Chalkhills Digest Volume 10, Issue 6
Date: Tuesday, 3 February 2004
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 10, Number 6
Tuesday, 3 February 2004
Topics:
re: friendships
New XTC album coming this decade?
Octopus
That Tree is Poking Me!
The Cure
Re: Chalkfriendships
Best of 2003??? (mostly non-XTC)
chalkhills friendships
Home improvement music war
Recommendation
How to boost XTC's record sales
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Chalkhills is compiled with Digest 3.8a (John Relph <relph@tmbg.org>).
Now that I can see it's the queen's new clothes.
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Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 23:37:44 -0500
From: "Danny Phipps" <phipps@schoollink.net>
Subject: re: friendships
Message-ID: <web-53352767@schoollink.net>
(de-lurking here for a spell seeing as how the subject
matter drew my attention like a moth to the flame!!)
in digest #10-5, the illustrious and ever-talented-at-
wordage dunks doth spake:
> But I've found that it's been a fantastic way of
> meeting and making new friends, and all the people
> I've met through Chalkhills have been REALLY nice.
> And of course you're guaranteed that you're going
> to have at least ONE thing in common when you do
> meet.
here! here, dunks! (a loud CLINK of glasses) i, too,
have forged a lasting friendship / brotherhood myself even
*before* the advent of chalkhills ("the little express" -
r.i.p.) by answering an advert in the "penpals wanted"
section of this sadly-missed xtc newsmagazine and it's
all been going strong ever since (HI STEVE!!!).
thanks to the connection we all have here with some VERY
talented lads from swindon, i can safely admit that lives
have been altered forever due to the magic that xtc casts
on everything and everyone! thanks guys!! :-)
and thank YOU, chalkhillians everywhere, for the eyetime...
(back to lurking)
/danny
*****
"scientists believe that the universe is made of hydrogen
because they claim it's the most plentiful ingredient. i
claim that the most plentiful ingredient is stupidity."
-- frank zappa
*****
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 10:21:17 -0500
From: "Myers, Michael D." <mmyers@telcordia.com>
Subject: New XTC album coming this decade?
Message-ID: <D8548091895B90428292573DCC8FCE9E05C6D197@rrc-its-exs02.mail.saic.com>
Chalksters and Chalkettes;
Jason Pytka de-lurked recently and proclaimed:
****ITEM 5:
I don't know if anyone else has noted this fact, but
we're now in the midst of the second longest wait
between studio albums by XTC since originally being
signed. Of course, the longest was during the Virgin
strike, between Nonsuch and AV1. Previously, the
second longest was the three-year wait between O&L and
Nonsuch. We're now at 3 1/2 years (and counting)
since Wasp Star. Didn't Partsy say he wanted to have
a new album out every 18 months or so once the Virgin
situation was cleared up? ...I want a new studio album!
There, all vented...I won't whine about it anymore
(for now :) ).*****
I'm still suprised that this isn't a major topic of discussion on this list.
My belief is that the reason for the delay is a lack of material,
specifically with Colin. I looked back, and noticed that I posted something
about this topic way back in December, 2002 in Volume 8, #69:
****Many, many thanks to Smudgeboy (David Smith) for transcribing the UK
Channel 4 Teletext interview with Andy. It was very interesting to read,
and I am pretty suprised that no one has commented on one part of the
interview, as follows:
Partridge gestures vaguely towards another XTC album -"maybe next year,
maybe not" - but is happily involved in a plethora of side projects. "I'm
releasing an album I've recorded with Peter Blegvad early next year and I'm
doing a record with Robert Schneider of Apples In Stereo, " he says.***
So, as of now, here is direct word from the band that creation of the new
album is going slowly, and we could be 12-18 months away from a new XTC
album. So, I'm going to raise an issue that I've discussed briefly before,
and I'd sure like for us to dialogue on this instead of endless discussions
about commerce, trading, etc in the music industry.
Here's my premise: XTC has now firmly established itself as a cult band
that's going to push enough product so as to remain viable. The "XTC brand"
is such that an XTC album will contain 9-10 songs by Andy, and 2-3 by Colin.
