Chalkhills Digest Volume 11, Issue 36
Date: Sunday, 24 July 2005

         Chalkhills Digest, Volume 11, Number 36

                   Sunday, 24 July 2005

Topics:

              Right Wing Ironic Song Thread
               Be a mensh. Squeeze a koala.
Great, now I'm going to sing "Frank Hill" to myself the rest of the day
               Re: Elfman's "Charlie" songs
                      5/4, 4/4 etc.
                     Re: Danny Elfman
                         Rush&Co.
                          Re: TB
                        Tourette's
                    XTC items on eBay

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It's called talking / It's how they betray their friends and more.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 05:23:17 -0700 (PDT)
From: Michael Versaci <michael_versaci@yahoo.com>
Subject: Right Wing Ironic Song Thread
Message-ID: <20050722122317.78807.qmail@web30913.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

Folxtc,

Regarding the Right-Wing-Ironic-Song Thread:

http://byneddiejingo.blogspot.com/2005/05/back-to-peekskill.html

Michael Versaci

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 08:44:50 -0700 (PDT)
From: Ryan Anthony <hamsterranch@yahoo.com>
Subject: Be a mensh. Squeeze a koala.
Message-ID: <20050722154450.50802.qmail@web51109.mail.yahoo.com>

Erratum: My previous post omitted a close-quote. I'd
worry about being barred from admission to Shadetree
Copyeditors's Heaven if I weren't jumping in Gomorrah,
religion-free.

The gist of said post, by the way, condensed to three
words (which you're supposed to be able to do if
you're a copyeditor): Be a mensh. If that's an insult
or threat to any sane person with a three-digit IQ,
I'll eat the Uffington Horse in a Pinot Noir reduction
and Spam.

Which Chalksibling recently invited us to name artists
we didn't become aware of until after their deaths?

In my case, Kevin Gilbert, the Great Person-of-Pallor
Hope of progressive rock, but also a stand-up comedian
named Mitch Hedberg, dubbed "comedy's Kurt Cobain" in
a remarkably sympathetic tribute piece by Daniel
Fierman in the Ides of July edition of *Entertainment
Weekly*.

(No, I don't subscribe to, or regularly read, *EW*. A
good circle of friends doubles as a clipping service.)

Two Hedberg riffs quoted in the magazine:

"Alcoholism is a disease. But it's, like, the only
disease you can get yelled at for havin'. Dammit,
Otto! You're an alcoholic! Dammit, Otto, you have
LUPUS!"

"My apartment is infested with koala bears. It's the
cutest infestation ever. Way better than cockroaches.
When I turn on the light, a bunch of koala bears
scatter. And I don't want 'em to. I'm like, Hey! Hold
on, fellas. Let me hold one of you. And feed you a
leaf."

Alas, there will never be an album titled *Several
Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In a
Cave and Conversing With Mitch Hedberg*.

Ryan Anthony
An independent Internet content provider

P.S.: Some of my fellow Grandpa Simpson-like
progressive rockers out there may be interested to
know that iTunes offers the 9-minute, 41-second studio
version of Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common
Man" by Emerson, Lake & Palmer for ninety-nine cents
plus tax. The equally-agreeable "Pirates," alas, is
only available by buying an entire album.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 11:22:37 -0700 (PDT)
From: Todd Bernhardt <beat_town@yahoo.com>
Subject: Great, now I'm going to sing "Frank Hill" to myself the rest of the
Message-ID: <20050722182237.30358.qmail@web32014.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

day
Hi:

Whee! Chalkhills is *back*. Nothin' like a little controversy to increase
the frequency of my fave musical newsdigestletterthingie.

Speaking of controversy, Jeff Thomas said:
> And Colin is superior to Andy in his innate
> understanding of rhythm; I think Andy and a few producers would agree with
> that.  Although Andy is certainly no slouch, either.

Ooh, careful there, son! Are you trying to ensure more-frequent newsletters
through such blanket statements? Colin is, IMO, the finest pop bass player
around (if you can count him as still being around), and the way that he
locks-in with drummers is stunning. But one of the things that's always
killed me about Andy's writing and playing is how intensely rhythmic he is,
how he is able to play and sing parts that are completely different
rhythmically, how he is able to find and exploit the rhythmic "holes" left
by the other players, etc. If I had to say which one was better, I'd choose
Andy without hesitation.  But probably best not to choose, eh? They're both
good at it, as is Dave, which is why they all played so well together.

