Chalkhills Digest Volume 5, Issue 153
Date: Tuesday, 30 March 1999
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 5, Number 153
Tuesday, 30 March 1999
Today's Topics:
Request for music list to soothe an internal rage
Morality Check
Jack & The Beanstalk Announcement
Elephant Talk
Giles Smith
AV on TV
My Sgt Pepper
Re: Exile on Pain Street
Mental noodlings after reading Digest #5-149 *OR* curse you, Andy Miller
??
Amazon pushes Apples
Mi Experiencia
Railbrook Shirts
dull is relative (dull relatives)
Re: In Out In Out In
Feeling Frivolous?
Owsley...who?
Looking for Beeswax on CD....
Ruminations on a Half Open Shell
Look-alikes
Re: Peter Artz's Recommendations
cheryl asked
April 1
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You made a fool of me and physics.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 27 Mar 1999 23:19:16 -0800 From: Ken Sanders <moparson@pacbell.net> Subject: Request for music list to soothe an internal rage Message-id: <36FDD7F4.3C0ED40D@pacbell.net> Organization: Pacific Bell Internet Services Chalkers, I gotta ask any of ya, what with me being so depressed/enraged at the actions directed by ol' Billy Jeff in the White House in reckless regard to the lives of US servicemen and women, as well as folks in Serbia (Serb and Kosovanians) any ideas for tunes to soothe/cheer me up? I just read the news of the recoverd pilot (a good thing)..but the whole situation to me looks like Vietnam all over again...I almost would cry if I didn't have a slow-burn building in me (outrage, even....) Sincere thanks *not too happy camper, me* Ken
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990328173020.28167.rocketmail@web706.mail.yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 28 Mar 1999 09:30:20 -0800 (PST) From: Kimberly Ericson <kimber1579@yahoo.com> Subject: Morality Check Hello Everyone, I have to agree with Molly's sentiments - she sounds like she has her head screwed on straight. I believe we should set an example for others, especially children, as they only learn bad language off adults. Also, a general thanks for all the "Welcome" e-mails I got. I was touched. I'm listening to "Harvest Festival" while I type this. It reminds me of my school days. My mum would always let me take in a tin of beans. Byee, Kim
------------------------------ From: "Michael Versaci" <stormymonday@sprintmail.com> Subject: Jack & The Beanstalk Announcement Date: Sun, 28 Mar 1999 14:59:48 -0500 Message-ID: <000001be7955$89cb3690$a7a21e26@laptop-mversaci.mtwconsulting.com> Folxtc, I am delighted to announce the availability of a new musical version of the children's classic fairytale, "Jack & The Beanstalk". The CD is available via mail order only. The music and lyrics were written by my brother Sid Versaci and his musical partner, Jon Becker. Both of them are avid XTC fans and their music is somewhat influenced by our favorite band. I enlisted the help of some fellow "Chalkhillians" and they were kind enough to play the CD for the children in their lives and then write some reviews. Those reviews, along with ordering information are available on my new web page: http://home.sprintmail.com/~stormymonday/ John was kind enough to include a link to the web page from the Chalkhills website. Thank you very much John! If you have any questions, or are interested but are unable to access the website, please e-mail me and I will be happy to supply any information. Michael Versaci
------------------------------
Message-ID: <003401be7965$17159220$7b5791d2@johnboud>
From: "John Boudreau" <aso1@mocha.ocn.ne.jp>
Subject: Elephant Talk
Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 06:35:33 +0900
From King Crimson mailing list ELEPHANT TALK :
On an unrelated topic, the new XTC album after a seven years
strike (!) to get out of a corrupt Virgin deal (sounds
familiar to anybody?) is out now, and it's a beast! This may
not be everybody's cup of tea here, they are no prog-rock
pond scums set to bum you out, they do not tour, they
heavily rely on carefully written/orchestrated pop
pieces/nursery rhymes in the Beatles/Beach Boys/Kinks
tradition with some interesting experiments in cyclical
writing, but hey! Pat drummed for them back in 1989 and
contributed a track on their 1996 tribute album, and Adrian
loves them and was eagerly awaiting this new release. And
remember: Barry Andrews came from XTC when he played on
Exposure and was asked to join the LoG. "Apple Venus vol. 1"
has almost nothing in common with what XTC did back in 1978,
but Andy Partidge and Colin Moulding are killer
songwriters/composers. This new "orchoustic" challenging
release is a must listen for any "serious music lover", and
I guess it's quite crowded there! (and BTW, their entire
back catalog is top notch - full of dense compositions and
inventive guitar work). I have read somewhere (Adrian's
site?) that a Belew/Partridge collaboration may occur
sometime.... WOW! I will be the first in line...
_________________________
Laurent Masse
masse@geocean.u-bordeaux.fr
Universite Bordeaux I
John in Japan
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 28 Mar 1999 20:35:52 -0500
From: Paul Badger <pbadger@compuserve.com>
Subject: Giles Smith
Message-ID: <199903282037_MC2-6FC2-D553@compuserve.com>
Hi All
Just thought I'd recommend a book which some people might not know about
already: "Lost In Music" by Giles Smith (one of the blokes from The
Cleaners From Venus, and thus colleague of Martin Newell). It's a funny
collection of memories about what it's like to be in love with pop music -
buying records, being a fan, starting a band, being involved with dodgy
characters, failing to be a big chart success. People here will be able to
relate to a lot of what he says, particularly those currently in their
mid-thirties, the same age as Smith. He's not afraid to poke fun at himself
for his obsessive interest in pop music, and as a bonus, he mentions XTC
once or twice, so here's a quote:
------------
"I go into record shops a lot - any record shop, anywhere, sometimes to buy
records, sometimes just to browse, but frequently to indulge in other, less
readily comprehensible activities, which have nothing to do with buying, or
seeking things to buy, at all.
"Very often I go into a record shop and look at records I already own. I
actively seek out in the browser bins copies of albums which I already have
and which I have no intention of buying again, and look at them. Normally I
won't trouble to remove them from the rack or bin; I'll just flick to where
they sit, open up a little viewing space and then pause, not really to
think or anything, but as if seeking some kind of pointless confirmation:
'Yep, here's Scritti Politti's Cupid and Psyche 85. In front of the board
saying Scritti Politti. In the S section.'
"I don't find this behaviour easy to explain, though clearly there is
wishfulness involved, that if only you didn't already have this record you
would be able to buy it. Chiefly, though, I suspect it is descended from a
piece of primary-school playground business wherein someone would skim
through their bubblegum cards/football stickers or similar collectables
while someone else stood at their shoulder announcing the relation of this
collection to their own: "Goddit. Goddit. Goddit. Haven't goddit. Goddit",
etc. But in the playground, this performance at least served a practical
purpose, as a prelude to swapping or some other form of trading, whereas
any pop-fuelled adult version feels much more like the conduct of an
addict, standing there in isolation at the browsers, reciting to himself a
numb mantra: "Goddit. Goddit. Goddit..."
"Still more frequently, I go into record shops and look for records which I
know do not exist. I comb the sections of the display devoted to favoured
artists, with whose works I am completely familiar and from whom I well
know there is nothing new due, as if, by an amazing warp of luck, I will
turn up something of which I wasn't already aware - some extraordinary
Norwegian import, some Chinese pressing of studio out-takes unwritten about
in this country. This indulgence arises, I think, because however much
music you have by the artists you like it is never quite enough, and the
prospect of cheating the release schedules or history and opening whole new
avenues of exploration is an enticing one. So it is that I will find
myself, in say, the cubicle-sized branch of Our Price on Victoria Station
in London, which doesn't stock all that many records that exist, let alone
records which don't, trying to will into being a third album by the Bible,
or some mysteriously unmentioned Take 6 recording.
