Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!bellcore!decvax!ittatc!dcdwest!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!hplabs!qantel!lll-lcc!lll-crg!seismo!rlgvax!bdmrrr!potomac!jsl
From: jsl@potomac.UUCP (John Labovitz)
Newsgroups: net.music.synth
Subject: Re: Laurie Anderson
Message-ID: <3096@potomac.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 23-Mar-86 20:10:51 EST
Article-I.D.: potomac.3096
Posted: Sun Mar 23 20:10:51 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 28-Mar-86 05:14:42 EST
References: <2212@teddy.UUCP> <1023@cadovax.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: Potomac Scheduling Co., Bethesda MD
Lines: 35

Keith Doyle (cadovax!keithd):

> I think Laurie Anderson is suffering from what I've found to be a
> somewhat typical 'academoid' approach to music.  I've found much to much
> *philosophizing*, *analyzing*, and *conceptualizing* of music in some
> circles
> [ ... ]
> Just because you've got a cute idea for a plastic violin
> that uses a bow with mag tape instead of horsehair, dosen't mean you can
> generate stuff that's worth listening to.
> [ ... ]
> Unless of course, the music isn't the
> point, and we're talking some kind of *performance* art, in which case, the
> only way I know how to compare it is by how many people walk out during the
> *performance*.

In case you didn't know, Laurie Anderson *is* a performance artist.  Have
you ever seen her in live?  She doesn't do concerts, she does performances.
It is *extremely* different from listening to the record.  At least up until
``Mr. Heartbreak,'' her music came from the performance, not the other way
around.  Almost all of ``Big Science'' is from her ``United States I-IV''
performance, which you'd see if you buy the ``United States'' album set (6
records).  Most of her stuff makes a whole lot more sense and is more
``enjoyable'' if you've seen her live.

All the ``cute'' effects and so on *do* have some point.  For instance, the
words on the tape violin are part of a story, but taken by themselves make
no sense.  (I think the words on the tape are ``Have you ever taken a test
in a Dairy Queen on another planet?'')
-- 
John Labovitz		..!{rlgvax,seismo}!bdmrrr!potomac!jsl
--
Don't act so embarrassed
It's a family trait
	-- Robyn Hitchcock