Let's say you just ran across _Big Bird Sings Broadway_. Or you'd like to discuss the virtues of fingerpainting to the sound of Michael Bolton's greatest hits. Maybe you've thought about writing a rock opera about dust mites. The weird, the wonderful, the unconnected...this is the place for it.416 responses total.
Now and then, I like to just talk about music and whatever else comes to mind, along the way. Feel free to ramble...
I liked Steve Martin's _Rambling Man_ and Bob Seager's _Ramblin, Gamblin, Man_ and what's his name's _Little Nash Rambler_.
A friend and I drive 12 hours straight to New York to see a concert at Carnegie Hall. Well, actually, we drive to New Jersey, sleep for about seven hours, and then go into Manhattan. We split up when we got into town: he has a meeting to go to, and I decide to visit the record stores. It's getting pretty late, and suddenly I realize that I need to get going. I ask for some directions. Simple enough: go a few streets over, take the subway. No problem. I get to the subway, and there's this guy behind bulletproof glass at least a foot thick. He's saying something that I can't understand. I try to explain to him where I want to go. More mumbling. Nervously, I start dropping change as I fumble for comprehension. A homeless guy steps in and asks me where I'm going. I tell him where I'm going. "Here's what you need to do," he assures me, explaining carefully that I need to go downstairs and take the "X" train. I hand him a tip for the advice, get my token, and head down. Briefly, I wonder if I'm being set up. Are ten guys with baseball bats going to rush me when I get there? After all, this is the big city. I find the right platform, and I wait. Some trains come by, but not the right one. I'm beginning to get worried. Did he really say "X", or did it just sound like that? I'm twenty minutes from the concert and forty blocks away. I'm probably going to die right there in the subway, and never make it to the concert, let alone home. Somebody's playing some music in the distance. The sign says something about different trains running on Sundays. I forget that it's Tuesday, because it's a day off, for me, and so it feels like a Sunday. I see another train on the other side and now I wonder if I'm supposed to be over there. He didn't tell me there were two sides. I actually do board the other train, and then I get off before it starts. Something doesn't feel right. I go back to the other side. _Finally_, the right train comes. I don't even know what Carnegie Hall looks like, but I get off somewhere nearby and hail a cab. It's just around the corner, it turns out, but I ask for a ride, anyway, rather than walk around for hours and miss the show. I make it, right on schedule. The place is huge. Our seats are several stories up, near the back. I use binoculars from time to time to see things a little better. After the show, we get some food. Along the way, there are these two kids banging on plastic buckets. They've got a synchronized routine going, and it's pretty exciting. They tilt their heads sideways, together, in time, and toss their drumsticks up and down. There's a crowd gathering. People are smiling -- having a good time. We walk away, and I wonder. I wonder how music lead me to a place so big that I got lost, and how two kids and a homeless guy helped me find the music.
yeah, i member seeing people beating on plastic buckets in ny, some of them were pretty damn good.. i played in carnagie hall, it was quite cool (last may)
Bill- not to mention the Red Clay Ramblers...
Mark, if I didn't know better, I'd be thinking you were stealing my thunder. But then, I think it's just coincidental that our items could converge. Moreover, you've just broadened the topic of discussion beyond what I had. Hehehe, anyway-- I am eagerly awaiting this cool Depeche Mode T-Shirt that some guy designed for a DM Mailing list (e-mail list, named BONG). I'm paying $24, including S&H, but I think it'll will be worth it since the quality of the material is good, I waited until supply ran low (essentially, they are leftovers from a prior sale), and it is impossible to get DM T-shirts except in obscure mail-order catalogs. Plus, it's an original design, and it will remind me of my good days that I spent on the list--- besides gawking at the users that seemed to have bottomless resources of DM memorabilia and complete discographies. I usually don't believe in idolizing a band too much, but obviously, I made an exception here somewhat. Besides, I think Mannheim Steamroller is turning into a bunch of old foagies. The Fresh Aire series, along with other Chip Davis projects and Jackson Berkey's "The Sunken Cathedral," is the next major part of my music collection next to DM. MS used to have a nice little band sound that was a little pretensious, but now Chip is so into orchestrations and more particularly, stuffy-sounding music my music teachers would probably adore. And to think I started out my collection with soundtracks :P It's now the third major part of my collection.
I've never minded that Mannheim Steamroller got into orchestration. Of course, their earlier material was what got me into Renaissance dance music.
So what instrument do yo play, Katy? And what pieces was it being employed to play at Carnegie Hall? And how did it feel to be on stage there?
I play clarinet... pieces, let me see if i even remember, we played.. Rocky Point Holiday.. which is a great piece, parts of Carmina Burana (with a choir and orchestra) and something else which i do not remember... it was great being on stage there.. it's just this feeling, ya know.. hard to describe
Would you recommend any clarinet pieces or recordings? I've found that I enjoy clarinet a great deal, but I haven't been able to find a great of material. I came across Gerald Finzi's "Concerto for Clarinet and Strings in C Minor, Op. 31", which I enjoyed. The recording featured Emma Johnson. I suspect that I should also be looking for some older jazz for clarinet pieces.
i have to admit i don't listen to a lot of clarinet music... but i have to use this place to brag (only a little, don't worry) both my ensembles got a 1 at state solo and ensemble festival today:) I was actually pleasantly suprised...
Mannheim Steamroller? whazzat?
Congrats, Katy!
Mannheim Steamroller is a small group of semi-serious audiophile-musicians who dabble in an ecclectic mix of mainly instrumental progressive rock, classical, electronic, and Renaissance/Medieval music. Harpsichords, drums, and synthesizers are standard fare for an album. Their name is apparently a pun on the musical term "Mannheim roll", the explanation for which I do not presently recall. They've put out a series of albums entitled _Fresh Aire_, along with an assortment of other pieces, most notably the now-favorite _Christmas_ and the enjoyable _Classical Gas_, a collaboration with guitarist Mason Williams, who wrote and became famous with an earlier version of the title track.
I'm currently trying to figure out what to make my main new learning instrument for the next couple years. It will be a wind instrument, which is a new thing for me. I'm thinking that it will be shakuhachi, which I have a little bit of a start on. I would also like getting into the guts of a non-western music, which that would do.
could you explain what a shakuhachi is? curious me..
It's a bamboo flute, played by blowing into the end over a sharp edge cut into the wall of the bamboo. It's a traditional Japanese instrument, with 5 holes and a pentatonic scale. *Real* shakuhachi player get a billion more notes by playing half and quarter opened holes.
For those of you interested in keeping up on music, one of the handiest, kewlest, and most vibrant encyclopedias of alternative music, _The Trouser Press Music Guide_, was just released in its fifth edition. This edition, covering the 90s, serves as a complement to the fourth, covering the 80s. Includes both the obvious and obscure entries, ranging from Tori Amos and Laurie Anderson to White Zombie and John Zorn. A great reference and a fun browse!
How can they put out a guide to '90's music when the decade isn't over for another 3 (or 4, depending on who you belive) years?
Details, details... The _Trouser Press Guide_ comes out every couple of years or so. Initially, it grew out of a magazine documenting new lower profile musical trends in the 80s. It's been about five years since the last guide, though, so there's been a lot of material to cover. Rather than continue trying to enlarge it, it was decided to simply start from a new point. Since it was now the 90s, I assume it made some sense to start there. Since it was meant to be currently useful, I assume that was part of the reasoning behind releasing it in the 90s.
oh...ar... I see.
For mcnally: Mike, I believe I saw info about a forthcoming CD issue of those two David Thomas LPs which Richard Thompson played on. Do you have/have information about those? Also, did you ever get a copy of Pere Ubu's THE MODERN DANCE?
Hmmm.. I've not been wild about the David Thomas side-projects I've heard but they could be interesting.. As for "The Modern Dance," I bought a copy of the "Datapanik in the Year Zero" boxed set. For forty-odd bucks you get more than enough Ubu to drive a man mad -- their first four or five albums plus a live disc. Since I already had a few of the albums I bought it mostly for the Modern Dance reissue but since it's a very nicely put-together set and Ubu's been good to their fans by reissuing it I didn't much mind. (but I do now have superfluous copies of the out-of-print Ubu albums "Dub Housing" and "New Picnic Time" if anyone wants to make a deal..)
What is Ubu's music like? I might be interested, I guess, if I can find some money...
Well, the first phrase that comes to mind is "hard to describe.." They describe themselves as "avant garage.." which doesn't seem too far off the mark. I'd personally recommend some of their later stuff as a starting point (particularly the 80s albums "Cloudland" and "The Tenement Year") but I'd also add the caveat that their music is definitely not for everyone.
mcnally--"hard to describe..." Yeah, that's the sort of thing I like. :)
"Avante garage"? I like it...I like it... Never heard Pere Ubu. Sounds like somthing that I should check into. For some reason, I'm thinking about Wall of Voodoo at the moment. Anyone into Stan Ridgway? I picked up his latest solo album a little while ago. Interesting fellow...
Since there've been several expressing an interest in Pere Ubu I'll offer some recommendations: Their most accessible albums, and a good starting point are their mid-80s stuff on Fontana, particularly "Cloudland" and "The Tenement Year." After those, I'd recommend their earlier, more experimental punk-like stuff from the late 70s particularly the "Datapanik in the Year Zero" EP and the "Terminal Tower" collection on Twin/Tone. Unfortunately I think *all* of the above is out of print and the only stuff currently available is the Datapanik boxed set and a couple of recent albums that I didn't like as much..
Mike- They go all the way back to the late 70s? Didn't realize there was that much history behind them!
Yeah "The Tenement Year," is good it's sort of like slightly disonant (but well produced) mostly instrumental thrash with a horn section.
re #29: Yep, they've been around forever, though the band's membership has fluctuated considerably over the years (mostly from people leaving for side-projects and then coming back, or not, afterwards..)
Recently, I've gotten into music associated with wandering and travel. I chanced across a book about hobos by "Steam Train" Maury Graham, someone who appears in the liner notes to U. Utah Phillips' new album, _Loafer's Glory_. Along the same lines, I've been reading a book about New York subway musicians. It's interesting to see how music is associated with journeying...
I always think of Jimmie Rodgers and "Blue Yodel" when I think hobo song.. (sure beats "Boxcar Willie"..)
Utah has a new album?! Cool!
Just listened to "The Producers" last night, along with Sesame Street Gold. . .:)
Yeah, new album, old songs, new recording, apparently along with some excerpts from other performances. Backed by Mark Ross, Court Minstrel of Hoboes. Good stuff...
One of my favorite guilty pleasures is The Tubes, a large rock band from Arizona/California in the 70s who never took being a rock band too seriously (perhaps to their own misfortune). One of my favorite Tubes albums is _Now_ (currently out of print), which contains a song called "Smoke", in which coughing is used as a percussive instrument. This set me to wondering where body sounds have found an atypical way into music... I guess my first guess would be that _Music From the Body_ album by Roger Waters and Ron Geesin... Any other suggestions?
Laurie Anderson plays percussion sensors on her body while dancing in her concert movie "Home of the Brave," it looks and sounds fantastic. That should be availible at Liberty St. video and is well worth checking out in general.
I heard an album of that name a while ago--I assume a 'soundtrack', or whatever, of the video. Crazy stuff... Bobby McFerrin would be the obvious suggestion, at least for mouth sounds, but I doubt that's what your'e looking for. A while ago, on an album of percussion music, there was a track of people 'drumming' on their bodies--you'd be surprised how much variety of sound there was. I unfortunately do not recall the album--something in the posession of the A2 Public Library.
I found the HOME OF THE BRAVE cd quite disappointing, mostly through omission: the program is LP length, not CD length, so huge portions of the film were dropped from the soundtrack. Anderson presented some of this material at the Michigan Theatre in Ann Arbor way back when.
I still like the album, even though I am similarly disappointed at the missing music. The video was absolutely amazing, though... I saw it about six years ago, and my mind has been reeling ever since...
