Laurie Anderson � Laurie appears on album of poetry with William Burroughs and John Giorno... 1981 YOU’RE THE GUY I WANT TO SHARE MY MONEY WITH (orig 2-lp) US Giorno Poetry Systems 020/1 (reiss cd) 1993: US East Side Digital 8072 1981.10 A1.O SUPERMAN B1.Walk the Dog UK.2 7”: UK Warner Bros. K-17870 [ps] 12: US Warner Bros. 49888 � Now a solo artist with Roma Baran, Perry Hoberman, David Van Tieghem, etc. 1982.05 BIG SCIENCE UK.29 UK.124 Produced by Roma Baran A1.From the Air A2.Big Science A3.Sweaters A4.Walking & Falling A5.Born, Never Asked B1.O Superman (For Massenet) B2.Example #22 B3.Let X=X/It Tango (orig lp) US Warner Bros. BSK-3674 [lyrics], UK K-57002 [lyrics], BRA Warner Bros 26081, CAN Warner Bros. XBS-3674 [lyrics], GER Warner Bros. WB-57002 [lyrics], JPN Warner Pioneer P-11192 (orig cs) US Warner Bros. M5-3674, CAN Warner Bros. XM5-3674 (reiss cd) US Warner Bros. 3674 5 stars. Luminous stuff. Laurie Anderson made her reputation as a performance artist with the United States tour, which featured her playing the violin on a block of ice. It was that kind of absurdist attitude that made her plainspoken songs so unforgettable. Big Science featured material from the United States performance, including the surprise UK hit “O Superman.” The songs are minimalist dialogues that shine like the short ambient pieces of Brian Eno. Sometimes they feature actual melodies, like the wonderfully catchy “From The Air,” and sometimes there’s just a wisp of sound behind them, as on “Walking & Falling.” Looking for a reference point for Laurie Anderson is tricky; there are elements of David Byrne, Kate Bush, Philip Glass and Stan Ridgway at work, but they all arrived at their styles at about the same time. Her later albums were too self-aware of expectations; Big Science blazes into new musical frontiers fearlessly. To call songs like “Example #22” strange sort of misses the point, since Anderson is after bigger quarry than raised eyebrows. She wants you to rethink music, or at least think about music more deeply than usual. The lyrics are often spoken rather than sung, and they hang heavy in the air. Behind the lyrics are slowly shifting waves of keyboards, marimba or violin, and the unpredictable percussion of David Van Tieghem. When it all comes together, Big Science is stunning. When it doesn’t, it’s still thought provoking. Her manipulation of everyday events, her timing, her ability to drop words will have you scratching your head and smiling. She’s not a musician, she’s a magician. You’ll wonder whether you’ve been duped by Big Science, but it’s done so skillfully you’ll admire the effort, maybe even feel flattered by it. 1982 A1.BIG SCIENCE B1.Example #22 7”: UK Warner Bros. K-17941 [ps] A1.Big Science (Full Length Version) B1.? 12: UK Warner Bros. K-17941T 1982 A1.LET X=X B1.From the Air 7PRO: UK WEA SAM-152 � Anderson with Burroughs, Van Tieghem, Bill Laswell, Adrian Belew, Anton Fier, Peter Gabriel, Nile Rodgers, etc. 1984 MISTER HEARTBREAK US.60 Produced by Laurie Anderson with Roma Baran, Peter Gabriel and Bill Laswell A1.Sharkey’s Day A2.Langue d’Amour A3.Gravity’s Angel B1.Kokoku B2.Excellent Birds B3.Blue Lagoon B4.Sharkey’s Night (orig lp) US Warner Bros. 25077 [lyrics], BRA 1984 Warner Bros. 6047 044, CAN Warner Bros. 92 50771 [lyrics], UK/GER Warner Bros. 925 077 [lyrics], JPN Warner Bros. P-11442 (orig cd) US Warner Bros. 25077, GER Warner Bros. 925077 (orig cs) UK Warner Bros. 925077 4 stars. What would Laurie Anderson sound like if she had a backing band of alternative rock all-stars at her disposal? Like pure, left-handed heaven. Percussionist David Van Tieghem, producer Roma Baran and novelist William Burroughs are the croutons left over from the salad days, Nile

