Chalkhills Digest Volume 6, Issue 20
Date: Sunday, 30 January 2000
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 6, Number 20
Sunday, 30 January 2000
Today's Topics:
dominic lawson=anagram of shy macrame fashioner, give or take a vowel
Mr. Pleasant & Mr. Partridge
Re: Setting Cats Amongst Pigeons
Sky = Pep?
Pressure on Julian
Andy and the 'net
Attention (and lack thereof)
Pepper, and albums to while away the pre-AV2 hours
Too Many Cooks at the Rag & Bone Buffet
AV 2 Pony Canyon LE
An open letter to H.B. Sherwood
re: The Cleaners are back!!!!!!!
Massive Custard
End of the XTC as we know it, and I dont feel fine.
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Now that I can hear your song sounds cheap.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 29 Jan 2000 00:14:42 -0000 Message-ID: <20000129001442.15343.qmail@musone.chek.com> From: "Murgatroyd Llewellyn" <murgatroyd.llewellyn@scotland.com> Subject: dominic lawson=anagram of shy macrame fashioner, give or take a vowel dear dom, i'm just after sending off mail to yer man padraigh, mentioning a.o. that fritz ate a large portion of the front foor tonight, more to test its durability than for personal pleasure, but still. i also specified that a team of free-lance investigators from casterbridge are looking into the matter, and that he (fritz) is scheduled to regain consciousness on the 30th of february. there is a good possibility that he (padraigh) will not believe the bit about fritz eating the front door, but then again, are there not teeth marks on the most exotic objects these days? is a front door unworthy of consumption? also, jesus (of christ fame, you may have heard of him) told me the other day that he is in the market for a ford edsel in pristine condition. if you have any contacts, let me know. his dad will be ever so pleased, especially since the kid ran the family wood-panelled oldsmobile into a group of tamil separationists. it's not the monetary value, of course, but the hassle. try peeling a tamil separationist off your windscreen one of these days and you'll know what i mean. anyway, cousin mervyn says hi, and he's glad you won't wear that awful panther-patterned tutu to this year's mind-readers' convention. yours depreciatingly, murgatroyd maclovenotwar (a subsidiary of time-warner) ***the above was sent on a borrowed portable with a USB interface for martini cocktails*** XTC content: nice band, eh?
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 19:17:57 +0000 From: Scott Barnard <gforsche@videotron.ca> Subject: Mr. Pleasant & Mr. Partridge Message-id: <000701bf69c4$62f51a80$9b3dc918@oemcomputer.videotron.ca> In Chalkhills #6-18 Stephen Mahoney humbly requests: >How about a comparison between a Kinks album and XTC?< How about three? "Face to Face" = "Black Sea". Good songwriter finds muse and becomes fantastic songwriter while retaining groundbreaking guitar sound which had hitherto been the band's bread and butter. "The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society" = "English Settlement". Increasingly unbalanced leader turns back on Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle and crafts semi-pastoral, introspective, absolutely f*cking brilliant masterpiece. "Muswell Hillbilles" = "Mummer". Draw your own conclusions. S.
