I had these bootleg cassettes of Jello Biafra's spoken-word stuff from the 90's. I listened to them over and over. He talks about ending up on Oprah with Snoop Dog and Tipper Gore and the whole kerfuffle over music lyrics.
Damon Krukowski in "Ways of Hearing" talks about the sound of NYC as something he grew up hearing as a bg drone from his high apartment, contrasted with the immersive din at street level - and says he was surprised to meet Cage in his 1st floor W. Village apartment once, who had music work spread out on the table, and was happily working away with all the windows open. When asked Cage said "oh why would I shut the windows, there's so much to listen to!"
I had these bootleg cassettes of Jello Biafra's spoken-word stuff from the 90's. I listened to them over and over. He talks about ending up on Oprah with Snoop Dog and Tipper Gore and the whole kerfuffle over music lyrics.
Ha! Makes sense, Jello does have a singular, captivating vocal quality.
He is a righteous dude. And so funny. I bet if I listened to those spoken-word albums now they would feel largely fresh and relevant!
I listened to Hugo Savio’s speech—impressive. And your piece made me think of John Cages’s 4.33. So much to unpack! Thanks for sharing!
Oh totally: Cage is definitely in this mix!
Damon Krukowski in "Ways of Hearing" talks about the sound of NYC as something he grew up hearing as a bg drone from his high apartment, contrasted with the immersive din at street level - and says he was surprised to meet Cage in his 1st floor W. Village apartment once, who had music work spread out on the table, and was happily working away with all the windows open. When asked Cage said "oh why would I shut the windows, there's so much to listen to!"
That’s amazing, never heard that story. Sounds like I need to read that book.