| Allan Moon | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Also known as | CANPO |
| Born | January 6, 1976 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Folk, blues, rock, pop, dance, lo-Fi |
| Instruments | Vocals, Guitar |
| Labels | Songbird |
| Website | www.allanmoon.co.uk |
Allan Moon (Hebrew: אָלֵן מוּן) (born January 6, 1976) is a Canadian / Israeli Artist, Poet, Singer-Songwriter and Producer.
Contents |
Moon was born in Toronto, Canada and grew up in New York City. In 1992, Moon emigrated to Israel and settled in Tel Aviv at the age 17. He currently lives in the Galilee region of Israel.
Upon arriving in Tel Aviv, Moon broke into the English language poetry scene,[1] organizing and participating in readings and underground performances reminiscent of the Beat Generation poets. His poetic style was very raw, druggy, containing many sexual innuendos, often compared to William S. Burroughs.
"...Moon's poems are authentic photographs of written experience as a kind of sustained ecstatic fictional, (auto)biographical experience. Moon sort of milks an orgasm in his best poems, and leaves the technique floundering for a philosophy. His work contains none of the moral/linguistic imperatives of Bernstein, nor the violent ejaculations of Burroughs, and in it's [sic] own right becomes a poem distinctly his own." - by Elazar from a preface to ARC 15 - Journal of the Israel Association of Writers in English'[2]
In 1997, Moon published his first book of titled Word Felon, a collection of poems from 1992–1996 which he had been performing with. The poetic style of Felon, was language deconstruction, broken rhymes and freestyles, which were undoubtedly inspired by his growing up in the rap culture of 1980s New York City. Most of the poems’ dealt with a dark portrayal of underground big city culture, drugs, sex and personal alienation, through the eyes of a lost boy. After Word Felon, Moon focused on mixed-media art experiments; combining art, photography, graphic design and poetry. These works would finally see light in 2002 under the project title: Phoetry, Moon’s coining for Photo & Poetry.
Phoetry was published as a book which coincided with an art exhibition of the same name. The book contained poems and their visual interpretations, in the form of photographs, graphic designs and sketches. The exhibition ran in two galleries in Tel Aviv from 2002 through 2003, and it featured “blow-ups“ of the visuals in the book. While the poetic nature of Felon came off as adolescent and confused, Phoetry found Moon more mature and reconciled. The poems were colored with love, relationship and a new found affection of nature.
In 2002, Moon moved out to the Galilee region in Israel and turned his focus to songwriting. His musical background began as a child learning saxophone in the NYC Conservatorium, later moving on to play guitar and keyboards which had accompanied early experiments with spoken-word and music.
“My first instrument was the saxophone. It was in the 80's and it seemed like every song had a sax solo (and also Bowie started out playing sax.) But, I had to carry it around mid-Manhattan to my teacher's place, and when I started smoking I just couldn't play it or lug it anymore “ – Allan Moon
His first musical release was a 5 song demo in 2006 which included Song of the Wind (that would later be his signature song) and a hidden tracked acoustic cover version to Billy Joel’s Uptown Girl. The demo paved the way to his first full length album Song of the Wind.
Song of the Wind was released in 2008 and saw Moon’s songwriting as a direct progression from his poetry coupled with country life. The album was characterized by acoustic guitars and Moon’s soft, almost breaking voice, reminiscent of Neil Young. The album received favorable reviews,[3] the magazine Americana UK compared his writing to that of Nick Drake and John Martyn.[4]
"...Very straight ahead, personal, even disturbing at times. I liked "Song of the Wind" a lot. It's such a sad song, delivered so delicately. The images of loss are really poetic, and each one tells a complete story in two lines. Very strong stuff ..." - David Kahne – Producer[5]
The album featured Uri Brauner Kinrot (Boom Pam) on electric guitar and Yogev Samina (Tippa Irie, Alexander O'Neal, Carroll Thompson) as recording engineer.[6]
In 2009, Moon released two very different singles from Song of the Wind and from each other. The first single Do Your Dance was a foul-mouthed night-club account, released under pseudonym CANPO Moon’s electro-folk alter ego.[7] The song, which Moon had written several years earlier, was treated to an electro-dance backdrop by musical producer and co-writer Ziv Familia. Later in 2009, saw the release of The Art of Rolling, produced by Tamir Muskat and Adam Scheflan. Muskat is the founder of acclaimed gypsy rock band Balkan Beat Box.
Following his debut release Song of the Wind in 2008, Moon was called upon as musical producer for Yuval Banai’s 4th solo album Me’ever Le’Harim (Beyond the Mountains).[8] Banai is lead singer of Israel’s premier rock band Mashina, a multi-platinum selling act who’s been active since the early 1980’s. In Me’ever Le’Harim, Moon took Banai in a new musical direction, towards folk and Americana, lap-steel guitars and stripped down productions.
Moon is credited with writing 3 songs on Banai's "Me'Ever Le'Harim" and 2010 will see the release of Boom Pam’s third studio album, on which Moon is credited with writing 2 songs: Light Up and U R Mine.
Allan Moon and the Stars
Though rarely performing live, Moon maintains a longstanding relationship with his band members (aka The Falling Stars)[9] who appear on his recordings and occasional live shows. The Stars are Uri Brauner Kinrot on Guitars, Uzi Feinerman on Guitars, Adam Scheflan on Bass and Ram Gabay on Drums. Individually and collectively, they are also members of the bands Boom Pam, Firewater, Eatliz, Balkan Beat Box, Pezz, The Ramirez Brothers, The Fluorescents and No Regrets For Our Youth.
| Title | Format | Year | Label | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEMO | EP | 2006 | Songbird | Allan Moon |
| Song of the Wind | LP | 2008 | Songbird | Allan Moon |
| Yuval Banai / Me'Ever Le'Harim | LP | 2008 | 8th Note | Allan Moon |
| Do Your Dance / CANPO | SP | 2009 | Songbird | Ziv Familia |
| The Art of Rolling | SP | 2009 | Songbird | Tamir Muskat & Adam Scheflan |
1997 Word Felon
2002 Phoetry