------------------------------ Message-ID: <20000129011851.77133.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Duncan Kimball" <dunks58@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: Setting Cats Amongst Pigeons Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 17:18:51 PST >From: JStrole@aol.com >Subject: It's 1929 again and we are jumping >out of windows >Dunks, thanks for pointing this out. "Why >is this important?" You may ask >as XTC fans. Well, XTC have the distinction of being on an independent >record label. You will begin to notice at your local record store, that >independent labels will be harder to find. You have already noticed that >there are fewer independent record store (i.e. Mom & Pop stores). After >all HMV & Tower have everything, right? Already, the company I work for is >now absorbing an 80% return rate-80%. It will only get worse as these four >major labels decide how you will buy your recordings over the internet. >Which is precisely why they throw fodder like these boy & girl bands at us. >Simple, disposable, who needs a record cover, just down load it on to you >MP3 player and when you're sick of it, put someone else on. You see this >is leading somewhere isn't it. I'm sorry if this sounds paranoid, "but >I've already been poisoned by this industry." > >Harry You too huh? (80% return rate?? Ye gods). Well at least I'm not the only one who sees this trend as being sinister, scary and downright dangerous. If I seem a little paranoid, perhaps it's because I'm currently in the midst of revisiting Daniel Yergin's mega-masterpiece "The Prize", his Pulitzer-winning history of the oil industry. History repeats itself and we just stand idly by and let the big-business totalitarians annexe one corporate "country" after another ... and the legislators seem powerless to stop this flagrant monopolisation. **** XTC relevance? I was watching TV last night and saw an ad for a new BBC natural history which premieres here tonight. Prominent among the images was a spectacular aerial shot of the Uffington Horse. Quite a sight from the air. **** In semi-serious mode (for a change) I concede several of the points Dom made about the charts. I do think personally that (from what I've seen) the current state of chart music in the UK and the US is pretty dire, by comparison to when I was a kid anyway - although I must parry (from memory) Dom's left-hook about bands like Korn and Live being played widely. The situation here is rather different ... I have resort to a bit of history to explain - here in Oz we have one signal advantage over most other countries. It's called Triple J. In 1975 our then Labor gov't broke new ground by licencing a slew of community stations AND a new youth-oriented station here in Sydney called 2JJ (or Double Jay, as it became known). Although it was only in one city, it was HUGE breakthrough and a major kick in the arse to the oligopoly of the commercials, who by then had contracted into a ruthlessly tight Top 40 regime. A maverick from the very outset, even 2JJ's first broadcast was controversial - the first track they played was "You Just Like Me Cos I'm Good In Bed" by Aussie band Skyhooks, from their 1974 debut LP "Living in the 70s" - which had become the biggest selling local LP ever to that time, despite six of its ten tracks getting banned by commercial radio! Most importantly, it was part of the ABC (our BBC) and so was one of the few stations in the world to have 24-hour, commercial-free rock programming. And in the first few years beleive me they played WHATEVER they wanted. I well remember the late great George "Groover" Wayne (an ex-commercial DJ) playing brackets of 30-40 minutes or more, with no breaks at all, and about 90% was stuff you'd never heard before. It was here that I first heard The Sex Pistols, XTC, Magazine, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, The Clash, Bob Marley, Graham Parker & The Rumour, Da Ramones, Talking Heads, Television, and so much more. They had a long-running show on Sundays called "The Dogs of Babylon" - two hours of hardcore Jamaican dub! ANYTHING could happen, and usually did. Police were called to the station on more than one occasion. They have also been staunch supporters of live music, promoting concerts and broadcasting live-to-air gigs. It struggled for several years, although it's impact was huge, especially here in Sydney. It became Triple J on the FM band in 1980, and was (and still is) the defacto test-bed for new material for commercial radio, who listened slavishly and picked up on lots of stuff that they otherwise would never have programmed, had it not become popular on JJJ. Eventually, in the late 80s and early 90s it's original plan was finally fulfilled and it was expanded to become a national network. Since then it's become markedly more conservative than in its wild youth, but it still shits all over commerical radio. The point? Well every January since 1989, they've run the "Hottest 100". It started of as the Hottest 100 Of All Time, but now listeners vote for their favourite songs of the past year. If you want to get a taste of what Australians liked best from JJJ's playlist last year, go to: http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hottest100/history/1999.htm You'll note, Darling Dom, that the