Just recently I had the pleasure of seeing the incomparable Rickie Lee Jones in concert -- I have been a forever fan and this last concert marks the tenth time I have seen her live over the years (including a very memorable evening at the Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco where she and her band played her first two albums, the eponymous "Rickie Lee Jones" and her second album "Pirates" in their entirety, back to back, without a break!). After the concert, I was searching on Youtube for other live performances and came across this song, "Phoenix In Your Heart" that is unrecorded, only performed a few times on tours recently. And I was struck by the power of it, the urgency and hugeness of its message. Although she did not perform it for us the night I saw her, I am glad this exists so we can enjoy the ephemerality of what she does best.
Whatever they think we are, I don’t care
If she never gives me back my car, I don’t care
Long as we wake up there when the sun goes down
Following our footsteps through the desert town
Long as we wake up
Touch me darlin’
As you look into my eyes
Whatever they think I took, I don’t care
If I never get my name in the book, I don’t care
Cuz everything we ever did or ever will be ever saw or said or still see
Is waiting for us there
Is waiting for us
Oh darlin’
and now you look into my eyes
HEY baby, but don’t you believe its over
Don’t you believe it
You got a phoenix in your heart you got a phoenix in your heart
Got a phoenix in your heart
There’s a phoenix in your heart
There’s a phoenix in your heart
There’s a phoenix in your heart
There’s a phoenix in your heart
There’ll be another walk across the rooftop
There’ll be another kiss up to the moon
We’re walking arm in arm by the riverside
Somebody playing Dixieland
A song we both remember and
Finally darlin’
You look into my eyes
And can you see through my disguise
HEY baby,
Don’t you believe its over
Got a phoenix in your heart
Got a phoenix in your heart
Don’t you believe its over
Don’t you believe its over
Don’t you believe it
Gonna lift you up, yeah
Don’t you believe it
RLJ is still on tour ... she plays east coast dates through December, 2026. Check her site for info.
https://rickieleejones.com/
Showing posts with label concert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label concert. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Monday, May 18, 2026
"Engaging With Art May Slow Biological Aging"
This is a fascinating, wonderful article form Designboom about the positive health effects of engaging with the arts. I have suspected this for a long while now...
Scientists now link museums, concerts, and creative hobbies to slower aging
Designboom
May 15,2026
What if visiting museums, attending concerts, singing in a choir, or regularly engaging with creative hobbies did more than improve mood or reduce stress? A new scientific study led by Daisy Fancourt suggests that arts and cultural engagement may also influence the biological pace at which we age.
Published in Innovation in Aging, the new research builds on years of work connecting the arts with physical and mental health outcomes. But while previous studies largely focused on wellbeing, depression, loneliness, or longevity, this latest paper moves into far more microscopic territory: epigenetic ageing, the molecular processes that shape how quickly the body biologically ages over time.
Drawing on data from more than 3,500 adults in the UK Household Longitudinal Study, the researchers found that people who engaged more frequently and more diversely with arts and cultural activities showed signs of slower biological aging across several advanced epigenetic aging clocks. Remarkably, the associations were found to be comparable in magnitude to those linked with physical activity.
from emotional wellbeing to molecular ageing
Over the last decade, Daisy Fancourt’s research has helped establish the growing field of arts and health, demonstrating how cultural participation can affect stress regulation, immune function, mental health, cognitive resilience, and even mortality risk. Her 2026 book Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Transform Our Health argued that the arts should be considered a foundational pillar of wellbeing alongside sleep, diet, exercise, and nature.
This new study by Fancourt together with Lehané Masebo, Saoirse Finn, Hei Wan Mak, and Feifei Bu pushes that argument further. The research investigates whether cultural engagement may be linked to measurable biological aging processes inside the body itself. The study focuses on epigenetic aging, a field of molecular biology that examines how environmental and behavioral factors influence patterns of DNA methylation over time.
Scientists increasingly use so-called epigenetic clocks to estimate biological age, which may differ from chronological age. While someone may be 50 years old chronologically, their biological aging markers could suggest a body aging faster or slower depending on lifestyle, stress exposure, and health behaviors.
The researchers analyzed seven different epigenetic clocks, ranging from earlier models based primarily on chronological age to newer generations designed to measure physiological decline and pace of aging. The strongest associations appeared in newer second- and third-generation clocks, including PhenoAge and DunedinPACE, which are considered more sensitive to health-related behavioral factors.
museums, concerts, choirs, and creative hobbies
The study defines arts and cultural engagement broadly, including visiting museums, galleries, and heritage sites; attending concerts, theater performances, and exhibitions; singing, dancing, painting, photography, and crafts; and participating in libraries, archives, and community cultural spaces.
Researchers evaluated both the frequency and diversity of engagement. Participants who engaged monthly or weekly with cultural activities generally showed slower biological ageing markers than those who participated only once or twice a year.
One of the most striking findings of the paper is that diversity mattered almost as much as frequency. People participating across many different kinds of cultural activities appeared to show stronger associations with slower aging than those engaging in only one or two forms.
The authors suggest this may be because different forms of arts engagement activate multiple systems simultaneously, including cognitive stimulation, emotional processing, sensory immersion, social interaction, creativity, identity formation, and stress reduction.
the comparison with exercise
Perhaps the most consequential aspect of the research is its direct comparison between arts engagement and physical activity. Alongside cultural participation, the study also analyzed exercise habits, including activities such as running, swimming, yoga, cycling, and walking. Both arts engagement and physical activity were associated with slower epigenetic aging, and the effect sizes were found to be broadly comparable across several measures.
The findings do not suggest that museums replace exercise or that attending a concert functions identically to physical training. But they do position arts and cultural participation as a potentially meaningful health behavior in its own right, rather than merely a form of leisure or entertainment.
For decades, exercise, diet, smoking cessation, and sleep have dominated discussions around healthy aging and longevity. The study proposes that cultural participation may deserve consideration within that same framework.
Importantly, the strongest findings appeared among adults over the age of 40, a period increasingly understood as a key threshold in the acceleration of biological aging processes.
a new role for cultural spaces
Beyond the biological findings themselves, the research also carries broader implications for how cities and societies value cultural infrastructure. If museums, libraries, performance venues, choirs, and community arts programs contribute to healthier aging trajectories, cultural access begins to look like part of a preventative health ecosystem. This perspective aligns with a growing movement around social prescribing, where healthcare systems refer patients to community and cultural activities alongside medical treatment. Architecture, urban planning, exhibition design, acoustics, accessibility, and public cultural funding all become intertwined with questions of health and longevity.
The paper remains cautious in its conclusions. The researchers highlight that epigenetic aging science is still evolving and that associations do not prove direct causation. Biological aging clocks themselves remain an emerging and sometimes debated area of research.
