Chalkhills Digest Volume 5, Issue 132
Date: Friday, 12 March 1999
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 5, Number 132
Friday, 12 March 1999
Today's Topics:
Now dont get me wrong!!!
Nurse, Where's My Mush?
Endorsements
A Very Long Rant On Why The Prodigy Can't Have My First-Born.
Amplify his Call.
Re: Beauty & XTC
Re: MY PRE-MIDLIFE CRISIS
Thoughts re: AV!
who, who
Re: AV2 Drummer Info
A Thought-Experiment in Nastiness
Getting old, misheard lyrics, Omnibus and stuff
Re: demos and (non)such
Re: Dave, Dave, and Dave again
re: dictionmary
One more time...
A Few Observations
Nonsuch all over again
Dave/REM
It's the Pictures that got small
Masturbating with one arm...
more on beauty (and the color yellow)
little drummer boys
Dressed in Yellow Yolk
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You can see it on TV / From the pleasing safety of your armchair.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-Id: <s6e8d9eb.042@OAG.STATE.TX.US> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 08:46:59 -0600 From: "Steve Oleson" <Steve.Oleson@OAG.STATE.TX.US> Subject: Now dont get me wrong!!! In C #5-129 David Robson mentions that: "It appears that many on this list tend to favour the early XTC releases over the later ones." I believe that this statement is true, and have two theories that might account for this. 1. People generally have the greatest affection for the recording that "flipped the switch" for them, and turned them into fanatic fans. Chalkhillians are die-hard fans, and die-hard fans are by definition, people who are fans of long standing. Therefore, they generally favor the earlier recordings. 2. The recordings of the late 1970s were unique. There was no one who made music similar to the music XTC made at that time. Their expressive use of dissonance and atonality was brilliant and original. They continued to develop this style of music through The Big Express. After which, their music became much more melodic, harmonic, and traditionally composed, more like music created by lesser mortals. Now dont get me wrong... I LOVE and treasure every recording XTC have done, and expect to continue to do so. However, I think that THOSE elements (mentioned above) which made them so original, bracing, and unique have been left out of their "big box of paints". Please dont take me for one of those fans who wish that XTC "still made music like they used to." I applaud them for continuing to evolve and grow. Cheers, Steve Oleson Austin, TX
------------------------------ Message-Id: <4.1.19990312091608.009325e0@pop-2.iastate.edu> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 09:26:26 -0600 From: John A Lane <jal@iastate.edu> Subject: Nurse, Where's My Mush? At 11:02 PM 3/11/99 -0800, Dom Lawson wrote: > >I'm getting old. Not sitting-in-plastic-pants-full-of-three-week-old-poop >old, but old nonetheless. It crept up on me, like bad wind, and threatens to >trample on all my adolescent dreams. Where once I was lithe, lean and many >other things beginning with 'l' I am now increasingly flabby, woefully unfit >and losing my few remaining marbles with alarming speed. And I'm only twenty >six. "Apple Venus Vol.1" doesn't bloody help much either. Take a number, sonny. I turn 30 this year. As your twenties slip away & your waistline slowly but suddenly becomes Oliver-Hardy-esque, you'll look back on 26 and wish you had it. I certainly do. As for AV1, for me at least, it kind of reaffirms that life can be alright no matter how much I find myself settling into OldFarthood. I'm glad I've got x-number of years experience to be able to appreciate this here and now. You're right -- would we have truly grasped it if we'd been any younger? Depends on the person. I myself would have been too restless (like I was when 'Nonsuch' came out). So relax and enjoy, friend! We all made it to this point; that's worth celebrating, right? >I ...find >myself becoming increasingly amenable to the idea of a nice Van Morrison box >set. Good GOD, man! Life isn't that bad, is it? ;-) Next thing you know you'll be buildig a humidor in your house and collecting friends with names like "Biff". Get out of the house now and take a nice long walk. --John p.s. Now i'm going to go have a good cry because I'm *choke* turning *sob* 30 this year... http://www.public.iastate.edu/~jal/smile.html