"Record fairs represent an alternative shopping experience and yet are as
uniform as any branch of Our Price: the same trestle tables, the same
preponderance of Bruce Springsteen bootlegs, the same poorly written
section-dividers, the same people in anoraks sifting round-eyed through box
after box of other people's junk. I used them most concertedly to expand on
all my fronts my collection of XTC records, which had fast become my
central preoccupation. My committment to this band had fast created an
appetite which would not be content with straightforward albums and singles
alone.
"I picked up a copy of "Guillotine", a Virgin label sampler on 10-inch
vinyl which included the otherwise unavailable XTC track "Traffic Light
Rock", one minute and forty seconds long. I found an American radio copy of
"Generals and Majors" on 7 inch which had "Generals and Majors" on both
sides so that even the most cack-handed DJ could never accidentally play
the wrong side. It joined the other copies of "Generals and Majors" I
already had, on the "Black Sea" album and on the British 7-inch double
pack. I purchased an Australian pressing of "Making Plans for Nigel". I
rooted out a bright red flexidisc, originally given away with "Smash Hits",
with "The Olympian" by the Skids on one side and XTC's "Ten Feet Tall" on
the other - not the original album version but a different one, rerecorded
for the American market and featured on the B-side of the single "Wait Till
Your Boat Goes Down", which I already had. I jumped at lightening at a copy
of "Five Senses", a 12-inch EP released in Canada, featuring five fairly
hard-to-find tracks, all of which I already owned but, importantly, not in
this form. And with a gasp, which had to do with both delight and incipient
bankruptcy, I spent eight pounds on a 7-inch version of "Statue of Liberty"
in original picture sleeve and *signed by all four members of the band*.
"Record fairs plunged me into the grubby waters of the bootlegged live
recording. Early on in my time as Lord of the Fairs, I happened on a
cassette of Stevie Wonder in concert in Brighton - not the whole concert,
just as much of it as would fit haphazardly on a C90. Unfortunately, as I
discovered when I got the tape home, the bootlegger had been seated close
to one of those people who would release a loud, sentimental groan of
recognition ("Naaah!") at the beginning of each number. "Lately I have had
the strangest feeling," sings Stevie. "Naaah!" says the man in the
audience, and so on, for an hour and a half.
"But I was undeterred. Needless to say, my bootleg-buying also took on a
sizeable XTC dimension. At four pounds a throw I picked up various
unlistenable-to-cassettes of them in concert: at Marconi Youth Club in
Swindon, at the Hammersmith Odeon, at somewhere unspecified in Holland. And
I bought a vinyl double album featuring a recording made at a club called
Hurrahs in New York in 1980 but manufactured in Watford. It came in an ugly
thick cardboard sleeve, set me back twelve pounds and responded poorly to
playing. Somewhere at the heart of its storm of hiss was a barely audible
throb, as if the concert had been recorded by someone pressing a cheap
dictaphone up against the venue's outside wall. I'm not sure I ever made it
as far as disc two. I was, needless to say, delighted with it. Possession
was the point, not listening to the thing."
--------
Giles Smith, "Lost in Music", published Picador, 1995, should be available
at amazon.com and amazon.co.uk for the equivalent of about 6 UK pounds plus
postage. (John Peel: "If you have ever watched a band play or bought a pop
record, you should read "Lost in Music"... I have read few books as funny
and none that caused me to recognise the roots of my own enthusiasms as
clearly or as frequently.")
