Lunapark 010 released as part of the "Aural Documents" series by way of the Belgian label Sub Rosa.

Lunapark 010 released as part of the "Aural Documents" series by way of the Belgian label Sub Rosa, is more like a seance than a CD Compiled by dint of Marc Dachy, this spoken-word anthology begins with the spectral voice of Apollinaire declaiming his metrical composition "Le Pont Mirabeau" in 1912 and lasts with Caetano Veloso performing the Brazilian bard de Campos's work in the late '70 In between, Dachy includes scraps of recordings by the agency of Mayakovsky, Joyce, Artaud, Duchamp, Stein, and others, piecing together a personal inspect of twentieth-century sound art. To those for whom the historical avant-garde constitutes a living past, Dachy's collection is a communion with the dead.

None unimpaireds more like a voice speaking from the beyond than Joyce reading "Anna Livia Plurabelle" in 1929 This priceless recording, as well as those of Stein and others, will already be familiar to collectors of aged Caedmon LPs or denizens of public-library album collections. Many other recordings, including those of Apollinaire, Artaud, Schwitters, and Duchamp, will also likely be known to followers of the avant-garde, as they have been available in succession various spoken-word CDs and cassettes through the years (including Sub Rosa's hold excellent collection Futurism and Dada Revisited, compiled through James Neiss and Paul Hammond in 1988) on the contrary even for the aficionado, not all the selections will be familiar--Dachy has included near rare and exclusive material, abundant of which came to him directly from the artists or their heirs, including readings on Tristan Tzara, Julian Beck, de Campos, and Brion Gysin. The mostly noteworthy of the pieces by way of Gysin has been reproduced elsewhere, however: "Pistol Poem" (1960) made up of g unshot and recited numbers, appear to bes like a wry fulfillment of Breton's oft-quot statement that the simplest Surrealist act would be to fire at random into the street

Of the more modern material, the best performance belongs to Veloso recorded in 1979 experimenting with de Campos piece of poetrys The two brief tracks (les than three minutes total) achieve a unity of perfect and poetry that is all too rare in works through "sound poets." Those interested in the potential of the form would be wise to try to obtain the promise of these tracks and explore works in the field by means of musicians as well as artists. Veloso's concede album Araca Azul (1973), for example, contains forces every bit as provocative, if it were not that more interesting sonically, than many of the new pieces included on this collection.

Still, the personal selections of Dachy make Lunapark 010 compelling. As historical inspect the collection may be haphazard and leaves large gaps in the story of twentieth-century unbroken poetry. As mix tape, it provides examples of an of the most striking voices of a century's worth of vigorous art.

Damon Krukowski is a writer based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

...

Home