the extended haiku remix project
Once upon a time I wrote and then recorded for an album I was making a poem called "9 things the caterpillar said to the man on the ledge," and one of those things (that the caterpillar said) was this: "If running the VCR backward doesn't work, rent out a film school, take old Kurosawa reels and edit them into small poems, three lines only, all on a theme, with perfect posture, grace and balance, strict syllabic count. Take your finished haiku and show them to your lover but only after pouring tea over them to imbue them with the scent of porcelain."
The Extended Haiku Remix Project proposes to do something very much exactly like that...except when it chooses to do something entirely different. Much like haiku which have very strict rules indeed, the "extended haiku," does not. Thus, one could say that The Project collects (haiku) from some of the people it knows who create haiku (um... poets), curates from among these (haiku) what it considers to be (haiku) of exceptional merit, those possessed, as the (poem/poet/I) put it, of "perfect posture, grace and balance" and then, having ignored those definitions (of haiku) that demand (that haiku must consist of) "three lines only," and "all on a theme." "Screw that," says The Project, and furthermore, " 'strict syllabic count' ? Ha! There's a new Sheriff in town, y'all." And, lo, it came to be that this new sheriff was not afraid to mix his metaphors. And the Haiku, freed at last, from the twin tyrranies of expectation and mathematics, transformed itself, or rather, extended itself, remixed itself, and will now project itself into the universe.. all that, and it's got a good beat and you can dance to it, as follows:
9 THINGS THE CATERPILLAR SAID TO THE MAN ON THE LEDGE; text written & performed by Matthew Mars. Music composed and produced by Gary North White,(programming, keyboards, zither & guitars) with Miiko Watanabe on electric bass and cornet and Matthew Mars lead and harmony vox; additional recording: Hans deKline. GOD THE MOTION PICTURE (Down by the Riverside), text written and performed by Matthew Mars, "Down by the Riverside" (trad., arranged by Cliff Ulrich), piano: Anna Ferraro, drums: Rich Ferguson. guitar: Cliff Ulrich, choir: Anna Ferraro, Rich Ferguson, Cliff Ulrich, Kira Arrillaga, Tracy Thielen, Casey Arrillaga, Kara Jenkins, lead vocal: Matthew Mars. Live 2-track recording by Tracy Thielen, edited by Tom Ianniello. TRIAGE, text by Matthew Mars, performed by Matthew Mars and the Roy Cohn Singers: Anna Ferraro, Kara Jenkins, Amelie Frank, Lil Gary, Nelson Gary, Tracy Thielen, and Rich Ferguson, with Rich Ferguson on drums and Anna Ferraro on piano. Recorded live to 2-track DAT at the Iguana Cafe, mastered by Tom Ianiello. LAMENTATIONS text written & performed by Matthew Mars, music composed & produced by Gary North White (Fruity Loop) featuring Katherine Williams on cello; additional recording: Hans deKline. GAME THEORY text written & performed by Erica Erdman, music composed, produced & programmed by Matthew Mars. THE APOCALYPTIC KID (Swing Low, Sweet Chariot) produced by Matthew Mars, recorded & mixed by Andrew Bush at Grandma's Warehouse, Los Angeles, CA, "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," (trad., arranged by Andrew Bush & Matthew Mars), didgeridoo & electric bass: Miiko Watanabe; trap set & djembe: Rich Mangicaro, piano & cajon drum: Andrew Bush; electric guitars: David Dyas & Peter Ford; toy guitar & electronics: Tracy Thielen; harmonica: Steve Kruse; vocal: Matthew Mars. SWORDSWALLOWING text written & performed by Erica Erdman; music composed, produced & programmed by Matthew Mars. CITIZENS BAND/a cautionary tale, text written and performed by Katherine Williams, track produced, composed and performed by Matthew Mars (drum programming, effects, melodica, keyboards).NONE SO SHARP AS MYRA text written & performed by Amelie Frank, music composed by Gary North White and produced and performed by Gary North White (guitar, programming) and Mat†hew Mars (percussion, Q chord, stuttering vocal). additional recording: Hans deKline. From her debut album, THE ESSENTIAL GIRL, produced by Matthew Mars & Gary North White. THE BUTTERFLY MEMO text written & performed by Johnny Sakalis, music composed, produced & programmed by Matthew Mars. I STAND IN TNE DOORWAY text written and performed by Peggy Dobreer, music composed, produced & programmed by Matthew Mars . I HEARD WHAT SOUNDED LIKE A SONG text written and performed by Ellyn Maybe, music composed, produced & programmed by Matthew Mars. 1000 BLACK UMBRELLAS text written and performed by Daniel McGinn, music composed, produced & programmed by Matthew Mars. DREAM SEQUENCE text written and performed by Daniel McGinn, music composed, produced & programmed by Matthew Mars. IN THE DARK text written and performed by Daniel McGinn, music composed, produced & programmed by Matthew Mars.
CATFISH. Text written & performed by Erica Erdman, music composed & performed & video photographed & edited by Matthew Mars for The Extended Haiku Remix Project.
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