Newsgroups: bit.listserv.allmusic
Date:         Wed, 4 Nov 1992 13:47:18 EST
From:         "Michael H. Bloom" <MHB@MITVMA.BITNET>
Subject:      I like smokin' lightning

From:         MIKE <VANVMIKE@OSHKOSHW.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: R.E.M. Touring

>         I heard that they are going to work on their next album and release
> it before they tour.  But when they do tour...I heard it is to be a 2 year
> world tour.  So....chances are you'll see them in the next few years.  Next
> album is due next year already.

Gee, it's so cute when populist bands get pompous. The next R.E.M. album will
feature the entire Atlanta Symphony playing in unison with Buck's mandolin.

From:         Paul Heroy <HEROY@LSUVM.BITNET>
Subject:      RE: Jazz - delicious hot, disgusting cold!

> ... I mean neither the listener nor the music are without external influences
> that shape the experience. Not only that, but the listener's emotional state
> obviously has a strong effect on perception. For example, I just received my
> copy of Miles Davis's Four & More/My Funny Valentine, which is a complete
> concert recorded in 1964. Reading the liner notes, I discovered that the show
> was held as a benefit for registering black voters in Mississippi and
> Louisiana, and that Miles made a decision that everybody in his group would
> play for free, which created a lot of tension as they went out to perform.
> I don't see how knowing that can possibly *not* affect my perception when I
> get home and listen to this music.

I feel like, ideally, the music is going to be independent of these external
ramifications. But having said that, I note that I conveniently forget all
facts that don't seem to enhance my appreciation of the music-- like which
patrons Bach wrote which pieces for-- but I do remember the stuff that IMHO
hinges on the intellectual or emotional merits of the music itself, like the
challenge that resulted in the _Ricercar_ series of fugues. The example above
is interesting to me, and so is the story that went by a couple months ago,
that Wayne Shorter would take it out more whenever Tony Williams was drunk--
makes me want to hear one of the more alcohol-intensive dates! (I also have
an interest in how various recreational chemicals affect music appreciation.)

What I don't do is associate tunes with people or events-- I think it demeans
the tunes. So there aren't any songs that set me crying in my beer because
they always remind me of the girl that left me for the senior class president
or some such. A related problem I used to run into a lot was people tripping
when they first heard something, and being forever after unable to hear that
music with any kind of objectivity-- it always reminds them of meeting God
or something. (And if it's a Rod Stewart album, that can be embarrassing.)

As to how long it takes to appreciate something, yes, you have to learn what
to listen for, and what appeals to you. I'm embarrassed myself to recall that
the first time I heard the Rite of Spring, it scared me. (I was maybe 10 years
old, so I guess it's excusable.) Now it is of course one of my very favorite
pieces of music ever, and I can't imagine how I could have been so clueless
when I first encountered it. Maybe in another 20 years, I'll be able to hear
the late Schoenberg quartets with a similar appreciation.

From:         Scott Hammer <SCOTH@WMVM1.CC.WM.EDU>
Subject:      Is it Folk Music, or is it Memorex

> Well, I do see your point, and I'm really just trying to understand
> what you're saying better, but by this standard the only true American
> folk music is the music of Native Americans, no?

Well, yeah, "indigenous" was a little too strong. "Shady Grove" is a true
American folk song, despite the fact that it's clearly derivative of the
English antecedent "Matty Groves."

> What then do you call the music of the Cheryl Wheelers, Shawn Colvins,
> John Gorkas, etc. of the world?

You're gonna think I'm trivializing it, but: I recall a bluegrass festival
where Peter Rowan (I think it was) played a Kris Kristofferson (sp?) tune
and introduced it by saying, "This isn't bluegrass. This is crabgrass."

> Is your point a) this music isn't folk music 'cause its too far removed
> from its roots; b) this music isn't folk music 'cause its mostly made
> by people who are the descendants of immigrants/invaders; or c) something
> else entirely?  Inquiring minds want to know!

It just hacked me off that the term "folk" was being used in a way almost
diametrically opposite its dictionary meaning. Kinda like how "alternative"
means "exactly what all my friends and half the college kids in the world
also listen to."

From:         David Malbuff <SPGDAM@UCCVMA.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: Silence

> OMC: They played Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" at
>      Clinton's victory bash in Little Rock last night. Then the TV people
>      cut to the California Republican headquarters in Century City... where
>      the room was deserted except for an awful lounge band dutifully grinding
>      through a turgid version of "Hello, Dolly".

Thank our Precious Lord this campaign is over. (Most chilling moment I had
watching the coverage last night was when Dan Quayle addressed the troops,
there were "spontaneous" chants of "Ninety-Six!" I dunno what's worse: the
idea that we're starting to gear up for that campaign already, or the mere
idea of President Quayle.)

But Fleetwood Mac doesn't show very good taste on the part of the Clinton
team. I guess they had to pick something acceptable to Tipper.

From:         DARON MCNAB <IDPM@SNYCENVM.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: heavy metal - warning: explicit lyrics

> Scott --  what are you, a FAG.  "if i know my Mcintyre...".  Get off my back
> and stay out of the conversation if it was not directed at you!
>
> As far as a flame,  I think you are the exact explaination of the word!

