E.J. critiques the new CD

While to poet sleeps in, I'm going over the tracks, again, from NEMICORN, and giving new impressions, bases on my re-listening, new angles, and the opinions of several writer and musician friends I have spoken with.

1. Damascus 3: Interesting, and a good intro. It's a little word-centric, but it is a good reading of a solid work.

2. The Nosferatu's Quandry: When I close my eyes I can see the lights in a dance club. I can imagine this making it mainstream. He smooth tones, sliding occasionally into that signature growl, are perfect. You can tell he has been listening to Prince forever (he lists his four fave musicians as Sting, Prince, David Bowie and Ani DiFranco).

3. Right Set of Lips: The opening guitar reminds me of Clapton's "Change the World", there's a curious accent to his voice here. Even he noticed it, but he has no explanation for it. I sense a master's thesis in analyzing it.

4. Falling and Fallen Angels: Yeow! The Poet-Rockstar makes his arrival. A piece of his, too new for this CD, code-named "Brutality" picks up, musically, where this one left off, he is exploring every nook and cranny, God bless him. There's a goth sensibility here, in his voice and the lyrics, but the music is more upbeat...he's playing with the conflict (as he does in his works). The vocal shift on "bricks us up..." is a little melodramatic for some.

5. Brisant Revelations: It may not make it on "Top 40" radio. But, who cares? The band comes together perfectly in this piece. The tribal drums, the howling guitars, the strange, chirping delivery by a poet who has obviously dropped his inhibitions. I'd accuse him of being drunk when he recorded it, if I thought he ever drank. That he does this clean is all the more miraculous. I had to look up "glatisant". And "brisant". And "rhodium".

6. Joining the Machine: Haunting, daunting and taunting, one friend said. I always feel like its going to give me nightmares.

7. Texture of Your Tongue: A little too beatnik-cafe for me. But, as the lone truly erotic piece on this album, give it a listen. You may find it strangely compelling and inspirational.

8. The Faerie (Strange but Beautiful): Another competitor for major attention in the mainstream. I get chills. I heard a female friend gasp as she listened to this. It is excruciating, unremittingly romantic. I think he should consider this as a title for a future book. I understand the young woman he wrote this about turned out to be a real jerk. Such is life.

9. Theocricide: Who let Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass plus the Tower of Power horn section in here? Then the acoustic, stand-up bass? I really need to check his jasmine tea for mescaline. It's great, just...odd. An intensely moving musing. I hope Psyche hears it.

10. Thunder Out of Valhalla (We Owe Debt to Memory): Again with the drums and the guitars. One friend of mine "acid danced" to this piece. She worked up quite a sweat, so did I just watching her. Maybe that's his idea. I wish he had more faith in his voice, so the switches between the instruments and his voice at front and center were not so jarring. Listen when he says "declared to cure disease" and tell me that wasn't on the verge of a singing voice.

11. Pink Jade - Soft as Dawn: Entirely apropos, as I understand that "Pink Jade" was Latina, that this work has a Latin flavour to it. The poem has always been a difficult one for readings, as it is often misinterpreted by audiences. The music helps punctuate it better.

12. Love Gods (Multivox): Experimental, but genius is not in doing the same thing, it is in the experiments. As an interpretive piece, I love the milieu, the tapestry of voices. The cithara sounds of the lone guitar tie it together without compromising it.

13. Thetis: As a poem, great. As a reading, dazzling. But I don't think it belongs on this CD. Of course, owing to the background special effects, it doesn't belong on THE NAKED READS, either.

14. Wild and Defiled, Along the Way: Joyful guitars. If any one piece would have been a good place for the poet to unleash his singing voice (he hates it, we've heard, over and over and over again), this would be the right one. Fun, nonetheless. Love the SoCal sound.

15. Darfur (Jesus Wept): Poets have souls, too. This is an intensely moving statement of the conflict and scale of the genocide in that region. "Wake up and see why Jesus wept" indeed.

16. Brigit: An instrumental track? I'd like to see him ditch this one. It's beautiful, but it is not what people came to this party for.

17. Amomancy: I am of two minds on this nineteen minute piece, containing more than a dozen poems. It is nice, very nice, with even moments of brilliance...but it is a bit overlong to my tastes. I accuse him of being too attached to Emerson, Lake and Palmer, who seemed to always have a long production piece on their albums.

19. Once Again, the Nemicorn: It's "Brigit", from above, with lyrics. Okay, we get that. In and of itself, not bad at all...but why not ditch the instrumental piece? "You dance across my bed, you dance inside my heard, and where my heart has bled, these flowers blossom, red." Clever. I like the outro funked up guitar, too.

All in all, a notch above "The Last Romantic Verb" as a CD, which isn't an insult at all, LRV was a remarkable opening salvo of literary laser cannon fire. I would make some changes, and while he may listen to me, it is not my call.