Errors-To: owner-tmbg-digest@tmbg.org Reply-To: tmbg-digest@tmbg.org Sender: owner-tmbg-digest@tmbg.org Precedence: bulk From: owner-tmbg-digest@tmbg.org To: tmbg-digest@tmbg.org Subject: tmbg-list Digest #2-179 tmbg-list Digest, Volume 2, Number 179 Thursday, 27 June 1996 Today's Topics: Re: tmbg-list Digest #2-176 (none) Backwards voices MORE STUFF, various re's Re: Alternative / Mainstream / Fans Re: RE: tmbg know it all's Re: Backwards voices Lie Still, Little Bottle DC concert Re: Alternative / Mainstream / Fans Re: WDHYF Re: TMBG + schoolhouse rock TMBG fans are such friendly folk. Re: Backwards voices Re: DC concert Re: Lie Still, Little Bottle Don't say... Electric Chair... not... pointfest Mono Puff @ the Middle East Re: pointfest Backwards stuff Monopuff in DC Boba Mail Concert Review + OAT Once I was in the bus terminal Introduction and Some Commentary (none) Administrivia: For all administrative issues, such as change of address, withdrawal from the list, etc., send a message to the following address: tmbg-digest-request@tmbg.org --------------------------------------------------------------------- The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 18:35:26 +1000 From: Tim Baby Subject: Re: tmbg-list Digest #2-176 Hey, >i think he meant 8 TMBG CDs, not albums. Yeah, I meant CDs. The Guitar and Why Does The Sun Shine. It is next to impossible to get most CDs in Australia. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! Adam Poskitt ! ! custer@ros.com.au ! ! I'm different, ! ! I don't care who ! ! knows it. ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ------------------------------ From: gsm_kth@pkinus3.serigate.philips.nl Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 13:10:01 +0200 to: RE: ALTERNATIVE / MAINSTREAM / FANS And now for some calm reflections on the music of today, sit back, relax and read at your own leisure................ This kind of thread was going on a while back, but it seems to have cropped up again with the same old arguments, most of which aren't particularly valid - most of them come down to elitism (copyright: Ryan Staib). Any other kind of elitism (racism, sexism, homophobia, the works..) is immediately pounced on as wrong, so why is it encouraged in music? Time and time again we see people (not just on the list) trying to make out that, because they have this single or that special edition album, they are somehow more of a fan than someone else, and therefore a better person in general - if you don't believe that just look at the complaints about "stupid" questions to Flansburgh on AOL, or think how many times the "well, I was into the band before you" comments come up when you talk to "real fans" about any band. Just ask yourself how you are affected by anyone elses "fan-rating" and how much yours affects others. (The answer to your question is "not at all"). It seems many people are not evaluating the consequences of their actions - the fact is that bands have to make money, if they don't they get dropped by the label. If fans try to keep a band low-key (possibly against the band's wishes) the band will be dropped and will not be able to put out any records, so everyone loses. A true alternative/non-mainstream (by the usual definition) band would not have such a large fan-list, wouldn't have so many sites on the internet, wouldn't have a ten-year history of albums, wouldn't go on world tours ....(ad infinitum). As a final point - would someone please try to explain why mainstream music is such a musical leper? Mainstream music is music that, by design or by accident, appeals to a lot of people - ie. a lot of people enjoy it. A lot of people also enjoy eating Pizza, having sex, going on holiday, sleeping, drinking beer, playing on computers, and doing their job (in some cases all at the same time given the opportunity). So why is wide-appeal music such a problem? Could it be, perhaps, that this is elitism again? (The answer to the question is "yes") Fritz ------------------------------ From: john@msd.measurex.com (John Pletikapich) Subject: Backwards voices Date: Wed, 26 Jun 96 8:52:32 EDT > My question is this: How did they manage to record it so that >is sounds more natural played backwards (as it is on the tape) than >when you reverse it (so that it can be understood) ?? I'm not familiar w/ this passage so I should probably not comment, but I saw an interesting bit on TV about backwards masking. There was an episode of the Twin Peaks series in which some midgets appeared to someone in a dream. (The only show I saw, btw.) I later saw a clip