Chalkhills Digest Volume 8, Issue 44
Date: Sunday, 21 July 2002
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 8, Number 44
Sunday, 21 July 2002
Topics:
OT They Might Be Giants In Concert
Lips. Strings. Batt/Cage.
lips and lobos
Setting Sales
Burning for Finn
The Nines on line
Pavlov's Flaming Lips
Becki-lecka-hi-becka-chanee-ho!
RE: Flaming Lips primer
Ladies and Jellyfish
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2002 23:55:57 -0400 From: "Molly, the New Wave Queen" <mollyfa0000@worldnet.att.net> Subject: OT They Might Be Giants In Concert Message-ID: <000701c22e0f$07de6e00$d700590c@vogmudet> Organization: AT&T Worldnet I just wanted to let those Chalkhillians living in the Buffalo/Southern Ontario/Western NY area that on Thursday, August 22, the wonderfully fun band, They Might Be Giants will be playing a free concert at Lafayatte Square. The concert starts at 5:00pm, and They Might Be Giants probably will start performing around 7pm. They have two opening acts. I'm going, because I LOVE TMBG. Molly
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Jul 2002 03:03:00 -0000 From: <mojo@rice.edu> Subject: Lips. Strings. Batt/Cage. Message-ID: <200207180303.WAA08336@moe.rice.edu> <<while we are talking current album of the year, the Flaming Lips are releasing "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" on Tuesday the 16th. The press is already saying this album is fantastic and a strong contender for one of the years best. I enjoyed their previous album the "Soft Bulletin" and just picked up "hit to death in the future head". Any other Flaming Lips fans out there? What others should I look into?>> I believe that _Zaireeka_'s in print once again -- apparently 5000 copies wasn't enough. It is absolutely stunning, and if you liked _The Soft Bulletin_, _Zaireeka_ is a good bet. Of course, you need the 4 cd players to play it, first...I did try to mix the tracks together the best I could, but it just came out sounding muddy. _Yoshimi_ is terrific also; I've been listening to it for a few weeks now. I duly got in line on Tuesday and picked up my copy. I was mildly peeved that the Lips repaid my honesty and boosterism by leaving my favorite track, known as "Up Above the Daily Hum," off the finished product; it sounds for all the world like Stevie Wonder filtered through the _Pet Sounds_ orchestra. I wonder if there's anyone else on this list who's heard _The Soft Bulletin_ wondered "How much is all this costing, what with the massive Mahler-esque instrumentation, Floydian mixing and all?" Considering what reportage we got about Colin, Andy, and Mike Batt doing all the strings in a matter of days (hours, really), one should wonder that Warners could possibly make a profit on selling the Lips' records. But, as Bob Mould said when he was signed to Virgin, "Paula Abdul is paying for me to be on this label." And how about that Mike Batt/John Cage business, anyway? Marshall np Aphex Twin, _drukQs_ (Disc 1)
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Jul 2002 09:20:54 -0400 From: James Michael Isaacs <jmisaa00@uky.edu> Subject: lips and lobos Message-ID: <1026998454.b41a98e0jmisaa00@uky.edu> Thomas Vest, you sound like a fine fellow. I agree about Kiko, which has my favorite Lobos moment, "Wake up Delores." I haven't heard the new one yet, but it is almost a given that it is excellent, considering the source. I am also a Flaming Lips fan. Any album between "Hit to Death in the Future Head" and "Yoshimii" is excellent. That is a total of 3 albums- "Transmissions from the Satellite Heart", "Clouds Taste Metallic", and the weirdo classic "Zaireeka". If you can find Zaireeka, buy it immediately, as it is getting ever so rare. I think it usually goes for 50 on eBay, but the better record stores sometimes have it. To my knowledge, it had a limited run and is out of print. The new CD gives the impression that the Lips listened to a Kid A a lot. Very good. It has been a pretty good year for good new music, actually. It just seems it is not selling. James
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Jul 2002 08:37:45 -0700 (PDT) From: Todd Bernhardt <beat_town@yahoo.com> Subject: Setting Sales Message-ID: <20020718153745.88597.qmail@web14608.mail.yahoo.com> Hi: Tim Kendrick talked about the updated Twomey book, and said: > It also gives the numbers for sales in the US of AV1 & WS(AV2). AV1 > apparently sold 80,000 units in the US, WS(AV2) sold 60,000. Andy > was very surprised and disappointed by this. He's still under the > illusion that if you make great records, they'll sell fantastically > well. Nowadays if really seems to be the opposite. The worst albums > sell the best. Though I won't open the can of worms that Tim's last statement proffers, I do want to say a couple of things about the sales numbers of AV1 and WS. This isn't just about the bad taste of the U.S. music audience -- let's remember that XTC was out of the public eye between 1992 (when Nonsuch sold 300,000 copies in the U.S.) and 1999, and a funny thing happened during that time -- a network called the Internet suddenly caught on, along with peer-to-peer music-file sharing, and this permanently altered the earlier paradigm of music distribution. Let's also remember that XTC has always been an alternative band, one that has relied on the college charts and crowds for its sales in America. If a