Triple J Top 100 features LOTS of stonkin' Aussie talent like silverchair, Powderfinger, Regurgitator and Spiderbait (most of whom, sadly, don't much of a run outside Australia), and o/s groups like like Metallica, Rammstein and Nine Inch Nails. The Top 20 includes Rage Against The Machine, Limp Bizkit, and two - count 'em - TWO tracks by Korn, who seem to be pretty well-liked around this monor, squire (god knows why?). Not exactly Top of the Pops, is it? *** Finally, I hope Chalkers will indulge me some more if I take a moment to reply to Olaf ... >From: Olof Hellman <hellman@ksan.ms.nwu.edu> >Subject: Re: Apple Venus Computer > >Dunks, in a major loss of mental capacity, wrote: Ouch! (actually, you can't possibly hurt me more than Dom already has. I have no pride left now) >Apple bashing was fashionable two or three years ago when the stock >was cheap. Since Apple stock has appreciated ninefold, Apple-bashers >are just considered Rod Stewarts (last year's trash). Actually I'm not Apple-bashing, per se. As I explained to Bill Loring off-list, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Mac Addict and I'm writing this on a Mac. Mac was and is the superior platform. >Microsoft owns about 5 percent of Apple, and has made a pretax paper >profit of $US 900 million since purchasing >a small piece of the >company 2 1/2 years ago. Meanwhile Apple's market cap is up by about >18 Billion. If you think that's "taking it up the bum", then yours must be >a fairly green >posterior. >Steve Jobs has headed Apple's turnaround >but hasn't accepted a penny of >compensation until the 100 million Gulf >Stream and some stock >options: from the Apple investor's point of >view, this is a bargain. Well, what a hero ... NOT! What can I say - I'm an old leftie, from Puritan stock. I find something innately distasteful and suspicious about the whole affair. Jobs is estimated to be worth something in the region of US$1.4 billion, is a major shareholder in the hugely successful Pixar Animation studios, and ranked #12 in the 1998/99 Forbes Technology 100. I hardly think he "deserves" a gratuity supposedly worth around US$40 million. The fact that he supposedly only takes $1/annum is neither here nor there. I have no interest in the performance of Apple stock, but Jobs clearly does since he has lots of stock and has been given lost more. His re-appearance at Apple was apparently deemed crucial by the market. "Why?" is another question entirely. To suggest a possible answer, I'll note a few facts about our "hero". I'll pass over any detailed exploration of Jobs' famous/notorious personal style, other than to note the famous adage that he generates a "reality distortion field" around himself, is reputedly brash, arrogant, rude, and a bully, pushes employees way beyond what any boss should reasonably ask, has no problem with making totally unethical demands on staff and has consistently acted in what is, prima facie, a capricious and dictatorial manner throughout his career. Re: the Apple revival, I would contend that Steve's "phoenix act" coincided all too neatly with: - the Mirosoft/Gates' buy-in - the suspiciously low-key end to a long running and potentially crucial stoush - Microsoft's alleged theft of Apple intellectual property for the creation of the Windows interface - a problem settled out of court, for an undisclosed sum, within weeks of Jobs' return - Jobs' remarkable about-face in his public statements about Gates and Microsoft. Given his earlier virulent opposition to the Big M and his well-known personal antipathy towards Gates, one has to question whether this is mere coincidence - his apparent hero's welcome from an Apple board who were only too happy to see the back of him during the 80s, when they felt that his attitiude and approach was having a bad effect on their business. He was, in no uncertain terms kicked out. - the demise of the unfortunate Gil Amelio, credited by many for being the *real* architect of the Apple turnaround. It's matter of record that his after his arrrival, Apple posted their first profit after three successive and crushing loss-making quarters. Many - including me - contend that Jobs has to a greater or lesser extent ridden to his percieved success on the back of the hard yards made by Ameilio, who did the dirty work and was then sent packing with a comparitively paltry $7 million "golden handshake" - peanuts compared to the gratf they have just proffered to Jobs - the Apple buyout of Jobs' spectacularly ill-fated NeXT venture - for which he was aZt one stage taken to court by Apple - and which reportedly flushed some $250 million down the can for almost no sigificant result. The only major outcome was the NeXTStep software, which was folded into Apple's equally ill-fated, but potentially Windows-killing 'Rhapsody' cross-platform O/S. Oddly enough, the reurn of the Prodigal Steve *and* the Microsoft buy-in coincided with Rhapsody being quietly put away on a hard-to-reach shelf, in favour of the significantly less troublesome OS-X. >I'd like to nominate someone else for the major arsehole hat, but I won't >name names. Oh don't be so coy! Dunks
------------------------------
Message-ID: <20000129022814.21574.qmail@www0v.netaddress.usa.net>
Date: 28 Jan 00 18:28:14 PST
From: vee tube <veetube@netscape.net>
Subject: Sky = Pep?
