Poem Rocket

Poem Rocket

Infobox musical artist 2
Name = Poem Rocket


Img_capt =
Origin = New York City, New York, USA flagicon|USA
Instruments = guitar, bass, drums, piano, tape loops
Genre = Art rock Post-punk Noise Rock Indie rock
Years_active = 1992 - present
Label = Atavistic PCP/ Matador Magic Eye/ Secret Eye Bear
Current_members = Michael Peters (vocals, guitar) Sandra Gardner (vocals, bass guitar) Peter Gordon (drums)
Past_members = Andrew Nelson (drums, 1993-1998) Dennis Bass (guitar, 1993 - 1996) William Shin (drums, 1993) Ian Christe (drums, 1993) Adam Cooke (drums, 2002)

Poem Rocket is an experimental U.S. art rock/ noise rock band based currently in rural New York, originally hailing from New York City.

The Real Periphery: Biography

Formed in 1992, the band consists of Michael Peters (vocals, guitar, songwriting), Sandra Gardner (vocals, bass, songwriting), and Peter Gordon (drums). The wedding date of Peters and Gardner is unknown; they had a child in spring of 2003. Originally a four-piece with Dennis Bass also on guitar, Poem Rocket had a string of (often short-lived) drummers, most notably William Shin (Seam) and musician/author Ian Christe. Other drummers auditioned for the band, including author Paul Collins, who performed with the band in 1993 at CBGB. Drummer Andrew Nelson joined in late 1993, completing the early Poem Rocket sound. The band started off by releasing a few 7" singles and a 10" EP; many songs from these were compiled on the "Felix Culpa" compilation CD in 1995. Proper debut album "Infinite Retry On Parallel Time-out" was recorded in 1996-1997 at The Funhouse with William Weber, and was mixed by Wharton Tiers; it was released in early 1998 by PCP Entertainment, a daughter label of Matador Records. After heavy touring in 1995-1996, Bass departed in late 1996, leaving the band as a three-piece. Nelson stayed until 1998, after he threw his drum kit into the audience at the end of a set in Atlanta, GA. Peter Gordon of Gapeseed then replaced Nelson on drums. Poem Rocket began working with Atavistic Records, releasing the concept album "psychogeography" on Atavistic Records in 2000. Sometime in the next few years (ca. 2002 or 2003), Adam Cooke of Baltimore rock band Roads To Space Travel briefly replaced Gordon on drums. In 2002, based now primarily on a mountainside in upstate New York, the band began work on a double album, titled "Invasion!" The album was completed in 2006 and released in 2007. A 1999 recording, made at Six Finger Satellite's studio in Providence, RI, remains unreleased. Peters is also a member of the experimental literary collective Be Blank Consort, and has been working on a biography of French architect Fleury Colon. As of 2007, Poem Rocket's full-length CDs remain in print, but their EPs have been out of print and scarce for years. (None of their CDs were apparently ever released on vinyl.)

Hip Pharmacy: Sound and influences

Poem Rocket, while in most respects a visceral rock band, draws upon a broad palette of influences, both musical and otherwise. Being originally immersed in the New York City music/art world exposed them to myriad creative stimuli. Rock influences include Throwing Muses, Suicide, Can, Live Skull, Bauhaus, The Church, Fugazi, Talking Heads, Pixies, The Ex, Band Of Susans and Gang Of Four. My Bloody Valentine, The Birthday Party, The Stooges, Slint, Unwound, and Siouxsie And The Banshees seem to have informed Poem Rocket's sound as well. Some less rock-music-based influences include the "guitar orchestras" of Rhys Chatham/Glenn Branca, ambient soundscapes of Brian Eno, and pulse compositions of Steve Reich.

They also draw from conceptual art, situationism, and varied literary inspirations. Their 2000 album was titled after Guy Debord's concept of Psychogeography, which is the study of how the geography and architecture of environments shape the behavior and thought processes of their inhabitants. Sample lyrics from "Reurbanization Of The Space" read, "Here is the new trend, examine the implications in the public and the private sectors... You're creating the mythology of the Great American City... The space around the buildings is the soul of the city." Peters generally sings an a careening, animated, androgynous voice, while Gardner uses more of a controlled, breathy purr. Themes of existentialism, architecture, alienation, outer space, and biology crop up frequently, though the lyrics are open-ended enough to warrant multiple interpretations. Peters and Gardner can often be found harmonizing sweetly while atonal squalls of noise and throbbing basslines churn around them, leading to a disorienting, kinetic overall sound. Key examples of songs in this style include "Small White Animal," "Appeal To The Imagination," "Box: Tallow, Felt And Ice" and "Blue Chevy Impala." They have had a few acoustic numbers, such as "God Damn Alien Sundial" and the sexually-suggestive love ballad "Milky White Entropy." They have a song named after Dutch painter Karel Appel. Subdued travelogue "Budapest" features reversed cymbal and guitar loops. The twelve-minute "Levy 9 R.S.V.P." appears to be about the collision of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 into Jupiter in 1994; the line "If it hits us, say I told you so/ No regrets" is repeated several times with increasing urgency. After an extended crescendo, it concludes with a whispered line about "fragmentary guests... deep in the dense layers of hydrogen." "Bataille" is apparently about controversial philosopher Georges Bataille.