Still, the study marks one of the clearest attempts yet to connect arts engagement with measurable molecular aging processes, suggesting that cultural participation may become increasingly important to how societies think about ageing itself. Daisy Fancourt’s research points toward a larger cultural shift, proposing that the arts also help shape the biological conditions through which people age, recover, and remain resilient over time.
project info:
name: Does leisure activity matter for epigenetic ageing? Analyses of arts engagement and physical activity in the UK Household Longitudinal Study
authors: Daisy Fancourt, Lehané Masebo, Saoirse Finn, Hei Wan Mak, and Feifei Bu
journal: Innovation in Aging
publisher: Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America
institution: University College London
Original article on Designboom:
https://www.designboom.com/art/scientists-museums-concerts-creative-hobbies-slower-aging-daisy-fancourt/
Scientists now link museums, concerts, and creative hobbies to slower aging
Designboom
May 15,2026
What if visiting museums, attending concerts, singing in a choir, or regularly engaging with creative hobbies did more than improve mood or reduce stress? A new scientific study led by Daisy Fancourt suggests that arts and cultural engagement may also influence the biological pace at which we age.
Published in Innovation in Aging, the new research builds on years of work connecting the arts with physical and mental health outcomes. But while previous studies largely focused on wellbeing, depression, loneliness, or longevity, this latest paper moves into far more microscopic territory: epigenetic ageing, the molecular processes that shape how quickly the body biologically ages over time.
Drawing on data from more than 3,500 adults in the UK Household Longitudinal Study, the researchers found that people who engaged more frequently and more diversely with arts and cultural activities showed signs of slower biological aging across several advanced epigenetic aging clocks. Remarkably, the associations were found to be comparable in magnitude to those linked with physical activity.
from emotional wellbeing to molecular ageing
Over the last decade, Daisy Fancourt’s research has helped establish the growing field of arts and health, demonstrating how cultural participation can affect stress regulation, immune function, mental health, cognitive resilience, and even mortality risk. Her 2026 book Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Transform Our Health argued that the arts should be considered a foundational pillar of wellbeing alongside sleep, diet, exercise, and nature.
This new study by Fancourt together with Lehané Masebo, Saoirse Finn, Hei Wan Mak, and Feifei Bu pushes that argument further. The research investigates whether cultural engagement may be linked to measurable biological aging processes inside the body itself. The study focuses on epigenetic aging, a field of molecular biology that examines how environmental and behavioral factors influence patterns of DNA methylation over time.
Scientists increasingly use so-called epigenetic clocks to estimate biological age, which may differ from chronological age. While someone may be 50 years old chronologically, their biological aging markers could suggest a body aging faster or slower depending on lifestyle, stress exposure, and health behaviors.
The researchers analyzed seven different epigenetic clocks, ranging from earlier models based primarily on chronological age to newer generations designed to measure physiological decline and pace of aging. The strongest associations appeared in newer second- and third-generation clocks, including PhenoAge and DunedinPACE, which are considered more sensitive to health-related behavioral factors.
museums, concerts, choirs, and creative hobbies
The study defines arts and cultural engagement broadly, including visiting museums, galleries, and heritage sites; attending concerts, theater performances, and exhibitions; singing, dancing, painting, photography, and crafts; and participating in libraries, archives, and community cultural spaces.
Researchers evaluated both the frequency and diversity of engagement. Participants who engaged monthly or weekly with cultural activities generally showed slower biological ageing markers than those who participated only once or twice a year.
One of the most striking findings of the paper is that diversity mattered almost as much as frequency. People participating across many different kinds of cultural activities appeared to show stronger associations with slower aging than those engaging in only one or two forms.
The authors suggest this may be because different forms of arts engagement activate multiple systems simultaneously, including cognitive stimulation, emotional processing, sensory immersion, social interaction, creativity, identity formation, and stress reduction.
the comparison with exercise
Perhaps the most consequential aspect of the research is its direct comparison between arts engagement and physical activity. Alongside cultural participation, the study also analyzed exercise habits, including activities such as running, swimming, yoga, cycling, and walking. Both arts engagement and physical activity were associated with slower epigenetic aging, and the effect sizes were found to be broadly comparable across several measures.
The findings do not suggest that museums replace exercise or that attending a concert functions identically to physical training. But they do position arts and cultural participation as a potentially meaningful health behavior in its own right, rather than merely a form of leisure or entertainment.
For decades, exercise, diet, smoking cessation, and sleep have dominated discussions around healthy aging and longevity. The study proposes that cultural participation may deserve consideration within that same framework.
Importantly, the strongest findings appeared among adults over the age of 40, a period increasingly understood as a key threshold in the acceleration of biological aging processes.
a new role for cultural spaces
Beyond the biological findings themselves, the research also carries broader implications for how cities and societies value cultural infrastructure. If museums, libraries, performance venues, choirs, and community arts programs contribute to healthier aging trajectories, cultural access begins to look like part of a preventative health ecosystem. This perspective aligns with a growing movement around social prescribing, where healthcare systems refer patients to community and cultural activities alongside medical treatment. Architecture, urban planning, exhibition design, acoustics, accessibility, and public cultural funding all become intertwined with questions of health and longevity.
The paper remains cautious in its conclusions. The researchers highlight that epigenetic aging science is still evolving and that associations do not prove direct causation. Biological aging clocks themselves remain an emerging and sometimes debated area of research.
Still, the study marks one of the clearest attempts yet to connect arts engagement with measurable molecular aging processes, suggesting that cultural participation may become increasingly important to how societies think about ageing itself. Daisy Fancourt’s research points toward a larger cultural shift, proposing that the arts also help shape the biological conditions through which people age, recover, and remain resilient over time.
project info:
name: Does leisure activity matter for epigenetic ageing? Analyses of arts engagement and physical activity in the UK Household Longitudinal Study
authors: Daisy Fancourt, Lehané Masebo, Saoirse Finn, Hei Wan Mak, and Feifei Bu
journal: Innovation in Aging
publisher: Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America
institution: University College London
Original article on Designboom:
https://www.designboom.com/art/scientists-museums-concerts-creative-hobbies-slower-aging-daisy-fancourt/
Thursday, September 25, 2025
"Why I Love The Stars" by Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson is a national (and international) treasure and living legend. She is responsible for some of the most innovative music and musical inventions in the last one hundred years. I have seen her live many times over the last many decades (I saw her perform her "United States I-IV" in the 80s!) and whenever she is performing live in an area near me, I make an effort to attend. And I am always blown away by her storytelling, her presentation, her uniqueness, her musicality, and her astonishing ability to pinpoint aspects of culture and life from a new perspective, cutting to the heart of things in a devastating way (in the video below, she introduces herself as being from the former United States of America...).
So I am extremely grateful that we get to virtually attend this recent concert of hers. Filmed at the Chapelle Sainte-Jeanne-D'arc in Paris for a private concert as part of the Arte series, she titled this show "Why I Love The Stars." She assembled a marvelous group of musicians who are clearly skilled at improv. This is an hour and ten minutes of magic. Please enjoy.
"You know the reason I really love the stars?
It's because
we cannot
hurt them.
We can't burn them
or flood them
or make them overflow.
We can't blow them up
or turn them out.
But we are reaching for them.
We are
reaching
for them."
https://laurieanderson.com/
Laurie and Lou's Three Rules For Surviving Our Current Times (When There Is No Time To Think)
Rule #1: Don't be afraid of anyone. Can you imagine what your life would be like if you weren't afraid of anyone?
Rule #2: Get a really good bullsh*t detector...and learn how to use it.