Rodgers, Peter Gabriel, Adrian Belew and Anton Fier are the ringers. Minimalism be damned, Laurie goes for a richer sonic experience than her previous work, and boy does it work. On Big Science, you had to read between the lines, but you won’t find any space between the lines on Mister Heartbreak; it’s all spelled out for you. That may disappoint some, who might have left more to the imagination. The rough, raw innocence of an “O Superman” made you stare intently at it, and truth be told I sometimes allow my eye to wander during Mister Heartbreak because I know my ear will catch what I’ve missed. But so few people make music like Laurie Anderson that you owe it to yourself to at least make the acquaintance of Mister Heartbreak. He’s an interesting guy, this Mister, with plenty to say: “Gravity’s Angel,” “Langue d’Amour,” “Excellent Birds.” By repeating phrases, Anderson slowly twists our head to see what she wants us to see. Always reminds me of the Superman teaser: “It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s Superman.” It ceases to be either a bird or a plane and yet becomes something both bird and plane. Yes, that’s right, I’m analyzing the opening credits to Superman. Some things are better experienced than explained. Mister Heartbreak is one of them. 1984 A1.SHARKEY’S DAY (EDIT) B1.Sharkey’s Night 7”: GER Warner Bros. 929 435-7 [ps] 1984 UNITED STATES LIVE US.192 (1985) A1.Say Hello A2.Walk the Dog A3.Violin Solo A4.Closed Circuits A5.For a Large and Changing Room A6.Pictures of It A7.Language of the Future A8.Cartoon Song A9.Small Voice A10.Three Walking Songs A11.The Healing Horn A12.New Jersey Turnpike B1.So Happy Birthday B2.English B3.Dance of Electricity B4.Three Songs for Paper, Film and Video B5.Sax Solo B6.Sax Duet B7.Born, Never Asked B8.From the Air B9.Beginning French B10.O Superman B11.Talkshow C1.Frames for the Pictures C2.Democratic Way C3.Looking for You C4.Walking & Falling C5.Private Property C6.Neon Duet C7.Let X=X C8.The Mailman’s Nightmare C9.Difficult Listening Hour C10.Language is a Virus from Outer Space C11.Reverb C12.If You Can Talk About It, Point To It C13. Violin Walk C14.City Song C15.Finnish Farmers D1.Red Map D2.Hey Ah D3.Bagpipe Solo D4.Steven Weed D5.Time and a Half D6.Voices on Tape D7.Example #22 D8.Strike D9.False Documents D10.New York Social Life D11.A Curious Phenomenon D12.Yankee See D13.I Dreamed I Had To Take a Test D14.Running Dogs D15.Four, Three, Two, One D16.The Big Top D17.It Was Up in the Mountains D18.Odd Objects D19.Dr. Miller D20.Big Science D21.Big Science Reprise E1.Cello Song E2.It Tango E3.Blue Lagoon E4.Hothead (Le Langue d’Amour) E5.Stiff Neck E6.Telephone Song E7.Sweaters E8.We’ve Got Four Big Clocks E9.Song for Two Jims E10.Over the River E11.Mach 20 E12.Rising Sun E13.The Visitors E14.The Stranger E15.Classified E16.Going Somewhere? E17.Fireworks E18.Dog Show E19.Lighting Out for the Territories (orig 5-lp) US Warner Bros. 25192, GER Warner Bros. 925192 1984 SELECTIONS FROM UNITED STATES 1.Difficult Listening Hour 2.Example #22 3.Sweaters 4.Frames for the Pictures 5.The Curious Phenomenon 6.I Dreamed I Had to Take a Test 7.Finnish Farmers 8.Big Science (promo lp) US Warner Bros.PRO-A-2229 � Laurie appears on Jean-Michel Jarre’s Zoolook (released November 1984 on Polydor). 1986 HOME OF THE BRAVE US.145 Produced by Laurie Anderson, Roma Baran, Nile Rodgers A1.Smoke Rings A2.White Lily A3.Late Show A4.Talk Normal B1.Language is a Virus B2.Radar B3.Sharkey’s Night B4.Credit Racket (orig lp) US Warner Bros. 25400-1 [lyrics], UK/GER Warner Bros. 925 400-1 [lyrics], CAN Warner Bros. 92 541001 [lyrics], ARG WEA 80002 [lyrics] (orig cs) US Warner Bros. 25400-4, GER Warner Bros. 925 400-4 (reiss cd) US/GER Warner Bros. 25400 3 stars. The first sunflower we see from Van Gogh is a revelation. By the third or fourth sunflower, they start to look like sunflowers and lose their alienage. This, Laurie’s fourth sunflower, was conceived as part of a staged performance. I saw it on television and it left me nonplussed, but I’m not the artiest animal on the ark either. Talking Heads had brought music to the stage with Stop Making Sense and Byrne’s collaboration with Twyla Tharp, The Catherine Wheel. That Anderson was now using some of the same musicians as the Heads (Adrian Belew, Dolette McDonald) made the David Byrne connection clearer. Byrne is more musical than Anderson, Anderson more verbal than Byrne, but their artistic sensibilities align nicely so that fans of the one should appreciate the other. Home of the Brave (the album) is even more musical than her last