So, in order to have a new album in the future, there's some songwriting to
be done. Mr. Prolific (Andy) seems to be able to produce his share of the
load with the appropriate effort; we've heard reports from members of this
list that he's working on his contributions. What I believe is going to be
a problem is that Colin seems to be suffering from long-standing writer's
block. Why do I make such a claim? Well, how many songs has he written
since 1993 (right after Nonsuch was released)? I believe the answer is
approximately 4. On AV1, he contributed "Frivolous Tonight" and "Fruit
Nut". On Wasp Star, his new songs were "In Another Life" and "Boarded Up".
("Standing in for Joe" was written for the "Bubblegum Album" concept back in
the 1980's)! "Didn't Hurt a Bit" was a B-side, but that's a Nonsuch
out-take.
I love Colin's material, and I wish he would (could) write more; his songs
provide an incredible counterpoint to Andy's, and the band has done a great
job of sequencing the material so that this counterpoint adds to the
experience of each XTC album. But all evidence points to the fact that he's
written 4 songs in 9 ***(now 11)*** years. I think that's the real reason
that Andy knows it's going to be awhile until the new XTC album is possible,
so we need to accept that and be happy that he's releasing the Fuzzy Warbles
series so that we have this stuff to listen to.
I hope you guys realize that I'm not trying to slam Colin; I only wish him
the best. But it appears that he's facing some issues insofar as a part of
his job (writing songs). I welcome any comments if I'm off-base with my
premise.****
So not much has changed in XTC land in the last 14 months. Andy said in
late 2002 that a new XTC album might not happen until 2004, and at this
point, that appears very optimistic, right? It doesn't seem that they have
any studio time booked, nor have we heard that they are in pre-production or
any other activity that would make it seem like they are gearing up towards
recording their next opus. So, to respond to your observation, Jason, you
better get used to waiting, and I'm not sure there can be another album
until Colin gets some material together. I truly hope he is up to it.
Thanks,
Mike
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 10:18:33 -0000 From: "Hall Of Fame Records" <halloffame@wanadoo.es> Subject: Octopus Message-ID: <007e01c3e588$173a1020$38cc2450@wanadoo.es> For all XTC's fans: Octopus - From A to B - 1996 this is a great album, really, de verdad de la buena, lo juro por el nino jesus. Luis G.
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 10:33:15 -0800 (PST) From: Jon Rosenberger <wile1coyote@yahoo.com> Subject: That Tree is Poking Me! Message-ID: <20040128183315.11507.qmail@web13423.mail.yahoo.com> Found this little ditty on the Porcupine Tree Website, along with a link to the Chalkhills Website "Ex-XTC member dave Gregory worked on Lightbulb Sun. One of SW's favourite bands." SW refers to Steven Wilson the leader of Porcupine Tree. These guys are quickly becoming my second Favorite band. If you like Crimson or Yes or ELP or the Beach Boys or Sun Ra or Miles or Opeth or Helmet Or Tool Or Rage or Kevin Gilbert or .... Then you should really check their stuff out. Probably the greatest collection of musicians working today. Oh and Dave did the string arrangements for the last two LPs. Peace my Brothers. Mole Oh and Harrison, man you slay me.
