Errors-To: admin at elephant-talk dot com Reply-To: newsletter at elephant-talk dot com Sender: moderator at elephant-talk dot com Precedence: bulk From: moderator at elephant-talk dot com To: newsletter at elephant-talk dot com Subject: Elephant Talk #1086 E L E P H A N T T A L K The Internet newsletter for Robert Fripp and King Crimson enthusiasts Number 1086 Thursday, 30 January 2003 Today's Topics: Seeking an Answer... Re: USA CD help please Michael Brook is not like The Edge SACD of ItCotCK Record Industry / "Extensive" Tour / Broken CDs / Pre-Emptive Reviews relax Re: live365 stations Re: Surprise bruford's earthworks, ronnie scott's, london, 5 april League of Heavy Manner Music industry in 21st Century the 'industry' part 1 - problems Club 21 CDs lifetime Downloading music Encouragement from Thom; Belew/Claypool/Carey; The Yellow Jester CD Durability Re: New King Crimson Discussion Group ------------------ A D M I N I S T R I V I A --------------------- POSTS: Please send all posts to newsletter at elephant-talk dot com To UNSUBSCRIBE, or to CHANGE ADDRESS: Send a message with a body of HELP to admin at elephant-talk dot com or use the DIY list machine at http://www.elephant-talk.com/list/ To ASK FOR HELP about your ET subscription: Send a message to: help at elephant-talk dot com ET Web: http://www.elephant-talk.com/ Read the ET FAQ before you post a question at http://www.elephant-talk.com/faq.htm Current TOUR DATES info can always be found at http://www.elephant-talk.com/gigs/tourdates.shtml You can read the most recent ten editions of ET at http://www.elephant-talk.com/newsletter.htm THE ET TEAM: Toby Howard (Moderator), Dan Kirkdorffer (Webmaster) Mike Dickson (List Admin), and a cast of thousands. The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors. ET is produced using John Relph's Digest system v3.7b (relph at sgi dot com). ------------------ A I V I R T S I N I M D A --------------------- Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 00:17:07 -0800 From: "Leanne Morton" Subject: Seeking an Answer... Hi, It's my first time posting, so I hope that I am doing it right! LOL :o) My friend and I love to challenge each other with Trivia questions. And they usually have to do with music. We both listen to various types, so it covers a broad range. Because of my latest trivia question, I am in need of some assistance. I hope someone out there can help me! This time he really has me stumped! The question that I have to find the answer to is: What name did Angel use in RF ep The Empty Frame? So far, I have been able to figure out that RF is Robert Fripp and the "ep" is an extended play single... and the Song is Empty Frame. At least I think that is correct. That is what I been able to get with other's help... The hard part is figuring out who this Angel is? And what Angel's name would have been in Empty Frame. I don't know if there was a video made for Empty Frame and that is where the Angel comes in. OR since David Boreanes is known as ANGEL, did he do something for a video or the song, and went by a different name? If you know any thing that might help me out. It would be very much appreciated. Thanks Bunches, Leanne ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 10:05:44 -0200 From: "diderot-jr" Subject: Re: USA CD help please Jim Samuelian wrote: > >Kindly put on your new "USA" CD and gently place your headphones on. >Skip to track 7 (Schizoid Man). Does your CD have a few seconds of >dropouts around 2:29-2:31 (around start of guitar solo)? (...) and Michel Champagne replied: > Hmmmm, I see what you mean - I have the same 'defect' on the mini-LP > gatefold version. (...) Unfortunately fellows, it seems to be a flaw in the American print. My copy (gatefold edition), bought directly from DGM, has NO defect. The music flows continuously just at the begin of guitar solo. It is a Virgin edition (CDVKCX12) and has a sticker printed "Made in Holland" in the back. Cheers, Diderot ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 19:54:27 -0500 From: "Cambra, Robert" Subject: Michael Brook is not like The Edge Strangely, there is a connection: Michael Brook did invent the Infinite Guitar for which The Edge is so well known. And--to be fair--though I've always found U2 ridiculous, T. E. is the best thing about the band, a very interesting guitarist. But I do sympathize with your feeling, Spearman! Love Michael Brook's work, and he's a swell guy, too. Cheers, Robert ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 11:56:58 -0000 From: "Nick Loebner" Subject: SACD of ItCotCK Hi folks, some noticed that the "30th Anniversary" reissue of the first elpee missed out on the HDCD mastering (unlike the subsequent reissues). I still haven't confirmed whether this really matters as I don't have an HDCD-equipped player - however, I do have an SACD player (a much more compelling technology altogether - although I'm not sure whether my cloth ears would notice any improvement) and I have noticed that ItCotCK was released yesterday (in the UK) in this format. Anyone tried it? - Nick. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 17:33:17 -0600 From: "John Spannaus" Subject: Record Industry / "Extensive" Tour / Broken CDs / Pre-Emptive Reviews Tim : Living in Austin (the self-proclaimed "Live Music Capitol of the World") has contributed to my negative views on the record industry. I could see about a dozen great bands any given week, who are playing for peanuts. I'm glad to be exposed to such much talent, but it is really a shame that their music isn't being given the chance to be heard nationwide (and worldwide) simply because most of these bands don't have the pop accessibility of Britney Spears. I think most of the local musicians are having a great time doing what they do, but they deserve the recognition which is instead being given to corporate-produced money-making pop-sensations (you know I'm angry when I use that many hyphens in a sentence!). Eventually people are going to see through MTV and their promotion of "flavor of the week" bands. Eventually "talent" and "creativity" are going to rejoin the list of factors needed to becoming a successful musician.. Or, at least, I hope.. "Manek Dubash" "Texas? This is called 'extensive'? What about the UK, where it all started?" Well, considering past touring schedules, Texas IS extensive in terms of the US by itself. A "World-Wide" tour has also been announced (taking place between the first and second legs of the US tour) which has also been described as "extensive." So wish me luck and I'll do the same for you.. Cheers! Or as we say in Texas, Ya'll Come Back Now, Ya Hear? (No, we don't really say that.). "Brown, Ken (Totowa)" Okay, I'll admit, I've only actually BROKEN one CD.. But don't try to tell me that CDs don't scratch easily. And I'm not talking about "scratched until they stop working"-- I'm talking about a scratch that creates an audible defect in the listening experience. I am constantly listening to music-- at home, in class, at work, and in my car. So my CDs are constantly being transported and shuffled around. Most of the CDs that I've had for over a few months have small scratches and skip in certain spots. If you've never had this problem, then congratulations, but I really don't think I am the only one. The industry could have obviously made a more durable product, but chose not to. Reasons for such a choice are pretty obvious, imo. I take care of my music, and I love it, so when I listen to Animals or Red, I don't want the experience ruined by a skipping CD.. Since the advent of the cd burner (which, you realize, is relatively very new compared to how long I've owned CDs) I back up all of my new albums digitally. That way if something DOES happen to the cd, I can just burn a new one.. But at that point you begin to realize: Hey.. Here's the backup of this CD I just spent 20 bucks on and here's the album I just downloaded on the internet for free. What's the difference between the two? Absolutely nothing. And this goes back to my argument about the Record Industry needing to raising the standard for their product. You can't download a beautiful mini-LP case, or packaged art. You know the little things that COULD make a CD actually worth owning and keeping. As for your plea to people not to discuss the new album until "everyone" has had a chance to hear it.... I really disagree.. This is America and we ain't communists. If you don't want to read about the album until YOU have it, then don't.. Simple choice. But don't you realize that there ARE people who DO want to read about it? Even if they don't own the album yet? Do you send hate mail to film critics for reviewing a film before it's release? Do you say, "Who are YOU to be subjective about a film that isn't even released yet?".. I doubt it.. Don't view it as gloating, view it as a FAN of the music sharing his EXPERIENCE with other FANS who, for most logical purposes, SHOULD be interested in hearing it. (sorry for all the caps, I'm not yelling, just emphasizing!) Anyways, once again, I have caught myself rambling.. And to all a good night. --NICK Spannaus ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 18:37:00 EST From: Pgemmott at aol dot com Subject: relax Gosh, I've only just re-started getting ET. I don't think I' m behind anyone in loving RF or KC, but I do like to get things in perspective. Best RF/KC moments? Fracture, Fade Away & Radiate, Heroes, Starless. I've probably upset people by including a couple of pop tunes. But let's face it Mr Fripp can't write a decent tune, and he has had a whole load of lyricists, all of whom have been clumsy at best. What he has is the ability to play some utterly heartbreakingly beautiful guitar, and also some of the