Chalkhills Digest Volume 10, Issue 31
Date: Thursday, 22 July 2004
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 10, Number 31
Thursday, 22 July 2004
Topics:
Re: the current mp3 rant
Never is Forever
Re:What is pop?
The Nines
Britpopin'
Re: Superstition
Dead Dogs....
musicplasma
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 15:37:06 +0100 (BST) From: Chris Clee <cmc@sanger.ac.uk> Subject: Re: the current mp3 rant Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.4.58.0407161524530.62198@bach.sanger.ac.uk> one small comment; who ever said the world was fair? it's a case (in my experience) of mostly being in the right place at the right time. i also tried the band/recording/gig route in the 80's....no big copying technologies (other than cassette tapes) in those days...and hey science proved easier to feed myself than music, so now i work in science and play my guitar to the kids and mates down t' poob on Jam Night in sunny ole st.neots. i believe that radiohead still managed the best selling album of the 90's even though it was released over the net and available for months before the actual release....hey it was agood album so it sold a ton of copies anyway. peeps don't generally buy albums to fill musicians bank accounts...they buy them because they like the music......record good music....it will sell (to the people who appreciate it)....even without a ton of publicising from MegaMusic.com. to be honest i get a lift if someone applauds at the end of a song :-) (okay so not as small a comment as intended) btw the mp3 link wasn't up to much......no michael moocock and the deep fix ;-) smiles and grins mister chris
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 15:55:38 +0100 From: jason@etceterate.net Subject: Never is Forever Message-ID: <1089989738.40f7ec6a9bb8b@webmail.etceterate.net> "Duncan Watt" <dwatt@fastestmanintheworld.com> wrote: > Even at stupidly inflated major-label prices, you > can buy a CD (which you'll listen to forever) Er, no. Or at least you *might* listen to it forever, but chances are you'll listen to it once or twice, then move on to your next favourite. Before this new-fangled interwebnet thingy came along I didn't just buy CDs, I DEVOURED them, and pretty soon had over 2000 of them, most of which I didn't listen to, and some of which ended up being sold at a considerable loss to a secondhand store. These days, when I read about something I might like, I download it. Play it, play it again, and again, and if I like it enough, I buy it. Personally speaking, I'd much rather have a nice shiny disc plus artwork than a collection of files on a computer, but perhaps that's just me. Someone made the comparison to books, but for years people have been able to read books without paying a penny. So as well as trying to stop filesharing, perhaps we should also ban libraries! If I go to the library and check a book out, read it, and check it back in again. I've taken what I need from that book, but I haven't stolen the book itself. Similarly, if I download a song, I'm taking what I need from it, but not stealing the physical object. If I like it enough, I'll buy it. What I won't do any more is be tempted by one or two decent songs and buy a complete CD which ends up gathering dust on my shelves. The problem with the downloading debate is that it's very black and white - if you download anything you're a thief, end of story, whether you intend buying it later or not. To continue the pizza analogy, the music industry at the moment is a bit like Pizza Hut or Dominoes putting a burly guy on the door jabbing me in the ribs and telling me not to steal their pizzas... then serving up 99 cold pizzas made with stale dough for every one tasty appetising one, so on the one hand I resent the implication that I might steal their product, but if I could find a way to test the pizzas beforehand so that I get the decent one rather than one of the 99 crappy ones, I'd take it. Jason
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 17:52:09 +0100 From: "Stephen Jackson" <planet_skaro@btopenworld.com> Subject: Re:What is pop? Message-ID: <000a01c46b55$513d98c0$a56f8351@default> Ben Said: <<Steve made some absolutely fair criticisms of my post re: Britpop. It is my understanding that the Britpop "invasion" ended on or around 1997, perhaps even earlier. Current bands that come out of Britain aren't considered "Britpop," at least here in America. They're just considered "music to listen to when you're relatively unhappy.">> Lol! There is an excellent book by John Harris called "The Last Party: Britpop, Blair and the demise of English Rock" (check out www.4thestate.com) Harris seems to have Britpop as a cultural phenomenon that lasted from 94 to early 98. In includes reference to all the mainplayers (Oasis, Blur, Elastica, Suede, Pulp, Supergrass but also runs like Boo Radleys, the Bluetones, Cast, Dodgy and Shed Seven) There is an appendix putting a historical context on it all with obvious references to the Smiths, the Beatles, Stone Roses, the Kinks, Bowie, Pistols, Wire,the Who, Roxy Music, Gang of Four, the Jam and obviously XTC. It's interesting to note that Blur (who, let's face it, led the mid 90's Britpop wave, along with Oasis) frontman Damon Albarn wrote "Modern Life is Rubbish" and "Parklife" as a concious effort to stem the tide of grunge from the States (and in particular Nirvana) As Ben evidently has an interest in guitar-led anglopop, I wonder if he has heard IMO the best band from that period? Super Furry Animals for me now fill the void left by the dearth of XTC records in recent times. "Radiator" and "Phantom Power" are both exceptional. He also wrote: <<As for Tears for Fears, I recall that "Break It Down Again" was a semi-tiny hit on adult alternative radio here in the mid-1990s. Strangely enough, the popularity of the recent American film "Donnie Darko" (which features songs by Tears for Fears, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Church, and others) shot a cover version of "Mad World" to the top of everyone's consciousness a few years ago.>> and the weirdest Christmas number 1 in the UK that I can ever remember. It was nice opening to presents whilst listening to that bloke with the cap singing "the dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had"... And if "MTLTW you're relatively unhappy" (You could start your own cultural phenomenon, Ben!) is your bag, you can't do "better" than TFF's "The Hurting" or Echo and the Bunnymen's "Heaven up Here" which along with Mansun's "Six" and the Manic Street Preacher's "The Holy Bible" are probably the 4 most depressing albums I've ever heard (and I'm only talking British artists here, or I'd be including some of the Eels work too). All make you feel better somehow... Oh, and I saw Morrissey at the Move festival in Manchester the other week. He was excellent, but not as good as the Pixies.... Steve.
