-fans] Emusic (was: The Mann Act) [Chris Prew ] Re: [loud-fans] Emusic (was: The Mann Act) [Bill Silvers ] Re: [loud-fans] The Mann Act [A52boy@aol.com] Re: [loud-fans] The Mann Act [A52boy@aol.com] Re: [loud-fans] The Mann Act [Jeff ] Re: [loud-fans] The Mann Act ["Stewart Mason" ] Re: [loud-fans] The Mann Act [Jeff ] Re: [loud-fans] The Mann Act [A52boy@aol.com] Re: [loud-fans] The Mann Act [JRT456@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 10:59:15 EDT From: A52boy@aol.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] The Mann Act In a message dated 5/3/05 2:42:13 AM Eastern Daylight Time, treesprite@earthlink.net writes: > > Anyone here heard the new Aimee Mann CD? >Reports? I think it's really awful The only album I think is really awful she's done is the first 'til Tuesday album ("Voices Carry" is still the only song on that record I think is good). It's horrible right down to its grey parachute pants. Do you think LOST IN SPACE was a better album? I think this'll please the people who thought that one was just too MOR and mid-tempo. Maybe she's like The Cure now, where they got a sound on THE HEAD ON THE DOOR, and basically kept it from that point on through the '90s, with slight variations. - --Mark ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 11:26:14 EDT From: A52boy@aol.com Subject: [loud-fans] if anybody knows... I was wondering if Aimee Mann's family can be traced to South Carolina. There is a high school here in town named J.L. Mann high, named after a prominent South Carolinian from ages of yore, and she does have that song where she talks about going to Myrtle Beach to be with her dad. It's crossed my mind a few times that there may be the possibility of some kind of connection. If anyone knows anything about her family line, e-mail me off-list and please fill me in. The pleasure is in the details, - --Mark ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 12:00:17 -0400 From: "Larry Tucker" Subject: RE: [loud-fans] if anybody knows... > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-loud-fans@smoe.org [mailto:owner-loud-fans@smoe.org] On Behalf > Of A52boy@aol.com > Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2005 11:26 AM > To: loud-fans@smoe.org > Subject: [loud-fans] if anybody knows... > > I was wondering if Aimee Mann's family can be traced to South Carolina. > There is a high school here in town named J.L. Mann high, named after a > prominent South Carolinian from ages of yore, and she does have that song > where she > talks about going to Myrtle Beach to be with her dad. It's crossed my > mind a > few times that there may be the possibility of some kind of connection. > All I know is that she's from Virginia. She often commented on family being in the audience when she's played at Birchmere in D.C. of the Rams Head in Annapolis. Larry ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 09:05:22 -0700 From: Michael Zwirn Subject: Re: [loud-fans] if anybody knows... On May 3, 2005, at 8:26 AM, A52boy@aol.com wrote: > I was wondering if Aimee Mann's family can be traced to South > Carolina. > There is a high school here in town named J.L. Mann high, named after > a > prominent South Carolinian from ages of yore, and she does have that > song where she > talks about going to Myrtle Beach to be with her dad. It's crossed > my mind a > few times that there may be the possibility of some kind of > connection. > Well, she also talks about a non-existent mother calling "from where she's living up in Troy, Vermont," and I tend to assume she's just speaking in character. At least she's better about it than Lucinda Williams, who's often written songs that might as well be crib notes from a Baedeker's guide to Deep South geography. - --------------------- Michael W. Zwirn, michael@zwirn.com (t) 503-234-3901 (c) 503-887-9800 http://zwirn.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 16:18:21 -0400 From: "jer fairall" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] The Mann Act THE FORGOTTEN ARM sounds exactly like Aimee Mann to me, but as she is my single favorite artist of all time, that's fine with me. My first two times through I thought it sounded nice but kinda samey, a reaction that I also had to LOST IN SPACE, which I ended up adoring. I have a feeling that I won't really start appreciating this album until about a month from now, when I'll be falling asleep or waiting for the bus or something and one of these songs will suddenly pop into my head and refuse to leave. And then the rest will eventually follow. In fact, "Goodbye Caroline" is starting to do just that already. Still, I think the problem with her last two records ("problem" maybe not being the right word, as I don't think that there is anything seriously wrong with them) is that she's worked so hard to make them consistent that the music ends up lacking some variety. Listen to the fantastic LOST IN SPACE-era b-sides "Backfire" and "Observatory" (available on the LIS Special Edition, which, if you haven't bought *that* album yet, is definitely the way to go) as proof that she hasn't forgotten how to write other kinds of songs. One of her strengths from WHATEVER through to BACHELOR NO. 2, to me, was