Andrew Gowans: To get all pedantic on yo' ass, ain't no such thing as 7/5,
even for Steve Vai. The bottom number refers to the kind of note that
constitutes a beat, while the top number refers to how many beats are in a
measure.  Typically, the lower number is a 4, 8, or 16. So, in 7/4, it's 7
quarter notes to a measure; in 7/8, it's 7 eighth notes; etc. Ain't no such
thing as a fifth note (that I'm aware of, anyhow).

John Relph once again recommended Veda Hille's "Return of the Kildeer," and
I once again concur wholeheartedly. This is the best album from APE that
Andy has not been directly involved in. Plus, it's got "Frank Hill" from the
musical "Hair" on it, and that's a Good Thing.

Ben: The band would never choose Elfman to be their producer. He's too
expensive for Colin.  :^)

Right on, Mike Versaci! Testify!!

-Todd

"The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring
liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the
truth."
H.L. Mencken

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 13:53:26 -1000
From: David Gershman <d.gershman@comcast.net>
Subject: Re: Elfman's "Charlie" songs
Message-ID: <6.2.3.4.0.20050722135146.031f6e20@mail.comcast.net>

At 03:57 AM 7/22/2005, Ben Gott wrote:
>Wouldn't Danny Elfman be a perfect choice to produce the new XTC album?
>This occurred to me as I was watching "Charlie and the Chocolate
>Factory" which contains Elfman's most magnificent score to date.  Just
>check out the "Main Title" -- it's magical.  His little songs for the
>Oompa Loompas (which he both wrote and sung) are cute little pop
>confections.  The movie is classic Tim Burton (the set and production
>design is especially good), but Elfman cinches the deal.

Just a small clarification: Yes, Elfman did write the tunes to those
catchy Oompa Loompa pop confections, but the lyrics were written by
Roadl Dahl himself -- that is (seeing as he's dead), they're direct
from the book itself, set to Elfman's music.

Dave Gershman

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 21:27:15 -0700
From: idahlberg@verizon.net
Subject: 5/4, 4/4 etc.
Message-ID: <ce200628138e8d3c589b775f3b1ea4b0@verizon.net>

I like chiming in on music theory matters. "Wake Up" has both guitars
in 4/4, just different patterns. If one were in a 5/4 pattern, then the
overall phrase would 'reset' itself every 4 bars (or 20 beats). "Wake
Up"  resets every bar. I'm guessing the 5/4-4/4 tune in question might
be "Day In Day Out" toward the end, where Andy plays triplets grouped
in 5. This overall pattern rights itself every 5 bars (or 30 triplets).
The riff is a variation on the one he plays at the top of the tune.
Kinda 5/4 over 4/4. Quirky stuff.

Other similar examples:

Dave plays an offset figure in "Helicopter", during the 'I object to
all the airmail...' part, but rights itself at the end of that section.
"Ten Feet Tall" Dave solo starts off with a little offset figure
action. "Really Super, Supergirl" Dave's solo has an ascending five
note pattern that could be thought of as 3/8 against 4/4. "Humble
Daisy" solo....etc

"Optimism's Flames" main riff is an offset phrase that resets every 3
bars.

A small example, in "Meeting Place" the chorus melody is the same 4
note group repeated but offset.

The bridge in "No Thugs" has the bass and drums playing a pattern that
could also be a 3/8 against 4/4 example.

End of "Mayor of Simpleton" is all wacky offset stuff.

I don't think musicians (myself included) think about one time sig
against another, but just notice an offset pattern. I was trying to
find a term for this, but found that polyrhythmic, polymetric, and
hemiola don't exactly apply here. Anyone have a term?

Ian

#11-34 Dave wrote
>
>> Or is this akin to one of the XTC songs... can't recall which
>> one.... where one guitar plays in 5/4 and the other is in 4/4.
>> Only Andy could come up with that one.
>
#11-35 Jeff wrote
> I'm not sure, but you're not by any chance talking about "Wake Up", are
> you?  If so: Colin came up with that one.  (Of course, with the
> arranging
> aid of Dave and Andy.)  And Colin is superior to Andy in his innate
> understanding of rhythm; I think Andy and a few producers would agree
> with
> that.  Although Andy is certainly no slouch, either.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 23 Jul 2005 00:03:22 -0700 (PDT)
From: Steve <ste7phen@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Danny Elfman
Message-ID: <20050723070322.3325.qmail@unknown-206-190-39-12.yahoo.com>

Benjamin Gott said:
>
> Wouldn't Danny Elfman be a perfect choice to produce the new XTC
> album?