album, Mister Heartbreak. It’s still nontraditional rock music, but that I’m even calling it rock music is a leap forward. However, I’m not so much interested in what she has to play as what she has to say. The opening “Smoke Rings” (shades of Sylvia Plath) and “White Lily” are pure poetry, for my money the best things about Home of the Brave. “Talk Normal” to me seems incidental, “Sharkey’s Night” (different from the version on Heartbreak) noisy and indulgent. And the single from the album, “Language is a Virus,” lacks the subtlety that I most admire in her music. However, Home of the Brave isn’t after subtlety; it’s in your face, over the top, an intellectual circus. I came here looking for sunflowers, and found only a lone white lily alienated by noisome weeds of the unconscious. Any Laurie Anderson album has its share of revelations, but this may claim the smallest share. (Note that the filmed performance contained additional songs not found on this soundtrack.) 1986 A1.LANGUAGE IS A VIRUS 7PRO: US Warner Bros. 7-28677 12PRO: US Warner Bros. 2465 1986 THE INTERVIEW FROM THE FILM SOUNDTRACK TO HOME OF THE BRAVE A1.Language is a Virus A2.White Lily A3.Late Show B1.Talk Normal B2.Smoke Rings C1.Sharkey’s Night C2.Radar C3.Langue d’Amour D1.Kokoku D2.Sharkey’s Day D3.Credit Racket (promo lp) US Warner Bros. WBMS-134 � Laurie with Manolo Badrena, Jimmy Bralower, Mark Egan, Anton Fier, Steve Gadd, Sue Hadjopoulos, Scott Johnson, Bakithi Khumalo, Robby Kilgore, Dave Lebolt, Tony Levin, Arto Lindsay, Hugh McCracken, Bobby McFerrin, Leon Pendarvis, Lenny Pickett, Ray Phirl, Ian Ritchie, The Roches, John Selolwane, Chris Spedding, David Spinozza, Mike Thorne, “Blue” Gene Tyranny, David Van Tieghem, Nana Vasconcelos, Tom “T-Bone” Wolk, etc. 1989.10.17 STRANGE ANGELS US.171 Produced by Laurie Anderson and Roma Baran with Mike Thorne, Ian Ritchie, Peter Scherer, Arto Lindsay and Leon Pendarvis 1.Strange Angels 2.Monkey’s Paw 3.Coolsville 4.Ramon 5.Babydoll 6.Beautiful Red Dress 7.The Day The Devil 8.The Dream Before 9.My Eyes 10.Hiawatha (orig lp) US Warner Bros. 25900 [lyrics], UK Warner Bros. WX-258 [lyrics], CAN Warner Bros. 92 59001, GER Warner Bros. 925 900-1 [ps] (orig cs) US Warner Bros. 25900, UK Warner Bros. WX-258C (orig cd) US Warner Bros. 25900, GER Warner Bros. 925 900-2 4 stars. Laurie sings! And the world doesn’t end. Maybe some pigs flew, I don’t know. They probably needed the exercise anyway. By most accounts, the result was a revelation: a very musical album from an “antimusical” music. But to contradict the opening title track, it’s exactly like I thought it would be. Strange Angels isn’t that much different from Mister Heartbreak after all. It’s chatty, smart, funny. Groundbreaking? Not really. Paul Simon took uber-literate American pop to Africa on Graceland, David Byrne took it to South America several times, and Laurie Anderson retraces their footsteps on Strange Angels. The difference is that Laurie is the better listener, internally and externally. She stumbles on big truths and little epiphanies, wraps them here in jewel-encrusted boxes and dazzled a whole lot of people with the offering. Throw away the box, though, and it’s another “Langue d’Amour” or “From The Air.” What I think attracts people to Strange Angels is the musical packaging. It’s by the far the prettiest record she’s made, and thus the most charming. “Babydoll” and “My Eyes” are seductive pop songs; complicated under the surface, sure, but for the first time Laurie is giving audiences the opportunity to opt out of the social study and simply enjoy the music. Yet it’s when audiences enjoy the album on both levels (surface and substance) that Strange Angels weaves its best magic. I got as much of a kick out of her earlier music (Big Science, Mister Heartbreak), and can find the beauty in ugliness just as easily, so for me Strange Angels is simply the same wonderful gift wrapped in different paper. It’s lovely paper, shiny and colorful, so you may want to unwrap it first. 