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| Author |
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| 25 new of 154 responses total. |
micklpkl
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response 60 of 154:
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May 20 16:54 UTC 2002 |
Well, I missed the rebroadcast of Travelling Folk on Saturday --- I'm
just no good at remembering the BBC on the weekends, I guess.
Just thought I'd say a few words about Andy Kershaw's programme on 17
May, since I just finished playing the recording I made. This was the
show featuring the session with Rachid Taha, and although I enjoyed
that stuff, it really didn't strike me as essential.
OTOH ... the second song was by another Algerian, and it's completely
wonderful --- the playlist calls her Souad Massi, and her CD is on
Island, called RAOUI... I gotta remember to look for this one, as it
hits a sweet spot for me. When I heard her sing the first line, I was
hooked.
Another fun song was an old one by Henry "Ragtime" Thomas
called "railroad song" which was nothing but the railroad timetable
from Fort Worth, Texas to Chicago, Illinois ... all the stops in
between were sung, with guitar and homemade pan pipe accompaniment. :)
The last surprise I got was hearing Brian Eno's song "By This River"
which I've loved since first hearing it, back in the '80's. Evidently,
it appears on the soundtrack to *Y Tu Mama, Tambien*
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krj
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response 61 of 154:
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May 20 17:47 UTC 2002 |
Souad Massi has been getting a lot of press in Folk Roots magazine,
though I don't think I've heard her yet. As I mentioned, I ended
up skipping out on the Kershaw show Friday due to a date with my
wife -- first Kershaw show I've missed in two months.
Thanks for the report on what I missed!
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krj
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response 62 of 154:
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May 21 21:20 UTC 2002 |
The Late Junction show finally got its playlist up for last week.
The Iva Bittova track I liked was "Prani" from an album
"Cikori," or else the album is "Iva Bittova and Cikori," the name
of the band she's playing with. Her web site is in Czech and
thus impenetrable to me. It's her 2002 release, no USA distribution
found so far.
The Mark King track, a 18 minute prog-rock-jazz fantasia, is from
the LP era: "The Essential," from the album "Influences," from
1984. This is a budget CD for about 8 pounds at amazon.co.uk.
There's a substitute host on Late Junction this week and the
program teasers did not appeal to me, so I'm taking the week off.
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other
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response 63 of 154:
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May 21 22:57 UTC 2002 |
Iva Bittova what? Iva Bittova headache? Iva Bittova sweet tooth?
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micklpkl
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response 64 of 154:
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May 22 02:28 UTC 2002 |
Eric can make me laugh so hard, sometimes! :) Scaring the cats, & everything.
Seriously though, I'm really curious to hear what Iva Bittova sounds like,
having read some interesting reviews of her work on the ecto mailing list.
(Indeed, the ectoguide has a nice look at her work, though not the newest CD
to which Ken is referring ... URL follows).
http://www.smoe.org/ectoguide
(the easiest way is just put "Bittova" in the "Quick Artist Search" field)
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krj
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response 65 of 154:
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May 22 06:24 UTC 2002 |
There are some MP3 sample snippets on Iva Bittova's Czech web site.
You can't really tell what they are, but the MP3 symbol and the string
"mp3" are international. I haven't checked them yet myself.
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krj
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response 66 of 154:
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May 23 05:32 UTC 2002 |
Eliza Carthy had a concert set (recorded in January) on Tuesday's
CELTIC CONNECTIONS show. And alas, it eroded much of the good feeling
created by Eliza's recent Ann Arbor appearance with her family
band, Waterson:Carthy. Much of the problem with the radio broadcast
was from Eliza's original songs: they are really weak, with lyrics
which tend to make me cringe.
There were a few tracks on Wednesday's Mike Harding show which
I want to note. The opener was "La be cote" by the band
La Vole'e d'Castors, which translates as A Flock of Beavers,
from Quebec. Excellent driving instrumental set; that goes on
the shopping list.
And then there was another track from the new Flook CD.
