Casting our eyes back across 2004 in the poetry world, we’ve chosen the best poetry & spoken word recordings, the ones you’ll want to remember from the past year.
1. Wichita Vortex Sutra, by Allen Ginsberg
(Artemis Records, 2004) In the Battle of Stupidity Regarding the Iraqi War, Witchita Vortex Sutra is a salve. Miracle maker Hal Willner and his angel Danny Goldberg produced Allen reading this epic mome of orality in 1994. It’s a rambling nightmare of US plains transplanted to Viet Nam in February, 1966, originally composed on the tongue into a portable reel-to-reel. Willner commissioned a gang of downtown music all-stars to compose for their favorite sections of the poem. Ah!
2. Dear Heather, by Leonard Cohen
(Columbia Records, 2004) Leonard Cohen stays the course: avant garde poet at 70, his Dear Heather, while not yet replacing his incredible Ten New Songs on my playlist, is sly, smooth and smart, the title cut pure genius, light and sad, full of dark desire, rain. Cohen is popular, and will at some point be recognized like Bob Dylan as a poet, troubadour, keeper of the word. Get lost, get Leonard, get Heather.
3. The emily xyz songbook: poems for 2 voices
(Rattapallax Press, 2004) So, ya wanna know what a perf-poem might look like if it, say, came up and bitcha? You talking: the emily xyz songbook, which is a CD with a book attached -- Ms. Emily’s first (and billed also as her “only,” as if she might forsake print, which, of course she has and does). Bravura poetry in a bravura production, with speed-veined hard’n’tight drum’n’bass electronica by Virgil Moorefield. This is the BOOK (CD) OF THE YEAR!4. reVerse, Volume 1
(reVerse, 2004) From Chicago, KC Clarke brings a labor of love CD, reVerse1, which begins with a haunting poem by Li-Young Lee with a female vocalist and ambient score and concludes with a straight, tough a capella Lou Reed doing a chunk of his “The Raven.” In between, there’s straight poetry, gospel poetry, folk poetry, and Mark Strand. Cin Salach is here, and we need lots more of her!5. Let the Buyer Beware, box set by Lenny Bruce
(Shout! Factory, 2004) The new 6-CD box set of Lenny Bruce was produced by our old pal Hal Willner, who spent years on this beauty. It shows. The cuts range from familiar classic (“To Is a Preposition / Come Is a Verb”) to bootlegged tapes from the Ed Sanders Archive to astonishing work tapes that the obsessive Bruce recorded on four individual tracks of “budget” Shamrock Reel-to-Reel tape. Ladies and Gentlemen, Lenny Bruce is alive and well, finally –- you’d better bring your toothbrush.6. Zaharregia, txikiegia agian, by Kirmen Uribe
(Paper Hotsak, 2003) This (the title translates “Too Old, Too Small, Maybe”) is a book in a CD package of the poetry of Kirmen Uribe, who in his early 30s is already thought of by many as the Basque National Poet (well, if Basque were a nation). With a brilliant 4-piece band and accompanied by readings by Kirman and the marvelous translations of Elizabeth Macklin, this poetry CD is listenable, danceable, and after you’ve read Kirman’s simple, devastating poems, unforgettable.7. Egypt, by Youssou N’Dour
(Nonesuch Records, 2004) West Africa’s premier griot explores the Egyptian-Jali connect in this CD, which embodies his Muslim faith. Youssou is known for mixing traditional Senegalese m’balax music with international influences from hip hop to jazz, samba to soul music.8. The Street Was Always There, by Eric Andersen
(Appleseed Records, 2004) A new collection of tunes by Eric, Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan, Tim Hardin -– evocative and powerful, full-throttle Greenwich Village, culminating with Ochs himself speaking straight from and to the heart. Also a must-have is last year’s Beat Avenue (Appleseed) -– a 25-minute epic talking poem by Andersen.9. Mbulism, by Mzwakhe Mbuli
(CDCCP Records/EMI, 2004) You hear Mzwakhe Mbuli and you hear South Africa’s Linton Kwesi Johnson: basso profundo, poetry profound. His new album Mbulism is uplifting, God-filled, and poetry full. Also on our list is Mbuli’s Greatest Hits, Born Free But Always in Chains.10. Thirsting for Peace, by Ed Sanders
(Olufsen Records, 2004) His new CD just out is vintage Ed, which is to say, Ed at the Moment. Recorded in his studio barn in Woodstock, using his hand-cranked Microlyre, his own creation, a 32 note-to-the-octave electronic instrument. Back to “The Wild Women of East Tenth Street,” forth to his cantata, “Thirsting for Peace in a Raging Century,” he pays homage to Corso (“Final Section of Bomb”) and Ginsberg (the extraordinary “Song for Allen”). Ed’s angelic warbling has never been purer.YOUR Poetry Picks for 2004
What are the poetry recordings that have enchanted your ears in the past year? Tell us about your favorites!
