Chalkhills Digest Volume 8, Issue 17
Date: Friday, 1 March 2002
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 8, Number 17
Friday, 1 March 2002
Topics:
Kate Bush/XTC
Jellyfish
Instrumental Versions / Coat Question
Andy vs. Colin and stuff
Rock Around The World
Re: Neil Finn / XTC covers
misleading box set info
excuse me but
Gary Pullis 'n' Me
Mais quand meme...
re: UK Chalkhills Shindig
pre-ordering "coat..." box
RE: drums and . . . drums
Hari Georgeson
Beatles...Hollywood Bowl
You Can Help!
Chairman of the (Cup)board
What's the Matter with me?
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 05:59:38 -0500 From: "Molly, the New Wave Queen" <mollyfa0000@worldnet.att.net> Subject: Kate Bush/XTC Message-ID: <000e01c1bdeb$867ba960$fd00590c@vogmudet> Organization: AT&T Worldnet Hobbes wrote: <<Kate Bush - Greenman>> I like that idea of Kate doing a XTC song, but I picture her singing something like, "Summer's Cauldron" or "Grass". Molly
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 14:02:32 -0800 (PST) From: Jim Smart <jimsmart1@yahoo.com> Subject: Jellyfish Message-ID: <20020225220232.1741.qmail@web13505.mail.yahoo.com> What new Jellyfish record? I thought they were toast. Jim
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 14:50:33 -0800 From: "Steve Young" <sjyoung@hotmail.com> Subject: Instrumental Versions / Coat Question Message-ID: <OE12URRvvNn8VD8o8HK000011cb@hotmail.com> Hi all, A few weeks ago in the fair city of San Francisco I came across "25 O'clock" and "Psonic Psunspot", both in nice condition, + remastered "chips from the chocolate fireball". Whenever I go to nice record stores, I nearly go broke on music I already own. In this case, I bought music I already own TWICE. Has everyone else received the word on the instrumental-only versions of Apple Venus 1/2? This sounds really really great... almost too good to be true. Can you say KARAOKE? For those who haven't gotten the e-mail, remember to write enquiries@xtcidearecords.co.uk and tell them if you are interested in Apple Venus Instrumental, Wasp Star Instrumental, or both (both, both). It seems they are simply trying to gauge demand at this point; writing does not hold you to buy, but will guarantee you a copy upon release. This really does sound too good to be true, like some crazy "fan dream"... "I had this dream that XTC was planning to release 'instrumental-only' versions of their albums, autographed by Andy and Colin..." Ha, ha, what a silly dream... Cross your fingers for other instrumental releases as well (hinted at within XTC's new and exciting web site, link available from chalkhills.org). Will "coat of many cupboards" be made available as a "domestic US" release, or should I spring for the import? Anything extra on the import? Please e-mail me if you have this information. Thank you! ~~Steve
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 19:59:10 -0500 From: "Purrsia Kat" <thunderien@hotmail.com> Subject: Andy vs. Colin and stuff Message-ID: <F266pZD5dH1hqjAs95500005d28@hotmail.com> Wow...I've been absent for awhile, heehee. The first problem was the fact that I upped my junk mail filter on me email account...this promptly sent my beloved Chalkhills digest directly into the junk mail bin! :-O !! I've only recently corrected the situation. Secondly, I've been obsessing over my own website -- the content of which I'm sure none of you would be interested in so I won't bother plugging it ;-) (anyone here a fan of the American 80s toon ThunderCats?? Didn't think so...) Anyhow, my XTC pondering of the day is this-- I've found I actually favor Colin's music over Andy's. I mean, both guys create totally brill stuff...but upon creating separate "best of" discs based on who wrote what, Colin comes out on top :-) Well, I decided to share that seems how I didn't realize my own XTC bias until I made those discs... Now I must return to being the obsessive webmaster! --Angie Hill (aka Purrsia ;)
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 01:35:46 From: "Duncan Kimball" <dunks58@hotmail.com> Subject: Rock Around The World Message-ID: <F182GCYrRqGk83oq9Mp0000761f@hotmail.com> Fiends, Roamins, C***rymen, First and foremost, I must with deep sadness note the passing of the great Chuck Jones. A lot of people have the word "genius" applied to them, with varying degrees of veracity, but I think there can be little doubt that this man, who could communicate so much love and fun and laughter, and touch so many people for so long must surely deserve that epithet. A great creative life well spent. I envy him (the life that is, not the dead bit). And so to business. Fit the First: I must take the jackhammer and chip away at my earlier pronoun-cement, regarding Contintental rockeurs. I confess that I did indeed egregiously overlook the rather fine Les Rita Mitsuko. I'm damned if I can remember the title but I do recall a tres cool clip for one of their songs ca. 1984 (it got a decent airing on the grown-up video shows that we had here, back in the good old days (aka the 80s) when there was something more to music video than the current endless parades of massed Britneys and synchronised boy bands. Then of course there was the vocal force of nature that was Nina Hagen (what the hell is *she* doing these days?). Now that lady can SING, and she could rock like nobody's business. Power? She makes Bjork sound like Betty Boop. How fondly do I recall hearing "African Reggae" for the first time -- it was one of those classic "What the f*** is THAT??" radio moments. And I still rate "Smack Jack" as probably the best anti-heroin song ever. Compared to Mr Young's whiny, defeatist effort, this thing is bristling with anger and energy. "It's a ... short terrrrrrmm solution!" She did reat videos, too. [Q: Is Kraftwerk "rock"? Discuss.] 