I wasn't gonna get that, but I may cave in under intense
peer pressure. Flook is a British instrumental band with a
lineup of two flutes, guitar and percussion.
The closing track, "Ride the Peace Train," by Jack E McAuley,
was a very nice folk-pop song, from his new album BAD DAY AT
BLACK ROCK. DJ Harding said he'd played some songs from
that album before and they must have just washed in one ear
and out the other, but this song was very catchy.
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micklpkl
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response 67 of 154:
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May 28 15:09 UTC 2002 |
Andy Kershaw's programme from last Friday, 24 May 2002, was actually
one of the better ones I've heard. It seemed to have several nice songs
spread throughout the show.
Started with a rap from SPEK, who hails from Montreal, called "Hey,
Joni" ... I never did get if the song was addressed to Joni Mitchell,
but Kershaw played "You Turn Me On (I'm a Radio)" immediately
afterwards.
Then there was a song from CORNERSHOP --- "Motion the Eleven" which
really had me rockin' the office when I heard it.
Then followed some South African and Trinidadian music, and then some
tracks from new albums from Van Morrison, Yousou N'Dour, and Warren
Zevon (with Hunter S. Thompson).
Next was Mary Gauthier :) singing a wonderful song called "Sugar Cane"
about that industry in So. Louisiana. Kershaw said she was doing a Neil
Young impersonation, but I didn't get that so much. This is another
song off of FILTH & FIRE, which I can't find locally, but did find for
sale via the record label's website.
I really liked the Congolese song sung by Lokua Kanza that followed, as
well. That's about when Andy lost me, though. Next up were a small
stack of 45rpm records some fans had brought him back from Nairobi,
Kenya. The closer was a track off of Neil Young's newest ARE YOU
PASSIONATE?
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krj
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response 68 of 154:
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May 30 17:27 UTC 2002 |
On Monday, June 3, BBC Radio 3 will be broadcasting a bunch of world music
sessions from their Music Live festival.
From the BBC Radio 3 schedule page, all times UK:
At 1500, there will be a one-hour block including La Bottine Souriante.
The evening block starts at 19:30, with a set from Altan.
Mary Gauthier's set is in a block beginning at 22:15,
also lots of Indian and New Zealand music: oh, just look up the schedule,
Mickey. :)
There will also be lots of stuff, almost all classical, on Friday,
Saturday and Sunday. Friday's Andy Kershaw show is part of the festival,
and after Kershaw there will be some live stuff from the Arabic jazz
musician Rabih Abou-Khalil, whose work I have enjoyed in the past.
-----
From Folk Roots: Kershaw's show will have Amadou & Mariam, "The Blind
Couple from Mali," in a concert set on Fri. June 14. Amadou & Mariam's
last album was a big favorite. I dunno if they'll be playing electric
or acoustic on the show. In the electric band, they are have a big
influence from the US Stax/Volt sound, I think.
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krj
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response 69 of 154:
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May 31 06:22 UTC 2002 |
Quick notes from today's "Travelling Folk" show on Radio Scotland.
The Tom Paxton and Anne Hills live set was nice but it's probably
not that different from the album. Great vocal harmonies, I do want to
pick this up soon and I regret having to miss them at the Ark this
month. /// Wolfstone have a new album out imminently; the track which
was played sounded pretty good. I always liked Wolfstone's instrumentals,
though the songs were hit-and-miss; maybe with Ivan Drever out of the
band the writing will have improved? he said cattily. ///
Need to find the name of the Quebecois band who ended the first hour.
I couldn't parse Archie Fisher's Scottish-inflected pronounciation
of a French band name; it didn't seem to be any of the bands I had
heard before.