her (and her collaborators) ability to use production quirks without them somehow ever sounding obtrusive or distracting. The sound on last two albums is perhaps a bit too smooth. I suppose it wouldn't hurt her to work with Jon Brion again the next time out. Elsewhere, I have a feeling that people who end up not liking the new Aimee Mann will also dislike the new Ben Folds album SONGS FOR SILVERMAN for similar reasons. This one I really *am* having some trouble getting into, maybe because I don't feel that Ben does "restraint" as well (or at least, as well over the course of an entire record) as Aimee does. I'm seeing him live tomorrow night, though, so maybe hearing these songs in a different setting, mixed in with his other ones, will help change my perspective towards them. Bright Eyes' I'M WIDE AWAKE IT'S MORNING and The Bloc Party's SILENT ALARM are still my first and second favorite albums of the year so far, but the new Mountain Goats album THE SUNSET TREE, though, is really good, and I think I like this higher-fi TALLAHASSEE/WE SHALL ALL BE HEALED/THE SUNSET TREE era of his career the best, so far. Regina Spektor's SOVIET KITSCH (which glenn recommended to me) is terrific, an album I keep insisting to describe, convolutedly, as a cross between Liz Phair's EXILE AND GUYVILLE and the Dresden Dolls but which will probably make more sense to most people as a more playful Tori Amos. The reissue of KING OF AMERICA makes a good case for it as possibly Elvis Costello's best album, and the new Sloan best-of A-SIDES WIN contains one song ("Try To Make It") that I think is a million times better than anything they've put out since BETWEEN THE BRIDGES. 2005 is suddenly starting to sound pretty good. Jer http://www.Care2.com Free e-mail. 100MB storage. Helps charities. Make a Difference: Tell U.S. Congress to stop hurting our health care! http://www.care2.com/go/z/healthcare ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 13:42:55 -0700 From: Michael Zwirn Subject: Re: [loud-fans] The Mann Act On May 3, 2005, at 1:18 PM, jer fairall wrote: > Still, I think the problem with her last two records ("problem" > maybe not being the right word, as I don't think that there is > anything seriously wrong with them) is that she's worked so hard to > make them consistent that the music ends up lacking some variety. > One of her strengths from WHATEVER through to BACHELOR NO. 2, to me, > was her (and her collaborators) ability to use production quirks > without them somehow ever sounding obtrusive or distracting. The > sound on last two albums is perhaps a bit too smooth. I suppose it > wouldn't hurt her to work with Jon Brion again the next time out. Interesting thoughts, jer. That ties in really well with the career update I did for the Aimee Mann entry at Trouser Press at http://trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=aimee_mann. "Its noteworthy that Manns independent route has yielded a higher rate of productivity and consistently good-to-great songs, but less sonic variety than her first two solo albums demonstrated." That write-up was completed just before The Forgotten Arm was released. (For reasons I can't explain, in Paragraph 5, her album title is shown as Lost World rather than Lost in Space.) Michael - --------------------- Michael W. Zwirn, michael@zwirn.com (t) 503-234-3901 (c) 503-887-9800 http://zwirn.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 15:00:10 -0600 From: "Roger Winston" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] The Mann Act jer fairall on 5/3/2005 2:18:21 PM wrote: > Bright Eyes' I'M WIDE AWAKE IT'S MORNING and The Bloc Party's SILENT > ALARM are still my first and second favorite albums of the year Incidentally, I just discovered this morning that Bloc Party's SILENT ALARM is available on eMusic (as is the new Go-Betweens, which Bradley's been talking up). I was surprised to see such an uber-hyped buzz band as Bloc Party available there. I plan to download it. Latre. --Rog - -- Distance, Redefined: http://www.reignoffrogs.com/flasshe ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 16:46:16 -0500 From: Chris Prew Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Emusic (was: The Mann Act) Vice Records has a bunch of stuff up, including the Streets, the Stills (Logic Will Break Your Heart is a pretty good record, BTW), Death From Above 1979 and the ones Roger mentions below. Emusic has really had a lot of great stuff lately (Audible (highly recommended for Loud Fans), Bats & Mice, Devendra Banhart, Akron/Family, Elliot Smith, Chin Up Chin Up, A Day in Black and White, Yo La Tengo's rarities disc, Animal Collective...the list goes on). I've bought two booster packs in the past two months, in addition to my 90 tracks a month. I'm a whore -- I'll admit it. My top two so far this year are probably Low's the Great Destroyer and Audible's Sky Signals. Haven't listened to Bloc Party (or all this Emusic stuff I'm downloading) yet. Chris np: Dream Syndicate's Ghost Stories, also a fairly recent Emusic add. A couple nice bonus tracks on this re-release, including a rocking alternate version of "When the Curtain Falls". causalvirtue.blogspot.com On May 3, 2005, at 4:00 PM, Roger Winston