Chalkhills Digest, Volume 6, Number 78 Thursday, 13 April 2000 Topics: The miracle of the loaves and winky fishes Acoustic Tales and Fab Foursome in Philly color artwork?? new XTC Thompson on Speed Wasp Star Reviews The Sweet Sting of Express! nom de dom Toronto anyone? short sweet shite Now that the dust is settling (for some) Neither Head Nor Tail Made SPOILER ALERT I Like That An Announcement and a question The XTCs of easy guitar Napster NOOO!!! Why, mom, why?!?! The Good Things..... mmmm... cheesecake... Administrivia: To UNSUBSCRIBE from the Chalkhills mailing list, send a message to <chalkhills-request@chalkhills.org> with the following command: unsubscribe For all other administrative issues, send a message to: <chalkhills-request@chalkhills.org> Please remember to send your Chalkhills postings to: <chalkhills@chalkhills.org> World Wide Web: <http://chalkhills.org/> The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors. Chalkhills is compiled with Digest 3.7b (John Relph <relph@tmbg.org>). And beer tastes good in tins.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 09:16:02 -0400 From: Janis VanCourt <Janis_VanCourt@partech.com> Subject: The miracle of the loaves and winky fishes Message-ID: <B195726DB50AD2118E880008C7FAA6FC0141F7FF@newman.partech.com> Dearest Xux Ex-ers, A big, happy trout-shout to vee-tube for posting about the big sale at http://www.acousticsounds.com on the gold _Oranges and Lemons_ and _Skylarking_ CDs. I've long resisted buying those "Mobil Fidelity Sound Labs" versions of these two favorites of mine, mainly because I was never sure my untrained ears would discern the differences from the originals. I'm no audiophile and I don't exactly have a hot-and-sexy stereo to play CDs on anyway. But the possibility and promise of a deeper, more extended aural orgasm, particularly in the case of Oranges and Lemons, kept teasing me. And for these AMAZING prices, I couldn't resist. $14.99US for O & L, and $19.99US for Skylarking?? Mmmmm, I just can't wait to hear them... Keeping busy 'til Wasp Star arrives (please don't pull me out...), ~~Janis http://members.aol.com/starlingv/starling.htm BTW, I had no luck finding either title in Acoustic Sounds' online catalog, but a quick phone call to a very helpful salesguy had me hooked up in just minutes. Their number again: 800-716-3553.
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 09:38:50 -0400 From: "Tom Paluzzi" <tmp@tmp.mv.com> Subject: Acoustic Tales and Fab Foursome in Philly color artwork?? Message-ID: <003801bfa54d$9a220990$9606c90a@btrd.bostontechnology.com> Does anybody have the color artwork for the Acoustic Tales and Fab Foursome in Philly bootleg cds that they could send me?... Or is it available on the web somewhere? Thanks in advance, Tom
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 00:26:30 -0600 From: "Mike Vancha" <mvancha@dlcwest.com> Subject: new XTC Message-ID: <200004130624.XAA20482@sgiblab.sgi.com> I'm wondering if anyone knows when the new XTC album is slated to come out? Mike V.
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 09:50:22 +0100 From: John Peacock <johndrewp@zoo.co.uk> Subject: Thompson on Speed Message-ID: <38F58A4D.AA0BD7A8@zoo.co.uk> Organization: The Nice Organization > Ralph DeMarco said: > > [I]n the middle of an extended kick-ass solo [by Richard Thompson], someone > in the crowd yells out, "WHO NEEDS CLAPTON?!". Thompson smiled and out of the > side of his mouth answered back, "Yes, who indeed?" ... Also, to those who > might think that speed of playing has anything to do with talent should > listen to Eddie Van Halen - all flash, no soul. I believe it was Mr Thompson who, a number of years ago, said that judging a guitar solo on the speed of playing was like judging a novel on how fast it was typed. John -- In the spirit of shameless self promotion, my songs may be found at: http://www.mp3.com/peacock "sell yourself, sell yourself, expect nothing" as a sage saith.
