Ashley, in these three pieces which he describes as "satellite songs" to the main body of his opera, "Atalanta (Acts of God)", is concerned with the ancient tradition of the oral saga, a story long enough in the telling to require musical accompaniment in order to provide the narrator with landmarks. Along with Jacqueline Humbert, Ashley spins these yarns, highly arch and amusing ones, atop electronic music by himself and Tom Hamilton.
"The Etchings" takes as its source a couple of pages from Max Ernst's experimental and erotically charged "collage novel", "Une Semaine de Bonté by Max Ernst". He and Humbert alternate dreamy lines of dialogue, commenting on day-today activities but shifting subject matter easily, though keeping a concentration on the sensual, including the seduction of a female police officer by a stopped driver. The music, here and on the other works, almost always uses a slow but steady rhythm, a crucial component given the oneiric manner in which most of the text is spoken/sung. One easily hears the major source of early Laurie Anderson, including the raising of banal conversation and melodramatically passé dialog into a surreal, Lynchian form. "Empire", the other piece on Disc 1, is somewhat more somber in tone (though not lacking in the surreal) dealing as it does with the introduction of tomato soup as a Depression-era foodstuff and the corporations (Campbell's, Heinz, etc.) doing battle over this new market. It also touches with sensitivity on the "extra man", a period concept since forgotten, the unemployed individual who would leave the home where we could no longer be afforded, journeying to find what work he could on the road. Ashley's wry take on the ketchup and tomato wars does provide several bitter chuckles along the way. Both of these pieces are utterly enthralling; it truly is like listening to a master story-teller.
The second disc, "Au Pair", is a lengthy suite of ten hilarious vignettes culled from the lives of that class for which the au pair is a stylish accessory. Humbert takes the lead, narrating the events, while Ashley assumes the role of Greek chorus, commenting, often uproariously, on the goings-on. Humbert has that ironically delightful tone reminiscent of comedienne Rita Rudner, a blitheness that's intelligent and discerning while having absolutely no clue about the world beyond her upper-class concerns, designer names and latest quasi-spiritual trends. (The pieces were written in the 80s and there's something of a "Bonfire of the Vanities" aura in the air). The au pairs tend to introduce uncomfortable dose of reality into the mix however, Humbert (who wrote much of the libretto) pulling no punches as they, with sly grins, range from irresponsibility to child pornography. It's a wonderful set, each story resting on a billowing bed of electronic keyboards, merrily coursing along, gaily supporting each story no matter how perverse, sexually or economically.
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