Well, perhaps you'vealready run across this one, but I thought I'd pass it on, for amusement value, at least. Apparently some DJ in Boston suggested strange parallels seen between _The Wizard of Oz_ film and _Dark Side of the Moon_ album. The idea is to start the soundtrack after the last roar of the MGM lion, turn down the sound of the movie, and then enjoy the results. I'm really unsure about the suggestion that there was any intentional connection, but apparently there are some amusing coincidences between events and sound. If you've got some time to burn, check it out. I can forward you the e-mail I received on this, too, if you request...
Subject: The Dark Side of Oz Follow the Yellow Rock Road A Floydian analysis of 'The Wizard of Oz' By HELEN KENNEDY Daily News Staff Writer Call it Dark Side of the Rainbow. Classic rockers are buzzing about the amazingly weird connections that leap off the screen when you play Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" as the soundtrack to "The Wizard of Oz." It sounds wacky, but there really is a bizarre synchronization there. The lyrics and music join in cosmic synch with the action, forming dozens Upon dozens of startling coincidences -- the kind that make you go "Oh wow, man" even if you haven't been near a bong in 20 years. Consider these examples: Floyd sings "the lunatic is on the grass" just as the Scarecrow begins his floppy jig near a green lawn. The line "got to keep the loonies on the path" comes just before Dorothy and the Scarecrow start traipsing down the Yellow Brick Road. When deejay George Taylor Morris at WZLX-FM in Boston first mentioned the phenom on the air six weeks ago, he touched off a frenzy. "The phones just blew off the wall. It started on a Friday, and that first weekend you couldn't get a copy of 'TheWizard of Oz' anywhere in Boston," he said. "People were staying home to check it out." It's fun, he said, because everyone knows the movie,and the album which spent a record-busting 591 straight weeks on the Billboard charts, can be found in practically every record collection. Dave Herman at WNEW-FM in New York mentioned the buzz a few weeks ago. The response -- more than 2,000 letters -- was the biggest ever in the deejay's 25-year on-air career. "It has been just unbelievable," said WNEW program director Mark Chernoff. "I've never seen anything like this." The station plans to show the movie using the album as soundtrack at a small private screening tomorrow. Rock fans always have loved to speculate about hidden messages in their favorite albums. But seeking connections between the beloved 1939 classic kid flick and the legendary 1973 acid-rock album pushes the envelope of the music conspiracy genre. Nobody from the publicity-shy band would comment, but Morris asked keyboardist Richard Wright about it on the air last month. He looked flummoxed and said he'd never heard of any intentional connections between the movie and the album. But the fans aren't convinced it's just a cosmic coincidence. "I'm a musician myself and I know how hard it is just to write music, let alone music choreographed to action," said drummer Alex Harm, of Lowell, Mass.,who put up one of the two Internet web pages devoted to the synchronicities. "To make it match up so well, you'd have to plan it." Morris is convinced that ex-frontman Roger Waters planned the whole thing without letting his fellow band members in on the secret. "It's too close. It's just too close. Look at the song titles. Look at the cover. There's something going on there," Morris said. Here's how it works. You start the album at the exact moment when the MGM lion finishes its third and last roar. It might take a few times to get everything lined up just right. Then, just sit back and watch. It'll blow your mind, man. During "Breathe," Dorothy teeters along a fence to the lyric: "balanced on the biggest wave." The Wicked Witch, in human form, first appears on her bike at the same moment a burst of alarm bells sounds on the album. During "Time," Dorothy breaks into a trot to the line: "no one told you when to run." When Dorothy leaves the fortuneteller to go back to her farm, the album is playing: "home, home again." Glinda, the cloyingly saccharine Good Witch of the North, appears in her bubble just as the band sings: "Don't give me that do goody goody bull---t." A few minutes later, the Good Witch confronts the Wicked Witch as the band sings, "And who knows which is which" (or is that "witch is witch"?). The song "Brain Damage" starts about the same time as the Scarecrow launches into "If I Only Had a Brain." But it's not just the weird lyrical coincidences. Songs end when scenes switch, and even the Munchkins' dancing is perfectly choreographed to the song "Us and Them." The phenomenon is at its most startling during the tornado scene, when the wordless singing in "The Great Gig in the Sky" swells and recedes in strikingly perfect time with the movie. When Dorothy opens the door into Oz, the movie switches to rich color and -- and that exact moment -- the album starts in with the tinkling cash register sound effects from "Money." Anyone who has ever nursed a hangover watching MTV with the sound off and the radio on can tell you how quick the brain is to turn music into a soundtrack for pictures. But this is uncanny. The real fanatics will point out that side one of the vinyl album is the exact length of the black-and-white portion of the movie. And then there's that iconic album cover, with its prism and rainbow echoing the movie's famous black-and-white-into-color switch -- not to mention Judy Garland's classic first song. The real clincher, though, the moment where even the most skeptical of cynics has to utter a small "whoa!," comes at the end of the album, which tails off with the insistent sound of a beating heart. What's happening on screen? Yep, you guessed it: Dorothy's got her ear to the Tin Man's chest, listening for a heartbeat. Maybe it's just a string of coincidences. Maybe the mind is just playing some really cool tricks. Maybe some people just have waaaay too much time on their hands. Or maybe, as Pink Floyd sings to close out the album, everything under the sun really is in tune.
Apparently this rumor (true or not) is gathering steam locally.. A friend's co-worker who was looking for a concert video apparently called several local record stores yesterday. When he asked if the stores sold videos he was generally interrupted with a curt "No, we do not have 'The Wizard of Oz'"
Hmm... umm...yeah... Right...
OK, The Walkabouts... I was introduced to The Walkabouts around 1990 or '91 when "Folk Roots" magazine, which is my musical bible and polestar, gave a very favorable review to one of their current releases. The CD I bought was a compilation of the ep RAG & BONE and the preceding lp CATARACT, and it was perfect for me: it was everything I thought a rock CD should be. Carla Torgeson's voice had this lovely dusky quality to it, and she sang lots of harmonies with guitarist Chris Eckman. Eckman's guitar tone was precisely what I wanted: anyone know how to describe it? They'd shift rapidly between acoustic and feedback. They had some guest players on piano and violin who added a lot: the honky-tonk piano line in "Anvil Song," or the violin lead in "Whereabouts Unknown." And they had a really inventive drummer in Chris' brother Grant Eckman; the drums became another melody line, almost. The band talked about their Richard Thompson/Fairport Convention influences, and they included some traditional or faux-traditional songs on each of their early releases. Well! I searched a long time for a copy of their previous album, SEE BEAUTIFUL RATTLESNAKE GARDENS; finally one day an import LP copy sent out psychic thought waves summoning me to the bin where it awaited me. RATTLESNAKE was quite good; definitely the work of a younger band, but definitely worthwhile. So I was all primed to love the next album, SCAVENGER, when it came out on their label SubPop. Uh-oh. Maybe half of the album had the same incindiary brilliance, most memorably the song "River Blood;" the other half just seemed to be listless. Around this time the band came to play at The Blind Pig in Ann Arbor; I was one of about a dozen people at the gig, and I startled them by calling out for an older song, "Last Ditch," as an encore. After the show I chatted with Chris Eckman; I was all effusive about the 1990-era stuff, and he was pushing for my opinion of the new songs, and I found myself having to hedge and scramble. Sigh. Chris also talked about his disappointment with the lack of support they were getting from their label. SubPop at this time was at ground zero of grunge, and I get the impression that they did not know what to do with The Walkabouts. The next album, NEW WEST MOTEL, sounds like perhaps the band, or the record company, felt a need to graft grunge onto the band's style. I find it an awful album to listen to; it doesn't swing, it screeches, and almost all subtlety is lost. I still have occasional bad memories of Chris and Carla yelling "Glad Nation's Death Song!" over and over... I revisited this album just a few months ago, and it's still yucky. Drummer Grant Eckman left the band around this time. The woman who replaced him was a perfectly fine ordinary drummer, but she couldn't make the percussion sing like Grant had. This didn't help. The band's next two albums went in one of my ears and out the other. SATISFIED MIND was an album of covers, mostly country and folk songs; it seems like the sort of project I should have loved. SETTING THE WOODS ON FIRE was back to original material. To be fair, I need to excavate these two discs and relisten to them. SubPop declined to release NEW WEST MOTEL in the USA. It was becoming apparent that the band had almost no commercial market in the USA -- remember those dozen people at the Pig? -- but they had a loyal following in Europe, so they were picked up by a German label, Glitterhouse. Eventually an American indie label picked up SATISFIED MIND and ON FIRE for a belated USA release, but that seems to have been a dead end too. Chris Eckman and Carla Torgeson began moonlighting as a duo. Their first disc, SHELTER FOR AN EVENING, was a live recording; there is a nice Richard Thompson cover on it, but much of the rest of the album consists of the Walkabouts songs that I didn't like. According to the band's web page, there are two more CDs by the duo. I still love Carla's voice, maybe I'll take a flyer on them some day. "Folk Roots" recently blasted SETTING THE WOODS ON FIRE. Their brief, dismissive review complained that in the eight years since the magazine had singled out the band for praise, the Walkabouts had gone from being the leading American folk-rock bands, to one of a thousand alternative-rock-with-country-flavorings band, with nothing special to recommend them. So I'm not the only person who feels this way about their career trajectory. Since I gave up on the band, there has been one limited-edition live CD, now unavailable; one new studio CD (??); and two more releases from Chris and Carla. All of these are Europe-only; if one wants copies in the States, one has to get them from the band. There is a comprehensive Walkabouts web page with ordering information. I have this odd belief in the Melody Fairy. The Melody Fairy capriciously picks a musician, and she settles on the musician's shoulder, and she might stay for one song, or one album, or she might stay for 20 years; but eventually, capriciously, the Melody Fairy flitters off. From that point on the music from that artist loses its appeal for me: it seems tedious, cacophonous and just plain uninspired.
The Muse is a fickle lover...
I'm pretty thrilled to announce a new Ben Harper album is on its way out, soon! I've already heard a couple tracks, and I'm pretty impressed, already. I'm not entirely surprised at this, either. When I first ran across Harper, I had no idea who he was. I was at St. Andrews Hall, in Detroit, to catch up with Michael Franti, formerly of Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy (another band I was instantly impressed with), then heading Spearhead. Harper opened the three-part show, and I was immediately enthralled. He switched effortlessly between delicacy and thunder, humor and anger, folk and funk. His slide guitar playing was exceptional, and his delivery was nothing short of spiritual. I caught Harper, again, about a year later at the Blind Pig, in Ann Arbor. The crowd was so thick that I could barely breathe, and some girl in a stupor was shoving me from behind to get a closer look. Neither could detract from the brilliance of the show, which I waited outside for in the middle of winter for over an hour before the doors opened. His first album, _Welcome to the Cruel World_ would have to rank as one of the best albums I've ever heard, and the follow-up was rather strong, too. Given his ability to perform in person, and his track record in the studio, it's no surprise that the new album is sounding good, already. Welcome back, Ben...
Ya know, I've never heard Ben Harper. . .I keep hearing hopw amazing he is, and then miossing him for some reason or another. . .I've got to check him out.
Ben Harper, live: Monday, July 7th, at Clutch Cargo, 65 E. Huron St., "New"(?) Pontiac, Michigan. *Well* worth checking him out. I'll probably be there...
Oh, doors open at 9P, by the way...
re: pink floyd/wizard of oz I heard them blithering about this one on the radio today. Curiously enough, they had different details than this account...
a friend was telling me about that, and how cool it was.. hm, maybe i'll try it sometime
Aw, man, I'll be out of town for Ben Harper-missing him *again*!
Perhaps the Ozian Floyd is the start of a new urban legend...
Katt- If you haven't already, you should check out his first album, _Welcome to the Cruel World_. It's a superior album. Also, his third album, _Will to Live_ is due out Tuesday, June 17. It's sounding pretty good, so far, as well.
