Re: criminally underappreciated albums of the '90s
I could go on and on with this thread, but there's one that pops right to mind for me: Joe Henry's "Trampoline". This was generally written off when it came out, but I was taken by it (and still am). There was something about the whole feel of the record, both sonically and lyrically, that I couldn't shake. I find it to be head and shoulders above any of his other work (including the new "Fuse", although it has its moments). Another might be Neil Young's "Sleeps With Angels" . . . I thought it was one hell of a record; it kind of went back to the crazed feel of the "Beach"/"Fades Away" period, but updated. A far, far better record than "Mirror Ball", "Broken Arrow", "Harvest Moon", and on most days "Freedom". John -Original Message- From: Jacob London [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: passenger side [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Thursday, April 15, 1999 11:45 PM Subject: criminally underappreciated albums of the '90s Well, I was laying in bed last night struggling to fall asleep when it dawned on me that this would be a good thread to throw out to the list, given that the '90s are almost over, and people on this listserve seem to love making lists. What are the 5 most criminally underappreciated albums of the '90s? I know you folks won't let me down. I don't care about genre, although if you want to list five in each genre you can think of that's cool too. Be creative. Go year by year if you want. If you've got picks for the 5 most criminally underappreciated albums of '99 include those too. A plain list seems fine to me. But if you're inclined, a paragraph justifying each choice is even better. I wonder if there will be much agreement? take care, Jake Jake London
Re: Old 97s -- arena rock?
This is a pretty simple thread to deal with: On Dallas PA - Old '97s (pretty boy college pop) On Joe Louis Arena PA - The Nuge, Alice Cooper, etc. (real music to play hockey by) The hard truth: Y'ain't gonna win the Cup with the Old '97s on the PA. Thanks to me for bringing the p2 content back to the most worthy fluff thread I've seen on this list :). John Magee (born in Dallas, raised in Detroit, knows the right hockey team to root for) -Original Message- From: Stuart Munro [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: passenger side [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Monday, April 05, 1999 5:04 PM Subject: Re: Old 97s -- arena rock? Chad Hamilton says: Tar Hut Records wrote: That didn't stop Federov's team from slapping the Stars with a 3-0 drubbing today... Which gets them within 20 points. The Red Wings better be prepared for a whipping come playoff time if they can make it to the Conference finals. Careful now, Chad. Those Red Wings made some mighty fine additions at the trade deadline, they still have Scotty Bowman, and as the saying goes, to be the boss, you have to beat the boss. Not even a Deetroit fan, Stuart Munro
Re: Drake (Re: Kelly Willis calling the shots)
Ahhh . . . a chance to wax on the wonderful work of Nick Drake. None captures the twisted personal beauty of despair quite like him. You can truly hear him sinking into the end of his life on record. You can't go wrong with any of the discs. The compilation, "Way to Blue", is a great and representative sampling. The other extreme is just to buy the box set of 4 CDs . . . almost every track is great. The individual albums rank like this for me: Five Leaves Left - gorgeous stuff, a real competitor of "Astral Weeks" Bryter Layter - a more English folk-rock feel, great if you are a Fairport Convention et al. fan (some of those musicians appear) Pink Moon - wacked-out, sometimes abstract, largely solo, a great but somewhat slight record By the way, I'm fairly thumbs-down on the Kelly Willis cover. She's a little too sweet for the song. "A troubled cure/ for a troubled mind" just doesn't sit right unless sung by the spooked Mr. Drake. "Cradle of Love" is much better for her approach. JJM -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: passenger side [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Friday, April 02, 1999 3:38 PM Subject: Drake (Re: Kelly Willis calling the shots) Soron writes: As a minor Drake fan(atic), Which reminds me, any minor or major Drake fan want to offer up a good starting point into that artist's catalog? I need to go buy yet another CD that I've never gonna have enough time to appreciate to its fullest. Sigh... Neal Weiss
Re: Welfare Music
Oh, man . . . check out the alt.country "family tree" on this site. I'm not going to comment . . . but some of the amateur historians out there might find it amusing . . . Steve Earle makes it because he has "jammed onstage w/Bottle Rockets and Uncle Tupelo." http://www.welfaremusic.com/family_tree2.html John -Original Message- From: Marie Arsenault [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: passenger side [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Thursday, April 01, 1999 1:02 PM Subject: Welfare Music I just received this. It might interest some of you. Well, our painstaking work has come to an end, for now. WelfareMusic has officially launched. The response so far has been great. Stop by and sign up for our mailings. http://www.welfaremusic.com/ Our launch issue has interviews with the Bottle Rockets, Hayseed, and The Handsome Family. We have built a very cool community section named The Back Porch. It has much better message threads than the Yahoo site. They are threaded and it is much easier to follow discussions. http://www.welfaremusic.com/backporch/index.html I hope you like our site and keep coming back. WelfareMusic's success depends on all of us. Upcoming interviews: Jay Farrar, The Ex-Husbands, The Hangdogs.
