Errors-To: owner-ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu Reply-To: ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu Sender: ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu From: ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu To: ecto-request@ns1.rutgers.edu Bcc: ecto-digest-outbound@ns1.rutgers.edu Subject: ecto #289 ecto, Number 289 Friday, 10 July 1992 Today's Topics: *-----------------* Strange Angels Laurie Anderson bdays braindance? Re: Tori on ``Christian'' radio strange angels This is the picture Re: strange angels I'm just confusing :) laurie anderson new cafe in town!! ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 10 Jul 92 00:20:55 PDT From: stevev@greylady.uoregon.edu (Steve VanDevender) Subject: Strange Angels Having been a Laurie Anderson fan longer than I've been a Kate Bush fan (although I'm much more enthusiastic about Kate now) I'm pleased to hear that others are discovering Laurie. I was immensely pleased with _Strange Angels_ when it came out, because it has all of Laurie's wonderfully weird worldview and a melodiousness that her previous albums lacked. In particular "Ramon" is a song I couldn't have imagined Laurie doing before _Strange Angels_. However, I still like her earlier albums. The predecessor to _Strange Angels_ is _Home of the Brave_, which contains some of the music performed in the concert movie of the same name. The movie was probably my first major exposure to Laurie Anderson; I was urged to see it by a friend who at the time said he couldn't decide whether to marry Laurie Anderson or Wendy O'Williams (he is a very twisted friend). The first album I listened to much was _Mister Heartbreak_. It is a particularly brilliant album, with guest appearances by Peter Gabriel and William S. Burroughs. Some of my favorite Laurie Anderson quotes are from "Sharkey's Day", or this from "Kokoku": They say the dead will rise again And here they come now, strange animals Out of the Ice Age And they stare at you, dumbfounded Like big mistakes And they say "keep cool, keep cool Maybe if we pretend this all never happened They'll all just go away" _Big Science_ is the album that many people told me was their first introduction to Laurie. I would have to say that while I like it, it wouldn't have grabbed me if it had been the first thing I had heard. It is the most primitive of her works, condensed from the _United States I-IV_ performances, and while it has all of the lyrical brilliance, the lyrics are narrated over her starkest music. Unfortunately, I missed seeing Laurie perform in Portland, OR during the Strange Angels tour (I had even bought tickets but ended up being unable to go to Portland). However, I did see her during her last tour, which was more spoken-word and performance art than music, but intensely fascinating. Since it was general-admission ballroom seating, I ended up right in front of the stage and was mesmerized for the whole show. She is just as powerful as a speaker as she is as a performer (although critics would say that her earlier performances were lectures with background music and elaborate staging :-) ). ======================================================================== Date: 10 Jul 1992 07:34:57 -0500 (EST) From: Ken Kindler Subject: Laurie Anderson Jessica, you may want to check our Mr. Heartbreak next from Laurie. It's something of a bridge between her earlier performance/experimental work and Strange Angels. Her first album, Big Science, are some reworked selections from United States Live, a three (or four?) day performance piece she did early on in her career. Some people I know can't stand that one, or the United States Live tapes, because she focuses more on the words, ideas, and presentation and isn't quite as melodic compared to Strange Angels. I've been dying to get the United States Live collection in the CD set but haven't been able too. It would be wonderful since right now I only have the tapes but I don't listen to them much because they have such a range. Sometimes I want all her quirky stories, others I just want her string instrumentals and such. Rare is the time I just sit back and take it all at once. Though now that I think about it I'm developing this strong desire to listen through all four tapes... :) I agree wth Vickie about getting a chance to see Home of the Brave. I found it at a local dept store for $14.95 so I snatched it up. I've also been hearing rumours recently that there is a video tape of United States Live out and about somewhere. I'm not sure if it's complete or just selections but I'd love to get my hands on it. `,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,` `,` This is our life. What a chase it has been. What a wonderful dance. `,` `,` Ken Kindler - Internet: KEKIMS@RITVAX.ISC.RIT.EDU - FidoNet: 1:260/228.3`,` `,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,` ======================================================================== Date: Thu, 09 Jul 1992 06:01:17 -0230 From: eperry@kean.ucs.mun.ca Subject: bdays HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Courtney and Michael today!! and to Shelly, tomorrow! I hope you folks have something wonderful happen in honour of your birthdays. We, in Newfoundland, have been suffering through two weeks of temperatures averaging about 7oC and record amounts of rain (at least it hasn't been snow!). Luckily, the birthday deities have decided to be kind and in celebration of all the birthdays, we are going to have sunshine and mid-20s temperatures today and