🚀 go-pugleaf

Love-Hounds Digest			Issue L2

Topics:

 * Four Reasons Not To Visit Your Family On A Weekend
 * Re: Big Country
 * The Pulled Pin or the Sleeping Sheep -- a question of temperament

[][][][][][][][][][]

Date:     Mon, 23 Jun 86 13:41:59 EDT
From: James B Hofmann <hofmann@AMSAA.ARPA>
Subject:  Four Reasons Not To Visit Your Family On A Weekend

(there being many more I won't get into)

Been like Woodstock or sumpin' round here lately.

On Thursday, 19 Jun:

	PUSSY GALORE/TAR BABIES/SONIC YOUTH @ 9:30 Club, D.C.

	P.G. (no - not you know who...) opened with their
        CRAMPS in the JUNKYARD cacophony.  I found them interesting
 	for about five songs then retired to the back to watch my
	Pepsi fumes.  Give 'em a 3.2 for originality.  TAR BABIES
	got ZILCH response from the gloomy trendies.  Maybe if
	they had dressed in black?  Though, they really weren't
	that good and their songs were kinda indentical, I found
	the backbeat hard to resist and danced through the set. 
	2.1 for dancability and dedication and ... oh, yawn -
	Then the YOUTH hit the stage and played virtually everything
	off EVOL - even the stuff with keyboards by Renaldo using
	a LL Beat Box.  Kim's vocals are between rasp and velvet
	and goosebumpy and all to say the least.  Some promo crap 9:30
	had laying around described SY as a "cinematic" experience
	leading me to believe that they were bringing thier horrorshow
	flicks along but alas, no ... they ARE "cinematic" in that
	they are interesting to watch for TECHNIQUES which included
	the ol' drumstick in the geetar, the offtunings, the running
	of feedback through the beatbox.  I also figgered why they
        thanked Bruce S. on EVOL, it's cuz they steal his Bored in
        the USA geetar swing (y'know diagonal-like) 'cepting where
        The BOSS has his widdle hand tight on the E chord - the SONIC
        BOSSES are tuning DOWN the E-Strang.  Another interesting thing they
	did was during the encore (XPressWAY to YOUR skuLL) and the
	train is supposed to be fading away so they were tapping the
	backs of the geetars (of which they had MANY) until the
	tones finally faded away.  An experience for which one doesn't
	need intoxiants...  They are kicking off a West Coast tour and
	will be back in D.C. on the 25th, July.

	[unknown]/ GRAY MARCH @ the Eutaw Clubhouse, Fri, 20, '86.

	First band, standard formula "hard"core, I guess.  As usual
	a fight broke out.  GRAY MARCH hits the stage and goes through
	their material rocking it all the way.  They sound MUCH different
	than their upcoming EP on the stage and hey, they even have
	synth(!) and  I like 'em - gasp.  JD'ers should take note BUT
	unlike the biting synth of JD, Ron plays a CULTish/CUREish type
	Roland.  Mike on guitar iz geetar god for some BUT the real
	attraction is 16 year old Junior on drums - tho' he don't
	grandstand or nothing, he's a JOY to listen to.  They've improved
	mightily since I first saw them and Louis has gotten a bit
	more stage personna going.  No plans definite yet, but expect
	a tour after the self-produced EP is released.  Keep an eye
	on Forced By Pressure to hit some college airwaves. . .

	DISDAIN/ LATE TEENS/ RHYTHM PIGS / BEEFEATER @ The Eutaw, 21, Jun 86

	BEEFEATER is on TOUR through the Waste Coast,  They said they'd
	be in Sanfrandisco a month from now - so peel 'em cuz you don't
	want to miss 'em.  They're opening up with basically new tunes
	(the record on Olive Tree is STILL not released) that are instantly
	likable if you dug their old stuff (although much different and
	harder).  They only did a coupla tunes from the Plays For Lovers
	release and Wars in Space (which has been changed to slag bong-heads
	as well as SDI).  Tomas, though, ought to can the political act or
	come up with something new ("your president, he is lying to you!"
	and then burns a picture of Ronnie, or the standard Apartheid hue
	and cry).  Dug, the ugliest man in D.C. proves that all a guy needs
	to do is join a rock band to attract Frauleins.  New drummer is
	pretty special, hope he stays.  Loved the Prince moves they
        picked up for their funkthrash songs - Encore to the 40 or so faithful 
	was Manic D. with Fred singing... intentional or not, he's like Jimi
	reincarnated.  ... oh yeah, the OTHER bands - quick now, RHYTHM 
	PIGS played their second time in a month in this area and still
	fail to impress me though they're all pretty nice guys and all...
	LATE TEENS are these 35 year old bald and fat men who missed out
	on punk rock cuz their guitarist was in jail for Cocaine.  Now
	they've shaved their heads and are skins...  Funniest part was when
	the singer (replete with suspenders and Doc Martins) asked "all the
	skinflints to come up front"... serious!  And they DID, like little
	sheep looking for a master... kinda reminded me of wedding receptions
	where all the unwed girls are asked to catch the bouquet, sniffleee
        snifflee, doo ... DISDAIN I didn't see so I can't say I have DISDAIN
	for DISDAIN, darn... Gordon said it was some more metalcore C.O.C.
	imitation.  In attendence, Sue T.'s wavo peer, D.J. Ennis, program
        director for WCVT -