The Oz/Floyd thing was in the NY Times today (The Week in Review section) A fairly skeptical editorial.
Yeah, I'm not surprised. I'm pretty familiar with Roger Waters' approach to music, and this doesn't sound like his bag. I wonder if this means we'll hear from Waters and Gilmour...
I heard on WQRS this morning that Luciano Pavorotti (sp) and Michael Jackson are going to come out with some album of something. Sounds scary...
I shudder to think... I heard a while ago about some collaboration between Pavarotti and U2--has anyone else heard anything about this?
I suspect that there might have been something along these lines on the PAVAROTTI AND FRIENDS disc, which was a charity fundraiser.
Pavarotti and Jackson? Odd combination. I think we ought to try and come up with a list of other interesting duets, just for kicks and grins... Pavarotti did something on the _Passengers_ album with U2. The album was apparently some music to accompany some imaginary films. Does anyone think U2 can exploit this media thing any farther? Sheesh. I'll take my Negativland and Tape-beatles, instead...
Placido Domingo (opera) and John Denver (popular) did some duets...
well, David Bowie sung eith Bing Crosby. So why not Pavarotti and U2? Exploytation is the key to it all Mark. that is how they make the big bucks. To lure the ignorant and "hip" into thinking everything and anything they did and do is totally right and ordaned by a God of some sort. consumerism is evil.
Re #64 The video for "Little Drummer Boy" by Bing Crosby and David Bowie has been seen on MTV during the Holiday season. It is from the Christmas TV special that Der Bingle taped in London before his death.
It stands to reason that Bowie and Crosby were paired up, though. They both had refined singing voices. That was a pretty nice pairing, too.
I was thinking more along the lines of what interesting combinations we could come up with, on our own (but, I'll also enjoy hearing some of the ones that have already been tried)... For instance, howabout Ozzy Osbourne and Ravi Shankar?
I've always wanted to have a recording of a duet between Johnny Lydon and Dagmar Krause. It would be great for getting rid of unwanted guests..
re 67- Oh God, NO! Ugh. I liked the Domingo/Denver duets, as I did the Willie Nelson/Julio duets. Usually these things are neat, but don't even joke about Shankar and Osbourne.
on the face of it it doesn't seem that much more farfetched than a teaming of Eddie Vedder and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, which has already happened..
Then there is Pat Boone's new image.... ;)
Yah, how about the old Pat Boone with the New and Improved Pat Boone? Tori Amos did, I belive, do a duet with one of the members of Led Zepplin on Encomium, which worked surprisingly well. One of the things I've always wanted to see is some sort of collaboration between traditional blues artists, and some of blues's more distant offshoots.
I want to here, say, mariah Carey pair with Trent Reznor or Metallica. Maybe Natalie Cole With Korn or Marilyn manson :)
No kidding! What's up with the new Pat Boone? Now Johnny Cash doing a Soundgarden song was cool. But Pat Boone is just looking silly... Still, it would be a hilarious party album...
Mike- who's Dagmar Krause?
awful-sounding female vocalist who worked with Henry Cow.. a Krause/Lydon duet would probably violate some sort of strategic arms limitation treaty..
A while ago at SKR used I saw an album of Metallica covers by a string quartet called Apocalyptica. I was almost tempted....almost
I think I heard about that one
Hehehehe...that sounds *cool*.... ...and scary...
Just listened to the lovely (but cut short) "Meandering" on _The Charlie Parker Story_. If we could have a musical accompaniment to this channel, perhaps that would it...
Two interesting music books recently spotted around town as bargain books: _The Twist_ (Afterwords) and _The Land Where the Blues Began_ by famous Folkways folklorist Alan Lomax (Book Warehouse).
Anybody listen to Acoustic Cafe, this evening? Featured Richard Bruckner, an up-and-coming folk rocker. He sounded pretty good. Anybody know about this guy?
I think it's Richard Buckner. I've got a copy of his first CD around here somewhere; if I can find it, you're welcome to borrow it.
Reading _Bohemia_, yet another bargain book found around town. Not as astute a book as I'd like, but interesting background material.
Is the International Soundboard Teamsters Union on strike, or something?!? The last two shows I've seen have been absolutely the worst soundboard jobs I've ever heard. The Jayhawks at the Blind Pig were overdriven on mics, and Ben Harper's vocals at Clutch Cargo were barely audible. Surprisingly, neither of these bands needs knob-twiddling, which is why hearing them electrically murdered was doubly frustrating. It's almost enough to make me go to school to become a recording engineer. It's shameful to hear good bands obscured by incompetence...
Cordelia's Dad is coming to the Ark in Sept. And Tempest in August. I'm one happy puppy! Oh, yeah. Um. I was so frustrated today by the lack of a certain recording in the stores (it had been announced as being released about three months ago) that I called the supposed recording studio and asked. It turned out that it wasn't being recorded there, and they gave me the number for one of the artists. Whom I then called. And got his secretary and voice mail. So now I'm supposed to be called back with the information about gettng a copy directly.
#85: Hell, I did a fair job adjusting levels on a band I floor managed for student productions. Even had a new speaker for vocals brought in (this is extremely low tech, of course. We just had the amps playing alone.) Those problems can and shoudl be solved by a professional engineer
Twila- keep us posted on Cordelia's Dad. I'd like to check them out. Ken seemed to have good things to say about them, if memory serves... Bummer about the lack of availability of the recording you were looking for. What was the recording? I'm looking forward to two new releases, this upcoming week: Dar Williams and Sarah Mclachlan. Dar Williams, especially. Both are due out on the 15th of July.
Steve- just goes to show how important technical details can be, even in a fairly straightforward performance.
Speaking of lack of availibility, I am truly pissed off. *Nobody* in Ann Arbor has a copy of Bitches' Brew. I've tried Schoolkids, Encore, Wazoo, Discount Records...If I can't find it soon I may just have to go against my objections and look at Borders or Tower.
Yeah, it's surprising how places can be so lacking in basic material like that. As big as Schoolkids' jazz section is, relative to the rest of the store, I've been already somewhat disappointed in their selection. Tower will tend to be real hit-and-miss, at times, despite their aim to carry a full back catalog. I've actually been most satisfied with Borders' jazz section, so far.
If you want blues, however, check out Tower's section. Buddy of mine works that section like a charm. Knows his stuff.
I'm rather disappointed that I'll be out of town for the Lllith Fair.
Yeah, I'd like to catch Lillith Fair, too. Fortunately, I at least had an opportunity to meet Sarah McLachlan and speak with her, briefly, a few years ago at a retail appearance near Detroit. Missed the in-store performance, though, which would've been cool. I tend to prefer seeing artists in smaller settings, where I feel more like I'm really there, and not at the other end of a telescope. The Ark in Ann Arbor is my ideal venue. I've always been exceptionally pleased with my experiences there. I haven't really sought out big shows, for the most part. The biggest place I'd still easily enjoy would be some place like the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor, or the Fox, in Detroit.
I agree. I have fond memories of seeing Bobby McFerrin in such a small setting. At one point, he asked the audience "are there any singers out there", or some such. As it turned out, there was a choir group sitting a few rows behind me. He had them sing the melody to Ave Maria while he sang the little arpeggio things. It was absolutely amazing.
I've been to some good concerts at the Fox. Different artists work better to different audiences... Some are good with the very small, intimatte seetings. Some work better with small to midsized audiences (Such as the State in Detroit up to the Fox) Some worke well in arenas, and some are born to be in stadiums. I wouldn't dream of seeing, say, the Newsboys at the Silverdome. It wouldn't work, they're a midsized venue band.
Yeah, but I don't even bother seeing large-venue shows, of my own volition. If I wanted to be five hundred feet away from the music and pay about three times as much, I'd do just as well to buy three of the same CD, turn up the volume on the stereo, and walk down the street... I want to be right there, if it's a live show. And, even if I were to manage getting a close seat (spelled s-c-a-l-p-e-r) at a large venue, I'd probably go deaf from their amps... (spelled w-h-a-a-a-a-t?)
Well, for some bands what you get at a live show is like the CD from 500 feet away. For some bands it's very different. Phish, for instance, I would gladly see in a large venue, because what you're getting *isn't* the same as the CD from great distance.
I believe that seeing Phish and listening to the CD is totally different!!1 Especially since I have seen them many times live and enjoy it more than just listening to the music... though eating Phish Food (B&J) Ice Cream and listening to the music can be fun as well.
Hundredth! Of course, in my opinion, any band should provide 'something more' in it's live shows than just less 'polish', more noise, and a big crowd.
Cool. Thanks for hangin' out here, folks. Enjoying the conversation, greatly...
If you're not spending Saturday afternoon and evening at Grexstock '97, you ought to check out Francis Dunnery, who's playing at the Ann Arbor Rock 103 WIQB Summer Shindig, going on at the Barnstormer, M-36, west of US-23 in Whitmore Lake. Francis is ultra-cool...
Oh, doors open at 4P... There are some other bands playing, too, including the Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies and God Street Wine.
Don't forget the "after art fair" party at the Farmer's Market. Glass Marimba demonstration, a few artists, Lawrence Bond Miller at 8pm. Saturday, the 19th, after the grex picnic.
Oooo....cool. Too bad I can't make it. Does this thing go on every year? I've never heard of it, before. Is this where the locals go out and exorcise the effluvia of alien invaders?
Grrr... to think where I live is culturally starved enough that I should greatly envy you guys. A glass marimba, eh? I'd like to see that.. Speaking of musical rambling, I made further preparations to attend Central Washington University this fall. Whether or not I start dusting off my old music theory books and start studying again will depend on which depts. requirements I can meet first-- teacher certification or music. I feel a weird mix of anticipation, anxiety, and nostalgia-- eager to finally let all my true musical talents shine, but still fearing the unkind remarks some of my music teachers directed at me. I wonder where I'll specialize in music. If I study voice, then I can expect more of the scant bit of formal training I did receive, and then learning about the great baritone-basses in the world, and listening to their recordings (ah but tenors always get the spotlight). If I return to studying piano, then I imagine I'll be listening to Thelonius Monk and other jazz pianists, and try to figure out classical improv before I play jazz comp again. I imagine I'll try to tackle Debussy compositions again, swimming through all the huge, rich chords that were his style. Most of all, I wonder if I'll ever pick up a tuba again (I wouldn't be sad if I didn't, although I loved listening to Roger Bobo). It's been four years since I studied musical academia. it will be interesting-- but then again, so will be visiting the Ann Arbor area someday for independent studies :)
I had a friend who played the tuba. Unfortunately, I have never been able to hear him play.
Well, probably the most anticipated release of the summer is finally out, the new Sarah McLachlan album, _Surfacing_. Features the current airplay, "Building a Mystery", a very nice tune, plus nine other great tunes. Highlights, after first several listenings, are the sumptuous "I Love You", the fiercely sensual and savagely accompanied "Sweet Surrender", the bitterly spiritual "Witness", the spiralling "Black + White", the delicate and apologetic "Fall of Grace", and the sad "Last Dance" (featuring Jim Creegan from Barenaked Ladies on upright bass). If this doesn't top _Fumbling Towards Ecstasy_, then it'll take a chair next to it. Well-done, again, Sarah.
Most anticipated by whom? The Prodigy probably had the one most anticipated by record execs and radio stations and such.
Did anyone actually go to Farmington Hill's Borders to see her? I heard on the radio that she was singing stuff there last saturday... The big debate was to go to Ohio or to Farmington Hills.... relatives won out
One of the most anticipated summer releases, then.