------------------------------ Message-Id: <36E937A1.982DD051@tmbg.org> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 10:49:59 -0500 From: Ben Gott/Loquacious Music <gott@tmbg.org> Organization: http://listen.to/loquacious Subject: Endorsements Chalkers, So, I was lying in bed this morning (no Friday classes!), thinking about various things: annotated bibliographies; my paycheck; the upcoming March Break. Of course, my XTC "shrine" is within spitting distance of my bed, so it wasn't long before my thoughts turned to the Boys from Swindon. I started to ponder the current "Apple Venus" sale situation, and the "are they making money?" question that seems to be arising again. Then, I got in the shower. Now, we all know that our best ideas occur when we're in the shower -- which is why I wasn't surprised when, all of a sudden, like a load of bricks, it hit me: COMMERCIAL ENDORSEMENTS! Now, I don't mean that I want to see XTC on American TV advertising Fords, because that would suck. Actually, I was thinking of something that would involve "Apple Venus Vol. 2", and a major corporation's tag-line. To wit: the band didn't have to pay any organization (and did not get paid by any organization) to write "Do What You Will, But Harm None" on "AV1." But what if corporate sponsors vied for that position on the next album? For example: Apple Venus Vol. 2: "Think Different." Apple Venus Vol. 2: "Endorsed by the American Dental Association." Apple Venus Vol. 2: "The Best a Man (or Woman) Can Get." Apple Venus Vol. 2: "Drivers Wanted." Of course, my musings broadened...to television sit-coms: Apple Venus Vol. 2: "And Then There's Maude..." Apple Venus Vol. 2: "Alf, Don't Eat the Cat!" Apple Venus Vol. 2: "What Would We Do, Baby, Without Us?" Apple Venus Vol. 2: "The Truth Is Out There..." My final thought occured as I reached for the shampoo (my roommate Curtis's "St. Ives Swiss Formula"): since we know how much Andy and Colin like to "expell gas," let's include a little "Scratch 'n' Sniff" card with the new album, and attach St. Ives's motto to it: Apple Venus Vol. 2: "Inspires Your Senses With Fragrances Captured From Nature." Now, if I were a giant corporation, I would jump at the chance to have my name attached to the next XTC release. I would even pay one million dollars! What do we think? This beats the pants off of bumper stickers and "Java Jackets"! On another note altogether: I played "Your Dictionary" last night at the popular and very well attended Residential Life-sponsored coffeehouse. The audience responded well...they laughed when the song got so mean it sounded silly (at least in my performance!), and were deferentially quiet during the "Now your laughter..." bit. Since my topic of performance was "crazy break-up songs," I also played "Coming Back Soon (The Bereft Man's Song)" by Crash Test Dummies, "Red Shoes" by E.C., and "Girlfriend in a Coma" by the Smiths. That's it for now... -Ben XTC SONG OF THE DAY: "I'd Like That" RIGHT NOW, I'M LISTENING TO: Phish's "Rift"
------------------------------
Message-Id: <199903121548.KAA22696@hammurabi.nh.ultra.net>
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 10:47:29 -0500
Subject: A Very Long Rant On Why The Prodigy Can't Have My First-Born.
From: "Duncan Watt" <kanuba@nh.ultranet.com>
This is a very long post. My apologies to those who aren't interested in
Partridge getting paid for letting someone else use his music.
>Subject: the sampling issue rages on...
>
Tyler Hewitt <tahewitt@yahoo.com> wrote, defending his(I'm paraphrasing
here, my apologies if I'm off) general concept of allowing musicians to use
each other's music freely and without due compensation:
(backstory:Negativland had success with an unlicensed sample from U2, and
was 'stomped' for it)
>4. Negativland espouse a utopian ideal where everyone would be able
>to borrow freely and creatively from everyone else without fear of
>legal repercussions. This is as about as likely to occur as there ever
>being "a river of orchids where we had a motorway". The bottom line
>is this-where there is money involved, some people want as much of it
>as they can get, all else be damned. Greed is a major motivator,
>folks, and if the environment and creative expression get in the way
>of the acquisition of wealth, they will be stomped.
Tyler, it's interesting who you're accusing of being greedy. Let me be sure
I've got this straight: Let's say Artist A uses without permission Artist
B's work to generate art that goes on to make Artist A a pile of $$$. You're
saying Artist A is the innocent, and the Artist B is the greedy one for
asking for a slice of the pie? I think you're being blinded by the fact that
in this particular case(the U2/Negativland case), the original artist was
very rich. But what about the opposite case? The rich corporate artist
stealing the poor artists work and basically re-releasing it? Do you really
have such a rosy look at this coprse-strewn world that you don't see this as
a possibility? The only reason this doesn't happen is because of the law. I
understand your wish for the utopian ideal, wherein artists shouldn't need
to lean on their work for an income, but you're really opening a can of
worms here, obviously, as unwealthy artists need to make money to live.
Alternatives are very, very shaky: government-sponsored artists(hey, cool,
"I'd Like That" just came on on my radio while I was writing this... 'like a
really high thing, say a....'), corporate-sponsored artists,
religion-sponsored artists, or maybe we should leave the whole art thing to
the rich, who can afford to do it and get nothing in return... ?