2. I'm quietly excited about the imminent arrival of Coat of Many Cupboards, although my anticipation is tempered somewhat by the knowledge that I will probably have to sell one of my kids into white slavery to pay for it. Ahh well, c'est la vie ... 3. Off topic and on a local note, I wonder if Chalkers overseas have heard about Tropfest? It's a fascinating phenomenon that flies in the face of conventional wisdom about what audiences want from film (i.e. feature length Hollywood blockbsters with lots of shooting, sex and car chases). It's an annual competition/festival of short film that has evolved here in Sydney over the last 10 years. It began as a small informal event at the Tropicana Cafe in Darlinghurst (a place where lots of "resting" and hopeful film-makers hung out). Initially, it was held on the footpath outside the cafe, but it grew like the proverbial Topsy, and soon the city council was allowing them to block off the entire street for the event. Since then it has become a *major* (and I mean MAJOR) event and is now staged as a free annual outdoor public festival in the Domain, Sydney's big city centre park space. This year's screening was attended by overseas stars like Gabriel Byrne, Miranda Richardson and Keanu Reeves. But the most amazing thing is that this year Tropfest was attended by 90,000 -- yes folks, NINETY THOUSAND -- people, with a further 7,000 watching it on relay in Melbourne. Pretty incredible, considering that about 20 years ago our local distributors stopped showing shorts before the feature because they claimed that nobody wanted to see short films. Yeah, right ... Colin was invited to tour with Pink Floyd? Damn, THAT I would like to have seen. Dunks
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 21:57:33 -0600 From: steve <steveschiavo@mac.com> Subject: Re: Neil Finn / XTC covers Message-ID: <F678C312-2A6C-11D6-BAC7-0050E445D419@mac.com> On Monday, February 25, 2002, at 12:45 AM, Sughosh Varadarajan wrote: > I noticed an mp3 of Neil Finn doing Making plans for Nigel on > Morpheus...was this on the Testimonial dinner album? Most likely from one of the regular Friday night Jon Brion shows at Largo. Brion almost always has guests, and Neil has stopped in more than once. That's my guess, anyway. - Steve
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 23:56:53 -0500 From: riserius1@netscape.net (Chris Wisniewski) Subject: misleading box set info Message-ID: <4E71B8A6.1C969FCF.03463D0F@netscape.net> Elizabeth Setler <elizabeth@fringehead.com> wrote: >- 41 tracks (70% of the contents of the box set) have never been >released before in any form This should be reworded, perhaps, to read "...in any format",meaning cd,lp,cassette. I personally only found 11 tracks that I do not have in my collection "in any form" i.e. live, studio, demo. Actually, I do have them in demo, but I got them off Morpheus so they don't count as an "Official Release". Saying that these tracks have never been released in any form is misleading and at worst, disingenuous. Warren.Butson@getty-images.com writes >Is anyone confused at the inclusion of some completely normal versions >on the new "coat of..." release? I can't work out why they should be there. Anyone fan enough to buy a 4 cd set of out-takes has surely got these already. I couldn't agree more. I'm very disappointed by their inclusion, as well as the exclusion of other tracks. Hopefully Fuzzy Warbles will be done with more thought. I'll probably pick up CoMC eventually, but now that I see more details on it, I can't say I'm going to be in that much of a hurry. Chris W
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 01:51:01 -0800 (PST) From: Jackson <jydson@yahoo.com> Subject: excuse me but Message-ID: <20020226095101.23241.qmail@web10801.mail.yahoo.com> As for Tony who said:"This kind of stuff always bugs me... Why does commercial success cause some fans to abandon the music they love? What kind of elitist nonsense is that?" It's not elitist, just boredom, give me too much fancy or fast food, news scandals, sunshine, even sex,r&r and something I forgot and and it's not fun or funny anymore. Anyway, anyone who has ever been in a club or clique knows it's a good feeling to be on the inside like we are w/ XTC. If commercial success leads to Ugly Underneath over the sound system at KMart or XTC headlining at Caesar's Palace alongside the Moody Blues on the Vegas Strip, I'll dig out my Drums & Wires or Dukes of Stratosphere LP, just to make sure we're all light.