I'm still trying to fathom the Q?
Please help! Do those of you who think Sky = Pep.
Think 'Pep' is the most 'Hep' of the F4?
Do you think 'Pep' changed music forever?
If so. I don't think 'Sky' "fills the bill"
Do you think 'Pep' is the ultimate Beatles album?
I would disagree but,and, here's the rub,Butt.
We can talk about the best Beatles album of all time
but,we (butts) can't talk about the best XTC album of
all time because...
...All together now!...
...THEY'RE NOT DONE YET!
}---:)
* ------------------------------------
"If wishes were wings, We'd of all
flown away by now."
??? '99
------------------------------
From: WWi8064839@aol.com
Message-ID: <7e.73588c.25c3b9b8@aol.com>
Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 22:34:16 EST
Subject: Pressure on Julian
>Has anybody looked to see if Julian Cope mentions it in his book "Modern
>Antiquarian"?
Nope, I haven't. But...
Julian Cope...wow...what a coincidence! I'm prompted to write to the
Chalkhills list after a long absence. I'm sorry that I don't have anything to
say about XTC per se.
I'm taking art classes (creating collages, figure drawing), am busy around
the apartment, and have been cleaning this place and recently rediscovered
FLOORED GENIUS: THE BEST OF JULIAN COPE AND THE TEARDROP EXPLODES. Luckily, I
also found "Kilimanjaro" and "My Nation Underground" (which I think is a
reference to the deceased - buried under the ground - as opposed to a
counterculture movement of some sort). These three are all I have. Never did
get "Peggy Suicide" or any others. Should I?
I've been playing FLOORED constantly. I heartily recommend this CD to anyone
reading who loves pop music. You can play it from beginning to end and not
get bored in the least - such is the variety. I've always been fond of 1960s
mod-pop-soul inspired music, and the allusions are there, along with Cope's
poignant, sometimes darkly humorous lyrics and Bowie-esque delivery. Favorite
tracks that do not wear on me at all with repreated playings: Passionate
Friend, World Shut Your Mouth, The Greatness and Perfection of Love (very
Martin Newell-like), Bouncing Baby, Charlotte Ann, China Doll ("You're gonna
wake up in the morning, with a crowd 'round your bed.")
I really, really "dig" (sorry!) the sound of the guitar on these tracks -
crisp, with just the right amount of distortion. Who is this tasteful guitar
soloist, anyway? I can't tell from the liner notes. If anyone knows, send me
e-mail. Does the guitarist have solo/other work out?
Ah, February 1...new Michael Penn. Wasn't lucky enough to score tix to the
Aimee Mann/Penn show at the Sommervile Theatre. And gosh, I've gotta get
Third Eye Blind's new CD single. It's just criminally catchy.
Again, sorry for the lack of specific XTC content, but maybe I've given
people some new music to seek out, eh?
"You can watch rabbit, he turn into a cereal/Yeah, just like a cartoon by
AAP."
Wes Wilson
------------------------------ From: Jdmack01@aol.com Message-ID: <54.dbaa78.25c3c05a@aol.com> Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 23:02:34 EST Subject: Andy and the 'net In a message dated 01/28/2000 9:05:26 PM Eastern Standard Time, Mark S. wrote: > IMHO the Net could be the perfect vehicle for _anything_ a brilliant > multi-talented mind like Andy could come up with. And it could also > be _the_ way to cut out the business middle men that turn music > into product. Now why doesn't he see that? I've never met Andy, so I don't really have the right to analyze his head, but.... If history is any indicator, once Andy has made a pronouncement on something, all the evidence in the world to the contrary, and all of the conjoling possible from concerned parties, won't make him change his mind. The only possible way to get Andy interested in the 'net is to somehow deny it to him, as a form of reverse psychology. Think about how the Thomas Dolby ruse almost got him back on the road. J. D.
