MUSICALLY INTERPRETING POEMS FROM GINSBERG’S THE FALL OF AMERICA: POEMS OF THESE STATES 1965-1971
FEATURING: AI WEIWEI, PHILIP GLASS, ANNE WALDMAN, THURSTON MOORE WITH SAUL WILLIAMS, DEVENDRA BANHART, MIHO HATORI, JACK DANGERS, YONI WOLF, FENNESZ & TAYLOR DEUPREE, STEPHEN HILLAGE & MIQUETTE GIRAUDY, KAI CAMPOS & CJ MIRRA, AND DJ SPOOKY / AKA THAT SUBLIMINAL KID FEAT ANTOINE DRYE
“Allen could often seamlessly mix the secular with the divine, the past to the future, and enact transformation and liberation through poetry. It’s an honor to mouth these words with the shaping of music composed here.”- Anne Waldman
“Well, here we are now dearest Allen, rallying and resisting, revolting and revealing, your ‘prophecy’ in constant manifestation, fighting fascism as soldiers of peace, informed by your singing out from the ‘mind jail.’” -Thurston Moore
“Allen’s spirit of true freedom clearly resonates in his words & in the soul that he was.” -Ai Weiwei
“Wow! It’s just like when we used to perform together! It’s like the pieces were made for each other.”- Philip Glass
The Fall of America Volume II, a musical tribute to Allen Ginsberg to benefit Pen America is out now digitally as well as on CD and vinyl via Allen Ginsberg Recordings. The album features performances by Ai Weiwei, Philip Glass, Anne Waldman, Thurston Moore With Saul Williams, Devendra Banhart, Miho Hatori, Jack Dangers, Yoni Wolf, Fennesz & Taylor Deupree, Stephen Hillage & Miquette Giraudy, Kai Campos & CJ Mirra, DJ Spooky / Aka That Subliminal Kid Feat Antoine Drye, and more.
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The Fall of America Poems published by City Lights Books in San Francisco, covers the years 1965-1971 when Ginsberg was crisscrossing the country, exploring a system of composition by narrating into the portable reel-to-reel Uher that Bob Dylan had gifted him.
“In 1965, Ginsberg began planning an ambitious project, a book of thematically connected poems, a collection that ‘discovered’ America in poetry similar to the way Kerouac’s On the Road had explored the country in prose. The Vietnam War would be a constant presence overhanging Ginsberg’s travel writings like a darkening shadow affecting daily life in the country. It would be a study of contrasts: natural beauty slammed up against an ugliness that rose out of the tensions of violence.The public’s polarized dialogue over Vietnam and, earlier in the decade, the civil rights movement, convinced Ginsberg that America was teetering on the precipice of a fall.”
– Michael Schumacher, from Introduction to The Fall of America Journals 1965-1971
ALLEN GINSBERG
THE FALL OF AMERICA VOLUME II
(Allen Ginsberg Recordings)
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Digital Track Listing:
Ai Weiwei with O Future & Aliah Rosenthal – Hum Bom!
Anne Waldman and Fast Speaking Music – Pentagon Exorcism
Thurston Moore feat. Saul Williams – A Prophecy
Kai Campos and CJ Mirra – Bixby Canyon
Devendra Banhart – Dear Queer Bar
Jack Dangers – Holy Ghost on the Nod Over the Body of Bliss
System 7 – Sonora Desert Edge (The Abyss)
WHY? – Death on All Fronts
Seb Taylor – Over Denver Again
Fennesz & Taylor Deupree – Guru
Ashes (Bill Laswell, Eraldo Bernocchi & Reeno) – September on Jessore Road
Oliver Ray and No Land – Cremation Piece (On Neal’s Ashes)
Dave Harrington & Will Epstein – Pertussin
Miho Hatori – Iron Horse (The Universe is Empty)
Philip Glass – Have You Seen This Movie?
Vinyl Track Listing:
Side A:
Ai Weiwei with O Future & Aliah Rosenthal – Hum Bom!
Anne Waldman and Fast Speaking Music – Pentagon Exorcism
Thurston Moore feat. Saul Williams – A Prophecy
Kai Campos and CJ Mirra – Bixby Canyon
Jack Dangers – Holy Ghost on the Nod Over the Body of Bliss
System 7 – Sonora Desert Edge (The Abyss)
Side B: WHY? – Death on All Fronts
Seb Taylor – Over Denver Again
Ashes (Bill Laswell, Eraldo Bernocchi & Reeno) – September on Jessore Road
Miho Hatori – Iron Horse (The Universe is Empty)
Philip Glass – Have You Seen This Movie?
Bonus Download: DJ Spooky / AKA That Subliminal Kid feat Antoine Drye – Beginning of a Poem of These States
