Tones. Sounds. Machines. Beats. Syncopation. Beautiful nonsense.
Thus describes the sublime mix made for me by my friend Snitchey. Every song is amazing and yet no song quite follows the rules of songs i.e. narrative arc, familiar seeming melody, overt emotion. (NOTE: I know these are not real rules.) And yet the mix is powerful, emotional, and kind of addictive. Here is a list of the songs on Snitchey’s mix:
Laurie Anderson Let X=X / It Tango
No Kids At The Grove
Goblin Suspiria
Sleigh Bells Tell Em
Berlioz March of the Pilgrims
Glasser Home
Ratatat Lex
The Roches Hammond Song
Zola Jesus Sea Talk
Otouto W. Hiller
When I was in college studying theater I became really interested in the New York avante garde theater movement of the 1970’s and 80’s- Elizabeth LeCompte and the Wooster Group, Joanne Akailitis and Mabou Mines, Richard Foreman and the Ontologyical-Hysteric Theater. These dudes redefined the relationship between performer and audience; they pushed the viewer from passive to active participant- intentionally creating a sense of unease or disequilibrium. Often in my studies I came across references to musicians who were experiencing a parallel (and often collaborative) movement in music- Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, etc. I feel dumb for not looking deeper into those guys during my college times (or after for that matter) because it seems like their music is such a natural companion to my interest in experimental theater BUT I was way too busy listening to Built to Spill at the time to be interested in much else.
FLASH FORWARD TEN YEARS and here comes Snitchey, making the natural connection for me!! Thank you Snitchey!! As soon as the Laurie Anderson song began to play my thought was this: “YES.” That song (and the ones that follow) are challenging and intriguing- they don’t let you think about other things while you’re listening. In Let x=x the lyrics are half-spoken and stream of consciousness- dreamlike. The percussion and instrumentation are rigid and sort of swelling at the same time. It’s mostly electronic and though it was recorded in the 1980’s it doesn’t sound dated at all. In fact it sounds like it’s from the future.
Did I mention the Roches? I really like the Roches!
Snitchey responded to my exclamatory email thusly:
Kathy introduced me to them years ago. They are really good.
I like them because they have all these gorgeous songs, like the one I sent you, but then they also have crazy acapella covers of classical songs, like the Hallelujah chorus from the Messiah, and then they also do these very sincere, pretty terrible “christmas albums,” and then they ALSO have lots of truly dorky songs about being sisters, or this one about how everyone at the laundromat hates Suzzy Roche.
And so in closing, Thank You Snitchey for this amazing playlist- I like it so much. I could have written about every song but the awkwardness of my language when describing music is only charming for so long, let’s be honest.
Music is Beautiful!