Steve Wynn
P2ers - I saw Steve Wynn in Boston last night . . . I've caught him the last 2 or 3 times around and have been pretty bored. But last night, especially the 2nd half, was pretty awesome. Some good new material, some of the old Dream Syndicate hits . . . the band he's touring with (including Chris Brokaw of Come) has got it together. I was especially impressed given that it was the 1st night of the tour. They do the rave-up thing to perfection. Highly recommended when he comes to your town. Bob Egan was also impressive with the bittersweet pop tunes. He's doing them in trio format, and the rhythm section is super-solid. I suspect they'll get better and better as they keep going. JJM
Neil Young for the birds?
P2ers- Just got this from a friend of mine . . . figured some of you might appreciate . . . -- Neil Young for the birds? Apparently so. A fan letter posted on the "Hyper Rust" website excerpts an article from a recent issue of Cottage Life magazine that swears a liberal dose of Young's finest hits soothed an ailing loon. Seems bird rehabilitators Michael and Janice Enright could not comfort an inconsolable loon chick in their care. After the bird had been crying for weeks, the couple got the bright idea of playing the infant bird music. They went through their record collection, playing jazz, classical, pop. But nothing worked until they put on Long May You Run, by Neil Young, and according to Michael Enright, "the chirps turned into chirps." (Huh?) Just to make sure that it wasn't just a coincidence, the couple continued their musical tests, and interspersed Young with other artists. But the bird responded only to Neil. "He really liked 'Thrasher' and 'Birds,' of course," said Michael. The couple was astounded at their results and has included Neil Young music as a regular part of their therapy. When a second loon was brought in to recover from an injury, they immediately put Harvest Moon on the CD player, and, like the first bird, the second loon was quieted. When the magazine approached Young's father, Scott Young, about this strange phenomenon, he replied: "I always knew loons were smart. They probably heard in Neil's voice a kindred spirit, for he used to . . . watch loons and serenade them. He has a loon-like sound, I'm sure he tried to imitate them. That is why he's gotten so successful." Cottage has not yet weighed in with a report on how Young's charms work on former Byrd David Crosby, with whom Young is collaborating for new Crosby, Stills, Nash Young tracks . . .
Re: Beantown Bound/Spurs
The Spurs are my pick for best band in the Boston area. Bostonians - don't miss 'em. Last time they played the Midway, people were dancing that I'd never seen move a muscle before. It was a strange roadhouse scene. John Tom Smith wrote: Evan wrote: I was wondering if anything interesting (twang or otherwise) was going on this weekend. The Spurs, a Western swing band, are playing at The Midway in Jamaica Plain. Haven't seen them, but have heard they're big fun. I'm coming to town to pick up some drums, so I'm goin'. Tom Smith
Re: 1999 Edges from the Postcard2: Call For Submissions!
