mailbag

[jsd%UMASS.BITNET@MITVMA.MIT.EDU (Jonathan S. Drukman)]

Craig Alexander -- re: the gabriel video "CV"

Rented it a while ago.  Damn good.  If you've seen the videos for "Big
Time", "Sledgehammer", "Shock The Monkey", "I Don't Remember", then
you've seen the cream of the crop.  There are two versions of "Don't
Give Up" and both are pretty dull, IN MY ALL HOLY OPINION SO F**K OFF
IF YOU DON'T AGREE!!

Ahem.  Sorry.  Long day.  Er...

Pete Hartman -- re: Wuthering Heights & Experiment IV

I love 80's production.  Big.  BOOM BOOM go the drums!  Ergo, I prefer
the new and improved Wuthering Heights.  By the way, IED, if you're
listening, I put on WH at MAXIMUM CONCEIVABLE VOLUME like you
advocated and I have to report that Running Up That Hill totally
wasted it in the finals.  Like I said, those big booming 80's drums
will get me every time.  (For the record, it was WH-1 and not WH-2
that I was comparing, since you mentioned the original version...)

As for Experiment IV, I like the single version better.  It's much
tighter, to my mind, with none of that silly 12" filler stuff.  Mind
you, Kate has done some good 12" mixes, but this one leaves me
yawning.

Gary Dare -- re: Danielle Dax

People are indeed mentioned Ms. Dax in the same breath with the all
holy Kate person.  I am one of those persons.  Dax writes & produces
her own songs (Just Like Kate), and has an insanely wild voice (Just
Like Kate).  I don't know what else to tell you other than get off
your butt and buy something by her!  If you consider yourself an
avant-garde kind of guy, pick up "Pop Eyes" or "Jesus Egg That Wept"
(both available on a single compact disc entitled "Up Amongst The
Golden Spires")!  "Jesus Egg" may be a better choice since it is a tad
more accessible, and is an EP, so is cheaper.  If you just want some
straight out massacred rock and roll, then "Inky Bloaters" is your
baby.  She goes from mutated rock through mutated country & western.
No kidding!  I don't know if I'd call her a "low budget" Kate.  I
might, though, since she used to record on 4-track equipment only.
Just get some and listen and you will UNDERSTAND the fundamental
UNIQUENESS of her work!  It's great stuff.  Especially "Flashback"
played at MAXIMUM CONCEIVABLE VOLUME!!!  Here's a quick discography
(probably missing something somewhere)

(LPs)  Pop Eyes, Inky Bloaters
(CDs)  Up Amongst The Golden Spires, Inky Bloaters, The Chemical Wedding
(EPs)  Jesus Egg That Wept, The Janice Long Session
(12" singles)  Fizzing - Human - Bomb, Big Hollow Man, Where The Flies
               Are, Cat-House, Yummer Yummer Man

Enjoy...

-----------
Jon Drukman                      University of Massachusetts
BITNET: jsd@umass                ARPANET: jsd%umass.bitnet@mitvma.mit.edu
"Abortion is murder, but it's murder in self-defense."  -- ``Bob''