Hovercraft
Experiment Below
»
Hovercraft
Experiment Below
Mute, 1998
RiYL: Glenn Branca, abstract Sonic Youth, early Pink Floyd |
Tossing their new Experiment Below album like a Frisbee up to the front of the room, the band exclaimed, "Maybe it was that Diamond Shiva we smoked last night or the radiation leaking into our practice space, but some freaky shit happened while we were recording this album. Would you like to see?"
Moore chuckled, for he'd seen it all before. But he was willing to give his Seattle instrumental pupils the benefit of the doubt, especially since their previous album, Akathisia, was such a mind-bender.
"Would you like to narrate?" Moore asked the band.
"Sure thing, prof," they replied in unison, marching down to the podium. The lights were dimmed, and guitarist Campbell 2000 plugged Microsoft BrainDump into his noggin so students were able to watch his thoughts as the music began to play.
A foreboding rumble was brought forth during "Anthropod," as ancient humans and the barren, lightless landscape on which they live came into view. The sky vented its proverbial exhaust pipes, as lightning struck the ground and the poor humanoids ran screaming, stricken with fear.
"Phantom Limb" went into a world where guitar tones bend up and down like so much putty and white noise howls at will. The damn limb, Campbell sat in a lab trying to deaden the thing. But the lab was dark and deserted except for him. An oscillatory tone, perhaps a boiler, cycled quietly.
"Transmitter Down" meant contact was lost and morale was low. It was possible to hear what it sounded like when the blasted radio worked. Was that crackle? What the hell? Data flashed on the screen, disappeared and returned.
Understandably confused, we saw Hovercraft wandering aimlessly in search of meaning. A nomad mumbled incomprehensible directions, but not before slipping the whole bunch a healthy dose of Dr. Leary's favorite mind control serum "Endoradiosonde." They were in trouble. Sadie 7 started speaking in tongues.
Tongues were agape as drummer Dash 11 passed out "Benzedrine" to the stupefied students. Oh, it was an amphetamine for sure. Laser tag, anyone?
"To hell with this," Sadie said. It was time for a "Wire Trace." "I've heard that aliens don't like it when you tap their phone lines, but it has such a soothing effect, don't you agree?" she asked aloud. "Is that a call coming in? Turn on the DAT machine!"
By this point the room was coming unglued. Campbell shut down BrainDump and began applying "Epoxy" to all pressure points. Was that his guitar sounding like, er, a guitar? Impossible.
As Campbell finished patching things up, Moore uttered these words. "Hovercraft: I find your free-form freakouts as refreshing as can be. Sadie 7's bass grooves go nowhere in particular, Dash's drumming is wild and crazy and the noises coming from Campbell's axe sound like sonic shrapnel. Why, although this mayhem has some precedence in my own shit, or Glenn Branca's, you're more tweaked than I can ever hope to be at my age. Another job well done, mates."
With that, our trio took a bow and packed up the bong, brimming with the pride of Professor Moore's compliments. The students filed out, grinning and looking forward to their next deep dream.
JONATHAN COHEN | Jonathan Cohen co-created Nude As The News with his Indiana University mates Troy Carpenter and Ben French. When not traversing the globe for business and pleasure, he holds down the fort as a senior editor for Billboard in New York. Stop him and he just may ask, "what for lunch?"