I am a musician. I did not come from a wealthy family. I have worked for
every penny I have(I make all my money from music now, after ten years of
holding down 'real' jobs as well) by balancing my art and the commerce my
artistic ability(which I have worked on almost daily for thirty years) can
generate, such as teaching and producing other artists. I, daily, face the
unwealthy artist's dilemma: I could make more $$$, but at the expense of
the very thing I'm good at in the first place: art, ironically the reason I
can do what I do is because I *don't* spend every day chasing $$$. I'm
interested in original, creative music, not lawyering. But this interest,
and my choice, doesn't mean the world owes me a living, so I'm not
complaining. It's a balancing act: art/commerce. A fair price to pay for
freedom. I'm happy to work, and because I don't fit in the tiny boxes the
music/media biz requires an artist to fit in, I'm not in line for any big
payday anytime soon. This is my choice.
Now you'd like to tell me that a greedy corporation can take my original
ideas, squeeze them into a 3.5 minute song(read:ad) for the skinny-assed
'artist'(read:Natalie Imbruglia) who looks great on MTV and was already a
TV star and just got bored and thought she'd make an album so let's say she
picked out my song because her friend told her I was cool, then have her
re-cut the lyrics with a quick gender change and take ALL THE FUCKING
MONEY? I have lived through years of watching the Saturday night gigs go
the rich kids who just gave the tickets away, lived through having my
co-writing deemed 'arrangements' to avoid cutting me into the royalties,
lived through having a very famous producer literally accuse me, to my
face, in front of the artist(whose demos which I produced got the guy
interested in in the first place), of being 'too safe(read:uncreative)',
and then going on to literally COPY the work he supposedly hated! And he
took the $$$... I have Zen'd-out the bad things that I lived through, and
I'm still working. But I'm no longer anyone's fool. Lawyering.(ouchie-ow! I
swear, that fucking Imbruglia just came on the same station! And it's the
FUCKING ACOUSTIC VERSION! With lots of reverb like she's giving a
'concert'!!!)
The fact that you weren't familiar my example(the Puff Daddy treatment of
Zep's "Kashmir" for the "Godzilla" soundtrack) explains a lot. Let me hip
you to it: PD literally plays back the original record sans vocals, then
literally grunts "come to me" over it. This is not a reconceptualization,
it's stealing. Of course, PD paid Zep a lot of money, so everyone was
happy. But there's no way he would've paid unless he had to. How is this
different from you and I working on a piece together, then me recording it
and simply saying I was 'collaging' your ideas? If it's a hit? Will you be
happy while I lie tanning amongst the palms, drinking a cola of a mystery
brand? Under your ideal, YOU GET NOTHING, unless you quit with this 'fair
use' thread and protect the little guy. And the big guy gets protected,
too, that's how the legal system works. And why shouldn't he? You yourself
said you shouldn't take this case-by-case, but don't you see, that's the
whole point?
So you'd like Partridge to stand by and watch anyone repackage his best
work, changed to fit the biz, make $$$ off of it, and do nothing? DO
YOU(okay, sorry, no more yelling, it's not at you, it's at her) want to see
Natalie Imbruglia re-singing I'd Like That to her fake boyfriend in the
video('I'd like that... if we could just walk down some trail...') and just
take all the money? How about Oasis doing 'Greenman'("Let's all stand up
around the Greenman, he's my father and he's your father too...')
Aside #2: There's a great game we could play on the list.... here's a
possible format: (insert 'artist' here) doing (insert XTC song here):
"(insert possible lyrics here)"...
The point is: Expanding 'fair use' results in the opposite of what you wish
for: large, powerful corporations standing behind the very law that should
protect the little guy while they take what he has and repackage it to make
$$$ with. And here's a little reverse Rand for Fountainheads: why make art
if it will be bastardized for money while you stand helpless?
Tyler, you may not be as cynical as I, or you may not need to support
yourself with your art. And you're entitled to your opinions, of
course. But you're playing with the $$$ that I support myself, my family
and my art with, and too many people have done that to me in the past to
believe it won't happen again. Welcome to the music business.
