The Laurie Anderson Project

So classes started this week! I am currently enrolled in only two classes because I am currently an out-of-state resident. In other words, my tuition costs are about twice as expensive as living in-state. The irony is, if I originally lived in Illinois and decided to do to a Wisconsin school, I would receive in-state tuition from Wisconsin! Thanks for returning the favor, Illinois!

In any case, my 412 class is going to be based on individual presentations about electronic music from different eras, starting post-civil war. Once we each were assigned an era, it was our duty to research a particular composer and song that can be a jumping-off point for describing that point in time. My era will cover the 70's and 80's, and I have chosen Avant-garde composer and performer, Laurie Anderson.I was first introduced to her music in a class back at Oshkosh and discovered that she had done work with Phillip Glass during the 80's. Her music, especially on the album above, titled "Big Science" incorporates electronic elements including synthesizers, looping, and a vocoder. Shockingly enough, her most well-known piece, titled "O Superman" was actually a hit in Eurpoe for a while.

So I'm keeping myself busy with research while I settle in to classes and work on some other housekeeping, such as becoming a true Illinois resident. I'm working at Steve & Barry's the rest of the week (I'll have to talk about them soon) and looking forward to a visit from my family on Sunday when we will watch the big upcoming Packer/Giants game at the apartment.