THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR
The Ben Folds Five Digest
Issue #348 - June 11, 1997
Magical Armchair Digest Wednesday, June 11 1997 Volume 01 : Number 348
THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR
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TOPICS IN THIS DIGEST:
Enough already
ugh
Do any Pro-Shot BFF Concert Videos exist?
Japanese crowds and the Edge in Minneapolis
Desert Island 10 and my first post
Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #345
Top Ten
taping at 54th street
Taping @ Toronto
Re: minneapolis radio -- 93.7 the edge = SH*T
DON'T RESPOND TO THE HOMOPHOBES!!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 08:51:00 -0600
From: "Erik C. Lyons" <EPA8820@epa.state.il.us>
Subject: Enough already
I subscribe to the list for BFF content, not personal music preferences as
it pertains in NO FRICKIN' relation to Ben, Darren, and Robert.
Please enough already and let's get back to some normalcy. Doesn't
everyone remember how the Brick conversation had died down and
people were getting happy again? This is really a pain in the ass to weed
through. I don't usually bitch, but please, if you don't have something to
say about BFF, then don't say it at all. You don't see Frank posting
worthless messages for the sake of posting, and this is the man we
should model out posts after.
Thanks and I'm sure you will see the light.
Erik.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 10:23:48 -0500
From: one.angry.dwarf@cowland.com
Subject: ugh
ok, i sent this message from my other address
(excandescent@thenexus.com) like five times, and i kept getting it back
to me, so i dunno what's going on, so i'm going to mail the list from
here because its pissing me off and this is very very important (well,
to me anyway).
if anyone has any information about bff at summerstage (length of
their set, tickets - is it sold out?, directions, ANYTHING), please
e-mail me. you can do so at this address (one.angry.dwarf@cowland.com)
or the address i'm subscribed t the list to, excandescent@thenexus.com.
i'm gonna try to make it down to the NYC show, but i need more
information first..i don't know ANYTHING about it..so somone PLEASE help
me..
secondly, if anyone has been e-mailing me at
absenter@thenexus.com, stop. :) use excandescent@thenexus.com (sorry if
all this is confusing)
and one more thing, about the top 10 lists and all that, i don't
see anything majorly wrong with it, sure i'd love to see more bff
discussion, but the top 10 lists are pretty interesting..only saw
soundgarden on one other persons list tho..and NO jawbox..HOW ABSURD!!!
:D umm, how about we start a thread on your favorite bff song? i think
i saw somone suggest this..and its a good idea..and my favorite would
have to be "Uncle Walter" for various reasons. the video with the old
guy racing around knocking down old ladies in his armchair is great
too:)
oh well, if you can help me out, let me know.
s please, i beg you
:D
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 10:42:11 -0400 (EDT)
From: Michael Silver <silver1@freenet.tlh.fl.us>
Subject: Do any Pro-Shot BFF Concert Videos exist?
Do any Pro-Shot BFF Concert Videos exist? If so, I'd love to trade.
My list is at:
http://www.freenet.tlh.fl.us/~silver1
Thanx!
Michael
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 10:04:09 -0500 (CDT)
From: Edward A Weinstein <wein0047@gold.tc.umn.edu>
Subject: Japanese crowds and the Edge in Minneapolis
First, in response to the observations on Japanese crowds:
Yes, they are generally better behave during shows than their American
counterparts, but after the show it's a whole new ballgame... Don't be
in the trampling path if there's someone coming out the back of a a live
venue of any sort.
As for the Edge playing BFF in Minneapolis:
It's funny that Ben said he hoped they didn't play them, because Alan
Wolmark asked me to "Call the Edge and tell 'em to play the f***in'
album" not so very long ago... as for why they got played, realistically
there's no way someone could say that at First Avenue (the venue in
Minneapolis) in front of a packed house and not expect it to get back to
the powers that be at the Edge. But Alan had a point, folks-- what about
a movement on the grass roots level to get BFF out there a little more?
There's strength (and influence) in numbers, and there are quite a lot of
us now.
If anyone thinks this is a good idea, let's discuss. If not, I'd really
rather not hear any bitching about "But I don't want the band to get any
bigger...."