Rule #3: Be really...tender.
So I am extremely grateful that we get to virtually attend this recent concert of hers. Filmed at the Chapelle Sainte-Jeanne-D'arc in Paris for a private concert as part of the Arte series, she titled this show "Why I Love The Stars." She assembled a marvelous group of musicians who are clearly skilled at improv. This is an hour and ten minutes of magic. Please enjoy.
"You know the reason I really love the stars?
It's because
we cannot
hurt them.
We can't burn them
or flood them
or make them overflow.
We can't blow them up
or turn them out.
But we are reaching for them.
We are
reaching
for them."
https://laurieanderson.com/
Laurie and Lou's Three Rules For Surviving Our Current Times (When There Is No Time To Think)
Rule #1: Don't be afraid of anyone. Can you imagine what your life would be like if you weren't afraid of anyone?
Rule #2: Get a really good bullsh*t detector...and learn how to use it.
Rule #3: Be really...tender.
Saturday, October 14, 2023
"Big Eye" by Christine and the Queens
I have been wanting to post this arresting song, "Big Eye" by Christine and the Queens (previously here) for a while now. The lyric video, below, naturally uses the album track from his newest release, the ambitious concept album "Paranoïa, Angels, True Love," but Red also performed a staggering live version at Glastonbury a few months ago.
Red (Chris) now uses he/him pronouns and performed this song sans blouson, with some tape on his nipples in an apparent way to circumvent any sort of public nudity laws. Apparently this passes YouTube's rule against nudity as well. But honestly, Red has a masculine build anyhow and if one were to glance quickly, one could possibly take him for a cisgendered man. But I don't want to chance posting the video here and risking someone, um, shall I say unenlightened and overzealous flagging my blog to Blogger. So, here is the lyric video, and then a screen capture from his Glastonbury performance of "Big Eye" with a link in the photo. Do yourself a favor: click on it to go to the YouTube page of BBC Music so you can marvel at one of the most powerful, electrifying live performances I have seen in a while.
http://christineandthequeens.com/
Red (Chris) now uses he/him pronouns and performed this song sans blouson, with some tape on his nipples in an apparent way to circumvent any sort of public nudity laws. Apparently this passes YouTube's rule against nudity as well. But honestly, Red has a masculine build anyhow and if one were to glance quickly, one could possibly take him for a cisgendered man. But I don't want to chance posting the video here and risking someone, um, shall I say unenlightened and overzealous flagging my blog to Blogger. So, here is the lyric video, and then a screen capture from his Glastonbury performance of "Big Eye" with a link in the photo. Do yourself a favor: click on it to go to the YouTube page of BBC Music so you can marvel at one of the most powerful, electrifying live performances I have seen in a while.
http://christineandthequeens.com/
Wednesday, July 27, 2022
"Both Sides Now" by Joni Mitchell at the Newport Folk Festival 2022
In case you missed it in the news, an incredible event in music history just happened a few days ago, July 24th 2022, at the Newport Folk Festival: Joni Mitchell appeared on the Festival stage for the first time in 53 years. Her set was a surprise because Brandi Carlile and friends--billed as The Coyote Jam--were ostensibly performing until Carlile introduced this 78 year-old living legend, and possibly the best songwriter to ever have lived. Joni sang along with several of her own songs, played a guitar solo from "Just Like This Train," and looked like she was having a genuinely marvelous time.
I am a lifelong Joni fan and this was quite a moving event to see, especially since she has not performed in nearly 20 years and suffered a brain aneurysm 7 years ago. But she is still with us, and while her voice might be deeper and a little weaker, the musical power and emotional expression is completely intact. A few years ago, I posted two videos of Joni singing "Both Sides Now," one from 1970 and the other from 2000. I'll post these below Joni's lovely performance of this classic at the Festival. Let's go back in time, from 2022 to 2000 to 1970...to see how the seasons, they go round and round,
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return, we can only look
Behind, from where we came...
Wow.
https://jonimitchell.com/
I am a lifelong Joni fan and this was quite a moving event to see, especially since she has not performed in nearly 20 years and suffered a brain aneurysm 7 years ago. But she is still with us, and while her voice might be deeper and a little weaker, the musical power and emotional expression is completely intact. A few years ago, I posted two videos of Joni singing "Both Sides Now," one from 1970 and the other from 2000. I'll post these below Joni's lovely performance of this classic at the Festival. Let's go back in time, from 2022 to 2000 to 1970...to see how the seasons, they go round and round,
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return, we can only look
Behind, from where we came...
Wow.
https://jonimitchell.com/
Thursday, August 5, 2021
"Live Vol. 1" by Parcels
Parcels are my new favorite band. They've been around for a few years now, but they showed up on my radar when they released this fun, engaging video for "Live Vol. 1," a live performance they did at Hansa Studios in Berlin (merely the location where David Bowie recorded his legendary "Low" and "Heroes" albums, as well as where U2 recorded "Achtung Baby").
This charming Australian five-piece formed in Byron Bay in 2014 and are now based in Berlin, Germany. The band is composed of keyboardist Louie Swain, keyboardist/guitarist Patrick Hetherington, bassist Noah Hill, drummer Anatole "Toto" Serret, and guitarist Jules Crommelin. The band say they draw influence from Steely Dan, Marvin Gaye, The Whitest Boy Alive, and Toto, but they are often compared to musical icons from the 1960s and 70s such as The Beatles and The Beach Boys drawing upon both their look and sound. Their 1970s uniform aesthetic was made a staple after making the guise as a last-minute dress-up for their performance at the 2016 Lollapalooza afterparty, sticking with it ever since. I definitely hear a major blue-eyed soul/white funk sound and the blend of Gaye and Steely Dan works for me!
On 30 April 2020, Parcels released their live studio album, Live Vol. 1, an 18 track tape recording mixed on an analog console in the Hansa Studios in Berlin, mastered without any edits. Hansa Studios, located by the remnants of the Berlin Wall, has played hosts to 70s rock icons' sessions such as David Bowie and Iggy Pop.
The album was released amidst the Covid-19 global pandemic. Alongside the album, Parcels released instrumental tutorials for the song "IknowhowIfeel" to their Instagram account. Hill said that "it felt very insensitive and not aware to be releasing anything that wasn't in some way connected to the coronavirus ‘cause that was encapsulating everyone's thoughts".
"Live Vol. 1" was released with a video of the recording session. Director Carmen Crommelin, also responsible for directing the "Tape" film clip, said in a press release that she "wanted the camera to be both passive and intimate, so you could politely observe from a distance and walk through the room like a friend".
And they are simply a tight, kick-ass live band. Listen.
https://www.parcelsmusic.com/
This charming Australian five-piece formed in Byron Bay in 2014 and are now based in Berlin, Germany. The band is composed of keyboardist Louie Swain, keyboardist/guitarist Patrick Hetherington, bassist Noah Hill, drummer Anatole "Toto" Serret, and guitarist Jules Crommelin. The band say they draw influence from Steely Dan, Marvin Gaye, The Whitest Boy Alive, and Toto, but they are often compared to musical icons from the 1960s and 70s such as The Beatles and The Beach Boys drawing upon both their look and sound. Their 1970s uniform aesthetic was made a staple after making the guise as a last-minute dress-up for their performance at the 2016 Lollapalooza afterparty, sticking with it ever since. I definitely hear a major blue-eyed soul/white funk sound and the blend of Gaye and Steely Dan works for me!