most savage killer riffs ever. What I'd like to say, is there is other stuff out there. I only like one prog rock band, obviously the best, but love loads of other stuff, none of which is like KC - as examples, Dexys, The Fall, Rezillos, Billie Holiday, XTC, Associates, Undertones, Saw Doctors, Ramones, Beach Boys, New Order, Clash, Wah!, and oh, I could go on. Try the Blues, soul, jazz, pop... and the rest. From reading ET I think you're all getting involved in the minutae of it all, if you like KC, play it, and look for other stuff like it, but for a change, try a simple 3 minute pop tune, a dance, a sad tune, a corny song, a bit of classical, or whatever... You might enjoy yourself. I do. Cheers Paul ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 01:41:05 -0000 From: "Darren" Subject: Re: live365 stations To back up the new King Crimson Discussion Group, FraKctured: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FraKctured/, we have also started a KC and related artist radio station on Live365. Funnily enough, it is called FraKctured Radio and you can find it at: http://www.live365.com/stations/299982 At the moment we have some great stuff in rotation, including: An excerpt from Toyah/Fripp's The Lady or the Tiger? The John Wetton Band performing Starless Adrian Belew FFWD Sylvian and Fripp McDonald & Giles Sunday All Over the World Fripp, Hammill and the Stranglers Gordon Haskell The 21st Century Schizoid Band And two tracks from the new album... Come and have a listen, you might actually enjoy it! Darren ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 00:06:15 -0600 From: John Michael Beard Subject: Re: Surprise Ken wrote: >PS Not for nothing guys, but all you who have gotten the new cd in advance, >really should wait until it comes out before posting your thoughts. Maybe, >just maybe some of us would like to be surprised by it. (can't believe I am >only one with this thought either) I always skip reviews until after I've heard the music myself. I wouldn't discourage anyone from writing them, it's easy enough to pass them by. John Michael Beard www.loungehounds.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 01:30:18 -0700 From: "amelia ray" Subject: bruford's earthworks, ronnie scott's, london, 5 april any et'ers thinking of going to this show? i'm planning on coming from france. -amelia http://www.ameliaray.net ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 08:00:45 EST From: GORTAY at aol dot com Subject: League of Heavy Manner There seems to have been some confusion in recent posts regarding the nature of Fripps solo albums made during the interregnum between 'Red' and 'Discipline". 'Exposure' is just 'Exposure.' The album 'The League of Gentlemen' is actually credited as a solo record by Robert Fripp entitled 'The League of Gentlemen'. I.e it isn't an eponymous album by a band called the League of Gentlemen. I say this because the record label has the words 'League of Gentlemen' above the track listing and the words "Robert Fripp" below the track listing which is consistent with the other Robert Fripp solo albums. Similar evidence appears on the sleeve. However on the back of the sleeve it does say that the band are called 'The League of Gentlemen' and that Robert Fripp is a member of the band. He's the guitar player apparantly. There were 2 singles released from this album (offers in a sealed envelope...), 'Dislocated' which had the B side '1984' from 'Let The Power Fall' and 'Heptaparaparshinokh' which had an otherwise unavailbale B side entitled 'Marriagemuzic' (all one word with a z not an s) which was an 11 minute piece of Frippertronics playing at 33rpm. Although the B sides are credited to Robert Fripp the A sides are credited to the League of Gentlemen. However, (still with me?) the sleeve of 'Dislocated' says that the track is "from the Robert Fripp album 'the League of Gentlemen'". I have 3 possible explanations for these inconsistencies. 1: too much drink 2: too many drugs 3: it was a nice day and they decided to throw a frisbee round the park instead. Oh, sudden thought, perhaps the record company decided that a record by an unknown band wouldn't sell as well as an album by Robert Fripp. As mentioned in a previous post the sleeve was designed by Danielle Dax who also did the sleeve for 'Let the Power Fall'. Danielle provides vocals on the track 'Minor Man'. In addition to her musical career she appeared in a number of films including Neil Jordan's excellent 'Company of Wolves' in which she takes her clothes off - but don't let me influence you. Not to be confused with 'Dances with Wolves' in which Kevin Costner takes his clothes off. The album 'God Save the Queen' (not 'God Save the King') is an album of Frippertronics consisting of three tracks 'Red Two Scorer', 'God Save the Queen' and '1983'. There is also an album called 'Under Heavy Manners' which is an album of ...ahem...Discotronics consisting of two tracks 'Under Heavy Manners' and 'The Zero of the Signified'. (People of a nervous disposition might like to leave now). 