Duncan Watt
Kanuba Music
http://surf.to/duncanwatt
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990312161912.21585.rocketmail@send105.yahoomail.com> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 08:19:11 -0800 (PST) From: Jon Rosenberger <wile1coyote@yahoo.com> Subject: Amplify his Call. Greetings Chalkwalkers, In Chalktalk 129 Paul S. wrote about the practice in English church's of placing pagan Icons on the walls of the church's. Firstly I am wondering what a greenman looks like? Anyone have a pic? I found this to be pretty interesting as I have visited England and found the churchs to be incredibly beautiful. I don't know if that is what AP meant in the Greenman tune or not but it was interesting nonetheless. Next time I am in England I will be checking for some in the church's. NONXTC Content By the way Paul I am also a non-club decent cyclist if an American can even be considered such a thing. You are fortunate to be able to see races. They are few and far between over here. Enjoy. Cheers Jon Rosenberger The Mole
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 08:40:05 -0800 (PST) Message-Id: <199903121640.IAA23762@mando.engr.sgi.com> From: John Relph <relph@engr.sgi.com> Subject: Re: Beauty & XTC Sheridan Zabel wrote: > >I am writing in response to Jill Oleson's post regarding the 1990's view >of beauty. > >I am also baffled by people's obsession with ugliness. Methinks this obsession with ugliness is akin to the Punk backlash in the late '70s. The music that was being made then was this big bombastic orchestral over-produced art-rock, lavishly and expensively produced. Punk was a reaction to that: low-tech badly played trash that ANYBODY could make. The music on the charts today is mostly beautiful music (there are exceptions, of course), lavishly and expesinvely produced (Celine Dion comes to mind). So the expected reaction is the embrace of ugliness in music. Just my two cents. -- John
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 08:43:58 -0800 (PST) From: relph (John Relph) Message-Id: <9903120843.ZM123372@mando.engr.sgi.com> Subject: Re: MY PRE-MIDLIFE CRISIS Dominic Lawson <LawsonD@parliament.uk>, usually referred to as "Our Dom", wrote, and I am leaving out the vast bulk of his excellent work: > >I'm getting old. And that three massive paragraphs of sorry self-analysis had me, as they say in cyberspace, ROTFLMAO. Yow. Keep up the good work! You summed it all up, I think. -- John
------------------------------ From: "Tim Lovegrove" <tlovegro@fin.uoguelph.ca> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 12:02:45 -0500 Subject: Thoughts re: AV! Message-ID: <286D3D44C4B@fin.uoguelph.ca> - First let me say its simply a great record - IMHO there is only one weak link ( Fruit Nut) - initially wasn't impressed with Frivolous either but the damn thing just doesn't give up and I love it now. - to continue on the Colin Moulding note, he is one of the few pop/rock bass players over the last 25 years that I often will find myself listening to the bass playing and miss the rest of the song.The bass parts in Easter Theatre, I'd Like That, The Last Balloon, Greenman are outstanding, and that "Little Help From My Friends" snippet in Frivolous makes me smile. - the chorus of Easter Theatre, the bridge in Harvest Festival, the last verse of Your Dictionary just come out of nowhere and are amazing. Tim
------------------------------ Message-ID: <204640794C39D211A21700805FA735211AA23F@ahqex1.rei.com> From: Steve Sims <ssims@rei.com> Subject: who, who Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 09:11:32 -0800 I did my best to avoid English history when I was in school: can someone explain the significance of Albert/Victoria and Nelson/Hamilton? Hector/Helen was an easy one... -Steve
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990312173449.28089.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "K. D." <kmemmy@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: AV2 Drummer Info Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 09:34:48 PST >Does the "Pentium" jingle/arpeggio trigger "Vanishing Girl" in anyone >else's mind? > > Does the opening of "I Can't Own Her" evoke Conan O'Brien's "In the >Year 2000"? Haha! Hadn't recognized the "Vanishing Girl" similarity until now, but Conan's "In The Year 2000" skit sounding like the opening to "I Can't Own Her" is right on the money! Which isn't really saying anything good about either thing, but Can't Own Her's opening is a lot easier on the ears. I'm sure we could find a million crazy similarities between sounds in XTC's music and other pieces of pop culture with all of the unique sounds they incorporate into their songs. Now I have the skit's theme going through my head...ack! -Kort
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 12:23:42 -0600 (CST) From: Marshall Joseph Armintor <mojo@is.rice.edu> Subject: A Thought-Experiment in Nastiness Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.3.96.990312120845.12073E-100000@is.rice.edu> << Hypothetical question: If Elvis Costello and Andy had been married, who'd pen the nastier song about it? ;-) >> Heh heh. Well... I adore _Blood and Chocolate_ (it's my wife's favorite EC record), maybe because after ten years of throwing tantrums on vinyl, EC pulled the gloves off after his divorce and said, "Okay, you left me, I'm going to write a WHOLE ALBUM ABOUT YOU, SUNSHINE! Take that!"...in the process he showed how personal and human he could get. It may sound odd to say this, but I think _Painted from Memory_ is B&C's natural bookend-album: the lyrics seem to be from the point of view of the resigned, disappointed lover rather than the angry, betrayed one. I've said this before, but I think the reason _Your Dictionary_ is startling is that Andy's never really cut loose in precisely that way. XTC's got angry and sarcastic songs, but never like that one. marshall np Robert Pollard, _Kid Marine_
