Chalkhills Digest Volume 10, Issue 37
Date: Tuesday, 24 August 2004
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 10, Number 37
Tuesday, 24 August 2004
Topics:
Planet Smile?
Crided Hice
Kinks
10CC/XTC
Re: Dukes @ Wilson show
Re: Finns again
Radioheads in Motion
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And all the world is football-shaped / It's just for me to kick in space.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 16:26:00 -0400 From: John Relph <relph@tmbg.org> Subject: Planet Smile? Message-ID: <16675.47960.780089.800316@f5.idiot-dog.com> Folks, Anybody know what happened to Planet Smile? It seems to have gone the way of the moon in "Space: 1999"... -- John NPIMH: Herschel Sizemore: Rebecca
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 16:40:06 +0100 (BST) From: Dom Lawson <britishsteel666@yahoo.co.uk> Subject: Crided Hice Message-ID: <20040818154006.80043.qmail@web53109.mail.yahoo.com> A wise man once wrote... >>Since when did Chalkhills become the Finn Brothers appreciation society? >>Dom, you were supposed to watch the door! Yeah, sorry about that. Nipped off for a wank. Even so, it is a rather sorry state of affairs to see so many grown men - who, being XTC fans, can hardly be accused of being completely hapless - slavering over such horrendously bland nonsense. Maybe there's something in the Finns' music that I'm not "getting"...but then I don't really acknowledge the concept of things being "gettable", if you "get" me. Oof. Anyway, I was sent a copy of the new Finn Bros album last week, by some poor, unsuspecting PR who clearly doesn't realise that I worship Satan and eat raw puppy faces for breakfast...given all this preposterous gushing that's been going on, I'll give it a try and report back to you. I'll borrow a cardigan from my Dad, too, for added authenticity. And a rocking chair. And some valium. Etc. XTC content? Yes, thanks. Very. Salut! Dom x ===== DOM LAWSON www.bowlrider.co.uk NP: Necrophagist 'Epitaph'
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 09:55:37 -0700 (PDT) From: Benjamin Lukoff <blukoff@alvord.com> Subject: Kinks Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.44.0408180945590.10589-100000@vaal.killerlink.net> "WAYNE KLEIN" <wtdk12@msn.com> wrote: > Don't know if there are any Kinks fans here or not but I'm sad to report > that Dave Davies suffered a stroke that left him paralyized on one side > of his body. Evidently he had the stroke while promoting his latest > album "Bug" in July. Yep, I'm a Kinks fan and a long-time subscriber to the Kinks Preservation Society mailing list (http://kinks.it.rit.edu/~neil/kps.htm). Sad news. People on the list are trying to be pretty upbeat about it, but he's been in the hospital since June 30, which is quite a long time. > I'd also recommend that great album by the other brother band that > matters-The Kinks. "Village Green Preservation Society" has been > reissued as a great 3 CD set featuring the album entirely in stereo, > mono and with a third disc consisting of BBC tracks, recordings made for > but not used on "Village Green" (many of which ended up on b-sides of > singles or on "The Great Lost Kinks Album"). I second this recommendation. Great package, and the remastering does make quite a difference. Also (and I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing) it's on the Sanctuary *Midline* label (shades of Geffen Goldline!) so even though it's a British import, you can get it for $20 in the States. $20 for a triple-disc set--yikes!