'GStQ' and 'UHM' are two different albums even though they appear on different sides of the same record. 'UHM' is a one sided album which appears on side 1 of the record. 'GStQ' is a one sided album which appears on side A of the record. The notes on the inner sleeve support this. I'm sure there have been other instances of artists releasing two albums on one piece of vinyl. Didn't Todd Rundgren do it? Sounds like the kind of thing he would have done. There is also, as mentioned, 'Let the Power Fall' an album of Frippertronics credited to Robert Fripp. Hope this clears things up. Incidentally, in ET 1085 John Spannaus says that the 'McDonald and Giles' album isn't as British as 'Giles, Giles & Fripp'. I'd just like to say that 'GG&F' doesn't reflect any Britishness I've ever encountered, except maybe that portrayed by Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins, the Moon family in Frazier or that episode of Friends where they come to Merrie England and find Richard Branson and the Duchess of York sauntering round the streets like common vagabonds instead of lounging about in the Caribbean as is their wont. Gordon Taylor ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 11:22:30 -0200 From: "diderot-jr" Subject: Music industry in 21st Century Dear fellows, Have you seen the Doonesbury comics lately? Garry Trudeau has developed a thread (or series) on this subject: mp3 dowload, record sales and so. It's not serious but shows a different point of view that I partially agree with. This series starts at: http://www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/2003/01/21/ Cheers Diderot ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 13:30:52 +0100 From: Tim Bowness Subject: the 'industry' part 1 - problems If it isn't a dead thread, I thought I'd add something to the 'industry' debate. Below you'll find an edit of something I'd written (pre-Pop Idol) to a couple of newsgroups in 2000. It's slightly negative, time-specific and not as comprehensive as I'd like it to be, but it ties in with some of the issues raised by other ETers. As some of you may know, subsequent to this, Porcupine Tree did end up getting signed to a major label. Part 2 might even have a happy ending :-): People don't know what they like until they hear it and, unfortunately, the diet of music being fed to audiences via mainstream channels is getting more exclusive and more conventional. The UK is a market that's proving increasingly impenetrable to an increasing number of artists. Corporate conservatism appears to have even more power than it did in the mid-70's or mid-80's and we also seem to have a music media and industry that is run by people who don't actually like or know that much about music. Economically it's become progressively difficult for creative independent labels to penetrate the mainstream marketplace/media and therefore, most people don't know where to buy what they might like, or are never exposed to what they might like. Despite more music media, less actual music is getting through to people. Often erroneous commercial political decisions dictate that people don't have too many interesting options available via the high street shops or mainstream music media. As someone who likes pop and has read a copy or two of Smash Hits, I'm not suggesting that Tony Blair bans Britney, Whitney and Shitney from our screens, I'm merely desperate for more diversity. MTV feel they're catering to minorities when they play the likes of Eminem (multi-million seller) and Limp Bizkit (multi-million sellers) and VH1 seem to be doing the avant garde a favour when they show a Police or David Bowie special (unsurprisingly, they're both multi-million sellers). I think it's a disgrace that the likes of David Sylvian, Sigur Ros and Talk Talk would be regarded as too esoteric a subject for a VH1 Behind The Music special (as for Torn, O'Rourke, Stereolab and Tortoise, they don't stand any chance in the first place). In the UK, we used to have a tradition of weekly terrestrial TV shows (Whistle Test, Oxford Road Show, Riverside, The Tube, So It Goes, Rapido etc...) that would give coverage to cutting edge new talent, established artists and assorted chart outfits of the day. Shows that wouldn't hesitate to put disparate artists such as Frank Zappa and Adam Ant, Red House Painters and The Shamen, and David Sylvian and Bow Wow Wow on the same show as one another. In the 1980's, a band like King Crimson were deemed worthy of live specials on BBC 1, now they struggle for a badly researched ten minute slot on VH 1's midnight talk programmes. Far more music TV has led to far less music being covered. As some North Americans might say, go figure. Radio, like