On 30 April 2020, Parcels released their live studio album, Live Vol. 1, an 18 track tape recording mixed on an analog console in the Hansa Studios in Berlin, mastered without any edits. Hansa Studios, located by the remnants of the Berlin Wall, has played hosts to 70s rock icons' sessions such as David Bowie and Iggy Pop.
The album was released amidst the Covid-19 global pandemic. Alongside the album, Parcels released instrumental tutorials for the song "IknowhowIfeel" to their Instagram account. Hill said that "it felt very insensitive and not aware to be releasing anything that wasn't in some way connected to the coronavirus ‘cause that was encapsulating everyone's thoughts".
"Live Vol. 1" was released with a video of the recording session. Director Carmen Crommelin, also responsible for directing the "Tape" film clip, said in a press release that she "wanted the camera to be both passive and intimate, so you could politely observe from a distance and walk through the room like a friend".
And they are simply a tight, kick-ass live band. Listen.
Saturday, May 29, 2021
Laurie Anderson: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert on NPR
I adore Laurie Anderson (previously here). I have seen her many, many times in concert over the decades. I was even lucky enough to see her groundbreaking, mind-boggling musical and theatrical performance art piece "United States I - IV" when she toured it in 1983. She remains a national--international--treasure.
Bob Boilen | May 20, 2021
Laurie Anderson is a revolutionary artist who has mixed storytelling, music and technology for the past four decades plus. This Tiny Desk (home) concert celebrates the truly breathtaking breakthrough album she put out in 1982, Big Science. On that record, she used a few different voice processors; one of them was a Vocoder. By singing into a microphone attached to a keyboard, you can hear how it effectively adds harmony to her voice on "Let x=x." Laurie Anderson also used that effect, creating what I think of as 'the voice of authority' in her storytelling, on "O Superman," a song unlike anything music I'd heard when it came out in 1981. She made use of a vocal loop, something ever-present these days in sampling, but here she uses an Eventide Harmonizer, looping the single syllable "ha" as the rhythm of the song. It's a song about dealing with the technological revolution, about compassion; if it's your first time hearing it, take it in and see what strikes you.
Here, Roma Baran, who played on and produced Big Science with Laurie Anderson in 1982, performs on synthesizer. We also hear some brilliant cello and improv from Rubin Kodheli.
On a personal note, I was a lover of Laurie's music back in those days; they were also the days I played synthesizer in my band Tiny Desk Unit. We opened for Laurie Anderson in 1981, and Laurie joined us onstage for a song. I bring this up because the Tiny Desk name (created by our guitarist Michael Barron) was familiar to Laurie long before this NPR series existed. At the end of her home concert, Laurie, I assume, mistakingly, thanks Tiny Desk Unit for having her. It made me smile and sparked so many memories. Thank you, Laurie.
Laurie Anderson is a revolutionary artist who has mixed storytelling, music and technology for the past four decades plus. This Tiny Desk (home) concert celebrates the truly breathtaking breakthrough album she put out in 1982, Big Science. On that record, she used a few different voice processors; one of them was a Vocoder. By singing into a microphone attached to a keyboard, you can hear how it effectively adds harmony to her voice on "Let x=x." Laurie Anderson also used that effect, creating what I think of as 'the voice of authority' in her storytelling, on "O Superman," a song unlike anything music I'd heard when it came out in 1981. She made use of a vocal loop, something ever-present these days in sampling, but here she uses an Eventide Harmonizer, looping the single syllable "ha" as the rhythm of the song. It's a song about dealing with the technological revolution, about compassion; if it's your first time hearing it, take it in and see what strikes you.
Here, Roma Baran, who played on and produced Big Science with Laurie Anderson in 1982, performs on synthesizer. We also hear some brilliant cello and improv from Rubin Kodheli.
On a personal note, I was a lover of Laurie's music back in those days; they were also the days I played synthesizer in my band Tiny Desk Unit. We opened for Laurie Anderson in 1981, and Laurie joined us onstage for a song. I bring this up because the Tiny Desk name (created by our guitarist Michael Barron) was familiar to Laurie long before this NPR series existed. At the end of her home concert, Laurie, I assume, mistakingly, thanks Tiny Desk Unit for having her. It made me smile and sparked so many memories. Thank you, Laurie.
Sunday, January 3, 2021
"American Dreaming" by Dead Can Dance
Consider the spirit of these words: "American Dreaming" by Dead Can Dance.
I need my conscience to keep watch over me
To protect me from myself
So I can wear honesty like a crown on my head
When I walk into the promised land
We've been too long American dreaming
I think we've all lost the way
Forlorn somnambulistic maniacal
In the dark
I'm in love with an American girl
Well, she's my best friend
I love her surreptitious smile
That hides the pain within her
And we'll go dancing in the rings of laughter
And live alone by the shores
Forlorn in the rounds of rapture
And live alone for the loss
Yeah, on the lea the rising wind blows
Fay-ee, on the lea the rising wind blows
How long? How long?
Forlorn in the grounds of allegiances
We left behind
Turned back by the foot of the doorway
Never lost and found
We've been too long American dreaming
I think we've all lost the heart
Forlorn somnambulistic maniacal
In the dark
Yeah, on the lea the rising wind blows
Yeah, on the lea the rising wind blows
How long? How long?
>
I need my conscience to keep watch over me
To protect me from myself
So I can wear honesty like a crown on my head
When I walk into the promised land
We've been too long American dreaming
I think we've all lost the way
Forlorn somnambulistic maniacal
In the dark
I'm in love with an American girl
Well, she's my best friend
I love her surreptitious smile
That hides the pain within her
And we'll go dancing in the rings of laughter
And live alone by the shores
Forlorn in the rounds of rapture
And live alone for the loss
Yeah, on the lea the rising wind blows
Fay-ee, on the lea the rising wind blows
How long? How long?
Forlorn in the grounds of allegiances
We left behind
Turned back by the foot of the doorway
Never lost and found
We've been too long American dreaming
I think we've all lost the heart
Forlorn somnambulistic maniacal
In the dark
Yeah, on the lea the rising wind blows
Yeah, on the lea the rising wind blows
How long? How long?
Friday, September 18, 2020
"Welcome To The Pleasuredome" by Frankie Goes To Hollywood
I am feeling love and nostalgia today for the amazing opening track--actually a suite that occupies the entire first side of the original vinyl album--"Welcome To The Pleasuredome" from the album of the same name by Frankie Goes To Hollywood.
Super group Frankie Goes To Hollywood was a super sensation when they released their debut double album "Welcome To The Pleasuredome" in 1984. Before the album's release, they had caused quite a stir with their song "Relax" and subsequent S&M-themed video. And the iconic Frankie Say tee shirts became ubiquitous throughout the mid-80s. I worked at Tower Records when this record came out and still have my original Frankie Say Relax tee!