------------------------------ From: Melsta@aol.com Message-ID: <31.853875.25c3c196@aol.com> Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 23:07:50 EST Subject: Attention (and lack thereof) Hey Chalkers-- Been waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy behind, still playing catch-up, but HAD to respond to the below: > From: Bob Estus <bestus@intergate.sonyinteractive.com> > Subject: paying attention > > Pumpkinheads, > > Can anyone else here confess of an XTC induced absent mindedness? Bob, you are not alone. I have what I hope to be the WORST example of this. It wasn't even listening to XTC that caused this, but it was very XTC related. Just as I was leaving work one day the DJ said they were about to give away something (I didn't catch what) by XTC. This was several years ago - there was no new product, but I wanted to win anyway. So I'm driving home, trying to keep an eye out for pay phones, I pull in to get gas and turn the radio up while I'm pumping, and I'm generally so intent on winning this stupid whatever it is that when I pull out of said gas station, I fail to see the car that comes and hits me. In my defense, it was a very complicated turn I was trying to make, and people in one were letting me go while the person who hit me was in the next lane over and traffic was real heavy and, and . . . Anyway, I'm on medication for my ADD now and it was just a dumb Beeswax that I missed anyway and I work at home now so I don't have to get in accidents going to and from work. All my accidents are going up and down the stairs with the cats zigzagging around my ankles. --Melissa "plus there was that nasty incident when a large dictionary fell on my head" Reaves
------------------------------ Message-ID: <200001282338270380.08E6C662@mail.accucon.com> Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 23:38:27 -0500 From: "Michael Otero" <motero@accucon.com> Subject: Pepper, and albums to while away the pre-AV2 hours Greetings from Melbourne, Florida (ah, the OTHER Melbourne...). Here I go de-lurking again... I did so in the 1900's, and, well... Martin Monkman did a fine job, I thought, in rising to the challenge of matching songs to those on Pepper. But I really enjoyed Tyler Hewitt's explanation of the meaning of all those clues on albums... Oh, and hi, Gwen! Now, as to which album might be considered XTC's Sgt. Pepper. I've always described English Settlement to XTC newbies as their Sgt. Pepper. I think of it in that way because it was a real *studio* album, not something to be performed live. It's ambitious as hell, and succeeds beyond all expectation, to my ears. It marks a change from, I don't know, a fine rock band to artists staking out a much larger musical turf. Funny thing is, I've often skipped side 4 (Fly On The Wall - Down In The Cockpit - English Roundabout - Snowman). I like it, but the first three sides blow me away, even now. I'm not as up on my timeline as perhaps I ought to be, they did some live shows after English Settlement, didn't they? My comparison would be more apt if they stopped before that, but I don't recall... Maybe Skylarking can be Abbey Road: a medly side, a song side, and (too?) perfect production... but fortunately, not a last hurrah. One can take these comparisons only so far... What are you listening to as you pace around waiting for AV2? I've been playing lots of vinyl lately, rediscovering lots of old friends. Aside from concert prep music (Pretenders: seeing them Monday, and Springsteen: trying for tickets tomorrow), here's some album suggestions to pass the time 'til the electric peacock arrives: Badfinger - Straight Up: "Day After Day," "Baby Blue," "Perfection"... fine songs which transport me to the winter of '70-'71, playing this LP on a shitty little stereo, over and over. It's aged well, methinks (the album, not the stereo). Spirit - The 12 Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus: play it LOUD! Or use headphones... better still, play it loud(ly) on headphones! (OK, so I don't take proper care of my ears. Sorry.) The Strawbs - Deep Cuts: I remember the first time I heard it. Scott Muni on WNEW-FM in New York, during his "Things From England" segment. Wow then, and wow now. The whole album still sounds wonderful to me, and "Simple Visions" can still make me cry. The Busboys - Minimum Wage Rock And Roll: I'd forgotten how much I like this one. The lyrics are lame in places, but I forgive them. The album rocks. The Clash - Sandinista: LOUDER! LOUDER! I didn't think there was any way to top London Calling, but there was, and this was it. From the opening of "The Magnificent Seven" on, they make it known they'll be taking no prisoners. I mean, this is an album with great big balls, working totally without a net... Magnificent, indeed. (I picked up Strummer's Rock Art And The X-Ray Style lately. I like it, but... I got the Clash Live From Here To Eternity on the same day...) Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - Southern Accents: as a New York refugee in Florida, the title cut is what let me know I'd become a Floridian. With Dave Stewart's help, a most ambitious TP work (though I'm STILL a bit burned out on "Don't Come Around Here No More," damn MTV...) Dire Straits: Making Movies: absolute masterpiece. 'Nuff said. Rickie Lee Jones - Pirates: God, I love her. That voice, those lyrics... With my luck, though, the day she shows up at my door to tell me she loves me, Chrissie Hynde will be there, too. I guess I'll just cross that bridge then... Nektar - Remember The Future: I wish someone would remaster this; the LP sound sucks. Another case of semi-lame lyrics, if well-intentioned. But wonderful music and singing. Anyone know this one besides me? Squeeze - Babylon And On: another case of forgetting how much I enjoyed it. And playing the album reminded me of the concert of theirs I saw around that time. Too many brain cells giving up the ghost too soon, CRS disorder rears its ugly head, but thank goodness there's alll this music to remind me of all the stuff I've forgotten. Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of Life: another perfectionist delivers after countless delays, and well worth the wait. Anyway, that's what's spinning here... what about at your place? Take care, and peace. Mike Otero
------------------------------ Message-ID: <20000129062738.7675.qmail@web1302.mail.yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 22:27:38 -0800 (PST) From: Molly Fanton <mfanton99@yahoo.com> Subject: Too Many Cooks at the Rag & Bone Buffet I just got Rag & Bone Buffet on CD a couple of days ago, and let me say there are some interesting songs on here. I know some of you don't like this song, but I like, "Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen" (I hope I got it correct) This is just a fun song to dance around my apartment. So what if the neighbors think I'm mad, it's a good stress reliever. I wish they didn't put the Christmas songs on it, especially the disco sounding one (can't remember the name, brain is half asleep). It's an awful song. I have to skip it when it comes on. Not XTC related, but I discovered something wonderful, The Drew Carey Show soundtrack. Okay flame away, but there are a lot of great jems on here like Lust for Life by Iggy Pop and both versions of Cleveland Rocks (one from Presidents of the USA and the original sung by Ian Hunter). This whole album just makes me want to go competely mad. Molly Molly's Pages http://www.angelfire.com/mn/mollyfa99/index.html
------------------------------ Message-ID: <004e01bf6a3d$8fa88ac0$7b5791d2@johnboud> From: "John Boudreau" <aso1@mocha.ocn.ne.jp> Subject: AV 2 Pony Canyon LE Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2000 18:06:52 +0900 Hi all , Once again - this time for Apple Venus # * 2 * - I offer to procure the Pony Canyon Ltd. Edition version for anybody out there in Chalkland who wishes to add it to their collection . At the current yen rate , the CD will cost $ 25 , and the postage will be approximately $ 7 . I must place my order by February 6th so let me know as soon as possible . Release date is March 28th. Cheers , Sushiman John
------------------------------ Date: 29 Jan 2000 11:40:15 -0000 Message-ID: <20000129114015.14192.qmail@musone.chek.com> From: "Murgatroyd Llewellyn" <murgatroyd.llewellyn@scotland.com> Subject: An open letter to H.B. Sherwood Dear Miss Sherwood, I was shocked after reading your fickle tractate regarding Partridge's "Shaving Brush Boogie". The incredible legerete of your statements left me utterly shaken and profoundly pensive regarding your integrity. What convoluted thought or, as I truly hope, disturbed etat d'ame, can produce the revolting image of Partridge engaging in sexual activity of the very worst kind? I should like to remind you of the fact that in England's "West Country", as you lightly choose to call it (in itself an apallingly directionist pejorative), all copulation has been virtually eradicated since 1924 (The Sex Act, art. XXIV, p. LIX). Any allusion to unlawful behaviour would therefore have grave consequences for those mentioned in your poor epistle. Murgatroyd Llewellyn p.s. Your place or mine?
