Chalkhills Digest Volume 9, Issue 5
Date: Friday, 24 January 2003
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 9, Number 5
Friday, 24 January 2003
Topics:
Free Full Length XTC Concert Video?
Re: Barry Andrews on mini-tour
Rejoinder, Single, Art
Andy's solo Warbles.
Two Cool Bands & Thanks
Wes, you make me depressss
A King For A Day Jen-U-Wine Update!
Best of 2001
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Chalkhills is compiled with Digest 3.7d (John Relph <relph@tmbg.org>).
Pour some oil on the water quick!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2003 22:29:30 -0600
From: "vee tube" <veetube@hotmail.com>
Subject: Free Full Length XTC Concert Video?
Message-ID: <F77e9HvDXLMHrCT1wq100011da0@hotmail.com>
Hmmm...
I haven't heard from Sir Demon Brown
in quite some time now. But XTC WEEDS are
doing all mater of things. Not the least of
which is giving the Rockpalast VIDEO to all
Chalkheads the world wide over.
Buy Warbles, NOT BOOTS!
xtc4u.org
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2003 23:12:26 -0500 From: "Bob Crain" <bobcrain@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: Barry Andrews on mini-tour Message-ID: <BAY1-DAV14Y4R2Dwxrx0001416c@hotmail.com> Indeed, it was a fine show, Barry did look thin and fit, and in great voice. No muted, slow, atomospheric version of "Nemesis", though. Bah! In response to my plea "don't make it so long 'til the next visit" he answered, "Yes, ten years is a bit much" or something like that. Then following with the "see you in April" comment. Eyes will scan the listings for a return appearance then. Below is another standalone review of the show by my great friend Pablo Teletubby of Washington D.C. retroprogpunk faves The Meat Joy (http://www.themeatjoy.com). By the way, he greatly enjoyed meeting the D.C. Chalkfesters and may be subscribing to the list now. The review adds yet a bit more of local color to give you an idea of the Tuesday night shenanigans. Shrieking Violets Barry Andrews is a diminutive presence, at least in person. His songs are big, serious, menacing. Even stipped down to just piano and voice, as with his recent solo tour, his new set and his former Shriekback tunes all sound much bigger than life, bigger than himself. Barry cut his teeth, and his Krumar organ, (and his fingers) playing for proto-punk-pop group XTC in the late 70's. After he left he pursued some solo work after which he founded his signature group Shriekback in the early to mid 80's. Gaining some attention with rock dirges, lush ambient swathes of sound collage, and even horn driven disco covers, Shriekback stayed in the game until the early 90's, then seemingly disappeared. Now Barry is touring solo in partial support of a new Shriekback release. Taking the stage at the Black Cat, Barry sits behind his Piano and starts a computer driven backing track for accompaniment. At about that time I began noticing a very odd couple on the "dance floor". They seemed to be midly retarded (in a high school kind of way), swaying and undulating with Barry's music, almost touching each other (but not quite) in an appreciation for each other's New Age Aura. It was strikingly distracting such that I found it hard to concentrate on Barry and his wonderful songs. The woman of the couple was petite, and yet a tad chubby, and had a just above knee high leather (or pleather) skirt on. She wasn't patently unattractive, but not overtly attractive either. Her male counterpart was a bit taller than she, wearing a horizontal black and white stripped shirt (perhaps subtle homage to XTC's first album, White Music, which had a bit of two-tone sensibility in the cover art). The man had an unkempt beard and mustache, and had the countenance of a mental ward patient. The couple at first stood watching the show like the other patrons, but then Mr. Two-Tone offered his lady his hand, and she took it, and they began to sway slowly, almost in "time" with the music. Mr Two-Tone occasionally lifted his leg in an odd manner. I found myself wondering if this was part of the dance, or if his dinner wasn't quite settling right. He also projected his arms and hands in strange gestures, at times coming close to feeling up Mrs. Leather-Skirt. My friend and I couldn't help but chuckle at the pair, but then would realize why we were there. To see Barry!! Mr. Andrews played beautifully for the most part, and although nervous at performing his first solo tour he was a fine showman, cutting the crowd up with his dry English wit, and with anecdotes from his life. After performing for about an hour, including an encore, he quickly made a path to the bar (An Englishman's second home?) where he talked with fans, and sold and signed copies of his tour CD "Haunted Box of Switches". The crowd seemed oddly fascinated by what Mr. Andrews had eaten for dinner, and there was much to-do made regarding the possibility of gas later. Washington DC sure attracts some odd characters. review by Pablo Teletubby