Inspired by the poem "Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, this opening track, complete with animal and jungle sound effects, comes in at a glorious 13:38, while the single version clocks in at a mere 4:20. Here is the full suite:
And if you can't get your fill in the thirteen minute version, check out this awesome FORTY minute remix!
The group reunited in 2004 for a Prince's Trust charity performance staged at London's Wembley Arena to mark the 25th anniversary in show business of producer Trevor Horn, who made his name overseeing hits by artists like the Buggles, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Yes, and ABC. Lead singer Holly Johnson refused to participate so they held open auditions for a substitute lead singer. Fortunately for all FGTH fans, they found Ryan Molloy. Just listen to that powerful moment when we hear Molloy's voice for the first time, like a young Holly. Take a gander at the smokey eye make-up, the mirrored aviators, the Berber shrug, the beautiful mop of blond, and the toned torso. I don't miss Holly at all. Molloy's performance is inspired and masterful.
https://www.frankiesay.com/
https://www.facebook.com/fgth.official/
http://www.ryanmolloy.com/
Super group Frankie Goes To Hollywood was a super sensation when they released their debut double album "Welcome To The Pleasuredome" in 1984. Before the album's release, they had caused quite a stir with their song "Relax" and subsequent S&M-themed video. And the iconic Frankie Say tee shirts became ubiquitous throughout the mid-80s. I worked at Tower Records when this record came out and still have my original Frankie Say Relax tee!
Inspired by the poem "Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, this opening track, complete with animal and jungle sound effects, comes in at a glorious 13:38, while the single version clocks in at a mere 4:20. Here is the full suite:
And if you can't get your fill in the thirteen minute version, check out this awesome FORTY minute remix!
The group reunited in 2004 for a Prince's Trust charity performance staged at London's Wembley Arena to mark the 25th anniversary in show business of producer Trevor Horn, who made his name overseeing hits by artists like the Buggles, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Yes, and ABC. Lead singer Holly Johnson refused to participate so they held open auditions for a substitute lead singer. Fortunately for all FGTH fans, they found Ryan Molloy. Just listen to that powerful moment when we hear Molloy's voice for the first time, like a young Holly. Take a gander at the smokey eye make-up, the mirrored aviators, the Berber shrug, the beautiful mop of blond, and the toned torso. I don't miss Holly at all. Molloy's performance is inspired and masterful.
https://www.frankiesay.com/
https://www.facebook.com/fgth.official/
http://www.ryanmolloy.com/
Sunday, September 8, 2019
A Winged Victory For The Sullen In Concert
I have been mesmerized by this exquisite live performance by A Winged Victory For The Sullen (Dustin O'Halloran and Adam Wiltzie), playing live at the London Barbican. It is powerful, moving music for the end of the world, and the beginning of another.
https://awvfts.com/
https://awvfts.com/
Friday, July 27, 2018
"I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it" by The 1975
"I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it" by The 1975. Because of the following lyrics:
"Before you go
(Please don't go)
Turn the big light off"
https://the1975.com/
"Before you go
(Please don't go)
Turn the big light off"
https://the1975.com/
Sunday, November 26, 2017
"Krigsgald" by Heilung
How fascinating that there is a whole sub-genre of music dedicated to pre-Christian Northern European culture! Heilung are a band from Denmark who play a very specialized kind of music. Their official information says:
"Heilung is sounds from the Northern European Iron Age and Viking period. We used everything from running water, human bones, reconstructed swords and shields up to ancient frame drums and bronze rings in the songs.
The lyrics contain original texts from rune stones and preserved spear shafts, amulets and other artifacts. Furthermore poems, which either deal with historical events or are translations/ interpretations of the originals.
Every attempt to link the music to modern political or religious points are pointless, since Heilung tries to connect the listener to the time before Christianity and its political offsprings raped and burned itself into the Northern European mentality.
Heilung means healing in German and describes the core of the sound. It is supposed to leave the listener eased and relaxed after a sometimes turbulent musical journey."
I can see a wide audience for their music: people who listen to ethnic music or folk and neo-folk music, people who listen to spiritual music, people who listen to alternative music or even Goth music... I get a bit of a Dead Can Dance (previously here, here, and here) vibe too.
Fascinating.
Take a look at this video of the group singing "Krigsgald" live in concert. Believe it or not, this spectacle is their first live concert performance ever. Filmed at Castlefest, a medieval/fantasy festival in the Netherlands, the live recording album called "LIFA" is available.
https://www.facebook.com/amplifiedhistory/
https://heilung.bandcamp.com/
"Heilung is sounds from the Northern European Iron Age and Viking period. We used everything from running water, human bones, reconstructed swords and shields up to ancient frame drums and bronze rings in the songs.
The lyrics contain original texts from rune stones and preserved spear shafts, amulets and other artifacts. Furthermore poems, which either deal with historical events or are translations/ interpretations of the originals.
Every attempt to link the music to modern political or religious points are pointless, since Heilung tries to connect the listener to the time before Christianity and its political offsprings raped and burned itself into the Northern European mentality.
Heilung means healing in German and describes the core of the sound. It is supposed to leave the listener eased and relaxed after a sometimes turbulent musical journey."
I can see a wide audience for their music: people who listen to ethnic music or folk and neo-folk music, people who listen to spiritual music, people who listen to alternative music or even Goth music... I get a bit of a Dead Can Dance (previously here, here, and here) vibe too.
Fascinating.
Take a look at this video of the group singing "Krigsgald" live in concert. Believe it or not, this spectacle is their first live concert performance ever. Filmed at Castlefest, a medieval/fantasy festival in the Netherlands, the live recording album called "LIFA" is available.
https://www.facebook.com/amplifiedhistory/
https://heilung.bandcamp.com/
Monday, October 2, 2017
"Spent The Day In Bed" live by Morrissey
To promote his new release "Low In High School" out on November 17, 2017, Morrissey sang the single "Spent The Day In Bed" (previously here) in concert at BBC Radio 6 Music.
https://www.facebook.com/Morrissey
https://www.facebook.com/Morrissey
Tuesday, May 2, 2017
Sigur Rós Live from the Walt Disney Concert Hall, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association
Streamed live on Apr 15, 2017 by Pitchfork, here is the complete concert footage of Sigur Rós with the Los Angeles Philharmonic live from the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Amazing.
https://sigur-ros.co.uk/
http://www.laphil.com/
Amazing.
https://sigur-ros.co.uk/
http://www.laphil.com/
Friday, November 25, 2016
"Before The Dawn Live"
Released today in the UK: the live recording of "Before The Dawn," Kate Bush's now-legendary 22-night residency at the Hammersmith Apollo in late 2014. (We here in the US must wait until December 2nd.)
The first single to be released is "And Dream Of Sheep," the opening song to Kate's concept suite "The Ninth Wave," a story about a woman lost at sea, waiting to be rescued. If you have missed it, please read a detailed exploration of this powerful piece of music here. The video below shows Kate signing this song live while floating in a tank at Pinewood Studios--this film was projected on a large screen during her live performances of "The Ninth Wave" as part of the entire "Before The Dawn" stage show. The film crew actually spent two days filming and Kate got mild hypothermia after the first day!
