Newsgroups: bit.listserv.allmusic
Date:         Thu, 7 Jan 1993 08:02:02 EST
From:         Ken Koester <MAINT2@ERS.BITNET>
Subject:      Captain, Me Impulse Engines Willnae Take Any More. . . .

In a fatal fit last night, I walked into Tower, plastic in hand.  The
inevitable result of not practicing safe consumerism & succumbing to impulse
buying I give below (-:  These are preview-reviews, because I only had an
hour when I returned chez moi to sample 4 hours worth of music (-:

As always, Tower has everything (well, nearly everything), & everything is in
the last place you would look for it.  Even the funky-looking computer they
have out to tell you what's available is wrong (although you can at least get
song lists & reviews from it).  Anyhow:

=The Visit=, Loreena McKennitt (too many double letter combos in that name)
I discovered a good second hand book store in Charleston over the holidays
which played a cut off of this album--actually, it played the whole album
but I only had time to hear one cut.  On the strength of "All Soul's Night"
(& Carol's blathering on about it (-:), I picked it up (it was in the rock
section, instead of Celtic, where it definitely ought to be.).  My quick scan
tells me I'll probably like most of this, although her "Greensleeves" leaves
much to be desired--I prefer my own, actually (-:  Describing the music is
tough, as I keep thinking her voice reminds me of someone I know well but can't
put a name to.  Oh well.  It's not entirely dissimilar to what you would have
if Clannad met Fairport Convention.

=From the Ladle to the Grave=, Boiled in Lead.  Stephen Brust cites this group
in his SF novel =Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grill=, plus the name has shown
up on the list from time to time, so what the heck.  (I found this one in
Celtic, whereas the computer listed 2 other titles which I couldn't find in
Rock.  Go figure.)  These are some pretty wild dudes, as I should have guessed
knowing that they come from Minneapolis (-:  Not content with Celtic Rock, they
toss in the odd Bulgarian, Turkish, Egyptian, Russian piece now and again.
"Pig Dog Daddy" doesn't do much for me, but I'm looking forward to some
extended listening of the rest of the album.  Don't have any close comparisons
of this group to any other:  it's basically Celtic & it rocks.  What more do
you need, anyways?

=Unrest=, Henry Cow.  See, Bloomdido recently sent my a tape with a cut by
Henry cow on it & he keeps blathering about these guys, so I figured I'd see
if there was any more good stuff where that came from.  (My only question for
the man from MIT:  hey, how do these guys change their sock?  (In joke for
those who know))  Can't describe this one too easily, either--I told Bloom
that it reminded me of "Frank Zappa (=Hot Rats=) Meets Yes & Annihilates
Them".  Certainly the alto sax, oboes, bassoons and whatnot give the sound a
tonality similar to =Burnt Weenie Sandwich= & =Hot Rats=.  I can already tell
that this album will really need a lot of study & that I'll either love or
detest a given track--the music doesn't seem to allow any middle reaction.
If you've been complaining recently about how boring music has gotten, these
are the guys to check out.  Of course, Tower stocks them in the "C"s, under
Cow, and in the "H"s, under Henry, so look in the one spot if the other is
empty, as I had to do last night.

This next one's for Renato.  Shoot, I made a special trip last night just to
get it before he goes off the air for good (-:

=The Art of the Bawdy Song=, The Baltimore Consort & Merry Companions.
Actually, this one is for the Inquistor's Evil Twin & Libby Doe--they could
really get jumping with these songs, mostly all 17th century English delights.
(Hey, our ancestors knew how to jump--how do you think you got to be born
anyways?)  Most of them new to me, many by Purcell--must revise my opinion of
that man--quite a few from Playford & D'Urfey--why don't they never publish
*those* pieces in the anthologies?  The play list is sectioned as follows:

Prelewd
To the Tavern ("I gave her Cakes and I gave her Ale"--and you know what
                happened next, right?)
Men & Maids ("Cold and Raw"--about a maid and her barley; alas, the singer
              gets neither maid nor barley.)
Coming of Age (so to speak (-:)
Anticlimaxes (What do you expect of a song, "The Old Fumbler"?)
Measure of the Man (pretty obvious, that, but there is a tailor song for good
                    measure, so to speak (-:)
Dancing in the Grass (no, it's not Hugh Masekela grown up, down and dirty)
Tobacco & other Stimulants (Weelkes gives a nice take on the evil weed; then
                            "Most men do love the Spanish wine")
Interlewd ("Gathering Peascods"--or was that codspieces?)
Scat(ological) Songs (farting contests & a virtuoso performance on fartophone)
Fresh Ayre (that aint all that's fresh, sister)
Men & Women ("Tis women makes us love/Tis love that makes us sad/Tis sadness
              makes us drink/And drinking makes us mad")
Her Thing & His Thing  ("My Thing is my Own", "My man John had a Thing that
                         was long", etc.  Do your own thing, sort of)
Vinum Bonum

And so forth.  This is the first album I've bought that had the parental
advisory sticker on it & I bought it in the classical section; it had been
moved around several times & was not with the vocalist selections, but I did
scarf up a copy in the new releases shelf, so I suppose I can't complain.
It's pretty fun stuff with a lot of a cappella arrangements for Marsha to
sink her teeth into. I only question how they managed to tape it with a
straight face in the studio.  Real professional self-control, I guess (-:
All the lyrics are included, so you can follow the tough parts right along
at home, kiddies.

Not necessarily what I would have chosen left to my own vices, but all in all
& very tentatively, a lot of keeper material in these 4 albums.  See what
keeping up with this group has done to me?  Y'all ought to be ashamed (-:

PS--For those in the know:  is Tull's =Light Music= worth the price of
admission?  I'd almost get it to get another "John Barleycorn" but a review
from an afficionado would be most welcome.  Also, the new Airplane anthology:
can someone let us know if the "22 previously unreleased" tracks are worth
$40+?  I mean, "The Other Side", "Plastic Fantastic Lover", "She Has Funny
Cars" and the like are some of my favorites, but still the "new" stuff only
makes up about a third of the material & =Fulton County= has got most of the
rest, so, again, kind souls:  please review!
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