Boiling Point -- THE SOUNDCARRIERS

A new release from Ghost Box coming our way in May: "Entropicalia" by The Soundcarriers. Video by Julian House.

The Rough Windows Radio Hour Investigates The Fucked Up Beat

This is a special two-hour edition of The Rough Windows Radio Hour: an interview with Eddie Palmer and Brett Zehner of the fantastic recording project called The Fucked Up Beat.

"Beautiful Darkness" by Fabien Vehlmann and Kerascoet

I don’t do reviews, but I do like to write about things that I enjoy. And I enjoyed the graphic novel “Beautiful Darkness” very much. Comics critic Rob Clough does a very good job describing “Beautiful Darkness” here. If you like that gorgeous book cover shown above, you should take a moment and read Rob’s review. I’ve read other reviews of this book as well, and I agree with the very positive responses it has gotten. There is one idea that I had about the book that I haven’t seen anywhere else, though, and that is the thing I’d like to contribute. Note: if you haven’t read ‘Beautiful Darkness,’ the following interpretation refers to events in the book that should be considered SPOILERS. My take on the book’s ending was this: The man who lived in the cabin, the man who Aurora goes to live with at the end, was the murderer of the dead girl in the woods. The elves and fairies and sprites that literally came out of the dead girl’s head at the beginning of the book were the hopes, fantasies, and dreams of the girl – her hopes for romance, her innocence -- as seen in Aurora -- and also her darker feelings, her doubts, fears, jealousies, meanness, etc. -- as embodied by practically all the other elves and fairies and animals. As the girl’s body decays, these non-physical remains decay as well. They come out lively, but they drop, they disappear, they die, one by one. At the end, Aurora herself kills off the last remaining bunch of them. It is fitting that Aurora kills off the others. Aurora has indeed, by then, been stripped of her innocence -- because she has become the moment when that rotting girl in the woods realizes that she is dead. That her life is over, and that everything has been taken from her. Aurora goes to “live” with the murderer. He is her ‘prince.’ But only because he stopped the murdered girl from being with anyone but him -- and from ever leaving that beautiful and deadly forest. It has been noted that “Beautiful Darkness” has elements of “Lord of the Flies,” "The Wind In The Willows,"and “The Borrowers.” I would add “The Lovely Bones” to that list in that it, too, depicts the last flickers of consciousness of a murdered girl.

Investigates Strange Weather Patterns and the UFO Cults of Cold War Nevada

'Investigates Strange Weather Patterns and the UFO Cults of Cold War Nevada' by The Fucked Up Beat starts with a crackly recording of a man’s voice: “Alone in a room … 1,000 miles from Earth. My body lay dead before me. And yet, I spoke … and felt … and lived …” Then the music starts – and we’re off to the eerie landscape of strange weather and saucer-filled skies promised in the album’s title. Like last year’s 'Roswell Radio Cult', this Fucked Up Beat album has a vintage sci-fi feel to it. But it’s theme is more specifically defined. The album’s fragments of dialogue and description consist almost entirely of accounts of Cold War UFO experiences. The variety of these voices and the stories they tell give the album the feel of an event -- something that is happening all over, to a large number of people. It’s a bit like Orson Welle’s 1938 'War of The Worlds' broadcast, but with a schizo-noir, trip-hop beat. 'Investigates Strange Weather …' also reminds me of the feeling I get when I listen to 'The Conet Project'. 'The Conet Project' -- a real-life collection of mysterious short-wave radio messages -- gives me a sense of a world that’s wilder ... more dense and complex ... than the world we live our normal lives in. The difference between 'Investigates Strange Weather ...' and 'The Conet Project' though, is that 'The Conet Project' never makes me want to tap my feet or move with the music. As with the aforementioned 'Roswell Radio Cult,' the beats and grooves on this album are imaginative and irresistable. The album is fun too -- as fun as it is eerie. It suggests sinister nocturnal factories, dangerous government programs and ominous coded transmissions. But it also reminds one of old, lovably over-dramatic sci-fi movies, or the amusing ramblings of an eccentric neighbor who knows all about the visitors and exactly what they’re up to. Woman’s voice: …If they are from another planet, I hope they’re from Venus. Man’s voice: Yeah, why Venus? Woman’s voice: Well, then at least they’ll be peaceful. Man’s voice: Yeah, what makes you so sure? Any track on this album is fascinating on its own. But to me, The Fucked Up Beat are painters of sprawling sonic murals. 'Investigates Strange Weather Patterns and the UFO Cults of Cold War Nevada'is an album best heard in its entirety. The picture it paints is huge and fascinating, and the music of The Fucked Up Beat is, as always, entrancing. (cover art seen above by Anya Rymer of Brooklyn)