the quincy adams Lp............... is available for $10.
mail to:MIKE CELLEMME.. . . . . ........... 19 AYRAULT ST Ap2. NEWPORT RI 02840.................................... .....................................................
In process of recording a second full length. . .
Influences
02/16/06 - On the long-awaited The Quincy Adams LP, local neo-folk maestro Mike Cellemme finally shows off what he can do in the studio. He has already proven himself in a live setting, both as a member of the illustrious Providence slam poetry team and as a solo performer. This is his first (to my knowledge, anyway) recording as a solo performer.
Anybody familiar with his live performances is interested primarily about how Cellemme could possibly translate the frenetic brilliance of his solo shows onto disc. Well, by the very nature of the format, The Quincy Adams LP is not going to capture all electricity of a great live show.
One way that would have perhaps given the album a little extra kick would be to feature more numbers with a full band set up, or at least featuring instruments that he would not be able to use in a live setup (such as the electronic-sounding drums in the opening track).
Minor quibbles aside, this is one hell of a neo-folk album from one hell of an artist. If only for the sheer imaginitiveness Cellemme displays on the album, it deserves to be heard. But taking into account what a fun ride The Quincy Adams LP is, it deserves to be heard in the hallways in every dorm of the University of Rhode Island.
Cellemme's lyrics are certainly literary-informed, telling stories of invented characters that are far more vivid than you would expect from a three minute folk song (I'd imagine that here the poetry slam training of word and time economy is coming through). He delivers these lyrics in a staccato, almost hip-hop manner. In some cases he recalls how Sage Francis used to sound on say, Personal Journals (when Francis's beats were more folk and jazz oriented). One might even dare to call Cellemme the Sage Francis of neo-folk, if it weren't an insanely reductivist thing to say of such an eclectic and original artist as Cellemme.
As for highlights, "Last Arrow" might just be the best song to come out this year. It features the infamous "I know / Yes I know / Everyone is vegan in their hearts" chorus, that is about as catchy as that stomach bug that was going around a couple of weeks ago. As for anyone that hears this song and interprets it as finger-wagging sanctimoniousness, my suggestion to you is the same as Dick Cheney's to Patrick Leahy, which is the same as Dr. Ben Marble's to Cheney himself (http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_jackson__050909_physician_who_told_o.htm).
I could easily see college students flipping for this listener-friendly but sophisticated acoustic music. I suggest all acolytes of Cellemme burn a bunch of copies and bring them to off-campus parties. When that Sublime album or a Dave Matthews album finds its way into the stereo, when no one is suspecting it, take the CD out and put in The Quincy Adams LP and see what happens.
--Pat Aguiar
Sounds Like
physical fashion. cutlass on buckler. solar beam off the infinity gauntlet.
french second empire mansard roof bends on the high e string to echo a portal undiscovered to the whispers of romanesque.
"Let it first and foremost be known that attempting to describe the musical genre of Mike Cellemme's debut, self-produced and recorded funded - albeit great quality for such recording conditions - album, The Quincy Adams LP, is like attempting to describe Einstein's general and special theories of relativity to a toddler that just mastered the ability to mumble the word "Mommy"; it just cannot happen.
Mike's invitingly beautiful melodies combine many, many aspects of various musical styles, varying almost song-to-song. The opening track, "The Terrible Storm", starts with highly distorted and blurry-sounding guitar chords and soon drifts easily into a simple acoustic guitar rhythm. Soon thereafter, the hypnotic repetitions of a drum-machine begin their audibly surprising beats. Mike's soothing, clean, and all-around delightfully pure voice compared to most of today's immitation vocals soon enters the musical myriad and instantly seems to add an indescribable amount of composure to the song just before you half expect the wailing of rabid gorillas to sound. Ah, but the song isn't done just yet! After a brief instrumental interlude and a couple of verses, Mike bursts into speedy rap-like vocals heavily styled after slam poetry - Mike's original source for most, if not all, lyrics. The song ends. You crave more.
