I still remember the first time I heard the song O Superman. I was struck by the minimalist weirdness, which I loved and still do. It's a mesmerizing song, like the opening track, From the Air, though that's not a song you would want to listen to while flying. The rest of the album is solid, too. In fact, I own this release on compact disc as well. That fact will suggest that either:
1) I love the music
2) the CD was a gift
3) the CD was very cheap
In this case, it's #1.
Laurie Anderson is generally described as a performance artist, experimenting with multimedia, including film and spoken word. At first pass, these do not seem to be the necessary ingredients for great music, especially recorded music that lacks the visual context, but it works. The added element of humour, really rounds out the experience.
Friday, December 18, 2009
A Look at my CD Collection, part 4 - Laurie Anderson
I acquired a cassette copy of Home of the Brave years ago from a friend (Thanks Pete). At the time, I was fascinated by the guitar playing of Adrian Belew, who showed up on the three glorious King Crimson albums in the 1980s, and many more later on. The first of that trilogy (Discipline) remains as perhaps my most favourite album of all time, but more on that another day. Anyway, Adrian plays some wicked guitar on Mister Heartbreak and Home of the Brave.
Later, I added some Laurie Anderson vinyl to my collection, most of which I still have. Yes, I am old enough to remember vinyl. I regret selling some of my records when I became infatuated with compact discs, mostly because early digital mastering really sucked, but it has gotten better. Still, there is something about the warmth of a vinyl recording that is lacking on CD.
The most perplexing thing about Laurie Anderson is not her weird music; that, I like. The first track of hers I ever heard was O Superman and I couldn't really believe what I was hearing. I still think this song is awesome and I continue to appreciate the bizarreness of it. I have included the video below, thanks to YouTube. As I was saying, the most perplexing thing about Laurie Anderson is that she married Lou Reed. I am a huge Lou Reed fan and I have all of his albums and those of The Velvet Underground too.
So, although I like Reed's music, isn't it generally agreed that he is somewhat ugly? Who am I to judge?, you might ask. Good point. Someone once said that beauty is only skin deep.
Anyway, I have three Laurie Anderson CDs and some vinyl. I like her music very much.
