Laurie Anderson - Life on a String

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Free Music Notes for Life on a String

Free Music Review: Far More Real Than Merely Memorex
Hit: 5 Stars

Regardless of the criticism that has followed her career, Laurie Anderson has maintained a staunch and loyal "cult following" that never seems dismayed by her departures from whatever it is that is supposed to be normal about her style. In addition, Anderson has, in the span of several of her later recordings, begun to develop a delivery that comes closer than ever to mimicking the kind of style that the birdbrains at Spin Magazine and Rolling Stone can almost comprehend. In fact, given the acolades Anderson is receiving for "Life on a String," it appears that her latest is in many ways the strongest work she's produced in over a decade.

While some self-proclaimed interpreters of Laurie Anderson are still quibbling with what they seem to think is the unevenness of the entirety of her production, they seem to be missing the point that Anderson is slowly developing a style that encompasses and embraces all the loose pieces that have dogged her in her relationship with listeners over the years. Of course, that sort of thing is going to be hard for pop music critics to package into little soundbyes of quasi-informative bird droppings--but what's important to realize is that Anderson is accomplishing with skill, taste and musicanship what other apparently experimental musicians only get with the special effects of the studio.

Across the entire spectrum of "Life on a String"s widely disparate forays into various styles hides an underlying virtuousity not often found in what, for lack of a better term, is called popular music. Anderson is not content to allow the soundscapes of electronic instrumentation dominate her voice--instead she curries and combs electronic sounds into a rich congruence with "man-made" sounds such as the violins, string bass and vocals she also employs. The outcome of this is a very "live" sounding studio album that is often a little too subtle for the likes of Hoobastank smokeheads and Matchbox 20 addicts.

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