Retrospect 1.0: The Updated Posts

First of all, I decided to update some of the previous posts. I'm doing it this way since I wouldn't want to break up the one-post-one-topic consistency which, more or less, characterized the posts of Files on a String in the past. It's not handy, it's not convenient but it's for the sake of logic (and, um, proportion, whatevs). So, here is the list:

• 'Delusion' in the UK: Read - a review of 'Transitory Life' and the public conversation in Brighton (UK) added

• 'Delusion' in Germany: Read. Look. (Part Two) - one review from Dresden, two more from Kassel / Hofgeismar, plus a video with interview excerpts recorded in Kassel added

• El sistema de l'ase i la pastanaga - a photo gallery from Girona (Spain) added

• Λόρι Αντερσον - a photo gallery from Athens (Greece) added

'Delusion' in the UK: Read (UPDATED)

Reviews of 'Delusion' from Brighton, UK:

• Reviews: Brighton Festival – Laurie Anderson – Delusion
  (Andrew Kay, Latest7 Magazine)

• Laurie Anderson Mused on Memory & Then Broke New Ground in Sound @ Brighton Festival
  (Howard Young / The Brighton Magazine - this article is a blend of a review of the performance and the public conversation with Laurie Anderson the night before the concert)

• Laurie Anderson, Brighton Dome Concert Hall, May 26
  (Simon Lancaster / The Argus)

• Minimalist Magic: Laurie Anderson at the Brighton Dome, May 2011
  (Ian Hodgson)

• What do John Cale & Laurie Anderson have in common?
  (Louise Halvardsson)

• UPDATE: Laurie Anderson: Delusion and In Conversation (Gig-going Adventures Contd.)
  (Gavin Burrows)

Bringing 'Delusion' to the Old Continent

Listen to and read a short interview with Laurie Anderson who prepares for her European tour with 'Delusion':

Duets on Ice in London, 2011 a. k. a. Auditive Solace for the Remote and Deprived (Plus Photos, Yay)

... a. k. a. that's what friends are for!

Files on a String now proudly presents timeiswide's recording of 'Duets on Ice' in London, performed at the Barbican Art Gallery a few days ago: prepare your ears for 2 x 12 minutes of groovy freeform improvisation onto musical bases that may be familiar from 'Delusion' (plus, I dare say, 'Homeland'). Yes, there are two recordings since the first session of 'Duets on Ice' (8 PM) was sold out so the organizers announced yet another performance at 9 PM. Considering Laurie's genuine inclination towards random playfulness, it comes as no surprise that the sessions are quite different from each other.

"[...] also, Laurie almost fell off the very tiny stage .... during the second session, the ice on her right skate broke off, and Laurie lost her balance .... [then] got her balance back. Laughed, smiled and immediately continued with now only one ice block, received an extra applause from a relieved audience ... "


"[...] and what felt as a long long time when Laurie lost her balance due to an ice-break on her right foot skate turns out to be a split second on the rec!
See, what you sense and experience as many seconds turns out to be different, on a recording!"

(excerpt from Timeiswide's review of the sessions)

• Laurie Anderson's 'Duets on Ice' in London (2011-03-03), Session One at 8PM (audio length: 13 mins 2 secs, file size: 17.9 MB)

• Laurie Anderson's 'Duets on Ice' in London (2011-03-03), Session Two at 9PM (audio length: 12 mins 5 secs, file size: 16.6 MB)

Laurie Anderson playing 'Duets on Ice'

at the Barbican Centre in London, England

photo by Rune Hellestad

(FYI: more photos of the event at Contactmusic: here and here. Also in Barbican's Facebook photo gallery!)

Visual Solace for the Remote and Deprived

A photo gallery and a video tour of the joint exhibition of the early works of Laurie Anderson, choreographer Trisha Brown and the late artist Gordon Matta-Clark at the Barbican Art Gallery in London:

The exhibition is called Pioneers of the Downtown Scene, New York 1970s. It opens today and it runs until May 22nd, 2011.

FYI: Tonight Laurie Anderson will re-perform one of her early trademark acts, Duets on Ice at the gallery.