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2003 01:00:07 -0600 From: "eriC draveS" <zoom98@mindspring.com> Subject: Rejoinder, Single, Art Message-ID: <003301c2bdf6$125e7560$a46b56d1@XLZOOM> VOLUME ONE LINER Stephane Delrue asked: At the risk of asking a silly question: is there a new solo-album out by Andy Partridge? eriC replies: Yes, it's called "Sgt. Pepper". :) ---- I'M JUST A FUZZY SOFTIE I have to revise about 10-20% of my prior review of FW 1&2. Most critics ought to do this once in a while with albums they have mixed feelings about. I now much more enjoy Goosey Goosey (the SONG ya idjit!), Ship Arriving Too Late to Save Dro... I mean, Ship Trapped in the Ice, and many other bits. However, I am still dead set against enjoying Everything'll Be Alright (well, maybe just the chorus...) Is AP planning on releasing any of his FW works as a single? I think "Dame Fortune" deserves tons of radio airplay. Here in Yank-Land we get crummy radio stations though... ---- I'VE SEEN IT IN A PAINTING You're gonna kill me for this, everyone else probably knows about this but me, but I think I found the SOURCE for the Apple Venus Volume 2 cover art! Yeah, we all know it's an blown-up electrified image of the peacock feather from AVV1, but get ready for this. It looks NEARLY EXACTLY like the painting "Apple of Paradise" by Violet Tengberg. This painting was displayed in a London gallery from March 2nd - 17th, 1972 (!) and appears on page 33 of the 3-1972 issue of Apollo Magazine! Since I don't have a scanner, and this art magazine is not widely available to people (being 31 years old and of low circulation), I shall have to describe the painting. It looks like two blue faces kissing within a reddish-yellow glow that resembles the core of an apple. It is surrounded by a blue electric glow set against a black backdrop. It is HIGHLY reminiscent of Wasp Star's cover, and to have the word "Apple" in the title, in my opinion, cannot be pure coincidence. Mayhap someone we know has this painting or a print of it? ---- Well, it's 25 O'Clock (1 AM) and I have to go. eriC "I spend all day and all my allowance on TV games..."
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2003 16:48:05 -0800 (PST) From: Jay Gillespie <marsilies@yahoo.com> Subject: Andy's solo Warbles. Message-ID: <20030118004805.26965.qmail@web40311.mail.yahoo.com> Last issue, Stephane asked about the song "Everything will be Alright" being credited to only Andy on the Belgian radio. This song is on Fuzzy Warbles, Vol 2. Andy is listed as the artist for these albums because Colin wasn't interested in participating, and Colin didn't want the name XTC attached to any project that wasn't both of them. Colin does perform on some tracks, but all the songs are written by Andy. The 2 volumes of Fuzzy Warbles out so far are available at http://www.xtcidearecords.co.uk and www.amazon.co.uk .
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2003 20:23:05 -0800 (PST)
From: Wes Long <optimismsflames@yahoo.com>
Subject: Two Cool Bands & Thanks
Message-ID: <20030118042305.30923.qmail@web14912.mail.yahoo.com>
Hey kidz -
Two cool bands worth lookin' into -
Andy P turned me on to this band - he wants to sign
them to his label:
The Milk and Honey Band - ('A rare find - A diamond
amongst all that coal" - ANDY PARTRIDGE)
http://www.themilkandhoneyband.co.uk/
_____
The other band is from Dallas, called The Polyphonic
Spree: http://www.thepolyphonicspree.com/main.html
The website is *quite* nifty - and the band is a 27
piece pop orchestra. (sha-wing!) Every photo I've seen
of 'em finds 'em garbed in cult-like white robes.
There's a video of the single on this site:
http://www.megastar.co.uk/music/clips/polyphonic.html
Pretty damn cool stuff... Flaming Lips-ish, Super
Furry-ish, etc... quite dense and lovely.
_____
Lastly - like to thank everyone who has stopped by my
site, clicked on my eye and joined the OF's mail list.
I just sent the first mail out - with several "you
heard it first" notes on the band. Many thanks for
caring about the site and XTC!
Stay well my friends,
wesLONG
http://www.optimismsflames.com
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 16:16:42 +0100 From: art et affiche <art.affiche@wanadoo.fr> Subject: Wes, you make me depressss Message-ID: <3E2C12DA.B4EA966C@wanadoo.fr> The most disappointing thing of the month: About the Andy Partridge + Apples In Stereo project, our dear Wes Optimism Long wrote in digest #9-2: "Well, it's *supposed* to see the light of day - but Andy says that Rob Schneider (head Apple) is seriously dragging his feet on the project. The name of the band will most likely be Trombones Or (French for golden paperclips)... may or may not happen this year, all depends on Mr. Schneider." Oh dear... I had high expectations about this project, and was impatiently waiting to hear this album in 2003... Then my hope is seriously undermined. Why, oh why?? Those two seemed to getting rather well, if not, how could they manage to write nearly 40 song over the phone. So what happened? It's a cruel world (for the fans). Fortunately, I got my Warbles 1 & 2 to warm my heart. Did you noticed another example of "songwriting self-canibalism" in FW 2, with Ra Ra for red Rocking Horse"? Andy stole the notes of the "Despite the fact that not one backed him" line at the end of the chorus, and grafted them in the "Holly up on Poppy" chorus, on the last line, "Ride and play the alchemy that love performed, laughing". Find others examples. It's a funny little game to play! And Mr Sherwood, please, please, could you give us (especially us non english) some of your *very* appreciated comments on some of the lyrics of FW 1 or 2? Wonder Annual, or Born out of your Mouth, or Obscene Procession, or Young Marrieds, or or or... (hey stop here, Marie). Well I ask Harrison first because I was soooo delighted by your comments on some AV 1 songs! Your posts gave such a enlightenment on the lyrics, that it has truly increased the pleasure I had - and still have - in listening to these songs. But anyone here who fancy talking about Andy's lyrics is welcome to do it as well! I'd like that! Marie "Lo-Fi Fo Fum" Omnibus
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2003 12:53:14 -0800 From: "Richard" <rjpa1@attbi.com> Subject: A King For A Day Jen-U-Wine Update! Message-ID: <000601c2c18f$1e0dcc20$05081fac@verisity.com> All the tracks have been mastered to the same parameters and have finally been delivered to me. I am in the process of converting them all to MP3. When that is done it is a matter of assembling all of the files on the master CD and start burning copies. I am neck-deep in a foreign language recording project (a paying job) and cannot afford to spend much time on it (better phrased as "If I have to look at a CRT one more minute, I'll go blind!") but as time permits I am slogging through the tracks. I have received the printing from the printer (the biggest expense) and therefore my motivation is considerably higher due to the need to recover some costs. After so many delays, disasters, disappearing deliveries, deaths, divorce [these are words with "D" this time] and denial of various people involved (definitely including me), I refuse to announce the availability until I have made the master, tested it out, started dubbing copies and assembling packages (the tray cards were cut before they were folded and the printer cannot fold that short a piece after the cut - this is another time eater and tedious little project). So that is the status and all I will say is "soon, very soon." Cheers, Richard
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 20:56:07 -0500 (EST)
From: John Relph <relph@tmbg.org>
Subject: Best of 2001
Message-ID: <200301230156.h0N1u7rh018142@mtv-vpn-hw-relph.corp.sgi.com>
I don't have much to say about my favorite releases of last year, but
here's what little I do:
1. The Electric Soft Parade: Holes In The Wall
Far and away my fave from last year, I couldn't get this
one out of the player for months. It's a bit like
Radiohead used to be, but ... sillier?
2. Chomsky: Onward Quirky Soldiers
Early XTC meets, well, I don't know who. But this one is
filled with great clashing guitar lines and contrarhythmicity.
Best listened to LOUD.
3. Becki Di Gregorio: god's empty chair
Easy to listen to, even if the concepts are challenging.
I keep coming back to this one.
4. Mullally / Wegmann: The Mayfly Glimmer
Wegmann changed his tack from XTC/Beatles/Beach Boys
power pop to something more in the Peter Gabriel/King
Crimson vein, and it's still good. Better than ever, in
fact.
5. Johan: Pergola
A latecomer to the scene, courtesy Maurits Verhoeff.
This Dutch band has a nice freshness with an edge. Like
the Wannadies but not so much.
6. White Stripes: White Blood Cells
Ha ha ha, they make me laugh! And that's a good thing.
Stripped down, back to basics. And the killer kitty
video was pretty good, too.
7. Nickel Creek: This Side
Maybe this band was once bluegrass but when I saw them
they did Radiohead, Flaming Lips, Bob Dylan, and more.
All on (mostly) acoustic instruments. Nice kids, too.
8. Craig Armstrong: As If To Nothing
I like the darkness.
9. XTC: Coat of Many Cupboards
A mixed bag. Some amazing stuff. Some dreck.
10. Andy Partridge: Fuzzy Warbles Vols. 1 & 2
Together, these two CDs have about an album's worth of
great stuff. Leave out the demos of songs we've heard
and some of the meanderings and there's a really great
demo album hidden there.
Honorable mentions:
Cabin Fever: In The House
I play mandolin in the band, but I didn't think it was
fair voting for myself. Contact me if you want a copy.
Mitch Friedman: Fred
Stew: The Naked Dutch Painter And Other Songs
Blint: A Dream of Red Mansions
YMMV.
-- John
NP: The Orgone Box
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #9-5 *****************************
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