Kiss me, you fool.

A number of people, myself included, gave you reasoned responses, which you
chose to ignore and go off in high dudgeon (which should be a metal band name,
probably of the stuffy Yngwie Malmsteen class). So you've earned every flame
you're gonna get.

From:         mjferzig@MIDWAY.UCHICAGO.EDU
Subject:      Re: Moose calls for the touring impaired

> Marsha "Why are all men taken, gay, hung up on physical appearance or just
> plain assholes?????" Ferziger

The last category has been statistically linked to overexposure to heavy metal.
(See above.)

From:         G_SWANK@TWU.BITNET
Subject:      RE: HEAVY METAL & ZROCK

> but I think just locally. Their station ID's are pretty funny : "Z_-ROCK -- If
> it's too loud then YOU'RE TOO OLD."

I dunno, I like most of my music, specifically including metal, at a moderate
and non-threatening volume. The only time I thought volume really added to
the experience was Glen Branca-- whose stated intention is to fill the room
with vibration, more sound than the ear can contain, so your subconscious
gets to choose what you hear-- I swear I heard someone play Henry Cow licks.

>    To me, one of the best sounds in the world is a huge loud ugly grungy
> speaker-straining heavy metal riff coming outta my car stereo and annoying
> other drivers at a stoplight when I'm in a bad mood. Sadly, one of the worst
> sounds in the world is squealing, whiney "singers" sreaming "ooooooooooo
> baaaayyyybeee baaaayuubee.."  and any other recycled cockrock screetches...

What would constitute the ideal vocal accompaniment then? I've always liked
the people that can actually *sing* in that range-- Roger Daltrey, Robert
Plant, Paul Rodgers, Marty Balin. Of course I'm just jealous, because my own
vocal range tops out at F# above middle C. I also have a sneaking fondness
for the Alice Cooper/Lemmy Kilminster gargle sound.

From:         Jake <ST102315@BROWNVM.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: Love Songs for the Hearing Impaired

> First off, you should choose a slide...  (I understand John
> Hammond Jr. uses a large socket wrench attatchment to play slide.)

Lowell George used a Sears 11/16 socket, the long one. My fingers are a bit
smaller. If you're small enough, the doodad you use to unseat spark plugs
would be ideal.

> Don't press too hard (in fact, as little as possible) with the slide--
> more pressure doesn't change much, and you might accidentally start
> fretting with the slide, which is not the point at all.

The original Dobro had strings mounted nearly an inch above the fretboard, so
you couldn't possibly fret it. I think there's also a technique of playing a
Dobro or a Hawaiian guitar with a knife blade-- you lose the massiveness of a
good solid slide, but you gain in precision.

I also once saw a guy in a folk club play with a square glass bottle, about
an inch on a side, with rounded corners. He had a technique of rotating the
bottle for ad hoc hammer-ons and pull-offs, played real interesting triplets.

I took the original post to be a request for suitable listening material. In
addition to the tunes you mentioned, I would add:

Fleetwood Mac, _Then Play On_ (the *real* Mac, with Peter Green)
Little Feat, _Feets Don't Fail Me Now_ (the "Tripe Face Boogie" break)
Captain Beefheart, _Clear Spot_ ("Mister Zoot Horn Rollo, hit that long,
                                  lunar note, and let it float!")

From:         "(Russ Gelinas)" <R_GELINAS@UNHH.UNH.EDU>
Subject:      zappa

>   Ok, which Zappa to get?  I'm not looking for funny stuff.  I want some
> smokin' playing with Zappa-esque arrangements.  Suggestions?  Jazz from Hell?

You might like _Waka/Jawaka_ and _Grand Wazoo_. They come from the period when
Frank was recovering from his broken leg and neck sustained from being shoved
off a stage in London with the Flo & Eddie group (see his book for the story).
They're both primarily big band compositions. I really like _Waka/Jawaka_, but
its detractors say it only has one chord-- the title track is one of his long,
overly busy themes, like "King Kong," without a lot of harmonic movement. It's
got some real hot slide guitar work, too. _Wazoo_ was considered a Mothers
album and is more fucked up harmonically and texturally-- pretty much for the
advanced Zappologist. For hot guitar, you can't go wrong with _Hot Rats_.

From:         mjferzig@MIDWAY.UCHICAGO.EDU
Subject:      Re: Heavy Metal

> Watch it, Tom. I'm a woman who takes her toys VERY seriously.  How can you
> have any affection for a company that makes Barbie, the amazing
> math-hating,
> if-she-were-a-real-girl-she'd-be-5'9"-tall-weigh-63-lbs.-and-have-a-19-inch-
> waist, money-grubbing, wench? (I used to pop the heads off mine and let the
> cat play with them...) Are you a stockholder?

Our cat brought a Barbie doll head home just last month. Looked great on the
welcome mat. So either our cat ranges as far as Chicago, or there's someone
in Boston who agrees with you.

> Legos are the pinnacle, the very zenith of toydom.

Yeah, Legos are swell! My wife's little brother had the kit with all the gears
in it, and I remember spending a pleasant afternoon building an elaborate
structure that used *all* of them.

As you see, I'm married too, but you can be in my play group any time. How are
you on Etch-a-Sketch?
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