Little light shining,
Little light will guide them to me.
My face is all lit up,
My face is all lit up.
If they find me racing white horses,
They'll not take me for a buoy.
Let me be weak,
Let me sleep
And dream of sheep.
Oh, I'll wake up
To any sound of engines,
Ev'ry gull a seeking craft.
I can't keep my eyes open--
Wish I had my radio.
I’d tune in to some friendly voices
Talkin' 'bout stupid things.
I can't be left to my imagination.
Let me be weak,
Let me sleep
And dream of sheep.
Ooh, their breath is warm
And they smell like sleep,
And they say they take me home.
Like poppies heavy with seed
They take me deeper and deeper.
And here is the audio for the "Prologue" to the second half of her "Before The Dawn" show, which is the start of another concept suite called "A Sky Of Honey." If you missed it, I have written an exploration of that piece as well here. Unfolding over 24 hours on Midsummer, the entire suite takes place under the sun or stars and moon, in a sky filled with birds (which is, not coincidentally, the opposite of the claustrophobic water setting of "The Ninth Wave"). It is all about the sky, the “aerial,” the direction “up.” Listen as the throbbing synthesizer and piano act as the afternoon sun, and Kate sings a litany of names of birds in this dream-like song.
And lastly, if you are wondering what all the fuss is about Kate and her epic "Before The Dawn" shows (The New York Times called the performance 'Dense, cathartic and physical.' New Musical Express observed: 'It is no ordinary artist that can tackle life, death, synchronicity, identity, spiritual transformation, empathy and the chaos of relationships with idiosyncratic ease in the space of a few hours,' and the U.K.'s Independent said, 'Undoubtedly the most ambitious, and genuinely moving piece of theatrical pop ever seen on a British stage.'), please read my own complete firsthand review of the stage show here.
http://katebush.com/
Kate Bush is magic. Kate Bush taught me how to fly.
The first single to be released is "And Dream Of Sheep," the opening song to Kate's concept suite "The Ninth Wave," a story about a woman lost at sea, waiting to be rescued. If you have missed it, please read a detailed exploration of this powerful piece of music here. The video below shows Kate signing this song live while floating in a tank at Pinewood Studios--this film was projected on a large screen during her live performances of "The Ninth Wave" as part of the entire "Before The Dawn" stage show. The film crew actually spent two days filming and Kate got mild hypothermia after the first day!
Little light shining,
Little light will guide them to me.
My face is all lit up,
My face is all lit up.
If they find me racing white horses,
They'll not take me for a buoy.
Let me be weak,
Let me sleep
And dream of sheep.
Oh, I'll wake up
To any sound of engines,
Ev'ry gull a seeking craft.
I can't keep my eyes open--
Wish I had my radio.
I’d tune in to some friendly voices
Talkin' 'bout stupid things.
I can't be left to my imagination.
Let me be weak,
Let me sleep
And dream of sheep.
Ooh, their breath is warm
And they smell like sleep,
And they say they take me home.
Like poppies heavy with seed
They take me deeper and deeper.
And here is the audio for the "Prologue" to the second half of her "Before The Dawn" show, which is the start of another concept suite called "A Sky Of Honey." If you missed it, I have written an exploration of that piece as well here. Unfolding over 24 hours on Midsummer, the entire suite takes place under the sun or stars and moon, in a sky filled with birds (which is, not coincidentally, the opposite of the claustrophobic water setting of "The Ninth Wave"). It is all about the sky, the “aerial,” the direction “up.” Listen as the throbbing synthesizer and piano act as the afternoon sun, and Kate sings a litany of names of birds in this dream-like song.
And lastly, if you are wondering what all the fuss is about Kate and her epic "Before The Dawn" shows (The New York Times called the performance 'Dense, cathartic and physical.' New Musical Express observed: 'It is no ordinary artist that can tackle life, death, synchronicity, identity, spiritual transformation, empathy and the chaos of relationships with idiosyncratic ease in the space of a few hours,' and the U.K.'s Independent said, 'Undoubtedly the most ambitious, and genuinely moving piece of theatrical pop ever seen on a British stage.'), please read my own complete firsthand review of the stage show here.
http://katebush.com/
Kate Bush is magic. Kate Bush taught me how to fly.
Saturday, October 1, 2016
"Before The Dawn" Concert Recording!
Well, we've all been waiting for a DVD release of Kate Bush's now-legendary live concert extravaganza "Before The Dawn"--it was filmed over two nights during her 22 night residency at the Eventim (Hammersmith) Apollo in London in 2014. But since there is still no DVD, I'm thrilled to report that on November 25th, 2016, Kate will release the concert recordings on both CD (3 discs with a 24 page booklet) and vinyl (4 LPs with a 24 page booklet which will have a US release on December 5th through Concord Records)! We can only hope it is a prelude to an actual DVD...but in the meantime, we can swoon over the glorious sounds. If you were lucky enough to see the show like I was, we can bask in our memories, and if you didn't get to see the show, you are in for a real treat!
Kate Bush News website reports, "Not only does each set include every song performed each night, it also includes a surprise live version of 'Never Be Mine' which was presumably cut from the actual shows for running time, marking the first appearance of a song from The Sensual World album in a Before the Dawn setting. The track was clearly originally intended to be part of the 'band performance' opening act of the shows. We also now have titles for two of the dramatised elements of the live show. Attendees will remember that actor Kevin Doyle (of Downton Abbey fame!) played the part of the concerned astronomer in the film segment that opens The Ninth Wave, 'Astronomer’s Call'. A comedic scene between Kate’s son Albert McIntosh and actor Bob Harms is now titled 'Watching Them Without Her'. 'Little Light' provides the serene choral lead-in to the powerful live version of 'Jig of Life', and Albert McIntosh takes on lead vocal duties as The Painter on the new song 'Tawny Moon', giving the lunar spectacle a prominent place in this wonderfully expanded production of A Sky of Honey in Act Three."
Here's the complete song list from the new release:
Act One
Lily
Hounds Of Love
Joanni
Top Of The City
Never Be Mine
Running Up That Hill
King Of The Mountain
Act Two – The Ninth Wave
Astronomer’s Call (feat Kevin Doyle spoken monologue)
And Dream Of Sheep
Under Ice
Waking The Witch (feat Jo Servi)
Watching Them Without Her (feat Albert McIntosh and Bob Harms)
Watching You Without Me
Little Light
Jig Of Life (feat John Carder Bush)
Hello Earth
The Morning Fog
Act Three – A Sky of Honey
Prelude
Prologue
An Architect’s Dream
The Painter’s Link (feat Albert McIntosh)
Sunset
Aerial Tal
Somewhere In Between
Tawny Moon (feat Albert McIntosh)
Nocturn
Aerial
Encore
Among Angels
Cloudbusting
You can pre-order at her website, and digital versions will be available through iTunes and Amazon.
http://katebush.com/
Kate Bush News website reports, "Not only does each set include every song performed each night, it also includes a surprise live version of 'Never Be Mine' which was presumably cut from the actual shows for running time, marking the first appearance of a song from The Sensual World album in a Before the Dawn setting. The track was clearly originally intended to be part of the 'band performance' opening act of the shows. We also now have titles for two of the dramatised elements of the live show. Attendees will remember that actor Kevin Doyle (of Downton Abbey fame!) played the part of the concerned astronomer in the film segment that opens The Ninth Wave, 'Astronomer’s Call'. A comedic scene between Kate’s son Albert McIntosh and actor Bob Harms is now titled 'Watching Them Without Her'. 'Little Light' provides the serene choral lead-in to the powerful live version of 'Jig of Life', and Albert McIntosh takes on lead vocal duties as The Painter on the new song 'Tawny Moon', giving the lunar spectacle a prominent place in this wonderfully expanded production of A Sky of Honey in Act Three."
