The Maine Campus

CD: Caesar Pink

By Mario Moretto, Opinion Editor
Posted on 3/26/09 at 2:47 AM EST.

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Courtesy of The Imperial Orgy

Working for the style section of The Maine Campus, we get many CDs in the mail. Usually they're new releases by artists we've at least heard of, but every once in a while, a weird artifact from the past shows up. Lewistown, Penn.'s Caeser Pink & The Imperial Orgy's 2006 opus "All God's Children" is one of those gems.



A little background info, courtesy of the interwebs. The Imperial Orgy is a cross-media art and activism project founded by Caeser Pink, lead songwriter and vocalist on the album.



The band's Web site says, "Whether musically or socially, the Imperial Orgy excludes the prejudiced. The music fan who limits their tastes to a particular style of rock and roll, or who are uncomfortable with a socially open environment, will surely find some aspect of the Imperial Orgy offensive. But for those who have no restraints to hold them back from savoring the feast ... the Imperial Orgy is waiting."



That sums it up better than I ever could. With that in mind, let's move on to the review portion of our programming.



Upon looking at the cover, which features a dinosaur, Mickey Mouse with a Nazi armband and a rather peeved-looking black child with an assault rifle, I thought I was in for lo-fi outsider music or post-punk insanity. Checking out the song lyrics before listening to the album only further supported my assumption. "All God's Children" includes lines such as "Goddamn, I don't understand / How your religion makes you kill a man / Jesus Christ, it just doesn't seem right / All God's children wanna fuss and fight / Holy s--- ain't it time to quit / If that's your religion don't believe in it."



Boy, was I wrong in speculating the sound about to hit my ears.



The first track, "Mickey Mouse World," exposes Caeser Pink's old-timey rock 'n' roll stylings. Caesar's voice is reasonably melodic, and the music is genuine danceable fun rock. There are even sultry female back-up vocals and "woo-ooohs."



All three songs - yes, three, it rings in just under 12 minutes - after the first track follow suit. Catchy pop-rock hooks, surf beats and homage to classic rock icons like Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith fill out this surprisingly fun do-it-yourself album.



The best song, by far, is "Dinosaurs (A True Story)," which may or may not be about a one-night stand with Robert Plant. Enough said.



Of all the words I could choose to describe Caeser Pink & The Imperial Orgy, I would choose "fun." Surprisingly, this album has gotten stuck in my head more than any other album I've listened to for a while. The thinly-veiled political messages aren't anything groundbreaking or shattering, but I'll be damned if it didn't have me tapping my foot and singing "My baby's in love with Robert Plant" at the top of my lungs.

Body Painting Film Shoot

I recently directed a shoot for an experimental film series that I've been working on. They are part of a larger collection of films called "Meditations." The films are black and white and in slightly slowed motion. The idea is that the films are more like moving paintings than a film that you set and watch that tells a story. I call them Meditations because in order to watch them you have to slow your mind down and connect with a certain sensuality within the images.

The subset of films which the shoot was for features artists painting on the bodies of models. The shoot was done in PA. with a female artist painting on a female model. It was a pretty magical experience shooting the film. The experience seemed to really inspire all the participants to further creativity.

Here are a few stills from the shoot. The still were shot and manipulated by Steve Geyer. His work will be featured in an Imperial Orgy gallery exhibition in Manhattan in May. Click on the image to view the full sized photo

Prometheus Bound

Last night we had a rehearsal preparing to start a new recording project. We worked on a new song called Prometheus Bound that came out really nice. It is a complicated song with a lot of parts so I thought it would take a while to pull it together, but it seemed to fall right into place pretty quickly.

To give you an idea of how we work - here is a guitar chart we were working from for the song:






Here are the song's lyrics:

Everywhere I look it's comin' down
The dogs are barkin' but there ain't no sound
I tell the truth even when I lie
Gotta see Jerusalem before I die

I talkin' loud and drinkin' fast
Tryin' to convince myself that good times can last
Got a parade float and a circus tent
But got no money to pay the rent

I stole a flame from the sun
Now I'm livin' life on the run
I guess I made a Devil's trade
But if I have my way he won't never get paid

Chickin Little said it hit his head
Superman yelled out, "Hey, I'm not dead!"
But Shakespeare's sonnets are crumpled on the floor"
And the raven sings "boy, you know the score"

The minister's driving a Mustang car
He says he goin' to heaven it ain't that far
But with the price of gas he can only coast
Instead of heaven he's headin' down below

Swing low swing high
The great one heaves a troubled sigh
Swing high swing low
Tiamat gives birth to the Earth below
Day in day out
We close out eyes and count to ten
Day out day in
We take a breath and start again

Y'know this ain't no reality show
The more is see the less I know
There's robots walkin' everywhere
They been had, but they don't care

I stole my baby a diamond ring
Then packed my bags and sold my things
I went to Memphis to see the king
Got caught up in a dirty low-down scheme

Policeman say I broke the law
But I ain't to blame I swear to god
When the newsman's calling out your name
Innocent or guilty it's all the same

She got candy cotton underwear
She said take a bite, but I don't dare
Now my sweet tooth is comin' loose
I'm diabetic, but my heads already in the noose

The emperor's brand new cloths
Are the latest fashion show
The supermodels strut and they sashay
But there ain't no secrets it's all out there on display

I burned my checks and my credit cards
Out here, life is tough, life is hard
Got caught up in the undertow
From now on baby we pay as we go

I seen those politicians wavin' flags
But I won't take a bullet for that rag
Cause the rich man's pullin' all the strings
He's makin' profit from everything
The rich man's pullin' all the strings
One thing he can't control is these words I sing
One thing he can't control is these words I sing
One thing he can't control is these words I sing