[.ca] Prison

There has always been something wrong with my face.:
Poetic rah.......Very stylishly he makes his "Ich Bin Jude" stance with glee and intra-personal itai. Most sound also accompanies this with sixties syle .....my beatles wig is gone. With the hoodded sweatshirt. A sure to delight album even for the kids.

The noise competes with the poetry:
Some poetry is born to be also music (e.g., Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen). Some other poetry is born to be read as poetry and the addition of music is only the addition of masking noise. I had the hope of hearing poetry; instead, I got some horrible noise that at times made the words unintelligible. What a waste of poetry! I wish somebody could publish Bernstein's poetry readings free of noise.

Squirm in the hostile element:
with Jesse for a while, youll be glad you did. Like rap music for people with a brain. Challenging and thought provoking-this is my only real foray into spoken word thingies-I just got into him because he was at Big Black's last concert, reading poems to warm up the crowd. Someone there yelled,"Where's the music?"and Bernstein curtly replied in a rising voice, "This IS music, ...!"and then at that precise second Big Black came roaring on. It was beautiful, wish Id been there. But anyway, this is him in all his cranky beat glory, backed up by a sound composer that does a fine job bringing further menace to Bernstein's apocalyptic delivery and subject matter. Poverty, drugs, self hatred, misogyny, its all here if you like that sort of stuff.And who doesn't?

More Noise Please:
This powerful album by legendary Seattle writer Steven Jesse Bernstein is one of the most effective and uncompromising spoken word records in the field. Bernstein took his own life in 1991, and this disc acts as both his swan song and a tribute by his collaborators to his poetic talent. These readings were recorded in 1990-91 (many of the pieces appear in the book, "More Noise Please") and were later set to music by producer/composer Steve Fisk. Just prior to Bernstein's death, only one track had been fully finished, but he liked what he heard and agreed for Fisk and Sub Pop to proceed with the project. The posthumously released result would have made him proud. His confrontational, scathing voice marches through the door and slaps your face, backed up by dense, lazy, looping beats and samples that rearrange your furniture and hide the TV remote. These tracks demand and deserve your attention. Although he's an underground hero in the Northwest and has been championed by those in the know (William S. Burroughs endorsed him, and "No No Man" was used in the opening montage of Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers"), his body of work remains largely unread and unheard elsewhere. Whether or not you're into spoken word stuff, after a listen this CD will find its way into your collection and more than a few mix tapes. For more of Steven Jesse Bernstein, a reading of "Come Out Tonight" can be found among the grunge tracks on the "Sup Pop 200" compilation.

Get ready for Bernstien.:
The change is about to come. Prison will not only spin in your CD player, it will make you're heart go in circles. Starting with the Jazzy initial track "No No Man", you get a sence of love and molestation. After that quick introduction you will delve into an atmousphere of termoil, hate, loss, and purity. Then Bernstien brings you back again. Enjoy, and believe... because Jesse lives on.

• No No Man, Pt. 1
• Morning in the Sub-Basement of Hell
• More Noise Please
• Sport, Pt. 1
• Party Balloon
• Face
• This Clouded Heart
• Man Upstairs
• Sport, Pt. 2
• No No Man, Pt. 2