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 13:20:23 -0400 From: "Myers, Michael D." <mmyers@telcordia.com> Subject: The Nines Message-ID: <D8548091895B90428292573DCC8FCE9E0B5333DE@rrc-its-exs02.mail.saic.com> Folks; Basher132 asked: > this popped up on the Audities power pop list. Beneath is the reply > I got when asking permission to post to Chalkhills. I seem to recall > that the Nines have been mentioned here. Anybody confirm? I posted a discussion of their music back in Chalkhills Volume 4, number 135 on 16 September, 1998. A few subsequent people added their impressions. To this day, I have never heard any other band totally capture the sound of XTC. Yes, I have heard a range of other music where I could say that I saw the XTC influence, but The Nines sound so much like XTC it is frightening. It may as well be Andy singing one of his great melodic tunes, and they even have the advanced wordplay down as well. Mike
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 10:29:49 -0700 From: Jason Brown <ripvanruben@gmail.com> Subject: Britpopin' Message-ID: <f91e62af04071610291c342f54@mail.gmail.com> From: "Ben Gott" <bgott@rectoryschool.org> > And, no, Jason Falkner isn't from Manchester, and Pernice Brothers aren't > from Swindon. But their style of shimmery, jangly pop calls to mind the > shimmery, jangly pop from that early-1990s era. (I'm willing to categorize > something as "Britpop" even if the musician or band isn't British, which is > a personal preference.) I understand where you are going with that but It doesn't make much sense to me. One crucial factor in Britpop for me was always the Brit part. Britpop was usually not just from British bands the content of the lyrics were very British. Additionally, Britpop could be shimmery but it never really was jangly in the way Falkner and Pernice can be. Falkner owes much more of a debt 70s and 80s power pop than the likes of Blur, Oasis, Pulp, Ash, etc. And Pernice owes more to stuff like the Smiths or Jimmy Webb than to Britpop, in fact i can't think of any Pernice songs that sound Britpoppy even in the vaguest sense. Now if you want something that sounds like Britpop, the new Graham Coxon Album "Happiness in Magazines" sounds like it was straight out of 1995 or something!
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 18:27:09 EDT
From: Flyuponthewall@aol.com
Subject: Re: Superstition
Message-ID: <1d7.260ecebf.2e29b03d@aol.com>
So lately he's been thinking...
I wanna know if anyone besides me has led a superstitious life
regarding XTC. It seems that any time I hear XTC someplace other then
from my home music machine I always think that something special is
going to happen. After all I live in Syracuse I am the only XTC
fanatic to stroll amongst these Orangemen. When I was a merely a lad @
22 I heard "Nigel" on the way to a job interview. I got the job which
of course filled me with paper and iron that I could spend on
XTC. Back in the 90's I heard "king 4 a day" at Wendy's and later that
night I met a special lady bird who helped keep my nest warm. And last
week I was at local Indian casino. and again I heard "king" so I upped
my bets and instead of a lady bird, I felt lady luck visit me with a
$465 payout on a $20 bet. So I'm curious am I the only fanatic out
here who gets an extra hop to his(her) step when hearing XTC out in
public ... cause I know good things are about to happen. And on a
second note, every time I hear "I cant own her" it reminds me of early
Split Enz, during the "frenzy" and parrot love days back in
Australia. Does any one else hear the Finn brothers covering this?
Love Peace and Coconuts Bill Goodfellow AKA Rex Z Groovi
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 12:43:04 +0100 From: "Paul Sandford" <mail@samnjake.fsnet.co.uk> Subject: Dead Dogs.... Message-ID: <000c01c46e4e$de578a80$61bf4e51@Samnjake> I've only just heard some Dogs Die in Hot Cars...I know there has been some debate about them on here, and sorry if I'm repeating old arguments, but isn't there some law against identity theft? I've just heard the track Man Bites Man and it IS XTC!!! everything from the hook to the hiccup is our boys. Having read several reviews which claim that the band 'namecheck' XTC along with Talking Heads, I was incredulous when I heard the track!! wearing your influences on your sleeve is one thing, copping their catalogue is another. They aren't the first band to ever do this and they won't be the last, but you get a little protective about some Swindonians...apologies for the rant........ Paul
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2004 12:37:10 -0400 From: "Ben Gott" <bgott@rectoryschool.org> Subject: musicplasma Message-ID: <fc.00870b4a0020c03000870b4a0020c030.20c031@rectoryschool.org> Gang, I was navigating the horrible new All Music Guide (allmusic.com) when my friend John suggested that I visit this site instead: [ http://www.musicplasma.com ] Type a band name into the search box and enjoy. Cheers, -Ben
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #10-31 *******************************
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