wrote: > jer fairall on 5/3/2005 2:18:21 PM wrote: > >> Bright Eyes' I'M WIDE AWAKE IT'S MORNING and The Bloc Party's SILENT >> ALARM are still my first and second favorite albums of the year > > Incidentally, I just discovered this morning that Bloc Party's SILENT > ALARM is available on eMusic (as is the new Go-Betweens, which > Bradley's been talking up). I was surprised to see such an uber-hyped > buzz band as Bloc Party available there. I plan to download it. > > Latre. --Rog > > -- Distance, Redefined: http://www.reignoffrogs.com/flasshe ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 15:24:10 -0700 (PDT) From: Bill Silvers Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Emusic (was: The Mann Act) While folks are mentioning some of the new stuff on eMusic, I was surprised and only a little annoyed to see that The Ponys second record, CELEBRATION CASTLE, is available there today. The record just hit the streets today and I'd just mail-ordered it this weekend. Their first record, LACED IN ROMANCE, was one of my favorites last year and early buzz is that this one's even better. Worth checking out. -b.s. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 03 May 2005 18:43:05 -0400 From: "Stewart Mason" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Emusic (was: The Mann Act) - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris Prew" > My top two so far this year are probably Low's the Great Destroyer > and Audible's Sky Signals. Haven't listened to Bloc Party (or all > this Emusic stuff I'm downloading) yet. As it happens, my two faves of the year so far, the Decemberists' PICARESQUE and the new Mountain Goats (I too am starting to come around on the new lineup, although I still love the boombox recordings), are also available on eMusic, although if you get the Decemberists there, you'll miss the utterly wonderful photos of the band dressed up as characters from the songs. Other faves so far: Sylvie Lewis, MIA (which I was fully expecting to be a lame novelty hype, but which is actually one of the most enjoyable hip-hop albums I've heard in ages, like an underground Missy Elliott and Timbaland), Kaiser Chiefs (although I occasionally find it disconcerting just how utterly their singer sounds like pre-ENGLISH SETTLEMENT Andy Partridge) and the US release of the new Feist, LET IT DIE. S NP: "Backwards/Forwards" -- Mary Timony ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 17:14:26 -0700 From: Michael Mitton Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Emusic (was: The Mann Act) > As it happens, my two faves of the year so far, the Decemberists' > PICARESQUE and the new Mountain Goats (I too am starting to come I was just thinking that I should post to the list about how good PICAREQUE is. If you're inclined to like them at all, give this a listen. I think it's their best. Two other things on Emusic I've liked. Outrageous Cherry OUR LOVE WILL CHANGE THE WORLD is awfully toe-tapping (but Bradley's plugged this already), and Ida's HEART LIKE A RIVER is good. I don't know that it's anything I haven't heard from them before, but what they do, they've done well on this album. mm For any of you Linux users, have a look at my project: http://kde-apps.org/content/show.php?content=23653 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 20:19:28 -0400 (EDT) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: Re: [loud-fans] The Mann Act On Tue, 3 May 2005, jer fairall wrote: > Elsewhere, I have a feeling that people who end up not liking the > new Aimee Mann will also dislike the new Ben Folds album SONGS FOR > SILVERMAN for similar reasons. Wrongo! (At least in my case.) The last few songs on Silverman do seem to be resisting my attempts to notice them, but the rest makes it easily my second-favorite album of Folds' career. (His first one seems unlikely to be unseated from its throne anytime soon.) Bloc Party: I did not think this would have nearly the lasting appeal to me that it has. Every time I play it I like it more, with the songs I've been hearing for a while ("Banquet" and "She's Hearing Voices") not getting old. And the next album may be coming later this year! a ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 20:49:24 EDT From: A52boy@aol.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] The Mann Act In a message dated 5/3/05 4:25:21 PM Eastern Daylight Time, cryptosicko@care2.com writes: I suppose it wouldn't hurt her to work with Jon Brion again the next time out. If you listen to the music in I HEART HUCKABEE'S, it sounds like it was taken from a Mann/Brion collaboration (he did the music). The reissue of KING OF AMERICA makes a good case for it as possibly Elvis Costello's best album I'm listening to it right now! ("Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood") I didn't like this when I was a teen (loved the young angry Elvis stuff then) but I really like it now. I did the King Vitamin crown he sports on the back cover, - --Mark ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 20:50:57 EDT From: A52boy@aol.