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micklpkl
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response 70 of 154:
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May 31 13:45 UTC 2002 |
Ken, thanks for your comments, and even your catty opinions. ;)
you mihgt have seenthis, since yesterday's "Travelling Folk" playlist is up,
but the Quebecois band you heard is ENTOURLOUPE (New to me, as well) from a
CD called " Les choux pis des melons"
(Mickey tries to post before grex loses its 'Net connection, again)
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krj
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response 71 of 154:
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Jun 3 19:21 UTC 2002 |
Mickey and I are listening to the "World on the Waterfront" concert
from London, as we type. This is part of BBC Radio 3's "Music Live"
festival of concerts to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee. There was a
fine live set from Irish band Altan, and right now it's a Indian
wedding brass band -- similar to the one from the film Monsoon Wedding
I guess -- of probably limited appeal.
But the main thing I wanted to comment on is that, starting with last
Friday, BBC Radio 3 has raised the maximum stream rate to 64Kbps, which
produces a significant sound quality improvement from the old max of
44K. I don't know if this is a special extravagance for the Queen's
Jubilee concerts, or if this is a permanent upgrade.
The change is like going from AM stereo to a low-quality FM station,
perhaps.
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krj
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response 72 of 154:
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Jun 4 17:39 UTC 2002 |
BBC Radio 2 has also upgraded to a maximum Real Audio
stream of 64K. Now if we can convince Radio Scotland to do it...
The second highlight of yesterday's "World on the Waterfront"
concerts was the set by Mary Gauthier, a singer-songwriter who is
so good she overcomes my bias against the style. I'm trying to
make myself wait patiently for the US release of her new album,
rather than rushing off an order to Europe where it is already out.
There was also an interesting live hour by Cheikh Lo from Senegal,
and some less interesting stuff from a Maori folk-rock band
called Wai (marred by connection problems) and a Indian flute
and tabla duo who came close to lulling me to sleep. (Their
CD might actually be good to get for bedtime music.)
This was all stuff for the Jubilee celebration. God save the Queen!
(Heh, I'm not going to see another British Jubilee in my lifetime.)
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micklpkl
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response 73 of 154:
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Jun 4 18:56 UTC 2002 |
I heard that the Diamond Jubilee is celebrated in the 60th year of the
monarch's reign. So you might very well see another, ken. :)
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krj
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response 74 of 154:
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Jun 4 20:29 UTC 2002 |
Nice live set today by a classic-style Scottish folk rock band
called Trudge Euphoria. Too bad I forgot to push the record button
on the music machine. Also a nice track from the new Baka Beyond
CD and a set of familiar Scandinavian artists. The new track from
Finnish accordion player Kimmo Pohojonen sounds like something I might
want to run down.
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krj
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response 75 of 154:
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Jun 5 22:38 UTC 2002 |
Today was the first time I listened to acoustic folk and classical music
at the 64K speed which BBC Radio 2 and Radio 3 are now using.
On Radio 3 I caught the tail end of Massenet's opera HERODIADE,
and then on Late Junction there has been wonderful stuff by
Spanish Galician band Berroguetto, piper Kathryn Tickell, and
a Stravinsky violin concerto; now there is something by
violinist Jordi Savall, I forget the composer. This is the first time
I have felt the wonderful emotional reaction you get with decent
sound reproduction; for the last three months it's been a bit of
gritting my teeth over the sound quality because of the interest
of the programming. There is just such a sense of detail in
the music now. Yum. This is the most beautiful Real Audio broadcast
I have ever heard.
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krj
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response 76 of 154:
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Jun 5 22:44 UTC 2002 |
(OK, it still overloads and gets some weird RA sound artifacts
sometimes. :( )
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krj
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response 77 of 154:
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Jun 6 04:54 UTC 2002 |
Note to myself: I just found a web page http://support.bbc.co.uk
which goes into technical details about their web operations.
Will have to poke at it later.
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krj
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response 78 of 154:
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Jun 12 22:01 UTC 2002 |
The national BBC radio channels -- the ones which concern me are
Radio 2 and Radio 3 -- now bring up a new "BBC Radio Player"
on their "Listen now" links. The new player seems to be just a new
skin for Real Audio.
Selected shows on Radio 2 and Radio 3 are now available for playback
for one week after broadcast. This includes all the shows I care
about: Mike Harding on Radio 2, and Late Junction & Andy Kershaw on
Radio 3. Also included is Saturday's World Routes show.
