Chalkhills Digest Volume 1, Issue 301
Date: Friday, 12 November 1993
Chalkhills, Number 301
Friday, 12 November 1993
Today's Topics:
Dear God
Re: Chalkhills #300
gigi introduction
Re: Chalkhills #300
Re: Where to find Martin Newell
In defense of _Explode Together_:
Re: Martin Newell
Aimee Mann and Dave Gregory
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From: dhgpa!adkoning@hvgtw.att.com
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 93 11:08 MET
Subject: Dear God
Hi Chalkhillians.
It was mentioned by someone in the last issue of chalkhills: The Dear God
CD-single. I want to have it (have been looking for too long already). If
anyone on the list is willing to part with it or knows it somewhere
available, please get in contact with me. I'm sure we can work out a deal or
a trade.
Thanks for any help,
,
-- Andre de Koning
email: adkoning@dhgpa.ns-nl.att.com
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Date: Tue, 9 Nov 93 16:20:25 EST
From: robertk@lotatg.lotus.com (Robert Krajewski)
Subject: Re: Chalkhills #300
In Chalkhills #300, John Relph writes...
but they [the cuts on _Explode Together] are interesting
in that they are very early examples of "dub" techniques,
Well, they are early examples of "arty" or "rock" use of
dub techniques. Dub was already at least five years old
(if we're talking about the first King Tubby "versions")
when the UK indie/punk/whatever scene began to borrow it from
reggae. On the more polished side of things, producer Steve
Lillywhite was often assigned to produce reggae artists for
Virgin in the late 70s, and that might have had something
to with Andy's fascination with the stuff. Or the enthusiasm
could have been mutually reinforced. Meanwhile, other,
noisier and more experimental parts of the UK scene were also
being inspired by dub; the most obvious end-product of this
was _Metal Box_ by PiL, but it also lead to fusion of rock
with dub practiced by the On-U family of artists (Mark
Stewart + Maffia, Tackhead, &c.).
And now, non-reggae interest in dub is being revived by use
of samples and occasionally actual dub tecnhniques in modern
dance music such as house and ambient techno. (Prime example:
much of the Orb's second album and their remixes for YMO.)
Anyway, I like _Explode Together_ as a sonic journey, and I
really think that Andy "got" dub in a way that a lot of
today's revivalists don't. I think that Andy's infusion of
rigorous noise might turn some people off, but I think in
a lot of ways he was just experimenting with various
processes and seeing where they would take the music.
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: GianLuigi Alari <alari@crs4.it> Subject: gigi introduction Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 10:02:11 +0100 Hi, i am gigi. I live and work (computer scientist) in Sardinia (wonderful italian island). In the free time I try to play guitar, play tennis and swim. I heard about XTC from a Peter Gabriel TV interview (i like P.G. also) back in the late 70's and sometime later I saw in a music store "English Settlement"; it was a sparkle in my head. I am happy to join this wonderland! ciao -gigi
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: 10 Nov 93 08:46:25 EST From: Kyle Skrinak <70702.3054@compuserve.com> Subject: Re: Chalkhills #300 To those of you who slight Explode together, I say, and I quote a one of Senator Packwood's acusers, "you just don't get it!" It's not a technological marvel, nor is it throw-away whim. It's one of the best things they (Andy?) has ever produced! It's not pop, it's a sideways look at pop. So, if you're looking for pop here, well then, YOU JUST DON'T GET IT! It's a deconstructionist way to look at pop. Besides, Rotary is a hilarious song! It makes me go spastic! I only regret that we don't have more of this type of work! Sometime ago, someone wondered whether you can place yourself as a type of fan, depending on what you liked. I wonder where us Explode Together fans fit? Thanks, John R, for clarifying what the original songs were. re:>>The work that the fellow from Mister Mister did on Orange and Lemons was splendid. Sorry. Not on par with Nonsuch. "There's a mob of angry philanthropists chasing my cat!" Phil Rizzuto
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 11:13:26 PST From: david.duran@supermac.com (david duran) Subject: Re: Where to find Martin Newell > I picked up the "Greatest Living Englishman" CD yesterday, with the > limited edition (and hilarious!) live poetry CD. The sound/feel of > the album itself is _very_ Andy/Dukes. You can tell it was recorded > on Andy's 8-track digital in the shed at the bottom of the garden. > The whole feel of the thing is a state-of-the-art "demo". And I > mean that kindly. All I can say to Chalkhillians is: BUY THIS! > > And the CD sleeve says: "Featuring the new, improved Andy > Partridge". According to the notes, Andy does one guitar solo and > almost all drums/percussion, and some keyboard. OK great, now does anyone know where I can find this CD? I went to my local Tower Records and they told me they did not have it and it was only available on cassette tape. Being very skeptical of this (:-/) I called Tower's 800 number in New York. They could not get if for me either. So how about a record label and ID or a cd store recommendation in the bay area? Anyone? -dd
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Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1993 14:09:19 -0500 (EST)
From: MOWDER@acfcluster.nyu.edu
Subject: In defense of _Explode Together_:
What follows are the highly subjective comments of an aging
New Waver.
