Lawrence Ytzhak Braithwaite
Encyclopedia
Lawrence Christopher Patrick (aka Ytzhak) Braithwaite (born March 17, 1963, died 14 July 2008, aged 45) was a novelist, spoken word
artist, dub poet, essayist, digital drummer and short fiction
writer.
Born in Montreal
, Quebec
, he has been called “one of the outstanding Canadian prose writers alive” (Gail Scott) and linked to the "New Narrative" movement, a term coined by Steve Abbott.. Author of the legendary cult novel Wigger,
Braithwaite's work has been praised by Dodie Bellamy
for its "sublime impenetrability". and is fueled by a modernist and Fredric Jameson
-influenced late modernist approach to writing and recording. His work draws influences from the musical and social realism
of punk rock
, opera
, musique concrète
, noise
, hip hop, rap, industrial
, black metal
, country music
and dub
.
Braithwaite utilized the intensity of the New York City
No Wave
scene and the Los Angeles
and Montreal hardcore punk
music subculture
s to compose his narrative
. His family has laid him to rest in Notre-Dames-des-Neiges Cemetery, Montreal, Quebec.
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
artist, dub poet, essayist, digital drummer and short fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
writer.
Born in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, he has been called “one of the outstanding Canadian prose writers alive” (Gail Scott) and linked to the "New Narrative" movement, a term coined by Steve Abbott.. Author of the legendary cult novel Wigger,
Braithwaite's work has been praised by Dodie Bellamy
Dodie Bellamy
Dodie Bellamy is an American novelist, nonfiction author, journalist and editor. Her work is frequently associated with that of Dennis Cooper, Kathy Acker, and Eileen Myles...
for its "sublime impenetrability". and is fueled by a modernist and Fredric Jameson
Fredric Jameson
Fredric Jameson is an American literary critic and Marxist political theorist. He is best known for his analysis of contemporary cultural trends—he once described postmodernism as the spatialization of culture under the pressure of organized capitalism...
-influenced late modernist approach to writing and recording. His work draws influences from the musical and social realism
Social realism
Social Realism, also known as Socio-Realism, is an artistic movement, expressed in the visual and other realist arts, which depicts social and racial injustice, economic hardship, through unvarnished pictures of life's struggles; often depicting working class activities as heroic...
of punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, musique concrète
Musique concrète
Musique concrète is a form of electroacoustic music that utilises acousmatic sound as a compositional resource. The compositional material is not restricted to the inclusion of sounds derived from musical instruments or voices, nor to elements traditionally thought of as "musical"...
, noise
Noise
In common use, the word noise means any unwanted sound. In both analog and digital electronics, noise is random unwanted perturbation to a wanted signal; it is called noise as a generalisation of the acoustic noise heard when listening to a weak radio transmission with significant electrical noise...
, hip hop, rap, industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
, black metal
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
, country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
and dub
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
.
Braithwaite utilized the intensity of the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
No Wave
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
scene and the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and Montreal hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
music subculture
Subculture
In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.- Definition :...
s to compose his narrative
Narrative
A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...
. His family has laid him to rest in Notre-Dames-des-Neiges Cemetery, Montreal, Quebec.
Anthologies
- Role Call: A Generational Anthology of Social & Political Black Literature & Art
- Dodie Bellamy and Kevin Killian's Mirage #4/Period(ical)
- Bluesprints: Anthology of Black British Columbian Literature and Orature *Redzone zineZineA zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....
, - Of the Flesh: Dangerous Fiction
- "Vanilla Primitive".http://www.simonsellars.com/sleepybrain/vanilla-primitive in the e-journal Sleepy Brain
- Nocturnes 3 Review of the Literary Arts 2005
- Biting the Error: Writers Explore Narrative
- Sidebrow e-journal.http://www.sidebrow.net/2006/a047braithwaite.php and http://www.sidebrow.net/2006/a006braithwaite.php
- New Standards: The First Decade of Fiction at Fourteen Hills.http://newpages.com/bookreviews/archive/reviews/newstandards.htm
- The World Crisis Web (ed. Danny Dayus) Revolution is Bloody
- Black Ice. http://www.altx.com/profiles/archives/instantfix/goodvi.html
- The Rain Review of Bookshttp://www.rainreview.net/rain-040205.html
Recordings
- Logopolis with The Killing Flaw
- Good Violence. D.U.N.
- How fast Does Light travel (for George Scott 3rd, James Chance and Lil G).http://radio.indymedia.org/news/2005/10/7255.php
- Olivet (H.A.T.s in the Square) (featuring Intifada Al Ard).http://radio.indymedia.org/news/2006/07/10440.php
- Unnerstated (Downpressin) from Hurricane Angel "Luckily I Was Half Cat"
- En Fins (Clichy Sous Bois) with Tolan McNeil (AKA The Giver).http://www.upstartradio.com/Links.html
- London bomb sensation (hoffman sub dub the samo samo) lord patch vs david patrick
- Unnerstated (acapella) in Sean LennonSean Lennonis an American singer, songwriter, musician, guitarist and actor. He is the only child of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. His godfather is Sir Elton John.-Early life and education:...
's Upstart Radio in MindwalkMindwalkMindwalk is a 1990 feature film directed by Bernt Amadeus Capra, based on his own short story, based in turn on the book The Turning Point by his brother Fritjof Capra, the author of the book The Tao of Physics....
31: Driving to Baghdad - En Fins (Clichy Sous Bois) in Mindwalk 42: Henry, Ann Coulter & the FCC.http://www.radio4all.net/pub/archive2/07.01.07/lennonvideo@sbcglobal.net/1249-1-20060618-mindwalk_20060617.mp3
- Just A Sect For Whiteboys In Afrika