------------------------------ Message-ID: <38930FFB.234E@schoollink.net> Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2000 08:06:19 -0800 From: dan phipps <phipps@schoollink.net> Organization: cic Subject: re: The Cleaners are back!!!!!!! in chalkhills 6_19, came the following from the very informative travis schulz -- > Hi y'all! I'm on the Martin Newell news list and > wanted to share some incredibly great news for Newell > fans. Martin and the Cleaners From Venus are working > on a new album! Should be out by autumn. This word > from Paul (the mastermind of THE WILDMAN FROM WIVENHOE > which I strongly suggest you check out!) and also > confirmed by Joachim at Jarmusic in Germany. Life is > good! thanx for the tip-off, travis!! i, too, am an avid fan of marty's activities (both passive and aggressive). been looking forward to some- thing new from him for quite some time now and, now, thanks to you, the wait is getting shorter and shorter, eh? good enough then... you also recommended the crazy read "the wildman from wivenhoe." i, too, strongly urge anyone out there who's into "major quirky works" to also check out marty's other tomes of wisdom: under milk float poetic license -- the best of 1990-1996 i hank marvinned... the illegible batchelor oh yeah!! old marty's got some cool damned albums out, too, all. BROTHERHOOD OF LIZARDS, THE: "Lizardland" CLEANERS FROM VENUS, THE -- "Back From The Cleaners" (best of...Vol. 2) "Golden Cleaners" (best of) "Number 13" "In The Golden Autumn" "Midnight Cleaners" "Living With Victoria Grey" NEWELL, MARTIN / ANDY PARTRIDGE: "The Greatest Living Englishman" NEWELL, MARTIN -- "Let's Kiosk!" (maxi-single) "The Off White Album" "Live at the Greyhound" (poetry-reading) "Songs For A Fallow Land" "The April Fool" "The Wayward Genius of..." (best of) "Two For The Winter" (single) so you see, the man's about as prolific as mr. partridge, don't ya' think? and believe me, people, *all* of these releases are masterpieces in themselves!!!!! as hunter s. thompson says, "trust me, i know these things." marty rules!!!!! :-D thanx again for the tip-off, travis! will be eager to hear this new one from another master of *wordery* and songcraft! marty is indeed a "wildman..." waiting for av2 and warbles that are fuzzy -- -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ //dan & ginger phipps <phipps@schoollink.net> "when you're stoned on spirit, you have no other needs...working with the purest light within you." (steve hillage) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
------------------------------ Message-ID: <ka7QoJA1Jvk4Ews5@emdac.demon.co.uk> Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2000 14:00:21 +0000 From: Phil Hetherington <phil@emdac.demon.co.uk> Subject: Massive Custard Long time no post... I've got 69 unread Chalkhills sitting in the pending tray, which may go some way to explain this (can't bring myself to just delete them, obviously). Anyway, the news is that the new (and probably last) Shriekback album, "Naked Apes & Pond Life", should be released sometime in February in the UK, Australia & New Zealand. At the moment there is no deal for the US or elsewhere. I've put a picture of the cover, a full track list and some samples up on the Shriekback page - address below. What this means is, of course, that I've heard it... my favourite tracks are probably 'Hostage', 'unSONG' and 'Everything's On Fire', which just happen to be the three I've done samples of... enjoy. There are quite a few instrumental noodlings interspersing the songs, and to be honest, some of them work better than others. 'Massive Custard' and 'Baby Lion' are great, some of the others I'm still undecided about. Anyway, it's been worth the wait. Hopefully next week (with Mr. Relph's permission of course) I'll post my 'best of 99'... you have been warned... Cheers, Phil -- _ |_) |_ * | Me: http://www.emdac.demon.co.uk/phil/ | | ) | | Then for Shriekback add: shrkindx.html =========== Or for Gang Of Four: gof/gof_indx.html
