“Mistah Kurtz - he dead
A penny for the Old Guy”
T. S Eliot – The Hollow Men
“We live as we dream – alone”
Joseph Conrad – Heart of Darkness
As usual with my mixes, this one was meant to be something else at the beginning. I had a vague idea to do a “jazz ambient” mix and started to collect tracks based on that sound. Almost none of these ended up in the final mix. There was going to be no theme or binding idea. Just a jazz ambient mix.
Then one day it occurred to me, “like I was shot with a diamond… a diamond bullet right through my forehead” that the mix had to be about Heart of Darkness. When I understood what the mix was to be about I was surprised it had taken me so long to come to the idea. I had been obsessively watching and studying Apocalypse Now for months and reading around the themes and interpretations. I was possessed by it to some degree and it seemed the only way to exorcise this unhealthy fascination was to make a mix.
Part of the draw to Apocalypse Now had come
from watching the film again for the first time in more than twenty years and
my identification with Martin Sheen’s Willard. I had only ever seen the film
once, a long time ago and didn’t remember much. When I switched it on one night
it was almost out of passive curiosity rather than any important question or
desire. As I had forgotten everything the opening scene overwhelmed and
surprised me and I was almost frightened by what I saw and recognized in it. I
had put the film on at a tough time. Lots of work. Years of work. Long hours,
long weeks. Every week. For a long time. Working almost every day. For years.
Literally. Grinding out progress and emails and wiping out the joy, the
flexibility and the mobility of normal life. Everything was focus, intensity;
mind over body; immobility and concentration. The outside world started to
disappear. Perhaps better given its current state. But too long was spent
inside, crushed against the screen and the words and the calls and racing
against unattainable deadlines. There was gradually nothing to see and nothing
to say. Worse, there was almost nothing to feel. No emotion. “My heart was
empty” to paraphrase Nico in the opening of the mix.
I wanted to change it. I asked to change
it. I looked for ways out of it. But it seemed there was no way and no time.
There was always more to do. Another demand; another problem to solve. There
was nowhere to go. There was almost no weekend, no separation from work, not
even in sleep. I’d often leave work and get home and say to myself: “Saigon.
Shit. I’m still only in Saigon”. Saigon and the war had become the metaphor for
work. Like waking up on Sunday morning in dread. Work. Shit. I’m still only at
work.
Given the schedule and the constant demands
and purpose I found myself drinking too much. A bit every day. One for the
road. One more as a reward for working. Friday was the worst. Usually so tired
and so drained that a social activity was almost impossible. Usually I
preferred to stay at home alone, drinking and listening to music, sometimes in
the dark. “Pretty soon the walls closed in a little tighter.” I once found
myself around midnight seated on the couch in the dark, slumped over a beer with
a raging nausea and headache from booze and extreme tiredness. I’d almost
crashed out, “lost in a Roman wilderness of pain”. Then I watched Apocalypse
Now and saw Sheen’s performance of Willard and understood maybe too much how he
felt as he smashed the mirror and covered himself in blood and cognac. Almost every
day I would wake up and replay the image of the jungle exploding in my mind and
think “this the end”. I´m going to get off the boat. If Apocalypse Now is
something of a confession, then so is my mix.
The mix is also meant to hark as much as
possible to the original book Heart of Darkness by joseph Conrad, one of the
greatest in the English language. The book is a slow crescendo of darkness, a
journey from relative safety to complete danger, from supposed civilized power
and wealth to methodless madness and death. All in the name of colonialism and
wealth. I have tried to restore at little bit more weight to the novel with the
samples where possible to help differentiate from the film as much as possible.
I browsed some eBooks of Heart of Darkness for more dialogue from the books but
did not like the tone of many. There is also the curious literalness (sic) of
eBooks which makes them poor samples. For example, in Conrad’s text and thus
the eBooks is the line “. “"And this also," said Marlow suddenly,
"has been one of the dark places of the earth"”, one of the most
essential lines of the novel (this line is essentially drammatised in the opening
scenes of the film without being explicitly uttered). Much more sample friendly
is the less literal sound bite “And this also has been one of the dark places
of the earth.” One of the other important scenes of the book is also captured
in the mix and is also present in all the various interpretations of Conrad’s
book including the film Aguirre. The scene where there is a deep silence and
only the jungle looking out at the boat and when the boat is suddenly attacked by
“natives” who remain invisible in th jungle is essential. The absurdity of
those on the boat firing blindly into the jungle or making noise with their
guns is one of the most powerful and thematic images of the book.
