tlhouns@ns.PacBell.COM (Lee Hounshell) (04/17/91)
My Happy-Rhodes CD "Warpaint" arrived in the mail last Saturday. For all you doubters out there, I strongly urge you to buy it. I haven't yet ordered her cassette tapes, but I will now. I sure wish all here material were available on CD.. she is a very talented artist. The following is a track list of her CD album: 1. Waking up - 4:06 2. Feed the Fire - 4:33 3. Murder - 4:54 4. To Live in Your World - 3:30 (my personal favorite) 5. Phobos - 5:13 6. Wrong Century - 4:22 7. Lay Me Down - 3:51 8. Terra Incognita - 4:33 9. All Things - 4:48 10. Words Weren't Make for Cowards - 5:20 11. Warpaint - 6:13 12. In Hiding - 3:10 The disk is very professionally packaged, and includes a CD insert with all lyrics. I'm told by the producer, Kevin Bartlett that her tapes are all slow-speed first generation copies made directly off the master tape. I took the chance and ordered the CD sight unseen (well, unheard if you want to be acurate) and I'm astounded by her music. I can't believe that a major record label hasn't jumped on this woman yet!! With her talent, she's sure to be a major artist. You can get the disk by sending a check for $13.99 plus $2.00 for shipping and handling to: Aural Gratifcation PO Box 8658 Academy Station Albany, NY 12208 I don't have the price of her tapes handy.. perhaps someone else can post that. For those of you who have both the tapes and the CD, how to they compare?? Are the tapes near as good as the disk? Which is your favorite? -- Lee Hounshell
L-H@cup.portal.COM (04/17/91)
Lee Hounshell writes: >... For those of you who have both the tapes and the >CD, how do they compare?? Are the tapes near as good as the disk? >Which is your favorite? Hey, another Happy fan after only 3 days of hearing only _Warpaint_! CONGRATULATIONS! I have all of Happy's tapes as well as _Warpaint_. If by "...how do they compare?? Are the tapes near as good s the disk?" you're trying to get an opinion on the songs, the answer is, uh, yes. HELL YES, to be more to the point. You haven't heard them yet, alright! :-) And are you in for many, many treats! There are timeless, priceless songs on each of Happy's tapes. I'm listening to _Ecto_ right now, thank you very much. If possible, take a look at the archive for more Happy- related posts from other Katefans; there are many here, and the list grows more and more. Love-Hound extraordinaire Vickie Mapes is in fact thanked by Happy in _Warpaint_'s liner notes, for making so many aware of Happy to begin with, both here and on her radio program. Vickie recommends _Rhodes Vol. 1_ and _Ecto_ as a good place to start on Happy's tapes if you have budget constraints. I'm kind of sentimental towards _Rearmament_, myself. And _Rhodes Vol. 2_ is also a must-hear which has be intimated by some as Happy's "weakest" album. Funny that one of the most beautiful, heart-wrenching songs ever written ("The Revelation") just so happens to be on that album. They don't mean "weak" in the traditional music reviewer's sense, I'm certain. It's more like _Vol. 2_ is "great," as opposed to the others being "wonderful." My suggestion is to start at the beginning, and admire the evolution. The lyrics to "In Hiding" on _Warpaint_ tell it like it is. So do each of Happy's four tapes. Happy really is quite great. Don't look for the first four albums to make it to CD in the near future, though. Happy and Kevin (Aural Gratification) can't afford it right now. It was a struggle just to get _Warpaint_ out on CD. I have written to _Goldmine_ asking them to review it, as that is one of the few publications who would do this for a lesser-known artist. I encourage other Happy fans to do the same! Happy has told me personally that the music on the tapes would not be released on CD ever. She said that she had so much more to write, that those songs are "of the past." I think in the meantime, other's discoveries and ravings about these gems has possibly softened this stance. Maybe a bigger label may want to see this happen; we can only see. I find some of Happy's songs to be so personal that I wonder if this will happen, just for _that_ reason. Larry (l-h@cup.portal.com)
jburka@SILVER.UCS.INDIANA.EDU (04/18/91)
(whups! I meant to send this last night (and was wondering why it hadn't show up yet in r.m.g). Apparently I forgot to change Lee's address to "love-hounds") Lee gushes (with my complete agreement) about Happy's _Warpaint_: >4. To Live in Your World - 3:30 (my personal favorite) also my favorite! >7. Lay Me Down incredible. >11. Warpaint - 6:13 my second favorite >...and I'm astounded by her >music. I can't believe that a major record label hasn't jumped on >this woman yet!! With her talent, she's sure to be a major artist. It's really sad that she's released 5 albums of such beauty, grace, and intellect, and yet has no contract. Someday. >I don't have the price of her tapes handy.. perhaps someone else >can post that. For those of you who have both the tapes and the >CD, how to they compare?? Are the tapes near as good as the disk? >Which is your favorite? Here we start getting into weird judgement calls. If anything, I like the disc less than some of the tapes; her music has become a bit different; the only way I can think of to describe this is that I think of two particularly distinct styles on the early albums. One tended toward simple arrangements based around (or consisting solely of) acoustic guitar; the other was lush synth-based arrangements. I don't really hear either of these on _Warpaint_. Instead, there tends to be a lot more percussion (not that I don't like her percussion!), and very little of the folky-acoustic guitar. Her vocals have shifted a bit, again from dense, lush arrangements/multi-tracking to a simpler style. Nothing wrong with this either; her voice is as beautiful as ever. I'm just greedy. Currently, my favorite Happy Rhodes album is _Rearmament_. So many of the songs on here, including "'Til the Dawn Breaks", "Crystal Orbs," "The Perfect Irony," "I Have a Heart," "Baby Don't Go," are just painfully beautiful. They give me chills and sometimes make me physically hurt. Lying down, listening on headphones in the dark, is a sublime experience. Other favorite songs are : Volume I: Oh the Drears; Given In; Possessed; I'll Let You Go; Moonbeam Friends; I'm Not Awake, I'm Not Asleep; Step Inside; The Wretches Gone Awry Volume II: Come Here; Under and Over the Brink; and the whole second side Ecto: Would That I Could (it's sublime!); Off From Out From Under Me; Project 499; Ode; Don't Want to Hear It; To Be E. Mortal As you can see, picking a favorite tape is kind of hard, when so many incredible songs are on each one; it's much the same problem one has with KaTe. Oh, goodness. "'Til the Dawn Breaks" just came on the stereo. "I'm here to warn you/children it's your turn" <shakes himself out of a reverie> Anyway. The four tapes are $9.95 each, plus $1.50 for shipping/handling. I ordered all four at once, and the total shipping was about $3. For the billionth time, the address is: Aural Gratification PO Box 8658 Academy Station Albany, NY 12206 "We're waking up, yes it's good" (Apparently the lyrics that Mike and I transcribed have now been sent to Happy for corrections and to have the blanks filled in. In the mean time, anyone wanting the [incomplete/incorrect] transcriptions, drop me some mail) Jeff -- |Jeffrey C. Burka |"I've lost my way through this world of | |jburka@silver.ucs.indiana.edu | profanities/I thrive on the wind and | |jburka@amber.ucs.indiana.edu | the rain and the cold." --Happy Rhodes|