------------------------------ From: ElizaS33@aol.com Message-ID: <af3166b3.36e95d75@aol.com> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 13:31:17 EST Subject: Getting old, misheard lyrics, Omnibus and stuff Hi all, Dom's post about getting old probably warmed the cockles of my heart, although I can't say for certain because I don't know exactly what cockles are. In my youth, I was a metal/punk kind of girl... the louder the better. And I was 29 the day my at-the-time fiance and I were watching MTV and wondering of a performer, "Is that a guy or a girl? How can you tell, with that awful hair?" It hurt, I tell you. But I'm a much happier person now, if that counts for anything. And at 34, I still have no qualms about going out in platforms and a boa if the mood strikes (Dom, this may not be much reassurance to you, I realize), so I haven't *completely* atrophied. It seems that *almost* everyone who's weighed in as being disappointed with AV1 has expressed a preference for the harder, edgier stuff. (If this is not the case with you personally, please note that I said "almost." Thank you.) I suspect that these folks would have been disappointed with any orchestral album, not just what this one happens to offer in that genre. And when I was 20, I'd have felt the same. Which has left me wondering on more than one occasion, "I'm 15 years older; Andy's 15 years older; Colin's 15 years older... what's up with you guys?" By which I do not mean at all to suggest immaturity or inferiority, just that I can't begin to conceive of craving or relating to the same sort of music I enjoyed back in the days when I dated guys mostly on the basis of really excellent hair and thought glittery Flying Vs were kinda bitchin'. Maybe this is just a sign that I had a much scarier youth than most... anyway... I'm beginning to warm up to the idea of not including a lyric sheet. As I've listened to this album obsessively, I've found that each song temporarily becomes my favorite at the moment I fid you can't beat that kind of entertainment. Oh, to whoever it was that listed "He's the greenman" as one of their amusing mishearings... I couldn't figure out what was funny about that until the next time I heard the song and realized where, exactly, you were hearing it. Now it cracks me up regularly. Count me in on the Nonsuch-lovin' bandwagon... this one remains my favorite (although I do have to edit out two songs, but I've had songs I skipped on every album until the new one, so that's no great sin). And I think Omnibus is genius, and I'm female, not English, and completely inexperienced in the ways of weird social encounters on public transportation. Re the sales figures that were posted here of 13-thousand-and-some-odd... I assume those numbers were based on Soundscan? If so, keep in mind that that mostly comprises major chains; my little shop sold 20 the first week and 10 the second, and we're not included, so I'd imagine the actual sales are higher. To the person who thought that the 1400 members of this list were XTC's sole support: fear not, there are plenty of people out there who love this band, but not to the extent that they wish to be constantly updated on their activities. I've sold CDs to quite a few of those people myself, not to mention to people who've never heard of them before this album and are blown away. They may never sell 30 million albums, but for an indie release by a band that won't tour, this album is doing freakishly well. Elizabeth The Gallery of Indispensable Pop Music / http://homepages.infoseek.com/~popgallery www.frigidisk.com \ the coolest cds on the Internet
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990312184450.9707.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "K. D." <kmemmy@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: demos and (non)such Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 10:44:49 PST >one other thing i'd like to toss out there: with the exception of one or >two songs 'nonsuch' is one of my favorite albums of all time. when i go >through my stacks and rediscover xtc (about every 3-4 months) 'nonsuch' >is the album that gets played and fawned over the most. i wish 'smartest >monkeys' had been shunted off to some scrapheap release like 'rag & >bone..' and 'wardance' i often skip over, but every other song on the >album is an emotional, artistic feast for me. i'm only saying this b/c i >hear the album getting bashed alot and i see it in the bins for $6.95 >new, and it burns me up. i feel like the album is being overlooked by >xtc fans the same way xtc is overlooked by people this world over. >i welcome anyone's thoughts on the subject. Nonsuch is pretty much my favorite XTC album. "Crocodile" and "The Ugly Underneath" are right up there in my all time favorite songs of any band, and other great songs like Peter Pumpkinhead and Disappointed are high on the list as well. I think it's big draw for me is that in my opinion the album is the least "happy" XTC album as a whole. It's sort of funny to think of having the charming love songs that are included on the album mixed in with Crocodile, Ugly, and Disappointed, but it pretty much all works. Nonsuch was created during what sounded like a downer of a time for the band-Andy especially-and you can hear it. It's nice to hear that someone else thinks that Smartest Monkeys sticks out...being one of my least favorite songs, I like War Dance well enough though. On a side note, I just wanted to thank the list for providing me many a laugh. I haven't been able to read my mail much lately, but going through the backlog today and seeing the many amusing posts really makes for a good time. I just have to stop myself from replying to each one...don't want to fall into THAT trap (OK OK they KNOW they're funny, no need to make an arse of yourself.) So, uh, keep up the good work!? And yes, I also enjoy the not-so-humorous-but-very-interesting-and-often-insightful messages included in each list...the trolls and flames I can live without, but even they have their humor and insight. -Kort (Maybe I should just crawl back under my rock and continue to lurk...hehe. Oh yeah, and await the arrival of a Rag & Bone Buffet equivalent filled with leftover AV songs and anything else the guys can part with.) Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