The film and the mix also draws in some of
Coppola’s literary additions. There is T. S. Eliot’s 1925 poem The Hollow Men which
is prefaced by a quote at the beginning from Conrad’s novel about the death of
Kurtz. Having Brando’s Kurtz read it in the film as an astounding existential
touch, and also adds to a sense of destiny and supernatural to the arc of the
film. This is also supported by the references to the Golden Bough and the
ritualistic, pagan climax. Much has been made of this and Coppola’s insistence
that the film should be seen like the end/beginning and beginning/end of a
periodic cycle like a day, a year, a lifetime. Willard dies at the beginning
only to be reborn to take the place of Kurtz as the Heart of Darkness. The
lines:
“Remember us-if at all-not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.”
are poignant for the film and the novel. The
samples used are actually from Eliot himself as recorded from Youtube. Coppola
would also repeat the existential trick by appearing in a cameo role in the
film directing the action as Willard arrives to meet Kilgore (nominative
determinism again). This is also used in the mix.
Both the book and the film especially refer to the Odyssey, another great boat tale. The boat in Apocalypse now is called Erebus, the Greek deity and the dark region of the Underworld where the dead go immediately after dying and the Playboy bunnies are the Sirens. The scene from the movie at Do Lung bridge where the soldiers try to flee is also a reference to Dante’s inferno.
There is also another famous quote from the
book not used in the movie: “We live as we dream – alone”. There is a sample of
this used as sung by Michael Stipe from R.E.M. just before launching in to
World Leader Pretend from their peak moment on the Green world tour in 1989. The
line is actually from a short acapela cover of We Live as We Dream Alone by Gang
of Four from their 1982 album Songs of the Free. Lucy’s track The Horror for
example is accompanied on the Churches, Schools and Guns album by a track also
called We Live as We Dream.
There is a brief excerpt of Klaus Kinski from the other “river” movie Aguirre – The Wrath of God (1974), also an influence on Coppola. Aguirre was sadly underused in the mix in the end. Hi famous monologue is repeated in the place of Kurtz’s equally infamous snail and razor speech.
“When I, Aguirre want the birds to drop
dead from the trees, then the birds will drop dead from the trees. I am the
wrath of God. The earth I walk upon sees me and quakes. Who follows me and the
river will win untold riches. But whoever deserts…”
In Franciso López’s Hyper-Rainforest, of which
various segments are used throughout, I have used once (during the arrows
scene) samples of a South American bird that can often be heard in Aguirre and
always reminds me of the film. It also appears as a sound in many other films
shot in the jungle. I am convinced it is not found in Vietnam or Cambodia so
its presence in the jungle there in the mix tells me that we are mixing ecosystems
along the way. The is one other real “jungle” track (sic) hidden away in there,
or at least the opening anyway to Deep Blue’s classic Helicopter Tune. Richie
Hawtin/Plastikmans’s Helikopter got a look in but didn’t fit the mould.
Hopefully then, in this way at least the mix is not just a direct facsimile of Apocalypse Now even if it is a rich mine. I stayed as far away from the obvious dialogues as much as possible, but mixed all sources to create some sense of narrative. The need to evoke travel and a sense of progression is also important. Travel is invoked by returning to Willian Basinski’s hauntingly perfect The River I (nominative determinism as described below) and extracts from T. S. Eliot himself reading from his 1925 poem the Hollow Men. Dialogue to drive the narrative is snatched from Apocalypse Now and an Orson Welles radio play from 1938. There are additional samples from the 1939 trailer to his sadly unmade movie of Heart of Darkness, but at least he made Citizen Kane instead. Like the film and the book there should be a sense of going back in time as things progress up river. This is emphasised by the arrow scene and also the GIF RIFF track which has an African feel despite being made by Millie and Andrea, the project of Andy Stott and Demdike Stare's Miles Whittaker. The track is also “colonialist” in fabrication (cultural appropriation to some degree) and used to imply colonialism in the mix. Similarly, adding in Welle’s cries of the dying Kurtz and his blinding by ivory is also important to step back from the film and reinforce that theme.