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 12:21:08 -0800 From: "Thomas Vest" <tvtwo@hotmail.com> Subject: The Cure Message-ID: <Law10-F43RHKgkUrfav0003f833@hotmail.com> Hi everyone Yesterday I picked up the new cure box set (Join the Dots B-Sides & Rarities 1978-2001) and spotted an XTC mention in the liner notes. Excerpted from pages 7 & 10: Boys Don't Cry, described by Robert as "a '70's attempt at a '60's pop song," surfaced as their second single in June. Once again, it was hailed by the press but largely ignored by the record-buying public. "Boys Don't Cry should have been a hit," says Parry. "Robert was disappointed, and he had a right to be. It was a farce." According to Robert, the B-side, Plastic Passion, was "demoed in 1978 for Hansa, and it was a kind of weird Roxy Music pastiche. By the time we recorded it again we'd played it live a few times, doubled the tempo, and gone frantic! Dempsey introduced Lol to this horrible jerky XTC type rhythm, asked him to play it, and Lol then tried it on pretty much every song we did for the next year! That was one of the reasons why Micheal had to go..." -- For those of you who are not Cure fans, here are a few things that will assist in making the above make a little more sense: Easy Cure started in 1973 as a trio with Robert Smith, Lol Tolhurst, Micheal Dempsey. Signed to Hansa Records 1977 and subsequently parted ways in 1978. Signed to Fiction in 1978 by label founder Chris Parry (formerly of Polydor A&R dept. who eventually left them after Polydor passed on his recommendations to sign bands such as the Sex Pistols & The Clash). -- If you like The Cure, this box set is a must have. Loads of great material on here. That's it for now. Thom In rotation: The Cure / Join the Dots Air / Talkie Walkie Lucinda Williams / Car Wheels On a Gravel Road (holy Sh*t this is good.. cannot believe i missed this)
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 13:25:33 -0800 (PST) From: Todd Bernhardt <beat_town@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: Chalkfriendships Message-ID: <20040128212533.18445.qmail@web41104.mail.yahoo.com> Hi: I must agree with Dunks in his response to Dempsey's question about friendships forged through this list ... I've made quite a few very good friends through Chalkhills, too many to mention (i.e., more than the number of toes and fingers I have ... how many *that* is, I'll leave to your imagination). And the hit rate has been incredibly high -- only one or two Chalkies I've met in person have creeped me out; almost everyone else has been smart, funny, and enthusiastic about great music, among other things. Hell, a couple of them have even been good-looking! I've been on the 'net for a while now (and a Chalkhills subscriber since 1995), and I can honestly say this is the best group I've been involved in -- despite the inevitable ups and downs of the digest, this is generally the most intelligent, articulate, concise and passionate group of people I know. But that doesn't surprise me too much ... after all, we're fans of the most intelligent, articulate, concise and passionate band on the planet. Here's to many more years of XTC and Chalkhills. I'll stop now -- Dave might be lurking, and I wouldn't want him to go into insulin shock from reading this. -Todd
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 21:26:32 -0600 From: "Amanda Owens" <daveizgod@hotmail.com> Subject: Best of 2003??? (mostly non-XTC) Message-ID: <BAY1-F1170rmTIVvLVK0001fa42@hotmail.com> Hmmph. Wish I could add something to the list, however I found the current music state in America to be so utterly, ridiculously, horribly bad, the main crux of the albums I bought were several years, and in some cases, DECADES old. Although, the streaming audio AccuRadio Brit Rock channel did introduce me to some wonderful music, like Ocean Colour Scene, Stereolab, Mogwai, Belle & Sebastian, and Spiritualized. I only wish things would diversify over here as much as they sound over there. *Sigh*. Nope, I spent the year building up my Paul Weller collection....wish he'd come to Louisiana whenever he decides to tour again. Jason Pytka did sayeth: >ITEM 1: > >Amanda Owens <daveizgod@hotmail.com> wrote: > >"Actually, if you see any lyrics in the XTC section >that have been submitted by user entil'zha, that would >be me! :)" > > Who died and made you Ranger One? :P Seriously >though, nice to see another B5 fan 'round these parts. *Grin*. We few....we happy few....we band of brothers (sisters!) we! Can't wait to get my hands on the latest DVD collection. Forgot who started this one: > >I'm curious to find out if some people on the list have actually met > >in person and have developed friendships. Only person I ever met from the list is Richard Pedretti-Allen (did I spell that right, medear?), and it was completely by chance a good 6 or so years ago at Disneyland. He was wearing a shirt w/the Uffington Horse on it, and I knew he had to be an XTC fan. And although we've never met, I can definitely credit the list (and MITCH!!!!!) with my becoming friends w/Dave Gregory. (Still trying to choke down the heaping mound of Smarties and dairy milk buttons he sent me for Christmas!) But heck, if there are any Chalkhillians in Louisiana, I'd love to one day meet some of them! Tis all for now, Amanda XTC song of the day-Obscene Procession non XTC song-Friday Street-Paul Weller (God does indeed walk this Earth, and his name is Paul Weller.)
