A Singing Carpenter's Level and Other Everyday Stuff...

21 more or less tabloid-sort questions and 21 adequately neat'n'bland (sometimes informative) answers, still a pleasant read - this is New York Magazine's recent interview with Laurie Anderson.

Playing for the Genius of the Carpathians...

According to the English translation of this article in Romanian, Laurie Anderson once performed 'Duets on Ice' in front of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu. Ha!

"I like to do things that I don't know how to do for fun."

WKCR's (Columbia University's radio station) 'Arts and Answers' show featured a recent interview with Laurie Anderson on September 30, 2010. Unfortunately I missed the show by one day but Annie Minoff, the programme's host was kind enough to provide me with the stream which I am proudly presenting here, on Files on a String. Thank you, Annie!

Annie Minoff talked with Laurie Anderson in her studio about 'Delusion' and "the sensation she calls mental drift", Laurie's wunderhund Lolabelle who has just finished her Christmas record, various manifestations of one mother, Fenway Bergamot's "different ways", the "insane third of everyone's lives" (i. e. dreams), Laurie's retrospective performance called 'Transitory Life', audience personalites and many more.

• 'Arts and Answers' Interview with Laurie Anderson on WKCR (audio length: 30 mins 1 sec; the stream will open in a new window)

"I consider myself as much of a visual artist as a musician, so I have a lot to do."

All her own invention - John L. Walter's article on Laurie Anderson in Eye Magazine. iPh*ne gadgets, tape bow violin, mouth light, chalkboard animations made for 'Delusion', haptics as a possible new art form et cetera.

Come here. Watch it glitter.

Click to the picture to learn about 10 of Laurie Anderson's favourite things - a splendid little multimedia portrait in FLYP Magazine from 2009:

[spoiler]

1. Canon EOS 5D - making "story films" with a budget* camera
2. Planetariums - projecting film on the dome of a planetarium in Austin, Texas
3. Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center - performance space in Troy, N.Y.
4. Eccentric Blogs - reading Unnecessary Quotes and Cats that Look Like Hitler
5. Lunch with the Ladies - Saturday meals with a rotating group of women
6. Imaginary Operas - creating an opera that could never be staged
7. Mingyur Rinpoche - learning about Tibetan Buddhism from her teacher
8. Sound Gardens - designing and building garden spaces that speak
9. Thinking about Texas
10. Urban Cycling - Riding around NYC on a Dutch-style bicycle

[/spoiler]



(Hint: make sure your speakers are on.)


* huh?

Talk radio tidbits

• 'Homeland' is one of John Schaefer's Picks of the Week at WNYC Radio's Soundcheck. Listen to it here:

• The Kojo Nnamdi Show will feature Laurie Anderson on American University Radio WAMU 88.5 FM. The interview will be on Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 1:32PM in Washington, DC, which means... hm... 19:32 in my local time.

• Earlier today, Bonnie Grice's 'The Eclectic Cafe' show on Peconic Public Broadcasting was supposed to have Laurie Anderson via phone... Unfortunately, the conversation was skipped in spite of Bonnie's enthusiastic intro. Quel dommage. :(

What to Read, According to Mr. Fenway Bergamot

Here are some of Fenway Bergamot's / Laurie Anderson's favourite books, along with Mr. Bergamot's comments:

• "Perfumes - The A-Z Guide"
  by Luca Turin & Tania Sanchez

"Fabulous book!"

• "Eating Animals"
  by Jonathan Safran Foer

"Highly recommended!"

• "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman"
  by Laurence Sterne

"My personal favourite. Kind-of my own role model."

(Note: this one can be entirely read at Google Books, just click to the title)

• "A Week at the Airport - A Heathrow Diary"
  by Alain de Botton

"I've spent a week at Heathrow myself and I know what this guy is talking about."

... for more, watch Fenway Bergamot's video made in Sydney, Australia at Facebook.

 (in the picture: fashion dictator Fenway Bergamot / screen capture from the video)

The Spirit of Motion

A couple years ago, Lolabelle, Laurie Anderson's rat terrier contracted an aggressive form of cancer and during the medical therapy she went blind. She has overcome the illness but her pep was gone. Her worried family finally found a trainer for her who taught her to play the piano ( = tap the keys with her paws and get treats for it) and this kind of mental and physical stimulation brought her vigor back.

Recently Lolabelle herself has made a few public appearances: her keyboard playing was an attraction at the 'Homeland' release party, and, besides her majestic 'parents', Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed, she was the third royal person (the Royal Mer-Dog) reigning over the annual Mermaid Parade at Coney Island.

Poor little Lolabelle, though, looks kind-of resigned / disoriented / a little bit fat (right, she has overcome a serious illness and she might constantly get those treats) in some recent photos. I do hope she feels better than she looks like. I'm sure her loving family is 100% there for her. Laurie has just recently said something like Lolabelle was working on a 'Christmas record'-- sounds promising, right? :)

(original photo here)

But what I really wanted to say is that I honestly think 'Bodies in Motion' is actually a song written for/about Lolabelle, and featuring her 'playing' the piano on that very track of 'Homeland' is more than accidental.

Laurie has occasionally told about the personality of her dog-- being a rat terrier, she loves agility training, her main motivation is simply to have fun in life. Laurie has also mentioned something like this as her own life goal, too.

So, here they are, just like twin stars, furthermore: two fellow goddesses out of some ancient Greek myth who may have total command over the world, even over other worlds, too, they can get anywhere they want to, they could see into the future, they could create a religion but all they care about is to have as much fun as possible. (Even if the weight of the world lies heavy on her shoulder-- see the Atlas --> Greek mythology reference, right?)

And to move is to have fun. Moreover: to move together is to have even more fun. To move eternally: a thing only godlike creatures are able to do. So, these two gorgeous souls unite in constant synchronic motion and love and devotion-- a couple with enviable affection towards each other.

I do hope that the world will find delight in the heartwarming sight of this for a long time to come. Or, perhaps, they are going to be there eternally. They'll grace us only when they are in the mood. Blissful souls are entitled to do so. And they most likely are of that species.

FM4 interview

I managed to record Austrian FM4 Radio's programme Heartbeat with Robert Rotifer, featuring songs by and a phone interview with Laurie Anderson. (Broadcasted on 28 June, 2010, 10PM CEST)

You can listen to the whole programme (songs edited out), the narration is in German, total playing time is 6 mins 33 secs. File size: 9 MB

... Or you can listen to the phone interview parts only (file sizes are about 1 MB each):

• ghosts of the Bush era (1:20)
• being avant-garde (or not) (1:15)
• the character of Fenway Bergamot (1:12)

NPR interview

Tidbits of Info You Could Not Make It Through the Day Without:

1. Since the lyrics for 'Only an Expert', Laurie Anderson's raging song on exaggerated expertism are easily updatable, she's going to do so in the next weeks, adding a verse about BP and the petroleum solution to the song in her live performances.
   
   
2. Lolabelle, Laurie's musically gifted rat terrier is working on her Xmas record.
   
   
3. Laurie Anderson does not have any answers. (!)

Listen to National Public Radio's interview with Laurie Anderson by Scott Simon.

And don't forget the Q&A session containing questions from Facebook and Twitter users towards Laurie (I can't link to it directly from here, it's on the left side of the article, under the photo). One of them could deserve the Mister Heartbreak Award of the Day and it goes like this:

"I'd like to know if she's aware the distinct musical rhythm of her heart."