	1/2 JAPANESE / The FORGOTTEN? or THE UNFORGIVEN? / MARGINAL MAN / 
	NAKED RAYGUN @ the Complex, Jun 22, 1986

	Quick now, 1/2 JAPANESE suck and should hang it up.  Fun band
	to heckle to, kinda like a new-wave Grateful Dead... THE
	FORGOTTEN or whatever are from Texas so they wore those pussy
	cowboy hats.  They belong in a Honkey Tonk but were probabably
	so bad they got thrown out of there, too... for some reason
	they're here headlining a show with GARGOYLE SOX who suck
	too...but in a unique way, I guess.  MARGINAL MAN thrashed the
	place down as usual, they never let you sit but then again
	they really haven't DONE a heckuva lot since they got hailed
	as the big THING in D.C. (Dick City).  Still by God they rock
	and that's all that matters and all... NAKED RAYGUN,
	eeeeeeeeeee GAWD!  even attracted some wank in a tie from SPIN
	to write about 'em - so of course I ripped off Tim's copy of
	the rag and threw it in the pit.  When the little fukkker
	checked his watch oh so fashionably I wanted to throw HIM in
	there.  I can't see how anyone can write anything of worth
	about the band 'less they're up there in front LISTENING -
	fuck 'em.  RAYGUN still cook live though parts of ALL RISE
	leave a bit to be desired.  Pezatti actually came up to ME and
	introed himself - "hi, I'm Jeff..." "Oh, hi, I'm Jim, I know
	who you are, is Steve Albini really a geek?" [ pause ] "Well,
	um,
        no, not really, uh, okay, sometimes, yeah..."  


And now for the gossip:...

Ian MacKaye, former bald man is now sporting some curls.....John
Waters, arbiter of bad taste, was seen in the front row of a Pia
Zadora concert down on the Inner Harbor in Baltimore - what is next
for Waters?  Kate Bush??????????...  local AD-SHEET MARYLAND MUSICIAN
is now expanding into "NEW" music and admitting that other music DOES
exist in the area besides DIXIE ROADDUCKS and KIX and THE RAYVNS even
if they won't buy ad space and we'll see how long THAT lasts.  Tim is
in love with their reporter and was shining a flashlight into her
sheer black nighty dress to see what she was packing...  that PERVERT
Wicinski should be LOCKED up before he rapes heavy metal cheerleaders!
PERVERTphobe that I am, I'll leave you now to discuss Peter Gabriel's
new FILM career, sick, sickssick, ...  Adress random slags, personal
commetns, etc to me as there is no guarentee I'll pick up on it in the
near future, yours, truly,j.h.

p.m.: (post modem?  post modern? post mortem?):

> Who is this abusive person, and why is he/she so angry?  I cannot
> say that I have ever considered buying a record by Big Country
> before, although I vaguely remember being mildly [ blah blah
> blah.... ]

Gawd, does THIS sound familar.............. buy buy!

[][][][][][][][][][]

Date: Mon, 23 Jun 86 14:53:31 EDT
From: allegra!whuxb!ambar
Subject: Re: Big Country


>From Hugh Maher:
>No, I'm not very impressed by Big Country, although I'll be interested
>in hearing their new album, since I've always thought that there
>were a lot of folk influences struggling to dig out from Steve Lillywhite's
>production....But I'm still not sure if I'll actually BUY the entire album.

True!  My 100% classical-and-folk-rock-rots-the-brain roommate was
enduring BC's THE CROSSING patiently when she suddenly said "Hey...I
know that tune...it's Gae Gordon!"...  Which means nothing to me, I
like Big Country anyway.  So, I shall be buying the new album, and
putting it on the shelf next to THE CROSSING and STEELTOWN and, yes,
the EP WONDERLAND.