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 09:57:05 EDT From: RiknBkr@aol.com Subject: Wasp Star Reviews Message-ID: <b1.304ab77.26272c31@aol.com> Keep them coming. I'm enjoying them and to tell you the truth, I'm still gonna get the CD, whether it is a good review or a bad. Do you think XTC would put out anything that's bad? (pssst, I didn't enjoy Go+, nor most of the first two LPs). Wasn't Song Stories out about six months before AV1 came out? I enjoyed the descriptions of the songs and imagined what they would sound like. In fact, I checked out the Guitar Tabs, in our very own Chalkhill Archives, that people had put out for the AV demos and recorded my own versions BEFORE I actually heard XTC's. What a laugh I had when I finally got a hold of the demos, before AV1's release. I burned my tape. Now in hindsight, I wish I'd kept it. In fact, for those of you who are musically gifted and have not heard the demos, try doing this little excercise. You'll get a good laugh. Think "What would Andy do with these lyrics and these chords". My version of "Your Dictionary" was punked out. Kind of a mix of the Ramones and Stiff Little Fingers. Anyway, don't let the naysayers spoil the party. I think putting a spoiler tag would be a nice compromise. And if you don't want to read the review, save it and read it after you've heard the CD. See how the opinions differ. Phil C.
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 09:39:50 -0500 From: John Voorhees <johnvoorhees@johnvoorhees.com> Subject: The Sweet Sting of Express! Message-ID: <38F5DC3626C.CEB1JOHNVOORHEES@EXCHSRV> My fellow chalkers: I AM WEAK! I was thoroughly prepared to wait that extra month to hear the Wasp Star you've all been buzzing about, saying things like, "Napster? Pshaw, that's for criminals!" and "How could I, an independent musician, possibly even consider..." and so on and so forth. Then I read a very nice review of a new album by a Swedish group called Cinnamon on Salon.com, and it sounded like something I would like very much. I scoured the search engines to find a song sample or two, but the pickings were pretty slim. I found myself thinking, "I wonder if that Napster thingy might serve me better. I certainly would only get one or two songs, even if the whole album was available..." and also thinking "I bet that Napster thing would help me fill out a few missing slots in the songs I used to play back on my old college radio progam (which I'm trying to reconstitute online)..." And of course, from there, it's a slippery slope down to "You know what ELSE is on Napsterrrrrrr.... NO! Get thee behind me, Napster! Foul tempter! YOOOOO coveteth my ice CREEEM bar!" Held those thoughts in abeyance for about 8 hours yesterday, was settling down to watch a movie, and I heard a "ping" sound in my brain, as if to say "Your ethical toast is done, Voorhees. Download the fracking thing." And I cheerfully said, "Okay." And while I am enjoying the new XTC VERYVERYVERY much, I can assure those of you who are shaking your heads and tsk-ing at my evil that these particular MP3's are not in any way a substitute for the album. The sound quality is, despite all the hoopla, NOT identical to CD. It's just good enough to cause me to sigh with relief and to swear up and down that I will buy at least two copies of the real thing come May. So, in a nutshell, I guess what I'm trying to say is: I AM WEAK! I will not offer a full fledged review of Wasp Star right now, partly because I've only listened to it once from top to bottom. But I do have some comments to make so PAGE DOWN, YOU FOOLS! PAGE DOWN OR BE CORRUPTED BY MY OPINION, which, as we've already determined is probably EVIL! Okay, so what kind of silly name is Wasp Star for this frothy, giddy, gleeful pop record? I know there are a couple of downer songs on it, but I can't think of another XTC record where they sound this.... Happy (as in Stupidly). Specifically, Wheel and the Maypole is the bounciest, cheeriest song ever to end an XTC album. Yes, it speaks of death, but it's all cyclical and everything's okay, and how could it possibly bring you down with such bouncy music? That's all you'll get from me until I get the real thing in my hands and I can join you all in the Stupidly Happy Dance. As for the Best of Little Express, I think that's an amazing idea, and I'd certainly buy it, in case anyone's actually read this far... Cheers, John Voorhees johnvoorhees.com mp3.com/johnvoorhees
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 17:25:55 +0100 From: "Steven Paul" <spaul@armstronglaw.com> Subject: nom de dom Message-ID: <000201bfa51e$e8c834e0$0d2aa8c0@me.myoffice.com> Has anyone else caught on to Dom's fickle use of names. Having nothing better to do at work, I went back a few weeks to check on Dom's posts and caught the following: 3/24 Dom@arrogant.co.uk 4/5 wavingmypenis@mahatmagandi.co.uk 4/6 pointandlaugh@miseryguts.co.uk 4/10 havingastab@euthanasia.co.uk Where does he get it? Steven "hear my band and see my pictures at blindleadingblind@seeitall.com" Paul
------------------------------ Date: 13 Apr 00 11:16:48 -0400 From: Jennifer Ralston <jennifer_ralston@tbwachiat.com> Subject: Toronto anyone? Message-ID: <200004131514.IAA02438@sgi.com> Just a quick question: If anyone on this list is in the Toronto area, please drop me a line. Fun details later! awaken you dreamers, jennifer.