EAW
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 10:05:37 -0500
From: pHiL <prbyers@flash.net>
Subject: Desert Island 10 and my first post
Hello Armchair... uh... people...
This is my first post (yippee). A couple things:
1. I'm a big Phish fan and have read rec.music.phish for about 3.5 years. I
hate to sound like: "well, back in the day it was better blah blah blah..."
But its true. The "phish.net" started just like the armchair did and
reading this digest brings back fond memories of worthwhile discussions
about music.
2. It is IMPOSSIBLE for me to pick my TOP 10. So throughout the past couple
years I've been SLOWLY adding cds to my REAL desert island top 10. Here's
what I have so far:
(in NO order)
1. Frank Zappa - Roxy and Elsewhere
2. Led Zeppelin - Presence
3. Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Thats it! Thats all I can DEFINITELY commit to right now. But, for an
UNOFFICIAL top ten (ie. what I'm likin right now):
1. anything phish
2. anything bff
3. anything sublime
4. anything pavement
5. anything barenaked ladies
That's already more than 10 (altogether). Theres just too much music to
love! I've been hearing a lot about that Jellyfish (Spilt Milk) album, so I
think I'm going to pick up that puppy.
Sorry for the babble. Anyone interested in trading their BFF tapes for some
Phish? I have MANY shows. Let me know and stay well...
peace-
pHiL
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 11:36:07 EDT
From: john_oc@juno.com
Subject: Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #345
To Jon Lax who spoke of taping...
John the reason you weren't able to tape is because you talked to the
wrong people. It is the same deal as with my camera. I got my camera
confiscated by a Sony guy, not a band guy, then went to speak with a band
guy and he got my camera back and a press pass. You need to speak to the
right person. The band doesn't care if you take pictures or tape, but
Sony does. Sony has good reasons to prevent you from taping, but the
band could give a damn. Talk to someone in the band before the show and
you can get yourself a place to tape.
John Boyer
WOBN-FM 101.5 the ROCK
Asst. Music Director, Triple A Dir. and Research Dir.
Email: John_OC@juno.com Phone: (614) 823-2969
Westerville, Ohio(Just north of Columbus)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 11:48:26 -0400
From: Eron the Relentless <djhitman@mnsinc.com>
Subject: Top Ten
Egad, a top TEN? Well, I'll certainly try to keep it at ten. I have about
1200 CD's (I'm not bragging...just saying so to give you an idea how hard
it is to pick ten), and this is going to be difficult. This could be a
very long post, but I don't post often so I hope you'll let me slide =)
1.) Ben Folds Five - _Whatever and Ever Amen_
From the first time I listened to it, I could not get it out of my head.
Just incredible. I'd bought the first album about a year ago on the
recommendation of people on the Matthew Sweet mailing list, "Channel 23",
having never heard Ben at all. From the day I bought that one, I couldn't
wait for the second CD to be released, and it didn't disappoint me.
"Brick" may be the most beautiful song I've ever heard in my life.
2.) Matthew Sweet - _Girlfriend_
Just a perfect album. An old friend came to visit me while I was away at
school, and he played the cassette single of "Girlfriend" for me when we
got in the car to go and get something to eat. We didn't get something to
eat for a while, because I drove straight to the local record shop first
and bought the CD. It's just a perfect album.
3.) nine inch nails - _pretty hate machine_
If CD's could wear out, I'd have gone through several copies of this one by
now. When I first heard it, it was unlike anything I'd ever heard, and I
loved it. To this day, I could listen to "down in it" for hours and never
get bored. Through all the Marilyn Manson crap and everything else that is
said, Trent Reznor is just a genius.
4.) The Police - _Ghost in the Machine_
Everyone seems to point to _Synchronicity_ as The Police's ultimate
triumph, but all five of their albums were excellent. "Every Little Thing
She Does Is Magic" is as close as you can get to a perfect pop song.
"Secret Journey" and "Omegaman" are two songs that likely no one's heard,
but together on this album, they are two of the most incredible songs I've
ever heard.
5.) U2 - _Achtung Baby_
Everyone points to this CD as where U2 began to sell out, but I just don't
see it. If they had sold out, they'd have made five more albums just like
_The Joshua Tree_. There just isn't a bad song on this CD.