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 14:09:18 -0400 From: KEVIN.WOLLENWEBER@jpmorgan.com Subject: 10CC/XTC Message-ID: <OF782706BD.0C923139-ON85256EF4.0061D65E@chase.com> wtdk12@msn.com wrote: "Don't know if there are any Kinks fans here or not but I'm sad to report that Dave Davies suffered a stroke that left him paralyized on one side of his body. Evidently he had the stroke while promoting his latest album "Bug" in July. I'd also recommend that great album by the other brother band that matters-The Kinks. "Village Green Preservation Society" has been reissued as a great 3 CD set. Also worth noting the reissue of the Godley & Creme catalog. Always been a 10cc fan (although their albums after Godley & Creme left fell victim to the law of dimishing returns with the exception of two really strong albums) and have always seen a 10cc/XTC type of connection there. Always loved "L", "Freeze Frame" , "Goodbye Blue Sky" and parts of "Birds of Prey"." Oh wow, where do I start? So sad to hear about Dave Davies. A friend of a friend had been piecing together a book on the lives and careers of the Kinks, and because of this, I'm so surprised that I'd heard nothing of this. Sure hope he recovers and gets back to what he loves, or at least retires with smaller projects in the works. Hell, I don't know how Bob Dylan continues to tour, tour, tour all year round, but, hey, that is how artists actually make money. Until the day that they can actually make money from their studio art, such grueling tours will constantly put that artistry to the test. Oh, and I not only ordered my copy of the 3-CD version of VILLAGE GREEN PRESERVATION SOCIETY, but I also ordered an album that had been compared to it in an Other Music blurb, Fairfield Parlour's FROM HOME TO HOME. Oh, and yes, I'd always seen the 10CC/XTC connection, especially on sections of the XTC album, MUMMER. "In Loving Memory of a Name" could have clearly been a Godley & Creme composition. Just yesterday, I received my copy, from COLLECTOR'S CHOICE, of the double-disk reissue of FREEZE FRAME, coupled with another album, but where did you find these other titles? I'd never heard of them and hadn't seen 'em in any catalogue or on the Other Music E-list update sent to me each week. Are all of these available from the same record label? Lastly, I've corresponded on and off with Becki DiGregorio and she is still planning this new psych project that will be utterly fantastic whenever it is completed. She will not be rushed. If making and manufacturing your own music were so much easier, we'd all have copies right now and in the kind of packaging that I'd like to see accompany this thing. when she told me that she was thinking of packaging the project as flamboyantly as album covers of the '60's, I'd given her all kinds of bizarre ideas ranging from the Moody Blues' IN SEARCH OF THE LOST CHORD to Iron Butterfly's BALL to, of course, the daddy of 'em all, the Rolling Stones' THEIR SATANIC MAJESTY'S REQUEST, but such stunning and sparkling ideas right now are far too rich for the blood of the independent. Whatever it turns out to be, hey, it will be sensational!! Kevin
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 22:04:55 +0200 From: mark.strijbos@planet.nl Subject: Re: Dukes @ Wilson show Message-ID: <4123D287.5743.286EF0@localhost> Dear CHalkers, I'm (temporarily?) delurking to quip: > I also have to know which of the two Dukes went to > see Brian Wilson (although if I had to guess Dave Gregory and Andy would > be my pick knowing what huge Wilson fans they are). IMHO it's a bit of a trick question and DG + AP would be the obvious choice so my money is on Sir Cornelius Plum and E.I.E.I. Owen. Unlikely as it may seem and despite the infamous kitchen incident they have been sighted together before. Now where do i claim my price? Yours in xtc, Mark R. Strijbos
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 20:32:19 -0500 From: steve <steveschiavo@mac.com> Subject: Re: Finns again Message-ID: <9C83DBEE-F17F-11D8-A9EF-0050E445D419@mac.com> On Aug 18, 2004, at 9:52 AM, "WAYNE KLEIN" wrote: > Dunks mentioned that the Finn Brothers album might be out. In the US I > believe the release date is 8/24. It's reportedly has an entire band > supporting them on it. Yes, a 5 man band, although Jon Brion should probably count as 3 - > The new (highly recommended) Finn Brothers album 'Everyone is here' > features Jon in both production and instrument duties. The record > company in the UK have issued an interview disc and this is what > they had to say : > > "Q : So, this is the first album the Finn Brothers have recorded in > 8 years; and this one has been given more time. > > NF : It is, we talked about doing this album as long ago as, well, > probably three or four years ago but the time needed to be right and > the window fell open about a year and a half ago and we thought that > we wanted to give it its' due this time. Last time although it had > been fantastic fun and the whole tempo and pace of the thing - > one month to record, two months touring - kinda meant that it was > sublime in many ways, we felt like a bit of a backyard recording to > some degree and we wanted to just