Dear Edges guy: May I ask for a clarification and some advice? The submission from Scrimshanders was recently rejected from this compilation, yet the deadline for submissions has been extended. I was kind of surprised to see that. I can only take this to mean that a certain bar was set for the level of the material to even be considered, and our work didn't pass muster . . . it was placed in a "definitely won't make it!" pile. You must have had to extend the deadline because the "good enough" pile was a few beers short of a six pack. I can understand. While we Scrimshanders are nowhere near a Fulks, Ireland, Wooden Leg, Five Chinese Bros, One Riot One Ranger, et. al., we're pretty proud of and serious about what we do. In the hopes of improving ourselves, we ask: why didn't we make it? Do the songs blow, was the performance too shoddy, is the demo-quality recording not good enough, or some combination of the above? Had we sent a picture, I would completely understand rejection based on the hairstyle of our lead guitar player, but you've never seen him. Thanks for your time. John Magee Scrimshanders -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: passenger side [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Thursday, February 18, 1999 3:51 PM Subject: 1999 Edges from the Postcard2: Call For Submissions! We're officially extending the deadline for this (but not for much longer!) so if you're new to the Postcard2 mailing list or you figured this deal was past due, well...send us your songs! Last year's "EDGES FROM THE POSTCARD 2" featured unreleased material by Robbie Fulks, Kimmie Rhodes, Mike Ireland Holler, Wooden Leg, Five Chinese Brothers, The Meat Purveyors, One Riot One Ranger, Bill Lloyd and Elena Skye among many others, and we're looking for this volume of EDGES to be just as unique. So regardless of whether you're a seasoned pro or a ready-to-go newer act, get us your stuff!--Your Twang Gang -- Forwarded message -- Even while the wildly-acclaimed "Edges From the Postcard2" still continues to grace the CD changers of the urban hip intelligentsia and sexy librarian types, it's time to issue the call to you music makers out there to send us your nocturnal (and diurnal, for that matter) emissions for consideration for the 1999 version of Edges. In other words, send us your songs! Of course, we've got some ground rules here, mainly to help the selection committee maintain the shred of sanity they have left. So here they are: (1) We're asking for original, previously unreleased material. If you submit a cover tune, it will probably be passed over unless its sheer genius causes the selection committee to have simultaneous orgasms. The tunes submitted may be demo versions, but realize that you will need to have a well-recorded version in our hands if we chose your song for the compilation. (2) Since the Edges CD is first and foremost a reflection of the Postcard2 community, we ask that all submitting bands have at least *some* tenuous connection to the list--in other words, either a band member or someone connected with the band (manager, booking agent, bail bondsman) should subscribe to P2. (3) No more than four songs will be considered, so don't bother sending more--they won't get listened to. (4) We will need THREE (3) identical copies of the submitted tunes, in cassette format only. (5) Send these submissions, along with generous bribes, to: Dave Purcell 720 Overton St. Newport, KY 41071 Be sure to email Dave at [EMAIL PROTECTED] after you send the material so that Mr. P can confirm that he got everything he was supposed to. (6) If one of your songs is chosen for the CD, we'll eventually need a professionally recorded DAT copy of it, so keep this in mind. (7) All proceeds from the project will go toward the staging of Twangfest3 and future Postcard2 projects. Honest. If you saw what kind of cars we drive, you wouldn't even *ask* if we were skimming. That's it! Last year's Postcard2 CD has done quite well, and we think that this year's will do even better. To paraphrase what Tom Cruise said to Cuba Gooding, Jr. in "Jerry McGuire": help us help *you*. Send us the results of your talent, determination, and substance abuse today. Love, Your Twang Gang
Whoops!!! Personal message to list.
Awesome! A personal message to the list by me . . . you may all make your comments on our music if you want. Egg on face. Edges committee, please respond anyway. Magee -Original Message- From: John Magee [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: passenger side [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Thursday, February 18, 1999 4:15 PM Subject: Re: 1999 Edges from the Postcard2: Call For Submissions! Dear Edges guy: May I ask for a clarification and some advice? The submission from Scrimshanders was recently rejected from this compilation, yet the deadline for submissions has been extended. I was kind of surprised to see that. I can only take this to mean that a certain bar was set for the level of the material to even be considered, and our work didn't pass muster . . . it was placed in a "definitely won't make it!" pile. You must have had to extend the deadline because the "good enough" pile was a few beers short of a six pack. I can understand. While we Scrimshanders are nowhere near a Fulks, Ireland, Wooden Leg, Five Chinese Bros, One Riot One Ranger, et. al., we're pretty proud of and serious about what we do. In the hopes of improving ourselves, we ask: why didn't we make it? Do the songs blow, was the performance too shoddy, is the demo-quality recording not good enough, or some combination of the above? Had we sent a picture, I would completely understand rejection based on the hairstyle of our lead guitar player, but you've never seen him. Thanks for your time. John Magee Scrimshanders -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: passenger side [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Thursday, February 18, 1999 3:51 PM Subject: 1999 Edges from the Postcard2: Call For Submissions! We're officially extending the deadline for this (but not for much longer!) so if you're new to the Postcard2 mailing list or you figured this deal was past due, well...send us your songs! Last year's "EDGES FROM THE POSTCARD 2" featured unreleased material by Robbie Fulks, Kimmie Rhodes, Mike Ireland Holler, Wooden Leg, Five Chinese Brothers, The Meat Purveyors, One Riot One Ranger, Bill Lloyd and Elena Skye among many others, and we're looking for this volume of EDGES to be just as unique. So regardless of whether you're a seasoned pro or a ready-to-go newer act, get us your stuff!