explaining how they made the midgets sound like they were "foreigners" speaking English. They had the actors say their lines into a tape recorder and then played it backwards to them. The resulting sounds were now the lines the actors had to memorize. Then after they spoke the new lines into the tape recorder, THAT tape was played backwards as the actual dialogue for the show. So the final result sounded alot like English but had peculiar wave patterns because they were actually voices backwards. (Did that make any sense?) Don't know if this applies, but I thought it was interesting. Maybe you agree. -- John P ------------------------------ From: wglodell@baraboo.com (Leda Glodell) Subject: MORE STUFF, various re's Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 10:02:34 -0500 Ok, first,the main reason I sent this was, i have been listening to a tape a made a few days ago with my fav. 32 songs from flood a18 lincoln and jh in fast speed, BUT this is the first music i have heard that dosen't sound like chipmunks singing at fast speed. In fact, it alost sounds normal, just a little higher pitched, sounds like they hve their noses plugged, and of corse ( Not bothering thinking about how to spell, i dont do that in the summer...) faster. About religion, 2 of my best friends are mormons, and they are the only ones that REALLY like TMBG. And, About them getting popular, i wouldn't like it, in school, on long field trips, where we have to sit in a bus for an hour, me and my friend sit together and shout the lyrics to the songs and everyone thinks we made it up, although if we sang something like... uhh.... "Gangsta's Paradise" ( I get goosebumps typing the name EEWW!!!) then everyone would sing along or think we were idiots. One last thing, I think how they could record something that sounds natural backwards is not to reverse it after, bbut just sing it backwards ( like in Weird Al's amish paradise video, at the end, he was walking forward and all the wagons and chickens and junk were backwards, so how they did that was, he walked backwards whie everything went forward, and then it was reversed and WALA [ I am also a Weird Al fan ] ) -Wyatt, who is wating a ton of time on-line downloading something, so he dcided to write this to occupy himself. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 11:43:38 -0400 (EDT) From: Ryan Staib <97starya@james.hawken.edu> Subject: Re: Alternative / Mainstream / Fans Well, you used my name right after 'aren't particularly valid,' but I think your message was pretty much in tune with what I was saying, so I can't really comment. Onwards, however. Yes, you're right. It doesn't matter how much of a fan you are or how many years you've been listening. Fan is a shortening of fanatic (which most of us are), but it has come to mean someone who enjoys whatever it is they are a fan of. So, using the second definition, you enjoy their music more. Good for you. I'm happy, but it doesn't make you better. Now, using the first definition, you're more obsessed. And wait... we're supposed to respect you for that? If we cared at all, I'd expect that we would respect you less for that, but I don't care, so I don't really know. Ok. Now, first of all, on the Alternative isn't alternative anymore debate: pure and simple, "no sh*t." I know you weren't arguing about that, but I had to say it. In the beginning, alternative was an alternative to popular music, and, guess what, it still is an alternative to the "Rock/Pop" section, it's just popular now. That doesn't really change the nature of the music (especially the people that were around before people started copying off of them), it just means we can label it. When alternative became popular enough to get a label, it 'sold-out' or whatever, because it became popular. But popularity in itself cannot change the nature of something that existed before (ie it is not a retroactive thing). And, if someone liked a band before, say Nirvana, and then everyone tried to make music like Nirvana's music, wouldn't that just mean there was a greater amount of likable music out there for you to enjoy? Something is good. Now, assuming that, why can we NOT handle the fact that a large amount of people will like it??? It must only be because we feel that large numbers of people will only _pretend_ to like it because their friends like it. And then they can say 'oh yeah, I like tmbg,' and you get angry because only _you_ can like tmbg, especially if the other person doesn't even actually like tmbg. Those people are not important. In fact, all they do is put money into