The United States Of Poetry (1996 Television Documentary) [Spoken Word]

Manufacturer Description

The American poetry renaissance rolls on, and this soundtrack to the PBS special proves that the spoken word isn't just alive and well, it's kicking and snorting and rapping and bopping, too. Relative unknowns sit right alongside big guns like Leonard Cohen, Robert Creeley, Amiri Baraka, and Joseph Brodsky on this disc. The works run from sexy murmurs to social commentary, from found poetry snatches to outright comic rants, such as Matt Cook's hilarious "James Joyce," wherein Cook moans, "James Joyce is stupid. I'd rather throw dead batteries at cows than read him." Tomandandy's atmospheric music lays a solid foundation for these wordsmiths to riff over. As a whole, this disc feels as much like a midnight road trip across this wide, weird land as anything else. --Michael Ruby