Subject: Re: a funny thing happened on the way to cyberspace...
Subject: Curve
Subject: Re: Death of 4ad?
Subject: I Review Elysian Fields
Subject: Re: rhp on tour with maids of gravity?
Subject: Re: mazzy stars in their eyes
Subject: UL CD up for grabs
Subject: Re: E.O.S.T / Lush
Subject: Re: rhp on tour with maids of gravity?
Date: Sat, 16 Nov 1996 01:25:37 -0500
In a message dated 96-11-15 09:17:05 EST, you write:
> > ...hmm...i've been stranded on a really desolate island over the past few
>
> >months...
>
> [assorted twee cutesy nonsense deleted]
>
> >...and the natives have assisted me in connecting with my
> >dearly departed 4ad-l...
>
>
> Mmm...flaky
pardon? i do so hope you are not calling me flaky..otherwise, i'll have to
put a curse on you...and that's just SUCH a hassle, what with the whole
karma thing and all....
toodles,
*k* official cutesy flake of the 4ad-l
Date: Sat, 16 Nov 1996 02:42:33 EST
Has anyone perchance heard the recent Curve single, "Pink Girl With the
Blues"? According to a recent Alternative Press, the duo reformed and
have released this single on Fat Lip Records (?). I'm curious...is it
hard to find? Is it worth hearing? Does it basically follow the same
Curve formula as all of their other records, or is it something new? And
what happened to Bud, the Toni Halliday/Pieter Nooten collaboration? (I
REALLY wanted to hear that...oh, and for all I know, this topic may be
old news to you guys, since it was announced when I wasn't a list
subscriber, so if this has already been run into the ground, I
apologize.)
---Jeremy
Date: Fri, 15 Nov 1996 13:27:00 -0500
star vein agrees with all this... scheer was o.k., but you can't like
everything. tarnation blow me away. hnia has an excellent pop album, the
way they should be made. where past dead can dance relied more on the dead
part of their name "spiritchaser" with its percussion and rhythm rely more
on it's dance part. heidi berry's latest is better than her 4AD debut, and
mojave three isn't all that different from pygmalion if you listen
closely. i love 4AD and am eagerly awaiting gusgus. i wish that 4AD would
sign a good noveau classical group. maybe someone like the rachel's or
anchorage or the balanescu quartet. anyway...
> > << On the never-ending "Death of 4AD" thread -- "excerpts from a Love
> Circus" was *very* nice, so if 4AD is, in fact, dead, then rigor mortis
> hasn't set in quite yet.) >>
>
> You make a very good point. All the people complaining have not pointed out
> great records this year--Lush, Mojave 3, His Name is Alive, Heidi Berry, and
> of course Dead Can Dance. I like every record emmensely from each band. I
> even like Scheer alot (does anyone remember Trompe le Monde?) And alsothe new
> Gus Gus is wonderful. One bad album does not kill a label unless everyone
> wants 4ad dead. I don't. As a whole, their new bands are great (Tarnation
> being one of my favorites). I think 4ad is still very alive and kicking.
>
> E
>
**************************** star vein ***********************************
**************************** http://www.science.wayne.edu/~jrenaud *******
**************************** [email protected] ***************
**************************************************************************
"since feeling is first who pays any attention to the syntax of things" **
***** e.e. cummings ******************************************************
**************************************************************************
**************************************************************************
Date: Fri, 15 Nov 1996 09:20:59 -0700
Elysian Fields
"Bleed Your Cedar"
Radioactive [US]
So I was at the local CD palace and tried out one of the listening
stations. First I quickly confirmed my hunch that the new Mazzy Star is
indeed cranked-out formula, deep in a rut. (Later on at home I dug out
"She Hangs Brightly" to remind myself how brilliant it is.) Then I
checked out Elysian Fields. Even through crappy headphones in a loud
store with bad indierawk blasting on the speakers, the first five seconds
of "Lady In the Lake" made all the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
And that was before Jennifer Charles started singing...
[Unfortunately the store didn't actually have any copies of the CD for
sale (go figger) so I had to trundle down to Tower yesterday to pick it
up.]
The reason I mentioned Mazzy Star above (other than to harsh on them
and start a flamewar) is that there are some definite similarites;
they've both got those sultry/weary female vocals and some solid
grounding in roots-rock. On the other hand, while M.S. have after their
first album been reduced to recycling endless roots and 60s-psych
cliches, E.F. put things together in some new and unexpected ways. The
aforementioned killer riff to "Lady In the Lake" is this low twangy
slightly-fuzzed guitar that really does remind me of the bass sounds on
Labradford's "A Stable Reference", and I'm not going to compare the two
bands any further except that there is an overall spooky reverby sound to
E.F. as well. A better comparison that keeps coming to mind is the
Lynch/Badalamenti projects, namely the "Twin Peaks" soundtrack and some
of Julee Cruise's stuff, although Elysian Fields rock a lot harder.
