Re: I'm A Happy Camper

[Jeff Burka <jburka@silver.ucs.indiana.edu>]

another Jeff writes:

>Well, when I opened the envelope and saw the rather gruesome cover art
>(a green-haired monster with bulging eyes and huge incisors) my
>expectations dropped at once. "No wonder this isn't in stores" I thought.
>"No one would really be inclined to buy this album, Happy unheard,
>with this godawful cover art."

This is my favorite of the 5 covers; I think it's beautiful in a gruesome
sort of way. 


>and I don't really think that it conveys the "demons" that allegedly
>lurk in Happy's music. 

Allegedly?  ALLEGEDLY?  How can you say this, and then go on to talk in depth
about the chilling nature of "Case of Glass" or mentione "Wretches Gone Awry"?

Take a listen to "Rainkeeper", the first track on Volume I.  "That I'm the 
other half of the psychopath/I'm here, better fear me,/the other side/know
where you hide..."  Then try to talk about alleged demons.


>Kate's music is deep as well, but she hasn't had to draw these Giger alien 
>figures to make that point.

There are very few songs by KaTe that deal with the same sorts of psychoses,
neuroses, and the general insanity and horror lurking in someone's mind.
"Get Out of My House" "Leave it Open," and "Mother Stands for Comfort" are
the only ones that spring to mind.  Most of Happy's music, ties into this
sort of thing, in one way or another.  Looking just at side 1 of Volume I, 
the songs that deal with these internal demons, in one way or another, are:
"Rainkeeper," "Oh the Drears," "He's Alive," "Possessed," "I'll Let You Go,"
"Number One," and, to a lesser extent, "Case of Glass."

I'd even go so far as to say that the cover art is justified solely by the
song "I'll Let You Go."  "For the pain will come and eat away at my soul."
The monster on the cover is the pain.


>I ended up listening to _Rhodes Vol 1_ *five* times last night. I cannot
>remember replaying an album so many times the first day I had it.

I know the feeling.  I didn't think to make dubs of the tapes when I first
got them, and now it's too late--I'll have to order another set fairly soon.
Oops.  Scary thing is that, having had the tapes for close to 5 months, it's
still not uncommon for me to put on Volume II or Rearmament, and listen
3 or 4 times in a row.  They never seem to get old...just more powerful.

Jeff--I've e-mailed you a copy of the Volume I lyrics as far as we know
them.  Enjoy.



one more time:

	Volume I
 	Volume II
    	Rearmament
	Ecto

$9.95 each, on high quality tape, in Dolby B

	Warpaint

$13.99 on CD

Include $2.00 shipping and handling for the CD, $1.50 for tape.

For overseas customers, the cost is 11# for the CD, 8# for the tapes 
   (shipping included)

Aural Gratification
P.O. Box 8658 Academy Station
Albany, NY  12208

Hmmm.   Didn't somebody post an updated postage amount about a week ago?
I seem to remember seeing something that included a small amount per additional
tape.  I'd appreciate it if whomever that was could repost.  Thanks...

Jeff
-- 
|Jeffrey C. Burka                |"I've lost my way through this world of |
|jburka@silver.ucs.indiana.edu   | profanities/I thrive on the wind and   |
|jburka@amber.ucs.indiana.edu    | the rain and the cold."  --Happy Rhodes|