Laurie Anderson - Big Science
(Click here)
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
CD Details
Artist: Laurie AndersonBrand: Anderson
Edition: Music CD
Format: Enhanced, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2007-07-17
Music Label: Nonesuch
Soundtracks:
- From the Air
- Big Science
- Sweaters
- Walking & Falling
- Born, Never Asked
- O Superman (For Massenet)
- Example #22
- Let X=X
- It Tango
- Walk the Dog [Enhanced CD MP3]
Music reviews of Big Science
Music Review: Green Andy Reviews: Laurie Anderson - Big Science
Rating: 5 Stars
Laurie Anderson rarely thinks small. Her first large-scale performance piece was an eight-hour event entitled "United States I-IV", which was eventually condensed into the four-and-a-half-hour live album UNITED STATES LIVE, which was whittled down further into this album. At just under 40 minutes, Big Science takes the most musical aspects of that show, and presents them in as user-friendly a fashion as Laurie Anderson circa 1982 was ever likely to get. It was most people's first exposure to Anderson, who manages the tricky feat here of seeming sympathetic and completely alien at the same time.
Anderson has always primarily considered herself a storyteller, and the bulk of these songs betray their origins as spoken word pieces with slight musical accompaniment. The best songs use this to good effect: opener "From the Air" features Anderson talking the listener through a plane crash over a herky-jerk post-punk rhythm which contrasts with her deadpan voice to generate almost unbearable tension. The surprise UK hit "O Superman" is constructed almost entirely out of voices, with Laurie Anderson's vocoderized lead monologue laid atop a single looped syllable. Her intensely serene vocals are always the star of the show, and like other computerized expressionless voices, you eventually begin to infer emotion in them like an aural magic eye picture. The grating "Sweaters" briefly breaks her poker faced delivery, and is the worst track here as a result. On the other hand, the joyous "Example #22" finds Anderson managing to sound like she's actually having fun, and it's the closest thing to a party tune she'll probably ever make. But the real heart of the album is in the widescreen epic title track, and the ultra-minimalist closing duo of "Let X = X" and "It Tango", where the simple, intertwining rhythms and Anderson's soft-spoken repeated phrases build to a hypnotic crescendo.
There are a few missteps on the album, however. The aforementioned "Sweaters" sounded out-of-place on UNITED STATES LIVE, and it doesn't fare any better here. And while "Walking and Falling" contains the germ of an interesting idea, it's too undeveloped to even briefly hold your attention. But those two songs aside, this is a remarkably strong record, and it's been an incredible influence on leagues of art-rockers and minimalist composers in the decades since. Listen to it, and you'll be a Laurie Anderson fan forever.
Description of Big Science
*UPDATE* from Nonesuch Records - The initial run of Laurie Anderson's Big Science reissue on compact disc contained a slight problem in the mastering that has now been resolved. On the 2nd track, "Big Science," the introduction to the song was missing the first of two wolf howls. If you purchased one of the CDs that contains the 'dropped' wolf howl, please return it (disc only!) to Nonesuch, 1290 Ave of the Americas, New York, NY 10104, attn: Big Science Reissue Exchange, with a return address, and we will send you the revised version. The re-mastering of Laurie Anderson's Big Science still resonates just as deeply as the original. Articulating a dream-like American society amidst social and political anxiety, Anderson's work is both comforting and sinister at the same time.Experimental Rock CDs
Music Genres
Bestsellers in Experimental Rock CDs
Tom Waits - Rain DogsWAITS,TOM; Release date: 1990-06-15; Music CD
Best price: $4.97
Price in other shops:
Radiohead - Kid ARelease date: 2000-10-03; Published: 2000-01-01; Music CD
Best price: $4.95
Price in other shops:
Tool - 10,000 DaysTOOL; Release date: 2006-05-02; Music CD
Best price: $9.43
Price in other shops:
Dirty Projectors - Bitte OrcaRelease date: 2009-06-09; Music CD
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops:
HeimaDig; Release date: 2007-12-04; DVD
Best price: $14.33
Price in other shops:
Arcade Fire - FuneralARCADE FIRE; Release date: 2004-09-14; Music CD
Best price: $10.04
Price in other shops:
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post PavilionRelease date: 2009-01-20; Music CD
Best price: $10.44
Price in other shops:
Radiohead - In RainbowsRelease date: 2008-01-01; Music CD
Best price: $7.72
Price in other shops:
The Flaming Lips - EmbryonicRelease date: 2009-10-13; Music CD
Best price: $8.31
Price in other shops:
Grizzly Bear - VeckatimestDig; Release date: 2009-05-26; Music CD
Best price: $9.75
Price in other shops:
Similar CDs
Talking Heads - Fear of MusicTALKING HEADS; Release date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $4.57
Price in other shops:
Tom Tom Club - Tom Tom ClubTOM TOM CLUB; Release date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $4.75
Price in other shops:
Laurie Anderson: Nothing in My Pockets (Zagzig)by Laurie Anderson
Dis Voir; Published: 2009-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $47.08
Laurie Anderson - Talk Normal: A Laurie Anderson AnthologyRelease date: 2000-10-17; Music CD
Best price: $19.24
Price in other shops:
Laurie Anderson - Bright RedRelease date: 1994-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $5.95
Price in other shops:
Laurie Anderson - Life on a StringANDERSON,LAURIE; Release date: 2001-08-21; Music CD
Best price: $6.33
Price in other shops:
Laurie Anderson - The Ugly One with the Jewels and Other StoriesRelease date: 2000-08-07; Music CD
Best price: $1.92
Price in other shops:
Home Of The Brave: A Film By Laurie Anderson (1986 Film)Release date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $7.03
Price in other shops:
Laurie Anderson - Strange AngelsWarner Brothers; Release date: 1989-10-13; Music CD
Best price: $6.34
Price in other shops:
Laurie Anderson - Mister HeartbreakWarner Brothers; Release date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $6.04
Price in other shops: