From: epeterso@fenix.encore.com (Eric Peterson)
Subject: Re: THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS INFO DESPERATELY NEEDED!!!!
News-Software: NN 6.4.16
Reply-To: epeterson@encore.com (Eric Peterson)
Organization: Encore Computer Corp, Umax Development
Date: 13 Apr 92 13:21:12 GMT

dchou@husc8.harvard.edu (David Chou) writes:

| Hello Folx.  I need just a bit of info...I'm trying to write a review
| for Apollo 18, but my editor very intelligently didn't get the press
| release for it, and doesn't know anything about the band.

Here's the text of the _Apollo_18_ press release:

==========================================================================

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS / APOLLO 18

John Linnell- accordion, reeds / John Flansburgh- guitar, glasses

1972: APOLLO 17 successfully returns to the earth, concluding
NASA's Apollo moon missions. 1992: APOLLO 18 is released by They
Might Be Giants.

APOLLO 18 is more than a rocket to the moon. It's a trip through
nature, evil, death, and delirium. They Might Be Giants' new album
finds the band's acclaimed song-writing reaching a new peak.
Soaring with a kaleidoscopic variety of songs and a bold, full
sound, APOLLO 18 is a sonic adventure that befits its title.

From the first track, "Dig My Grave," with its vocals recorded
through a guitar fuzz-box, to the last, "Space Suit," which
spotlights the Moog synthesizer, the album features extreme song
arrangements. In its range and imagination, APOLLO 18 is more like
singer/songwriter albums from the late sixties and seventies than
the singles-and-filler albums so common today. Brimming with
up-tempo rockers and diverse instrumentation, it is the first
album the duo have completely produced themselves. John
Flansburgh: "Having the freedom to do the production on the entire
record has been very positive. The writing and recording were our
only focus for nine months. We purposely avoided
session-man-mania, and let our own humble playing shine through
... There's more Hammond organ and horns than ever before, and
guitar is quite distorted on most of the songs. Before we started
this album I got a Marshall amp and John Linnell got a couple of
better saxophones, and those changes can be heard all over the
recordings."

APOLLO 18 is one of the first compact discs to take full advantage
of the shuffle mode found on today's CD players. The song,
"Fingertips" is composed of a series of twenty-one separate
refrains, and in shuffle mode the CD player mixes up songs and
"Fingertips"' twenty-one refrains at random, producing an
ever-changing musical collage.

Recorded in New York City, APOLLO 18 is rich with special guest
appearances. The Giants' Brooklyn neighbours Laura Cantrell and
Julie Cohen provide vocals on "The Guitar" and "Hall of Heads"
respectively. Among a string of cameos on "Fingertips" are Peter
Stampfel, founder of the Holy Modal Rounders and Brian Dewan,
musician and artist who built the shrine structures on the cover
of They Might Be Giants' LINCOLN album.

They Might Be Giants have agreed with NASA to be Musical
Spokespeople for International Space Year. By an Act of Congress,
1992 has been dedicated to the celebration of Space as an
international frontier. They Might Be Giants have dedicated their
APOLLO 18 tour to the Year and will promote its message of
peaceful discovery in all their APOLLO 18-related activities.

==========================================================================

| I know
| a bit about it, but not enough to know who sings most of the lead
| vocals:  John Linnell or John Flansburgh.
| Who would that be?  The lead singer?  Is there a "lead singer"?
| Thanks for the info.

Linnell leads on some songs (such as "Mammal" and "Someone Keeps Moving
My Chair"), Flansburgh leads on some (such as "Put Your Hand inside the
Puppet Head" and "Lie Still, Little Bottle"), and some are duets (like
"Kiss Me, Son of God" and "Shoehorn with Teeth").  Linnell seems to
sing lead a bit more often than Flansburgh.

| I guess what would be
| more helpful would be to be able to distinguish the two voices from
| each other...one has a distinctly more nasal timbre to his voice.

Both sing very nasally, but Flansburgh is probably the one you're
referring to; Linnell has a much more supported tone.  Linnell's also
the one who can hit the deep bass notes, as in "Whistling in the
Dark".

Hope this helps.

Eric