{Sorry guys, I don't go for remixes.}
	
					AMBAR								`Calm down; it's only ones and zeros.`


[][][][][][][][][][]

Date:    Mon, 23 Jun 86 23:46 PDT
From: IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
Subject: The Pulled Pin or the Sleeping Sheep -- a question of
  temperament?

>>> You don't even need HoL in there.  But we should probably also give
>>> a nod to Stravinski and The Beatles....

>> I still cannot accept that HoL is somehow less significant
>> than The Dreaming, simply because it is more "accessible", or
>> less "threatening".

>But *The Dreaming* is clearly more significant than *Hounds of Love*,
>because it came first.  It is a landmark.  It did new things, created
>new sounds, explored new territories, used the studio as a
>compositional instrument to an unprecedented degree.  The rest of pop
>music is still catching up to it.  *Hounds of Love* is mostly a
>refinement and mixture of everything Kate had previously done into
>something more immediately muscial.  One might argue that it is as
>good (though it isn't), but it's certainly not as important.

There are two issues here. First is the distinction which you
rightly make between a work of art's "importance" and its "quality".
The problem is that a work of art's "importance" is only defined
by what other art shows its influence; and although it is unfair
to impute that a work is good or bad on the basis of its "importance"
-- on the basis of its influence on later art -- that nevertheless is
the usual conclusion drawn. Otherwise, why bother to assess influence?
Second, if, as you say, Hounds of Love is "mostly a refinement and
mixture" of The Dreaming's "innovations", then it is far more likely
that Hounds of Love will prove the more "important", since
its influence is likely to be broader.
Thus arises an old argument, namely whether "originality" is
more important than "quality". Simply SAYING that HoL isn't as
"good" does nothing to prove the point.
You offer no specific reason for ascribing a label of superior
quality to The Dreaming, only reasons for according it the
quite different distinction of greater "importance".
Innovative music --
this is a highly dubious term. I personally agree with you that
The Dreaming is highly original in ways that seem to us, living
in our period, significant. But there is really nothing
specific that can be pointed to in the LP that had never been
done before, at least as far as use of studio techniques goes.
As with all of Kate's music, it is the beauty and power of her
musical and (arguably) poetic imagination which gives The Dreaming
its lasting worth. And I simply cannot accept the contention that
that imagination is in any way dimmed in HoL. Many specific
works of art which have contributed relatively little to the development
of art in general nevertheless are "as good as" or better than
more "innovative" or influential works. Consider The Dreaming and
Hounds of Love in comparison with Gabriel's third solo
LP, for example: although it cannot be denied that Kate's recent work
shows the influence of that record, there is really no question that
The Dreaming towers above the Gabriel LP, not because it is in any
tangible way more innovative -- if looked at from a technical
standpoint Kate's record may even seem less innovative -- but
because the musical ideas, artistic sensibility and intellectual
substance of Kate's record are more complex without being less
powerful. Despite this, the likelihood is that
Gabriel's record has proved and will prove to be the better
remembered and more "influential". Yet whether other (and probably
inferior) artists benefit from exposure to The Dreaming or not
is as unimportant as whether Kate, a better artist than Gabriel,
benefited from exposure to Gabriel 3.
We both agree that the Beatles' music, especially when seen in
its entirety, is among the best of our century. But is its quality
in any way related to its influence on later music? Had no-one
ever heard it, would it be less good? Obviously not. So, if
"significance" is not an acceptable means of judging quality, then
what is? The problem is insoluble. In the end there are really only the
opinions of the influential few and those who seek or at least accept
guidance. I've just listed three admittedly personal criteria for
judging a work of art's "quality". What are your own?
One thing is certain, to my mind, and that is that there is as much
in Hounds of Love that is absent in The Dreaming as there is in The
Dreaming that is missing from Hounds of Love. I'm tempted to conclude
-- although I don't believe this myself -- that if all that's missing
from Hounds of Love is the "innovation" of The Dreaming, then Hounds
of Love comes out ahead. The fact is that, when considered for their
inherent qualities alone, one is no better or worse than the other.
It is possible, I think, to argue that these two LPs are clearly
"better" than her first three albums, because there it is possible
to find evidence of indecision, of less comprehensive planning or
less controlled execution of ideas, and of a sometimes inhibiting
influence from other less talented people involved -- mainly the
producers. None of these problems occurs in either The Dreaming
or Hounds of Love: finally we can hear the music as though pumped
straight out of Kate's brain into our ears. The shock of the new,
however, which we might have felt more strongly with The Dreaming,
is an incidental, temporal and ephemeral effect which has little or
nothing to do with the inherent value of the music itself.

[][][][][][][][][][]

End of Love-Hounds Digest