Chalkhills Digest Volume 9, Issue 42
Date: Wednesday, 20 August 2003
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 9, Number 42
Wednesday, 20 August 2003
Topics:
Feeling Fuzzy
What Andy Partridge Thinks of You
Exclusive Chats With Andy Partridge on XTCover Art
cheshire cousin comin' soon
XTC music piped in!
Cheshire at Highland Grounds
Mummer turns 20!
List a bit quiet
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 06:42:21 -0700 (PDT) From: Todd Bernhardt <beat_town@yahoo.com> Subject: Feeling Fuzzy Message-ID: <20030811134221.48167.qmail@web41114.mail.yahoo.com> Hi: Chris Rees wrote: > i, too, like our good sir demon brown, got some very static-y, digitally > flawed copies of fw 3&4....and i cant seem to get a reply from ape/idea. > anyone ever get a response from them? i want to return mine and get them > 'all proper'... I think Andy's gotcher response right here: http://ape.uk.net/news/news_stories.php?newsid=81 Wayne Klein said: > My only criticism of the FW series is the way the > tracks have been sequenced. I would put all the previously > unreleased/unheard/unfinished demos together on a set of CDs like wise > for the instrumentals and the demos of songs XTC have released. C'mon, Wayne ... if you were selling a product like FW, would you really do that? Andy is sprinkling the unreleased/unheard stuff in amongst the bootlegged stuff to make the latter more saleable. It's simple marketing, and has the added benefit of cutting the legs out from under the bootleggers. Bob (RMuRocks@aol.com) wrote: > Of course, my project is not a commercial for-profit venture, but > merely a collection for fun (and I have over 50 cd's worth!) In Andy's > case, I would think that part of his objective is to get the material > out there for fans, and also of course to make money for himself. BUT > still, for him to stretch the collection out over a larger number of > discs than is necessary seems to me to be a bit opportunistic, > especially given that he's selling them at an escalated price, with > little or no marketing (and certainly no touring) expense. Rip-off? > No, and I wish other artists would follow this pattern. But do I > (perhaps selfishly) wish that I felt I was getting more bang for the > buck? Sure. > > I hope I've explained my logic more completely... Yeah! In fact, I see all the answers to your concerns in the first paragraph there. This is a commercial venture on Andy's part, meant also to get the music out to fans. He is trying to make a living off of his music, and so he's doing what anyone who packages a product would do -- selling the product in amounts that balances the needs of him and his audience. I think he's done a fine job of that, and will happily pay for two more discs in the series if that will help him continue to make music. That said, he is *not* selling these discs at an escalated price -- the cost of mastering, packaging design and production, and distribution is quite high (as is the quality), and the discs reflect a fair (i.e., modest) markup. I also wish other artists would follow this pattern. I also feel that I've gotten plenty of bang for my buck -- we've all known for a long time what these compilations will contain, and have the choice to purchase them or not. > I'll add again that I > think the series is great and I have bought them all thus far. Me, too. -Todd Maybe this world is another planet's Hell. -- Aldous Huxley, novelist (1894-1963)
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 18:06:39 EDT From: Hbsherwood@aol.com Subject: What Andy Partridge Thinks of You Message-ID: <17f.1f1ce554.2c696d6f@aol.com> Jee.... Zis.... Christ! So let me get this straight... Leonardo da Vinci has made available copies of his notebooks, handwritten pages with glosses, and glosses of glosses, containing sketches of ideas for wild-eyed magnificent impossible inventions, studies for paintings, cloud-castles, filigreed hookahs and nuclear coffee makers, incandescent lightbulbs that run on turnip-greens, fifteenth-century Cuisinarts that double as fax machines, angel trumpets and devil trombones, all of it annotated in the weirdest wonderfullest dyslexic mirror-script... And you miserable little Medicis sit there with sour pooh-pooh expressions on your faces, shaking your disapproving heads slowly from