bob (05/11/82)
Laurie Anderson will be at the Palladium in NYC on May 27. Her latest release (and first solo album) is called "Big Science", a super record. It includes the single "O Superman", which was released about 2 months ago, and "Let X=X", which was released as an insert in Art Forum magazine last month. She has also done a record with William S. Burroughs, and John Girorno, called "You're the Guy I Want to Spend My Money With". Her lyrics are often amusing and satirical, and the music is quite inter- esting. It's hard to classify; perhaps "electronic minimalist" might give some idea. Is anyone familiar with her stuff? I'd be interested in hearing others' opinions; I'm obviously excited about it. Bob Harper
cbostrum (12/31/82)
does anybody know anything about this musician other than that she has produced an album called "Big Science"? other work, history, for example? the album says that its contents are from `United States I-IV'. what is this? people unfamiliar with Anderson might want to check into it if they like the so called "minimalist" music. its a little like a not so minimal steve reich or philip glass pop-style with vocals. the vocals are also interesting, mostly seeming to be a low key cynicism aimed at various aspects of american society.
drabik (01/01/83)
Laurie Anderson, best known for her singles "O Superman" and "Walk the Dog," was the subject of an interesting (surprise!) article in Rolling Stone some time within the past six months. Her name is on the cover. ... Here come the planes... Tim Drabik ihuxx!drabik
rlr (01/03/83)
Facts:
Laurie Anderson is a (conceptual?) artist who has recently gotten involved in
the New York "new music" scene. Using a violin, a vocoder, and electronic
sundries, she produces music like "O Superman" (first record) and the later
album "United States I-IV". The music is electronic in sound, repetitious
(supposedly a la Glass et al), and features Anderson on vocals (speech over
the music---no "singing" per se, except perhaps through the vocoder).
Opinions:
This woman is about as creative as a toothpick. In using the "repetitive"
style of minimalists like Philip Glass, she is only repetitious and not much
more. She apparently has very little to say, judging from the musical sounds
she produces and the words she accompanies them with ("This is your captain;
we are going down...").
Her words reflect the state of her art (and those who find it oh so fashionable
to like her work).trb (01/03/83)
I am not "into" the minimalist avant garde music scene, but sometimes WFMU (East Orange, NJ) plays Laurie Anderson or Philip Glass (a whole side or more at a time). I find their music soothing, kind of like sitting on the beach listening to the ocean. I can take it for long periods of time, and I don't find it irritating. I can't really see looking into these minimalists' works and finding social relevance. Clearly, if Laurie Anderson mumbled "Ronald Reagan is a jerk" over her electronic music, you could construe that as socially relevant, but when I listen to them I am not listening for news and opinion. (I admit, though, that I sometimes listen to "All Things Considered" as background music.) Hey, folks out there, if you indulge in minimalist art, do you do it for the soothing cleansingness of it, or is there some transcendental relevance which has so far escaped me? (Sorry, there are only 9000 hackers reading netnews, clearly not a large enough group from which to form a separate net.aesthetics discussion.) Andy Tannenbaum Bell Labs Whippany, NJ (201) 386-6491
rb (01/04/83)
Wasn't she the narrator in the original cast of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" in it's current Broadway revival? I'm not positive, but the name sounds familiar. (Bye the way, "Joseph" is a great show.) -Ronen
gary (01/05/83)
Hey, I LIKE Laurie Anderson, and not just to soothe myself. I think some of
her stuff is actually lyrical ("Let X = X" has a nice melody). Tape loops
DO sound repetitious, but I think it just takes getting used to it (4-4 beats
can be pretty repetitious too!). There are always going to be some folks that
are totally irritated by this kind of thing: must be in the genes.
gary cottrell (seismo!rochester!gary)rascal (01/06/83)
Fresh Weekly, a weekly supplement to Willamette Week, in Portland, OR, had a big write up about Laurie Anderson a few months ago. Too bad I lost my copy.