Well, I said I may never pick up a tuba again, mostly because it doesn't apply much to elementary music education. But I did play one again recently after four years. I was at a drama production my sis was in, and it was intermission. So I snuck into the old familiar h.s. band room (my sis goes to hs where I did), and found the dept had been able to afford Miraphones (a VERY nice manufacturer of rotary valve tub). I couldn't resist, and was shocked to find that the sound I had was much fuller and cleaner than that of 4 years ago. (I had a bad habit of clenching my teeth that I had difficulty breaking. I was surprised-- I could make that tuba sing! The last time I had that good of a sound was playing a transcription of Cara Mia Ben, and only after a lot of practice and listening to a recording of Charles Dallenbach of the Canadian Brass play it, not to mention it was a rare time I got to play a nice melody for a change. I mentioned Roger Bobo. I don't know if he still plays for the L.A. Orchestra, but he did at the time of the recordings that I listened to. He was part of my required listening, and he was phenomenal. He could play polyphonics, which is playing two notes at the same time. Normally, (one can't do this, but your lips play one note, and your throat sings another. I haven't been able to master the technique-- I can't determine which note my lips will play. the best way I can describe it is like practicing ventriloquism while drinking a glass of milk. He is also well-known among experienced tuba players for his "Ellie the Elephant" series, which is whimisical because it is in such a high range for the tuba. It is especially high for the standard BBb tuba, which is why he plays it on a smaller F tuba, which is also more difficult to tune. I also met Harvey Phillips in person when Spokane had a Tubafest in '92. He started the popular Tuba Christmas conventions, where tuba/baritone horn/euphonium players get together to play Christmas music. He also started Octuba, which is an organization of octets of the same kinds of players (sorry, trombones!). I got him to autograph my shirt, which I still have :)
I'm still waiting for the Newsboys to start recording another one. It's been two years since Take Me To Your Leader, and they're still touring.
This comes from "The Irish Emigrant" issue 547. (This week) - Failure to name a Lou Reed song title resulted in Dubliner Martin Mulready receiving an 18-month jail sentence. He was actually jailed for stealing a car stereo but might have got off scot-free if he knew something of the repertoire of Mr Reed. When stopped by gardai he claimed that he owned the stereo but was unable to name any of the songs on the tape inside.
That is *too* funny... Speaking of Lou, ever hear _Songs for Drella_ with John Cale? Cool stuff. It's interesting to realize that the noted Czech playright and president Vaclav Havel wrote an introduction to a book of Lou Reed lyrics. He mentioned that although it was considered dangerous to carry around Lou Reed lyrics, there, under the earlier communist regime, people still did.
Czechoslovakia brings to mind the Plastic People of the Universe, a dissident Czech rock group who I have never heard anything by. After the fall of Communism, there was a big boxed set released of their recordings. (Hmm, poking at CD Europe I see that it might be available from them, in *sigh* LP format...) The Plastic People had a descendant group, whose name escapes me... the location of my copy of their CD escapes me as well.
Could the Lou Reed song that the Irish stereo thief couldn't name be "Take A Walk On The Wild Side?"
re #116: When I think Czech, I think "Laibach".. I'm not even sure they are Czech, I may just have some stray mental link connecting the two concepts..
Laibach is Yugoslavian, actually. They named themselves after the German name for Ljubljana, the capital of the Yugoslavian republic of Slovenia. Interesting band...
That reminds me, one of my now-favorite films came out of Yugoslavia: _Tito and Me_.
I found the disc by the descendent of Plastic People of the Universe; the band name is Pulnoc. I'll have to make some time to play it.
the "City of Hysteria" people? yuck.. didn't like them..
Listening to Zorn's _The Big Gundown: John Zorn Plays the Music of Ennio Morricone_...a very fun album! Surprisingly palatable, for Zorn. For the experimentally-inclined Western movie buff...
(Is he the guy who proved "Zorn's Lemma"? :)
Didn't know Zorn had a lemma. Don't you have to have a license for one of those?
I've recently been having trouble with my car. Any good car songs I should listen to? "Why Can't You Fix My Car?" by Leo Kottke comes to mind... "Driving in My Car" by Madness...
Apparently, William S. Burroughs died the other day. Bad year for the Beat Generation...
re126 In Cars - Gary Numan or the Car Talk theme song. re127 I've got a copy of Burroughs "Nothing here now but the recordings" a collection of readings, pieces of 'stuff', like holding the microphone against the throat and doing some readings. Experimental, indeed!
RE #126 How about "Stop Dragging My Car Around" by "Weird Al" Yankovic (a parody of "Stop Dragging My Heart Around" by Stevie Nicks with Tom Petty)?
Did you know that the Guys of CarTalk have two albums out! I keep saying and i am going to go out and find them. I think I would go well with my Garrison Keillor Collection!
re #126: "the devil's in my car" by the b-52's. :)
Metal Guru - T. Rex
Under My Wheels - Alice Cooper
Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine - Simon & Garfunkel
re #126 as well: Don't forget "Maybelline" by Chuck Berry. He was indeed singing about his car.
And how many songs have there been that mentioned the Great American Dream -- owning a Cadillac?
I suspect "Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine" was about money, which would apply equally well, in the case of my car repairs...
Don't forget "In Cars" by one-hit wonder Gary Numan...
There is a song on the Dead Kendedies "Plastic Sugery Disasters," that has the chorus "trust your mechanic to rip you off," I don't know the name of the song though.
re 136 Numan had lots of hits. They just never played any of them on the radio.
Also, I believe that Gary Numan was British, and may have had more hits in the UK.
Bruin in #134, on songs about owning Cadillacs: I assume you are talking about Johnny Cash's ONE PIECE AT A TIME, which I mostly know from the Michelle Shocked version on a Cash tribute album. I'm surprised I don't hear that song more around Motor City, actually.
How about "Lord Mr. Ford" by Jerry Reed (1973)?
Hot Rod Lincoln - Commander Cody (1970 version) and the
earlier version, written by some guy named Ryan.
it's prequell - or rather the "reverse angle" song that
came out before it was asked 'You hear about the hot rod
chase...I'll have to say I was the one in that Model A"
Yeah, that's it - The Hot Rod Race - Ramblin Jimmie Dolan
Transfusion - Nervous Norvus
Making Love iN a Subaru - Damaskas
No Particular Place to Go - Chuck Berry
Driving In San Franciso - Bill Cosby (monolouge)
Carphone - Sheeler & Sheeler
Hymn #694 - Free Hot Lunch
Dance of the Hours (Welcome to raceday) - Spike Jones
Schlock Rod - Jan & Dean
He's Have To Get Under (To Fix Up His Automobile)
- The Hoosier Hot Shots
Sunday Driving - Jerry Lewis
Mercury Blues - David Lindley
Cadilac Heaven - The Baltimores
RE #42 Must have gotten this list from "Dr. Demento," tpryan, yes? No?
I move that we continue the contents of this item in a brand-new one-- I scroll for five minutes just to get to the new stuff.
((huh? Sounds like your participation file isn't being updated, Jon... you shouldn't have to see old responses unless you want to...))
tpryan- I've heard that Cosby monologue! Hilarious, of course... My brother got ahold of the original album it was on at some garage sale in the 70s. Great stuff...
Jon, are you using the "read xx new" command? (where "xx" is the number of the conference item that you wish to read) This will prevent you from seeing old messages.
Friday night marks the premiere of _Shall We Dance?_, a Japanese movie involving ballroom dancing, at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor. There should be some great music in the film. Event begins at 8P and is said to include a ballroom dance demonstration. Not sure what the ticket situation for that evening is like, but the film, itself, will continue all through next week into the next weekend.
Yup, got the list from Dr. Demento.
Add to it: Hot Rod Heart from John Fogerty's new "Blue Moon Swamp"
Of course, plenty of Beach Boys songs... And then there's the Beatles..."Drive My Car"
And how about "Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car" by Billy Ocean?
I have just entered Item 65 in Summer Agora to continue the discussion of songs that mention cars in their titles and/or lyrics.
Oooooooo...bringin' back the 80s...
re #152: Don't you mean here on this cf, Bruin? Or has it been linked already?
RE #154 I apologize for the confusion. Yes, lumen, it is Music Conference #65. Thank you for bringing this up.
Okay, now songs about elephants.... :)
Elephant Talk, King Crimson. and...umm...well... Did Flanders & Swan do an Elephant song?
Roger Bobo's "Ellie the Elephant" suite for tuba.
Henry Mancini's "Elephant Walk"
There was that song about how elephants can or can't fly, from the Disney cartoon "Dumbo".
I knew you guys would pull through for me...
Then there is the folk song about the three elephants who try to balance on a spider's web. Also, Disney had another song called "Pink Elephants," which I think was from _The Three Caballeros_.
RE #162 Lumen, you may be thinking of "Pink Elephants On Parade" in the movie "Dumbo." This song appeared after Dumbo and Timothy Mouse drank from the water tank (not knowing that booze was spilled in it) and before the realization that Dumbo could fly.
re 159, Not to pick nits, Mike, but that song is called "Baby Elephant Walk" which was from the movie Hatari starring John Wayne.
Well, I hear Fleetwood Mac is back together, again. Any thoughts on this?
All power to Baby Boomer Nostalgia. Nothing wrong with nostalgia, but I don't expect Fleetwood Mac to produce any new music with any impact. I still love the 1975-1977 stuff, though.
Ever hear the live version of "Oh Well"? Try not to listen to it in your car. It's too hard to keep the speed under 100!!!!!!
re #163: That's it, bruin-- it has been years since I've seen that movie. I had also remembered "The March of the Pachyderms" from the Jungle Book. re #165: I haven't seen much of them besides a live performance MTV has been playing quite a bit lately. They are beginning to show signs of age and lack of fire, e.g. I hadn't realized that Stevie Nicks had put on weight.
re #164: OK, I was confused on that point.. The only version of the song that I own is entitled "Baby Elephant Walk" but I thought the band had altered the title for their jazzed-up cover so I dropped the "Baby" part, thinking I was restoring the title. re #165, 166: I'm not expecting anything particularly memorable from them and I'm sure anyone who expcts another "Rumours" is going to be disappointed but unlike many bands from that period who are reforming I'd lay good odds that at least their comeback won't be a major embarrassment -- they were producing credible, if uninspired, stuff the last time I heard anything..
I believe I've heard one of the songs of the new album, and it was both "credible", as Mike has suggested, and good. One of things that interests me about Fleetwood Mac is their waning and waxing allegiance. Through many years, they've continued to press forward, continuing to take some difficult, if sometimes personally unpleasant, looks at themselves and each other. The Nicks/Buckingham saga continues to play itself out in song, if the new one is any example. There are a lot of strong players in Mac, which makes for an ongoing artistic struggle. Christine McVie's voice is just one small gem. Nicks' is, of course, classic. Buckingham is a pretty good studio technician, to boot. I guess seeing Fleetwood Mac together again is like going back home...you see every flaw and wonder you recalled, but they're familiar, at least, and make you smile, just a little.
RE 168 "I haden't realized that Stevie Nicks had put on weight". Come on, she's been a blimp for several years. Some say it's the reason the band broke up in the first place.
I doubt there's a whole lot of correlation between weight and lack of musical talent. If so, Pavoratti and B.B. King would be hard to explain...
no, but professional women -- especially professional *performing* women (with rare exceptions) -- are almost prohibited from being overweight if they want to appear in public. in fact, it's preferred if they're unhealthily thin.
That's a good point. It's disappointing to see how much appearances still matter. What's interesting to ask, also, are these things... (1) How much are any of us willing to dig to get to know someone (even ourselves)? It's easy to think we go to a great deal of effort with people who are favorable to our mode of operation. What about people that we don't get along with? (2) How much are both women and men involved in the process of furthering the value of female appearances? (3) How much does gender conflict further misunderstanding? (3) How much of this is rooted in some natural behavior? (4) How much are we willing, as creative and thinking organisms, to jump beyond our instincts, behaviors, and fears to arrive at new insights?
Sounds like a good topic for behavior.cf or general.cf.
True, but drift is inherent, here, where things can be connected, rather than divided...
I tend to think that the weight issue is irrelevant in this case anyway.. By the time in question Fleetwood Mac were so wildly popular that they probably could have gained three hundred pounds apiece, painted themselves purple, and appeared on stage wearing giant diapers and they'd still have drawn fans..
I know *I'd* go see that one... :)
*laughs*
Didn't Peter Gabriel do something like that, already? Or was that Bill Spooner, Fee Waybill, and company?
I finally got to see that concert by Fleetwood Mac on tv yesterday, and I didn't think Stevie was THAT big. And she still sounded good. Which is what I care about anyway. I just don't CARE what my favorite artists look like, I mean, does anyone think Luciano Pavarotti is less great 'cause he's huge?
No, but is image as big a thing in opera as it is in popular music?
Probably. There was a essay in THE ABSOLUTE SOUND a couple of years ago which sent Arabella into quite a rage; the author complained that the current generation of women opera singers divided into good singers who were too fat to be attractive on stage (Alessandra Marc, Jane Eaglen and Sharon Sweet) and thin ones whose voices weren't very good and who were being pushed too hard to sing roles before they were ready for them.) These standards generally apply only to women, of course.
True-- but the pendulum is very slowly swinging the other way..
Hmm...I didn't realize.
Nah-- it won't be realized in music for a long time, but there is more pressure on guys these days to look good and to have a washboard belly. At least, that's how I see it..or I am just looking at the world through MTV glasses? (And how many fat country male stars do you see?)
No, I mean I didn't realize that 'image' was such a big part of classical music.
Oh, I wouldn't be surprised if everyone *wasn't* image-obsessed these days.
If you look at it this way: gained a number of pounds since peak of popularity--does this come from less exercise, does this lack of exercise and/or weight gain mean a lower lung capacity--a lesser vocal performance. Maybe we have seen the pattern too much: age and/or weight gain being indicators of lower performance possibities?
Well, I suppose, but it's not so much age as lack of health. I've seen some fairly healthy geezers who probably have a better lung capacity than some couch potatoes I know.
Lung capacity and performance ability have much more to do with vocal training than age and weight considerations.
Conservative radio commentator Paul Harvey had a few moments of enthusiastic praise for Ben Harper and his new album on his Monday noon broadcast. Good day!
Paul is cool.
Hehehehehe...are you kidding? *That's* interesting... I'd have to say, however, that Harper is pretty cool, in my book. One of he things that impresses me about him, wholly aside from his musical ability, is the fact that he has a very constructive, soulful approach to things. That's something we need more of...
Thornetta Davis is going to be at the Ark Saturday, September 13. This will be a good show. She's a soul/gospel singer that's really hitting her stride right now. Backed apparently by three former members of the now-defunct local band, Big Chief. (I don't recall liking Big Chief, but whatever they're doing with Thornetta is alright in my book...). I'm only going to catch a few shows this fall, and this is near the top.
Uh, not being a particularly mentally sound guy, I figured this might be the best place to announce it. I've rewritten ripclaw's plan into a semi-regular commentary on rock radio and the songs played on it. Might interest some people. Type !f ripclaw to view it.
Thanks, Steve! I'll have to mosey over there and check it out...
Alvin Youngblood Hart will be playing the Ark Monday, September 8. He is a wonderfully talented young blues musician not to be missed. Fantastic place to see him, too...
Aieee. This must be a last-minute booking; the Ark is usually closed on Monday. I would go, but.... I counted *20* shows I wanted to see on the Sept./Oct. Ark schedule...
200! Yeah, there is just *way* too much good stuff out there. Top of my list is the Poignant Plecostomus/Flashpapr/Morsel show on Tuesday, but if I could afford it I'd be at so many of the others....
Ah, well...I'll post some reviews, then...
Eugene Chadbourne will be at the Gypsy Cafe on Wednesday the 3rd. $5.00 9-11 pm. Country Jazz, the paper said, but that's kinda loose.
Country Jazz? Wonder what that'd be like...
Eugene Chadbourne is great! He played with Camper Van Beethoven in the 80s, as well doing an album of anti-war songs with members of the Violent Femmes. He plays madolin, guitar, and banjo in a *very* disonant country/bluegrass fashion.
Cool upcoming concerts: Dar Williams@Ark, Susan Werner@Ark, Cesaria Evora@ hmmm...need to check. All three local, and all three early October... Also...Arlo Guthrie@Ark for two nights! Late October, also, I think. I've also heard something about the Alloy Orchestra at the D.I.A., too. They`ve seemed like an interesting project. I'll see if I can dig up any more info...
Well, Mark, since this is an off-the-top-of-your-head item, I'l just share a personal musical experience. I'm new to the Gainesville, FL area (moved here in Jan.). A guy who just started working with me, introduced me to a group of women and men who weekly have improvisational Celtic music jams. The main group of them are partly composed of music professors from UF. They let anyone walk in and jam with them. I brought my tenor recorder down to check them out, not knowing what to expect. I had a wonderful time. I was the only recorder player there, but there were mandolins, flutes, guitars, *a banjo*, and various bongos and congas. There were about 15 people jamming, give or take people coming and going, so it was a bit hectic at times, but there were certain songs that just absolutely grooved. I can't think of anything I enjoy doing more (including math). I wish I knew more recorder players. I wish I could find out more about bass recorders. Any recorder players passing through north central florida always have a place to stay! ;->
The only thing I know about the Gainesville music scene is that they've probably heard more than enough of that "Go Gators!" cheer for quite a while.
Sounds like you had a great time, Dave. Sounds like everyone did, in fact!
Well, David Bowie is passing through town, here, any thoughts on the man? I didn't think too much about him until the college radio years, actually. I was busy playing my usual disjointed mishmash of tunes when someone called in for some old Bowie. "Old Bowie?" I asked. "Like, 'Let's Dance'?" MTV's and growing up in the 80s, I hadn't gotten too far. Still, I could recall the cool voice, the ultra-modern hair, the steely gaze. "No, like 'Space Oddity'." So, I went shuffling off to the stacks to dig up some certifiably old Bowie. While I was looking, I came across _Hunky Dory_ and absolutely had to play what has inexplicably become my favorite Bowie tune, "Andy Warhol", with its loony lyrics and fiery flamenco accompaniment. I began to sense, then, that there was a lot more to this guy. I mean, how do you explain a guy that's sung a Christmas song with Bing Crosby, produced for Iggy Pop, narrated Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf", dueted with Freddie Mercury, and now, rubbed shoulders with Trent Reznor? Well, you don't. You just sit back and enjoy the ch-ch-ch-changes...
My only thoughts about Bowie are that "Golden Years" and "Young Americans" are really great singles; they are the only Bowie material I've heard that I'm always eager to hear again. When summarizing Bowie's career, don't forget the vampire movie with Susan Sarandon...
Bowie is eceltic I guess I like Ziggy Stardust, Low, Heroes, and Diamond Dogs best of his albums in that order.
...And the movie Labyrinth, of course, which is most of my exposure to him...
I got some really old Bowie, "Please, Mr. Gravedigger" and his "Gnome" song.
i'm a recorder player. in fact, i've been getting together with an m-netter (who plays violin) the last few weeks, and we've been playing. we're also waiting for a banjo player who expressed interest but has yet to arrive to join us some evening.
Any particular rhyme or reason behind that lineup, or just whoever's availible? (Violin/recorder/banjo doesn't strike me as a common group)
Ah, yes, _The Hunger_...the movie Ken speaks of. A very stylish horror/mystery thriller. One of the few horror movies that has intrigued me...
_Labyrinth_ was cool, too. It's been a while since I've seen that one. Perhaps I should check it out, again...
He also starred in a pretty odd film called "The Man Who Fell to Earth"
He played an alien trying to pass as a human -- not much of a stretch.. :-)
As it happens a friend's roommate had two tickets for the Bowie show
last night thtat they wanted to sell for less than face value and I
didn't have a whole lot planned for the evening so the two of us decided
to go to the show. I'm quite glad I did -- it was a very interesting
show and he played for more than 2 1/2 hours covering a surprising
amount of material. Most of the stuff that was played was stuff I didn't
recognize or wasn't too familiar with but even that stuff I mostly
enjoyed. I got much more out of the stuff that I *did* know, particularly
the stuff from his period of collaboration with Brian Eno ("Always
Crashing in the Same Car" from "Low" and a great version of "V-2 Schneider"
from "Heroes") and the older stuff he played -- not surprisingly the
crowd got pretty pumped up by his performance of "Panic in Detroit.."
Other familiar crowd pleasers included "Jean Genie", "Under Pressure",
"Moonage Daydream", and an odd collection of covers -- the VU's
"I'm Waiting for the Man" and "White Light / White Heat" (a very good
cover, btw..) and Laurie Anderson's "O Superman" (largely performed by
his female bassist..)
Although I haven't been really knocked out by any of the albums he's
released in the past 10 years the concert was a really good show -- his
current sound comes across really well in a huge venue with the elaborate
light shows, pumping bass, and keyed up audience. I definitely enjoyed
my evening even if it didn't make me want to rush out and buy a bunch of
recent Bowie albums..
I would've enjoyed hearing him do "O Superman". Sounds like he was stressing the electronic stuff. Not surprising, given his current direction. I think any of his shows would be enjoyable, regardless. He's such a showman...
orinoco, yes, its commonly said that certain instruments don't go together, but I'm going to have to disagree. It depends (IMHO) on so many things, including the performers, the kind of music, etc. I've heard all kinds of unusual combinations that sounded wonderful. And void, if you're ever in the north central florida area, look me up, and I'll take you to this public jam.
And Steve, you're right. The hype up (down) here over college football is insane. Ok, we just won a national championship, but I can still grumble about how annoying it all is. Man! I really want to get back up north! ;-> I would kill to go tobogganing.
I saw Bowie's film of THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH when it was new, back around 1974 or so. When we left the theatre, an employee was handing out flyers which explained all the confusing bits in the movie. Only time I've seen *that*.
Hmmm.. I remember going to see David Lynch's film of Frank Herbert's "Dune" and having the theater handing out programs as you walked in to fill in background information and brief character bios for those who weren't familiar with the book. Unsurprisingly the film didn't do very well. Never seen them handing such stuff out *afterwards*, though.. 1974? Hmmm, Ken, you must be a little older than I thought.. Further reflection on last night's Bowie concert has led me to conclude that the show would've been average or slightly disappointing if one experienced only the music but that the stage effects and Bowie's showmanship and charisma *really* added to the experience -- many acts strive for this sort of effect but few pull it off as well as I saw last night.
Well, Dave, if you're ever up this way, I'll gladly find a place we can go tobagganing...
RE The Man Who Fell to Earth. I made the mistake of reading the book a few days before I saw the movie, and can see why they would hand out papers to fill in the missing parts. Plot holes you could drive a truck through! The director, Nicholas Roeg (sp?) has a habit of adding things that aren't in the book, and leaving out some pretty important stuff.
Cool movie, though. I saw it years ago at the Michigan Theatre when it was still mainly doing film-coop stuff.
Hey, Scott...since I'm not sure if you've vistited the alternative item in a while, check out the latest issue of _Experimental Musical Instruments_ over at Main Street News. Cover article on pvc doumbeks...
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I have that issue.
Right on, Mark...hope to get up there soon ;->
Dave, careful, Ann Arbor can get pretty hyped about football too (particularly if we get past Northwestern Undefeated). It's just that there are other people to talk to as well :) I don't know much about Bowie, but I know his duet of "Hurt" with Trent Reznor (a bootleg I hear on the radio) is absolutely stunning. Heaven knows what it woudl be like live.
Would they be singing about William?
i really like david bowie's music, but i only have cd of all the singles, well, not all, but i guess the bigger ones (changesbowie) it's a great cd, and if you like his music, i'd point you to it in a second
The music industry execs are groaning... unknown-label band Jars Of Clay debuted its new album high on the Billboard charts. I can just see Columbia attempting to promote them out of radio.. heh
I may have to check it out, then :)
MARK'S COOL OCTOBER CONCERT ALERT...
