Chris Leo.
Errantly; Enrico Trentino, Emanuele, Marco, e Davide Tarantini, Joan Guardia, Carlotto, Laura Marchetti, Matteino Dejligt, Enrico Morteni, Nueva Vulcano, and La Quiete.
Influences
Amadou and Miriam, Adriano Celentano, Witches Which Are, Suzan Hurtuk, Supertramp, Claudio Villa, Wolf and Lamb, nonacademic books on etymology, The Gang, Bob Dylan, Clanaad, Edoardo Vianello, The Holy Childhood, Caetano Veloso, Goldfrapp, tectonic etymological desideratum, The Anawim, Gilberto Gil, Let's Manage' To Get Her Together, the dudes in Matto Grasso who play match books with twigs and make the sun rise, Van Morrison, Rafaella Carra', djs Tory America and Cesare Vespucci, Earl Greyhound, the rarest and deepest Northen Soul cuts, Depeche Mode, Rockwell, Luboverdub, This guy before we lost him:
Cold Coconuts, Rino Gaetano, Biggy Smalls, girls who like entomology and stuff, Dutchess, Larune, Angola, Mina, Manu Chao, Pro Forma, Jeniferever, Curtis Mayfield, Animal Hands, Donatella Rettore, Kate Bush, Brothers Johnson, Loredana Berte', Marcellus Hall and the Farm Animals, Wotta Project, Particular Particles vs Peculiar Pieces, Amerie, Jacques Dutronc, Hugh Masakela, Sade, Nu Shooz, The Wheather Temporary, Colin Blundstone, Ratatat, Daft Punk, Francoise Hardy, rectifying Erin with Iran while extricating the Aryan betwixt through vino sfuso's "uova as uva" tricks, and Renato:
Sounds Like
Ladino Turks in Jamaica and fools.
(Marino smirks, "3rd and 10. Can we make it? Stay cool.")
{Libido hurts, Image Maker is cruel!}
And Desperation. Wicked Wicked Desperation.
I mean Masticated Misery making music for de Fete Defeat!
Which is to say we sound like if Warren Zevon and Jimmy Buffet adopted a child who thought he was part black New Yorker, part Cuban from Cuba, y'heard?
Vague Angels of Vagary ..
Been doing it forever,
Since the marrow was cased in mere mallow,
Mauve as the shadow uncast from my hollow,
Man.
Chris Leo was born in 1974 in Belleville, the provincial capital of the region known for that century as the the Pasta Triangle, in the Garden State ("...like an immense barrel, filled with good things to eat, and open at both ends with Pennsylvanians grabbing from one end and the New Yorkers from the other") of New Jersey. And like that Jersey stuck between the cancering behemoths; like that Jersey neither American Heartland proper nor New York City ever; like that Belleville neither Newark black nor Montclair wasp (and ditto for all Irish-Italo-Americans!); standing 5"9' like the tallest Bolivian and the shortest Swede; like being born the middle son of the only consciable lawyer who would tithe a Paraguayan GDP while hiding an equivalent from the IRS (hypothetically); like being raised in the biggest house of an inner-suburban town blighted by white flight; Chris Leo's lot has been cast circumstantially as mediator provacateur. Pushed not to the outside periphery, but to all edges of the inside, stuck in such a middle, he couldn't help but figure most of it out.
He sees a lot of obvious simple things you may have overlooked on your quest for grand notions, like how having nowhere to fall means there's nowhere to fall; like how intimacy is fine, one should try it all the time; like how straight men call the entrails of animals dinner yet navigate around the human form with prudence (with women) and chastity (with other men); like whether words/swords/sordid/or order, if you never tire stretching the truth the drawn out ends eventually meet up again; and other wicked smart things.
He is the author of the novels "White Pigeons" and "57 Octaves Below the Middle C Buzzed by the Bee", the cantautore behind over ten albums with over ten bands, and the curator and creator (along with poet Jon Curley) of the legendary "Haiti's Hades Harlequins' Hymns" lyrics vs poetry vernissageries. Though "wherever he lays his hat is his home" is still loosely true, principally his time is divided between between Cupra Marittima in Le Marche and Washington Heights in Manhattan.