significant portion of your target audience is made up of college students, and you step away from music (never mind the reasons, I understand why they did it) for almost eight years, you're missing out on two demographic "cycles" (assuming a four-year turnover in your audience ... I know lots of students take longer, but go with me here), and missing the opportunity for your music to be passed on from older to newer students. Combine this with the fact that college students are among the principal users of P2P music-sharing programs, and your conventional sales -- i.e., sales distributed to retail outlets by a major label -- drop. Add to that the facts that the band doesn't tour, that independent radio in America has virtually died (see http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_clearc.html and many other sources out there for more info), and that the RIAA and Big Music Business are doing all they can to save their corporate butts and stifle competition from independent sources, and XTC needs to come up with a fresh business plan. The Internet can be a double-sided sword -- yes, the band can use the 'net to market directly to its audience, but as the above paragraphs show, the Internet can also detract from the conventional distribution and sales model ... *which is the only model that the band is used to dealing with, up to now.* I've been very encouraged by their activity on the 'net, and agree with Tim's point that the rabid fan base (that means us) needs to consider the Idea site as *the* primary source for XTC material, if we want to do all we can to support them. That said, the band also needs to continue to step up its activities and use the Internet for all it's (and its) worth. Interestingly, America is the only place where album sales dropped -- AV1 and WS both did very well in Europe and Japan, meeting expectations and selling more (I think) than Nonsuch did. Some fascinating grist for this mill was recently provided to me by fellow Chalkie and playboy millionaire Bob Crain. Check out Janis Ian's compelling argument in favor of Napster et. al. (and condemnation of The Biz) at: http://www.janisian.com/article-internet_debacle.html James Campell said: > BTW, Todd, great interview with Terry.......I hate you... ;^P Thanks, pal! :^* and: > btw, I thought after hearing "Mayor of Simpleton", oh I don't know, > maybe 10,000 times, I thought I knew every nook and cranny in that > track! But, has anyone every noticed the bass drum line that is > played? The detail on that song from every noisy contributor > in general is simply exhaustive.... I remember reading in an interview w/Pat Mastellotto that they recorded each component of the drum part of this song separately, rather than PM sitting and playing the kit as a drummer normally would. So, for example, first he played the hi-hat part, then the snare part, then the kick (bass drum), then toms, etc. Weird, eh? Thanks for the update on KfaD, Richard. Looking forward to hearing Becki's disc, Todd
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Jul 2002 05:00:00 -0400 (EDT) From: "" <radiosinmotion@iwon.com> Subject: Burning for Finn Message-ID: <20020718090000.C8B1E27C6E@email.iwon.com> >I owe some of ye a few discs, my burner and PC bit the >dust some months back, and I'm now able to burn once >more... contact me. > >Also... I'm very interested in getting some Neil Finn >boots, if anyone is interested in some swaps. > >Thanks, > >wesLONG I have "Neil Finn & Friends on DVD." It is about 2 hours and was a recent show that has been playing on Pay Per View. Eddie Vedder plays with him on a few songs along with Johnny Marr. Even Tim shows up! It's great, and was digitally recorded to a double DVD so there is 0 loss. They do a few oldies as well along with the new stuff. Let me know if you are interested in trading.
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2002 17:49:38 +0000 From: "bob tate" <bobtate70@hotmail.com> Subject: The Nines on line Message-ID: <F266lEqwdD8sMezIZYD00016bb6@hotmail.com> Just to answer Kevin's post: "Which reminds me, I *STILL* haven't found any albums by the Nines! Are all of these out of print in the U.S.? Were they ever available in the U.S.?" Not Lame actually has both the Nines' Wonderworld of Colorful and Properties of Sound albums in stock FINALLY. Also cdbaby.com has Properties of Sound in Stock. I empathize with you as I have also had some trouble in the past tracking down their albums. If you love XTC (which I think goes without saying) Jellyfish, Rundgren or Jason Falkner you will probably have a new favorite band. I saw these guys open for Jason Falkner in LA and they rocked. Now I am off to order the new Jellyfish boxset off Not Lame. Bob
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2002 09:14:45 -0700 From: "Thomas Vest" <tvtwo@hotmail.com> Subject: Pavlov's Flaming Lips Message-ID: <F66mcarcR4ZDgC81Tbd0001697c@hotmail.com> hello everyone i said in my last post that i was getting the new flaming lips. it is, without a doubt THE BEST ALBUM RELEASED TO DATE THIS YEAR! strong words, but you have to check it out. it's the album that radiohead have been struggling to make for years (more strong words). thomas ps> i looked at my previous post this morning when i received the email and i noticed that i used the word "salivating" twice in the same post. what the hell!?