========================================================================
Dar Williams at the Ark, Thursday, October 2, 7P/9:30P
Blackwell (Kiss tribute band) and Poignant Plecostomus at the Club Above
the Heidelberg, Friday, October 3, 10P
Susan Werner at the Ark, Saturday, October 4, 8P
Bruce Cockburn at the Michigan Theater, Friday, October 10, 8P
Alison Krauss & Union Station at Pease Auditorium, Saturday, October 11,
8P
The Samples and 19 Wheels at the Michigan Theater, Saturday, October 11,
8P
Victor Wooten at the Magic Bag, Sunday, October 12, 8P
Blue Mountain at the Blind Pig, Tuesday, October 14, 9:30P
Knee Deep Shag at Cross Street Station, Thursday, October 16, 10:30P
Cesaria Evora at the Michigan Theater, Friday, October 17, 8P
Ani DiFranco at Hill Auditorium, Sunday, October 19, 8P
They Might Be Giants at the Michigan Theater, Wednesday, October 22, 7:30P
Arlo Guthrie at the Ark, Wednesday, October 22 and 23, 8P both nights
U of M School of Music annual Halloween concert at Hill Auditorium,
Sunday, October 26, 4P/7:30P
Muzsikas (featuring Marta Sebestyen) at the Ark, Monday, October 27, 8P
wow. lotsa good stuff next month.
re Jars of Clay in #233: according to the www.cdnow.com shoppe, Jars of Clay are on one of the BMG imprints. BMG is one of the six major labels, so *one* group of label execs is happy with their #8 chart debut. There's a web site urging fans to call their local mainstream alternative station to request airplay.
MARK'S COOL OCTOBER CONCERT FOOTNOTES... ======================================== I challenged Poignant Plecostemus to a chess match, but they have yet to respond. Bruce Cockburn is Canada's premiere politically aware, musically intelligent folk rocker. I helped out his band's guitar player a few years back and he got me seats to see the show my first week in town. Very cool. Krauss and Union Station are contemporary bluegrass giants. Victor Wooten is the bassist for Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, a kind-of post-modern bluegrass band. Blue Mountain was the opening act for the Jayhawks concert I saw at the Blind Pig a while back. The trio was in top form: energetic and heartfelt. I watched the lead singer walk his dog around the block, before the show. Cesaria Evora is a Cape Verdean morna singer approaching legendary status. Morna is an African/Portuguese kind of blues. DiFranco is a good renegade folk songwriter, and she wears a nosering. Kudos for bringing American storyteller Utah Phillips into the limelight a year or so back. Arlo Guthrie is not only the son of Woody Guthrie, American socialist folk legend, but a cool songwriter, himself. Marta Sebestyen did the tune from _The English Patient_ and the Hungarian band she's in have been making good on the traditional ethnic scene for some time.
Mark, is Victor Wooten the member of Bela's band that plays the unusual, odd looking instrument? I've only seen one short clip of them playing somewhere and it was quite awhile ago. Okay, okay...I admit I live a fairly sheltered life.
Would you, perhaps, be talking about the "Synth-axe drumitar"? :) (I just got a copy of _Live Art_ from the library, I don't have _that_ good a memory) If so, the player goes by the name of Future Man (or Futch for short). I don't know his real name, but he's not Victor Wooten.
Wooten is the Flecktones' bassist. When I saw them at EMU last fall I thought that Future Man's solo piece was the most interesting part of the concert (but I wasn't particularly engrossed by the rest of the concert.)
I'm pretty impressed with the Pease Auditorium at EMU, actually. It's a pretty nice theater, and I guess it wasn't being used much until just last year. I saw the Barenaked Ladies there (the story of making the show on time despite a long drive, car troubles, and loss of tickets is an interesting one, in itself) last fall, and it was great! A little hot, but a nicely-sized theater -- not too big and not too small.
Synth-axe drumitar? Future Man? Well, more power to him, as long as he (and they) keep putting out wonderful music like the three songs of theirs that I've heard (yes, only three.... I told you, I'm sheltered.....or an overburdened college student....one of the two).
You? Sheltered? I'm so poor I can't afford dilly-squat! (lumen mutters something about living in Central Washington)
But you are here at Grex, where there is a wealth of good cheer and conversation...
Sometimes I worry that we are making lumen depressed. Mark, in party last night, asked for the name of the Don Dixon CD which I'd fished out of a $3.50 bin at Elderly Instruments. It's ROMANTIC DEPRESSIVE, a 1995 release. It's a fine ordinary rock album, at least on one listen, with the great production values one would expect from Dixon. How come Dixon and his wife Marti Jones don't do a duo act? She sings better than he does.
Has anyone heard Bob Dylan's new album? I've heard a few people describe it as the best he's put out since _Blood on the Tracks_ (including _Newsweek_, who just did a decent interview with him). And it looks like he's back on his endless tour. Whatta guy!
Pease is nice since they renovated. Jars Of Clay certainly pisses off most culture (they come to the area November 9 or thereabouts, I believe) and they'll never get played much on mainstream radio (though I heard them on 103). Radio doesn't go for that sort of stuff. (Is Forefront a BMG imprint? such was not my impression)
Do you want to have an item for religion in pop music?
Ken-- nice observation. My musical digest has been very meager right now, and I'm very impoverished. But I should be able to tap into local resources, scarce as they may be. I'm up for an item regarding religion in pop music-- but I myself would tread lightly there. Praise music is not an active part of my faith, and I sometimes find it a little trite at times. But then, there are no well-known Mormon pop composers. I believe it was Kenneth Cope who made a try for the Christian music scene, but he just didn't make it.
Re: way back when: Yeah, my favourite track on _Live Art_ is Future Man's improvisation.
(I think response #251 got smotched somehow. Try again?)
Future Man is Victor Wootan's brother. Victor is an incredable bass player. I saw him exchanging, note for note, with a mandolin player. Fast fingers, big strings.
re #252: #251 made sense to me..
Wow. Most impressive. #251 did, actually, get clipped. I went on to rave about the track, which combines music with water sound effects, at great length, but I don't feel like replicating my rant. Let's say I liked it and leave it at that.
Sounds interesting, Bill. I'll have to check out more of their music. The mandolin player didn't happen to be Dave Grusin, did it?
Live Art is back at the library, if you're interested, diznave.
I heard Jars of Clay almost endlessly on mainstream radio about two years ago, with their previous release. What radio are you listening to?
Ken: I stumbled across Don Dixon years ago with _Romeo at Julliard_, a really good album. I had the chance to hear _Romantic Depressive_ when it first came out. I'd enjoy hearing it again. You say you found yours at Elderly? In all the time I spent in East Lansing I never managed to make it over to Elderly. I need to check that place out, some time. I presume you'll be at the Muzsikas concert, at the end of this month? Maybe we'll have a chance to get together and listen to a few tunes that night...
Oh, and Marti and Don did sing together, briefly, on a live album, _The Chi-Town Concert_ (or something close to that title).
I've mentioned this before, but a really wonderful album with Bela Fleck is the Bela Fleck/V.M. Bhatt/Jie-Bing Chen collaboration for the _Tabula Rasa_ album on Water Lily Acoustics. Bhatt is known for his sitar-like mohan vina, an instrument of his own design. The mohan vina is an arch-top guitar with sympathetic strings, played with a slide. Chen is one of China's finest erh-hu players, a two-stringed, long-necked bowed instrument similar to the violin. The album is quite wonderful, and inspired me to find an album of ehr-hu music featuring Jie-Bing Chen.
Mark, the copy of ROMANTIC DEPRESSIVE I got at Elderly was from a bin of unwanted used CDs which had been slashed from Elderly's usual used price, $7, to $3.50. There aren't any more copies there; I'll be happy to loan you this one.
What, pray tell, is an arch-top guitar?
103, the only local station to play them regularly, is not mainstream, Mark.
diznave, the mandolin player was Mike Marshall, founder of the Modern Mandolin Quartet. Has also played with David Grisman Quintet, Montreux, and Psycograss. Very energetic player, fun to listen to and watch.
An arch-top guitar, as best I can figure, is a guitar with a horizontally curved fingerboard, a design slightly derived from the sitar.
Are you referring to 102.9 FM, Steve? I heard Jars of Clay quite a bit on 93.9 FM out of Windsor. I consider the Windsor/Detroit area as "local", however.
An arch-top guitar is one constructed more like a violin than a "flat-top" guitar. It has a hollow body, with f-holes instead of the big round hole, but other than that it has more normal guitar hardware. It's the sort of thing you see jazz players using, esp. traditional jazz. Aside from the brutally high playing action some players affect, it is a normal-playing guitar.
steve (king) 103 is quite mainstream... very much so
So what difference is there - or is it just more comfortable to play?
It *sounds* different. And as I mentioned, some players have this thing about really high/hard action, so that they are "cool" or something.
Well, given how hard I know it is to describe a sound, I guess I'll just have to go hear it myself.
I wonder what the physics behind the shape of the "f" holes are. I assume there must be some practical reason for that kind of shape over others...
That reminds me of a really good article I snagged from my high school physics class from a real old _Scientific American_ on the physics of the piano. Scientific writing was much better, back in the 50s, than it seems to be, now. The danger of a lack of a good liberal education to back up such specialization...
I would guess that calculating the physics behind the f-holes would be more trouble than it's worth. I doubt anyone knows _why_ they work, only that they do indeed work.
And that they look good, and are traditional. Just think Joe Pass, and you'll get the idea. Not much treble, that's for sure. I don't actually like that sound.
Not according to them or their competitors. 102.9 plays way more off the wall obscure stuff than anyone else I listen to.
I beg to differ. I'll bet there are some people who have looked into it. And, I'll bet with a little thought, there might even be some reasonable explanation that comes to mind. I'm not interested in the actual calculations, mind you, but the functionality of that particular shape. Why use that shape, and not another? For instance, drinking glasses come in various basic shapes. At first glance, there may seem to be no reason to this. Yet upon closer examination, one can see that the brandy snifter concentrates the bouquet, the champagne glass provides the least surface area for carbonation to escape, the white wine glass is smaller than the red wine glass as larger quantities would sit longer and warm, contrary to advice to serve whites chilled. There's far more thought that may go into design than you think...
You may be right. I've never exactly put much thought into drinking glass shapes either...
Wow, that's pretty cool.
Welcome, Christopher. Always happy to see a new face...
thanks. I'm a returning face thanks to arabella.
welcome back.. whatcha been up to? (especially musically..)
Hello, everyone. I just wanted to tell you about the wonderful weekend I just had. I spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the Alachua Music Harvest. Starting Friday afternoon, and ending Sunday night at 3 a.m. with Parliment/Funkadelic, the three day festival included over 100 artists, 4 different stages running constantly (well, almost constantly), a large campground set up on the grounds of the adjoining Gainesville regional airport, all kinds of different foods, people skydiving, a huge rock climbing wall set up, 3 nethack courts running all three days, huge drum circles all over, late night instrument jams on the camgrounds, and a lot of friendly folks with good vibes. There were two main stages, an acoustic stage, and a stage strictly for D.J.'s. I saw great music on all 4. For those who had a 3 day pass, the D.J. stage area was open all night Friday night and Saturday night. All four stages (even the acoustic stage) were very loud, so you can probably imagine thaT the area (the Alachua County Fairgrounds) is fairly large. You would imagine correctly. Walking past each of the four stages through the woods to the campgrounds is quite a hike (from the main entrance). The weather was incredible all weekend. Not too hot during the day, and not too cool at night. It did drizzle for about an hour Saturday night, but it was after I had just finished dancing like a madman to a really groovy ska band, so the rain felt great. Some of my favorite performances were: Dirty Dozen Brass Band (first time I've seen them live, and they are *funky*...the tuba player was amazing); Maceo Parker (more serious funk...did an incredible version of James Brown's _Papa Don't Make No Mess_ (I *guess* that's the title of the song) ); Zero (a groove band from San Francisco...kind of Ben Folds Five meets Phish); De La Soul( what can I say...De La is the bomb); various acoustic artists that I couldn't *begin* to tell you the name of (al kinds of wonderful combinations...acoustic guitar, double bass, trombone......flute, recorder, trumpet, acoustic guitar....etc...and a great blugrass band ); and of course George Clinton and P-Funk. There were also many bands that I caught parts of, but couldn't tell you their names. Another added treat was provided by a local club, _the Soulhouse_. About halfway between the first main stage and the second, there is a small break in the woods, with a big sign pointing into the woods. Then a little way into the woods, there is a path, lined on each side with a single strand of blue (almost ultraviolet) christmas lights. The path goes about a quarter of a mile into the woods. *Very* cool. *Very* trippy. Eventually, shortly before you come to a wide "clearing" (there are still trees all over, just less dense), red lights start to mix with the blue. When you walk into the clearing, the red and blue lights are all intermixed in crazy patterns just above your head. To the left is a D.J. playing some spacy acid jazz. To the right is a makeshift bar set up selling a great assortment of my favorite beers( Bass, Newcastle, Samuel Smith, etc.). And everything bathed in the pale glow of moonlight. Three days of peace love and music. Sounds familiar. ;->
Where was this? I'm the closest thing we have to that hear in A2 is the blues and jazz festivile which is pretty sedate, and less varied then the scene you described.
