Here is a sneak peek into my stream of consciousness.
Back in December, I got an ear infection. My ears are an essential tool in my work, so it drove me nuts that I couldn’t fully hear out of my left ear. When asked to describe what I was hearing, my mind immediately went to Laurie Anderson.
Anderson is a performance artist, writer, singer and performer. I first became aware of her in 1982 with her album Big Science. This disc included the single O, Superman, a 8:21 song that embraced pop minimalism. It is produced with a slight echo on Anderson’s voice… and THAT’S what I was hearing in my ear as a result of my ear infection.
Attending the WSKG Making event at Angry Mom Records in Ithaca, with my echo-y ear, I realized I didn’t own any Laurie Anderson albums. Lucky for me, I found a copy of her second album, Mister Heartbreak. She employs that signature echo sound on her vocals and I felt a kinship listening to it with my bum ear.
This 1984 album starts with “Sharkey’s Day on Side One and concludes with Sharkey’s Night on Side Two. Unlike her minimalist debut album, Mister Heartbreak is warmer, layered and slicker sounding. Of her thirteen studio albums, this one is her most “pop” record; hooks exist, but they’re embedded in riddles. Dare I say, it’s almost danceable!
One of the quiet strengths of Mister Heartbreak is how Laurie Anderson uses collaboration not to dilute her voice, but to refract it. The guests on the album are carefully chosen, and each one adds warmth, texture, or gravity while leaving Anderson firmly at the center of the work.
Singer/songwriter and music icon Peter Gabriel is one of those collaborators. His influence is not only heard in backing vocals on this disc, but also in the melodic production of the song, “Excellent Birds.” Laurie Anderson is known for her ability to blend narrative elements with electronics, often sounding “cold,” but Gabriel softens her sound.
William S. Burroughs, poster boy of the Beat Generation, is a brief highlight on the closing track, “Sharkey’s Night.” The song was co-written by Anderson and Burroughs, with Burroughs reciting—not singing—lyrics. This wasn’t their first collaboration and wouldn’t be their last.
Ear infection aside, I was thrilled to expand my record collection with Laurie Anderson’s Mister Heartbreak, an interesting combination of the avant-garde with a good beat that you can dance to.