Laurie Anderson- Homeland (2010)

http://www.mediafire.com/?o81psbwqdxsozvd

As an artist and a violinist, I am unabashedly infatuated with Laurie Anderson. And if you are reading this, I don't need to talk about how awesome she is.

"Homeland" is interesting in that it is a document of a performance that she performed on tour for awhile. I love that idea--the "tour" first with the album later. And Homeland is also interesting because it's just weirdly dark, but also really accessible. It's clearly about the entire 9/11 paranoia.

Musically, it has songs that could allllmost end up on the radio, though most of it is pretty atmospheric. At times it feels like an "Americana" soundtrack, with lots of lonesome fiddles playing together and against each other. And the awesome voicebox is back, which makes at least one song in particular feel wonderfully creepy.

"In America, we like solutions. We like solutions to problems. Companies with experts ready to solve these problems. Only an expert can solve these problems."


Can you comprehend that she's married to Lou Reed? That still seems so strange to me. Also kind of funny that Art21 just featured her. Hey Laurie, thanks for being an amazing artist for 30 years. It's cool if we throw you a bone now, right?

Leif Fairfield- The Infamous Sun Drips Extended Play Disc Written by The Sleeping Sea (2011)

http://www.mediafire.com/?bj1716o1mh71jow

Cincinnati-based Leif Fairfield plays as a member of the band The Sleeping Sea. When he joined, he was given an EP of songs that were to be recorded "in the future," but being impatient, he created his own versions of these songs before the whole band could do it.

Sun Drips EP sounds like a cross between his solo recordings and his alias I Do. The disc features the usual violin and layers of voice, but with plenty of internet found sound, dub music leanings, and video game references. In true Fairfield fashion, it goes from ridiculous to pretty in a matter of minutes, and his covers range from respectful to complete re-interpretations (including his "cover" of "Rain Drips" that posits David Bowie-like vocals over the opening theme for the Nintendo game The Adventure of Link). It flows together as a single disc, and songs have multiple versions.

Check out the band photo!

Also a graphic designer, he created the album artwork. Yay!