You mean because it will never happen?

Another Steve

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 23 Jul 2005 08:50:45 -0400
From: "Christopher R. Coolidge" <cauldron@together.net>
Subject: Rush&Co.
Message-ID: <a06110403bf07e8bbf76b@[64.91.163.22]>

I used to listen to Rush Limbaugh when Bill Clinton was in office,
because I found him more interesting and entertaining when someone he
violently disagreed with was in office. Now that GW Bush is in
office, Rush is his personal lapdog and about as fun to listen to as
chasing parked cars. Rush chose The Pretenders' "My City Was Gone" as
the intro to his show(I believe it still is, haven't listened in
quite a while, more than a year) simply because he liked the song's
intro and thought it was catchy. He was also using intros from
several songs from Utopia's last two albums from the mid-80's, which
are out of print and thus less likely to have prickly licensing
problems. It was weird hearing them on his show, it was like he'd
snuck into my house and made off with a few of my LPs. (let him try
it, my twenty pound gully cat Spike would claw him to death)

   I'd find Rush Limbaugh so much more interesting if he didn't think
GW Bush's shit doesn't stink. Brings to mind Bill Hicks' "Rush
Limbaugh is a scatmuncher" routine, which has to be heard to be
believed; I think Hicks knew he was dying when he recorded that
album(he died of pancreatic cancer at just 33 back in '94) and
figured that if he took a few sacred cows with him they wouldn't be
able to sue a dead man.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 23 Jul 2005 08:52:52 -0400
From: "Christopher R. Coolidge" <cauldron@together.net>
Subject: Re: TB
Message-ID: <a06110404bf07eb6f9a11@[64.91.163.22]>

At 9:57 AM -0400 7/22/05, Chalkhills wrote:
>Best drummer of all time: Terry Bozzio. Don't fight it, give in to the
>force of nature that is Terry Bozzio. Which leads me to a great album
>title: "Shut Up and Play Your Guitar" - how freeing!

I've met Terry, he was in my town to record a trio project with Mick
Karn and Stuart Hamm sometime in the early 90's and he was this guy
who just happened to be talking to a couple of my local musician
friends. I joined in the conversation, not knowing who this guy was,
just knew he was mentioning the above musicians(I knew of Karn from
Japan) and even said "I've played in a number of other bands too,
some of which you've probably heard of." It wasn't until he was
walking away that his profile bought back memories of an old Missing
Persons video. Very talented guy who can play real complicated(Zappa,
UK) or real simple(Missing Persons, The Knack- yes, he was with The
Knack for a while in the 90's).

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 23 Jul 2005 18:18:24 -0700
From: "Pastula Aaron" <pastula12@hotmail.com>
Subject: Tourette's
Message-ID: <BAY24-F14DEA09CF838CE97421BCBA2CB0@phx.gbl>

Sheesh...I'm just happy when I hear XTC on the radio in ANY context, because
it almost certainly means a few more pennies in the jar for the greatest
band in the history of the human race.  Nevertheless, it is fun to see
people on this list rear up on their hind legs once in a while...

Just remember, folks, even we right-wing savages enjoy the sweet, dulcet
tones of perfect pop on a regular basis...and I bet even Andy can appreciate
that.

Peace through music (and superior firepower!),

Aaron.

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 24 Jul 2005 14:44:10 +0100
From: Toby Howard <gakochan@gmail.com>
Subject: XTC items on eBay
Message-ID: <c0f4aa01050724064421212413@mail.gmail.com>

Hi, I thought people might be interested in a couple of XTC items I
have on eBay right now:

* Peter Pumpkinhead CD single, also includes Wardance/Down a peg
(demo)/Peter Pumpkinhead (demo)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4750870764

* XTC Interview cassette, recored at Andy's home for the 1989 XTC Fan
Convention in Manchester, UK
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4750870778

Happy holidays!
--gakochan

------------------------------

End of Chalkhills Digest #11-36
*******************************

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