Joseph Smalkowski aka
Copernicus displays a vocal presence that has a deity-like egotism that wants to warn you of impending doom, telling his cautionary tales through terminology related to physics. An imposing storyteller capable of convincing you that life is hollow and human beings need to look deeper within themselves even down to a molecular level,
Copernicus conjures these brow beatings and serious wake-up calls through a pronounced style of prose, poetry, and spoken word accented by various styles of music that are improvised, but refers through strains of electronica, jazz, blues, and space themes. This is not new, as
Copernicus has released several recordings, hundreds of books, and other media to get his point across. He's very much like a current-day
Arthur Brown, sounding the alarm of our travails and shortcomings with fire and brimstone texts similar to that of a Southern preacher, but without industrial-religious complex trappings. Perhaps the most insightful piece of philosophy on the CD,
"Humanity Created the Illusion of Itself" does refer to a God of nothingness and asks if we are afraid of God in the context of what "they" think over a funky ostinato bass bottom.
"Poor Homo Sapiens" suggest a means of escape from the flesh-contained bubble with tuba and organ in a more organic, folkish strain. The 21-minute
"Revolution!!" is steeped in march, funk, spoken word, existential metaphysics. The remainder of the material obsesses on the sub-atomic makeup of our physicality, glomming on electrons, protons, and neutrons as if they can somehow be improved if we look deeper inside their quarky souls.
"Atomic New Orleans" is poignant from a post-Katrina viewpoint in a rocking blues base with an added vocal chorus. Similarities to
John Cale are unmistakable during
"The Blind Zombies" with circular whirring keyboard synths and a tuneful framework. You hear a stretching of vocal chords and whistling during a distinctly poetic
"The Quark Gluon Plasma" settled by acoustic guitars. This music, directed by
Pierce Turner, for the most part is free flowing, closer to a soundscape that matches the word play very well. It would be wise to know what you are getting into before you experience
Copernicus, and then draw your own conclusions. ~ Michael G. Nastos