------------------------------ Message-ID: <36E92758.360@bhip.infi.net> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 14:40:30 +0000 From: Brian <mattone@bhip.infi.net> Subject: Re: Dave, Dave, and Dave again Tschalkgerz! Todd "39 is NOT middle aged!" Bernhardt posts: >I think this is where computers will make their presence most known in the band's future. You're right, Dave's a stunning and distinctive keyboard player, and his contributions are obvious on Colin's AV1 songs, but he mostly mimics Andy's parts on Andy's songs (part of the reason for Dave's frustration, I'm sure). Because the computer can, to a degree, render technique irrelevant, I think they'll just program the keyboard parts in the future. That means they'll run the risk of losing the "feel," of course, so maybe they will bring in someone.< I agree with inevitability of it all. There are already a number of artists in one genre that already are superstars - The Chemical Brothers, The Dust Brothers, Beastie Boys - and all use technology in a big way in producing their cuts. The tools and the technology are out there, and all you need is the talent - of which there is none lacking in XTC. -- BRIAN THOMAS MATTHEWS * Digital & traditional illustration/animation * Caricaturist-for-hire * RENDERMAN ~ One-Man Band Ordinaire SAPRINGER CENTRAL ~ http://www.angelfire.com/fl/sapringer
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 11:40:14 -0800 (PST) From: Misty Shock <mccrtny@u.washington.edu> Subject: re: dictionmary Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.4.05.9903121131390.11177-100000@saul9.u.washington.edu> <<Hypothetical question: If Elvis Costello and Andy had been married, who'd pen the nastier song about it? ;-)>> Gee, Andy can be bitter, but Elvis is a bonfide bitch, God love him. Just look at This Year's Model, an album which people love, but which I think gets very tiresome in its unremitting vitrol. I think that any bitterness in Andy's songs is accompanied by this undertone of pain, whereas any such pain in Elvis's songs is obscured by this masculine, tough guy, anger thing. In short, Andy seems more *sensitive*, while Elvis is a crank! This is why I like XTC more -- because Elvis just never seems to happy with anything. For example, a simple Elvis Costello love song does not exist (except for maybe the aptly named song "Uncomplicated"). Misty Shock "No round of drinks can extinguish this feeling of love and engulfing bliss." --Andy Partridge
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990312195020.23620.rocketmail@send106.yahoomail.com> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 11:50:20 -0800 (PST) From: Tyler Hewitt <tahewitt@yahoo.com> Subject: One more time... Re- In my career as a visual artist I have often found myself >in the position of appropriating images to incorporate into my own >collage-based work. The key here is recontextualization. That's just a bunch of fancy words for theft, innit? NO IT ISN'T! and that's the point I've been trying to make all along. These ideas of appropriation and recontextualization are not new ones-check out Dadaist collage, especially the work of John Heartfield and Hannah Hoch for proof of that. Using appropriated source material gives the work a meaning that goes beyond what is possible from using only original images. I've really said about all I can about this. You want to see it in action, go to your local library and look up John Baldessari. Since the early 1980's this California-based artist's work has consisted almost entirely of images appropriated from film. It's all borrowed imagery, but he manages to create complex, intelligent, thought provoking art which has been hugely influential throughout the art world. Whichever side of this argument you're on, it is difficult to deny that engaging art, both visual and musical, has been created from borrowed source material. It's there, people, much of it is good, and some of it has enabled major conceptual advances in the arts.. To restrict access to source material, and to make arists and musicians fearful of litigation should they choose to communicate their ideas in this manner is a serious threat to the development and evolution of the creative arts.
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Message-ID: <19990312193412.13678.qmail@hotmail.com>
From: "Joe Funk" <jomama64@hotmail.com>
Subject: A Few Observations
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 11:34:11 PST
Chalkerz;
A few quick observations, then on to more important things:
"S-H-I-T Is that how you spelled me in your Dictionary" will not,
Repeat, WILL NOT be the name of any forth-coming XTC album....
nor will the last line of the first verse.....
Also, my last contribution to ths list, "Mr. Funk Completely" ( Mr. was
spelled as "missed her" ) was either lost, or rejected by the chalkhills
Police. Besides the title, of which I meant to offend no-one, the body
of my message basically said " I AM BEING MIS-QUOTED!" Way too many
>>>>> have led a few folks to believe I had a distaste for ROO! Far
from the truth!!!! " One of THE Best Ever!!!!" -quoted from this month's
issue of "Jomama Reviews". Whew!!! Had to get that out!