------------------------------ Date: 13 Apr 00 08:48:42 MDT From: weslong@usa.net Subject: short sweet shite Message-ID: <20000413144842.24733.qmail@nwcst279.netaddress.usa.net> XTCFREAKS: Gotta tell you all, although I'm not the first to mention it, the new Elliott Smith is about as good as it gets. I thought XO was a great album(if you haven't heard XO you should check it out), but this new disc is even better. XTC and Elliott Smith, two early contenders for album of the year. I only know of two folks (other than myself) on this list that live in the NC (USA) area. Still, just in case: DAVID MEAD & OWLSEY are gonna be playing back to freakin' back at this years Charlotte Center CityFest. They start the whole dealio off on Saturday, April 29th, at 1:00 in the afternoon. Also, this coming Sunday: Tony Levin will be playing here in Charlotte with the California Guitar dealio. The gig is in a VERY small venue, should be great. If anyone is going to be in the area and wants to shake hands with the REAL chef of the treble clef, drop me a line. Thank you and good night, wesLONG
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 09:16:38 -0700 (PDT) From: brown <mb2@deltanet.com> Subject: Now that the dust is settling (for some) Message-ID: <200004131616.JAA10124@mail2.deltanet.com> Boils and Goils, On the subject of WS... To those lucky dogs who have copies... a bit of time has passed, you might even say that the honeymoon is over... So tell me, is it just infatuation or are we talking true love here... Jill, Peter, Mitch, Wes...and any of you other sods in the loop...what say you? .. I'll bet Dom has come to the sad realization that the Prairie Prince drumstick bit was just too contrived to work, but other than that... Oh, shut up and pass the biscuits... Debora Brown
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 12:55:18 EDT From: Hbsherwood@aol.com Subject: Neither Head Nor Tail Made Message-ID: <1c.23d858e.262755f6@aol.com> All right, which of you is messing with my head? Usually punching "XTC" in at a search engine gets you either links to Chalkhills, Little Lighthouse, etc., or fairly seamy links with keywords like "Nude Cheerleaders Lesbian XXX Slurp Viscous Logical Positivism." Well, try this one on for size: http://xtcfarm.homepage.com/ Either somebody has a keenly developed sense of parody (note "green horse" logo), or Everything I Know Is Wrong! Doesn't "AQHA Pleasure Prospects" sound *really* dirty? What sort of twisted kink is being worked out when Ronnie & Susan, Proprietors, announce proudly that Perfect Execution is "Nearing Superior in Western Pleasure"? Has Ronnie ever tried "The Rodeo" position with Susan? Did she bite out her own tongue? We have determined through careful research that the going compensation rate for bringing the sheep in, milking the herd, and keeping a wife is a shilling per diem; would the added duty of horse-pimping add materially to the remuneration? Would the issue of a match between Nicely, Nicely Jane (out of Mermaid Smiled) and Jumping in Gomorrah (by Mopti Fake) produce Obscene Procession? Harrison "and the horse you rode in on" Sherwood
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 11:20:49 -0700 (PDT) From: Jon Rosenberger <wile1coyote@yahoo.com> Subject: SPOILER ALERT Message-ID: <20000413182049.10355.qmail@web119.yahoomail.com> Greeting Chalkizens!!!! I would like to give you all my impressions of Wasp Star. I'M STUPIDLY HAPPY!!!!!! Thanks for listening. The Mole (putting it on again) at the mole hole!! Yeah I'm Stupidly Happy..........................................
