Newsgroups: bit.listserv.allmusic
Date:         Mon, 27 Jul 1992 10:07:23 EDT
From:         "Michael H. Bloom" <MHB@MITVMA.BITNET>
Subject:      She wore a raspberry beret (and used corduroy perfume)

From:         MikeMasuda <MASUDA@SJSUVM1.BITNET>
Subject:      MIles

> I didn't know this, but Miles was a heroin addict BEFORE these albums
> were made.  He got off of the crap with an inspiration from a certain
> boxer named Sugar Ray.  Miles also did some boxing as well.  During his
> addiction (Charlie Parker and many others bit the big one from this
> stuff), he no longer played towards the audience.  He played with his
> back towards the audience.  He used to have an incredible repoire with

He was quite prone to turn his back on the audience through the '70s as well.

> the audience.  Anyways, after sweating it out for two weeks, he came back
> with a vengeance.  His style was there, but he played with the horn closer
> to the mike, and usually with his trademark harmonie (?) trumpet mute, to

That's "harmon." I read a bio by Ian Carr, who is himself a trumpeter (ran an
English jazz/fusion group called Nucleus, which turned out to be the farm team
for Soft Machine :-) that gets into some of the technical aspects of Miles'
playing. It's also got a discography which, while not the easiest to follow,
lists the sessions where bits of the albums came from, which helps for mongrel
records like _Big Fun_. It was written before his '80s comeback and therefore
doesn't discuss any of that material, which suits me fine.

From:         Russ Gelinas <R_GELINAS@UNHH.UNH.EDU>
Subject:      santana, phish

> Phish as a band, though, didn't do much for me.  They were tight as can
> be, so tight they came across as contrived.  The Deadheads in the crowd
> seemed to go for them, but I can't understand why.  The Dead play "on the
> edge", and that's where they get their energy.  Phish were always *exactly*
> where they wanted to be, and their music was stagnent.

Boy, have you got an artificially rosy picture of the Dead. They play at that
edge for maybe fifteen minutes in an average set: the drums/space segment, and
the part where they're deciding whether to play "The Other One" or "Dark Star."
I've been listening again to _Infrared Roses_, and I still think it's weak--
despite their decades of experience with free playing, they sound like they're
flailing, not listening to each other at all. At least Phish sound like an
ensemble that can trust each other in the clinches.

BTW, did you notice that Elektra reissued Phish's indie release _Lawn Boy_?
Did you notice that they're charging a premium price for it? If I were Phish,
I'd be pissed.

From:         Jeff Beer <ujwb@UXA.ECN.BGU.EDU>
Subject:      Re: I know a hawk from a handsaw

> Not so fast there.  Metheny didn't have any problem standing up to the
> Harmolodic sounds and swirling beats of Ornette Coleman, and sent many of his
> fans crying home to their mothers...

Aw, c'mon, you *know* Ornette's really indulgent towards his guitarists-- he
even let Jerry Garcia play on _Virgin Beauty_.

From:         Christopher Harry <IZZYFC1@UCLAMVS.BITNET>
Subject:      Rap

>    Someone was musing that three of four cars that were playing rap contained
> white males. Hardly surprising. According to industry stats, 75% of all rap
> albums are purchased by white males.

I thought it was a hoot when Billboard and the major record vendors installed
that automated system to compute the charts-- and it turned out that rap was
outselling all that "mainstream" AOR rubbish by leaps and bounds.

> the point of rap lyrics. Many young white people (especially college students
> like myself) are fed up with the system and rap groups like Public Enemy
> help bring that to bear.

I certainly hope these young white people who are fed up with the system will
*get out and vote* in November. My recollection was that this allegedly fed up
demographic turned out to be basically apathetic on election day.

Subject:      Re: This page intentionally left blank
X-To:         ALLMUSIC@ada3.ca.boeing.com

> I think you must be unaware of the Federal law which provides that
> when you get a car stereo with > n watts, bazooka speakers,
> etc., you are prohibited from playing anything but rap and cowboy
> music.

I used to have this fantasy of walking around with a boom box, blaring the Rite
of Spring at a thoroughly obnoxious volume. Coming soon: "Ionization-- The Dance
Mix," by Edgard Varese and Terminator X!

Ob.human: Welcome back, Marco!
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU