Dear all,
Double-handfuls of stuff seem to be dropping through the mailslot
recently--most notably (at last) the Prynne _Poems_ from Bloodaxe
(excellent job--the typesetting's much easier on the eyes than the old
Agneau 2. -- But why'd they go mess up the indentation in the first poem?
Oh well! -- Time to reread the oeuvre again...). -- A couple things perhaps
of general interest here--
1) a CD, _The Clamourous Alphabet_, by Francois Houle & Catriona Strang, a
husband-and-wife team from out West (in Canada). Francois is a marvellous
clarinetist; the idiom will be familiar to fans of Evan Parker & John
Butcher, but FH takes some different tacks: in particular, he's a fine
practitioner of simul-instrumentalism a la Roland Kirk, & also fond of
disassembling his instrument to get at other sounds lurking inside. The
one track on the CD I have some doubts about is a longish solo track, "Slap
Circ", which gets too close to Evan Parker territory for comfort after the
6-minute mark; but the rest is great stuff. The poet Catriona Strang will
be most familiar to list-denizens for _Low Fancy_ (ECW), excerpted in _Out
of Everywhere_ (Reality Street); here her voice, though never breaking into
song, moves in close though bumpy tandem with the clarinet. Sometimes
sombre, but also some hilarious moments--"Shuffle Two" starts with a
(deliberate?) quote from the old ballad "Darn That Dream", "The Insurgent"
quotes "By Myself", and "Set" gets authentically bluesy! -- The CD's
published by Periplum (PO Box 95678, Seattle, WA 98145, USA). Very
worthwhile.
2) _Neither the One nor the Other_ by Frances Presley & Elizabeth James
(Form Books, Harry Gilonis, 86C Orbel Street). One of the best
collaborative texts to fall under my eyes in a while. It moves fast--I'll
quote a bit:
The goose is standing on my balcony accusing me of neglect
Here is a park, an ark and golden eggs
Reversionary factors marked the nest
Personally I don't get the benefit of that fecal decal
twitching regularly in damn braces & killer pain
still plump for morning after pillow flight & a gander at the papers
Re-ver-ver-verting to typist
Reverberations of the fine feather nest enhancers
always have to end with a free floating eiderdown
dare we settle / snow in april / derry dancers
Verdigris trials plump her keys
VERDIGRIS TRIALS PLUMP HER KEYS
claims Elsie's old man, for love or money
She was severe and variable in her strokes
Just keep on apologising for my slides
and the recognition of her breast stroke
one foot/ a plastic bowl
.......
all best --N
Nate & Jane Dorward
[log in to unmask]
109 Hounslow Ave., Willowdale, ON, M2N 2B1, Canada
ph: (416) 221 6865
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