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2002 17:08:00 -0400 From: <mitchf@mindspring.com> Subject: Becki-lecka-hi-becka-chanee-ho! Message-ID: <Springmail.0994.1027112880.0.14009000@webmail.atl.earthlink.net> I too would like to say that Becki diGregorio's new cd "God's Empty Chair" is filled with divinity. Gorgeous melodies, psychedelic palettes of friendly paisley rock, superb vocals and playing and Becki's patented wonderful disposition. The album is as sweet and charming and moving as Becki is in real life. Buy it!!!!!!!!! (I am in no way affiliated with Becki other than really, really liking her!) Mitch
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2002 15:45:49 -0700 From: "da9ve stovall" <da9ve@geek.com> Subject: RE: Flaming Lips primer Message-ID: <190702200.56748@webbox.com> >From: "Thomas Vest" <tvtwo@hotmail.com> > >If you like this cd you should also check out "Kiko"- which is >generally considered the best Los Lobos album released. My take on this is that, you should check out _Kiko_ no matter what. Just a beautiful album from top to bottom. >while we are talking current album of the year, the Flaming Lips are >releasing "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" on Tuesday the 16th. The press >is already saying this album is fantastic and a strong contender for one of >the years best. I enjoyed their previous album the "Soft Bulletin" and >just picked up "hit to death in the future head". Any other Flaming Lips >fans out there? What others should I look into? I'm a *huge* Flaming Lips fan - to the point that it's the band I'd most like to actually be a member of. Not that they're necessarily my favorite, but their music just makes me laugh and feel good. I just picked up _YBtPR_ yesterday and, after three or so spins, I say, it's damn good, but I'm not convinced that it's as good as _The Soft Bulletin_. _TSB_ caught me very off-guard when it came out, and I really didn't know what to think for a few listens. But, it sank in before long, and I contend that it's genius all the way through. _Yoshimi..._, well, there are a few songs that kinda try my patience: They're too similar to each other, and too, . . . I dunno, too sedate or too *even*. Generally, they're a bit on the quieter side, and there's a bit too much of that on the album for my taste. The other gripe - and not really a major one - is that the drums are verging into the territory of "just slightly too sequenced-sounding and too hip-hop-influenced in their production" for my taste. Not that they're totally sequenced sounding or violently hip-hoppy (y'know, the slightly too-busy and too-trebly and syncopated-just-so sound that's a bit too far forward in the mix), but one of the things I've loved about the Lips' music since Steve Drozd took over the drum chair is his John Bonham-crossed-with-a-bowling alley sound, and the fact that he conveys a dry sense of percussion humor. Don't ask me what the hell I mean by that - if you get it, you get it. That's still present on _Yoshimi..._, but even when it's there, the cymbals aren't allowed to decay all the way, the snare is gated as all hell, and there's a lot of extra snare work that should be subtle, brought way up front. It sounds a little out of place. Okay - that's all for the bitching - the album's really damn good. The high points for me are the loudest songs, including the instrumental "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, pt. 2" - which is right up there with the goofiest stuff they've done. If you like _hit to death..._, you'll also want _Transmissions from the Satellite Heart_, and probably _Clouds Taste Metallic_, and definitely _Oh My Gawd - it's the Flaming Lips!_, and also definitely _...Providing Needles for Your Balloons_, if you can find a copy. If _The Soft Bulletin_ is your preference, you definitely need _Zaireeka_ (the four-disc set, which is designed so that all four discs should/can be played simultaneously for transcendental effect; this set is BACK IN PRINT, so don't pay the big bucks for it on eBay before you find out how much it would cost in stores). There's an odds-and-sods collection whose exact title I can't recall right now (but that has "1984-1990" in the title), that might be a good road map for what early eras you'd like. The others - _In a Priest-Driven Ambulance_, _Telepathic Surgery_, and _Hear It Is_ don't float my boat nearly as consistently, but they've all got some interesting stuff on 'em. There are also a handful of EPs and singles with non-album stuff on 'em - if you can find the "Wastin' Pigs is Still Radical" one (contemporaneous with _hit to death..._) buy it! - and quite a few one-off appearances on various artists/tribute albums. da9ve NP - Pere Ubu _St. Arkansas_ - excellent!
------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Jul 2002 08:00:44 -0400 From: "Christopher R. Coolidge" <cauldron@together.net> Subject: Ladies and Jellyfish Message-ID: <B95EC92B.4F85%cauldron@together.net> on 7/17/02 8:05 PM, some low life wrote: > <"Since there has been some discussion about Jellyfish lately, I thought I'd > put this question to the forum : How good an album is Bellybutton?"> > > It is such an under-rated album. When it was released 12 years ago, most > people could not get past the goofy coolness and somewhat irritating > single/video for "the King is half-undressed". There is SUCH MELODY on this > cd. Their influences are are certainly worn on their sleeves (think Beatles > and Beach Boys) but not in a bad way. Sughosh, please run out and pick this > up. You will not be disappointed. > > <James Michael Isaacs and others have written about the greatness of Wilco's > Yankee Hotel Foxtrot>. My wife made a couple of unintentionally hilarious comments that demonstrates her blissful uncoolness about pop culture/music when I was giving Bellybutton a spin the other day; she asked "Who's this, Queen?" That was enough by itself, but she followed it by commenting that the lead singer sounded like a young Russell Hitchcock(of Air Supply). She meant that as a compliment. My wife...gotta love her.
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #8-44 ******************************
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