The index of available shows is on the right hand side of the new
player's window.
The replayed shows seem to stream at a lower rate: roughly 44K
for the replays, vs. 64K for the live stream. But, the convenience
of catching a show one has missed is not to be underestimated.
And, I can catch Lucy Duran's "World Routes" show without having
to be up at 8 am Saturday.
(The bit-rate speedometer is constantly showing small fluctuations
on the new player.)
The BBC says that they cannot offer fast-forward and rewind
buttons because of copyright issues. There is a "skip 15 minutes"
button.
-----
Now playing on "Late Junction": a collaboration between Kate Rusby
and Chumbawamba. Fiona says that the new Chumbawamba CD also includes
a collaboration with acapella trio Coope Boyes & Simpson.
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krj
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response 79 of 154:
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Jun 25 20:57 UTC 2002 |
I've been taking a bit of a vacation from the Beeb because I've just
been overwhelmed with Too Much Music, but I came back to Radio Scotland
today for the Celtic Connections show, which had a great live concert
set from the Galician singer Mercedes Peon. After that Mickey encouraged
me to come back for Iain Anderson's singer-songwriter show because he
wanted to know what I thought of the new Chuck Prophet single
"Summertime Thing," and after that was a Tim Buckley song, which was
either from the albums "Happy/Sad" or "Morning Glory;" the announcement
and the posted playlist differed. And a bit later was a great stomping
electric blues track from Mississippi Fred McDowell, "Dankin's Farm."
Froots magazine editor (yet another) Ian Anderson has raved about
McDowell as one of his formative influences, so I was delighted to
get to hear it -- have to get that Arhoolie album.
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krj
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response 80 of 154:
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Jul 2 20:47 UTC 2002 |
On today's "Celtic Connections" broadcast: Good live set from
the Scottish folk/whatever band Croft No. 5. The live concert was
more appealing than the studio tracks I had heard from the band,
but unfortunately the session was plagued with network dropouts for
me. Croft No. 5 are sort of following the path set out by Shooglenifty
in doing a folk/techno sort of thing, but there are some other things
in their hybrid, so I'm really quite unsure how to characterize them.
The first hour concluded with a GREAT song by Myshkin's Ruby Warblers.
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krj
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response 81 of 154:
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Jul 11 17:01 UTC 2002 |
BBC Radio Scotland has now made some programming available on demand.
As with the Radio 2 and Radio 3 shows, Radio Scotland shows are kept
available for one week after original air date.
The fabulous "Celtic Connections" show and the pretty good "Travelling
Folk" programmes, which Mickey and I have been following faithfully since
March, are available.
Also available are some weekend shows which I had not been able to get
before, and some things from an Irish radio channel:
"Culan: the best in traditional Irish music"
"Folk Club: Traditional and contemporary folk music"
"Pipes and Drums: Celtic sounds from home and beyond"
"Take the Floor: Scottish Dance Music"
Eek, probably another four hours a week to try to listen to.
I'll hope to sample these after my trip to visit Leslie.
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krj
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response 82 of 154:
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Aug 14 20:51 UTC 2002 |
Today I had a chance to get back to some BBC programming after my
three-week misadventure in Colorado. Mike Harding had a couple of
interesting new tracks: each from new or upcoming albums, by
Blazing Fiddles, the Threlfall sisters, and the Oyster Band.
The Threlfalls do wonderful harmonizing on traditional songs,
and the Oysters seem to be returning to trad material after a 20
year digression through original music... :)
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anderyn
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response 83 of 154:
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Aug 15 16:48 UTC 2002 |
Oh, yeah! NEW OYSTERS!!!!! Twila does a happy dance!!!!!
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tpryan
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response 84 of 154:
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Aug 16 21:21 UTC 2002 |
Ken, do you just web in, or do you also record when
you web-in?
Their is a product called Total Recorder (IIRC) that
gets the audio stream between, say, WinAmp and your common
sound board. Result, .wav files can be recorded without
the additional Windows noises.
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