Paul, UK
------------------------------ Message-ID: <36FEA33C.467D@bhip.infi.net> Date: Sun, 28 Mar 1999 21:46:42 +0000 From: Brian <mattone@bhip.infi.net> Subject: AV on TV Tschalkgerz! I saw that AV1 advertisement on TV the other night (I think on E!). But my set's having some kind of NTSC violation static blast that happens when things are moving against a white background (which the ad has a lot of), so I missed most of the audio. Neat though, huh? Not just everyone hocks their album on TV. What a world. -- BRIAN THOMAS MATTHEWS * Digital & traditional illustration/animation * Caricaturist-for-hire * RENDERMAN ~ One-Man Band Ordinaire SAPRINGER CENTRAL ~ http://www.angelfire.com/fl/sapringer
------------------------------ From: CCooli9575@aol.com Message-ID: <a50b5a69.36fef511@aol.com> Date: Sun, 28 Mar 1999 22:35:45 EST Subject: My Sgt Pepper >as another off topic thread-debate: MY "Sgt Pepper" was The >Clash's London Calling what was yers? >I'd have to say MY Sgt. Pepper was Elvis Costello's Armed Forces. Blew >my 15 year old rural mid-Michigan mind wide open! Mine was probably Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; at the tender age of 13 I memorised all the lyrics so I could sing the whole album to myself in ten-minute installments on the way to and from school, learned to play the whole album on the piano from beginning to end(believe me, learning "Funeral For A Friend" on the piano is quite a feat for a thirteen year old, suffice to say I was a better piano player then than I am now), and even wrote a musical using the album as a libretto.(It actually hung together fairly well, though arranging a sudden trip to Jamaica for the main characters so I could fit in "Jamaica Jerk-off" in the proper running was a bit tough to pull off)Later on during my college years I do remember attempting the piano runthrough with English Settlement. That was more difficult; much of it doesn't translate real well to a piano keyboard, "Runaway" is a lot more difficult than it sounds, for example, though I remember figuring it out eventually. Wouldn't want to play it in public though. I got the notes right and all that but there was something wrong with the feel. And I warn everybody who knows their way around a piano keyboard: atttempt "It's Nearly Africa" at your peril.
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990327070759.74840.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "kevin donnelly" <kevin_j_donnelly@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: Exile on Pain Street Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 23:07:58 PST Hello there I was at one time a suscriber but lost my way.....I'm exiled on Queensland's Gold Coast and have after 3 weeks of searching finally tracked down a copy of AV1....well that's what you get when silverchair are all over the tv and radio - though I've heard Greenman 3 times on Triple J. But that's nothing to my problems tracking down Jansen,Barbieri & Karn stuff, for which I was curtly told to 'go to Japan'. What was the peak chart position in the UK? A thought about censorship - 1984 was not written about right wing dictatorships only, and anyone who thinks that is seriously deluded I'm afraid. It's also an indictment on the progress of the 1945 Attlee Labour administration.Hence IngSoc is modelled _both_ on Nazism and on far left socialism. You need to think _doublethink_ don't you? You'd like your children to watch hardcore pornography/ snuff movies I suppose... Kevin
------------------------------ Message-ID: <36FC8C23.A1BBA646@pacbell.net> Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 23:43:31 -0800 From: Ken Sanders <moparson@pacbell.net> Organization: Pacific Bell Internet Services Subject: Mental noodlings after reading Digest #5-149 *OR* curse you, Andy Miller Howdy again, Chalkies Andy, ya done gone and did it now..saying stuff like this >Stoopede we like. However, I shudder to think where the double entendre may >lurk in any song called "I'm the Kaiser". is ASKIN' fer troubled minds to "fill in the blanks"...So, without further ado, lemme be the first. I suppose there's a line in that song which asks "Since I am the Kaiser, can I be your roll?" *smiling so much my face is crack'd in two* Ken
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990329034309.11634.rocketmail@web125.yahoomail.com> Date: Sun, 28 Mar 1999 19:43:09 -0800 (PST) From: Tyler Hewitt <tahewitt@yahoo.com> Subject: ?? RE: Oh... and (To... I guess it would be AP's statement towards chalkhills: "misinformation highway" my ass, man! And a cute ass it is. Um... Are you refering to your ass, or Andy's?