the band's pocket. We should be happy. Now, I admit, having 'your own thing' is kind of fun. But, guess what? You didn't invent tmbg, nor did you invent any other small band you like (except maybe your own). So, why are you trying to keep them for your own? You cannot claim ownership for something that is not owned by you, so please stop trying to. It only makes people like me write messages like this. :) By your reasoning, wouldn't you be endangering other people's enjoyment of the music? Wouldn't anybody except a one-person fan base be infringing upon someone else's enjoyment? Of course not, and I hope you see that this argument is slightly ridiculous. For that person who said that he gets great reactions from that 1 guy when he mentions tmbg. Unpopular: 'Have you heard of tmbg? Yes. I love them.' Popular: 'Do you like tmbg? Yes. I love them.' Not much difference, but whatever. Why is mainstream such a leper? For some of the reasons above. Also, because when people 'sell-out' to popular culture, they have either surrendered their free will (which nobody should be advocating), or they have been untrue to themselves for the sake of money. Not all music that becomes popular has sold-out, but everyone who cares about that sort of thing says it has. People do not like musicians who pander to the lowest denominator just for money, and with pretty good reason. However, if Lincoln suddenly (magically?) got popular, it would be pretty hard for us to say that They had sold out (although I know some people would try anyway). Some people want to be weird just for the sake of being weird (which is bad). Arby's says that different is good. I say that different is only different (shock!). It's good if it's good, but until then it's only different. Those people who confuse the fact that you should be yourself, and then, if you are different, that's ok, with the fact that being different in itself somehow makes you good and true to yourself. Likewise many people decide that popular is bad because everyone who likes popular stuff must be surrendering free will and not being themselves and falling prey to peer pressure or whatnot. Never get confused by popularity. Popular is popular. Good is good. YOU decide for yourself what is good, and keep in mind that it has nothing to do with what is popular. If only 2 people liked tmbg, would it make Them any better or worse? No! If 1 billion people like tmbg, would it make Them any better or worse? No! People who get pissed at long messages probably haven't read this far, so I can't apologize, but I hope I didn't clog anyone's mailbox or anything. Thanks for reading if you did. Hell, thanks for deleting it if you did. RS ------------------------------ From: UrLord01@aol.com Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 12:05:42 -0400 Subject: Re: RE: tmbg know it all's Hi all, I'm new to this list but have been reading the mail. I agree with you on the fact that they are not a well known band. At baseball I would Hum A SELF CALLED KNOWWHERE to myself and this idiot named steven crudly remarks, "Whats that stupid song your singing" I useally don't even bother to give half a care to what he says because everyone knows that he is a loser. "It's a cool song you @$$ hole!" I kindly respond. "What kind of music do you concider "COOL?"I say. he just sits there, staring down. Then after a minute he says I don't know, At least I don't listen to who ever those people are. "There They Might Be Giants" I say. "MIght be giants, They Suck." He says. Then My friend josh comes to my defence, "No, they rule he says, Unlike the $#!+ that you listen to. What do you listen to any way? Kenny-g?" Steven Just sits there and keeps on saying they suck when he has'nt even heard any of there songs. After the game I finaly snap and beat him up real bad. ------------------------------ From: "Doug Haas" Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 12:40:00 -0005 Subject: Re: Backwards voices > > My question is this: How did they manage to record it so that > >is sounds more natural played backwards (as it is on the tape) than > >when you reverse it (so that it can be understood) ?? ok, the way I understand all this is that it is like how the Beatles and other bands had backwards guitar and cymbals and stuff. They'd write the piece, play it, then play it back, backwards. They'd then learn how to play it backwards by listening to their recording. Then they'd play it backwards into a tape, and flip it around so the note pattern, etc. was in the original pattern. It's just that it fades in rather than out because the end of the note is really the beginning, that's why it sounds funny... ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 10:59:31 -1000 From: Emily Lerche Kerr (Ana Ng) Subject: Lie Still, Little Bottle >I also thought for a minute that "Lie Still, Little Bottle" was about a game >of Spin-The-Bottle, until I realized that he was just so drunk that he >couldn't get the bottle to sit still. I was driving along in my car one day a while ago, and I suddenly realized exactly what this song is about. It was like a smack in the face. I listened closely to the words, and I discovered it's all about drugs. Lie still, little botle, and shake my shaky hand (withdrawl symptoms) Black coffee's not enough for me, I need a better friend (something stronger) One pill at the bottom, is singing my favorite song (the last pill calls to me) I know I must investigate, I hope that I can sing along (I must have it, etc) There's no time for metaphors, said the little pill to me he said life is a placebo (fake pill) masquerading as a simile (think of the definitions of metaphor and simile. Saying you don't need real drugs) But I knew that pill was lying, too percarious, too nice (drugs are better) But as he walked, I had to sing this twice...(the drugs are going away, and the chorus comes in to bring them back) So, that is the first of their drug songs. The second, is Spiraling Shape. :) I love that song. "The spiraling shpe will make you go insane Everyone wants to see that groovy thing" Ana Ng ------------------------------ From: SirMovie@aol.com Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 01:40:24 -0400 Subject: DC concert I heard They are going to do a show in DC on Aug. 16th. Does anyone know where it is or how much tickets are? I have to go!!! ------------------------------ From: kucecj@sncac.snc.edu (Christopher J. Kucera) Subject: Re: Alternative / Mainstream / Fans Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 12:35:37 -0500 (CDT) > tmbg,' and you get angry because only _you_ can like tmbg, especially if > the other person doesn't even actually like tmbg. Those people are not > important. In fact, all they do is put money into the band's pocket. We > should be happy. Now, I admit, having 'your own thing' is kind of fun. > But, guess what? You didn't invent tmbg, nor did you invent any other > small band you like (except maybe your own). So, why are you trying to > keep them for your own? You cannot claim ownership for something that is That's actually part of it... In our world, I see people constantly drifting away to what's considered "normal" or "okay," and yes, I really enjoyed being able to have something that I knew was different than other people. I don't think that different is just different. Different gives the world something to talk about, a little variety... Of course, I'm already predisposed to think that life without at least evidence of extremes would get boring. To answer the second part, we're not [1] trying to "keep the band" to ourselves or anything like that... We're just having a discussion over the possibilities of TMBG, and where, if we _were_ in change, we'd like to see Them go. I, for one, am not under any bit of delusion that anything I've ever wrote to the list is going to make any difference at all in the life of the Johns. I mean, heck, the only reason why I posted the mainstream thing in the first place was to get the list out of a rather apathetic rut of buttknob discussions, and breathe some fire into the list... It worked! :) > Likewise many people decide that popular is bad because everyone who > likes popular stuff must be surrendering free will and not being themselves > and falling prey to peer pressure or whatnot. Never get confused by > popularity. Popular is popular. Good is good. YOU decide for yourself So that people don't get the wrong impression of me, I'm not against mainstream, really... I really like a lot of mainstream stuff [2], but if someone's got something that's decidedly _not_ mainstream, I'd like to see it stay that way, because (again) different is the spice of life. -CJ [1] At least, I'm not. [2] ie: Bush, NIN, Goo-Goo dolls, Nirvana, Metallica, STP, or the Gods that are Pearl Jam [3] [3] Despite the fact that nearly all of PJ's stuff sounds identical to the rest of it. "Within its deep infinity I saw ingathered, and bound by love in one volume, the scattered leaves of all the universe." - Dante ~""`'~"`"~"~`"~"~~~'`'~'~"~~"`"`"<<>>~""~~~"~"~'`'`"~'""~~'`"`"~'`~"`' CJ Kucera - kucecj@sncac.snc.edu - http://www.atw.fullfeed.com/~pez ------------------------------ Subject: Re: WDHYF Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 12:39:05 -0500 (CDT) From: Chris Bongaarts In the immortal words of Tom Hare: > My question is this: How did they manage to record it so that >is sounds more natural played backwards (as it is on the tape) than >when you reverse it (so that it can be understood) ?? Practice, practice, practice. :) ------------------------------ Subject: Re: TMBG + schoolhouse rock Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 12:46:06 -0500 (CDT) From: Chris Bongaarts In the immortal words of KTUCKER3@aol.com: > As I was singing "James K. Polk" this morning, I thought of a great >idea. Has anybody ever seen Schoolhouse Rock? We watched it junior year in It was a staple of Saturday Morning Cartoons for many of us in the 70's and 80's. Recently an album called "Schoolhouse Rock Rocks!" was released, featuring bands like Blind Melon, Better than Ezra, and Ween covering tunes from the television series. There's also a Schoolhouse Rock homepage: http://iquest.com/~bamafan/shr/ ObTMBG: The popularity of TMBG does not in any way affect its singability. And that's what matters to me :) ============================================ Chris.Bongaarts-1@umn.edu Chris Bongaarts My opinions are my own, http://umn.edu/~cab Univ. of Minnesota and they are right. CBongo on EFnet IRC (#umn) GCS d-- s+:+ a22 C+++ ULHSX++++$ P++++ L++ E W++ N+ o+ K+++ w-- !O M+ !V PS+ PE Y-- PGP-- t+ !5 !X R tv b+ DI++++ D+ G++ e h- !r y? [GeekCode 3.12] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 12:17:33 -0500 (CDT) From: Tara Lynne Weber <00085244@bigred.unl.edu> Subject: TMBG fans are such friendly folk. Wow! I just had a TMBG fan sighting! It was great! I was walking across campus in my "They Might Be Giants, Brooklyn's Ambassadors of Love" T-shirt, late to class as usual, when this guy stops, does a double take, and says, "Whoa! Oh my god, is that a They Might Be Giants shirt??" I exclaimed, "Why yes, it is!!", even though I had a mouth full of bagel. We both freaked out and he even gave me a hug like I was long-lost family. :) I didn't have much time to talk to him, as I was running late and it appeared he was too, but it was cool nonetheless. None of this even struck me as strange until I continued on my way to class and I thought, "You know, I just hugged a total stranger solely because he was a They fan." I'm normally very reserved around people I don't know, which makes it even weirder, but I consider all TMBG fans everywhere to be my long-lost friends, I guess. :) Just thought I'd share with y'all. Now everybody go hug a TMBG fan. :) --Tara *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* * Tara Weber | "eVeRy jUMbLeD PiLe oF peRSoN hAs a * * 00085244@bigred.unl.edu| tHiNKiNg paRt tHaT woNdeRs wHat tHe paRt * * Ondine@tmbg.org | tHaT isN't tHiNkinG iSn't tHiNKiNg oF." * * | --tHeY MiGhT bE giAnTS * *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 14:04:01 -0400 (EDT) From: Lawrence P Solomon Subject: Re: Backwards voices Yeah. TMBG used to do that when they played Hide away folk family live - they'd try to imitate the way the backwards part came out, and the audience laughed at it. I wish they'd do that with Subliminal. When they played it at Fairfax, I was shouting towards the end "Play it backwards!" but they didn't listen. Maybe if I'd sent a Subliminal message... ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 14:05:58 -0400 (EDT) From: Lawrence P Solomon Subject: Re: DC concert Good question. It's listed on the official home page, so it's definitely an official date, but Flans didn't mention it on AOL when they asked about upcoming shows, and as far as I know all the places there could be a TMBG concert have something else going on... ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 14:07:37 -0400 (EDT) From: Lawrence P Solomon Subject: Re: Lie Still, Little Bottle Well, the second is actually Sleeping in the Flowers - at one show (I think it was 6/94 at Wolf Trap) Flans said "It's not about getting totally high," which means, of course, that it is. :) ------------------------------ From: Ruprecht76@aol.com Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 14:52:09 -0400 Subject: Don't say... Electric Chair... not... Somebody said... >First of all, whoever it was who mentioned a song called "Electric Chair"... >...please get a clue, it's called "Hearing Aid." Read your liner notes. >Luckily, I thought for a minute about the lyrics, knew it was on Flood, and >deduced the *real* song title from there. And anyway, good