LINDA SMITH – Workshop Meditation CS

Workshop Meditation has little in common with the stripped down, lo-fi cry fans have come to expect from twee songstress Linda Smith. It’s probably more in line with a walk down the abandoned pier in Heck Harvey’s Carnival of Souls, but Smith working in a loose, meditiative, almost free-associative idiom makes it clear that her participation in the international tape trading circuit of the 80’s and 90’s was not just a case of the right place at the right time.
‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ As redolent of the contemporaneous micro-edition recordings of Roberta Eklund or Mauve Sideshow as it is the post-Kosmische stylings of Martin Rev’s 1980 solo debut, Smith hits a stride here both charmingly familiar and lost in another world entirely. Synths wheeze, budget drum machines rattle, self help tapes loop ad infinitum…somewhere on the planet tectonic plates shift. These pieces create a strange dreamworld in and of themselves, expansive miniatures not unlike the theater works they were prepared for.
‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ It’s a playfully transcendent ride, and one that’s still infused with what makes Smith’s music so unique. Initially scored for performances concerning speculative reproductive experiments and amnesia staged by fellow Baltimore conspirator Laure Drogul, Workshop Meditation sees Smith far from serving simply as an atmospheric backdrop. These pieces were recorded between 1990-1997 and re-edited specifically for this release to a degree not specified, though broad editorial brush strokes inflect her new direction the last two decades. Bedroom pop eclecticist turned painter breathing new life into archival material was just what the doctor ordered. “It is recommended that you listen to this tape at least once a day, for 30 days.”

SH05, C36 June 2022
Edition of 100

Music written and performed by
Linda Smith for theater and
installation works by Laure Drogoul
1990 – 1997