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Baudelaire in a Box: Songs of Anguish (EP)

by Curtis Eller

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    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

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  • A unique, hand-made artifact created by Illustrator Jamie B. Wolcott. Each 7" x 7" collector's edition volvelle (or "spinny") is constructed and screen-printed by the artist and includes an instant download of all the music. THE IS A DIGITAL RELEASE.

    Turn the wheel to create your own cantastoria as you listen to four musicalized Baudelaire poems by Curtis Eller's American Circus and New Town Drunks!

    YouTube demonstration: youtu.be/Z_f3EPNP_Qw

    An initial run of 200 of these special items will be created.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Baudelaire in a Box: Songs of Anguish (EP) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days

      $15 USD or more 

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 14 Curtis Eller releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Fusebox Pennies: Collected Singles, Here Comes New Year's Day, This is Christmas Time (1972), Bury the Light, A Poison Melody, 54 Strange Words, Henry Kissinger's Dance Party: Live in the UK, Baudelaire in a Box: Songs of Anguish (EP), and 6 more. , and , .

    Purchasable with gift card

      $57.75 USD or more (25% OFF)

     

1.
The Joyful Dead In the key of Am In rich earthy soil infested with snails I wish to dig my own grave Where I can at leisure, stretch out my old bones And sleep like a shark in the waves For I have a hatred for testaments and tombs And rather than implore the world’s sorrow I’d sooner, while living, invite down the crows To drain all my blood and my marrow I’d sooner, while living, invite down the crows To drain all my blood and my marrow Oh Worms! Black comrades, deaf and blind Take this dead body sinking down, joyful and free I leave this body to you….wanton philosophers You, wanton philosophers You children of rotting soil! So dig through my ruin without remorse Learn what tortures may still haunt the bed Of this old soulless body, dead among dead Dead among dead This old soulless body, dead among dead Dead among dead
2.
LE VAMPIRE You, who like a dagger ploughed into my heart with deadly thrill, with deadly thrill, with deadly thrill. You, who stronger than a crowd of demons, mad, and dressed to kill, and dressed to kill, Of my dejected soul you have made Your bed, your lodging, and domain. To whom I'm linked as a convict to his chain, Or as the gamester to his dice, the drunkard to his dram, the carrion to its lice. I curse you. I curse you. I curse you. Oh I wish my curse could damn. I have besought the sudden blade To win for me my freedom back. Perfidious poison I have prayed To help my cowardice. Both poison and the sword Disdained my cowardice, and seemed to say You are not fit to be unchained From your damned servitude. You imbecile! since if from her empire We were to liberate the slave, You'd raise the carrion of your vampire, By your own kisses, from the grave.
3.
The Albatross In the key of Bbm Sometimes to amuse themselves the men of the crew Snare and albatross, those vast sea birds That indolently trail behind the ship As they glide over the deep and bitter blue As they glide over the deep and bitter blue Scarcely have they pulled them to the floor Thos fallen kinds, clumsy and ashamed Pathetic as they drag their great, white wings Worthlessly behind like drifting oars As they glide over the deep and salty blue As they glide over the deep and salty blue As they glide ofer the deep and salty blue As they glide over the deep and salty blue Well those soaring travelers flounder on the deck Once so beautiful, now comical and weak And the sailors lurch about like crippled beasts upon the waves And they hsove a burning pipe under his beak The poet is like the prince of the clouds Who haunts the storm and mocks the archer’s bow Imprisoned on the earth by the weight of heavy wings Exiled here among the jeering crowds As they glide over the deep and salty blue As they glide over the deep and salty blue As they glide ofer the deep and salty blue As they glide over the deep and salty blue
4.
ALWAYS THE SAME (SEMPER EADEM) Whence, ask you, does this strange new sadness flow Like rising tides on rocks, black, bare, and vast? For human hearts, when vintage-time is past, To live is bad: that secret all men know. An obvious sorrow, with no mystery, shown, Clear as your joy, to everyone around. O curious one, seek nothing more profound, And speak not, though your voice be sweet in tone. Hush, ignorant! Hush, ignorant soul that's still enraptured, And mouth of childish laughter, neatly captured. Death pulls us more than life, with subtle wile. Oh let my thoughts get drunk upon a lie, And plunge, as in a dream, in either eye, And in their lashes' shadow sleep awhile.

about

BAUDELAIRE IN A BOX
Jamie B. Wolcott / Curtis Eller's American Circus / New Town Drunks

The Inspiration:
Theater Oobleck's "Baudelaire in a Box" is a serialized recasting of 19th century French poet Charles Baudelaire’s "Les Fleurs du mal" that revives the ancient art of cantastoria* for a new century.

The Project:
This articulation of "Baudelaire in a Box" is a collaboration between three unique and mercurial North Carolinian artists.

The Music:
Herein we find four poems from Baudelaire's haunting classic translated into English and set to original music by North Carolinian musical eccentrics, Curtis Eller's American Circus and New Town Drunks. These musicalizations were performed live as part of Baudelaire in a Box, Episode 4: Bad Luck.

The Art:
These songs of anguish are brought to life by Jamie B. Wolcott's original, clockwork constructions. Each hand-made, screen-printed volvelle* or "spinny" illuminates the grim imagery described in the music. Turn the wheel and watch as horrors beset the heart of this poor tormented soul.

Dig Deeper:
Please visit the following websites for more work from these artists.
- Theater Oobleck: baudelaireinabox.wordpress.com
- Jamie B. Wolcott: www.jamiebwolcott.com
- Curtis Eller's American Circus: www.curtiseller.com
- New Town Drunks: www.newtowndrunks.com

credits

released May 27, 2015

Curtis Eller: banjo & lead vocal
Dana Marks: harmony vocal
Shea Broussard: harmony vocal
Louis Landry: drums, accordion, glockenspiel, keyboards, vocal
William Dawson: vibraphone
Douglas Vuncannon: upright bass
Joseph Dejarnette: electric bass

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Joseph Dejarnette
Artwork by Jamie B. Wolcott

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Curtis Eller Durham, North Carolina

Curtis Eller is a banjo player, songwriter and rock & roll singer who's songs describe a dreamlike vision of American history where all points in time have collapsed into one. A twenty-year show business veteran, Eller has developed a devoted international following with his band, The American Circus. ... more

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