"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.

"Throw Me A Line" live in concert by HAEVN

Wow, this is a lovely performance of a gentle, swooning, swelling song, "Throw Me A Line" by the group HAEVN (the duo of singer-songwriter Marijn van der Meer and film soundtrack composer Jorrit Kleijnen) with the enhancement of an orchestra...that gorgeous arrangement played by the string section is near to heaven...

Is there a place where we can go and talk this out
Got a feeling that I can’t escape
I’m falling in doubt

Is there a way for you to leave this daunting force
Got all shattered by your push and pull
Leaving me lost

oeh, Say the words
I’m right here
oeh, Just say the words

oeh, Throw me a line
you hear me?
oeh, Throw me a line

Remember when you told me how our lives would change
You’d be leaving all your fears behind
I’ve been holding a space for us

oeh, Say the words
I’m right here
oeh, Just say the words

oeh, Throw me a line
you hear me?
oeh, Throw me a line

Are you out there
I’ve been waiting for so long
Are you out there

Are you ready to break out now
Are you ready to break out now
Are you ready to break out now
Are you ready to break out now

Are you ready to break out now
Are you ready to break out now
Are you ready to break out now

Cause I’m ready for you

https://www.haevnmusic.com/

"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/

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.

https://laurieanderson.com/

"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? 

https://www.deadcandance.com/

'Twas The Night Before Christmas with HRH the Prince of Wales and Special Guests

The classic holiday poem "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" was recorded this season in support of the Actors’ Benevolent Fund, of which The Prince of Wales has been Patron for over 20 years taking over the role from Her Majesty The Queen in 2000. The charity fund was started in 1882 by Henry Irving, one of the foremost actors of his generation and supports actors and stage managers who are unable to work due to illness, injury, or old age and those experiencing financial hardship particularly during the Coronavirus pandemic. This year has been particularly difficult for those working in the industry and in April the charity launched an Emergency Grant Fund to support those in their profession who are experiencing financial hardship owing to the pandemic.

Led by HRH Prince Charles, this group of actors give a lovely reading this Christmas Eve. But #1 for dedication and enthusiasm geos to the enchanting Joanna Lumley, aka Patsy Stone. And surprisingly, #2 goes to HRH the Prince of Wales who was committed to the narrative as well!

 

As an actor, I can attest that the industry has been flatlined. If you can, seek out a theatre near you and consider making a donation to support these hard-hit arts institutions so they are not gone from your community for good.

"Outline" by Zero 7 and Lou Stone

New vocalist Lou Stone has teamed with Zero 7 for "Outline." The song will be part of the newest Zero 7 release, "Shadows," out on October 23, 2020. Take a listen to this amazing live performance of the song and Lou Stone's tender, crafted delivery.

https://www.zero7.co.uk/ 

https://iamloustone.com/

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/

"The Guardian of the Temple" by La Machine

The French design and production company La Machine (previously here and here) unveiled a new show this month in Toulouse. Called "The Guardian of the Temple," this fantastic live performance featured a 46-foot tall Minotaur and an enormous spider walking the streets enacting the ancient Greek myth of Ariane. Simply stunning.

Their website reports:
"Toulouse marked by gold, fire, blood and water, will see his temple disappear. His guardian buried underground will remain. When the sun rises on the temple finally discovered, fifty equinoxes will be necessary for him to come back to life. Protector of the city, he will be reborn by the waters of the river in favor of the new blue moon. Wandering in search of the temple, lost in the heart of the labyrinth, only Ariane metamorphosed will guide him to his new home."

From 1 to 4 November will be played in Toulouse The Guardian of the Temple a myth in four acts created by François Delaroziere and the company La Machine and played exclusively in Toulouse. The show will feature a monumental machine, the Minotaur, dedicated to the city of Toulouse that will reinterpret the myth of Ariane. This show, played in the streets of downtown Toulouse, a real labyrinth of nature, is an introduction to the setting up of the cultural and touristic equipment of the Halle de La Machine in the Montaudran district around the historic track of the Aéropostale now called the Giant's Trail.