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 08:19:40 -0500 From: "Ben Gott" <bgott@rectoryschool.org> Subject: Gary Pullis 'n' Me Message-ID: <fc.00870b4a000baf2700870b4a000baf27.baf34@rectoryschool.org> Gang, One of my colleagues saw me looking at the Idea Records website while we were sitting in the computer lab here at school. "Is that XTC?" he asked. "Yeah," I said. "Do you know them?" "I do," he told me. "You ever heard that story of the high school student who held his principal at knifepoint until they played 'Dear God' over the P.A.?" "Of course," I told him. "His name is Gary Pullis, and I went to college with him! He was a *strange* guy," he replied. Isn't that cool? I've made the XTC celebrity connection! Or something. -Ben
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 17:49:26 +0100 From: art et affiche <art.affiche@wanadoo.fr> Subject: Mais quand meme... Message-ID: <3C7BBC93.26076EA2@wanadoo.fr> Thanks every body for your kind responses to my curiosity. Very attentive people here! Quickly, a few words: Emmanuel Marin wrote: >>Obligatory XTC content : I can't think of a single sentence sung in a non-English language in the whole XTC lyrics, which has to be noticed (I mean, the Beatles had "Michelle", at least :-) ). >> Si mon Cher! Not a sentence, but at least a french word: ''Vichyssoise'', in ''Knights in shining Karma''! Marrant : Je me suis recemment pose la meme question, et c'est la seule reponse que j'ai pu trouver. We can add the latin "axis mundi'', maybe. Mr. Sheer from the Wood wrote: >>On another note, many moons ago someone (was it Mark Strijbos?) posted a comment critical of the guitar break in "I'm the Man Who Murdered Love," saying that it was just basically dumb, and I responded that I believed it to be a musical joke, an elbow-in-the-ribs quote from some obscure 60s source. >> Funny, I had the very same reaction listening to that song for the first time. Didn't push the search as far as Harrison did, but knowing that Andy seems not to be a huge fan of guitar choruses, I thought he prefered to have fun and play a little ''reference'' to that kind of 60's guitar ''cliche''. [ hey yes, me too, I'm mad about those Peebles, and Nuggest I and II stuff! ; ) ] About contracts, records label and music industry, XTC is a really cursed band! I read in the new italian article added recently by Mister Relph on the ''press link'', that our lads are again involved in legal proceeding with Cooking Vinyl, for financial reasons. [ Can translate, if somebody's interested] Actually, they really got no luck. Quite interesting interview of Andy about record industry though... and the fact that, when his work in studio with Robert Schneider will be done, he will immediatly begin to work again with Colin on the future album! Aaaaaaah. Hope the new complete independance of Idea records since ''Homegrown'' will work. But I know a little about the price of independance... Dame Fortune, come on! Marie ''wants gas for my bus'' Omnibus PS: And, Maryr Mary, allora, posso aspetare uno carino rittrato di Andy, si??