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] The Mann Act In a message dated 5/3/05 8:49:24 PM Eastern Daylight Time, A52boy writes: I did the King Vitamin crown that would be "I dig" - --Mark ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 20:14:07 -0500 From: Jeff Subject: Re: [loud-fans] The Mann Act On 5/3/05, Bradley Skaught wrote: > > > Anyone here heard the new Aimee Mann CD? >Reports? > > I think it's really awful. I thought Joe Henry would bring some of his > spooky weirdness to it, but the production is deadly boring and the songs > are thoroughly uninteresting. The story (it is a concept album) is really > not too engaging and doesn't have the kind of lyrical resonance that her > stuff usually has. I'm bummed about it, but i'll still be paying attention > to see what the next one is like. I listened to the first four tracks or so on the streaming thing today. I dunno...it doesn't strike me as awful, but it also seems that she's crossed the point beyond which recording "with a live feel" and trying for a "garage" sound means only that, uh, there are "tasteful" blues licks. In other words, she'd be right up my demographic if I were. But I'm not. I'm not dismissing it yet - I may even buy it, although I'll definitely listen to the whole thing first. In part this is because her stuff almost always grows on me and seems kinda "eh" on first listen. So, let's see...she's married to Michael Penn, Sean Penn's brother, who's Madonna's ex. And the album's produced by Joe Henry, who's (if I remember this right) Madonna's bro-in-law. Curious. - -- ...Jeff The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 03 May 2005 21:57:29 -0400 From: "Stewart Mason" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] The Mann Act - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeff" > I listened to the first four tracks or so on the streaming thing > today. I dunno...it doesn't strike me as awful, but it also seems > that > she's crossed the point beyond which recording "with a live feel" > and > trying for a "garage" sound means only that, uh, there are > "tasteful" > blues licks. I haven't heard it yet, but isn't that supposed to be part of the whole "concept" part of the record? Like, the story is set in the '70s, so the music sounds all gold-label-era-Reprise 'n' stuff? Bizarrely, another big release of today is the new Ryan Adams, which supposedly is specifically trying to sound like an amalgam of AMERICAN BEAUTY and HARVEST, down to it having a song called "Magnolia Mountain" or something like that. I assume that I'll buy the new Aimee Mann the way I bought the last couple -- I'll notice a $7.99 copy at Newbury Comics and think "Oh, I haven't heard that yet." S ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 22:31:11 -0500 From: Jeff Subject: Re: [loud-fans] The Mann Act On 5/3/05, Stewart Mason wrote: > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Jeff" > > I listened to the first four tracks or so on the streaming thing > > today. I dunno...it doesn't strike me as awful, but it also seems > > that > > she's crossed the point beyond which recording "with a live feel" > > and > > trying for a "garage" sound means only that, uh, there are > > "tasteful" > > blues licks. > > I haven't heard it yet, but isn't that supposed to be part of the > whole "concept" part of the record? Like, the story is set in the > '70s, so the music sounds all gold-label-era-Reprise 'n' stuff? Yeah - but that isn't that far a stretch from the sound of her last album anyway. She's right, on her site when she mentions that rather than give each track its own sonic signature, she went for more of a band feel, so the guitar sound is the same throughout. I get it - but it still means that it's a bit less immediately engaging, particularly sonically, than it might have been had she chosen other '70s models - like, say, Lindsey Buckingham. - -- ...Jeff The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 23:35:36 EDT From: A52boy@aol.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] The Mann Act In a message dated 5/3/05 10:07:44 PM Eastern Daylight Time, craigtorso@verizon.net writes: Bizarrely, another big release of today is the new Ryan Adams, which supposedly is specifically trying to sound like an amalgam of AMERICAN BEAUTY and HARVEST, down to it having a song called "Magnolia Mountain" or something like that. Maybe it works, but THAT sounds horrible to me. Sure it's not "Sugar Magnolia Mountain"? Jerry sweated on me! (Yikes! Take a shower, QUICK!!) - --Mark ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 00:59:32 EDT From: JRT456@aol.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] The Mann Act Certain listers were recently noting the rip-off of the quickly-reissued THE DELIVERY MAN, so it should be noted that it's likely Mann will soon exploit her own fans with a Deluxe Version of THE FORGOTTEN ARM...and the record has (understandably) disappointed enough Mann fans to make it seem worthwhile to put off buying the thing. The new 2-disc set from The Eels is easily a better deal, and Mike Doughty's latest is very poppish. And if you've put off buying the Jap. import of Milk 'N' Cookies, the import RPM reissue comes out next Tuesday, with some great bonus tracks. ------------------------------ End of loud-fans-digest V5 #111 *******************************