Track Listing

1. Sharkey's Day
2. Langue D'armour
3. Gravity's Angel
4. Blue Lagoon
5. Excellent Birds
6. Sharkey's Night

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21856 in Music
• Released on: 1999-10-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

CD Description
A textured and kaleidoscopic bag of surprises by this supremely innovative musician and performance artist, Mister Heartbreak is a distinctively appealing release. Employing her Synclavier and the help of guest musicians (who include, among others, Peter Gabriel, William Burroughs, Adrian Belew, Phoebe Snow and Nile Rogers), Anderson's songs project thrilling, exotic environments through which sonic effects and fragments of poetic narrative float like ghosts.
At once uber-technological and organic (one envisions a cyborg wanderingthrough a rainforest), Anderson's work reinvents biblical mythology (the slippery retelling of Adam and Eve in "Langue d'Amour"), gumshoe noir ("Sharkey's Night") and strive toward, in her synthesis of tribal percussion, bird calls and natural sounds, a reinterpretation of indigenous music. At times these tracks seem less like songs than "texts" meant to beread by the ear: evocative, varied and ambiguous. But they are beautiful music as well, and as such draw the listener into this richly imagined, artfully constructed album.

Customer Reviews

A treat for the ears that calls you back time and again
If you only know Laurie Anderson for that annoying "O Superman" chant, give the girl a second chance! From the opening of Sharkey's Day through to the closing of Sharkey's Night, featuring avant garde author William Burroughs narration, this is an album which thrills the senses with imaginative lyrics and sounds, and grows on you with every listening whilst also being quite accessible. What's more, as a showcase for the abilites of the Fairlight Comupter Musical Instrument for creating entirely new sounds, this ranks alongside Peter Gabriel's eponymous fourth album as a real aural treat. And Peter duets with Laurie on the "Excellent Birds". Excellent indeed!

heartbreakingly excellent
She's made a lot of boring records. She's a performance artist. And she's Lou Reed's other half. But those cardinal sins aside, 'Mister Heartbreak' is blindingly brilliant.

Avant garde musicians forget the basic rule that it helps to have great tunes. But Anderson delivers in spades on 'MH', spicing hummable melodies with audacious arrangements and endlessly adventurous instrumentation.

'Mister Heartbreak' effortlessly transcends the confines of 80's production values to create something quirkily enduring and totally loveable. Why can't other 'serious' artists write good tunes?

Extremely unique music !
I first heard the album years ago, and the music still haunts me. Laurie Anderson creates a unique atmosphere -- her voice, whether she is narrating or singing, is equally melodious. You get the urge to sing along, but the intricacies of Laurie Anderson's voice are hard to follow... Enjoy!