Blue Chevy Impala: Touring

Poem Rocket's national (and/or international) touring history is uncertain, though they were known to play frequently around the New York City area in the 1990s at avant-garde music clubs such as The Knitting Factory and The Cooler, and probably CBGB's. They are known to have played live with Blastula, Wharton Tiers Ensemble, Mecca Normal, labelmates Slug (rock band, not rap group), Tono-Bungay, Bride Of No-No, Pilot To Gunner, Sweep The Leg Johnny, and Hippopotamus [http://www.gigposters.com/band/5272_Poem_Rocket.html] . They are believed to have played live with their recording partners Six Finger Satellite.

Virus: Recent usage of name

A band in the U.K. formed in early 2005 under the name Poem Rocket, even boasting a similar sound and set of influences as the U.S. Poem Rocket. Despite the plagiarism and/or general violation of intellectual property rights, the band has no relation to the original Poem Rocket.

Discography

Albums

* "Infinite Retry On Parallel Time-out" CD (recorded in 1997) (PCP, 1998)
* "psychogeography" CD (Atavistic, 2000)
* "Invasion!" 2xCD (Atavistic, 2007) ["Ileah" mp3 excerpt: http://www.atavistic.com/items/ALP133IleahEDIT.mp3]

EPs

* "Into The Aether" (a.k.a. "Blue Chevy Impala") 10" (Bear/ Carcrashh, 1995)
* "The Universe Explained In Six Songs" CD EP/ mini-album (in oversized clamshell case) (Secret Eye, 1999)
* "Lend/Lease" CD-R EP (unreleased thus far; recorded in 1999)

ingles

* "Period (punctuation or the amount of time required for a cyclic movement to occur)" b/w "Flaw" 7" (Bear, 1994)
* "Small White Animal" b/w "Milky White Entropy" 7" (PCP, 1995)
* "Desire Illuminated" b/w "Electronimo" 7" (Magic Eye Singles, 1997)

Compilation

* "Felix Culpa" CD (singles/ rarities compilation) (PCP, 1995)

Various-artist compilation tracks (ca. 1995-97)

* "Deus Absconditus," "The Animal Planter," "Begging To Please You," "Pretty Baby," "Return In Disarray" (never formally released; full mp3: http://www.originalmonochrome.com/pcp/pcp_mp3/pr-disarray.mp3), "The Path Of Coterminous Crescendoes"

Music videos

* "Small White Animal" (Directed by Poem Rocket and Peter Gordon) (MPG video excerpt: http://www.poemrocket.com/video/small_2.mov)
* "Box: Tallow, Felt, And Ice" (Directed by Elizabeth Bustamante; cinematography by Dave Anderson)
* "Ka-boom" (Directed by Poem Rocket and Peter Gordon) (MPG video excerpt: http://www.poemrocket.com/video/kaboom_1.mov)

ubway Relocation Memo: External links

* [http://www.poemrocket.com Official web site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/poemrocketnyc Myspace]
* [http://www.pcp-entertainment.com PCP Records]
* [http://www.atavistic.com/artist.cfm?ThisArtist=104 Atavistic Records]
* [http://www.epitonic.com/artists/poemrocket.html Epitonic page]
* [http://www.scaruffi.com/vol5/poemrock.html The History Of Rock Music entry]
* [http://hometown.aol.com/daaydream/poemint.html 2003 interview]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Rocket Festival — This article is about the traditional Rocket Festival of Laos and Thailand; for another meaning, see Rocket Festival Spain A Rocket Festival ( th. ประเพณีบุญบั้งไฟ Prapheni Bun Bang Fai , lo. ) is a merit making ceremony traditionally practiced… …   Wikipedia

  • Daag: A Poem of Love — Directed by Yash Chopra Produced by Yash Chopra Written by Gulshan Nand …   Wikipedia

  • Kaddish and other Poems — by Allen Ginsberg (1961)    Allen Ginsberg’s second book of poems, Kaddish and Other Poems follows so closely the pitch and tone of Howl and otHer poems that it is easy to forget the differences between the two books. Both are written from the… …   Encyclopedia of Beat Literature

  • Atavistic Records — is an American rock and jazz record label that has released albums by Glenn Branca, Nels Cline, Lydia Lunch, Peter Brötzmann, various Ken Vandermark projects, Pinetop Seven, Swans, Larry Ochs, Mars, Davey Williams, Brian Harnetty, and Poem Rocket …   Wikipedia

  • Atavistic Records — est un label de musique américain de rock et de jazz basé à Chicago dans l Illinois, qui est surtout connu pour ses enregistrements de free jazz. Le label à produit les albums de Glenn Branca, Nels Cline, Lydia Lunch, Peter Brötzmann, divers… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Dear Friends Radio Program — Dear Friends Syndicated Radio Program Studio album by The Firesign Theatre Released 1970 1971 Recorded 1970 1971 Genre …   Wikipedia

  • List of Russian people — The Millennium of Russia monument in Veliky Novgorod, featuring the statues and reliefs of the most celebrated people in the first 1000 years of Russian history …   Wikipedia

  • Erasmus Darwin — Infobox Person name = Erasmus Darwin image size = 171px caption = Erasmus Darwin. birth date = birth date|1731|12|12|df=y birth place = Elston Hall, Elston, Nottinghamshire near Newark on Trent death date = Death date and… …   Wikipedia

  • The Martian Chronicles —   …   Wikipedia

  • Steven "Jesse" Bernstein — Steven Jay Jesse Bernstein (December 4, 1950 – October 22, 1991) was a Jewish American underground writer and performance artist who is most famous for his recordings with Sub Pop Records and close relationship with William S. Burroughs.… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”