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 11:56:31 -0700 (PDT) From: Molly Fanton <mfanton99@yahoo.com> Subject: I Like That Message-ID: <20000413185631.27959.qmail@web1303.mail.yahoo.com> I like the idea of the people including me stop bitching about the reviews, but the people doing the reviews use a bit of courtesy and post spoilers (and don't make fun of it). That's a great compromise. :) Molly Molly's Pages http://www.angelfire.com/mn/mollyfa99/index.html
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 12:02:56 -0700 (PDT) From: Molly Fanton <mfanton99@yahoo.com> Subject: An Announcement and a question Message-ID: <20000413190256.29412.qmail@web1303.mail.yahoo.com> I'm announcing next week's listening party. It's going to be Oranges & Lemons. Just keep checking http://www.angelfire.com/mn/mollyfa99/xtclisteningparty.html for more details. I'll post the new info tonight. Also, I wanted to get your opinions about something I was thinking about. After the listening parties are all over what XTC albums would you like to listen too again? I was thinking of having a favorites listening parties before the release of Wasp Star. Then having a listening party for Wasp Star when everone gets it. What do you people think? Molly Molly's Pages http://www.angelfire.com/mn/mollyfa99/index.html
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 10:44:55 -1000 From: "Jim Smart" <jismart@ksbe.edu> Subject: The XTCs of easy guitar Message-ID: <38F631C4.354ECA55@ksbe.edu> Organization: 3Tripper Digitalmaster wants some easy XTC songs for guitar. Good luck! This stuff is mostly very complicated, especially to sing and play at the same time. However, I would recommend "Grass" as a nice three chorder to start with. Of course, there's some tricky chords in the slow ending, but other than that, it's pretty clear sailing. Now getting that subtle xtc touch and exact chordation is harder..... *slight Wasp Star spoiler alert, but not much, really* Also, The Man Who Murdered Love also has 3 chords (well, 4, if you count the middle bit, which slides the A chord up to A# in a couple of places). It's basically D and G through most of the song, occasionally going to A. I suspect that this is why some people think this album doesn't sound like XTC. Andy usually likes to change keys a lot. He'll often have the chorus in a different key, as on Merely a Man, Supergirl, and Playground, to name but a few. But on the Man Who Murdered he really stuck to the "rules". Though these songs are both three chorders, XTC manages to dress them up so nicely one doesn't really notice it. Speaking as a spoiler, there IS one danger in the spoiler messages. If we all say how great the album is (and it IS), then people run the risk of being among the disappointed. When I saw American Beauty, I didn't know a thing about it. It hadn't won any awards. And I thought it was brilliant. But now if you go see it for the first time, you might say "What's all the fuss about? THIS is the subject of all that hype?" and be let down. But I suppose the couple of negative reviews, which I can't understand, will take care of this concern. Jim Strum
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 13:48:41 PDT From: "Edward Sizzorhends" <skylar_king@hotmail.com> Subject: Napster Message-ID: <20000413204841.45984.qmail@hotmail.com> I am a fucking weakling..... I am such a bad person....(sort of) Hi, My name is Skylar King, and I am a Napsterholic. It started about three days ago when the temptation got the better of me. I downloaded Napster...ya know....just to check it out. Since then, no one has been able to call me because I only have one phone line at my house and I have been sucking down songs left and right. Yes, at first it WAS to find WASP STAR. But as someone mentioned last post, it's not there to find really. I downloaded a total of 38 seconds of "The Wheel and the Maypole" because that is all I have been able to find. I have to tell you though "If the pot won't hold our luh-iy-yuh-iy-yuv then we'll dash it to the ground" indeed!!!!!!! And according to those who heard it, that's not even the coolest part. (oh and by the way, through my speakers, that 38 seconds sounds clear as a bell). But really, I have downloaded about 20 songs that I swear I'll never spend the bucks for a whole cd on (non XTC stuff) and that is just me being honest. And I AM IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS. Fer instance: Boomtown Rats - I don't Like Mondays Dexy's Midnite Runners - Come On Eileen Joe Jackson - Is she really going out with him - acoustic (Yes, I know it;s all 80's---what can