Who has my tape now? Are you people still listening to it?

Danielle

"Who has my tape now? Are you people still listening to it? "

I have! Well, I will have until tomorrow when I put it in the post to Zeynep - it's sitting enveloped waiting until I get to the post office which should hopefully be tomorrow. I've got a copy of it and will try and write up a review soon - I've listened to it a lot and a lot of it has grown on me.

Watch this space!

Cams

To whom it may concern:

I haven't received my cd for this month.

Danielle

I was just wondering... When I listen to a CD, I usually don't know which country the CD comes from. It would be nice (if you don't mind), if everyone posted which country (city) you come from. As I'm rather a lurker on this list, I'm not familiar with you. What do you think?

András from Budapest, Hungary :o)

Hi András,

nice idea...usually you can click on the members' profiles, but not everyone has a location specified.

As for me, I originally come from Berlin but now live in Heidelberg (Germany).

Cheers,
Annika

Csémy András (Csandras) wrote:

"I was just wondering... When I listen to a CD, I usually don't know which country the CD comes from. It would be nice (if you don't mind), if everyone posted which country (city) you come from. As I'm rather a lurker on this list, I'm not familiar with you. What do you think?"

I've included each participant's country in the Spreadsheet of Power:

http://www.celticguitartalk.com/assets/towie/sop.h tm

FELLAKAE-TKZEE FAMILY

I thought I was getting a bit of Madonna here so imagine my surprise when the vocals kicked in. This one grew on me with repeated listenings.

USE ME-GRACE JONES

Ah, it's only now that I'm writing the review that I'm finding out who the artists are. I tend to listen blind so as not to prejudice my opinions. This sounds kind of Flashdancey to me so quite dated. I still enjoy a lot of the old breakdance tracks I used to listen to, but that's mainly nostalgia. Perhaps if I were to hear this sort of thing in the right setting, i.e. in a club with a booming bass, I'd enjoy it more; a hissy tape in my office doesn't really do it justice.

GOODBYE-GRAVITY KILLS

This one's interesting. The vocals remind me somewhat of Trent Reznor. Another fine example of a track that would sound pretty darned good in a club setting. I like this one.

CONNECTED-STEREO MC'S

The Stereo MCs is a band I appreciated but never really enough to buy into them. Nice to hear them again nevertheless.

WHAT I CAN DO FOR YOU-SHERYL CROW

I quite like a bit of Sheryl Crow but again, not enough to buy in.

GONE-KOSHEEN

Not too keen on this one I'm afraid. Not really my cuppa.

WALK ON BY-RICHARD X

Very refreshing and a real grower. I like this one. I think it must be the first track I've heard that samples the old Space Invaders game.

AFRO LEFT-LEFTFIELD

No need to convert me to Leftfield. I LOVE this CD, in fact I'm sure I discovered the meaning to life one day as I sat listening to it on my MD player on the train watching the Belgian countryside whiz past. Of course I've forgotten it now – might have been 42?

PRONOIA-JANINE
BONGO TUNE-QUATER
CARELESS-EARLY DAWN
NKALAKATHA-MANDOZA

None of these four tracks were really my cup of tea.

BABY MURDERED ME-SPRINGBOK NUDE GIRLS

This track I quite liked but not enough to grab me.

HAPPINESS-SHAUN LEE

This one did grab me though. Some nice, summery vocals despite the lyrics. (summer is gone and winter is here) I could listen to more of this!

MAPS-YEAH YEAH YEAH'S

Yeah! ;) This one wasn't too bad at all.

ISOBEL-BJöRK

This one I really like, once again proving that there is a large, Björk-sized hole in my CD collection.

ROMEO-BASEMENT JAXX, SPECIAL ACOUSTIC VERSION REALLY NICE

This one's quite nice. Again, some more summer sounds that are most welcome as I sit in mid-winter!

ME-PAULA COLE

A great track!

OH TO BE IN LOVE-KATE BUSH

I really like KB and hadn't heard this track before. Like it!

WORTHLESS-DIDO

Well, this is DIDO??? I REALLY like this. Reminds me of Massive Attack a bit, and Caroline Lavelle. Is this from her new album? I must say I'm very surprised as I didn't expect much from Dido. Just shows that listening blind pays off!

CONCLUSION

Some hits and some misses as indeed one would expect. The highlight for me is, strangely, the Dido track. The more rhythmic tracks that kicked off side two got to the point where I had to hit the ffwd button; I guess I like my electronic music to be more ambient like William Orbit and Pete Namlook, although I do like a bit of Drum n Bass too. The low point for me was the Early Dawn one.

Oh, and great Leftfield track!