everything else, is getting harder to get on. As with TV, years ago when there were far fewer stations, a lot more music was being covered. Along with BBC Radio One's quite brave (in retrospect) evening coverage, local stations would often have two or three programmes playing non-mainstream music. In the very early 80's, Manchester boasted several shows that would play a radical mix of new artists, established acts and local talent. In the early noughties, Manchester has no 'new' music shows on any of its stations. Chart stations, oldies chart stations and chat shows predominate. Magazines like MOJO, Uncut and The Wire buck the trend to a degree, but from experience as a music PR, I know that even in these publications, non-musical prejudice runs rife along with commercial pressures. Put simply, even here, politics and money can and do get in the way of honest music coverage. TV, magazine and radio starvation has killed and will kill many artists. Three possible solutions: 1) Back catalogues are cheap to prepare (no recording or proper advertising budgets) and easy to sell, so they're going to remain an important force for quite some time. Personally, I think it would make economic sense for majors to sign existing artists with a large back catalogue who have yet to properly infiltrate the mainstream (Porcupine Tree, Momus, No-Man, Stereolab). As with Pulp's belated mid-90's success, if one of the bands subsequently breaks big, there's a lot of music to exploit. 2) Letter and email campaigns. If Doctor Who fans can get the dusty old time-traveller mentioned in every TV poll, maybe music fans can do the same for their favourite neglected artists. 3) Use inexpensive new media like the internet to promote ideas and music. The www is excellent at bringing together people of a similar mindset, and although I'm worried that there might be a finite audience that means lots of interesting artists are scrabbling for the attention of a static set of interested fans, I hope I'm wrong. ---- http://come.to/no-man http://www.no-man.co.uk http://www.burningshed.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 10:55:34 -0500 From: "josh chasin" Subject: Club 21 I haven't read much about Club release 21 (ehich doesn't mean it hasn't been here; just that I haven't read it if it has been.) What do y'all think? I find myself fancying it quite a bit, actually. It has served as a reminder of how much I enjoyed the '81-'84 Crim, how much warmth and texture and color the Levin/Bruford rhythm section brought to the table (as a controlled experiment, you can hear them together elsewhere, e.g. that live ABWH album). I think there was/is a great synergy between these two players (and indeed between the four.) There are definitely good "ideas" on this disc-- that is "Industry" I hear, pretty much fully formed, in there somewhere, right? I find that I can put it into the changer with Discipline, Beat, and Perfect Pair, hit random, and have a fine old time. *** On a different subject, while I have not heard the new album yet, I've seen much of the material live (well, "heard" is more accurate) and have both eps and the Club disc of the newer material. In a sense I think these three works may be seen as "projecKtiles" for the new album. I already like this music better than I do that on TCOL (and enjoyed it better in concert as well), and am anxiously awaiting its official release, to hear-- much like the '83 germ versus '84 "Industry"-- how the music has stretched to fill in its own spaces. Or something like that. Cheers. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 14:25:22 -0200 From: "diderot-jr" Subject: CDs lifetime John Spannus wrote: > It's ridiculous.. It costs mere pennies (less?) to produce a CD and the > cheap plastic case it comes in... And on top of it all, this $20 cd > scratches and breaks very, very easily.. Hell, most of the albums that > I've downloaded, I DID buy once and the cd got scratched. I'm not going > to fork out another $20 bucks to replace it.. Adding my two cents to what Ken Brown says: I have hundreds of CDs (including SaBB from 1987 playing fine) and I had problem with just 1 (ONE) of them. It was a "The Who/Tommy" that I bought in West Germany in 1989, and for some internal corrosion, not visible, some years later the music was superposed with a bass scratch. This kind of corrosion works from the center to the edge and is getting worse with time. There was another CD with a tiny bubble in the plastic that my old Philips CD player couldn't avoid allways. The next generation players haven't noticed it. And remember: the CDs come in "jewel case", so hold them carefully! Diderot ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 16:55:50 +0000 From: "Anna Rose" Subject: Downloading music For several months now I have been searching in vain for the music of the band Brainticket (attracted