Most of Mike's songs are written in similar fashions, yet with different musical styles; they all seem like experiemental songs on their own, blending various styles, yet these blended styles vary from song to song, and the entire album seems to blend together seamlessly and beautifully. A very evident characteristic, and perhaps the main reason I adore his music so much, in all of the songs (at least, the ones containing lyrics; many of the songs are elegant classical guitar instrumentals) there is a defined sense that a story is being told. Whether the story is that of "Last Arrow"s, where a sparrow hunter is turned vegan by the enlightening and philosophical words of an old traveler, or "Loring Hall"s story of a lonely college campus security guard attempting to lend his security advantages to the students in exchange of letting him drink and party with them, there is always a clear story being told.
Much like many innovating and experimental musicians, much of the energy of the songs does not necessarily convert well into a 4.5" CD or a 40-odd megabyte folder of MP3s. Mike's stunning live shows, so I am told by a Rhode Island friend of mine (Mike's hometown where is assumes a sort of local-legend status) are so energetic to the point of almost being out-of-body; he improvs nearly half of every song by combining two similar songs, continuing a song minutes past its album length, or even adding entire versus on-the-spot by incorporating his slam poetry-styled lyrics into any one of his songs and still managing to make it sound so beautiful. His genuine, sincere, and all-around loving personality often makes appearances in his live shows, a fact that unfortunatly cannot translate into a recorded form. Perhaps a live album is in tow? Oh, God; woulds't thou bless me so?"
--Review from fallpoetaster
The PROVIDENCE POETRY SLAM singer/songwriter open mic is upon us once again at AS220!
As usual, we welcome any and all varieties of musicians - singer/songwriters, fiddlers, singers, beatboxers, etc. (as well as spoken word artists) - to perform.
Each musician gets 8 MINUTES of stage time! Each poet gets 3 MINUTES of stage time! ACOUSTIC INSTRUMENTS & ORIGINAL WORKS ONLY!!
This month's show will start following the Broad Street Studio Showcase (which starts at 6:30, and is definitely worth checking out!). The open mic sign-up list will be posted at 8:45, and the show will start once the showcase has finished!
What would happen if you smashed 2 Large Hadron Colliders inside a Large Hadron Collider? (Larger Hadron Collider?) Would the resulting burst of energy provide the first conclusive evidence of the existence of the poppy-seed positron? Gadzooks!
We've got a very special show this week @ PROVIDENCE SLAM!!
Not only are we hosting our monthly singer/songwriter open mic, but we've also got a little something extra!!
In preparation for the upcoming Brave New Voices National Youth Poetry Slam (held in mid-July in Washington D.C.), we're hosting a 3-team Youth Slam Regional featuring the Connecticut, Worcester, and Providence Youth teams!!
The open mic sign-up list will still be posted at 7:30! The 3-team regional will start around 8! The singer/songwriter open mic will start after the regional!
For the open mic: As usual, only original songs/poems are allowed!
Each musician gets 8 minutes of stage time! Each poet gets 3 minutes of stage time! RESPECT YOUR TIME!!
We hope to see you @ AS220 this Thursday, June 19th! Bring a friend!!
yo yo mr. cellemme i was showing a friend out here on the west coast(where i am now living and you should come visit) your music and i wanted her to hear your briar patches song because it is one of my favs. but its not on your cd and used to be on your main page?? but now its gone:( do you think i could get it some how back. even though your stuff is just as beautiful! xo missin the east lovin the west come to the city of roses portland oregon, play your heart out and color the town! xo shelz
The Rhodeshow's New CD, The Growth Project 2.0 has been reviewed in the Providence Journal and the Providence Phoenix! We have put the articles in our blog and the Direct links Below. Please read, comment, support and come out to the May 31st show! Holla!
Just wanted to say that I miss hearing the tunes live and hope that you're doing well and in good spirits. "Cold Water" is an ace track, as is "Metal Song 1. " Is Isaac Iona going to be released soon? I need some new Cellemme jams :)