------------------------------ Message-ID: <002b01bf6a6a$cb3b4500$0200a8c0@digitalpc> From: "Digitalmaster" <digitalmaster@earthlink.net> Subject: End of the XTC as we know it, and I dont feel fine. Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2000 07:09:08 -0800 I received the following response from someone and I ended up digging into some hidden feelings about XTC that I have had stuffed deep down for a while. I decided to "spill the beans" about my fear of the future of XTC. Here goes: Jamie said: Two thumbs up from my end. I think a reconciliation would be very much welcome. But alas, human nature doesn't give it much of a chance.<<< And so what did I say?: I know, but we can only hope for such a thing. I am just scared that they are going to completely break up soon. Think about it, there is only 2 of them left now. When you have more people in a group, there is more pressure to stay together because there are other people who make the decisions. Andy already has this old man complex from what I hear. He and Collin could just say "Screw it, lets just sit in our sheds and give up making music." Though I doubt they would completely give up music, I do feel something like this is very likely to happen; that is unless something changes in the groups direction. I loved Apple Venus. In fact, I listen to it more than any CD right now, which is something that most of us here can say, or we would not be reading this right now, right? However, for most people, Apple Venus was not something they could fully comprehend. It was "old people music" to most teens I'm sure. Remember being a teenager listening to XTC (assuming you are between 24-30 Years old)? Can you remember why you listened to them? What made you go out and buy "Drums and Wires", "English Settlement", "Skylarking" or "Oranges & Lemons" (I first got into them in the Skylarking era, but my first album was "D&W") Now, go back in time (mentally), close your eyes and imagine being 13, or even 16, and liking AV1? Be honest. No matter how much we love Apple Venus, we would probably not have bought AV1 and XTC would have not have made it this far. I hope I am making sense to some of you... I am not saying XTC should compromise and do a song with the backstreet boys or anything. I don't think they should trade in their sophisticated style and do a Hip-Hop remix of Dear God (which would not be so bad, though it was actually done. The group who did the remake "Shorty's Groove" did it from a religious standpoint though, which is not the direction I think Andy was taking the song." I just think Andy & Collin should remember what got them the fans in the first place and stop doing "Andy & Collin as XTC" albums They could do 10 AV's for all I care, I would buy everyone and probably love every one of them. However, another version of the same cover, with the same "Apple Venus" title is going to confuse the average listener even more and totally isolate the group. They will receive poor sales because people will see "Apple Venus 1," "Apple Venus 2," and "Homespun." (I even read somewhere on a previous post that they were making a Demo album of AV2!). This will confuse the hell out of the average consumer! They will not know which to buy and it will leave them so dumbfounded that they will pass and purchase something easier to consume. Really, when you think about it, this is already happening. Homespun should have included something more than the exact same songs. It should have had more demos or something because it left nothing that we could not have got off the internet from (very nice and friendly) people who copy demo's for trade. The newbies wont know what to get and will wont get anything at all. XTC is doomed if you ask me. They need another "King For A Day", "Mayor of Simpleton" "Dear God" or "Senses Working Overtime." I am not saying I am bored of XTC, but then again, I am 27, and am probably in the smallest market for music sales. I remember being 16 and somehow scrapping enough money up to always have the latest CD. 16 year olds are the music buyers, not us. XTC is now making music for themselves. Though I love the music with a passion, the youngin's wont feel the same I'm sure. They will move over to something easier to handle. If XTC were to incorporate their strengths to make some of their catchy new wave pop songs we have grown to love, they could change the very downward direction music is going. I believe they are a good enough band to re-arrange the charts. Grunge, Rap/Punk/Ska Hybrids, and "wanna-be" R&B groups just aint cuttin it for me. With the so called "80's revival" coming on, I say they get together with the other members (if willing) and make the music that caught our attention in the first place. Speaking of all this, remember those commercials: "Hey man, is that freedom rock? "Yeah man!" "Well turn it up man!" That was in the mid 80's. God, that was 15 years ago or so when we had the "60's revival." I don't want XTC to be one of those bands that is remembered for their early stuff. I want them remembered from their classics from 1979, 1989, 1999, and 2009. That's all folks... Sorry to strain your eyes.
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #6-20 ******************************
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30 January 2000 / Feedback