Album Notes

Maybe it was the urban soundscape of life in Britain that pulled this queer Canadian banjo-loving poet towards the electrosonic spectrum. The accompaniment on lisa b.’s second album, "resonant frequencies," differs greatly from lisa b’s debut CD; her poetry is brought into focus in a new way. Pulses, heavy beats and synthetic notes shimmy up to and swirl around base guitar and clarinet. lisa chose to work with Manchester-based electronic meistress and recording engineer caro snatch to create her second album. lisa and caro combined their sensitive ears, feminist sensibilities, mischievousness, grit and growl to create a unique recording of 12 tracks of spoken word poetry enhanced by electronic music, vocals, and atmospherics. caro recorded lisa’s voice and responded with an experimental, playful and resonant array of accompaniment, including a hummingbird impersonation and a synthetic orchestral arrangement.

This is a demanding listen, and worth the attention. lisa’s achingly honest piece “reflections on growing up white and middle-class” exposes the complex lessons girls absorb from the women around them. (“to hate these women/ is to hate myself.”) caro accompanies her on a Boss DR 770 drum machine, to riveting effect.

The tone gets unapologetically naughty with “110 again,” rolling along with a solid bass guitar riff in a 1982 station wagon on a highway in northern Canada, (“she knows by now/to keep a small bottle of lube in the glove box on road trips with me.”)

The album ends with a short but poignant poem, “ditch daisies,” about clarity discovered inside solitude, carried with simple piano and air synth.

Anorakism was the logical platform for the fruit of this very juicy collaboration, as the Leeds-based label exists to stand for innovative, experimental and thought-provoking art: “for the head, heart and haunches.” The loving attention to quality and detail extends to the handmade brown cardstock sleeves, individually sewn with red thread.

"resonant frequencies" is the slow food of spoken word poetry. There are no easy answers here; chew before swallowing.

lisa launched "resonant frequencies" with caro in berlin early in 2009 before returning home to Canada. She’s spending summer of 2009 on a 4-month writing retreat at a fire lookout in northern Alberta.