Dictionary Of Snakes (2013)
Inspired by the 1939 field guide What Snake Is That? by Roger Conant and William Bridges, Dictionary Of Snakes examines how the limbless reptiles have long wound their way into our individual and collective imaginations. In folk tales, they can talk, fly, swim, and change colour; take on talismanic qualities; and make themselves invisible. Both good and evil, they can be harbingers of death or instruments of salvation. All of these aspects are reflected in this collection of poems, musings, riddles, superstitions, and polyvocal portraits, each inspired by a different form of snakelore. Backing Hilary Peach on Dictionary Of Snakes is the Snake Band: Alex Varty, Victor Anthony, and Skye Brooks.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Suitcase Local (2009)
This spoken-word and music fusion is a spooky retelling of the artist’s experiences working as a Canadian welder in the construction and maintenance of power plants south of the border. The poetic narrative and the score —written and performed with guitarist Alex Varty and percussionist Andreas Kahre—weave blues and abstract soundscapes into an eerie and beautiful portrait of place.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Poems Only Dogs Can Hear (2003)
An audiophile recording created with the late multi-instrumentalist and audio guru Pat Morford, Poems Only Dogs Can Hear uses an eclectic selection of ribbon microphones and vacuum tube recording equipment. A collection of short narratives and landscape poems, this debut CD suspends surreal vignettes inside a matrix of music.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Pennsylvania
A dreamy montage videopoem narrating the artist’s experiences working as a Canadian boilermaker in an American power plant.