I think by the statement in a rock encyclopedia that said, 'Is this the obscurest band ever?'). However the encyclopedia proved correct, in that no matter where I looked, I found absolutely nothing. Then I went onto Kazaa and was able to download the whole of their album, 'Cottonwoodhill'. (This is an absolutely devastating album, it's great, get your hands on it if you possibly can. It should carry a Government Health warning.) If I had ordered it from HMV or wherever, it would have cost probably between #30-40 and taken 4 or 5 weeks to arrive. But from Kazaa it only took a few hours, and cost nothing apart from your basic Internet cost. I can't deny that I felt a bit guilty - I mean, has anyone EVER bought a Brainticket album in the history of the world? Probably not (apart, of course, from the guy on Kazaa) - but downloading is really great to get hold of obscure stuff, rare material, single B-sides that didn't get onto albums, etc. If Brainticket had been available, I would have bought it, but since it wasn't... I think it's a bit stingy to download stuff when it's perfectly available from the store down the road - but I'm the sort of person who copies CDs from the lending library, so I guess I'm not one to talk. However I do plan to wait for TPTB's official release before getting it. Anna. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 11:15:14 -0800 From: "Scott Steele" Subject: Encouragement from Thom; Belew/Claypool/Carey; The Yellow Jester >do realise that majors don't care about you and even dislike you a little. go to bed smiling- music is the best. dgm/kccc are/were serious moral touchstones for how to do this stuff well. every good independently released record that becomes even a touch popular is a thorn in the side of uni/emi/wea/seagrams/whomever. d.i.y., people. I loved reading this Thom, thanks for posting it. >1.19.03 Today Danny heads for the Bay Area to begin a new recording project with Adrian Belew, (of King Crimson) and Les Claypool (of Primus). I can't wait to hear this one! Me neither, I think it's going to crush. David Vella, you are hilarious and you have a very fertile imagination! - S. np: Op Zop Too Wah scottst at ohsu dot edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 14:23:14 -0500 From: "Steven Paul Rewa B.S." Subject: CD Durability I'd like to stand up and be counted among those who think that CD's are rather shoddy. I think I take really good care of my cds. I store them in their cases, I don't leave them lying around, and I do my best not to touch the surfaces. Regardless of what I do, most of them seem to have scratches or pock marks on them and they skip in my stereo. There's a good chance that it has a lot to do with the stereo and not the cd's themselves. I mostly play them on my computer now instead to see if that makes a difference. The fact remains that my confidence has pretty much gone out of the compact disc storage medium. Whether it be the cd's or the player, I can't listen to the music and that's the point, right? Also, I can't afford to buy a new stereo any more than I can new cd's. Ken suggests making copies of the CD's in case they go bad and I've done this. It's a great suggestion, but I would point out that making a copy and downloading a copy are the same thing. I've done both and I couldn't really have a problem with either. Anon, -Steve ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 11:26:58 -0800 From: "Jonathan" Subject: Re: New King Crimson Discussion Group Anonymous writes: > > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FraKctured/ > > I hope that this group isnt going to turn into a vehicle for the > sale of Bootlegs. What an odd thought! I've been a member of a number of these groups. My experience is that, whenever anyone suggests buying or selling a bootleg, the "CDR traders" jump on that person like Crim-fans on a flash photographer. The same thing happens when somone suggests trading a copy of a legit CD. BTW, I've read with interest the various postings on the music industry. I especially enjoyed reading, in the Courtney Love article, about the "false scarcities" of the traditional record industry (limited airtime, limited record-store bin space, limited selection). It used to drive me nuts that my favorite Ella Fitzgerald album was out of print (eventually re-released as "Pure Ella") or that the first Clash album came and went without any American label bothering to release it. While, I have trouble imagining that the hype-driven, top-40 [expletive deleted]-machine will go away any time soon, I am also hopeful that direct artist-fan communications and sales will continue to increase in both viability and impact. One industry might become several. The fractured result can only be an improvement. Yours, Jonathan ------------------------------ End of Elephant Talk Digest #1086 *********************************