Listening Assignment

Laurie Anderson, " O Superman":

This song was just completely weird to be honest. It was a different kind of weird though, like a cool weird, but overall I enjoyed the eccentric melodies. I felt like the song was a story but also focused on talking about weird and obscure things to spice up the melodies. The only thing that felt consistent throughout the whole piece was the “Hahahahahaha” stuff that kept playing in the background over and over again, it felt sort of like a weird hearbeat… it was a very intelligent use of sound repetition to add to the piece.

Midori Takada, " Through the Looking Glass": 

This felt super enchanting, like an ancient Asian melody passed on through generations and generations. I was really blown away by the use of various instruments to create a nature like effect with auditory pieces only and no visual representation other than what the sound created. The sound also had like a Native American Indian tribal type of vibe to it, which I was really digging. The flute sounds and wind instruments as well as the little chime, that shit was very dope and relaxing, it really put me in an upper echelon type of atmosphere just listening to all these sounds.

Robert Ashley, "Perfect Lives":

This just felt like a guy talking on a microphone, to an audience, on stage, over a piano. The feeling was clear that it was a story being told to an audience but at the same time the story felt very hard to follow and obscure. I enjoyed the feeling of the music and all I wanted to do was simply listen to the man speak forever and ever about whatever he spoke of just because of how engaging the melody and story was.

Conlon Nancarrow, "Study For Player Piano No. 37":

This was a super annoying piano piece that picked up in pace and annoyance as you kept listening to the song. I didn’t really enjoy this piece to be honest, like maybe that’s cool or difficult to do to pick up the pace of a piano that fast and speedy, but it was still kind of irritating to listen to. Despite my dislike of it, I felt it was a clever piece that others could enjoy, and I guess after a while of listening to it, it felt artistic in that the sounds build so fast that by the end they merge almost into a single sound.