RE #285 I believe this event took place in Florida (references to Alachua County and Gainesville are the clues).
Dave- very cool. Thanks for posting your account of the concert. The Dirty Dozen are great -- I think I've heard them a few times on other people's albums. De La Soul are cool, too...
That does sound cool.. But what on earth is a nethack court?
Mike, you're probably familiar with the term Hackey-Sack. Its a brand name of a type of footbag. Another kind of footbag is a Sippa. Sippas are usually crocheted (sp?) while Hacky-Sacks are usually multi-paneled leather bags. For those of you unfamiliar with "net-hack", its kind of like regular footbag played with two teams over a net similar to a badmitten net. The rules are very similar to volleyball, with the main differences being the size of the ball (about the size of a large lemon), and the body parts allowed to strike the ball (footbag), which would be only from the knees down, not including the knees. There are two people on each team, and scoring and hits per side are the same as volleyball. Sorry if I just confused anyone...I've been up all night studying math. ;->
Correct, bruin...Florida it is. Matthew, Alachua County is located in north central Florida...about 2 hours north of Tampa...2 hours southwest of Jacksonville...2 hours westnorthwest of Orlando. Gainesville (the home of Univ. of Florida, where I'm in school) is in the south east corner of this fairly large county. The fairgrounds where the music festival took place are about 15 minutes northeast of Gainesville.
And I *cannot* over emphasize just how **strange** George Clinton is. Cool guy...funky as anyone...but *out there*. The entire show he wore nothing but a big white sheet (with what looked like words and pictures spray painted on the sheet) and red lensed ski goggles. I say nothing but because at various times during the show, you could actually see his butt. ;->
re #289: OK, in my world "nethack" is something you play on your computer until the wee hours of the morning..
Well, I'm sure ogling George Clinton's ass would have been the high point of my evening too... :>
RE#283 -- Lots actually. I've been playing with a few guys doing "Mersey Beat" stuff, the studio has been happening, got to work with Son Volt and Allsion Krauss and Union Station, it's been a good year. Re: Nethack: I thought the same thing Mike.
According to my understanding, the elevation of Gainseville actually lowered several feet last week when Florida lost to LSU and everybody's hopes came crashing down
<grin>
Heh, heh...Steve, I think I'm the only student at this school who could care less about the football program. And as far as I'm concerned, the state of Florida has no elevation (man, I miss western Maryland!). Re#293: <chuckle>
Christopher- I wanted to catch Allison Krause and Union Station, but I couldn't make it. Tell me more about what you do that involved working with them...
I'm a recording engineer (small e, ;-) ) and she and her band came in to do a few songs for 'Acoustic Cafe'. She and her band were real nice and very good performers.
Christopher- cool. Tell me a little more about Acoustic Cafe. I've listened to it a number of times, but I haven't quite figured out if it's broadcast from Ann Arbor or not...
It's produced in Ann Arbor, but syndicated mationally. So if you're hearing it outside of Michigan it's from a local station who received it on CD-R. Rob Reinhart, the host, was a personality on WIQB for some time. /s/mationally/nationally
Where/when can I hear it?
I believe that "Acoustic Cafe" is heard on "93.9 -- The River." Please correct me if I am wrong. BTW, "93.9 -- The River" is in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
There is an "Acoustic Cafe" show on a station in my area 97.7 WRRX. I'm pretty sure this isn't part of a syndicated show, because the afternoon D.J. regularly interviews the guests. (Umm, I should say nationally syndicated) I would venture to guess that quite a few progressive radio stations around North America have some sort of acoustic music show, and that one of the popular names for these shows would be "The Acoustic Cafe".
Orinoco- Acoustic Cafe is broadcast somewhere around 10P, Sundays, on the River, Detroit/Windsor 93.9FM.
Alright, let's have a round of mentions for albums that are currently capturing your interest...
_Reckoning_ (Grateful Dead) I haven't listened to this album in awhile, and after jamming along with it all day today, I can't understand why? This has my vote one of the very best "official" albums the Dead has ever put out. Its a live acoustic album, taken from shows at the Warfield and Radio City Music Hall circa 1980. I really regret never seeing an acoustic Dead show in person (my first show was in 1984). Wonderful album! <btw, replace the question mark in the 2nd line with a period>
'currently capturing my interest', eh? That'd have to be Rickie Lee Jones' _Naked Music_, another live album. The title describes it well - except for a bassist on one track, it's just her and her guitar and/or piano. Sparse, but very well done.
I'm still currently intrigued with Joe Jackson's _Body and Soul_ (1984).
There's this amazingly astute anthem to love at the end of the millenium
called "Happy Ending":
"I'm in a movie, where boy meets girl...
What happens to me, in this brave new world?
...
Do I listen to my head? Do I listen to my heart?
Do I try to feel the same as I feel when we're apart?
Do I think about the end, when it's only just a start?
Is there nothing we can do about it?
(Anyone?)
Anyone can be so hard-hearted
(But everyone?)
Still everybody wants a happy ending...
La-la-la-la-lah..."
Ah, a something I can just jump right into. Currently capuring my intrest is "Te Deum", by Avo Part, and "Career of Evil" by Blue Oyster Cult (Huzzah, Huzzah) in their "Secret Treaties" album.
There's contrast for you. :)
I love BOC. _Fire of Unknown Origin_ is one of my *faves*... In fact, I think I just *gotta* put it on now... "We've been livin' in the flames... We've been eatin' up our brains... Oh please, don't let these shakes go ooooon..." Hehehehehe... Can you guess that tune? I don't think I've heard Part's _Te Deum_, yet. I have heard _Litany_, though, which was nice.
Litany is very cool. It's on the 'Te Deum' album, I believe.
The one I've heard is on the _Litany_(1996) album. Perhaps there's another litany on _Te Deum_?
Current interests...
1) U2, BOY: I already mentioned this in the U2 item, I think.
I seem to be in a mood to relive my early adult years through
guitar pop albums.
2) Troka, TROKA: very hot Finnish instrumental folk group with a
roaring acoustic bass underpinning. The Hungarian and Scandinavian
stuff all seems to be tied together, somehow. This is due for
a USA release on the Northside label next year.
3) Vulcheva-Jenkins Incident, CROSS THE DANUBE:
So this Bulgarian singer fell in love with an English guitarist
at a European folk festival, and they got married and had an
album. A mix of Bulgarian trad, English trad, and some originals,
in a setting dominated instrumentally by the acoustic guitar.
I love it, but I can't say your reaction would be the same if you
weren't already thoroughly soaked in Bulgarian singing style.
What is Bulgarian singing like?
Higher-pitched, somewhat nasal, off-key, and eerie.
A better description than I would've come up with and pretty accurate..
Mark, sounds like you're describing *my* singing. ;-> By the way, when I say in a different item that I can't stand BOC, I also have to admit that I haven't heard the two albums mentioned above.
r:314 I might be wrong. I'll double check....
Anyone heard the new Bjork? It sounded pretty cool, from what I heard...
I listened Sunday night to Detroit's The Planet 96.3 FM show _Big Sonic Heaven_. I think it started around 10P. They played stuff like "Crystal Wrists" from Peter Murphy's _Deep_ and "Black Celebration" from the album of the same name by Depeche Mode, along with some new Ivy and other cool stuff...
Big Sonic Heaven is a fairly decent show.
New Bjork, eh? I may have to check it out..but I'm rather strapped for cash
Mark, didn't the Swedish Chef say, "Bjork, bjork, bjork!!!"?
I thought it was b0rk b0rk b0rk...Ask snowth, perhaps...
Definitely not "bjork". Usually Swedish Chef dialogue is represented as "bork bork bork" but I've always thought it sounded more like "boork" alt.swedish.chef.bork.bork.bork is full of the stuff..
I thought he said "mmm...bork bork...mmm...bork...bork". Hmmm... Perhaps Hanson is trying to cover something up?
And a lot of stuff about chickens, err, chickies.. "Den you poot ze cheekee in ze pot mmm bork bork bork.." Hanson's definitely up to something but I doubt the existence of a Hanson/Swedish Chef conspiracy..
Hanson is evil.
Ah ki' yew...
It's Henson, you sillies. *sigh* The Muppets have never been the same since Jim died..
Oooooo..."Hanson"/"Henson"...even *more* compelling evidence!
Noooooooo! You can't put Henson and Hanson in the same sentence! Bad evil person! No biscuit!
As opposed to 'good evil person - here, have a biscuit'?
Maybe it's kinda like north-northwest...
Nah-- NNW is just part of a 16-point compass (;
There are a number of articles of Music Conference interest in today's (Monday's) National Edition of the New York Times. In the Business section there is a long feature on the FCC's pursuit of the gentleman who runs Free Radio Berkeley, a low-power, unlicensed FM station. In the Arts section there is a feature on new music from Yusuf Islam, the former Cat Stevens; plus reviews of a recital by Welsh baritone Bryn Terfel, and brief reviews of two of the new Harry Partch CDs from CRI. In the main section there is an account of Bob Dylan's appearance at the Kennedy Center Honors gala, which will be telecast on December 26. (The other honorees are opera singer/UM alumna Jessye Norman; film actors Lauren Bacall and Charlton Heston; and a dancer who I have not heard of previously.)
Ooooo...interesting. Tell me more about Radio Free Berkley... And Yusef. Always curious to see what my old hero is up to, these days... And just what are these new Partch albums, anyway?
Three new releases of Partch stuff from the CRI label, of which I recently bought one. One has 'The Wayward' and some other short stuff, one has '11 Intrusions', 'Plectra and Percussions Dances' and 'Ulysses at the Edge' and the third has 'Daphe of the Dunes', 'Rotate the Body in all its Planes', and 'Water, Water'.
<rotfl>
<dan wonders what's so funny...>
I was listening to the radio the other day, and Sade's "The Sweetest Taboo" came on. It amazed me how well it has stood the test of time. And, how ultra-cool it was... Any other suggestions for ultra-cool music for an ultra-cool season? And any other feelings about songs of lasting quality?
Sade, although she uses a style that was popular for a particular time, and is from a more distant era, sings songs that have lasting appeal, in my opinion. Mark knows who Mannheim Steamroller is, but I'm not sure how many others in the group know them by name, although I'm sure you'd recognize their Christmas music. They have three Christmas albums now, and I would highly suggest checking out Fresh Aire IV - Winter, which isn't very Christmasey, but has enough sound effects to bring evoke images of wintertime in general. Perhaps it would suit those who celebrate Yule. The phrase 'ultra-cool' reminded me of the latest issue of Utne Reader magazine I was reading today. Just what *is* the definition of ultra-cool?
