WILD IRON: New Zealand Poetry Adapted to Song by Lorenzo Bühne

Published by kpodaudio as a book and CD; available in bookshops nationwide

from 19 March 2012, RRP $35.00
Poetry and punk music are unusual companions, but for former punk rock artist Lorenzo Bühne, the poetry of New Zealand has been the springboard to his assimilating into another culture and assuming a new cultural identity.

Wild Iron: New Zealand Poetry Adapted to Song, celebrates the works of many of New Zealand’s pre-eminent literary figures, including Katherine Mansfield, ARD Fairburn, Charles Brasch, Allen Curnow, Fiona Farrell, Sam Hunt, Bill Manhire, Vincent O’Sullivan and Jo Randerson, uniquely translated by masterful musician Lorenzo Bühne.

 The format of the book is designed for listeners to not only hear the music – but to experience the text of the poetry in its original form, in order to reflect on the poem's meaning and Buhne's interpretation. By uniting poems and melody into song, it is Bühne’s hope that poetry will be brought to a wider audience and that those in the literary world will hear them in a new way.

 The release of Bühne’s much-anticipated new album, Wild Iron: New Zealand Poetry Adapted to Song, was received to great acclaim at the 2012 New Zealand Fringe Festival in Wellington.

Wild Iron: New Zealand Poetry Adapted to Song features handsome photographs of vintage letterpress type from Wai-te-ata Press at Victoria University, which has published many of the poets involved in this project. The cover of the digi-book features the intricate avant-garde collage work of Dunedin artist Peter Lewis, whose work is also featured on Lorenzo Bühne’s 2008 album, ‘Buon Giorno’.

About Lorenzo Bühne.

He was born in Naples, Italy and immigrated to Australia as a teenager. He worked as a professional musician throughout the 1970’s and then moved to Los Angeles where, throughout the 1980’s he toured, performed and composed for a wide variety of styles. He has enjoyed being on the charts in countries as diverse as Argentina and England, and has had the opportunity to travel and perform throughout the world. Coined by Billboard Magazine as "the clown prince of punk," and the “four string wizard” by the Rough Guide to Punk, Lorenzo made a name for himself in the U.S. and Europe playing with legendary hard-core band ‘FEAR’ and veteran pop-punkers ‘The Dickies’. After he moved to Wellington in 2003, Lorenzo made an audacious volte-face by releasing two albums of traditional and contemporary Italian music – ‘Sotto Sopra’ in 2005 and ‘Buon Giorno’ in 2008.  Throughout this time he performed regularly with his folk ensemble, ‘Lorenzo e La Cura’.

Although the vast majority of Lorenzo Bühne’s experience is in punk rock and pop, he has had formal training in classical music, including courses in Harmony, Composition, Arranging and Orchestration. In the mid 1980’s he studied Recording Engineering and a few years later started his own studio in Los Angeles where he began recording and producing several musical groups and projects.  After being the first musician-in-residence at the Studios of Key West in 2008, Lorenzo turned his attention to poetry.  This journey has culminated in the release of digi-book and album Wild Iron: New Zealand Poetry Adapted to Song, his most ambitious work to date.


I do wonder what Allen Curnow would think about his famous poem Wild Iron set to music in this way? Bill Manhire wouldn't have trouble with his two poems included as he is used to musical adaptions of his work.
 I must say I played the CD, and followed along with the words from the book, several times and it grew on me each time. Not surprisingly some of the musical treatments appealed to me more than others.