------------------------------ Date: Sun, 01 Feb 2004 13:39:58 -0800 From: becki digregorio <ziglain@earthlink.net> Subject: chalkhills friendships Message-ID: <BC42B22E.583%ziglain@earthlink.net> >From: "res00u0b@gte.net" <d.elks@gte.net> >Subject: Friendships developed here at Chalkhills? > >I'm curious to find out if some people on the list have actually met >in person and have developed friendships. you bet!! i've met some great folks and made wonderful friends thanks to monsieur relph's e-list. i've stayed with simon sleightholm and his family in northern england, spent evenings in front of a fire dining on homemade risotto and drinking bottles (and bottles) (and bottles) of red with richard pedretti-allen, flew to london to attend an "xtc convention" with no less than a dozen 'hillians and one neville farmer (author of xtc's "song stories" and who helped pen the infamous "bags of fun with buster"), shown jasper (john) christianson around santa cruz and played him "cats in the aviary" before the cd was pressed, shared dinner and music and stories with that great wordsmith harrison sherwood at john relph's house in san francisco, attended groovy parties at dean martucci's pad in san mateo, and been treated to sushi and sake with mitch friedman down the street from golden gate park in the city of fog. thanks to chalkhills i've had people from all over the world contact me about my music, including a music writer from italy named lino terlati who tirelessly promotes my music over there. and someone in *norway* just bought my latest cd because of a review posted on the "optimisms flames" website dedicated to xtc. i've corresponded with people from brazil, ireland, wales, china (!), australia (hey dunks!), canada, france, and all over the u.s. i'm working on a new album of retro-psychedelic music, and hope to get some folks over for a visit (mitch! kevin!) at this new studio that my producer is now working at in upstate new york called "castle recording." _that_ would be a blast. indeed, mr. relph's list has brought some very keen folks into my life, friends and fans and fellow lovers of music. hats off to you, john, for all of your hard work. many thanks... peace to all, --becki www.beckidigregorio.com
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 1 Feb 2004 23:34:14 EST
From: OMBEAN1@aol.com
Subject: Home improvement music war
Message-ID: <1c5.13f0ca80.2d4f2d46@aol.com>
Yo Yo Yo,
Tim wrote:
Lowe's just earned my business for 2004. While browsing for light bulbs,
"I'd Like That" begins playing over the Musack system!!! I'm sure it
out-competed whatever was playing across town at the Home Depot.
As a bit of info, Home Depots music system played BOTH "I'd Like That " &
"Greenman" when it first came out in '99. They ran for about 6 months. ( Guess
where I work?)
Yours in paint, Roger
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2004 07:48:28 -0500 From: Benjamin Gott <bgott@rectoryschool.org> Subject: Recommendation Message-ID: <43CFA980-5647-11D8-A45F-0003931489DA@rectoryschool.org> Gang, John Vanderslice's new album, "Cellar Door," is a masterpiece of hi-fi recording and lo-fi ideals. Is it no surprise that it comes from Barsuk Records? [ http://www.barsuk.com ] This album is certainly the strangest I've heard in a long time: he produces songs like Jon Brion, sings a bit like labelmate Ben Gibbard (from Death Cab for Cutie), and performs the songs that should have been on "Think Tank" and that Radiohead would put on their iPods. Of course, he recorded, wrote, performed, and produced the whole damn thing himself. XTC content: "English Settlement" is a great album. -B
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 04 Feb 2004 07:15:39 +1100 From: "Iain Murray" <murray_ij@hotmail.com> Subject: How to boost XTC's record sales Message-ID: <Law11-F85DIQjOnfIOS00014d1f@hotmail.com> Book XTC to play at half-time in the FA Cup Final. At the end of their set, have Andy Partridge expose himself. If there's an album coming out a few weeks later, all the better. Iain
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #10-6 ******************************
Go back to Volume 10.
3 February 2004 / Feedback