He has a distinctive soft voice and an often noisy, self-taught guitar style comprised almost entirely of extended techniques, described by Brian Olewnick "studiedly naïve ... sounding like the bastard child of Derek Bailey"; his guitar work is contrasted frequently with gentler, sensuous Brazilian music themes.
According to his website:
Arto Lindsay has made a lifelong habit of crossing both geographical and musical borders. Born in the United States and raised in Brazil during the heyday of that country's pointedly eclectic Tropicalia movement of the 1960s, the multi-faceted songwriter/producer/vocalist/guitarist has forged an international reputation as an artist whose work is as seductive as it is challenging. From his late ‘70s recordings of abrasive “no wave” through his acclaimed series of solo albums beginning in the late ‘90s, Lindsay has bonded rhythms and melodies from diverse cultures and genres in provocative new ways, crafting inimitable soundscapes whose impact can range from fragile pop pleasure to sheer sonic assault.
It was the 1978 four-band sampler No New York (produced by Brian Eno) which brought an early taste of international (albeit underground) notoriety to Lindsay's first band, DNA. Critic Lester Bangs admiringly described the trio's screamed vocals and deliberately primitive, speaker-shredding guitar as “horrible noise.” Lindsay and his bandmates frequently inserted Portuguese phrases in their lyrics and even tried to appropriate Brazilian drumming techniques, “but nobody could really tell,” he now recalls. While the group only lasted a brief time, its influence can still be heard in the work of countless noise rock experimentalists ever since.
Lindsay remained a key figure in the downtown Manhattan scene throughout the 1980s, playing with early versions of the Lounge Lizards and the Golden Palominos, producing tracks for Laurie Anderson and David Byrne, collaborating with John Zorn, contributing lyric translations to compilations of Brazilian music on Byrne's label Luaka Bop, even popping up in the films Desperately Seeking Susan and Candy Mountain. With keyboardist Peter Scherer he founded the Ambitious Lovers, recording three albums (Envy, Greed, and Lust) which incorporated elements of Brazilian, experimental, funk, rhythm and blues, and soul styles.
The 1990s launched an ongoing series of solo releases — Subtle Body, Mundo Civilizado, Noon Chill and Prize. Lindsay's new album, Invoke, continues to explore samba, bossa nova and more recent Brazilian song structures on his own terms. Each of these albums has been followed by a disc of remixes by a diverse group of electronic music artists from around the world, making explicit the connections between Lindsay's aesthetic and such genres as drum and bass, illbient and underground hip-hop.
Lindsay's critical reputation brought him back to Brazil to work as a producer on recordings by Caetano Veloso, Vinicius Cantuaria, Gal Costa, and Carlinhos Brown, among others. A 1999 New York Times article on the legacy of the Tropicalia movement hailed Lindsay's contributions to “the finest Brazilian pop albums of the past dozen years,” and he earned a Latin Grammy for “Best Brazilian Contemporary Pop Album” for his production work on the platinum-selling Marisa Monte album, Memórias, Crônicas e Declarações de Amor. Lindsay's longstanding association with Monte subsequently led to his producing the music for her recent live DVD.
On yet another front, Lindsay has long been active in the field of sound art as both a curator and as an installation artist in his own right. Frequently working with sound designer/artist Ben Rubin, Arto has curated music and audio art for Brazil's Carlton Arts Festival, London's Barbican Centre and the nightclub Tonic in downtown New York. In the process, he has become one of the first musicians to use Dolby Digital 5.1 surround-sound in a live concert format. Lindsay's past collaborators include German theater director Heiner Muller, Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto (坂本龍一), American multidisciplinary artist Vito Acconci and British producer/conceptualist Brian Eno, and he has recently been commissioned by choreographer Richard Move, a mainstay of New York's legendary Jackie 60 nightclub, to compose music for a full-evening dance/theater piece for Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Company.
Anything
Arto Lindsay Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Far fetched if at all
Now we're harnessed to these aquatic thrills
That's why I live in the sand
I know all about anything at all
I know all about anything at all
Only seeming to recoil from the confessional
Look at it while you're doing it
It's a short fall, a free for all
I know all about anything at all
I know all about anything at all
Anything at all, anything at all
Anything at all, anything at all
The lyrics to Arto Lindsay's song "Anything" seem to be preoccupied with the idea of perception and communication. The first verse, "You're kind of far, far fetched if at all / Now we're harnessed to these aquatic thrills / That's why I live in the sand," appears to question the reliability of human connection. The singer suggests that people are distant or difficult to understand, so they retreat to the solitude and simplicity of nature.
The second verse, "Confusing wavelength with phrase length / Only seeming to recoil from the confessional / Look at it while you're doing it / It's a short fall, a free for all," further explores this theme of miscommunication. The singer notes that people often mistake how something is said for what is actually meant, and that many individuals shy away from expressing themselves honestly. The line "It's a short fall, a free for all" perhaps implies that being honest and vulnerable can be liberating.
Overall, the song seems to be grappling with the complexities of human interaction, and the inherent tension between wanting to connect with others and feeling disillusioned by the difficulty of doing so.
Line by Line Meaning
You're kind of far
You are distant
Far fetched if at all
Maybe you're not even real or within reach
Now we're harnessed to these aquatic thrills
We are trapped by water-related excitements
That's why I live in the sand
I prefer a grounded and safe environment
I know all about anything at all
I have knowledge about everything, regardless of importance
Confusing wavelength with phrase length
Mistaking the duration for the actual meaning
Only seeming to recoil from the confessional
Appearing to shy away from disclosing truths
Look at it while you're doing it
Observe it while you are carrying out the act
It's a short fall, a free for all
It is not a difficult thing to do; it's easy and thoughtless
Anything at all, anything at all
Anything you can think of; without limits or constraints
Anything at all, anything at all
Anything you can imagine
Writer(s): Sussan Deyhim Copyright: De Construct Music
Contributed by Camden J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.