I say) Jeff Buckley Stuff (God, I loved that boy) I don't feel bad though. I feel happy. That stuff made me feel happy. Though it is bad, I think, ethically. You should have seen my wife and I dancing around like fools to the "Body Movin" remix by FATBOY SLIM. When it comes to XTC and a lot of other bands....I SWEAR TO ALL GODS HOLY AND UN--- I will buy multiple copies of "WASP STAR" as I have AVI. I Just get SO EXCITED I CAN'T HELP IT. I had all the demos for AVI and a couple from AVII and I still bought plenty of copies. So I AM a Napsterholic now. I have no intention of completing any 12 or 13 step programs. And as another poster mentioned;"PLEASE SEND E-MAIL to SKYLAR_KING at hotmail.com if you have NAPSTER AND WASP STAR so I can trade with you too. Sorry if I disappointed anyone, The Skylar King
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 17:14:58 -0400 From: "Diamond" <arnos@nantucket.net> Subject: NOOO!!! Why, mom, why?!?! Message-ID: <200004132117.RAA23028@nantucket.net> Oh man, this hurts a lot... OK, I've always heard the stories about moms throwing away baseball cards that would be worth millions of dollars today, and now I know how painful that feeling can be. So, I recently arranged a trade with wesLONG... I had aquired an interesting Ad from some newspaper (I don't know which, sorry) about the White Music tour... it was a really neat ad, and I was gonna trade it with Wes for the James and The Giant Peach demos, a bunch of Colin demos, and James Verne's Sketchbook... It took me a while to package it, but I finally put it neatly and safely into a cardboard box that some records were sent to me in, and put it next to the door so I could remember to grab it the next day... which I inevitably forgot to do (I'm SO my father's son... I forget everything... I made an XTC CD-R of some of their best songs for someone who's interested in XTC, but only has a couple of albums, and forgot to send it for at least two weeks...) anyway, it sat there for about a week... Then, one day, I went to grab it, finally remembering to bring it with me to the Post Office... and it wasn't there... MOM!!! MOM!!! WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THAT BOX???!!! "I think I threw that away, dear, why?" *dies* So, now I have nothing to trade. And I'm severely bumbing. Not only did I lose the chance to get three nice CD-Rs, but I piece of XTC history is now just rotting in a pile of trash (that has turned into the highest point on the island I live on, Nantucket) next to melon peels and bannanna rinds. Sad, sad, sad, sad... why must I be sad? I just bought If You're Feeling Sinister by Belle And Sebastion, and am listening to it for the first time. Nice. Also, I bought an album by a band called Guster. It's really good. It's called Lost And Gone Forever, and (ALERT: XTC CONNECTION) it happens to be produced by one Steve Lillywhite! It's really good, and they play all their drums by hand, which creates a cool feal. Well, that's all for now. Ta. Kevin Diamond http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/79/the_french_electric_all-st.html http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/84/bass-cleff.html http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/85/starving_artists.html -- "No one in the world ever get's what they want, and that is beautiful. Everybody dies frustrated and sad, and that is beautiful" -John Linnell (of They Might Be Giants) / "Don't Let's Start"
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 14:17:47 -0700 (PDT) From: travis schulz <xtcisadarngoodband@yahoo.com> Subject: The Good Things..... Message-ID: <20000413211747.11123.qmail@web1104.mail.yahoo.com> Hello Chalk-nymphomaniacs! Has The Little Express stopped for a final visit at your place yet? I'm still waiting; glad my subscription doesn't run out for another three issues ha ha! I've been listening to nothing but XTC the past few weeks in heavy anticipation of WASP STAR- I hadn't listened to Transistor Blast in a while and I'm rediscovering how great and essential that collection is. Two songs I like right now also, that aren't the most talked about XTC songs are Papersnow by Andy Partridge and the Heads, and The Good Things from a Testimonial Dinner. It was very kind of XTC to donate such a treasure of a song to Terry and The Lovemen. Thanks to all who are reviewing WASP STAR, by the way- I keep wishing that TVT would send a promo copy of the album to the radio station I dj for. Is WASP STAR so radio accessible that a dinky top 40 station could get it? Oh well, May 23rd isn't that far away. Keep bugging to radio to play XTC!!!
