It’s that time of year when a (no longer) young man’s thoughts turn naturally to the Sonic Structures and Enigmatic Episodes of Shipwreck Radio. Read the introduction to this series here.
JULY 10 - LOFOTEN DEADHEAD
The track begins with the opening chimes and welcome distorted to nearly the point of unrecognizability, and then instead of leaving that behind, as many of the other tracks do, it seems to use that initial distortion as the base of the track. That is joined by barely audible gull caws, manipulated to sound more like chirps creep into the background; the initial distortion still churning, until a metallic and electronic scraping tone is added near the two and a half minute mark. The distortion surges at the three minute mark, boiling over, the electronic scrape caught in the maelstrom and chop, the chirp of the gulls circling above like ill omens.
The scraping becomes a buzzing near the five minute mark, cutting through the eddies of the distortion but this break doesn't last long and the distortion swells and crashes by the six minute mark—waves of it breaking upon the shore of the soundscape, the gulls still calling out ominously against the storm. The scraping is gone and we're left with the surges and roils of the distortion until after the nine minute mark when the scrapes make their resurgence, clearer and crisper now as the distortion seethes around it. After the eleven minute mark the distortion splits, and a lighter distortion bubbles on top of the deeper rumbling, like foam on storm waves, the gulls returning to chime their warnings as the track remains tempestuous, refusing to ever give in to quiet or calm until the very last seconds.
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