Here's the complete song list from the new release:
Act One
Lily
Hounds Of Love
Joanni
Top Of The City
Never Be Mine
Running Up That Hill
King Of The Mountain
Act Two – The Ninth Wave
Astronomer’s Call (feat Kevin Doyle spoken monologue)
And Dream Of Sheep
Under Ice
Waking The Witch (feat Jo Servi)
Watching Them Without Her (feat Albert McIntosh and Bob Harms)
Watching You Without Me
Little Light
Jig Of Life (feat John Carder Bush)
Hello Earth
The Morning Fog
Act Three – A Sky of Honey
Prelude
Prologue
An Architect’s Dream
The Painter’s Link (feat Albert McIntosh)
Sunset
Aerial Tal
Somewhere In Between
Tawny Moon (feat Albert McIntosh)
Nocturn
Aerial
Encore
Among Angels
Cloudbusting
You can pre-order at her website, and digital versions will be available through iTunes and Amazon.
http://katebush.com/
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Currently listening to...
...the sublime, otherworldly "The Heart Knows Better" by genius singer-songwriter-composer David Sylvian. This live version was recorded in concert in Tokyo in 2004.
"Oh, but nothing really matters in the end
And if everything still matters, what then?"
I don't know how long
She's been here with me
But it's been a long time coming
Make it last forever
Make it last forever
Yes, it's been a long time coming
There's a name for this one
There's a name for that
Call me by my true name
I'll call you back
But I've no intention of seeking you out
And the mind's divisive
But the heart knows better-ha
Better-ha
And every night is wedding night in my bed
My eyes are closed but I can see
The sky stretched overhead
The mattress on the floor
A sea of faces at my door
And every night is wedding night and I'm set
And the mind's divisive
But the heart knows better-ha
Better-ha
When she whispered in my ear
What did she say?
She put her hand hard on my chest
What did she say?
Oh, but nothing really matters in the end
And if everything still matters, what then?
And the air is humid and my face is wet
And the driver's much too drunk to see
But she's sitting in my place
Devastating beauty in my place
And I'm absent from the place I ought to be
And the mind's divisive
But the heart knows better-ha
http://www.davidsylvian.com/
"Oh, but nothing really matters in the end
And if everything still matters, what then?"
I don't know how long
She's been here with me
But it's been a long time coming
Make it last forever
Make it last forever
Yes, it's been a long time coming
There's a name for this one
There's a name for that
Call me by my true name
I'll call you back
But I've no intention of seeking you out
And the mind's divisive
But the heart knows better-ha
Better-ha
And every night is wedding night in my bed
My eyes are closed but I can see
The sky stretched overhead
The mattress on the floor
A sea of faces at my door
And every night is wedding night and I'm set
And the mind's divisive
But the heart knows better-ha
Better-ha
When she whispered in my ear
What did she say?
She put her hand hard on my chest
What did she say?
Oh, but nothing really matters in the end
And if everything still matters, what then?
And the air is humid and my face is wet
And the driver's much too drunk to see
But she's sitting in my place
Devastating beauty in my place
And I'm absent from the place I ought to be
And the mind's divisive
But the heart knows better-ha
http://www.davidsylvian.com/
Monday, September 5, 2016
Currently listening to...
...the live version of "Future Lovers" by Madonna. I seem to be stuck on this song...
First of all, the song itself--even the studio version--is pulsing, mesmerizing, hypnotizing...ecstatic. The key and the musical arrangement are arresting, gripping. Even though it is ostensibly about leaving behind this reality ("I'm gonna tell you about love/ Let's forget your life/ Forget your problems/ Administration, bills, and loans/ Come with me") there is a delicious abstract sense about the following repeated phrase, like a mantra or ritual praise, "In the evidence of its brilliance." What possesses this brilliance? That is the unspoken core she is singing of--perhaps a place in some kind of shimmering future, a place beyond words, a place, as Rumi said, "beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing." Indeed, she next sings, "In the demonstration of this evidence/ Some have called it religion/ This is not a coincidence/ Would you like to try?"
Peak experience? A transcending altered consciousness? The sinking, thrilling sensation of being--finally--separated from your body outside of time? Regular readers of OBTW might recognize these ideas as recurring themes of the art, films, music, and literature I share with you, and as a motif in my own original writing and poetry (usually featured here in April for National Poetry Month). These ideas are "the evidence of its brilliance." Its brilliance: you can't see it without it destroying you. You can't be near it without becoming it. Words cannot be used to describe something beyond words. Images cannot be employed to show something that is beyond the physical. All we can do is feel it, follow it parallel, and intone endlessly, "In the evidence of its brilliance."
But back to our powerful performance at hand: Madonna opened every concert for her 2006 Confessions Tour with this piece of stunning performance art. The equestrian theme somehow blends beautifully--perhaps because the music is so pounding and relentless, like a horse at full gallop. The tensions and anticipation building up to her entrance is palpable--she knows how to choreograph a moment. And giving a nod to the original inspiration to the song--the classic Euro-disco hit "I Feel Love" by Donna Summer--is a wonderful, dreamlike touch.
Here, listen to the studio version too: just as powerful...
In the evidence of its brilliance.
http://www.madonna.com/
First of all, the song itself--even the studio version--is pulsing, mesmerizing, hypnotizing...ecstatic. The key and the musical arrangement are arresting, gripping. Even though it is ostensibly about leaving behind this reality ("I'm gonna tell you about love/ Let's forget your life/ Forget your problems/ Administration, bills, and loans/ Come with me") there is a delicious abstract sense about the following repeated phrase, like a mantra or ritual praise, "In the evidence of its brilliance." What possesses this brilliance? That is the unspoken core she is singing of--perhaps a place in some kind of shimmering future, a place beyond words, a place, as Rumi said, "beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing." Indeed, she next sings, "In the demonstration of this evidence/ Some have called it religion/ This is not a coincidence/ Would you like to try?"
Peak experience? A transcending altered consciousness? The sinking, thrilling sensation of being--finally--separated from your body outside of time? Regular readers of OBTW might recognize these ideas as recurring themes of the art, films, music, and literature I share with you, and as a motif in my own original writing and poetry (usually featured here in April for National Poetry Month). These ideas are "the evidence of its brilliance." Its brilliance: you can't see it without it destroying you. You can't be near it without becoming it. Words cannot be used to describe something beyond words. Images cannot be employed to show something that is beyond the physical. All we can do is feel it, follow it parallel, and intone endlessly, "In the evidence of its brilliance."