Cheers,
Cams

Bob, the next package will be late. I only posted it on Friday.

Hey everybody,

Just wanted to let you know that, unfortunately, Pat has had to drop out of the tree due to being fiendishly busy and, rather than try to keep up and risk holding things up further, he's graciously decided to pull out and sends his apologies to everybody.

The blockage that was building up should now have been cleared and, with a bit of effort on the part of Fred and Daniel, smoothity should resume shortly!

Cams

Hey Towsters -
I have received Annika's tape. Because it's a tape I need to listen in my car. My morning commute accros the bridge from Berkeley to San Francisco takes about an hour so I'll listen tomorrow and get it sent right off to Daniel so we can get caught up.
Hope all is well with everyone, I've hit a busy patch and I haven't been able to post much lately. Looking forward to SV's next tour. I'd love to see her play in Europe sometime.
One of these days I'd love to visit eastern europe. Turkey, Hungary, Romania...someday

We'll get there someday. My son's old enough (13) and he's fine on trips but my daughter (6) could use a couple more years before she's ready.

Thanks to Cam for getting the tape tree going again

cheers
FJ

---

If nothing ever changes then.....nothing ever changes

Hey Cams -

I just received the Pat Melody package
with Cam's and Zeyneps CDs enclosed.

I will copy them and send them on to Daniel

thanks
FJ

---

If nothing ever changes then.....nothing ever changes

That's great Fred. Thanks for letting me know.

Me, I'm just packing a bag to head off to the hospital. My wife's labour has started - yikes!

Cams

For the most part this was a really enjoyable listen. I'm not much of an electronic music fan, but I was grooving to a lot of this. Good job!

Well, here's the song by song...

TKZEE FAMILY – Cool dance beat. The vocals, in whatever language it’s in (I’m guessing somewhere in Africa), have a definite rap-like cadence. My head’s bobbin’ and I’m definitely digging this. Good start.

GRACE JONES – I’ve never really disliked or liked the songs of hers that I’ve heard. I would never say this to her face though as she scares the bejeezus out of me.

GRAVITY KILLS – I’m kicking myself for never giving these guys a chance because this is FREAKING GREAT. Definitely has a Nine Inch Nails feel to it. OK actually if this wasn’t so good I’d be moaning how these guys are totally ripping off NIN. But since it is so good I’ll keep my yap shut. On a side note it’s good to hear that I’m not the only one who put a song on their mix where the singer drops an F-Bomb!

STEREO MC’S – I have a soft spot in my heart for this tune. This reminds me of my alternative club going days in the mid 90s. Somewhere in the mass grave of tapes in my basement this tape sits.

SHERYL CROW – Easily one of my Top 10 favorite female acts of the last 15 years. When Tuesday Night Music Club came out, I wanted nothing to do with it. A friend of mine forced me to really listen to it and I was hooked. What an amazing and emotional album. Her other albums are really good but that first one is the best and incidentally where this song is from.

KOSHEEN – This song has a big slack dance beat (if that makes any sense) with a really subtle almost southern rock acoustic guitar in the background (think the song Midnight Rider by Allman Brothers Band…where did that come from?). I don’t usually listen to music like this, but this is pretty good.

Richard X – I must be either in a good mood or still weak from the flu that has pretty much destroyed me all week, because there is a lot of electronic music on this tape and I’M liking it. The music on this song is really subtle. I’m not sure who the female singer is, but she kind sings like Isabella Rosallini did on that Tindersticks song.

LEFTFIELD – OK reality must be setting in because this electronic tune ain’t doing it for me. If I was in a club and I still did that rave thing I would enjoy this, but I can’t see myself hanging out and listening to this.

JANINE – I kind of have the same thoughts about this song as I did the last one although I suppose I like this one a little bit better. But I would never listen to this on my own.

QUATER – Nope. Not digging this tape anymore at this point. This song is just repetitive and not really interesting even for this type of electronic music. C’mon we started out so great.

SIDE 2

EARLY DAWN – Same as last three songs. Repetitive. Not into it. I’m losing all emotion. And my attention is waning.

MANDOZA – I can’t tell what language this is in. I don’t care either. This is cool. Has an industrial rap (is that even a genre?) feel to it. Keep it up and all is forgiven for the last few tunes.

SPRINGBOK NUDE GIRLS – The Joy Divisionesque guitar intro alone should almost guarantee I like this. Very interesting song. The build to the chorus is really cool. Kind of reminds me of hearing a later Husker Du bootleg except there’s a trumpet that pops in occasionally. WOW! ALL IS FORGIVEN. This is Fanfreakintastic.

