Many artists use repetitive speech patterns as sonic material for their work. In researching these techniques, I feel as though it is important to explore works that are both relevant technically and conceptually. Considering the emotional aspect of my work, researching the looping speech patterns of I’m sitting in a room by Alvin Lucier doesn’t feel relevant, as to me it is a work that focuses on sonic experimentation with rhythm and resonance; its meaning is set in the sonic rather than the affective. It’s gonna rain by Steve Reich also doesn’t feel relevant to me, whilst this piece of music experiments with rhythmic tape looping and is a piece of emotional music, with it being arranged as a response to the fear of nuclear warfare stemming from the Cuban Missile Crisis, it feels as though it comes from a collective shared fear rather than a personal one.
Life Without Buildings is an indie rock band; their music is a cascade of repeated phrases concerning interpersonal relationships, backed by warm, mathy indie rock. The repetition of speech by Sue Tompkins conjures meaning from the smallest phrases. In PS Exclusive, Tompkins repeats “The right stuff” 44 times with slight changes of inflexion; the choppy repetitions of a common phrase affirm that Tompkins feels that the person she is in love with has a special quality that can only be described through a constant repetition of a typical linguistic device.
In The Leanover, Tompkins begins by repeating the phrase “If I lose you”, developing gradually into “If I lose you in the street at night”, Tompkins is so afraid of losing her lover that this phrase goes unresolved; she doesn’t know what she would do if she lost them and she resonates this through its repetition in the song. There is also a vagueness; the situation of how she might come to lose her lover is ambiguous, helping to keep her personal life a mystery whilst still expressing feelings in a pastiche of language.
The lyrical stylings of Life Without Buildings are relevant to my current project as they bind repetition with emotion and meaning in a context where love stories are the subject matter. Tompkins repeats her phrases as a way to affirm their meaning and leave lasting impressions on an audience. The idea that something can be repeated over a period of time to emphasise meaning is particularly relevant to my practice, as I am aiming to create a tape loop that continually plays what I assume is the final letter in a series of love letters. Looping the short phrase, “Good luck, Rose, love Jeff,” will emphasise the meaning behind the words and hopefully allow an audience to better connect to the secret.