give it its' due and make the > songs really fleshed out and fully formed and, you know, give the > album a production value. It was gonna be our main focus. > > TF : The essential core of the, you know, people who played on it > was quite small. We had three musicians in Los Angeles, we had > Sebastian... (NF : ..Steinberg..) on the bass who Neil's worked with > quite a bit over the past few years. Wonderful bass player. We'd > Matt Chamberlain on drums, brilliant drummer, and Jon Brion who > played keyboards and guitars and scratched his face into a > microphone a few times, you know, did all the, sort of, left of > centre kind of odd things you wouldn't have expected to do but also > played very solid kind of parts. And so the three of them plus us > was the real band. We did have strings on a few, we put strings on a > few songs which we recorded in London and Tony Visconti played some > instruments on the track that he worked on with us called > Disembodied Voices. And there were other people too here and there > but essentially it was a five piece band playing pretty live in the > studio.... > > Q: Track 4 is Luckiest Man alive. Jon Brion, the America musician > who features on many tracks, is credited with playing Turkish > banjo. What's that? > > TF : It sort of looks like a banjo, but it has more of a twelve > string guitar in it as well, bit more twangy and ringy less kind of > folky, folksy. Yeah, he, that track went through quite a little > journey - we tried it once and then we scrapped that and tried it > again in LA and we did the rhythm track and it felt really great but > it was like 'what do we do now?' and then Jon basically got his > hands on it one night, em, I don't think, I wasn't, I was barely > around, Neil was doing a - 'were you doing a gig that night, I think > Neil, at Largo?' - and Jon, you know, had a few hours on his own, he > did those really great guitars with all that bottom end on them and > slightly Faces kind of thing of picking up on the melody with the > guitar and, you know, the track was virtually done at that point so > hats off to him again but we definitely won't talk about him any > more (laughs). But, yeah, he brought that song alive a lot and, you > know, I just had to sing it and let Neil do his stuff, you know, his > harmonies and put some other sounds on it and there it was." Someone posted the above on the Embrionic list, run by some Relph guy. - Steve
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Aug 2004 09:28:50 -0400 From: Kulak Matthew-MGI0253 <matt.kulak@motorola.com> Subject: Radioheads in Motion Message-ID: <4788A0BB433CD611B8B00002B30CF07D0A7AB4D2@pa06exm02> Hello Chalksters, It seems I am about to follow in the footsteps of many of the recent posts, and discuss mostly non-XTC topics. However, there is a bit of an XTC reference in here, so all is not lost. If only Andy and Colin would release some new material, we would not need to digress nearly as much! [If Andy or Colin is reading this: Wink-Wink-Nudge-Nudge. Please take note of these subtle hints!!!] First, due to the aforementioned lack of new XTC material, I have recently rediscovered Radiohead. Much to the chagrin of my wife, I have had my car CD cartridge filled with their stuff for the last 6 weeks - nonstop! (In deference to her dislike of Thom Yorke's "whiny" voice and the screeching guitars, I try to limit my home listening to the times she is not around. But lucky for me, my 5 year old daughter "loves" Radiohead, and requests it repeatedly, so I always have a ready-made "excuse" to pop them into the CD player.) Oddly enough, in listening to OK Computer for the 100th time, I began to notice a few XTC-esque bits in there. If anyone else has this disc, maybe you can tell me if you agree, or if I am totally off my rocker! For those who don't have the disc - get it! It easily falls into my top 5 discs of all time!!! In Subterranean Homesick Alien, there are a few guitar interludes (the first occurs from 1:25 thru 1:40) that I swear could be Dave Gregory during the Black Sea era. Not sure what it is about it - whether the guitar sound itself, or the arpeggio-style phrasing. Then, in Karma Police, at 3:34, Thom Yorke does a mighty fine Andy Partridge warbling impression. (I hope "warbling" is not an offensive term to use here - but not sure what exactly you'd call this particularly distinctive Andy Partridge trait. Wonder if AP could copyright it???) Another recent rediscovery is Blur's Parklife (thanks to whomever recently mentioned the Parkspliced project, which is what helped me decide to give this one a listen again!) As this is the only Blur release I have (besides an extended single of There's No Other Way), can anyone suggest the next best release of theirs to get? With disposable income at an all-time low, I have to carefully plan out my next purchases, based on feedback I can trust. Which leads me to my next topic - thanking all for the Crowded House/Split Enz/Finn ratings. I have a good amount of their material, but hearing the various impressions of each release's merits will help when I'm ready to acquire my next 'someFinn' special. And by the way, I have to join in the pro-Woodface camp! There