The Steampunk World
Laurie Anderson's doing two shows in town this week. I think they're both sold out. I would give anything to see her, so I'm thinking of going down there with a tub of ice and offering my kidney to people as they enter the venue. She's picking up her violin again, and playing some old stuff! Man oh man, I'm probably going to end up paying a lot of money for that ticket. But I don't care, dammit!
If you don't know who she is, it's because she's 20 years ahead of her time. I first heard "O Superman" in college, played on 97X (one of last radio stations where they play many songs instead of five repeatedly, and where the DJ ACTUALLY WORKS AT THE RADIO STATION instead of prerecording his shows for broadcast on 200 stations across the US) and I thought, "This music is the next step! I mean, it's really out there!" I called up the DJ, who happened to be a guy I went to high school with, and the song happened to be 15 years old. I was struck dumb. Laurie Anderson is Lou Reed's sweetie, although it's more accurate to say he is hers. She was Andy Kaufman's straight man back in his standup days, before he got that Comic Relief guy. What Stephen Hawking is to physics, what Noam Chomsky is to linguistics, what Mother Theresa is to charity, Laurie Anderson is to music. If you listen to her stuff, you probably won't understand most of it- I sure don't. Such is mediocrity attempting to comprehend genius. John Lennon? Jerry Garcia? Brian Eno? Chumps. Amateurs. Worms beneath her feet. Relatively speaking, of course.
I sound like a dedicated fan, but I don't even deserve to be called such. My favorite band is They Might Be Giants. They write songs that I like to listen to. Comparing what Laurie Anderson does to sound to what a rock band does is like comparing the way my computer works to the way that organic systems develop from a chaos of amino acids. The mind of the average person cannot conceive of such a thing developing without the intervention of a higher power. With luck, I will be in the presence of genius on Tuesday night.
In October, all of my spending cash will be spent on concert tickets. Orbital on the 17th- who I'd love to see but I dont NEED to see. On the 19th, They Might Be Giants. Must go. (Check out their website, it's neat and fun). On the 20th, the 12 Rods, who I try to catch whenever they're in town because they're based out of Minneapolis and only make it every three months or so. Then, on All Hallow's Eve, which for me is the biggest holiday of the year, I'll be seeing Stereolab... I can't decide what costume I should wear... I'm thinking of getting a huge wig and stuffing my tights and going with Singular Girl as Sarah and Jared from Labyrinth. Of course, there's the dearth of parties leading up to the big night, as well as the fact that my neighborhood will go crazy for Dio de los Muertos the next day. Ya gotta have holy days, and since Xmas is just another Tuesday for me (except that nothing's open, damn it, I already lost a piece of my penis because of that religion and now I can't drive through McDonald's every 12/25? ;), the big one is All Hallow's Eve.
Speaking of rock'n'roll and my neighborhood, one of my downstairs neighbors got booted. I don't know how to feel about it- it was one of the punk rockers, one who couldn't pay rent, apparently, because of her love of a certain Boy. On one hand, it sucks that someone so nice and outgoing is having those sorts of troubles. But on the other hand, I'm glad my remaining neighbors are the type who would take action in the face of such a major problem, and not just let it get so bad that I get crap stolen off my back porch.
I guess that explains why she hocked her Smiths album to the Brooklyn Mick for $6. As Brooklyn put it, "That was before we knew what was going on, and even then, her hardcore haggling over the price of a used CD gave me major KYFD signals- Keep Your Fucking Distance."
If you don't know who she is, it's because she's 20 years ahead of her time. I first heard "O Superman" in college, played on 97X (one of last radio stations where they play many songs instead of five repeatedly, and where the DJ ACTUALLY WORKS AT THE RADIO STATION instead of prerecording his shows for broadcast on 200 stations across the US) and I thought, "This music is the next step! I mean, it's really out there!" I called up the DJ, who happened to be a guy I went to high school with, and the song happened to be 15 years old. I was struck dumb. Laurie Anderson is Lou Reed's sweetie, although it's more accurate to say he is hers. She was Andy Kaufman's straight man back in his standup days, before he got that Comic Relief guy. What Stephen Hawking is to physics, what Noam Chomsky is to linguistics, what Mother Theresa is to charity, Laurie Anderson is to music. If you listen to her stuff, you probably won't understand most of it- I sure don't. Such is mediocrity attempting to comprehend genius. John Lennon? Jerry Garcia? Brian Eno? Chumps. Amateurs. Worms beneath her feet. Relatively speaking, of course.
I sound like a dedicated fan, but I don't even deserve to be called such. My favorite band is They Might Be Giants. They write songs that I like to listen to. Comparing what Laurie Anderson does to sound to what a rock band does is like comparing the way my computer works to the way that organic systems develop from a chaos of amino acids. The mind of the average person cannot conceive of such a thing developing without the intervention of a higher power. With luck, I will be in the presence of genius on Tuesday night.
In October, all of my spending cash will be spent on concert tickets. Orbital on the 17th- who I'd love to see but I dont NEED to see. On the 19th, They Might Be Giants. Must go. (Check out their website, it's neat and fun). On the 20th, the 12 Rods, who I try to catch whenever they're in town because they're based out of Minneapolis and only make it every three months or so. Then, on All Hallow's Eve, which for me is the biggest holiday of the year, I'll be seeing Stereolab... I can't decide what costume I should wear... I'm thinking of getting a huge wig and stuffing my tights and going with Singular Girl as Sarah and Jared from Labyrinth. Of course, there's the dearth of parties leading up to the big night, as well as the fact that my neighborhood will go crazy for Dio de los Muertos the next day. Ya gotta have holy days, and since Xmas is just another Tuesday for me (except that nothing's open, damn it, I already lost a piece of my penis because of that religion and now I can't drive through McDonald's every 12/25? ;), the big one is All Hallow's Eve.
Speaking of rock'n'roll and my neighborhood, one of my downstairs neighbors got booted. I don't know how to feel about it- it was one of the punk rockers, one who couldn't pay rent, apparently, because of her love of a certain Boy. On one hand, it sucks that someone so nice and outgoing is having those sorts of troubles. But on the other hand, I'm glad my remaining neighbors are the type who would take action in the face of such a major problem, and not just let it get so bad that I get crap stolen off my back porch.
I guess that explains why she hocked her Smiths album to the Brooklyn Mick for $6. As Brooklyn put it, "That was before we knew what was going on, and even then, her hardcore haggling over the price of a used CD gave me major KYFD signals- Keep Your Fucking Distance."
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