Sigh.

Laurie Anderson at ICA (London), 1990

"[...] thrills for me are discovering something while I'm working or talking to someone or suddenly realizing "oh I could see that upside down for a second" or you just suddenly get a totally different point of view of a very familiar situation. To me that's a kind of key of... if it's already familiar but I can look at it as if it's not at all."

(Laurie Anderson, 1990)

Listen to a gorgeous conversation between Laurie Anderson and Sarah Kent at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, UK. According to the British Library's archive, the recording was made back in November 1990, cca. a year after the release of 'Strange Angels' album, and towards the last month of the 'Empty Places' Tour which was running almost during the whole year in 1990. Consequently, it's no surprise that among the topics were the current tour and the album; Wim Wenders; learning to sing; having a lot of different voices; speed and avant-garde; senator Jesse Helms and 'Coolsville' - plus many many more. There's a particularly amusing part about Ken Nordine around 38 minutes into the record; Laurie did a hilarious imitation of his manner of speaking.

• Laurie Anderson talk at ICA (1990) (audio length: 73 mins 13 secs; listen to the stream directly in the archive of the British Library)

Art Comes from Anger, Art Comes from Love

Q: What is the obligation of art?

A: I don’t think it has one. I think it has to be anarchistic. [...] I don’t think anarchy needs to be angry. In fact, I think tender anarchy is a great goal. It is what makes things a little different from the clamor of cultural products being hyped and bought and sold.

Read Don't Panic Magazine's interview in which Laurie Anderson tells about the romanticism of being an artist in New York in the Seventies, and the difference between that era and consumerism, today's major art form.

Smells Like Some Gaps in the Map...

• Nov 5-14 2010: Estoril Film Festival (Portugal) - member of the jury along with Lou Reed
• Nov 6 2010: East Sussex (UK) - Transitory Life
• Nov 9 2010: Chorzow (Poland) - Transitory Life
• Nov 11 2010: Bucharest (Romania) - Transitory Life
• Nov 13 2010: Florence / Firence (Italy) - Delusion
• Nov 25 2010: Bilbao (Spain) - Transitory Life
• Dec 2 2010: Rome (Italy) - Delusion

... but hey! Laurie is coming to Europe this fall!!! Go and check out the dates and venues and ticket infos on Angelika's recently updated Spreken website and take a look at the Strange Angel on the Brooklyn Bridge! :)

Stare with Your Ears

...This could be an excerpt from a Laurie Anderson lyrics but it's the title of a documentary on Ken Nordine, le doyen of spoken word, created by Pakistani-Canadian film director Omar Majeed, featuring interview excerpts of - amongst others - Laurie Anderson.

Extra: a recording of the Meltdown Festival that is mentioned in the documentary (created by Laurie Anderson in London, 1997) can be listened to here.

Meet Marketing Expert Mr. Fenway Bergamot

Mr. Fenway Bergamot put on his best moustache and went to the European headquarter of Nonesuch, Laurie Anderson's record company to try to take control over Laurie's ad campaign by sharing his own marketing ideas with the publicity manager:

Since it's him who graces the cover of the Homeland album, it does not need Laurie Anderson's name on it.

Having been inside Laurie's head for such a long time, he deserves to get space on the poster of 'Delusion'.

He isn't contented with the title of Laurie's live show either.

At the record store, his vinyl should be in the center of the Laurie Anderson shelf.

... meaning: all over the place.

While he also admits he's aiming for a gold, he coyly inquires if the record company has made more than 10 copies of his vinyl... in fact, there were 1,000 copies of 'Only an Expert' made all in all, and according to the publicity manager, all of them were sold.

One of the highlights of the video is the following conversation:

Fenway [referring to the vinyl]: Nobody has any record players anymore. Will anyone play that?

Publicity Manager: No, but that doesn't matter, does it.

Hilariously cynical contemporary surrealism, just Mnemosyne's favourite type of humour. :)

Oh, almost forgot: the video is featured on Fenway Bergamot's Facebook profile.