Chronology:
Writing:
"White" Pigeons, novel (2004, Fifth Planet)
Tanakh's "Ardent Fevers" and "Saunders Hollow" liner notes (2005, Alien 8)
57 Octaves Below the Middle C Buzzed by the Bee, novel (2006, Fifth Planet)
"Sky Juice" recipe in "I Like Food, Food Tastes Good" (2006, Hyperion)
"Carnation", novel (2007)
The Gang "Zero Hits" liner notes (2008, Absolutely Kosher)
"Santi: Lives of Modern Saints", "Saints Senza Senso" intro to anthology (2008, Black Arrow)
Historics "Stratagies for Apprehension" liner notes (2008)
"Irreverent English", screenplay (2008)
"The River Plate Teconics", dictionary with glossary (2008 -- )
"Zits as Cannons Poised" short in "23" anthology (2008, Heartworm)
"Feathers Like Leather", anthology (2009, Heartworm)
Music (less singles, cameos, and complilations):
"Today Puberty, Tomorrow the World" lp, by Native Nod (1993, Gern Blansten)
"Stealing From Our Favorite Thieves" lp, by The Van Pelt (1995, Gern Blansten)
"Sultans of Sentiment" lp, by The Van Pelt (1996, Gern Blansten)
"The True Story of the Bridgewater Astral League" lp, by World/Inferno Friendship Society (1997, Gern Blansten)
"The Speeding Train" ep, by The Van Pelt (1997, Lumberjack)
"Betrayal" lp, by The Lapse (1998, Gern Blansten)
"Heaven Aint Happenin'" lp, by The Lapse (2000, Southern)
"Truth Loved" lp, by Vague Angels (2004, Fifth Planet/Expect Candy)
"Let's Duke it Out at Kilkenny Katz" lp, by Vague Angels (2006, Pretty Activity)
"Il Sacre Cur" lp, by Chris Leo (2009)
Films:
"It Sucks to Have a Day Off" (2006, Black Arrow)
Picked up my first guitar in the late 80's when, after what seemed like an endless run at flawlessness, even blacks fell to that decades fashion dementia. Still couldn't kill the music though:
Ciao...guarda il video di "VALI" il mio nuovo singolo!
regia GAETANO MORBIOLI: "ho voluto attualizzare in chiave moderna l’amore eterno di Giulietta e Romeo - afferma il popolare regista veronese - rivissuto nella città di Verona completamente deserta. Una storia d’amore dark che si sposa benissimo con la canzone di Davide".
Euu Chris!! What´s up there? So good playing that "deep spanish" tour with Joan and Nueva Vulcano!!! Such a great moments! Come back soon!! Besos y abrazos majo!
Hi, i just can't understand a few things. Is this the brand-new-last but not least project of chris leo? And did chris leo become a famous and rich writer? Did he made some gigs in italy in this year? Is he living in taranto and playing with some mangiaspaghetti? Shit i can't miss it. I saw the lapse in naples around 2000 and i remember i jumped on stage totally drunk, and started kissing mr leo on the head, and he just laughed at my all the time! ahah lovely memories. Anyway, I WANT to see mr leo on the stage again, because i really thought he was into heroin or something like that, in all that time i didnt hear of him.
Please join us this Friday at 7pm for a special performance by Crocodiles, Chris Leo, and Eric Paul.
Chris Leo (The Lapse, The Van Pelt) will be reading from his recently released book, Feathers Like Leather, along with a reading Eric Paul(Arab On Radar, The Chinese Stars).
Following the reading will be a performance by San Diego's Crocodiles(Fat Possum Records) a day before they start the Ladytron/Faint tour.
This event is free and at Juanita and Juan's, 125 N. 11th st, Philadelphia, PA, and will be over by 9:30 in case you are headed to one of the other shows in town that night.
ahhh did you hear from neil or wes!? i was actually in nyc a week ago, but will return in the summer most likely. i hope to run into you sooner than later. xo
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