Since the dawn of time the earliest poets fashioned instruments and paired their eloquent words to those elusive melodies and rhythms drifting about their head and heart. In more recent years, poetry as a form unto itself has gained new prominence and credibility among younger audiences, thanks in part to a burgeoning outcrop of quaint coffee houses percolating up in towns near you. Jim Carroll is still growing more fashionable. Bob Dylan rightfully continues to be celebrated. Shakespeare just received another Hollywood make-over, and even poet without peer T.S. Elliot got his own movie.
Poetry is far from being left out on the fringe.
To be sure he has centuries and centuries of poetic and musical heritage behind him, but rather than sitting on his literate duff waxing on and on in a deliberate dated style, he has created a clever EP's worth of poetry perfectly suited for our time. In fact, as the title suggests, this material marks the passage from our current century into the looming next one. But you'd be mistaken if you expect to see him dryly delivering in some dusty library meeting. On the contrary, Lamont has recited poems on MTV, was featured on the 1994 and 1995 Lollapalooza Tours, and recently opened for one of his biggest influences, Mike Peters from The Alarm. The rock 'n' roll arena is right where Lamont and his art belong, serving as an ideal platform to display his considerable, audience-grabbing skills.