Chalkhills Digest Volume 11, Issue 53
Date: Thursday, 29 September 2005
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 11, Number 53
Thursday, 29 September 2005
Topics:
"Isn't it pathetic at his age?"
Macca, SFA, Antheap, Budd
XTC 1989 Convention Interview tape -- eBay item
All Along The Watchtower!
There must be some kinda way outta here
Through the Hill
Re: English Tea
Cull 'Em
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Humble Daisy / Form a chain to hold all battleships in check.
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Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 16:13:35 +0000
From: "dunks58" <dunks58@milesago.com>
Subject: "Isn't it pathetic at his age?"
Message-ID: <89e3ffbefa4d487ab4cc46f2eb98efb3@milesago.com>
What ho, me old Chalkies!!
A brief return to the fold while I have acces to email again. Damn, it's
good to be back. Over a year without regular web access, and the withdrawal
symptoms have almost gone away now ... although they've been replaced by a
chronic pain in my back pocket ... where my wallet used to be ...
But I have to say that it's been a rare pleasure to have blundered my way
more or less successfully through a year with out having to work. In that
time I have torn the back end out of my house and rebuilt it from the ground
up, built a new floor, remade the kitchen (well, most of it) and bathroom
(shower, toilet, walls, even poured the cement floor myself) - all with my
own little digits ... oh, and some heavy duty power tools.
Who'd have guessed it? Practical? Moi??? As Red Green says: "If the ladies
don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy!"
The only things I didn't do myself was the plumbing and some of the
drainage. Thankfully I seem to have been able to successfully channel my New
England carpenter ancestors and nothing has fallen down (yet). Removing some
30-odd cubic metres of brick, plaster, wood and general crap and rebuilding
half a house has also done wonders for my waistline -- I can now fit into
the old wedding tuxedo (which I wore to the Smile! concert -- god, what a
night that was) and with a little extra work I'll almost have almost
something approaching "abs". OK, I guess that's more information than you
needed ...
It was a dream to be able to hammer away day after day as I trawled back
through my XTC collection, among many other faves. I've also been listening
to heaps of jazz, Brazilian, French and Cuban music, thanks to a wonderful
local community station here in Sydney called Eastside FM
(http://www.eastsidefm.org/). Hopefully one day soon they'll start
webcasting and you can all share in its glory.
It's especially cool because a lot of Sydney jazz musos (eg renowned bassist
Lloyd Swanton, from The Necks) present programs on the station. And I MUST
recommend an amazing French group called Java, who I believe come from
Toulouse; they toured here earlier this year and apparently they had people
dancing on the tables at their Sydney gig! Sadly I hadn't heard of them then
:((. but they are <I>fantastique</I>! Imagine a cross between Django
Reinhardt and The Stray Cats with some rap, hip-hop and a whole bunch of
other stuff thrown in. Wild!
To digress a moment ... my sincere comiserations to all who have suffered in
the recent disasters in Louisana and Texas. I was lucky enough to visit New
Orleans about 20 year ago and it was heartbreaking to see that once
beautiful city being ripped apart. It was also sobering to see how life
completely failed to imitate art -- I was immediately reminded of those
scenes from Speilberg's "War of the Worlds", which depicted stoic lines of
refugees patiently plodding along, accepting their lot with quiet dignity
... rather than rampaging around raping and pillaging, like they did in real
life ...
Back to things Chalkular: having recently discovered the incredible Google
Earth program led me to wonder -- can you see the Uffington Horse with this
thing? I looked tonight and couldn't find it -- what are the coordinates? Is
it in fact visible with this thing -- I noticed that quite a lot of that
area of England doesn't appear to have been scanned in any great detail (or
am I missing something?).
Then I wondered -- what about Swindon? Can we see Andy or Colin's house with
it?
I managed to find the pixellated blob that is apparently the roof of my own
little shack here in Sydney -- as best I can work out, the coordinates of my
front door are Lat. 33o 54' 02.00'' South; Long. 151o 10' 33.70 East. Then I
wondered how many other Chalkers' domiciles are visible thereby? What other
XTC-related landmarks can be spotted with it? Over to you, brains trust ...
Well it's laaaate so I'd best sign off, and in closing salute the late,
great Don Adams, who has given us all so many laughs.
Also, my very sincere condolences to our erstwhile pal Paul Culnane, who
lost his dad recently.