A large part of the company's team is already on site and has started the rehearsals of the show, which promises to be one of the major events of autumn in the Toulouse region. The rehearsals and the show will mobilize more than 200 people from the company, a hundred volunteers and a large part of the agents of Toulouse Métropole.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Compagnie La Machine (@compagnie_la_machine) on Nov 3, 2018 at 5:01pm PDT

http://www.lamachine.fr/le-gardien-du-temple-en-exclusivite-mondiale-a-toulouse/

"The Carnival is Over" by Shirin Neshat featuring Cate Blanchett and Anohni

Apropos of yesterday's lovely video of female unity and power by Cher here, visual artist, filmmaker, and photographer Shirin Neshat has created an amazing video starring the always-powerful Cate Blanchett and the voice of transgender singer-songwriter Anohni.

“For a long time my work has focused on women and the ways in which they defy society’s repressive codes. I was interested in how female singers are universally treated as objects of desire. At first, Cate looks gorgeous, but when she sings it’s a transgender’s voice. The audience heckles her, and she becomes confrontational. When the music comes back on, she does a seductive dance but her face is evil. For her final act of subversion, she takes off her hair and makeup and walks away. That part was Cate’s idea. F**k the beauty.”

Neshat and Blanchett do not have sites.
http://anohni.com

"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/

The Madness of Olivier de Sagazan

I've been meaning to post something about extraordinary French performance artist Olivier de Sagazan for quite some time, but I never followed through. His art is captivating but disturbing. So it seems appropriate to share it with you during a season that is dedicated to the macabre, the disturbing, and the frightening.

But please don't misunderstand: Olivier de Sagazan is not a "Halloween" novelty or a "horror show" trope. His art is based on the physical and psychological transformation of the human being. He layers clay, paint (only black and red, and pointedly so), hair, and dirt onto his face and body in a transformation that is truly a descent into a state of madness, a state of complete and total surrender. It is the transformation of the logical, rational, controlled modern human into a kind of ferocious, visceral, animalistic, ancient state. Along with whispered or shouted ranting and startling pre-language vocalizations, he contorts his face and body into grotesque, deformed shapes, rendering the human form down into featureless components, or into what could be tribal masks and body modification from indigenous cultures or ancient races.

"I am flabbergasted in seeing to what degree people think its normal, to be alive. Disfigurement in art is a way to return to real life!" says de Sagazan.

In this way, I feel that de Sagazan's art goes beyond "scary" or "frightening" because it plays not on our fear of monsters, ghosts, vampires, or serial killers, but on our universal fear of the dissolution of ourselves, the loss of our identity and minds, of who we are, reverting to some primal state. I might even venture to say that, by extension, his performances are also connected to our fear of death itself, of the idea of ultimate transformation. And of course this is so effective precisely because we all still have this primal, raving creature inside us...and we all must reconcile ourselves to our final transformation. His work is shocking and penetrating because it's about what is INSIDE of us, not something scary or frightening "out there."

He appeared in the classic film "Samsara" (previously here) in a short sequence that encapsulates his ideas.

Here is a version of his foundational performance, "Transfiguration."

And in one of his most mind-boggling, horrific performances, he just collaborated with English designer Gareth Pugh (a protégé of Rick Owens and Michele Lamy, previously here and here) in a film presentation of Pugh's Spring/Summer 2018 collection. Their performance together takes the first six minutes of the film. It's intense...forewarned is forearmed.

http://olivierdesagazan.com/

"The Meal" by Hidemi Nishida

Japanese environmental artist Hidemi Nishida created an installation and a related performance art piece featuring himself and fellow performance artists Sofie Jansson and Asa Shimada. Called The Meal, the delicate butoh-like performance explores themes of communication, connection, and awareness of small, daily moments in all of our  lives. Be sure to watch the video to see excerpts from this gentle, magical creation and to learn more about the concepts from the artists.

http://hdmnsd.com/2014/the-meal/

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/

"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/

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/

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/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Aitor Throup

Aitor Throup's design house, A.T. Studio collaborates across multiple industries and develops the conceptual clothing brand New Object Research. The studio's mission statement says, "Both the studio and the brand are committed to imagining and creating new ways of telling stories through object design and the creation and production of related materials." And for his debut collection at London Collections: Men, Throup created a mystical, theatrical presentation that was a mash-up of a catwalk show, a lookbook, and a performance art piece called "The Rite of Spring/Summer/Autumn/Winter." At the start of the show which took place at a deconsecrated church in Marlybone, a white box was raised to reveal the form of a human crumpled on the ground. Puppet designer and engineer James Perowne along with his team of puppeteers approached and, after taking hold of attached rods, made this crumpled heap come to life. Each human form that came out on the runway was created from a mold of Throup's own body. At the end of the show, curtains were drawn back to reveal the puppets and outfits hung from the ceiling in front of the church's stained glass windows. The outfits were small in number but the impact of their presentation made them seem enormous.

http://www.aitorthroup.com/
http://newobjectresearch.com/

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/

I GOT TICKETS!

I just booked tickets to see Kate Bush, live on stage, on Saturday September 27th, at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, performing her Before The Dawn tour, previously here. I got up at 2AM Pacific time, an hour ago, to make sure I could purchase tickets on-line when they went on sale at 9:30 GMT... before they sold out.

I am still shaking a little, and have received my email confirmation already, so I can breathe easier.
It is very hard to describe what this means to me, and I am sure a lot of people out there won't understand or may simply view this as another rock concert by some singer or other. But I have been a Kate Bush fan since I saw her on "Saturday Night Live" in 1978. As her albums became increasingly more complex, more emotional, more experimental (for lack of a better word) and the lyrical content became more involved with psychology, inner worlds, metaphysics, a sense of personal spirituality and mysticism, much of it inspired by literature, art, and film, I became more of a fan. Her concerns resonated with me. In a way, she created her own, vast mythology. Her album "The Dreaming" was a major force for me, not only musically, but in a much broader artistic sense, with its stories of Aboriginal Dreamtime, magical human to animal transformation, the disastrous effects of colonization and war on indigenous cultures, and the grander concepts of love and loss set against a fictionalized account of famed magician Houdini's death. She heavily used a synthesizer that was new at the time, called the Fairlight, which was one of the first digital samplers. But true to form, Kate used it in startlingly new and inventive ways.

And of course her follow up, "The Hounds of Love," contains what I consider to be her masterpiece, a concept suite called "The Ninth Wave" which is a devastating story about the experience of a woman lost at sea and her near-death. It is profound, moving, and sweeping in scope... so far beyond what any mere "pop" or rock music or musician can usually accomplish.

With each successive release, Kate has never failed to capture profound moments (listen/watch and read the lyrics for her song "Moments of Pleasure"), and the absolute cosmic joy and tragedy of being alive in this reality. Hers is a special mind and heart and talent, and I am beyond moved that I am going to actually see and hear her play these songs which have such lives of their own, songs that reverberate out through time.

It is 3:30AM and I am heading back to bed to dream of this September when I will be mere yards from Kate, sharing her genius with us. Thank you Kate, for coming back to the stage after so long away (35 years). You certainly did not have to tour since you are THE Kate Bush, a legend... but I am supremely glad you did. I never thought I would see you live, so this is, to sound corny, a dream come true. See you in September.

http://www.katebush.com

Kate Bush is magic. Kate Bush taught me how to fly.

UPDATE: According to the BBC, The Telegraph and The Independent, all 22 nights sold out in under fifteen minutes. I feel doubly lucky to have tickets.