Music Is Dying Now: Steven 'Jesse' Bernstein

You have GOT to hear this!

Sub Pop released Prison in February of 1992, and only one track, "No No Man (Part One)," was completed before Bernstein took his life. Bernstein's readings were recorded from 1990-1991, and three of these poems were recorded in his home studio. The readings were set to "soundscapes" made by producer/composer/musician Steve Fisk. The backing tracks often sounds like bad metal or cheesy synth-jazz, but somehow this music compliments Bernstein's sardonic poetry perfectly. On tracks like the brutal "Face," there is a touch of ambient noise gurgling at just the right parts in the background. Prison is a challenging tour de force. ©

***

Prison is a spoken word album with jazz, ambient, and hip-hop break beat instrumental accompaniment that is lipstick on a pig sty.

This is disturbing material, not the most outrageous, but because of the stale rage of Bernstein’s words and voice in concert. "Face" being the most psychotic, not only for the intense language, but as much for the public service announcement by Bernstein at the beginning stating that "The following is pure fiction / Actually, I have been handsome and popular all my life" before the deluge of traumas flooding in with "there has always been something wrong with my face" followed by the chilling refrain of his name done in a depraved impersonation of his mother as he heard her call him when he was a child, "STEVIE! / THERE'S STEVIE! / LOOK IN THE MIRROR, STEVIE!" The rest of the track digs deeper into places most goth kids merely attempt with some pins, leaving one lasting impression near the end of the track when Bernstein discovers the faces of other people at a "gruesome state hospital in California...[had] far uglier faces than [his]," that they could be so "ghastly [he] couldn't look at them without wretching." Someone else has what you have plus a headache, or in this case are plain worse off then you. With "Face" aside, the rest of the album can be humorous and insightful on the human condition such as the sexualized "No No Man" or the technological poverty of "More Noise Please". ©

***

Something of a legend in Seattle circles, both for his material and his suicide three years before a more notorious self-killing by a former labelmate, Bernstein's posthumously assembled record can actually be considered a collaboration between himself and Northwest music figure Steve Fisk. Fisk had only completed musical accompaniment for one full track before Bernstein's death, but had already won approval from the spoken word artist to continue with the rest. The end result is stunning and unnervingly appealing, arguably superior to the similar, higher profile collaboration between Bill Laswell and William Burroughs (the latter of whom Bernstein admired deeply; a photo of the two appears in the album artwork). Fisk's varying arrangements match Bernstein's drawling, quietly threatening tales perfectly, alternately sprightly and disturbing as his readings continue. Even the most relative ambient backings, such as the low rumblings and keyboards on "More Noise Please," have an undertone of unease. Given Bernstein's lack of input in the arrangements, things should feel more stilted than they are, but Fisk never forces the rhythm to Bernstein's readings. Sometimes things take a jazzier tip, thus the opening "No No Man (Part One)" and "This Clouded Heart." More often Fisk conjures up dark, threatening funk/hip-hop not that far from what Tricky would eventually be famous for. "Morning in the Sub-Basement of Hell" is particularly fierce, Bernstein describing a thoroughly scuzzy domestic situation in such detail that Charles Bukowski would appreciate while the beats and bass charge on. At points Fisk treats Bernstein's vocals with echo or distortion for effect, but most often he lets the speaker's voice through clearly, his often violent images cutting straight through to the listener even as the music might be getting the listener moving. The most chilling moments come on "Face" -- Fisk introduces only very subtle elements as Bernstein pitilessly details a humiliating, horrifying series of childhood incidents. ©

***

Steven Jesse Bernstein was a drug addled mentally ill monster of a poet, channeling his rage and pain into word to feel okay in his day to day life. His poetry, though often very grim and vulgar, was Bernstein's way of confronting the reality of his situations in a way that showed others like him that there was someone else with feelings one may be too afraid to say in polite society. He described himself as "...a war correspondent, and sent his dispatches from Hell to shake up the souls of the over-comfortable", and that he was, as a gifted spokesman for the outcast and insane of the streets.

The details of his real life were a bit hazy. From what people have been able to understand, he was born in Los Angeles, was declared mentally insane and placed into state care at an asylum, and eventually made his way to Seattle. In the 80's and early 90's, he made his way to Seattle and established a life within the city’s art scene. This album was a small taste of his infamous live spoken word shows. Noted regulars of Steven "Jesse" Bernstein's spoken word/poetry shows included Kurt Cobain and director Oliver Stone. His live shows in Seattle were known to be wild occasions where Bernstein would read poetry like a mad man and throw anything from beer bottles to his own wallet at hecklers and admirers alike.

Originally meant to be performed live in front in a prison housing special offenders, it was instead turned into a studio recording with slight jazz and ambient music to punctuate mood due to the inability to record at the prison. During the music arrangement of the album Bernstein, filled with near constant pain due to a lifelong illness, coupled with his mental illnesses, took his life shortly before the album was released. The result is the only recording of Bernstein's poetry, which range from esoteric beat poetry to ultra descriptive ten minute long stories of how his hatred of his own face and identity caused him to go insane as a young boy. His use of flow and description are multifaceted, fast paced, and will leave a divisive split of those who cannot stand to hear him drone on, or those who are enamored with his at times frank, uncensored, darkly humored, and always all too real perspective. ©

wikipedia article