aural gratification

[gb10@gte.com (Gregory Bossert)]

another grab-bag of miscellaneous comments.
                                           
1)  any of you happy rhodes fans have an opinion on kevin bartlett's tapes?
he included a nice note with the aural gratification catalog, and his stuff
seems to be home-studio style synth doodling, which can be either wonderfully
unique or dreadfully tedious, in general.  i haven't heard any of mr.
bartlett's stuff -- since it is a bit more expensive than ms. rhodes i thought
i'd solicit some opinions before sending my money off...

2)  speaking of which -- any word on happy's cd?

3)  Slender Fungus says:

> Are there any LUSH fans here?

yes.

> 4AD and SST records are definitely the two best record labels.

note that john fryer, the engineer for most of the 4AD projects, and co-
member (with 4AD boss ivo) of "this mortal coil", shows up outside of 4AD
(like on _pretty hate machine_ from nine-inch-nails.)  if anyone knows of
any other albums that mr. fryer engineers/produces/plays on, let me know!

it's funny how many 4AD groups state that they are trying to avoid the 4AD
sound.  even the cocteau twins, which *are* the 4AD sound!

> My friend Dead Dog dressed up as the "Ninth Wave" cover...

way cool.  gee, all my friends are named "john" or "matt".  i'm clearly
living in a dull part of the country, or something...

4)  Greg O'Rear says

> Does anybody know anything about Hex?

yeah.  donnette thayer is the guitar player/sometime singer from game
theory;  steve kilby is the singer/etc. from the church.  their first
album (_hex_) is interesting -- it has really grown on me.  _vast halos_
seems pretty light-weight in comparison.  i don't know if they tour...

5) the mysterious TAYLOR.RCC.RCN.EDU says

> Is there anyone out there who really likes Patti Smith?

yes.  _horses_ is great driving-to-work music;  leaves one in that warped,
psychopathic mood essential for dealing with management.

>Also ... Fairport convention/Sandy Denny...

yes!  fairport's _liege and lief_ is IM-not-so-HO the best traditional
folk rock album ever.  beware:  post-fairport output from ms. denny is
much less gritty, as it were.  also check out the richard and linda
thompson albums, particularly _shoot out the lights_:  "did she jump or
was she pushed" is an interesting summary of ms. denny's tragic demise.

> There is a wonderful singer/guitarist around here in Harvard Square
> named Matt Turner who sings fantastic versions of some of those songs.

yeah, he is an *amazing* guitar player, too.  hope he makes it out of
the subway circuit one of these days...

6)  anyone have a mail-order source for the japanese laser-discs?? 
i can borrow a laser disc player -- now i just need a wide-screen tv...

7)  i've asked this before:  is there such a thing as a poster-ography -- i.e.
a list of KaTe posters.  ron's pictures of peter and krys' decor has got
me in a poster frenzy again...

8)  footah!

9)  i'm listening (even as i write) to the new wendy & lisa album, _eroica_.

it sounds *great*.  they've finally toned down the purple, so to speak, and
come up with their own sound.  i liked _fruit on the bottom_, but this is
a step forward...

-greg
-gb10@gte.com
-"what a waste.  army dreamers" - KTB