------------------------------ Message-ID: <01d801be7849$938894a0$a1a725ca@speedking> From: "Simon Curtiss" <mduffy@clear.net.nz> Subject: Amazon pushes Apples Date: Sun, 28 Mar 1999 00:01:39 +1200 Hairi Mai I subscribe to several of the Amazon Delivers newsletters and they are really pushing AV1 (see attached). So far it's been in the Pop, Alternative & Rock newsletters. It's also at #50 on the Amazon chart, and there are 52 reviews of the album with an average rating of 4 1/2 out of 5. Although one prat says _Your Dictionary_ is 'about Andy's wife who he left - Boo Hiss!' - Ignoramus! I had to post a reply so now there are 53 reviews! Here is what the newsletters have said: XTC: BITTER APPLES, SWEET CIDER ******************************* XTC--one of the most original and innovative bands of the '80s--took a seven-year hiatus in the '90s, during which the band's beating heart, Andy Partridge, suffered dissension, divorce, and deposition. Despite all that, the band has reemerged with "Apple Venus, Volume One," a gem of startling and complex beauty. Amazon.com contributor Jon Wiederhorn chats with Partridge about his transformative alchemy. http://www.amazon.com/xtc-interview NEW AND NOTABLE *************** "Apple Venus, Volume 1" XTC http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000I4JT/ref=ad_am1 After a six-year absence marked by divorce, dissension, and deposition, XTC returns with a gorgeous pop gem. With a full orchestra at his disposal, Andy Partridge fleshes out his songs with complex and lush arrangements that sweep, soar, and swoon. "Apple Venus Volume One" XTC http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000I4JT/ref=ad_rm1 This is XTC's first album of new material in nearly seven years. The now-duo of Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding seem to have been using their time off to smell the flowers, as their lyrics are ripe with fruit, nuts, dandelions, orchids, sunflowers, and harvest festivals. Billed as the "orchestral" album that precedes its "rock" bookend, "Apple Venus" is XTC's most obvious nod to the lush, intricate sounds of the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" and the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper." Whoever said thanks for the _Smile_ website, 'twas me who posted it and for those with an urge to check it out the URL is http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~annew/smile/ , it's worth a look just for the essay on the album, and if you are a fan of _Pet Sounds_ then it's a must visit. (Mark R. I came late to the album too, I only heard it when the CD first came out. I do recommend listening to the box set as the Stereo mixes are something else again - I have a Brother & Sister who grew up in the sixties but they only listened to the Beatles. I learned to use the record player at the age of two so I could play my favourite song (at the time) - "Chains my baby's got me wrapped up in chains - but they ain't the kind that you can see- etc.") I was listening to the Del Amitri compilation _Hatful of Rain_ (very recommended, especially with the extra CD of b-sides) the other day and there is a lyrical couplet on the song _Not Where It's At_ that I think describes a large proportion of the artists I really admire including Andy & Colin (others are Bill Nelson, Prefab Sprout, Neil & Tim Finn (so Lynne you will see this on the Tongue too probably), Jackie Leven etc. etc) enough waffle, it goes: "Don't have my finger on, the pulse of my generation, just got my hand on my heart, I know no better location" I've just checked back at Amazon - AV1 is now at #38!! Simon Molly - if you are going to use big words like 'discretion' get a spell checker. (note to self - stop being mean to Molly, Molly please read your posts before you slap the send button and all may suddenly become clear)
------------------------------ Message-ID: <000d01be788b$7a12eb00$c88419d4@10.0.1.1.inf> From: "Hall of Fame Records" <halloffame@ctv.es> Subject: Mi Experiencia Date: Sat, 27 Mar 1999 20:53:18 +0100 Excusadme por hablar en espanol. Me entristece tener que hacer esto, pero es la unica venganza a la que puedo optar. Hace 5 o 6 meses envie unas piezas de XTC a JIM ZITTEL a cambio de otras. Desde entonces he recibido unos 3 o 4 mensajes de Jim pidiendome excusas por el retraso. Al dia de hoy no he recibido el material que me prometio y tampoco recibo mas mensajes de excusa. Si alguien quiere comerciar con el que tenga en cuenta mi experiencia. Gracias. Luis Gonzalez. Espana.
