The Fall of America Volume II, a musical tribute to Allen Ginsberg to benefit Pen America will be released digitally as well as on CD and vinyl on October 6, 2023, via Allen Ginsberg Recordings. The album features performances by Ai Weiwei, Philip Glass, Anne Waldman, Thurston Moore With Saul Williams, Devendra Banhart, Miho Hatori, Jack Dangers, Yoni Wolf, Fennesz & Taylor Deupree, Stephen Hillage & Miquette Giraudy, Kai Campos & CJ Mirra, Dj Spooky / Aka That Subliminal Kid Feat Antoine Drye, and more. Ai Weiwei's "Hum Bom!" is available for streaming now.
LISTEN TO AI WEIWEI'S "HUM BOM!"
PRE-ORDER THE FALL OF AMERICA VOLUME II (DIGITAL)
PRE-ORDER THE FALL OF AMERICA VOLUME II (VINYL)
Fall of America Poems published by City Lights Books in San Francisco, covers the years 1965-1971 when Ginsberg was crisscrossing the country, exploring a system of composition by narrating into the portable reel-to-reel Uher that Bob Dylan had gifted him.
"In 1965, Ginsberg began planning an ambitious project, a book of thematically connected poems, a collection that 'discovered' America in poetry similar to the way Kerouac’s On the Road had explored the country in prose. The Vietnam War would be a constant presence overhanging Ginsberg’s travel writings like a darkening shadow affecting daily life in the country. It would be a study of contrasts: natural beauty slammed up against an ugliness that rose out of the tensions of violence.
The public’s polarized dialogue over Vietnam and, earlier in the decade, the civil rights movement, convinced Ginsberg that America was teetering on the precipice of a fall."
- Michael Schumacher, from Introduction to The Fall of America Journals 1965-1971
Digital Track Listing:
Ai Weiwei with O Future & Aliah Rosenthal - Hum Bom!
Anne Waldman and Fast Speaking Music - Pentagon Exorcism
Thurston Moore feat. Saul Williams - A Prophecy
Kai Campos & CJ Mirra - Bixby Canyon
Devendra Banhart - Dear Queer Bar
Jack Dangers - Holy Ghost on the Nod Over the Body of Bliss
System 7 - Sonora Desert Edge (The Abyss)
WHY? - Death on All Fronts
Seb Taylor - Over Denver Again
Fennesz & Taylor Deupree - Guru
Ashes (Bill Laswell, Eraldo Bernocchi & Reeno) - September on Jessore Road
Oliver Ray and No Land - Cremation Piece (On Neal’s Ashes)
Dave Harrington & Will Epstein - Pertussin
Miho Hatori - Iron Horse (The Universe is Empty)
Philip Glass - Have You Seen This Movie?
Vinyl Track Listing:
Side A:
Ai Weiwei with O Future & Aliah Rosenthal - Hum Bom!
Anne Waldman and Fast Speaking Music - Pentagon Exorcism
Thurston Moore feat. Saul Williams - A Prophecy
Kai Campos & CJ Mirra - Bixby Canyon
Jack Dangers - Holy Ghost on the Nod Over the Body of Bliss
System 7 - Sonora Desert Edge (The Abyss)
Side B:
WHY? - Death on All Fronts
Seb Taylor - Over Denver Again
Ashes (Bill Laswell, Eraldo Bernocchi & Reeno) - September on Jessore Road
Miho Hatori - Iron Horse (The Universe is Empty)
Philip Glass - Have You Seen This Movie?
Bonus Download: Dj Spooky / AKA That Subliminal Kid feat Antoine Drye -
Beginning of a Poem of These States