But back to our powerful performance at hand: Madonna opened every concert for her 2006 Confessions Tour with this piece of stunning performance art. The equestrian theme somehow blends beautifully--perhaps because the music is so pounding and relentless, like a horse at full gallop. The tensions and anticipation building up to her entrance is palpable--she knows how to choreograph a moment. And giving a nod to the original inspiration to the song--the classic Euro-disco hit "I Feel Love" by Donna Summer--is a wonderful, dreamlike touch.
Here, listen to the studio version too: just as powerful...
In the evidence of its brilliance.
http://www.madonna.com/
Friday, June 12, 2015
"Deadsea" by Man Without Country
OH. MY. GOD. I am loving this amazing live performance of "Deadsea" by Man Without Country from last year's Berlin Festival. Powerful, swirling, cosmic sounds...this track concludes with a section from their song "Parity."
"Your.
Search.
Light.
Marks.
Out.
Lines."
http://manwithoutcountry.com/
"Your.
Search.
Light.
Marks.
Out.
Lines."
http://manwithoutcountry.com/
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Laurie Anderson: "The Language of the Future"
Laurie Anderson is one of the 20th and 21st centuries most outstanding talents. Avant garde musician, performance artist, monologuist extraordinaire, raconteur, illustrator, filmmaker, painter, video and film artist, and composer, Anderson has been at the forefront of art performance, creating technologies (along with several instruments like the tape bow violin, the talking stick, and voice filters which she uses extensively in her work) and stunning special effects to help realize her fantastic vision on stage and off. I have seen Laurie Anderson many, many times over the years (I even saw her legendary "United States I - IV" in the early 80s) and whenever she is performing near me, I make an effort to see her (previously here and here).
We had tickets to see her when she was scheduled to perform at the new SF Jazz venue in San Francisco in April 2014, but her husband, the legendary musician Lou Reed had died only six months before. The show was postponed until this year and we got to see her last night at SF Jazz. In the intervening year, Anderson dreamed up a flexible evening of theater she is calling "The Language of the Future," a title from one of her older pieces. The evening is a collection of stories both old and new (I am resisting the temptation to call it a "Greatest Hits" concert but about half the stories she told were familiar to me), and improv music with a different musician every night. She told Robert Hurwitt at SFGate, “I’m going to be improv-ing with several of my favorite musicians. The first time I did improv was with [composer, multi-instrumentalist] John Zorn some six or seven years ago. He said, ‘Let’s do a night of improv,' and I said, ‘Well, uh, who starts? What key are we in?’ I was thinking, this sounds like a very bad idea. But once we started playing, it was thrilling. It was like building a ship and watching it sort of levitate into the air and do different things. It was really fascinating to me.”
She shared the stage last night with bassist Rob Wasserman who has also played with other luminaries, among them Rickie Lee Jones, Branford Marsalis, and Elvis Costello. The two of them wove improv duets (bass and violin) around her spoken word pieces, which, as she explained at the pre-concert talk, were all centered on animals. I was pleased to revisit some of her older pieces like "Langue d'Amour" from her 1984 album "Mister Heartbreak" (an ethnic folkstory about a woman and man who live on an island but the woman falls in love with a talking snake) and the show's title track, "The Language of the Future" which was part of her "United States I - IV" performance and subsequent four-disc set. She performed a touching, poignant piece which I seem to recall from her previous performance piece called "Delusion" about her dying mother talking to animal hallucinations on the ceiling, thanking them for everything. I also really enjoyed her song "The Whale" from "The Ugly One With the Jewels," which is a story about John Lilly:
John Lilly,
the guy who says he can talk to dolphins,
said he was in an aquarium
and he was talking to a big whale
who was swimming around and around in his tank.
And the whale kept asking him questions ... telepathically.
And one of the questions
the whale kept asking was: "Do all oceans have walls?"
This is so emblematic of Anderson's style in which a piece may start light or innocently enough but unfolds to a very concentrated--sometimes devastating--point. And one of the most chilling pieces of the evening was her rendition of "The Beginning of Memory" from her 2010 release, "Homeland." The following clip was filmed a few weeks ago when she performed "The Language of the Future" at an arts festival in Argentina.
It might have been a bit of a Greatest Hits evening, but I don't care. Anderson is always hypnotizing, thought provoking, funny, wise and inspiring. No matter how many times I hear her stories. Thank you Laurie, for making life on this planet more beautiful and precious.
http://www.laurieanderson.com/
We had tickets to see her when she was scheduled to perform at the new SF Jazz venue in San Francisco in April 2014, but her husband, the legendary musician Lou Reed had died only six months before. The show was postponed until this year and we got to see her last night at SF Jazz. In the intervening year, Anderson dreamed up a flexible evening of theater she is calling "The Language of the Future," a title from one of her older pieces. The evening is a collection of stories both old and new (I am resisting the temptation to call it a "Greatest Hits" concert but about half the stories she told were familiar to me), and improv music with a different musician every night. She told Robert Hurwitt at SFGate, “I’m going to be improv-ing with several of my favorite musicians. The first time I did improv was with [composer, multi-instrumentalist] John Zorn some six or seven years ago. He said, ‘Let’s do a night of improv,' and I said, ‘Well, uh, who starts? What key are we in?’ I was thinking, this sounds like a very bad idea. But once we started playing, it was thrilling. It was like building a ship and watching it sort of levitate into the air and do different things. It was really fascinating to me.”
She shared the stage last night with bassist Rob Wasserman who has also played with other luminaries, among them Rickie Lee Jones, Branford Marsalis, and Elvis Costello. The two of them wove improv duets (bass and violin) around her spoken word pieces, which, as she explained at the pre-concert talk, were all centered on animals. I was pleased to revisit some of her older pieces like "Langue d'Amour" from her 1984 album "Mister Heartbreak" (an ethnic folkstory about a woman and man who live on an island but the woman falls in love with a talking snake) and the show's title track, "The Language of the Future" which was part of her "United States I - IV" performance and subsequent four-disc set. She performed a touching, poignant piece which I seem to recall from her previous performance piece called "Delusion" about her dying mother talking to animal hallucinations on the ceiling, thanking them for everything. I also really enjoyed her song "The Whale" from "The Ugly One With the Jewels," which is a story about John Lilly:
John Lilly,
the guy who says he can talk to dolphins,
said he was in an aquarium
and he was talking to a big whale
who was swimming around and around in his tank.
And the whale kept asking him questions ... telepathically.
And one of the questions
the whale kept asking was: "Do all oceans have walls?"
This is so emblematic of Anderson's style in which a piece may start light or innocently enough but unfolds to a very concentrated--sometimes devastating--point. And one of the most chilling pieces of the evening was her rendition of "The Beginning of Memory" from her 2010 release, "Homeland." The following clip was filmed a few weeks ago when she performed "The Language of the Future" at an arts festival in Argentina.
It might have been a bit of a Greatest Hits evening, but I don't care. Anderson is always hypnotizing, thought provoking, funny, wise and inspiring. No matter how many times I hear her stories. Thank you Laurie, for making life on this planet more beautiful and precious.
http://www.laurieanderson.com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