Jill Oleson, Bless her heart, brought me back a suprise from SF: a
signed poster ( about the size of an LP ) of AV1 on which AP wrote the
following:
" To Joe Funk;
F-U-N-K is that how you spell Waltz in your dictionary.
Andy Partridge"
Needless to say, I put AP up to this by having him fill in the blank,
.......is that how you spell ( insert superlatives here ) in your
dictionary.
Waltz?.......Waltz!!? Humorous indeed, but there must be some hidden
meaning here....... Any ideas out there, Chalkerz?
Anyway, I am having the poster framed and matted to place next to my
signed Todd Rundgren poster. ( Just Kidding!!! ) It is going right next
to my Beatles Photograph ( circa 68 ). Thanks Jill!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a
Darling!! Carried it on the plane herself so it wouldn't get damaged!!!
Got to go!
Jomama
------------------------------ Message-ID: <618F91505D89D21185330001FA6A49544646C4@HFD-EXCH008> From: "Witter, Karl F" <WitterKF@aetna.com> Subject: Nonsuch all over again Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 15:17:19 -0500 There have been some posts about arranging Nonsuch in some sort of subject order for a story arc. However, the more I listen to AV1 the more I want to divide Nonsuch by sounds. What do you think? More like AV1 style: My Bird Performs, Bungalow, Rook, War Dance, Humble Daisy, Wrapped in Grey. More like O&L style: Peter Pumpkinhead, Dear Madam Barnum, Holly up on Poppy, Disappointed, Crocodile, Then She Appeared, Smartest Monkeys, That Wave. Other: Books are Burning, Omnibus, Ugly Underneath. To my ears the three most confusing tracks, and they defy categorization (even by XTC standards). Here the maestro put down his pen, Karl
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 11:09:23 -0800 (PST) From: Misty Shock <mccrtny@u.washington.edu> Subject: Dave/REM Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.4.05.9903121057530.11177-100000@saul9.u.washington.edu> I have a question that is shallow and irrelevant and just symptomatic of my voyeuristic desire to know 'bout the private lives of the band... What happened between Aimee Mann and Dave? Also, I did just read the Mojo article, and I have to agree with the person who said that it's a damn shame we have such shitty magazines in America. What a great overview of XTC's career, and I was impressed by the author's knowledge in his review of the albums! I'm curious about one thing the article mentioned -- what XTC songs did REM play when opening for the band? In addition, regarding Dave and his diabetes, Colin seems to agree with Andy in his statement about the affects that Dave's diabetes had on his attitude. If this is nonsense, as Amanda claims, is it that Colin is just used to agreeing with everything that Andy says? Love the horrid picture of Andy in the plaid, BTW. Misty Shock "No round of drinks can extinguish this feeling of love and engulfing bliss." --Andy Partridge
------------------------------ Message-ID: <618F91505D89D21185330001FA6A49544646C5@HFD-EXCH008> From: "Witter, Karl F" <WitterKF@aetna.com> Subject: It's the Pictures that got small Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 15:26:42 -0500 >"The British film The Full Monty is being turned into a stage >musical in the US." Aarrgghh! When will we learn? What's wrong, there aren't any 2-1/2 star French comedies left to reshoot in English? I'm one of those Yanks who goes to the art cinema and loves the "little Englishness" of many imports lately. The good indie- style movies all have a flavor, no matter where made, which isn't bleached out of the final product. It's sort of the "shed" way of moviemaking and I'm the first to hail the better distribution of such films compared to when I was in college. So why fuck with the good buzz and warm feelings we Yanks have for The Full Monty? The Broadway stage will do for that what it did for "Big" (a good Hollywood movie) and "Footloose" (an okay Hollywood movie): Turn it into "Grease" reincarnate. Or worse, it could collapse under its own weight and never even get to Broadway. Musicalisation 101 demands certain questions be answered: So why this? How can it be as intimate and unguarded as the (actors in the) movie made it? Where are they going to find six less-than-beefcakey actor/dancers for the American stage? Will they put on body padding to look less attractive? What will the songs add to this? No real XTC content, except for XTC being the example of having something perfectly of its time and place, and *not* screwing it up along the way. The poor sap--he always wanted a pool, Karl
------------------------------
Message-ID: <19990312200349.3527.rocketmail@send103.yahoomail.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 12:03:49 -0800 (PST)
From: Tyler Hewitt <tahewitt@yahoo.com>
Subject: Masturbating with one arm...
I just spotted the 'joke' in 'I'd Like That'.