side to side, because the aerial-screw helicopter doesn't have an in-dash CD player? Oh, these figure studies for La Gioconda aren't *nearly* as good as the finished version! And oh my GOD!!! Page 112 is SMUDGED! Who oh who will save the CHILDREN???? Hate the humor, Andy! Poor track choices, Andy! Write more songs that *I* like, Andy! Not *long* enough, Andy! I hate Alan Burston, Andy! How dare you try to sell me songs I've already stolen from you once, Andy? Boo! Honest to God, if I were Andy Partridge I'd just quit right now, send you all your money back -- in pennies, postage due -- and go open a grocery in Gloucester. There's just no point on going on. How thick does a guy's skin have to be? How much of this second-guessing does this poor man have to swallow from you self-appointed Internet Christgaus? How much more does he have to scrape like Gollum before you in gratitude because you've been kind enough not to download the goddamned songs for free off Ka zaa? Harrison "All this scribbling in sepia ink just *ruins* the Codex Atlanticus!" Sherwood
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2003 15:34:23 -0700 (PDT) From: Wes Long <optimismsflames@yahoo.com> Subject: Exclusive Chats With Andy Partridge on XTCover Art Message-ID: <20030813223423.88457.qmail@web14906.mail.yahoo.com> Hiya Gang: This has been on http://optimismsflames.com for some time now - but for those of you with wimpy systems or connections... here are the same pages, opening outside of the graphic-intensive site. Remember - they were created to be viewed in 1024 x 768, and will look best when viewed in that screen res - yet you will be able to view them in larger res too if you are unable to, or are simply too lazy to alter your res. (lazy bastards) The layout will appear a bit odd - as it's meant to be viewed inside the site. I'll be putting together some low-tech, possibly text only versions of the site in the future... probably not until early next year though, as work and a move promise to monopolize my life for the remainder of this one. Just follow the links and you'll be fine. Download time shouldn't be too bad for you. Andy talks in depth about each proper XTC album cover, most of the singles - as well as 8 compilation covers... and in many cases there are one-of-a-kind test designs/art provided by Partsy himself. So - are we cool? Cool. http://optimismsflames.com/CoverArtSplash.htm wesLONG
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2003 10:00:02 +0000 From: "don device" <ddevice@hotmail.com> Subject: cheshire cousin comin' soon Message-ID: <Sea2-F65xyQRQN738VI000304b1@hotmail.com> hello all, bons baisers from the USA where I've just had the priveledge of seeing XTC tribute band Cheshire Cousin in rehearsal... if you're in the LA area for thier coooncert at highland grounds, don't miss it! solid, energetic rock n' roll that would be worth seeing even if it weren't our boys' music... i'll write more later, but suffice to say: drums guitar, vocals and bass are all standout in a set that ranges from GO2 to Oranges and Lemons... demand an encore, they've got a ton of stuff cooked up... kiss, don device "I wouldn't want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member." -Groucho Marx ( Yes, Wes, I know your theiving ways! ;-)
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 09:16:13 -0400 From: "Krys Olsiewicz" <kolsiewicz@hotmail.com> Subject: XTC music piped in! Message-ID: <BAY1-F124P95LZbuPCH00038d92@hotmail.com> Has anyone ever heard any XTC songs on piped in music? I heard "King For A Day" this past weekend in the local CVS store. Twas such fun to hear. -Krys Olsiewicz
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 14:27:08 -0700 From: "elizabeth banks" <elanfie@hotmail.com> Subject: Cheshire at Highland Grounds Message-ID: <Sea2-F147DSM6UkEdJ7000048bb@hotmail.com> I was watching a video of the Cheshire Cousin gig last May . They are wonderful and they will be at Highland Grounds again this Friday 8/22 at 10 pm the cover is only $5 Come & see them & support Live XTC music in the Southland! http://cheshirecousin.com/ http://www.highlandgrounds.com