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 18:00:14 -0400 From: "Diamond" <arnos@nantucket.net> Subject: mmmm... cheesecake... Message-ID: <200004132202.SAA27862@nantucket.net> David Edwards wrote: >let's imagine I describe to you the experience of >eating strawberry cheesecake. It might go something like this: you bite >through the tangy strawberry topping - which is sharp and almost sickly >sweet - and then your teeth plunge into the lovely, much milder contrast of >the soft, sticky, creamy cheesecake proper (actually not that cheesy), and >then you crash through the lovely, crumbly biscuity base, which is >beautifully conservative, dry and nutty in comparison to the gooey anarchic >radicalism of the first two tastes. You then shut up shop, lip-wise, munch >away happily, transforming the whole mush into an insane custardy firework >display of strawberry catherine wheels, vanilla rockets, and biscuity >bangers. at which you point you greedily eye the next bite. ... oh man... now I'm hungry... I'd like to shake the hand of the guy who invented cheesecake... BTW, I think the phrase "Cheesecake Spoilers" is one that should stick... just my opion... >One for example was this song, "Don't Lets Start." >by this group They Might Be Giants. I thought "are they trying to be funny >or do they really suck that bad?" The next day, after hearing it for the >second time I said "god, they are brilliant" and they have been one of my >top 5 bands of all time ever since. Wow, that's quit a reaction... but I've had a similar circumstance... when I first bought Flood, the first TMBG album I bought, I bought it cause of the songs Istanbul, Birdhouse in Your Soul, and Particle Man, and I remeber listening to that album, and thinking that all the other tunes were horrible... especially that one about being dead... well, now, that song, "Dead", is one of my All-Time favortie tunes by ANY band, and now TMBG is my second favorite band, after those swindon guys, of course. And the song Don't Let's Start IS a brilliant tune. The wordplay in the D, O, N, Apostraphe, T part is just supurb, and, as you can see by my qoute at the end of this message, there are other lines in there that I absolutely love. >Hear about the new sex postion? It's called "The >Rodeo." You assume the doggie-style position, cup >your lady's breasts and say, "Hmm, these aren't as >nice as your sister's!" and then see if you can hold >on for 8 seconds. That's really weird, I just heard that joke for the first time today, and then came home and read it here. Odd. One last sacred cow that I remembered... I'm not sure how well this will go over, but... I'm really surprised how large a cult following Dave Mathews band has... I've really never heard a song by them that cought my attention for any reason... perhaps one or two, but when I listened to one of their more recent albums (the one with the coffee stain on it... the one with Don't Drink The Water on it... can't remember then name of it, it's my ma's) I was extrememly unimpressed. It was one of those moments where you put an album on while you read something on your computer, and suddenly the album is over, and you really didn't hear any of it. A good album will definitely pull my away from my computer many times, like this Belle And Sebastian album I'm listening to... Just an observation. http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/79/the_french_electric_all-st.html http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/84/bass-cleff.html http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/85/starving_artists.html -- "No one in the world ever get's what they want, and that is beautiful. Everybody dies frustrated and sad, and that is beautiful" -John Linnell (of They Might Be Giants) / "Don't Let's Start"
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