Last but not least, a hearty hello to Mr Relph -- best wishes to you and the
family, mate -- hope you're all well. How's young Paul going? Amy and Lucas
send him their best wishes for his b'day ('tis soon, methinks?). Hard to
believe it's been two years ... sigh ... Todd, Harrison, Jeff, and all the
DC crew ... salut! Michael V. likewise. I really miss you all, and hope
you're all well. Oh and Mr Vreeland -- good luck for the gig! Break a leg,
not a string!
Cheers!
Dunks
--
Q: Why did Britney Spears opt for a caesarean birth?
A: She wanted it to be just like her concerts -- where she doesn't have to
move her lips.
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 11:43:12 -0700 (PDT) From: Jemiah Jefferson <jemiah@q7.com> Subject: Macca, SFA, Antheap, Budd Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.44.0509271140560.21885-100000@q7.q7.com> Jumping out of lurk like a dog from hell, holding multiple threads in my teeth! > From: "Gray Packham" <gpackham@dodo.com.au> > Subject: Macca Plans For Nigel > I highly recommend Paul McCartney's new CD "Chaos and Creation in the > Backyard"....Nigel Godrich (Coldplay, Radiohead, Beck) has certainlyprovided > some much needed production oomph to Paul and the fact that I haven't found > myself skipping tracks (as you would normally do on a Macca album) > demonstrates Nigel's firm hand. His insistence on Paul bringing strong > material to the studio must have been a shock to Paul's system but to > his credit, he swallowed his pride and has come up with a very solid > collection of songs. Total agreement here. I've had a lot of problems with Sir Macca over the years - mostly due to his seeming inability to write an entire song - but "Chaos" is almost enough to make me forgive all. Godrich works as hard as he can to thicken the sound of Paul playing all the instruments, but much like he did on Beck's "Sea Change", there's this oceanside-like wave of white noise in the background that swells and recedes and doesn't add much musicality. The important thing here is that Paul's really embracing songcraft again and writing some great tunes. I am pleasantly surprised. "Fine Line", in particular, gives us a little glimpse of that old McCartney melodic magic, and I dare you to listen to it without at least bobbing your head a whole lot. Nonetheless, contrasted with the other brand-new material I've been listening to, the new Super Furry Animals album "Love Kraft", Macca doesn't stand a chance. "Love Kraft" is simply mindblowing, and I can't recommend it to Chalksters enough. SFA have kicked ass yet again, and as I chatted with the bloke at the record shop we both shook our heads sadly that more people don't worship this band. "Well, the same thing's true about XTC," I said, and he was all "I KNOW!" (Then again, he is a record shop clerk; he's kinda special.) > From: "James White" <jameswhite@gsinet.net> > Subject: My Random "De-lurking" > One of the things about XTC's music (primarily Andy's songs) is how they > sometimes do not completely reveal themselves upon first listen ... My > latest re-discovery: Across this Antheap. Not to toot my own horn, but that's been my favorite song on O&L for a good long time - it's always been "Antheap" and "One of the Millions" for me on that album. "Antheap" is the definition of "rewards repeated listening", and is so rich that it's almost overwhelming when you listen to it on headphones. I'm glad you're tunnelling through it, Mr. White; make friends with it, and it will never desert you. > From: Steve <ste7phen@yahoo.com> > Subject: Through The Hill > Harold Budd and Andy Partridge collaborating on non other than an album > of ambient music. > I thought I was a fan of AP. What a suprise to find what I thought to > be separate musical interests converging. How'd that slip by? Dude, I don't know. I bought that album on its release date, and have listened to it half to death - it's one of the only CDs that survived the catastrophic house fire that I experienced ten years ago, so I've taken it as a sign. Even though it's "ambient", I recommend you listen to it very, very loud - it's intensely rewarding. 15 years of Chalkhills, Jemiah --
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 22:15:22 +0100 From: Toby Howard <gakochan@gmail.com> Subject: XTC 1989 Convention Interview tape -- eBay item Message-ID: <c0f4aa010509271415638885d2@mail.gmail.com> Hello Chalkhillians I thought some people might be interested in this XTC Interview Tape from the XTC convention in Manchester in 1989, that I have up for auction courtesy Mr E. Bay: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4773844129 Best wishes! gakochan