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 08:59:56 +1100 From: "Culnane, Paul" <Paul.Culnane@dcita.gov.au> Subject: re: UK Chalkhills Shindig Message-ID: <EEAD847E742DD51196550000E896881D40E468@g5dccbr0ms01.dcita.gov.au> In Chalkhills 8/16, a citric wit posted: "There's going to be a lot happening including guest appearances from: Andy Partridge Colin Moulding Dave Gregory and special guest (all the way from Australia) Terry Chambers With live music from a re-formed XTC premiering new material written for their forthcoming 2004 album and world tour." Are you gonna borrow Pink Floyd's giant inflatable pig to fly over your fantasy event? :-) ~~p@ul
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 17:20:45 -0500
From: "Danny Phipps" <phipps@schoollink.net>
Subject: pre-ordering "coat..." box
Message-ID: <web-18249590@schoollink.net>
hi people....
just finished pre-ordering xtc's "coat of many cupboards"
box coming out in the US on the 2nd of april! (yaaaay!
one hell of a b'day present to myself 10 days prior, eh?
but hey! like the loreal girl, "i'm worth it!")
www.cduniverse.com has it and once shipping and all is
added, it's still less than $50.00 -- not bad to satisfy a
rabid xtc fan, is it? can't wait to hear it. :-)
come on, april 2nd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
/danny
--
"We are all part of the same soul..."
(Billy Sherwood)
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 19:59:21 -0800 From: "da9ve stovall" <da9ve@geek.com> Subject: RE: drums and . . . drums Message-ID: <26020257.71959@webbox.com> "In addition, there are a bunch of other people who are known for their competence on a variety of other instruments but who have done solo albums where they played all the instruments, including drums." And Mike Keneally, who plays everything on (one of) his masterpiece(s) _Nonkertompf_. And Richard X. Heyman, whom I'd forgotten about. Pretty snappy instrumentalist and singer on all accounts. da9ve
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2002 12:32:21 +0000 From: "Paul Culnane" <paulculnane@hotmail.com> Subject: Hari Georgeson Message-ID: <F133YOcpgVuhpyjMKYI000079c1@hotmail.com> Apart from me listing Spike Milligan as a great loss, here's summat else from MOJO magazine, January 2002 issue, about our dear departed George, wherein writer Ashley Kahn offers: "Today it's easy to look back and note an unbroken thread linking Harrison's earliest spiritual queries to the Velvet Underground's "Jesus" and the Rolling Stones' "Just Wanna See His Face", up through XtC's "Dear God" and Joan Osborne's "One Of Us". Cool mention. Speaking of spritual, oh, Andrew, what have you done? I turned on my computer and out popped your beautifully EQ-ed version of "Guaudete", loud as fuck. How'd that happen? It was so full and LOUD, and lord knows, I couldn't turn it off, you scallywag!!! I'm standing on shoulder(s) of giants far bigger than li'l ol' me... ~~the contemtible prat PORL
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2002 16:20:06 EST From: WTDK@aol.com Subject: Beatles...Hollywood Bowl Message-ID: <104.11b93a39.29aff906@aol.com> Yikes! Whoever I promised The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl to on CD (for having a very good second place answer re: George's first single with The Beatles), please get back to me with your address. I think I accidentally deleted it! It's finished and ready to go! Regards, Wayne
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 1 Mar 2002 10:51:45 EST From: Hbsherwood@aol.com Subject: You Can Help! Message-ID: <98.22325116.29b0fd91@aol.com> Here's a question from Andy Partridge to the Assembled Multitudes: What sort of image would you like to see on a T-shirt for sale at the XTC/Idea site? They're trying to get a sense of the sorts of things that XTC geeks would buy. Some ideas so far are a few album covers (Drums & Wires has some particularly t-shirt-able artwork), the Peacock Feather motif from the Apple Venus records, the Uffington Horse... Any more? PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THE CHALKHILLS DIGEST; send your suggestions directly to me, hbsherwood@aol.com. Thanks in advance Harrison "Arse Longa" Sherwood PS: Kate Burda: Please contact me!