1989 A1.STRANGE ANGELS CDSPRO: US Warner Bros. PRO-CD-3826 1989 A1.BABYDOLL CDSPRO: US Warner Bros. PRO-CD-3900 1990 1.BEAUTIFUL RED DRESS 2.? 3.? CDSPRO: US Warner Bros. 921592 2.? CDSPRO: US Warner Bros. PRO-CD-4390

� Boyfriend Lou Reed is spotted on Bright Red. You’ll find her on Lou’s Set The Twilight Reeling (1996), Ecstasy (2000) and The Raven (2003). 1994.10.25 BRIGHT RED US.195 Produced by Brian Eno 1.Speechless 2.Bright Red 3.The Puppet Motel 4.Speak My Language 5.World Without End 6.Freefall 7.Muddy River 8.Beautiful Pea Green Boat 9.Love Among The Sailors 10.Poison 11.In Our Sleep 12.Night in Baghdad 13.Tightrope 14.Same Time Tomorrow (orig cd) US Warner Bros. 45534 1994 BRIGHT RED SAMPLER (EP) 1.The Puppet Motel 2.Poison 3.In Our Sleep 4.North Pole 5.Hotel Hot Dogs 6.The Rotowhirl (promo ep) US 1994 Warner Bros. PRO-CD-7260 1994 A1.IN OUR SLEEP CDSPRO: US Warner Bros. 7932 1.In Our Sleep (Single Mix) 2.Poison (Single Mix) 3.The Ouija Board 4.In Our Sleep (Trance Mix) 5.Poison (Trance Mix) 6.The Ugly One with The Jewels 7.Poison (Instrumental Mix) 8.In Our Sleep (Instrumental Mix) (1995) CDEP: US Warner Bros. PRO-CD-7508-R 1995.03.14 THE UGLY ONE WITH THE JEWELS AND OTHER STORIES Produced by Laurie Anderson 1.The End of the World 2.The Salesman 3.The Night Flight from Houston 4.Word of Mouth 5.The Soul is a Bird 6.The Ouija Board 7.The Ugly One with the Jewels 8.The Geographic North Pole 9.John Lilly 10.The Rotowhirl 11.On the Way to Jerusalem 12.The Hollywood Strangler 13.Maria Teresa Teresa Maria 14.Someone Else’s Dream 15.White Lily 16.The Mysterious “J” 17.The Cultural Ambassador 18.Same Time Tomorrow (orig cd) US Warner Bros. 45847 2000.10.17 TALK NORMAL: THE LAURIE ANDERSON ANTHOLOGY 1.O Superman (For Massenet) 2.From the Air 3.Big Science 4.Born, Never Asked 5.It Tango 6.Gravity’s Angel 7.Excellent Birds 8.Langue d’Amour 9.Sharkey’s Day 10.Walk the Dog 11.Cartoon Song 12.So Happy Birthday 13.City Song 14.Big Top 15.Dr. Miller 16.Lighting Out for the Territories 17.Smoke Rings 18.Talk Normal 19.Language is a Virus 20.Credit Racket 21.Strange Angels 22.Babydoll 23.Coolsville 24.My Eyes 25.Dream Before 26.Day the Devil 27.Speak My Language 28.Love Among the Sailors 29.Poison 30.In Our Sleep 31.Night in Baghdad 32.Night Flight From Houston 33.The Rotowhirl 34.Ouija Board 35.End of the World (orig 2-cd) US/GER Rhino 76648, UK Warner Bros. RS-76648 � Laurie sings on “Like Pictures Part #2” from Brian Eno and J. Peter Schwalm’s Drawn From Life (released May 2001 on Astralwerks). 2001.08.21 LIFE ON A STRING 1.One White Whale 2.The Island Where I Come From 3.Pieces and Parts 4.Here With You 5.Slip Away 6.My Compensation 7.Dark Angel 8.Broken 9.Washington Street 10.Statue of Liberty 11.One Beautiful Evening 12.Life on a String (orig cd) US Nonesuch 79539 2002.05.21 LIVE AT TOWN HALL NEW YORK CITY SEPTEMBER 19-20, 2001 A1.Here With You A2.Statue of Liberty A3.Let X=X A4.Sweaters A5.My Compensation A6.Washington Street A7.Pieces and Parts A8.Strange Angels A9.Dark Angel B1.Wildebeests B2.One Beautiful Evening B3.Poison B4.Broken B5.Progress B6.Animals B7.Life on a String B8.Beginning French B9.O Superman B10.Slip Away B11.White Lily B12.The Puppet Motel B13.Love Among The Sailors B14.Coolsville (orig cd) US Nonesuch 79681 � Laurie plays violin on “Lena” from Ute Lemper’s but one day... (released March 2003 on Nonesuch).