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 23:11:18 +0100 From: Toby Howard <gakochan@gmail.com> Subject: All Along The Watchtower! Message-ID: <c0f4aa01050927151122ca43a7@mail.gmail.com> WOW! Incredibly, following the BBC's airing of the Scorcese Dylan documentary over the last two nights, BBC4 is doing a show of "other people" doing Dylan covers and... here is XTC doing "All Along The Watchtower"! Andy is manic! This is Barry Andrews-era XTC -- and it's WILD! Gosh, I had thought I had seen everything... :-) T
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 23:16:06 +0100 From: Mark Fisher <mark-fisher@blueyonder.co.uk> Subject: There must be some kinda way outta here Message-ID: <BF5F8336.4ABC%mark-fisher@blueyonder.co.uk> Just accidentally switched onto the Bob Dylan tribute compilation on BBC4 only to see XTC on The Old Grey Whistle Test (I think) doing All Along the Watchtower. Don't remember seeing it before. Absolutely stunning. Andy with Monkees bowl-head haircut. Barry with two-tone keyboard. Terry striking up a fearsome rhythm. Colin looking cool and keeping that fab bassline steady. Then a live dub workout to the improvised end. Bliss. BBC4 tends to repeat its programmes a lot, so UK viewers should get another chance. Enjoyed the two-part Dylan documentary too. -- Mark
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 20:29:40 EDT From: LadyCPlum@aol.com Subject: Through the Hill Message-ID: <79.4e9a5bcf.306b3df4@aol.com> In the last digest, Another Steve did sayeth: >Okay, I clearly haven't been reading posts closely enough. >This year I've been listening to ambient on internet radio when on the >computer. >Consequently I've rediscovered Harold Budd from the "good old days." >Ambient 2 being my most listened (with Brian Eno). >Sooo... I was just browsing around and discovered: >Harold Budd and Andy Partridge collaborating on non other than an album >of ambient music. >I thought I was a fan of AP. What a suprise to find what I thought to >be separate musical interests converging. How'd that slip by? Was there >mention at the APE site? > >Through the Hill >Andy Partridge & Harold Budd > >I'm buying mine now. The samples sound great. Indeed they are great. I've had the cd for a few years now, it is amazing. The title track itself has always been my favorite. And if you've ever seen the movie Jerry Maguire, it's featured during one of the scenes! Tis all for now, give a litle something to us Hurricane victims down here on the Bayou, Amanda C. Owens XTC Song of the Day-It's Snowing Angels non XTC Song of the Day-House of Stone-Roaring Boys
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 20:02:17 +0100 From: Mark Fisher <mark-fisher@blueyonder.co.uk> Subject: Re: English Tea Message-ID: <BF60A749.4B18%mark-fisher@blueyonder.co.uk> On 27/9/05 2:05 pm, someone wrote: > The album has the odd hint of George Harrison, Beck, Wings, Queen, the > Fabs and surprisingly our very own Andy. The bridge on the song > called English Tea (which by the way is almost Paul meets The Rutles) > is very Andy: > > "Miles and miles of English garden > Stretching past the willow tree > Lines of hollyhocks and roses > Listen most attentively" This is banal. Andy would have come up with something much better. Why are we allowed to talk about a has-been pop star and not guns? -- Mark
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 14:40:40 +0100 From: Adrian Ransome <Adrian.Ransome@tsi-ltd.co.uk> Subject: Cull 'Em Message-ID: <497FEA72C392D3118AE700508B7311770D3117BE@nt4server03.tsi-ltd.co.uk> In #11-51 Dave Bancroft wrote: >dont EVER associate that pretend jazz dwarf with andy I see Jamie Cullum's new album is being advertised heavily on UK commercial TV channels at the moment. There he is, sepia toned at the piano; singing like he's just flown in from his native Noo Yoik, plinking on the ivories with studious disinterest; his expensive, painstakingly sculpted bedhead hairstyle bobbing as he swings, maan, swings... swings like Krupa maaan, swings like 50s Manhattan maaaan, singing into his big ol' Paul McCartney Signature Lexus 400 Gearstick Microphone maaaaaan; like b'dap beeebaw frow maaaaaaan; that cat can, like, swing maaaaaaaaan, wheee bazaap brow!! maaaaaaaaan, swings like Count Basie on a trapeze in a freakin' hurricane maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan, like swings like freaking Spook and Choo Choo from like Top Cat MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN - even though he's just some 20 something jumped up tousle haired talentless music-school fucknut from Stoke-On-Trent who thinks his material is better than Andy Partridge's. The Twat. ade
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #11-53 *******************************
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