Laurie Anderson : Gravity's Angel

"And at his funeral all his friends stood around looking sad. But they were really thinking of all the ham and cheese sandwiches in the next room."

Laurie Anderson is awesome. Well, at least until the mid 80's. I think she kind of lost her edge and went a little too poppy. You know, that thing where one of your favorite artists comprises their sound enough that it totally sucks for their long time fans (you), but not enough that anyone who wasn't listening before would suddenly be interested. That is, it's too mainstream or mediocre to be interesting to you, but still way too bizarre to be interesting to anyone listening to Top 40 radio.

But I love her. Come on, she uses a tape-bow violin for god's sake. Could you be more awesome than that? Her work centers primarily around musical rhythm and the rhythm of speech. It's primarily spoken word, often funny, very dry, and backed with all manner of electronics, samples, drum machines and other musical technology.

"Gravity's Angel" covers all of those bases, plus a little bit of singing and Peter Gabriel too. You've got the constant rhythm of the bell, the scattered, electronic rhythm of the drum machine, samples floating in and out, and her trademark stilted vocals with her trademark wit and excellent turn of phrase, plus just a dash of pathos. I like the way the song conveys stasis, almost like the stories are frozen in amber and she's excavated them, holding them up like a historical curiosity for you to examine.

"Gravity's Angel" comes from her 1984 release, Mister Heartbreak. It's slightly more accessible than Big Science, but not much. It's an amazing album though.

Not that you care, but I used to have her Home of the Brave video until I sent it off to the Goodwill, thinking I would definitely get it on DVD. Except that it's not available on DVD. Dang it.

[You can listen to Laurie Anderson's "Gravity's Angel" by navigating to the post "Song073" and clicking or right-clicking on the title or the link.]

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