------------------------------ Message-ID: <36FF02F3.925B515@myself.com> Date: Sun, 28 Mar 1999 23:34:59 -0500 From: C Wells <moi@myself.com> Subject: Railbrook Shirts Having spent about 4 years in Britain (at University and working), I fancy myself as pretty knowledgable about the odd expression (now't for example) or cultural reference (insert your favorite), anyway I managed to miss hearing of a "Railbrook Shirt". Email me privately if this is old news. Ta very much, Over an-Now't Chick Wells
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990329052358.13175.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Jason Garcia" <hhname@hotmail.com> Subject: dull is relative (dull relatives) Date: Sun, 28 Mar 1999 21:23:58 PST Re: Sgt. Pepper (totally off-topic) >Yeah, it was innovative and >the first concept album, but the songs are dull, dull, dull. I never thought I'd find myself half-agreeing with this statement. Not exactly dull, but I would say that I favor Revolver. "Lucy" is brilliant and very colorful, "Getting Better" is one of those where I think, "great, one of the most perfect pop songs of all time" (and it's unfortunate that it has so many imitators!) and who can argue with "Day in the Life"? (c'mon, I dare yuh!). The rest is kind of "filler", unlike the chock full o' singles "Revolver", but then, would you rather have the Beatles' "filler" or Paul Anka's? Jason
------------------------------ From: CCooli9575@aol.com Message-ID: <a693cec0.36fef516@aol.com> Date: Sun, 28 Mar 1999 22:35:50 EST Subject: Re: In Out In Out In >My fave bit of respiration-related song enhancement has to be the heavy >sigh Housemartin Paul Heaton heaves before launching into "Sheep." >How's THAT for obscure? >-Jon S. Though I'm not a fan of his, I get a big kick out of Steve Miller's "Wild Mountain Honey," the intakes of breath are so glaring that I'm surprised they kept the take. "Oh Mama(huff)look what you've done(huff)/You don't know the starts from the setting sun(huff)/You(huff) got no money(huff)..."you get the idea. I also love the panting pumpkin on The Mothers Of Invention's "Call Any Vegetable." What a pumpkin. Chris
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990329061326.78307.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Duncan Kimball" <dunks58@hotmail.com> Subject: Feeling Frivolous? Date: Sun, 28 Mar 1999 22:13:26 PST Attention all Aussie Chalkalots: Let's get together! A gathering of Aussie XTChalkhills fanatics is being organised. If you want to come along (and haven't already heard from me by email) here are the details as they stand thus far: Date: 1st (or 2nd) May, 1999 Place: Sydney Venue: TBA Activities: eat, drink, dance, sing, be generally frivolous (nude XTC karaoke optional) Please email me direct at dunks58@hotmail.com if you're interested in coming along. Your social secretary Dunks
------------------------------ Message-ID: <000701be79ba$3948c1a0$09d8868b@carlo> From: "Carlo" <carlodim@bigpond.com.au> Subject: Owsley...who? Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 17:59:43 +1000 Sounds like I have to have the CD that Pete told us about but just a couple of questions: 1) What's the title of this release. 2) Who the hell are Owsley (I can't seem to find anything about them anywhere)? Carlo.
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 14:12:46 +0200 (MET DST) From: Martin van Rappard <rappard@dds.nl> Subject: Looking for Beeswax on CD.... Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.3.90.990329140044.2045R-100000@fatima.dds.nl> Dear Chalkers, Well, the subject heading says it all, really - I've searched every Internet store known to man/woman, and no luck. If anyone has any pointers or is willing to sell/trade it, I'd be eternally grateful. To Dom: you're a f***ing t***, you b****y w***er :) - could threads like this be Kevorkianed as soon as possible? Thanks, Martin (still sheepishly grinning from Steph's very funny Simpsons script) http://members.xoom.com/rappard
------------------------------
From: BNGrifter@aol.com
Message-ID: <db0bb1c2.36ff83b9@aol.com>
Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 08:44:25 EST
Subject: Ruminations on a Half Open Shell
All you menfolk, all you women, all you children, all of you pretty girls--
Adding my grist to the mill of Apple Venus reviews (this could
prove somewhat lengthy)...