point about the >backwards message...that's one that has never been pointed out to me. remaining calm About four months ago we had this discussion, but that's all right, you're newer than that... Anyway to completely clarify this... On the beginning of the song Hearing Aid (pull out your flood CDs, boys and girls) there is a backwards _and_ forwards message, on the CD (or Cassette or LP) you will hear some garbled (backwards) speech, followed by "Your Mercy" ... The garbled part says "Your Mercy Lor-" (I'm assuming it's saying Lord) in much the same way that the forwards part is... For those of you who have a sound card, yet no CD player, on your computers, I will put a forward and backward soundbite of this on my TMBG page, The Hall Of Heads at http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/6476/ ... Knock yourselves out >On >the LoFi Experience tape, there are a few backwards messages, but not that one. Hmmm... I bet those are from the backwards messages on my page... no one ever told me... OAT (Other Assorted Trivia): I'm temporarily back from camping... Gonna Wally Pleasant (Morrisey on Uppers) tonight! Whoohoo a spooky man named Ike I wish that I could jump out of my .sig ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 14:01:08 -0500 (CDT) From: Sleeping Beauty Subject: pointfest I don't think they'll have another pointfest until the fall. that's what they did last year. i don't know if They Might Be Giants are supposed to be at it. I heard that they were supposed to be at Pointfest V and the Point didn't want them to come. i was pretty upset about that. but, what can you do? Denise ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 15:18:06 -0400 From: gonzalez@vitaliy.harvard.edu (David Gonzalez) Subject: Mono Puff @ the Middle East Someone posted that they went to the Mono Puff show last night at the Middle East Club.... I was just wonderin' if there were any memorable quotes from Flans. Thanks, drg ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 15:01:50 -0500 (CDT) From: Braaaaad Subject: Re: pointfest August 17 is when it's slated. ////> ____________ c-oo -BRAd \ - On Wed, 26 Jun 1996, Sleeping Beauty wrote: > I don't think they'll have another pointfest until the fall. that's what > they did last year. i don't know if They Might Be Giants are supposed > to be at it. I heard that they were supposed to be at Pointfest V and the > Point didn't want them to come. i was pretty upset about that. but, what > can you do? > > Denise > > ------------------------------ From: tim.clark@rma.edu Organization: Randolph-Macon Academy Date: Wed, 26 Jun 96 17:35:30 -0400 Subject: Backwards stuff >Yeah. TMBG used to do that when they played Hide away folk family live >- they'd try to imitate the way the backwards part came out, and the >audience laughed at it. >I wish they'd do that with Subliminal. When they played it at Fairfax, >I was shouting towards the end "Play it backwards!" but they didn't >listen. Maybe if I'd sent a Subliminal message... They did do it at the 9:30 show. Linnel did a pretty good job of it... ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 17:45:19 -0400 (EDT) From: Groove Child Subject: Monopuff in DC One day till I get to see Flans and the kids of Monopuff! Anyone going to the show tomorrow night at the 930 club? We should try to meet, because I hear there will only be a few people there. Nola ------------------------------ From: "BOBA" Organization: anubis Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 17:53:35 EST Subject: Boba Mail Hey what's the T-Shirt Update? I've been gone a while. Boba Out. Matthew J. Ondrey Boba@tmbg.org ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 19:20:27 -0700 From: Ruprecht Organization: Representatives of the People of Here Subject: Concert Review + OAT They Might Be Giants in Vancouver May 29, 1995 The Commodore Ballroom Vancouver, British Columbia Review and photography by David C. Franson I remember purchasing the first album They Might Be Giants put out, in 1987. It has a weird cover by Rodney Allan Greenblatt, a New York painter who has gone on to do CD-ROMs, which by all accounts are very cool. I still have this tape, and I still listen to it. It sounds like what it is: a couple of guys from Brooklyn (John Flansburgh - electric guitar, vox, glasses and John Linnell - accordian, sax, vox) with some instruments, a drum machine, a mixer, and a few cool songs interspersed with some interesting musical ideas that don't quite manage to become songs. It's not an album that you would listen to and then say, "wow, these