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 1 Mar 2002 17:01:50 -0000 From: "Nicholson, Gary" <gnicholson@britannica.co.uk> Subject: Chairman of the (Cup)board Message-ID: <B1C680594971D411A09800A0C9E1E8E165760C@lonexch.ebuk.eb.co.uk> Unless you bought the Guardian today and read the Friday Review, you'll have to wait a few days before you read Adam Sweeting's affectionate review of Coat of Many Cupboards on their website. So here it is: Are XTC the great lost British rock band? A trawl through Coat of Many Cupboards (Virgin ****), an epic four-CD survey of XTC's 15 year spell with Virgin suggest that maybe they were just too good for their own good. No genre was beyond them, from the rapid-fire punkishness of late-1970's material such as Traffic Light Rock or Radios in Motion to subsequent adventures in brainy experimentalism, psychedelic pastiche or their own species of Olde English folk-rock. This collection's attention to detail never overshadows the personalities of the band members, their idiotic humour or their musical idiosyncracies. The project was overseen by Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding who have provided track-by-track yarns and gossip in the accompanying booklet alongside a vast essay by XTC superfan Harrison Sherwood. The band's hoarding instincts (or was it a conscious sense of leaving a message for posterity) have let them unearth a mass of live, demo or alternative takes of previously released songs alongside a smattering of hitherto unknown pieces. There is a version of XTC for everybody. You might be an afficionado of their Drums and Wires period of 1979/80, and in which case, you won't mind hearing Reel by Real, When You're Near Me I Have Difficulty and Helicopter, all recorded as potential singles at DJM Studios but never released. Or you might hanker after their mid-1980s reincarnation as the Dukes of Stratosphear, represented by the Paul McCartney pastiche, Brainiac's Daughter, and the tingling harmony pop of Vanishing Girl. But the big turning point in their career was their decision to abandon touring in 1982 after Andy Partridge broke down from stress and exhaustion. The new era of XTC as mystical sons of the English landscape was ushered in by English Settlement, hallmarked by the band's new emblem of the Uffington Horse (the chalk figure carved in the hills near their home town of Swindon)> there is an expansive contemplative quality about the music they made subsequently; most explicit here in the dreamy Chalkhills and Children and a startlingly accomplished demo recording of The Disappointed. There was a time when Partridge and Moulding were compared to Lennon and McCartney. Here are plenty of reasons why. That's it. Sorry I can't provide the accompanying picture of the band looking cold in a van. I'm off to walk past the real Tower of London and join the throng on the Jubilee Line. Gary.
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 1 Mar 2002 11:51:10 -0800 (PST) From: Todd Bernhardt <beat_town@yahoo.com> Subject: What's the Matter with me? Message-ID: <20020301195110.26876.qmail@web14603.mail.yahoo.com> Hi: Part of the community service obligation included in my recent plea agreement requires that I occasionally tell folks on the 'hills about stunning new music that I hear. One of the best things about being on the outside is that I can listen to the music *I* want to hear (well, that and the fresh air, being allowed to drive a car, showering by myself, etc.) and I recently came across a copy of a new album by the group MATTER, whose singer is none other than our own Dom Lawson. Truth be told, I've never heard such a stunning example of BritPop. The album, "Blackleg," is full of jangly guitars, playful bass runs, straightforward drumming, four-part harmonies, and sensitive, insightful lyrics that'll touch the heart of every mother's son (and daughter). XTC fans will thrill at hearing music that so clearly springs from the same font of creativity that quenches Andy and Colin's thirst during their visits to the Muse, and will be left wondering if in fact their heroes could be in danger of being replaced in their hearts and minds by this new Fab Foursome, musical titans whose achievements will soon compel the world to stand up and take notice, to grant them a place of honor in the Rock 'n Roll firmament. Oh, my. Sorry. Truth really be told, this is some of the scariest metal you'll ever want (or not want) to hear. Guitars crunch debris underfoot while the bass challenges the physical limits of your woofers, and the drumming ... oh it's good. It's very, very good. "Blackleg" is synchopated, odd-time (and, at times, odd), angry, disturbing, in-yer-face, very technical yet very emotional, and ultimately, very challenging. And shouldn't art and music be challenging? Check it out: http://www.undergroove.co.uk/matterbiog.html Harrison recently wrote about how the live XTC "took no prisoners." I expect that Matter does, if only to torture and multilate them horribly before disemboweling them and throwing their entrails to the hogs. Check out this album. I dare you. -Todd
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #8-17 ******************************
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