ICING ON THE CAKE

Thanks for doing an article on Cake [“Let Them Be Cake,” December 2001]. They're such an innovative, original band, yet they don't get a great deal of ink. I think their sparse arrangements and unusual instrument choices are extremely cool, and John McCrea's sometimes bizarre lyrics are a hoot. Personally, I wish you'd chosen them for the cover rather than Incubus.
Anne Masters
via the Internet

RETURN OF THE PRUNES

I recently had the privilege of befriending some of my teenage musical interests from the '60s at the last of the Cavestomp festivals in New York City, hosted by Little Steven. I think these groups certainly qualify for your “Lost and Found” column, because they are still alive and playing great relevant music today, as evidenced by the youthful crowds that were jumping to the music and mouthing the words of songs released before they were even born. In particular, I strongly suggest the Electric Prunes — “I Had Too Much to Dream” was No. 11 on the national charts — whose new CD, Artifact, was released last Halloween and carries on their tradition. They played a 95-minute set that was truly mind-blowing, without even considering the fact that they hadn't played together in 35 years! Also of note is your Poco column that mentions Loggins and Messina, because Messina came from Poco. How about the fact that Kenny Loggins was in the Electric Prunes back in the '60s before he rose to stardom in Loggins and Messina!
Otto von Ruggins
via the Internet

POSITIVE METAL

I can't say that I'm all that familiar with Incubus — my tastes tend to go more toward classic rock — but I did appreciate your story on them [“Rocking on the Upbeat,” December 2001] because it showed that there are heavy bands around that aren't constantly spewing rage and venom. Let's hope that's a trend.
Robert Phillips
Boston, MA

FORMAT OF CHOICE?

I'm a new subscriber and have enjoyed two recent articles in particular — the tribute bands article [“Send in the Clones,” October 2001] and the live sound with backing tracks article [“Look, Ma, No Hands,” November 2001]. Concerning the latter article, a question for [author] Robert Hanson. I want to try doing backing tracks with my band, but I don't want to use DAT. I want to use an economical digital recording deck that I can also do playback from. But the author wrote that Zip should be avoided because it's unstable. Well, that knocks out the Roland VS-840 as well as the Boss BR8. How about the new Boss BR532, which uses a SmartMedia card? Do you have any other recommendations, perhaps any with scene memory? Thanks.
Ed Miller
Nipomo, CA

Author Robert Hanson replies: Ed — I understand where you're coming from, and for years I was an avid VS-840 user myself. As far as Iomega's reputation in the pro-audio industry, it depends on who you ask: the guys from KMFDM told me horror stories about experiences they had with Jaz drives simply failing or corrupting their data. On the flip side, Bruce Hendrix, keyboard tech for Nine Inch Nails, claimed to have had no problems at all with the Zip drives on the E-mu E4 samplers the band used on its most recent tour. Personally, I have misgivings about relying on removable drives — which are inherently more volatile than fixed hard drives — in a live playback situation. If you insist on using a portable studio setup, look for something with an internal hard drive (the Yamaha AW2816 includes full automation and scene recall) and invest in a small fan to keep it cool onstage. I hope that helps.

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