I love these albums (the ones on _E.T._) cos I have some
personal nostalgia for the historical and musical moment
that they came from. "Dance With Me Germany" was one of the
first "punk" tunes I ever heard, floating in over a radio
station that I picked up by accident, way past my bed-time
at age 12. It was sandwiched in between, I think, an early
Pere Ubu cut and Devo's version of "Satisfaction" (with the
"babybaby"s that went on, it seemed, for like 10 minutes).
This punk stuff was, at the time, totally novel and scary
music for me, but it was also like a life preserver. Prior
to that, my hometown (and household!) had given me the
impression that the only cultural food (music-wise) that life
would have to offer would be repressed, suburban pop tranquil-
izers like Debbie Boone's "You Light Up My Life" (which had been
# 1 on the charts for, like, 2 years at that point), and James
Taylor's version of "Handy Man". Oh, actually, I guess if you
*really* wanted to be 'avant-garde', there was Linda Rondstadt!
So, I'm happy that XTC made those records, and that they sounded
much more like totally uncooperative "noise" than like conven-
tional music.
The other thing I'd like to say is that, in 1978 or 1979, I think
that no one really knew what would happen with XTC (or punk, or
rock'n'roll) 15 years down the road. So, a lot of the makers of
that strange, old music (early Cabaret Voltaire, Wire, the Rain-
coats?) meant it to sound new, adventurous and optimistic, rather
than like tired, old studio out-takes scraped from the bottom of
te barrel.
That being said, a lot of the "Homo Safari" series still leaves
me cold.
Jamie in NYC
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Date: Thu, 11 Nov 93 14:16:36 PST
From: "John Relph" <relph@presto.ig.com>
Subject: Re: Martin Newell
Toby Howard <toby@cs.man.ac.uk> writes:
>
>I picked up the "Greatest Living Englishman" CD yesterday, with the limited
>edition (and hilarious!) live poetry CD. The sound/feel of the album itself
>is _very_ Andy/Dukes. You can tell it was recorded on Andy's 8-track
>digital in the shed at the bottom of the garden. The whole feel of the
>thing is a state-of-the-art "demo". And I mean that kindly. All I can say
>to Chalkhillians is: BUY THIS!
I want this CD and I can't find it anywhere! If you can find this
(double) CD for me, I will trade you for something. Let me know what
this something should be.
-- John
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Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1993 08:40:12 -0500 (EST)
From: CANEVIT@utkvx.utcc.utk.edu
Subject: Aimee Mann and Dave Gregory
Hello!
This was clipped from the Knoxville News-Sentinel, um,
about two weeks ago (sorry!):
[Aimee] Mann's touring band--with Bostonians
Clayton Scobel, Milt Sutton and Brian Stevens--
has also just been augmented by Britisher Dave
Gregory of XTC fame. "He sat in when we played
in London," says Mann. "He's out with us for
the next two months. He's been great. The band
is really rocking now."
it was originally printed in the Boston Globe. If it's already
commonly known, I apologize--Knoxville is a few years behind the
times: grunge is still in here!
BTW, has anyone heard the Rutles tribute _Rutles Highway Revisited_?
It covers of the soundtrack by a number of alternative bands, most
popular among them Galaxie 500 and Bongwater. It not only sounds like
these bands had listened to the soundtrack and the Beatles, but they've
also been drinking quite heavily from the same well that the Dukes of
Stratosphere drank from. Penn Jillette appears on it as well!
bye, bye!
Craig E. Canevit
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Wow, issue number 301! The first in another century. Chalkhills has nearly 450 subscribers as of this writing. Thanks for your support. For all administrative issues, such as change of address, withdrawal from the list, fan club addresses, discography requests (last update 10 November), back issues, FAQ list, etc., send a message to the following address: <chalkhills-request@chalkhills.org> The Chalkhills archives are available at "http://chalkhills.org/". All views expressed in Chalkhills are those of the individual contributors only. It's the rotary!
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