guys would be great live." Nonetheless... TMBG ripped into the opening of their concert with a rendition of "The Sun (is a mass of incandescent gas )" that got the floor of the Commodore moving about in a distressing fashion. Their music might be described as Salvador Dali meets a mid-60s show band, or tuneful pop with horns and damned odd lyrics. It's rock, but it's also influenced by jazz and other musical forms. And it makes use of the accordion, horns, and the glockenspiel. Go figure. Then deal with the lyrics, which feature many atypical motifs, like beheadings, the nature of mammals, and subliminal messages. Odd music perhaps, but on Monday night it was performed well. Make that very well. People danced, sung along, and had a good time. So what else might one want from a concert? Big, luxuriant hairdos and explosions maybe, but none of the crowd seemed to be looking for that. Besides, there were other things to enjoy: a conga line with appropriate music, a lengthy improvised segment featuring audience participation as a musical device, and a rockin' version of the 1973 tune "Frankenstein", among other things. TMBG has been touring with a full compliment of musicians since the summer of 1992 and this band works very well together. Overall, the sound is smooth and polished. The individual musicians support each other, and rather than be a sum of parts, the music comes out as a coherent whole. Music of this sort is a cooperative activity, and this band knows how to play as a team. The word, "solid", as an adjective, certainly applies to this outfit which included Brian Doherty (drums, glockenspiel), Tony Maunone (bass), Tim Newman (trombone), and Jim O'Connor (trumpet). Also enjoyable were the liberties that were taken with the songs. Versions of songs that were played live sounded significantly different from the recorded versions. "Your Racist Friend ", for example, had an accentuated reggae beat, and "Anna Ng" was played at a significantly slower, but definitely groovier tempo. Unique music, well played, and entertainingly delivered. All of this added up to make a very satisfying show. ... OAT (Other Assorted Trivia): I've been listening to Mono Puff (too much) and there is a line in TDWDTN (Totally Rocking) that I can't figure out... "The Lord said to Satan, Dude I'm sick of waiting, If you want to hang to, ???, you got to hang ten" I think that it is the same word that is in that line in Take The Skinheads Bowling, but I don't know what it it ("Everyday I get up and pray to ???, and he increasing my number of blessings by exactly one") whatever a spooky man named Ike I wish that I could jump out of my .sig ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 21:36:36 -0400 From: julinka@tmbg.org Subject: Once I was in the bus terminal Once I was in the bus terminal with Lisa, the troll who lives under my bed, and her dumb sister Katie, waiting to go to Aurora to the practice of a dumb band which we were in. We had just missed the bus, and found ourselves with half an hour and nothing to do. Anyway, Katie may be dumb but she has a beautiful blue guitar. So I stole it, sat down on the floor, and said "Lisa, sing with me," and I pretended to be able to play They Might Be Giants songs. (Secretly I didn't know how, even though I had the chords written out right in front of me. Also, secretly, we souldn't sing them very well because sometimes it is hard to sing in the key of a boy when you are a girl, and I can't play well enough to transcribe things in my brain.) But somehow we managed, and were stumbling through a few little ditties, when we noticed that our duo had become a trio. There was a man, standing behind us, singing along. It was so happy. We sang all the songs I could play (read: had printed out the chords to), and then the bus came and he went away. I'm going to marry him, I've decided. love and other neat stuff, Julia "Oh, please don't go! | We'll eat you up! | We love you so!" | -the wild things | "I'm very brave generally," he went on in a low voice; "only to-day I happen to have a headache." ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 23:00:05 -0500 (EST) From: Queen Sneepy Subject: Introduction and Some Commentary Well, after sifting through approximately 1000 messages (I'm not kidding! All at once!) I feel like I have a handle on the discussions here and am ready to post (it's like a coming-of-age thing, I guess.). Hi! I first heard of Them from my friend Alison, who was playing Flood (what else?) in her car while she took me home. She then gave me a description of the actions of "Particle Man", and then played the song. I asked to borrow the tape, and I was hooked. The rest of the albums I got from a friend of mine in the DC area, with whom I traded R.E.M. albums with for the TMBG. She even made some swell covers for them... Anyhoo, I languished in TMBG fandom for four years until I could finally see Them live at Bogarts in Cinncinati on May 17 of this year, one of the definite highlights of, well, my life. See, I live in the deprived state of Indiana where "minors" (read "under 21") can't go into bars, and therefor cannot go see their favourite bands play at the Vogue, which, unfortunately, is a bar (any other hoosier TMBG fans who feel the pain?). I'd say my favourite song is "My Evil Twin", but generally, I like the songs that no one else does, like "Extra Savoir Faire" (I can't believe the evil things I've read about this song! It's great!), and "Road Movie." Conversely, I can't stand "Your Racist Friend." My favourite line from "Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes," being "In the mirror it reflects a tiny dancing skeleton, surrounded by a fleshy over coat and swallolin a furry hat, elastic mask, a pair of shiny marble dice, some people call them snake-eyes, but to me they look like mice." On the silly/weird debate- To tell the truth, I never really thought They were saying _anything_ until I red the interps...I guess it never occured to me. I thought it was just fun fun music. Now that I've read the interps, it has added an entire new dimension to Their music, and infinitely more enjoyable. So perhaps the lables of "silly" and/or "weird" stem from people who've never really thought about it. I think JL needs to look at a lot of their songs, and see _how_ they are written, and not neccessarily _what_ is written. Quotes like the one above would really not make any sense to any one, but it is weird. I'm starting to think JL takes himself just a little too seriously. But he is a MacUser, and this does add to his godliness. :) On the new stuff- They played a lot of new stuff at Their concert, and I loved They Got Lost, but a big "Enh." to XTC v. AA, and Hi-C SLAG, and I really didn't like S.E.X.X.Y. Spiralling Shape off of the wonderful KITH (another set of gods) soundtrack is one of my New Favourite Songs. I love their insanity stuff. That's it! Sorry for the long post...opinions from 1000 messages sure build up! :) *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ Stefanie Elliott "More thinking. We are well challenged my small friend." smelliot@falstaff.ucs.indiana.edu -The Tick **StarWars*DNRC*Medievalist*X-Phile*Punk*MiSTie #14672*MacUser*Comics*Reader** ------------------------------ From: gsm_kth@pkinus3.serigate.philips.nl Date: Thu, 27 Jun 1996 07:21:02 +0200 to: obsequious.dead.yak@bbs.yab.com wrote...... > I don't agree with you. Though the first paragraph was damn >close to on the money. I dought this band will ever get "popular"... > Yes, they do have quite a following.. I think so much of a >following, that THEY will be able to choose when they stop playing >music.. and not the label. Now, I agree the infamous fan aurgument I wasn't being clear enough, I actually meant new bands and bands in general - one thing I have maintained throughout the mainstream/alternative thread is the fact that TMBG do what they want, not what they think the fans want. However - please look at your own comments - you say they won't ever get popular but have enough of a following to dictate to the label what they want to do.......bit of a contradiction I think. >continue to listen to their music. But you can't tell me that you would >get the same feeling out of the music if it were so mainstream. If True, but in the end it's up to TMBG to decide what they want to do - if that means I no longer like the material then so be it. TMBG do what they do because they enjoy it - if that means they become more mainstream (as some people seem to suggest) then that's up to them. I don't let anyone tell me what music to listen to, why should the Johns listen to anyone tell them what music to make? >Seems to me, though, they, are for people with a unique taste in music, >along with some many of other lowkey bands around. And I think thats No. If they were for people with a unique taste in music this list wouldn't exist and hardly anyone would have bought their albums. I defy anyone to define as "low-key" any band who have easily-available albums in N.America, Europe, and Australasia. Fritz ------------------------------ End of tmbg-list Digest #2-179 ******************************