malik@delphi.DEC (Karl Malik ZK01-1/F22 1-1440) (08/02/84)
Subj; writing by Laurie Anderson Thumbing thru the July issue of Vogue magazine (a woman in a bar had it), I came upon an article on Laurie Anderson. It lists 2 books/pamphlets by her. 'Words in Reverse' - "Laurie Anderson's contribution to Top Stories (228 Seventh Ave, NYC 10011), a series of pamphlets devoted to experimental writing, mostly by women, many of them artists." 'United States' - "(Harper & Row), a lavish book that attempts to reproduce all the images as well as all the words from the six-and-one-half-hour show that Laurie Anderson put on to wild acclaim at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in February '83." I checked with a book store, the 'United States' book is available in both hardcover ($24) and paperback (circa $14). I've ordered it. Will let you know how it is. However, the reviewer thought that 'Words in Reverse' was better. I'm going to check into that, too. ,Karl
gtaylor@cornell.UUCP (Greg Taylor) (08/03/84)
Well, you puppies have sure been great in ferreting out the LA stuff. The new Harper&Row is available in paper (20) or hdbnd. (30), and is in essence a sort of fancily laid out and illustrated script for USA(1-1V). The Top Stories stuff you may have trouble finding (I got mine in SLC Utah at the Cosmic Airplane bookstore while on a recording-peddling jaunt). It's a pleasant little slim volume, and you will find that a fair amount of it appears in some form or other in the text of UNITED STATES. These are generally some slightly older text pieces, which seem to date from the days when US was a much shorter piece called "Americans on the Move". If you are indeed hungry for more text stuff, you might want to check out an anthology of work by various Post-Modernists, called "Individuals: Post Movement Art in America"...I've forgotten the publisher (it might be Dutton), but I am sure that the author/editor is Alan Sonnier. It contains a text cycle of Laurie Anderson's work from the mid-seventies, called "For Instants." I find it to be a pretty satisfying piece of writing, right on the border between Literature/textuality and Performance/storytelling. This book is out in paper and hardcover, and I'd recommend it right alongside the "Performance Art" text that Karl mentioned recently as an introduction to the whole Post-Modern enterprise. greg ________________________________________________________________________________ If you ask me, I may tell you gtaylor@cornell it's been this way for years Gregory Taylor I play my red guitar.... Theorynet (Theoryknot) ________________________________________________________________________________
wfi@rti-sel.UUCP (William Ingogly) (10/24/85)
I'm a rabid Laurie Anderson fan, and was wondering what she's
been up to since the release of United States Live I - IV. Anybody
know if she has a new album in the works, or if she's planning a tour
in the near future? Anyone else out there a big fan? One of these days
I'm going to post a review of U. S. Live. Thanx.
====================================
Language is a virus from outer space
And hearing your name is better than
Seeing your face -- L. Anderson
====================================
-- Cheers, Bill Ingoglysouthard@unc.UUCP (Scott Southard) (10/25/85)
In article <502@rti-sel.UUCP> wfi@rti-sel.UUCP (William Ingogly) writes: >I'm a rabid Laurie Anderson fan, and was wondering what she's >been up to since the release of United States Live I - IV. Anybody >know if she has a new album in the works, or if she's planning a tour >in the near future? Anyone else out there a big fan? One of these days >I'm going to post a review of U. S. Live. Thanx. > >==================================== >Language is a virus from outer space >And hearing your name is better than >Seeing your face -- L. Anderson >==================================== > > -- Cheers, Bill Ingogly Actually, "Language is a virus from outer space" is due to William Burroughs, a friend of Laurie Anderson's. By the way, although I missed her acclaimed United States I-IV tour I did get to see her Mister Heartbreak tour, and it was wonderful. If anybody out there in net land ever gets the chance to see her, do it! "Don't forget your mittens" Scott Southard
wfi@rti-sel.UUCP (William Ingogly) (10/25/85)
In article <397@unc.unc.UUCP> southard@unc.UUCP (Scott Southard) writes: >Actually, "Language is a virus from outer space" is due to William Burroughs, >a friend of Laurie Anderson's. Whoops. Of course it is; my apologies to Bill Burroughs. -- Cheers, Bill Ingogly
nessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (Doug Alan) (10/26/85)
>[Bill Ingogly:] > I'm a rabid Laurie Anderson fan, and was wondering what she's been up > to since the release of United States Live I - IV. Anybody know if she > has a new album in the works, or if she's planning a tour in the near > future? Anyone else out there a big fan? She's working on a new album to be released sometime or another. It is about Artificial Intelligence, and in an interview I read she mentioned Douglas Hofstadter and MIT. Promises to be interesting! Your New Music information source, Doug Alan nessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (or ARPA)
morris@Shasta.ARPA (10/27/85)
Laurie Anderson was supposed to be touring last summer, but her show at Berkeley (Sept 6) was cancelled. Does anyone out there know why? Kathy Morris
jon@boulder.UUCP (Jonathan Corbet) (10/31/85)
[Did you ever think about how much your cities actually weigh?
- R Buckminster Fuller via Laurie Anderson]
It was with great dismay that I heard of the cancellation of Laurie
Anderson's entire fall tour. The reason I heard, which is 100% rumor, is
that she is working on a film that is drasticly behind schedule.
jon
--
Jonathan Corbet
National Center for Atmospheric Research, Field Observing Facility
{seismo|hplabs}!hao!boulder!jon (Thanks to CU CS department)