Track List and Audio
1. Jud Fine –
In approximately 750 A.D., an anonymous Gilbert Islander on a simple passage from his home island - Aranuka - to the nearest island of Kuria, was blown completely off course. In the ensuing four weeks the navigator, for the first time, successfully reached the unknown (to the Gilberts) island of Truk - a distance of 1300 miles across open sea against trade winds.
As a by product of advanced historical measurement it was later deduced that the structure of the Gilbert Islander's logic pattern in navigating from Aranuka to Truk, exactly duplicated that of the structural (navigational) projection of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City.
2. Eleanor Antin – Antinova Remembers
"An excerpt from a radio interview with Eleanora Antinova reminiscing about her life as a dancer with the Diaghilev Ballets-Russes. She was recorded in her home in Southern California where she lives surrounded by photographs, sketches, designs for sets and costumes - "souvenirs to help keep the old life alive." Because of the resurgent interest in the history of early 20th century art, there is a strong demand for Antinova to make personal appearances around the country. This surprises her. "When I hung up my shoes so long ago, I never thought to travel again, except perhaps to funerals. More and more funerals." She laughs. "And here I am, a youngster once more." In this excerpt from the longer interview, she talks about touring with the impoverished, passionate, yet determinedly cheerful Russian dancers.
Piano: Marcia Goodman"
3. Terry Fox – Internal Sound
"Excerpt from 'Internal Sound,' an 18 hour (3 days) performance in the ex-church of Santa Lucia, Bologna, Italy, October 1979.
Two 100 meter (300 feet) piano wires were stretched the length of the church. They were fastened to the large wooden door of the church at one end, and to a wooden covering over the encrypt at the other. The crypt covering and the door became the resonators for the sound of the wire, which was rosined and played with the fingers to create a continuous but constantly changing drone. The sound of the excerpt is created by plucking one of the 300 foot wires with the fingernail near the cover of the crypt. The sound is entirely acoustic with no electronic manipulation or amplification."
4. Margaret Harrison – First Lines
"The work called 'First Lines' consists of first lines from a selection of published works by women writers."
5. Les Levine – Would Not Say No To Some Help
"Dear Son, it ain't often I write you
but I have a big problem to solve
next month I'll be sixty-eight years old
so I would not say no to some help.
I'm up at seven in the morning
and I'm on the go till six
I'm getting tired of working
so I would not say no to some help.
Inflation, money and taxes
are getting worse all the time
there's never been savings to retire on, Son
so I would not say no to some help.
(chorus)
So I would not say no to some help
No, I would not say no to some help
I would not say no to some help, no Son,
I would not say no to some help.
You kids have gone and left home
and now we are left all alone
your mom's still working to pay off the house
so I would not say no to some help.
Chorus
They system has failed us and left us
left us afraid in old age
so please, Son, stop your drinking
and get on that train and come home.
Chorus
Lyrics by Les Levine
Music by Michael Galasso
Sung by Les Levine
Keyboards: Jeff Gordon
Bass & Guitars: Tom Wolk
Violin: Michael Galasso
Drums: Bob Riley
Background Vocals: Gordon & Galasso
6. Hannah Wilke – Stand Up
"Stand up for what you want to do
stand up there's no one telling you
how to stand up, stand up, how to stand up.
Stand up when people put you down
stand up and dance above the ground
you've got to stand up, stand up,
you've got to stand up.
Disposable products, society
consumer reports, life's absurdity
exposing the truth is like nudity
so stand up, why don't you stand up
Stand up and be your own cliche
stand up, there's no one to betray
when you stand up, stand up,
when you stand up.
Stand up because you don't belong
stand up, if they're too right, they're wrong
you've got to stand up, stand up,
you've got to stand up.
Foreign affairs, force of gravity
athletic, electric, conformity
exposing the truth is like nudity
so stand up, darling, stand up
Stand up for women to decide
stand up, their bodies you're inside
you've got to stand up, stand up,
you've got to stand up.
Futures and issues, security
no sublet clause on humanity
exposing the truth is like nudity
so stand up, you've got to stand up.
Lyrics and vocal by Hannah Wilke
Music by Jeff Gordon
Drums: Jim Brelauer
Bass: Seth Glassman
Keyboards, Guitar, Synthesizers: Jeff Gordon
Engineer and Mixist: Roddy Hui
7. Douglas Davis – How to Make Love to a Sound
8. Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid – Russian Language Lesson
9. Helen Mayer Harrison/Newton Harrison – Extract from the Second Lagoon: A Memoriam to John Isaacs
10. Vincenzo Agnetti – Pieces of Sound
11. Chris Burden –
12. Piotr Kowalski & William Burroughs – You Only Call the Old Doctor Once
"'You Only Call The Doctor Once' of William Burroughs is called twice for this record: once through his own reading and once again through the Time Machine II.
Kowalski, Paris 2/14/82"
13. Ida Applebroog – Really, Is that a Fact?
"It's a 'slice of life': at a party, we overhear banal one-liners -- the codes and communications of our culture with its dedication to cliches -- intermingled with noise and music. This work is about public appearance; how we appear in public, as opposed to the private reality that lies beneath. By the time you arrive on the scene, the story is over; the listener is implicated in his or her own inner dialogue."
14. Edwin Schlossberg – Vibrations/Metaphors
15. SITE – Comments on SITE
16. R. Buckminster Fuller – Critical Path
17. Thomas Shannon – Smashing Beauty
18. Conrad Atkinson – The Louis XIV Deterrent
19. David Smyth – Typewriter in D
20. Todd Siler – Think Twice
21. Joseph Beuys – Excerpt from Cooper Union Dialogue