6.) Tori Amos - _Under The Pink_
Tori is an interesting character. I never got into her until I heard "God"
on the radio, and now it's one of the few tracks I sometimes skip through
when listening to this CD. _Little Earthquakes_ is also great, but I don't
think much of her last album. I think if I ever win a Grammy award, I'll
get up to the mic and say, "First of all, I'd just like to thank Ben Folds
and Tori Amos for making me remember how cool the piano is."
7.) Sting - _...Nothing Like The Sun_
Well, I have a Police album in here already, but I had to put in Sting's
best solo work as well. Another album where I cannot point to a song on it
that I don't like. Needless to say, I'm a big fan of both Sting's solo
work and his work with The Police, but it would take quite a lot to
convince me how anyone could not think this was a great album.
8.) Weezer - _Weezer_
The general public seemed to tire of Weezer pretty quickly, but if everyone
was forced to listen to "The World Has Turned" and "My Name Is Jonas", I
think they'd quickly change their mind. The new CD, _Pinkerton_ isn't
quite the masterpiece this one is, but it's far from being a bad album.
9.) Machines of Loving Grace - _Concentration_
A Reznor-inspired pick, needless to say (assuming you've ever even heard of
them). These guys are a sort of "nine inch nails lite". "Perfect Tan
(Bikini Atoll" and "Butterfly Wings" are superb slightly industrial pop.
It's another really great CD that doesn't seem to ever leave the changer
for long.
10.) +Live+ - _Throwing Copper_
Okay, so I went to school in Central Pennsylvania. Okay, so I've actually
met these guys and they're really nice guys. Okay, so they've now sold
millions of albums and become mondo huge stars. But everything they've
done, from the album they released while still in high school, _The Death
of a Dictionary_ (under the name Public Affection) to their latest, _Secret
Samahdi_, is excellent.
11.) Toad the Wet Sprocket - _Fear_
Their new CD, _Coil_, just came out, and is very good. This is another
band that should be bigger than they are, but I'm glad they're not. _Fear_
is another CD that I'd have likely worn out by now if it were possible.
12.) Goo Goo Dolls - _A Boy Named Goo_
Every so often I still hear "Name" on the radio, and it never gets old.
These guys write great music, much of it inspired by The Replacements.
They're a great live band as well, and I suspect that their next album will
be huge.
13.) that dog. - _Retreat From The Sun_
Who? Exactly. I saw that dog. open up for Weezer at the old 9:30 Club in
D.C. a few years ago, back before "The Sweater Song" had even really hit
the radio, and I've been a huge fan ever since. They're an interesting
combo (Anna Waronker on guitar and lead vocals, Petra Haden on violin and
backup vocals, Rachel Haden on bass and backup vocals, and Tony Maxwell on
drums). Hard alterna-punk with strings and incredible three-part
harmonies. Very different and very cool. Alternative radio stations seem
to be playing "Never Say Never", the first single, and deservedly so.
14.) Counting Crows - _August and Everything After_
Another album where I seem to only skip over the singles. People seem to
like to mock the Crows quite a bit, but any band who has a song with the
line "Got Ben Folds on my radio right now" is okay by me. =) And "Anna
Begins" is a song that I could listen to on "Repeat" for hours at a time.
15.) Ben Folds Five - _Ben Folds Five_
Bookended by Ben. Just a fabulous album. I mentioned "Brick" up above,
and I'm gonna mention another slow one here, "Alice Childress", just an
incredible song. Great album from start to finish. I couldn't possibly
say enough about how amazing both of their CDs are.
Well, that's fifteen, not ten. I'm impressed that I got it that low. I
might think of a few more later that I'm forgetting right now, but for the
most part I think this list covers it. I hope you enjoyed it (I hope you
even made it this far!).
Scott
Scott McCaughey
djhitman@mnsinc.com
"Try not. Do or do not. There is no try."
(Yoda..._The Empire Strikes Back_...1980)
"Try not. Do or do not. There is no try."