>If I could row your heart and head
>With you laid on one arm
>I'd be your Nelson if you'd be my Hamilton, what fun
Nelson - one arm, geddit? Ithangyou, thangyouverymuch.
----------
Reminds me of when Andy was on MTV's 120 Minutes back around '92 or
so, and said "I'd give my right arm to be in Def Leppard!"
Maybe there is a bit of a leitmotif here-could tie in to all the
masturbation jokes in Song Stories...
------------------------------ Message-ID: <900822C71730D2118D8C00805F65765C48190D@EINSTEIN> From: Jill Oleson <oleson@moneystar.com> Subject: more on beauty (and the color yellow) Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 15:21:35 -0600 Thanks to all those Chalkers who responded to my post about beauty and its role in our contemporary world. It's nice to see a topic like this taken seriously and I appreciate those who wrote me personally and those who posted responses to the group. Todd Bernhardt was quite right in his assessment that artists seem to be rejecting beauty simply because it is beautiful. That was a point I did not make clear in my original post. He also clearly illustrated the point that artists (musicians included) often create their strongest work out of their most intense pain, in other words, out of emotions/thoughts/events that are so unpleasant they might be termed ugly. His example was "vitriolic breakup songs" having to do with the pain one endures when a relationship between two people is breaking apart. I agree; many of the world's best artworks have been inspired by the state of mind triggered by such events. Unfortunately, simply being alive means that we will suffer both great beauty and great pain--often both extremes at once! But to accept one without accepting the other seems foolish at best, and perfectly shameful at worst. In his work "Nadja," the French Surrealist Andre Breton wrote "Beauty will be convulsive or not at all." [La beaute sera convulsive ou ne sera pas.] And by that, I assume that he meant that there is such a strong relationship between beauty and ugliness that one is not possible without the other, and that both are capable of eliciting very strong responses from the viewer (or in the case of music, the listener). All this reminds me of a painting by American Abstractionist Elsworth Kelly entitled "Who's Afraid of Yellow?" As I understand it, in this painting the artist was making the point that the color yellow--just because it is sunny, happy, and bright--is still a valid color for making artwork. (Goths and post-punks take notice: black is not the only color! Of course, some would say that black isn't a color at all and others would say it is all colors at once, but that is another discussion altogether.) Jill Oleson Austin, Texas [who notes "The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste" and likes it!]
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 16:40:04 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <v03007800b30ef32e774a@[209.86.134.174]> From: Mitch Friedman <mitchf@mindspring.com> Subject: little drummer boys Hillo, Who will play drums on AV2? Depends. If in April or May when Andy and Colin get back home and give a good listen to what they've already started/finished on the songs for AV2 and they like what they have then Prairie Prince will be the drummer (since he's done all the drumming for all the AV2 songs already). But Andy mentioned that they might decide to just start the whole thing over again so that it all has some continuity in sound in which case Dave Mattacks would be brought in to re-drum. Mitch
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 17:32:23 -0500 (EST) From: Tom Getter Slack <tgs@telerama.com> Subject: Dressed in Yellow Yolk Message-ID: <Pine.BSI.4.02.9903121728530.28387-100000@frogger.telerama.com> Chalkfolk, After claiming the right to waste bandwidth because I rarely post, here I am posting for the second time in a week. There's nothing like new XTC music to make a soul appreciate the ability to share viewpoints with the family of intelligent music (and beauty) lovers we have here. (Actually, I must apologize for the somewhat vitriolic intro to my last post. If one could picture a narrator, it would have been Dennis Leary, a man who is as likeable as a whirly in a bus station toilet. I tend to project my own distaste for music "experts" into a defense of XTC, which isn't really necessary with this crowd.) Anyway, I would like to thank David Edward very much for his recent post - it was the most enlightening perspective on the inspiration of our Mr. Partridge that I have seen yet. I will most certainly be reading Joseph Cambell's work, and expect that I may find it to be as comforting an affirmation of my own life values as I seem to derive from the uncompromising devotion to the muse exemplified by XTC. My own personal take on the "now the son has died the father can be born" line: I experienced a deep empathy with this line the first time I heard AV1 because of the recent death of my father. It's difficult to explain unless you've been there, but I couldn't fully realize the role of father that I serve for my own children until my own father passed, both because I was no longer actively in the role of son, and because I no longer had the power of his guidance. The mantle was passed, so to speak. When my daughter was born, I actually felt that a certain life force was pulled out of me and into her; this will belong to her long after I'm gone, and she may need it in the role of being a parent. Sorry for the very personal missive, but I thought you all might understand the revelation that can occur when a lyric from an XTC song touches you in a very meaningful and relevant way. Tom
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #5-132 *******************************
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