Michael (brother of poet Matthew Zapruder) set poems by a number of Wave-related poets to music, including Joshua Beckman, David Berman, Carrie St. George Comer, Gillian Conoley, Bob Hicok, Noelle Kocot, Dorothea Lasky, Brett Fletcher Lauer, Anthony McCann, Valzhyna Mort, Hoa Nguyen, Sierra Nelson, Tyehimba Jess, Travis Nichols, D.A. Powell, Matthew Rohrer, Mary Ruefle, James Tate, Joe Wenderoth, Dara Weir, and Matthew Zapruder. The result it a quirky, intelligent Indy rock album that explores the ways in which contemporary poetry can be used in musical setting.

As an early subscriber to Michael Zapruder’s new album Pink Thunder, I was lucky to receive in addition to the full-color book and CD a 7″ vinyl record on pink vinyl, limited to 250 copies (it sounds great).

Order your copy directly from the publisher by clicking here.

Here’s a picture of my own copy:

And here’s a video:

Michael Zapruder | Florida (dir Jesse Yules ) from Jesse Yules on Vimeo.

Pink Thunder (book & CD)
by Michael Zapruder
Hardcover / 64 p. / Poetry & Music / $24.95
ISBN: 978-0-9844752-6-1

With contributions from 23 poets, 3 engineers, and over 30 musicians, Pink Thunder presents a musical and lyrical experiment by award-winning songwriter / composer Michael Zapruder, to see what happens when poems are sung instead of spoken. Potent with weird, funny, and singular possibilities, Pink Thunder’s playful and startling songs take their form entirely from the shape of the poems from which they are made. The result is a collection of musical readings both compelling and surprising. You are invited to listen.

This full-color hardcover book contains an artist’s statement by Michael Zapruder with an introduction by Scott Pinkmountain, and comes with a CD containing 22 tracks. The book also features photographs from the recording sessions and the Wave Poetry Bus Tour and hand-lettered versions of the poems illuminated by Arrington de Dionyso.

Contributing poets include: Joshua Beckman, David Berman, Carrie St. George Comer, Gillian Conoley, Bob Hicok, Noelle Kocot, Dorothea Lasky, Brett Fletcher Lauer, Anthony McCann, Valzhyna Mort, Hoa Nguyen, Sierra Nelson, Tyehimba Jess, Travis Nichols, D.A. Powell, Matthew Rohrer, Mary Ruefle, James Tate, Joe Wenderoth, Dara Weir, and Matthew Zapruder.

Praise for PINK THUNDER:

“Zapruder lets the songs wander, as if he’s creating a melodic new method of storytelling… He builds songs in a Jon Brian-esque style, with Elliot Smith-like sensitivity and raw ache in his vocals, treading ever-so-lightly over tracks of electric guitar, drums, synthesizers, and in some cases, marimba or brass horns.” – San Francisco Bay Guardian

“Zapruder may well have taken the largest step any artist, literary or otherwise, has taken in years toward reminding us why we love poetry . . . Pink Thunder is that remarkable historical happening that’s both a great album and a great poetry collection.” – The Huffington Post

“If Pink Thunder has a message, it’s that the relationship between poetry and music is more elusive, more conditional, than that of traditional lyrics in a song. This is the best thing about the project, the way Zapruder uses his music to mirror, or echo, his own reading of the material, and its emotional effect.” – L.A. Times