--Your Twang Gang -- Forwarded message -- Even while the wildly-acclaimed "Edges From the Postcard2" still continues to grace the CD changers of the urban hip intelligentsia and sexy librarian types, it's time to issue the call to you music makers out there to send us your nocturnal (and diurnal, for that matter) emissions for consideration for the 1999 version of Edges. In other words, send us your songs! Of course, we've got some ground rules here, mainly to help the selection committee maintain the shred of sanity they have left. So here they are: (1) We're asking for original, previously unreleased material. If you submit a cover tune, it will probably be passed over unless its sheer genius causes the selection committee to have simultaneous orgasms. The tunes submitted may be demo versions, but realize that you will need to have a well-recorded version in our hands if we chose your song for the compilation. (2) Since the Edges CD is first and foremost a reflection of the Postcard2 community, we ask that all submitting bands have at least *some* tenuous connection to the list--in other words, either a band member or someone connected with the band (manager, booking agent, bail bondsman) should subscribe to P2. (3) No more than four songs will be considered, so don't bother sending more--they won't get listened to. (4) We will need THREE (3) identical copies of the submitted tunes, in cassette format only. (5) Send these submissions, along with generous bribes, to: Dave Purcell 720 Overton St. Newport, KY 41071 Be sure to email Dave at [EMAIL PROTECTED] after you send the material so that Mr. P can confirm that he got everything he was supposed to. (6) If one of your songs is chosen for the CD, we'll eventually need a professionally recorded DAT copy of it, so keep this in mind. (7) All proceeds from the project will go toward the staging of Twangfest3 and future Postcard2 projects. Honest. If you saw what kind of cars we drive, you wouldn't even *ask* if we were skimming. That's it! Last year's Postcard2 CD has done quite well, and we think that this year's will do even better. To paraphrase what Tom Cruise said to Cuba Gooding, Jr. in "Jerry McGuire": help us help *you*. Send us the results of your talent, determination, and substance abuse today. Love, Your Twang Gang
Re: Richard Thompson
Without sounding too crass, can I suggest that the record wouldn't be as great if they hadn't been going through the divorce? "Walking On A Wire" and "Wall of Death" especially seem to be given added depth by the context. I wouldn't wish that fate on anyone, but if it had to happen I'm glad to take the record as fallout. John Magee How are we defining "that period"? The whole Richard and Linda era? The reason I'm asking is because I hear a huge difference between the stuff they recorded for Island and their later material for Chrysalis and Hannibal. The early records are very folky sounding, more acoustic with lots of tradtional English and Irish influences. When they changed record companies, they noticeably shifted gears. The accordion and fiddle were still there, sometimes, but his guitar playing was way out front. Their last record together, "Shoot Out the Lights," was a great rock record. Too bad they got divorced in the middle of making it. Jim N.
Re: TwangCast for Macs
I know a Mac user who is having the same trouble - please make replies to the list so I can read 'em and pass 'em along. John Magee -Original Message- From: Owen Bly [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: passenger side [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Wednesday, February 03, 1999 5:20 PM Subject: Re: TwangCast for Macs Owen writes: I guess I should mention that the file comes in to your PC compressed and does need to be opened. You also may have to reboot. I don't know enough about Macs. The info I sent was from my tech guru, who thinks we should all know as much as he does.g NOW ONLINE, http://www.TwangCast.com TM RealCountry netcast 24 X 7 Please Visit Then let us know what you think! Mike Hays www.MikeHays.RealCountry.net For the best country artist web hosting, www.RealCountry.net If anyone (Owen?) actually gets this working on a Mac, I'd love to know how. I've got the media player downloaded, but my browser will not activate it when I call up the TwangCast page. Mike: is your "tech guru" accessible? Off-list is cool, unless other Mac users are having the same difficulties. Todd
Re: Steve Earle/old vinyl/Huddie Ledbetter
Also--and on a completely unrelated note--can someone offer a reason why record companies used to make double LP's with Side 1 backed with Side 4? Call me crazy, but wouldn't it make more sense to have Side 2 on the flip since the record is already right there on the friggin turntable? I believe this had to do with the old "record changer" style turntables - you stacked records at the top of the spindle and the next one dropped on the stack as the last one finished . . . with the 1-4/2-3 arrangement, you could stack your 2 x LP set and play 1 2, then flip it play 3 4. I may be wrong about this, but it's a decent explanation. John Magee