tomorrow! Beth ======================================================================== From: sae@cmpsci.suffolk.edu (S. Alan Ezust) Date: Fri, 10 Jul 1992 08:34:50 EDT Subject: braindance? ummm. Pardon my ignorance, but could someone tell me a little about the group Braindance, seeing as they're playing 2 miles away from my house 5 days from now? What kind of music is it? -- S. Alan Ezust sae@cmpsci.suffolk.edu Suffolk University department of Computer Science Cambridge, MA USA ======================================================================== Subject: Re: Tori on ``Christian'' radio Date: Fri, 10 Jul 1992 08:09:31 +0100 From: lisd!breit@ns1.rutgers.edu (Tim Breitkreutz) In Ecto 286, jeff says: > >Which reminds me, I was > >listening to the local Christian radio station here yesterday and I heard this > >song I immediately fell in love with, piano-vocal with quiet "orchestration" > >in the background... I was amazed to hear the DJ say it was Tori Amos.. > > > > I can't imagine Tori being played on a *Christian* radio station! This is strange indeed. After hearing so much raving about Tori on gaffa, I faithfully went out and bought LE, confident in the wonderful collective wisdom of the net. So I took it home and slapped it in my CD player, waiting for whatever delights were in store for me. I had no preconcieved ideas of what this would sound like, and much to my dismay, it reminded me so strongly of the kind of ``Christian'' music I was exposed to about ten years ago, I could barely listen to it. I have very strong associations with music (as I'm sure many of you do :-) and I have done my best to give Tori a fair chance, but I just can't listen to LE. It reminds me of that music that I have such bad associations with. Other music I was exposed to at that time (for instance, XTC, and the only ``Christian'' band I learned to like then, Daniel Amos) I have wonderful associations with. - Tim (breit@lisd.UUCP or tim@cs.ualberta.ca) ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 10 Jul 92 10:43:29 EDT From: David N. Blank-Edelman Subject: strange angels > Now i need to hear more laurie anderson.. suggestions as to what to > listen to next? Looks like this list si fairly crawling with Anderson affecionados. Well, I'm one too. I would second the recommendation for Mister Heartbreak as you next listen. Home of the Brave is really best bought after seeing the movie. Remember, Anderson is not a musician by trade, but a performance artist (the best I've ever seen), so her "music" isn`t always musical. You should probably avoid Big Science , United States Live (the boxed set) and You're The Guy I Want to Spend My Money On until you've acquired a taste for the more popular of her works. Whatever you do, don't miss a chance to see her on tour. Here's a list of her stuff on CD as I know it (barring one single which is has remixes of the song Beautiful Red Dress from Strage Angels): artist|title|label|catalog #|year|genre|notes|SPARS code: Anderson, Laurie|United States Live|Warner Brothers|9 25192-2|1984|Misc|4 disc boxed set|AAD Anderson, Laurie|Mister Heartbreak|Warner Brothers|9 25077-2|1984|Rock|| Anderson, Laurie|Big Science|Warner Brothers|3674-2|1982|Rock|| Anderson, Laurie|Home of the Brave|Warner Brothers|9 25400-2|1986|Rock||DDD Anderson, Laurie|Strange Angels|Warner Brothers|9 25900-2|1989|Rock|| Anderson, Laurie w/Giorno, Burroughs|You're the Guy I Want to Share My Money With|Rough Trade/Giorno Poetry Sys|GPS 42-2|1981|Misc|| Peace, dNb ======================================================================== From: kyrlidis@athena.mit.edu Subject: This is the picture Date: Fri, 10 Jul 92 11:24:19 EDT Hi, Well well, I like Laurie Anderson too! My first exposure to her music was with 'O Superman' when it made a splash in the UK charts back in the early 80's (it reached #2, I think), and my favorite Greek radio DJ kept playing the song, saying isn't it wonderful how something this different can chart so well! Anyway I then got Big Science, which is truly great (haven't listened to it in a while...)! I love the line 'Hi! I'm not home right now, but if you'd like to leave a message please start talking at the sound of the tone', which I used on my answering machine for a while, but totally confused everybody I knew! :) But I will recommend 'Mister Heartbreak' also. The song (and video) 'Sharkey's Day' is simply wonderful. And then there's 'Excellent Birds', with Peter Gabriel. I like this version better than the one on _So_. As for Laurie Anderson live, I caught the 'Strange Angels' tour, and really enjoyed all aspects of the show! Angelos ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 10 Jul 92 14:18:34 MEZ From: Dirk Kastens Subject: Re: strange angels Hi Jessica, I agree with Vickie upon Strange Angels. My favorite Laurie Anderson album (and one of my favorite albums on the whole) is Mr. Heartbreak. Two of the songs are collaborations with Peter Gabriel - the song This Is The Picture (last song on _So_) is a version of Excellent Birds. Mr Heartbreak contains so wonderful songs like KoKoKu with a Japanese chorus or Blue Lagoon, where Laurie Anderson plays the part of a story teller upon floating, mellow Synclavier-sounds. I would make it the next buy. Dirk. ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 10 Jul 92 09:37:08 -0700 From: Michael G Peskura Subject: I'm just confusing :) No, Vickie; Meryl Streep and Anne Archer were just born in the same year as Mp, not the same city ... tho' you just gave me a great fantasy of growing up with these two as girls in my neighborhood. Hmm. Let me think about that for awhile. :) Love, the aging philogynist Mp ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 10 Jul 92 13:59:33 EDT From: kosky@saul.cis.upenn.edu (Anthony Kosky) Subject: laurie anderson Jessica writes: > >I had never heard any laurie anderson though i'd heard lots and >lots about her from many people. Finally a few weeks ago I heard >a song "strange angels" in a movie. I knew she had an album by >that name, and i really liked the song, so i watched at the end >and saw that indeed that was laurie anderson. So then just >the other day I happened to find strange angels in a used bin >for only $6.99! It's one of the best deals i've had, cd-wise, >in a while! i really love the entire album! Now i need to hear >more laurie anderson.. suggestions as to what to listen to next? > Well there are three proper studio albums: Big Science, Mister Heartbreak and Strange Angels. Also there's the USA live set which has always seemed too expensive for me to make the investment. What I've heard of it sounded most like Big Science though. Strange Angels seems like a departure for her, being a much more feminine and accesible album than the other two. I never really got into Big Science: perhaps I would have if I'd got round to buying it first, since I remember liking Oh Superman when it was being played on the radio. I love both Mister Heartbreak and Strange Angels, but I couldn't say which is better since they're very different albums. My favorite track is probably Gravity's Angel from Mister Heartbreak, which is both musically incredible and contains some of my favorite lyrics of all time. Also Laurie Anderson contributed to Philip Glass' Songs From Liquid Days, which I like alot. This is probably a good introduction to Philip Glass since it's less "minimalist" than much of his work. Change of Subject: I received my 1st4 CDs through the mail yesterday. I'd only sent off for them less than a week ago, so I'm really impressed by how quickly they sent them out. Also happy signed Rhodes I for me in a gold coloured pen, which was really nice. Haven't had time to do any serious listening yet. I played Rhodes I and Ecto, but I was having to do other things at the same time rather than just sit down and listen. Still Ecto sounded particularly good. Also I was about to go out and get the new Buffy Saint Marrie album because I heard some of it and liked it alot. Can anyone tell me about her. After that I think I'll have to abstain from buying new CDs for a while, 'cos I'm getting very poor. What's more my CD racks are full so it's time to get another one.... -Anthony Well he was an ugly man with an ugly face, an also-ran in the human race, and even God got sad just looking at him... - Laurie Anderson ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 10 Jul 92 18:31:07 EDT From: jessica@maurolycus.rutgers.edu Subject: new cafe in town!! Not too long ago, a cafe opened up here in New Brunswick. We've been severely lacking a cafe for a long time! For ever maybe! But first, some background info: the people I work with, including myself, often work quite late, 'til around 1 or 2am, at which time we go to "the diner" and get some food (and tea). Some of the people here go nearly every night (!), others like myself go only when we work late (which isn't *every* night). Now, this cafe opened, so we thought we've give it a try, even though you can't really get *food* there, they do have deserts and other typical cafe food and drink. They also have a fairly impressive selection of usual and unusal magazines. (both domestic and foreign). So the food and drink and environment seemed fairly nice, except for the music! I coudln't even identify what they were palying the first night.. and after that it was madonna and pet shop boys. It could have been worse! But it also could have been a LOT better. The music just didn't fit the atmosphere of the place at all. So, i brought in some CDs :) I gave them Warpaint, got my pie and tea, and went downstairs.. It's nice downstairs, and the music sounds better down there than upstairs, but down there I couldn't tell how people were reacting to the CD, so i had no idea at all until we were ready to leave (just as the CD was ending) and I went upstairs to get it. Well I can't tell you how thrilled and amazed the owner was! (along with several of his employees and other people in the cafe). He *really* loved the album and went on and on - he wants to have happy come down and do a record-signign, if not perform there! Heh. I tihnk the place is a little *too* small for happy to perform in! Not with the whole band anyway - it's a really tiny place :) I told him if we can play the cd in the store, get people to buy it in stores, and get them to request it from radio stations.. then we'll see if she will come down! A bunch of people were upset to hear that the cd is only available aroudn here in two stores, neither of which is actually in new brunswick.. Lots of people seemed very intersted in helping to change that! So, that was quite exciting. I'm gonna try to help this cafe get a better sense of music.. :) and most especially have them play happy!!!!!! jessica ======================================================================== The ecto archives are on hardees.rutgers.edu in ~ftp/pub/hr. There is a README file explaining what is where. Feel free to send me (or leave in the incoming directory, just let me know) things you'd like to have added. -- jessica (jessica@ns1.rutgers.edu)