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 18:29:07 -0400 (EDT) From: RSMko@webtv.net (Marston Moor) Subject: Mummer turns 20! Message-ID: <13249-3F415333-5781@storefull-2232.public.lawson.webtv.net> Happy Anniversary, Mummer! Released 30 August 1983. Bummer drummer summer? Ah, Mummer. Breathe it in again, folks. So unique in the grand x-t-scheme of things. Rarely ranked high by most fans, still quite a delightful piece of the grand jigsaw puzzle. Such an odd era it was. The very LP that Terry departed on. Working on "Love on a Farmboy's Wages" he put down his sticks and said 'that's it.' Yet, his swansong, "Beating of Hearts," is a remarkable tribal adios. Hey, consider the fact that Mummer was sort of a signpost for a separate new chapter to begin (the Waxworks/Beeswax best-of immediately preceeding it), even though its continuing acoustic leanings reminded us lots of 'English Settlement.' We were all there in line to purchase it on the street date, and we were glad. Took a little while to sink in, though. Sort of a semi-backward sidestep, perhaps not the groundbreaking milestone we were expecting, but that didn't matter. Or did it? We'd supported the Partridge machine so deeply by then, their every move was absolutely essential for our hi-fi sets. Pastoral schmastoral, the record is a sheer wonderland of Rubber Soul meets 80's electrobeat. "Deliver Us from the Elements" and "Human Alchemy" sound way cool to these 2003 ears. (Admittedly, though, I'm confessin' I do recall starting to lose a wee bit of interest at that point. Ange just wrote too many rambling tunes with too many damn extra sections. He really seemed to be purposefully aborting his basic rock instincts. But not for long!) "Funk Pop a Roll" still remains one of their all-time killer faves (though not representative of the album at all). Extend thy grasp! Celebrate the love! I'm dressing up in paper snips and raggy bones, so let's have a Mummer party right now! Blow out the candles, Dukes dudes. Am I right, Mitch? :-\ (methinks that's nearly 'bout when I first became aware of Herr Friedman and his tantalizing 'connections' to our faraway band! Good ole days, WFMU, Frank O'Toole, Little Express, and all things Swindonian.) Your honour, thanks for giving me the platform to express my viewpoint. Play At Home, R. Steven Moore NJ USA XpertTC weed
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 19:45:02 +0100 From: "David Seddon" <D.Seddon@btinternet.com> Subject: List a bit quiet Message-ID: <000b01c36682$028a3720$e1d77ad5@seddon> The lists' a bit quiet isn't it? Though I don't post very often these days, I thought I'd chime in on where I stand on the "Fuzzy Warbles controversy," if I may call it thus, since there seems to be great diversion of views regarding their worth. I have bought FW 1 and 2 and have enjoyed them both. I don't have much intention of buying any of the others, but if a "best of" came out, then you never know. I don't think that there is anything wrong with the boys putting them out for folks to buy. It's our choice. Thoughts of a rip off are nonsensical to me. Fan though I am, I am no completist of any band and don't intend to start now. Many here will buy all of them and hardly ever have them off of their players. Instead, I have just bought some other stuff. Some Salif Keita, some Bach, some Einsturzende Neubauten (wacky stuff indeed), Never Mind the Bullocks here's the Wurzles (a cracking laugh and great fun to dance with the kids on a Saturday morning), Talk Talk Asides Besides and 10cc - The Very Best of. Now we all spend our money in different ways. I'd sooner buy CDs I am going to listen to a lot than ones by XTC that I'm only going to spin maybe once a month after some initial plays. The FWs sets are hardly likely to rival their best albums in my affections. I'd recommend the 10cc, by the way. Great remasters. Anyone here like them? Since they're an enigmatic, off the wall and eccentric English band I would have thought there'd be plenty. Listening to them again, I am reminded of just how clever some of their stuff is...full of twists, clever chords and cadences, good singing, key changes and funny bits - not at all boring verse/chorus stuff! I'm really enjoying it. Probably some of the best singles of the 70s. The other stuff's good too. Anyone got any of it?
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #9-42 ******************************
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