Carnivocal: A Celebration of Sound Poetry

Edited by Douglas Barbour and Stephen Scobie
Poetry / Anthologies / Canadian / Books on Tape / Other / CD
Running time 65:43 • 22 tracks • 4 3/4 x 4 3/4"
ISBN 0–88995–210–8 Audio CD • CDN 16.95 • USA 12.95

Sound poetry dates back at least to the experiments of Dada poets such as Kurt Schwitters and Hugo Ball. In Canada, it has been strong since the 1960s, when bp Nichol and bill bissett began exploring and reinventing its traditions. In the 1990s, a new generation of sound poets has revitalized the Canadian tradition and on this CD their voices sound alongside many of the best-known earlier practitioners.

Reviews
"Some of the 22 tracks on Carnivocal are classics of the Canadian avant garde. . . . [And] the younger generation of sound poets . . . celebrate cacophony by confronting what washes up to the shore of a serious channel surfTV soundbites merging into surprising incongruities."
–National Post

"Carnivocal is best appreciated with no distractionsóunplug the television and turn out the lights . . . recreate the conditions of more primitive life, in which a voice in the dark becomes vivid theatre."
–Quill & Quire