I think my favorite Mannheim Steamroller would be _Fresh Aire I_. I liked II and 4 a lot, also. Mannheim Steamroller paid a lot of attention to arrangement and fidelity, which helped give their work some lasting appeal. Their unique mix of Renaissance and modern instruments certainly set them apart. Back when vinyl records were still coming out, they were pressing the albums on pretty heavy, good quality vinyl. too.
Indeed. But then Chip got enchanted with orchestral arrangements =P Maybe he thought the academic world of music wouldn't take him seriously enough. *sigh* But I liked their little band sound when Don Sears was their sound engineer. Now all the focus is on the whole orchestra, with Arnie Roth as the electric concertmaster :/ (Forgive me, I just don't get into the orchestra thing, nor into concertmasters/concertmistresses and their attitudes)
Happy holidays, folks!
Thanks, Mark..I second the motion!
One of the albums I happened to come across the other day while rummaging through the boxes was Patti Rothberg's _Between the 1 and the 9_ (1996). She was responsible for the tune "Inside". It went like this: "Think I'll write a letter home...tellin' everybody that I'm happy alone...and maybe if I play the role...i can roll myself into a big black hole..." A song like that would easily place her squarely in the angry young disenfranchised female singer category that seems to be the rage, these days, but she's got more melodic insight in her pinky than most of them, combined. A good backing band provides a nice counterpoint to her colorful guitar work. Very nice!
Last night I recieved a made CD (aka a mix CD, made for me by a friend) which contained Cool Canadian Bands with Weird Names -- Moxy Fruvous, Captain Tractor, and several others which I'm not recalling at the moment. Very cool, very good. I'll talk more about it when I'm through digesting the sound.
CANADIAN BANDS WITH WEIRD NAMES! HURAAAY!!!
-hmm, I suppose you can't exactly e-mail that to me, can you?
Any Courage of Lassie on there?
Humphrey and the Dumptrucks?
Buffallo Springfield?
what are we talking about? <Cricket's lost track>
Canadian bands with weird names. You said it yourself.
Bob's Your Uncle. I think they are extinct; the lead singer went on to become a Much Music VJ or something like that.
How about the Canadian band that caused a stir by naming themselves "Dropkick Me Jesus?" The name actually came from a 1970's era Country Gospel song.
The bands on this CD that I was given are: Great Big Sea (wonderful! KRJ can give a better description than I, since he has more of their CDs, but I can only say that I like them a whole lot!) Moxy Fruvous The Arrogant Worms (the songs on here are all funny songs, so I can't say whether or not I'd like their more serious stuff. The song about not going into politics because it will kill you is quite good, thoguh.) The Splendour Bog (some gorgeous evocative songs about Canada (duh!) but probably my third fave band on the CD) Captain Tractor (again, wonderful, these guys are just neat! Funny and hilarious but serious underneath it all. And the lead singers voice is quite enjoyable.) Bare Naked Ladies (well, either you've heaerd them or not. I hadn't before, but I am planning on putting them on my to-be-acquired list)
The Tea Party? Econoline Crash?
I didn't think the Arrogant Worms *had* any serious songs. My favorite is still "The Last Saskatchewan Pirate."
Twila- if you own one Barenaked Ladies album, let it be _Gordon_, their first. Truly a classic.
I was half-listening to the radio while doing other things, and I heard this quirky, soulful tune that sounded like it was done by David Byrne, but instead turned out to be a tune off Lyle Lovett's album _Joshua Judges Ruth_. I've been interested in checking out his stuff, but put it on the back burner, for a while. Sometimes it's nice just to come across things by surprise. And surprised is what I definitely was. Very nice...
re #361: I suppose "The Last Saskatchewan Pirate" must be the song whose title I've been trying to figure out.. I saw the video on some Canadian music video channel when staying in Toronto last year and was amused..
The last Saskatchewan Pirate is by Captan Tractor, and it is quite funny. I'd love to see a video, but I doubt MTV or VH1 would show it.
Captain Tractor covered it; it was written by the Worms.
Ah HA! I should tell you, Ken, that I am getting two Captain Tractor CDs AND a CD by the Splendour Bog.
I'm thinking that the version I saw the video for was Captain Tractor -- that name comes closer to ringing a bell..
Y'know, we should have a whole item on Canadian Music... Hmm...
COOL UPCOMING CONCERT ALERT THU 19 FEB/Joe Jackson @ Royal Oak Music Theater/Royal Oak, MI FRI 27 FEB/Chantal Kreviazuk @ Royal Oak Music Theater/Royal Oak, MI WED 8 APR/Rent begins its run @ Fisher Theater/Detroit, MI
Who's Chantal Kreviazuk?
"I am 32 Flavors and then some," cooly proclaims Alana Davis in her current radio single, and believe me, Baskin-Robbins has got nothing on her. Equal parts Joni Mitchell and Aretha Franklin, Davis spins twelve very cool, very solid, very funky tunes on _Blame it on Me_. Dig it on a cone...
Chantal's current single is "Surrounded". She's also responsible for unapolagetic "The Way God Made Me". I'm not big on the angry young female singer thing, but she seems to have a little more going for her. Plus, she's got a cool name...
Anybody interested in a trip to see Joe Jackson?
I might be if (a) the ticket prices are within my impoverished student budget, and (b) he's not playing orchestral selections from "Heaven and Hell" or something like that..
I'm interested in going. I love that guy!
re: Chantal's currently played radio single-- I agree with Mark, but haven't heard the rest of the album. She sounds like she has a lot of potential..
According to the Ticketmaster web page (http://www.ticketmaster.com/), tickets are $27.50 for all seats.
I guess I'd better pass..
On a cheeper note, Contemporary Directions Ensemble will have a free show tonight, Feb 7th at 8pm in the Rackham Lecture Hall. Electronic violin and tape, a piece by Evan Chambers, and Michael Daugherty's "Dead Elvis" featuring Elvis himself on solo bassoon!
I'll most likely be there, too.
And were you?
Yeppers. And it was cool. Elvis rocked.
What's the schedule for that ensemble? I never seem to see it coming, but I enjoy all the shows I go to.
I just saw _Brassed Off_ the other day: a pretty good film about a coalminer's brass band going for a title and the social issues surrounding Britain's coal mining industry. Extremely enjoyable from a musical, as well as social standpoint...
Except for those who've heard Chumbawumba's "Tubthumping" one too many times.. (the spoken intro at the beginning of that song is taken from "Brassed Off", otherwise the music has no relation..) It was entertaining but I wouldn't call it a stellar example of the British unemployment film (which is a whole genre unto itself..)
Loudon Wainright III is apparently opening for Shawn Colvin at the Michigan Theater sometime in the near future. I've been a fan of this guy for a long time, ever since my copy editor at the newspaper introduced me to him. Richard Thompson has guested on several of his albums, which ought to impress Ken...
Also, starting April 8, the Broadway hit _Rent_ will be at the Fisher Theater in Detroit. This modern rendition of Puccini's _La Boheme_ has some really good tunes.
Former firehose bassist Mike Watt will be at the Blind Pig Tuesday, May 19 (doors open at 9:30P) plugging his new project.
Actually what Mike Watt should be remembered for is playing bass in the minutemen. Firehouse was a rather pathetic followup to that band IMO and showed that D. Boon was the one with the telent in the minutemen.
I believe it's not "firehose" (as in #389) or "Firehouse" (#390) but "fIREHOSE"
Although I do have a rather anonymous-looking second-hand tape by a band called Firehouse. It's rather anonymous-sounding 80's rock.
Yeah fIREHOSE, is right they are better than Firehouse which is bad synth pop if I rember right where as fIREHOSE is bad post-punk.
Yeah, Firehouse was an early 90s glam-metal band. Somewhat different than fIREHOSE...
Mr. Watt will be performing his "rock opera" _Contemplating the Engine Room_ which, If memory serves, is about his father.
<screech> <screech> DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!!
...umm...
That didn't really seem to fit, did it?
Not one bit.
<four hundred!> I wonder if Mr. McNally would care to enlighten us on his comments... Aside from that, I just wanted to be item #400
I'm just thinking that a Mike Watt rock opera about his relationship with his father is an album I'd probably want to go to some effort to avoid.. I suppose I could've taken a more straightforward way of expressing that..
Mark is correct-- who had the idea Firehouse was a bad synth pop band? They were definitely molded in the glam-metal tradition.. Glam-hard rock/metal..ahhh..I actually like some of it, oddly
Wow, that's impressive, but who knows, maybe I'll rediscover something I like from that period.
I missed the show damnit. Mike, this album has received very high critical praise. I don't think it's about his relationship with his father, but about his father.
Excuse me for getting my regrettable genres wrong, lumen :)
Yeah, I missed the show, too. Although I haven't heard the new album, I have heard _Ball-Hog or Tugboat?_(1995), featuring numerous guest artists, including Henry Rollins, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea, and Lemonheads' Evan Dando, among others, and it's a pretty good listen. Especially impressive is the cover of Funkadelic's "Maggot Brain", with some impassioned guitar work by Dinosaur Jr.'s J. Mascis.
SOME COOL JUNE SHOWS:
SATURDAY, JUNE 6, 8P -- MUSTARD PLUG @ BLIND PIG (ANN ARBOR): Local ska
band from Grand Rapids
SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 8P -- OVER THE RHINE @ THE ARK (ANN ARBOR): Acclaimed
indie Cincinnati band
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 8P -- MOXY FRUEVOUS @ ARK (ANN ARBOR): Alternative
barbershop quartet from Canada
THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 8P -- MERL SAUNDERS & THE RAINFOREST BAND @ MAGIC BAG
(FERNDALE): Former Grateful Dead keyboardist
FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 8P (?) -- KNEE DEEP SHAG @ BLIND PIG (ANN ARBOR): Funky
Kalamazoo band
FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 8P -- FRANCES BLACK @ ARK (ANN ARBOR): Gaelic singer
(not to be confused with ex-Pixies *Frank* Black)
FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 8P -- ARLO GUTHRIE @ MAGIC BAG (FERNDALE): Son of famous
folk labor activist Woody Guthrie, and a fine songrwriter, himself
SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 8P (?) -- MORSEL @ BLIND PIG (ANN ARBOR)
FRIDAY, JUNE 26 -- SUNDAY, JUNE 28 -- FROG ISLAND FESTIVAL @ FROG ISLAND
PARK (YPSILANTI): Featuring the delightful Detroit soul singer
Thornetta Davis and her band, Oo Papa Dah, at 6P on Saturday
SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 9P -- HIS NAME IS ALIVE @ MAGIC BAG (FERNDALE):
Experimental ambience from Livonian Warren Defever
MONDAY, JUNE 29, 8P -- DAVE BRUBECK @ POWER CENTER (ANN ARBOR): famous
jazz pianist
You forget Capercaille the night before Frances Black -- amazing SCottish band. I fear that I will be run off my feet that night. But it will be worth it!
One that I'm looking VERY forward to is Three Men and a Tenor at the Power Center on July 7th...I have excellent tix for it. :)
I went to school with one of the guys in Three Men and a Tenor. I'll have to check 'em out, sometime.
They're really worth it...I've only heard an album, but...:)
Yeah, I saw them playing at the A2 art fair a while ago. My dad was a little miffed by there name- "What are they implying, that tenors aren't men?"- but then, he's a tenor... Come to think of it, so am I, sometimes...
"There Goes a Tenner" -- Kate Bush
Tenor? I don't even know her!
I was at the book store, yesterday, checking out the new mutliple-copy edition of _The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music_. At $25 a pop, and at least nine volumes wide, this is an investment. Luckily, you can buy it in pieces: 50s,60s,70s,80s,blues,r&b,folk,country, and indie. Take your pick! Entries are written with precision and insight. The best musical encyclopedia buy for your buck.
Sounds like a good candidate for CD.. Since my last move I don't really have room for 9-volume encyclopedias of anything but it does sound interesting..
You have several choices: