M+M update & KB 'reviews'

[H. Chai <utflis!allegra!ihnp4!utcsri!chai>]

Just happened to come across the Oct 85 issue of _Canadian Musician_,
and the cover story was M+M.  They were in England then, working with
David Lord (P. Gabriel's producer), at his studio at Bath, on their
next album _The World is a Ball_.  The article is by Daniel Richler.
Mark Gane on their new album: "Our music has long occupied two extremes.
Since _This is the Ice Age_ we've split off into a rhythmic thing and 
an ambient thing.  This record seems paticularly schizophrenic.  You'll
hear ironic juxtapositions.  You're thrown from one thing to another.
That and the title, _The World is a Ball_, are meant to exemplify
the kind of life we have in the 20th century.  We're bombarded by so
many different and violent conflicting elements."

Several musicians who work with Gabreil also appear in this album,
including Tony Levin, Jerry Moroder, Dick Smith, the last of whom
brought "a vanload of third world instrumnets", including a bass
marimba, maribula, and something called a 'rainmaker': "which sends
seeds cascading through a spiral on the interior of a bamboo tube".

Richler commented that several songs sound as if they incorporate
African rhythms, but Mark says that the resemblance is accidental.
"A lot of those rhythm loops were done on a little effects box
we have at home that came out before all those computerized samplers.
It does overdubbing onto a click track, then you can make it go
backwards or change octaves.  We've been using it for years.  Often
you don't know what time signature it's making or anything.  It does 
sound evocative, but I wouldn't know how to make an African rhythm if 
I tried."

Sounds like a very interesting album to look forward to.

} Really-From: nessus (Doug Alan)
} I've seen very very few negative reviews of HoL.

Well I just read one yesterday! It was in a British mag called
_Hi Fi Answers_ (if I didn't remember it wrong).  The reviewer 
said HoL is as overproduced as _The Dreaming_, and that tD
didn't win her any new friends [what? who just said "HA"? :-]
and HoL won't either.  "Still a talented artist, but someone
has to take her by the scruff of her neck."  Well, you good
people, what say we all go over to England and take the reviewer
by the scruff of HIS neck, eh?  And while we're there we could
also camp outside KB's door......(Doug, we're still waiting for
your transcipt of the interview! :-)

In this month's _Graffiti_, KB was featured in a one page article.
This one contained nothing exciting, but it does have a color
pic of KB: the "hands in hair and pouting" one offered in the
limited edition package. (BTW, _Graffiti_ is a Canadian rock music
mag).

-- henry