Jane and Laurie

[bloch%mandrill@ucsd.edu]

The writer has now listened to Jane Siberry's new album
_bound_by_the_beauty_ and, while not in ecstasy, is a pretty happy
person.  Let's try a preliminary description.

Musically, the album seems to reflect the popular opinion (which I
share) that Jane's fourth album, _the_walking_, was overproduced to
the extent of hiding the lyrics.  The liner notes for this one say

"this album was recorded at orchard studios in norval 50 miles north
of toronto, live with little overdubbing except for vocals.  'bound by
the beauty' and 'hockey' are the original demo tracks kept for their
spirit and how-does-this-song-go?-ness.  a small studio in the middle
of an apple orchard.  you get out of the car, slam the door and,
quiet.  and...oh yeach, hmmm...you can tell that the breeze is blowing
across earth not concrete.  and, say...check out the state of these
buds, and...mac, oh mac! when did you say?"

The first two tracks are country-western, the last two Latin, and the
ones in between more what I expected from Jane's previous albums.

Thematically, the album has a lot in common with _TSW_: it's a collec-
tion of vignettes, scenes of everyday events and emotions, examples of
what the world of sensory experience is like.  But where _TSW_ is at
more or less a constant level of sensory-connectedness, with various
emotions mixed in, _bbtb_ moves from the concrete to the abstract.
The first four tracks describe the pleasures of nature, trains with
their traditional melancholy associations, the sunny-Sunday-afternoon
hockey game, and everything else in the world.  The next four are more
concerned with emotions and how internal feelings flavor perception of
the outside world, while by the last two tracks the external world has
become utterly unimportant as the narrator drowns in her lover's eyes.

Oh, back to the Laurie Anderson album.  I'd like to point out that the
cover photo is by Robert Mapplethorpe.  And read the copyright notice
carefully; I think there's some "unauthorized duplication" in there.
Intentional or not, I don't know.

"Writers are a funny breed -- I should know." -- Jane Siberry

bloch%cs@ucsd.edu