The Charlie Rose Interview, 2003

"She does everything. She writes. She paints. She does photography. She sculpts. There's nothing she can't do. She is the absolute perfect person to go up there because she could come back to you and could put it in any kind of media you wanted."

(Lou Reed on Laurie Anderson's artistry-in-residence at NASA)

In May 2003 Laurie Anderson and Lolabelle joined Lou Reed at Charlie Rose's interview table (apparently to everybody's satisfaction). Their conversation rambled from 'NYC Man' (Lou Reed's then-recently released retrospective song collection), through Andy Warhol, to the aspects of the relationship between Lou and Laurie.

(FYI: This video had been hosted by Google and was 'rescued' to YouTube since Google has recently gave up video hosting.)

For Japan with Love: the Concert

Relief! Japan Society published their record of the performance by John Zorn, Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed (this time supported by a Japanese drummer) at the benefit concert for Japan:

(Hint: enjoy it in its full HD glory on YouTube.)

For Japan with Love: the Interview

"Our set was improvised. You never really know what's gonna happen when you improvise. But I felt like there was definitely a spirit there, that kind-of took over. I don't know if it's conscious or choice-- I don't think those are the right words-- but something definitely magical happened."

John Zorn on the trio of himelf, Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed
April 2011

In the following video by Japan Society NYC, Lou Reed, John Zorn, Laurie Anderson and Philip Glass are discussing their musical selections for the benefit concert for Japan, plus sharing some of their fondest Japan-related memories. Watch and learn about Lou Reed's first computer calculator watch and why Laurie's Japanese s-s-sucks:

A Fearless Afternoon of Non-Rock*

The trio of Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed and John Zorn got together again for another freeform improvisation as part of a 12-hour-long benefit concert marathon for Japan at the Japan Society in NYC. The result is a one-of-a-kind blend of three strong identities from three different musical worlds; this time supported by a huge Japanese drum (and drummer).

"Lou Reed w/Laurie Anderson & John Zorn just slowly melted my face off & fed it back to me in hole where my face used to be!! I love it!"

Tweet by Quasimario

(I'm afraid this randomly shot screen capture turns out to be the only visual proof of the event... the (record of the) web stream proved to be a disaster for numerous reasons, sorry.)


I needed to chop the audio into two parts since at one point the sound engineers of the web stream thought that the static white noise / guitar feedback generated by Lou's instrument was an error so they turned the volume down in the 14th minute into the concert. (Anyway, the audio files needed to be edited at several points since the webcast kept breaking - in the end I simply cut those short gaps off... a butcher's job. :( I hope it still sounds flawless though.)

• Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed and John Zorn at the Japan Society, April 09 2011 - part one (audio length: 13 mins 26 secs, file size: 18.5 MB)

• Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed and John Zorn at the Japan Society, April 09 2011 - part two (audio length: 8 mins 47 secs, file size: 12.1 MB)

* a paraphrase of Lou Reed's words on their trio before their performance at the Montréal Jazz Festival in Canada, 2010

Happy to Be Geeking out

"I don't mind being a little off."

(Laurie Anderson)

Mainstream culture and social identity, audio drag and "the physical way", plus a bucket list - this is Laurie Anderson's random two (three, four...) cents to OUT Magazine.

Just Because It Was There #2

Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed in Groningen, November 2008
photo source: Reyer Boxem / Redux

In the Loft

Lou (Reed) and Hal (Willner) talked to Laurie Anderson in 'Lou Reed's New York Shuffle with Hal Willner' on Sirius Radio's Channel 29 ('The Loft') on the 26th of September 2010. Laurie was also a guest DJ, she chose 'Bodies in Motion', 'Only an Expert', 'O Superman' and 'Falling' ("a shortie") to play.

OMG, Lou Reed does love his wife, it was so heartwarming to hear his affectionate words about Laurie. Here is the conversation in one part; songs edited out:

• Lou, Hal and Laurie on 'The Loft' / Sirius Radio Channel 29 (audio length: 15 mins 58 secs, file size: 21.9 MB)

Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay

Today's random goodness is an excerpt from a benefit concert called Downtown for Democracy: A Joyful November, where Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson were among the performers in September 2004. You can listen to the whole concert on ArtOnAir. Here is a spoken word duet between Lou and Laurie, volume (and sound quality) as enhanced as allowed by the original material:

• Guilty? Guilty. (playing time: 2 mins 1 sec, file size: 2.8 MB)

Hint: Laurie has also told two of her stories: one about the canoe trip in Utah and the other about the summer she broke her spine at 12.

Charlie Rose interviews

If you are not familiar with them: really worth watching. If you are familiar with them: really worth re-watching.


1. A conversation with Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson of "The Velvet Underground"
July 8, 2003

A conversation with musicians Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson of "The Velvet Underground" about their careers in glam rock, Reed's album "NYC Man: Lou Reed the Collection", and Anderson's work as a performance artist.

Video length: 31:18

2. A conversation with performance artist Laurie Anderson
May 20, 2004

A discussion with sculptor, filmmaker and performance artist Laurie Anderson about bridging the gap between art and pop culture.

Video length: 15:10

Montréal Jazz Festival, press conference

... Just listening to 'Homerun' show at CBC Radio One (Canada), about the upcoming show of Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed and John Zorn at the Montréal Jazz Festival...



UPDATE #1: just managed to record an excerpt of the press conference with Lou and Laurie. They don't know at all what they are going to play tonight, ha:

• press conference before the Montréal Jazz Festival, July 2nd 2010 - part one (1:02)

Another excerpt from the press conference, this time about how are they going to be able to blend their different musical tastes, backgrounds and directions. Listen to Lou Reed's adoring words on her wife:

• press conference before the Montréal Jazz Festival, July 2nd 2010 - part two (0:51)

(Thanks, Facebook, hahaha)

UPDATE #2: Found the video of the press conference!

There's also another video of the whole press conference, it's 16 mins 45 secs long, you can watch it here. (Sorry, embedding didn't work.)

UPDATE #3: Flickr photos show a very humanlike Laurie. Brava!

Amen

"What she does is overwhelmingly beautiful. In a more enlightened age they'd build a statue to her. The smarter you are, the more you'll get out of this. It's very-very touching, sophisticated, affecting, and it's got power, too. It's a different kind of music, I've never heard anything like it. It's amazing. It crosses barriers of time and language."

(Lou Reed on her wife and her music

- as heard on the 'Homeland' DVD)