are very few songs on there that I wouldn't be tempted to put on a best of collection of their stuff. And there are 4 or 5 tracks on Woodface where Neil and Tim's harmonies are just unbelievable! As for Neil's solo stuff, I think both One Nil and Try Whistling This are worth getting. There are enough truly excellent songs on each to warrant the cost. The guy can sing - and writes some amazing songs! I also have to agree with Dunks that Message to My Girl (Split Enz era) is a classic. I discovered this one on their greatest hits disc, and have put it on almost every collection disc I have burned for others. I could listen to it endlessly and not get tired of it - it's that good. Lastly, if you want a taste of Neil live, check out the 7 Worlds Collide DVD or Sessions at West 54th Street DVD. The 7WC is much more upbeat, with various guest artists (Eddy Vedder, Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway from Radiohead, Johnny Marr, etc.). You'll discover that Neil can "really rawk" when he wants to! The Sessions DVD is much more subdued (sadly, the in-studio audience are so reserved and quiet, you want to jump in there and shake them up for Neil's benefit), but the performance is still worthwhile. Having said all that, I think I'll get back to my musical rediscoveries of discs I haven't listened to for quite some time. Now where the heck is that Debbie Gibson disc??? Matt
------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2004 21:38:22 -0400 From: "m.sparks" <migrrl@melaniesparks.com> Subject: </lurk> Message-ID: <002f01c487e8$b6473960$9600a8c0@esmerelda> Hi, I've been lurking a while now. Guess I'm not quite as up on the XTC trivia as most: I don't know all the drummers, vocal guests, recording engineers, or waterboys. But XTC has been the soundtrack of my life. I've been an XTC fan since listening to GO2 in my boyfriends room during a party in high school - reading the album cover while sitting on the floor next to the right speaker and ignoring everyone and everything else. I heard Senses Working Overtime on the radio in the senior lounge at school and was hooked. White Music was the in my boyfriend's VW cassette player on the trips between home and college. Later, after we both dropped out of school, his band covered Jason and The Argonauts. English Settlement was playing as I moved, with cassettes and players, from apartment to apartment, looking with little success for a job in a steel town that had just lost it's biggest industry. Leisure, for certain. I ended up in California with the Big Express. Train Running Low on Soul Coal and This World Over was foggy San Francisco, jobless at first, a little distraught. I ended up back in the south. I stole a copy of Mummer - not even an original but duplicated on a long-play metal cassette - from a girl who worked with me at a laundry and it was playing with the humming of dryers in the background while I folded nice-smelling clothes in windowless room on grey winter mornings. Great fire burning. I found a job, a tiny little 2 room house to rent, and bought a copy of Skylarking and played Earn Enough For Us to my future husband. A year later we married and moved to sunny Florida. I bought my first copy of Oranges and Lemons (on cassette) and played Garden of Earthly Delights driving Highway 41 with the windows down to let the sea breeze in. A few years and two children later, Holly Up On Poppy and other Nonsuch tunes were the background to noisy saws as I made furniture for the children's rooms. Somehow I'd decided to take up being a musician, with minimum wage jobs earning full time about 75% of what it cost to put two young children in daycare. I could gig weekends and nights and be a stay-at-home mom all week, right? So after the divorce...... (side note: only after reading chalkhills for a while and catching up on xtc trivia via the URLS mentioned here and there did I begin to see this coincidental biography :-) .. after the divorce I tried for a while to continue, but ended up quitting music, going back to school, getting a day job. In the middle of this, though, I met a really nice guy, bought most of the catalogue on CD, played the discs for him. One day he appeared at my door with Apple Venus and Wasp Star. I married him. I graduated, bought all the Fuzzy Warbles, joined this list, and picked up the guitar again. So like a lot of the Chalkhillians? Hills-people? Children? ;-) I'm a musician. Or not. My last CD was out of print years ago (ok, 1997) and I don't have a song to hock. Last night I played my first gig in 5 years - a gig that I think is my last - choked for the first time on stage since the early days of playing and I don't think I want to do it again. I think I *finally* understand AP's POV. So that is my intro. I'm off to see the pages of some of the members here. I'm a fan of music in general, too, with diverse interests. Good to hear discussion of some other bands, too, since AP won't rewrite my life in music on a monthly basis and release it on CD ;-) Good to meet you all. Melanie Sparks <lurk>
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #10-37 *******************************
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