Judy Dunaway, balloons; Yasunao Tone, pre-recorded sound; Dan Evans-Farkas, electronics
As an experimental guitarist in the late 1980s, I pressed balloons against the strings of my guitar and rubbed them over the pick-up to get interesting sounds, an idea I borrowed from Eugene Chadbourne. In 1990, the New York performance space Roulette invited me to do an evening of my compositions and improvisations. I wanted to create new pieces that didn’t use standard instruments, so I decided to work with balloons. Balloons were a significant tool of artistic expression for me at that time because of the association between latex and AIDS prevention. I lost many friends to AIDS and saw latex as a material that allowed both sexual freedom and survival.
After eight years of making music with them, I sometimes think that balloons may be magic. They are made of natural latex, which was first discovered and used for waterproofing shoes and bottles by the Mayans in the Central American rainforests. Latex comes from the Hevea brasiliensis plant and it serves as a protective agent, seeping out of and sealing over wounds in the tree's bark; in the same way, it has been used for modern hygienic uses to protect humans from disease. Balloons also relate to our own childhood, a time of fantasy and imagination. And balloons hold air, quite often our own breath. Is it so strange that I seem to have fallen under their spell?
This title, originally issued on the CRI label, is now available as a burn-on-demand CD (CD-R) or download in MP3/320, FLAC or WAV formats. CD-Rs come in a protective sleeve; no print booklet or jewel case included. Liner notes are accessible via the link above.
Judy Dunaway: Balloon Music
MP3/320 | $9.99 | |
FLAC | $9.99 | |
WAV | $9.99 | |
CD-R | $9.99 |
A *.pdf of the notes may be accessed here free of charge.
Track Listing
Piece for Solo Tenor Balloon
Judy Dunaway
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Bluebird
Judy Dunaway, Yasunao Tone
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Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime (for Dean Martin)
Judy Dunaway
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Champagne in Mexico City: Fragment Set No. 1
Dan Evans Farkas, Judy Dunaway
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Blown Uncut
Judy Dunaway
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Rubber Patchwork Quilt
Judy Dunaway
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Champagne in Mexico City: Fragment Set No. 2
Dan Evans Farkas, Judy Dunaway
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Balloon Pop
Judy Dunaway, Mark Howell
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