There's that Lynchian sense of beauty mixed with corruption and dread,
and a knowing use of icons of the past used in perverse ways, not just
worshipped as Roback/Sandoval do. The cover of an earlier EP indicates
that Elysian Fields are definitely up on the exotica/lounge scene as
well, although I think overall this album would tend to scare off dates
rather than get them into bed. There are also haunting passages where the
band drift into ambient-western (think Scenic) on "Off Or Out", or
spooky-jazz (think Bark Psychosis) on "Fountains On Fire" and "Parachute".
It's unfortunately an uneven album, and some of the songs ("Anything
You Like", "Sugarplum Arches") are pretty weak, flirting with the edge of
classic-rock. But most of the songs are excellent, and "Lady In the Lake"
is *stunning*, possibly my vote for song of the year. It really takes a
lot these days to get me interested in anything resembling roots-rock,
but Elysian Fields have managed it. It's a solidly thislisty album too --
I think the underlying vibe and mood are the same that resonate in a lot
of 4AD projects of all stripes, from This Mortal Coil to Heidi Berry to
Mojave3.
One last note: I recommend that you buy this. But when you get to the
store do not be put off by the tacky cover (head-shot of singer, in
cliche fuck-me pose). The back cover (dim blue image of trees in the
rain) is a lot more indicative. Fortunately after you buy it you can
reverse the booklet and have that picture in front too.
--Jens
Date: Sat, 16 Nov 1996 12:30:57 -0500
>Greetings...
>
> I'm going to the show in Atlanta, with HNIA. I assumed
>that the two
>were touring together, but I guess that's not the case. For those who
>have seen RHP live as of late, what have the sets been like? How long
>did they play? Did they mostly play new material or did they play
>older stuff as well? I don't have the most recent album, I've heard
>it, and thought it was okay but haven't picked it up yet-- so I'm
>hoping they play at least a good amount of old stuff. I seem to
>remember someone saying that they were kind of loud live, this seems
>odd to me-- I just don't picture them as being a loud band. Any
>comments? I'm really looking forward to seeing them, and HNIA. So I
>guess HNIA is going to play first and then RHP, right? Any help is
>greatly appreciated.
>
>Yours in Truth-
>Greyson Welch
I saw two RHP shows on their last headlining tour. And it was amazing!
THey played for almost three and a half hours at the first show I saw in
MInneapolis. The first two was with the band then Mark played solo for
almost an hour then the band got back up and played for another half hour.
Mark always seems to open with an acoustic solo song. In minneapolis it
was "Micheal" and the show I saw a week later in Boston he opened with
"Japanese to English." They didn't play as long in Boston but that was
only because the club owners made them stop... when RHP wouldn't the club
called the police on them and the cops made them stop!!! It was crazy....
MArk's a rebel. As for the volume of the show... It was ever changing some
songs were quiet but others(Make Like Paper, Strawberry Hill, Lord Kill the
Pain) were loud and heavy rockin!
They also did odd covers like Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper"
and Black Sabbaths "War Pigs!"
Oh... and there were 3 or 4 new songs!
Don't even think of missing the show!
Matt Walburn
Box #2179
Berklee College of Music
150 Massachusetts Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
email--> [email protected]
phone--> (617) 859-3936
"...wrapped in white sheets like an angel from a bedtime story."
Date: Sat, 16 Nov 1996 12:48:28 -0500
>They're certainly perfectionists, but I saw them at the Trocadero in
>Philadelphia shortly after the release of "So That..." and there
>wasn't so much fussing with equipment. They didn't do anything but
>stand there and play (in fact, Roback didn't even stand), but I found
>it more hypnotic that way -- it wouldn't really be germane for them to
>jump about and smash guitars, would it?
>
They DID play beautifully... but I thought it to be kind of sad that they
looked so bored and uninterested in the emotions that they are capable of
inducing... almost like they take it for granted...
Matt Walburn
Box #2179
Berklee College of Music
150 Massachusetts Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
email--> [email protected]
phone--> (617) 859-3936
"...wrapped in white sheets like an angel from a bedtime story."
Date: Sat, 16 Nov 1996 14:27:04 EST
I have an item to place on the block...
Underground Lovers
1. Looking for Rain
2. Lick the Boot
3. Wasted (Demo Version)
4. Round and Round (Original)
It was released by Shock (from Australia, I think, though it does not
say), catalog number Shock CD 706. It comes in a white cardboard sleeve
with absolutely no information on it other than the name of the band
hand-stamped in red. I bought it from Vinyl Ink, because it was
supposedly part of a very limited edition; I wish I could remember the
details, but it's been two years or so, and I've lost many a brain cell
since then (though I seem to remember reading that the stamping was done
by the band themselves, for what that's worth).
I don't know how it compares to their other stuff musically, since it's
the only thing I've heard by them. I only bought it because I knew they
had released the album on Guernica (back when I had the funding for such
endeavors), so I didn't know what I was getting, and was rather
disappointed.
If you're interested, e-mail me PRIVATELY with an offer. Trades are
nifty...and I could really use a CD of _Aikea-Guinea_, hint hint. ;G)
---Jeremy