(Silent Bob..._Chasing Amy_...1997)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 12:46:42 -0400
From: Marisa_Sandora@mime.time-inc.com
Subject: taping at 54th street
last night i attended the taping of ben folds five for the pbs concert
series Sessions at 54th St. the guys sounded great (much better than at
irving plaza) and the place was so small, i was inches from the band.
here's what they played:
missing the war
kate
battle of who...
last polka
selfless cold and...
brick
steven's last night in town
smoke
philosophy
emiline
dr. pyser
one angry dwarf
underground
she don't use jelly
song for the dumped.
then they did brick again for some reason which was great because that's
one of my favorites. the show airs sat july 5 on pbs so check it out.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 13:20:25 -0400
From: shaun gilmour <sgilmour@pgh.net>
Subject: Taping @ Toronto
> From: Jon Lax <jon_lax@grey.net>
> Subject: Taping @ Toronto
>
> Just thought I'd let everyone know about what happaned when I tried to
> tape the Toronto show.
>
> I got into the bar no problem with my gear. I set up my mics and my DAT
> and then someone came over and asked. "Who told you you could tape."
> I said "I understand that BFF allows taping for non-commercial use". He
> ran off to ask. He returned with another guy who said that I was not
> allowed to have mics. I took down my gear and packed it up.
That's really strange because when I taped Cleveland their sound guy
actually asked me if I wanted to put my mics up higher. And I stood
right in front of the board!
And furthermore Darren actually got me in to the club with my stuff and
I think he even carried in one of my bags, if I'm not mistaken! I think
they need to figure out what their policy is and let us tapers know. I
have and have heard some really exquisite stealth tapes from other shows
so don't give up hope on getting live stuff. I think that their policy
is a "no see, no enforce" thing now. But I can't be sure.
- --
Later,
Shaun
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shaun Gilmour Visit my tapelist on the web!!!
sgilmour@pgh.net http://www3.pgh.net/~sgilmour/tapes.html
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 13:38:42 -0400 (EDT)
From: DEMesserly@aol.com
Subject: Re: minneapolis radio -- 93.7 the edge = SH*T
>brian oak (previously of rev) came on with his "under the edge" show.
guess
>what i hear coming out of my radio, but "one angry dwarf..." !!!
>what is that all about?!?
Brian Oake is the only thing that 93.7 (horsesh*t radio) has going for
itself, and he is the SOLE reason you are likely to hear BFF on 93.7.
I'm sure that BFF feel some sort of allegiance to the former REV105 (and
dislike for the EDGE), becuase REV 105 were adrent supporters of BFF and
lots of other small high-quality bands - they played BFF from the early
days, and played MORE than just Underground (See the Rolling Stone issue
with No Doubt on the cover that addresses this directly) - the last songs
I remember hearing in February were "Where's Summer B" and "1 Angry
Dwarf".
If you want to hear BFF in the Twin Cities now, your only home (short of
your own CDs, that is) is 770 Radio K. It's a.m., and only available
during the daytime, but an OK substitute for those of us who are awaiting
the day when Kevin Cole and Shawn Stewart are back on the air and playing
Ben Folds Five (back to back with Patsy Cline, Soul Coughing, fIREHOSE,
Joy Division, and the "Theme from Shaft")
Peace, Love and Rock n' Roll,
Dawn
For news, comments, links to the Revolution and a QuickTime File of BEN
FOLDS "telling off that other station", see
http://squish.radparker.com/radio/
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 14:29:46 -0400 (EDT)
From: Marcia Huth <mdhuth@email.unc.edu>
Subject: DON'T RESPOND TO THE HOMOPHOBES!!!
HELLO, EVERYBODY!
just a word of advice:
if anyone else noticed our friendly, neighborhood homophobe print his last
wonderful message about how we're all fags and how he's going to beat us
all to death (freindly, no?), and were outraged by it, DO NOT SEND HIM ANY
MAIL. why the hell should we waste our precious hours worrying about some
little twit who has nothing better to do than post to this list strutting
his stupid shit around and telling us who to be? all he wants is for all
of us to send him mail, so don't!!
thanks
GOODBYE, EVERYBODY!
dan
theif in the temple tonight...
------------------------------
End of Magical Armchair Digest V1 #348
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