SHAWN LEE – I’m not sure if I like this tune or not. It’s kind of like how I feel about Midnight Vultures by Beck. It’s a little too kitschy for my tastes. Not horrible though. Just like Midnight Vultures.

YEAH YEAH YEAH’S – KAREN O! KAREN O! KAREN O! Man I wanted to hate this band. They seemed so manufactured to fit into that whole “The White Strokes” “garage” scene (please don’t get me started…rock did not need “saving” except from these jokers). Anyway I decided to get the YYY disc and I’m glad I did. This is so much better than the Stroke Stripes. Maps is easily my favorite off this disc. This is a really dark sounding song and Karen’s voice is so sad and sexy.

BJORK – This is a remix isn’t it? I don’t remember this song being so beaty. As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews I was a much bigger Sugarcubes fan than I am of her solo work, although Debut and Post are pretty great. This song is off of Post and is one of my favorites. It’s too bad she don’t make ‘em like this anymore.

BASEMENT JAXX – I’ve heard a lot about this band over the years although I’ve never really heard them. I can take or leave this. If I need that electronic soul fix I’ll hit my old Massive Attack albums.

PAULA COLE – Paula’s got a pretty voice. I like her. We have that first disc with Where Have All the Cowboys Gone and the song from Dawson’s Creek. I can’t say I’ve listened to it in about 4 years, but it’s around the house somewhere.

KATE BUSH – I love Kate Bush. Haven’t heard this song (or any song by her) in a long time. She’s got such a great voice. I really need to pick up some of her older stuff and for that matter “Sensual World” on CD.

DIDO – Damn, I was digging this until the tape ended. ARGH!!!!

Hi Danielle,

Not a bad mix despite how much some of the electronic stuff got to me! The second side was much more to my liking.


SIDE A:

FELLAKAE-TKZEE FAMILY
When this started, it was familiar. Had to think about it for a second before I realized it was sampling Papa Don't Preach! Much different after the intro. It's an interesting tune. Not my usual taste, but not bad.

USE ME-GRACE JONES
I don't really have any strong opinions on this song. I think the synth solo is a bit much for me. I kinda like some of the vocal rhythms, but overall, not really my thing.

GOODBYE-GRAVITY KILLS
I used to know a Gravity Kills song, I think they might have made it onto MTV's 120 Minutes at one point. I don't remember it much though. This is pretty cool. I don't listen to heavy stuff much anymore, but, it's still awesome when I'm in the mood for it.

CONNECTED-STEREO MC'S
This song always makes me think of the '88 Ford Escort Scott drove in college, because at one point, this tape was in rotation for a while.

WHAT I CAN DO FOR YOU-SHERYL CROW
It's been awhile since I've listened to Sheryl Crow. Love her. Should listen to her more.

GONE-KOSHEEN
This is pretty cool. A little different for me, but I like it.

WALK ON BY-RICHARD X
Again, a bit different for my taste. I don't mind it.

AFRO LEFT-LEFTFIELD
In the beginning of the song, it seemed a bit much for me. But for some odd reason, it started growing on me as the song went on. Is the repetitive beat brainwashing me? It's not something I'll listen to, but maybe I'd dance if I heard it in a club. Of course, it's not too often that you'll find me in a club ... or, dancing ...

PRONOIA-JANINE
OK, I think I've had a little too much repetitive-beat electronic music ... I keep waiting for this to kick in ... but nothing really happens ...

BONGO TUNE-QUATER
see PRONOIA-JANINE

SIDE B:
CARELESS-EARLY DAWN
see PRONOIA-JANINE. Seems like it will never end. Seems like the Fast Forward button is broken because every time I hit play it sounds the same. Too much for me.

NKALAKATHA-MANDOZA
Better. Still electronic, but I can deal with this. There's variety, and some pretty cool rhythms.

BABY MURDERED ME-SPRINGBOK NUDE GIRLS
Ahhh ... guitars. Much better. This is pretty cool.

HAPPINESS-SHAUN LEE
Not my thing. Better than the electronic stuff, but not something I'd listen to. A little too much of everything ...

MAPS-YEAH YEAH YEAH'S
This is awesome. I need to grab this CD from Scott.

ISOBEL-BJöRK
This is good. Sometimes Björk gets a too weird for me. But not here.

ROMEO-BASEMENT JAXX
Not really my thing, but, still much better than the electronic stuff.

ME-PAULA COLE
I like Paula Cole. This is a good song.

OH TO BE IN LOVE-KATE BUSH
I like this too. Haven't really listened to Kate Bush too much.

WORTHLESS-DIDO.
This is pretty cool.