Having given the album a couple of weeks to settle in, and having
never heard a single demo from it, my impressions are, I believe, now just
barely ripe enough to pluck. I was concerned after my first spin of the
disc; as many before me on this list have said, a new XTC record usually
disappoints on that initial run. It takes familiarity with the songs to
wedge them firmly under my skin. Yet this was not the case for me with
AV1. Other than the enigmatic "River Of Orchids", everything sounded
perfectly agreeable right from the get- go. The first swell of tympani and
strings in "Greenman" knocked me out of my chair immediately. My concern
was that my instant affinity would give the album a lot of spins quickly,
then I would tire of it and it would fall completely out of rotation. So
far, that has not been the case. Not only has "River Of Orchids" grown on
me, as I knew it would, but others have found deeper purchase as well.
The nature of the album gets me thinking about instrumentation,
about which my main thought is how nice it is for a pop record to
acknowledge that there's more to an orchestra than violins and cellos,
trumpets and trombones. It has long mystified me that pop music so
routinely ignores the woodwinds, especially the double reeds. They make
such a unique sound, such expressive noise. The Dream Academy had an oboe
player actually in the band, and her presence was responsible for much of
the ethereal touch in their music. (For more effective uses of woodwinds,
check out the almost free-form sounding clarinet/oboe/bassoon trio in Talk
Talk's "Inheritance", from their Spirit Of Eden record, or the gorgeous
clarinet solo that closes out the Cowboy Junkies' "If You Were The Woman &
I Was The Man".) So my first accolade for AV1 is the generous peppering of
woodwinds throughout the record. I can see why the basson and oboe "Easter
Theatre" had Andy dancing in his shed for hours on end, and I love the
flute line ("Lay your head, lay your head...") in Greenman.
Specific thoughts:
"River Of Orchids": There are times when a songwriter focuses more
on a songwriting concept than the song, and the results generally don't
hold up (Elvis Costello described his own "Uncomplicated" as his latest
failed attempt to write a song using only one chord). I've decided that the
drip-pluck building intro was a clever ploy to throw off the scent of the
downbeat, to make it harder to find the circle's beginning, and the
bubbling horns are meant to confound the listener from nailing down the
song's key. But I also think you need to ultimately locate the downbeat and
key to really get behind the song. "River Of Orchids", I think, outlasts
its stunt nature.
"I'd Like That": Andy finally writes a perfect, sunny, upbeat pop
song. This would be an awesome radio single, if it was only May/June
instead of February/March.
"Easter Theatre": Believe the hype. As Andy's chorus tumbles out
from beneath Colin's "Stage left", I get a compulsive grin. The bass guitar
really drives it home. In my mind, it may well be Andy's best chorus ever,
and it's almost certainly the most sublime.
"Knights In Shining Kharma": I'll give it credit for having the
courage not to build into anything, which songs always seem to. Other than
that, it starts, it ends, I move on. There's still room for growth.
"Frivolous Tonight": Noel Coward indeed. I'm not overwhelmed by
either of Colin's offerings on this record, but I think this is easily the
better of the two. It's so unbelievably British, it's like a parody. This
one above all the rest seems like it's from a musical. The intrinsic
problem with Colin's small- scale songs is that they suffer from their own
smallness. If he had contributed a candidate for a single, it would make
"Frivolous Tonight" and "Fruit Nut" a little more flush in the context of
the album as a whole. That's my opinion, anyway.
"Greenman": With a grandeur usually reserved for Peter Gabriel's
album openers ("Red Rain", "Come Talk To Me"), "Greenman" hits me as this
album's finest moment. Someone has already described it as pure majesty,
and I agree wholeheartedly. Effortless power. It's begging to be played
over some movie's opening credits. I love this song.
"Your Dictionary": Andy hits a bullseye on the target that the
Beautiful South have been aiming at for years. The disproportionate
attention this track has gotten from reviewers, as well as the fact that
Andy didn't want to do it in the first place, made me a little uneasy about
it, but I think it's a good song. Sinister, yet delicate and
beautiful. Although the coda feels tacked on, the sumptuous harmonies make
the lyrics all the more heartbreaking to me. Paul Heaton, take note.
"Fruit Nut": Like "War Dance" before it, it suffers from
synthesizing. Somebody has got to introduce Colin to a clarinet
player. It's odd that a song about gardening provides the record's least
organic sounding moment.
"I Can't Own Her": Every time I hear the opening of this song, I
get a disturbing image of Celine Dion doing a cover of it. The arrangement
sounds like something she'd do, changing the gender of the title (a la
Shawn Colvin's "Everything Little Thing He Does Is Magic" or Tracey Ullman
turning Madness' "My Girl" into "My Guy"). I realize it's absurd for me to
ruin a song in my head by associating it with something that hasn't
happened and never will happen, but that's what I've gone and done. Damn.
"Harvest Festival"
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990329140157.17050.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "kristi leigh siegel" <beatlebird@hotmail.com> Subject: Look-alikes Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 06:01:57 PST chris@neutronstar.demon.co.uk wrote: >Any other TV-XTC lookalikes ? Apart from that shifty looking bloke >playing guitar with Bryan Adams on Top of the Pops the other week ;-> I saw a guy passing thru the Wal-Mart Shoe Department who vaguely resembled Andy. He looked enough like him that I did a double take, and I don't do double takes often. Weird. --Kristi http://beatlemania.webjump.com http://thriftgoddess.webjump.com
------------------------------ From: WWi8064839@aol.com Message-ID: <5b0fdd99.36ff99a6@aol.com> Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 10:17:58 EST Subject: Re: Peter Artz's Recommendations I went to www.cdnow.com and checked out some RealPlayer samples of the "Owsley" songs. Thanks for the recommendation. I like it! This one is definitely on my list of "buys." (Peter, you may also want to check out Cotton Mather's "Kontiki" as well as Nick Heyward's "The Apple Bed" on CDNow.) Right now I'm listening to Teenage Fanclub's "Songs from Northern Britain." A great record...tight harmonies, irresistible hooks, lots of bright-sounding guitars and even bells! - this one will have you picking up your six-string in no time and singing along. "Toy town feelings here to remind you, Summers in the city, summers in the city." Wes (Wilson)
------------------------------ Message-ID: <000301be79b6$b65b5440$0d2aa8c0@me.myoffice.com> From: "Steven Paul" <spaul@armstronglaw.com> Subject: cheryl asked Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 17:09:58 -0000 Cheryl asked: >If you could have XTC play one song live for you(yes, that is the stipulation. ONE Song) personally, what would you pick? I'd like to hear XTC play "the song that never ends" from Sherry Lewis' - - Lamb Chop's Play Along, and see what they can do with it. Stage Left Enter Easter and she's dressed in yum-yum!
------------------------------ From: Xtckinks@aol.com Message-ID: <f27ab82f.36ffa686@aol.com> Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 11:12:54 EST Subject: April 1 Hello Fellow Kinklings and C'hillers, I can't believe what I just read at cROCK.com............ < DAVE TRADE (DEATH OF A RESIGNED CLOWN) < <Though both bands should be more in a Cricket sense, today, April 1, Ray <Davies, leader of the legendary British Invasion band, The Kinks, and Andy <Partridge, leader of the equally legendary British band, XTC, have become <more like American Baseball owners. For the first time in the history of <Rock'n'Roll, two band leaders have sat down at the 'trading table' to play <a game of 'musical chess', 'pawning' members, regarding each as a ROOK <rather than a WELL RESPECTED MAN. <It seems Ray Davies has dealt his brother, Dave, lead guitarist of the <Kinks since their inception, to XTC, for Dave Gregory, disgruntled <guitarist, keyboardist and string arranger of XTC and a DRUMMER TO BE <NAMED LATER. XTC has a number of unprotected drummers on their <roster. Prairie Prince (of The Punks) has been the first mentioned drummer <Davies would like to 'snare.' Other terms of the trade are still being <negotiated. Check back here in a few DAYS for further details. < <- I.P. Daily
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #5-153 *******************************
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