You will note that I did not use any samples of Nicolas Roeg’s 1993 film Heart of Darkness. I did not find a complete copy and was reduced to watching snippets of Tim Roth as Marlow and John Malkovich as Kurtz, but found the ambience woeful and the staid delivery was jarring against the buzzing old material and Marlon Brando’s astounding macho performance. Michael Gira also makes a fine performance as Kurtz in the mix. Willard is a difficult character to catch as he is the observer, not meant to speak. He is meant to pass through and witness all the horror so as to come back and describe it, like Dante passing through the rings of hell or Homer’s Odysseus voyage home after the Trojan war.
Many of the tracks were given extra attention also because of the added meaning their name adds and several refer directly to the book or the film. Several of the tracks used are also from Houndstooth label compilation “In Death’s Dream Kingdom” which is a line from the Hollow Men.
“Eyes I dare not meet in dreams
In death's dream kingdom
These do not appear:
There, the eyes are
Sunlight on a broken column
There, is a tree swinging
And voices are
In the wind's singing
More distant and more solemn
Than a fading star.”
According to the press release “In short,
the cream of leftfield electronic talent have been given a brief: to take the
phrase “in Death's dream kingdom”, or the whole of TS Elliot's poem The Hollow
Men from which it comes, as inspiration.” It seems only appropriate that some
of those tracks make it on.
The second Diamanda Galas track L'Heautontimoroumenos (Self-Tormentor) is from a 1857 Charles Baudelaire poem. In the French plantation scene there is a French child who is castigated for badly reciting the Baudelaire poem L'Albatros. Perhaps the former is most suited to the themes at hand:
“As ships set out for voyaging,
And like a drum that beats the charge
In my infatuated heart
The echoes of your sobs will ring!”
Diamanda Galas was also used by Coppola in
the soundtrack to his frustrating film Dracula, in one of the final scenes
where the limited acting of Winona Ryder butchers the scene of her possessed by
the fireside. The Rabit track also comes from an album called Les Fleurs du Mal
after Baudelaire’s famous collection of poems.
The overall structure of the mix is based on the interpretation of Criswell. There are seven chapters, with three belonging to the three levels of dehumanisation represented in the film. There are also other chapters for character, set and setting. Criswell’s assessment is astute and finds certain subtle details that are fascinating once exposed. His interpretation of the Lance character is not what I had originally believed and creates such a contrasting, but justifiable position that adds even more wonder to the film.
The End (Marlow)
King Zulu King
The River
Dehumanising Other
Dehumanising Self
Dehumanising Mind
The End (Kurtz)
The mix starts with several different versions of The End. I saw Soap and Skin perform it live at LEV Festival in Gijón a few years ago. It was funny to see that although everyone knows the song, you could tell that most of the audience didn't know what track it was until the vocal started at which point they invariably cheer and woop. The melody alone is not enough or some reason. Part of my fascination with the film was to watch the opening with the music and the jungle just suspended for a long patient time. The first splashes of percussion follow the smoke and the jungle seems to ooze that melancholy fatalism that precedes the napalm strike. The powerless tress forever captured in such a beautiful and devastating last moment. Witnessed and burned into the minds of millions.
There was no place for Karlheinz Stockhausen's Helikopter-Streichquartett (Helicopter String Quartet) although I tried.
The mix ends with Ryoji Ikeda’s track +/- which is a frequency at the edge of hearing more noticeable when gone than present. This is also a trick used in the film during the final scenes. A subtle tension that disappears as Kurtz’s life fades fast and as the boat slips away again to start the cycle anew.
There are 58 tracks in total in the mix
plus additional samples. There are so many small pieces and chopped and changed
tracks that probably there is over 300 small sound fragments assembled into the
final piece.
Dedicated to John “still on the boat” Rossi
and Luca “cha cha né” Maggioni
Track
|
Artist
|
Title
|
Label
|
Year
|
1
|
The Doors
|
The End
|
Elektra
|
1967
|
2
|
Nico
|
The End (álbum versión)
|
Island Records
|
1974
|
3
|
Swans
|
Bring The
Sun/Toussaint L'Ouverture
|
Young God
Records
|
2014
|
4
|
Soap and Skin
|
The End (live in
Salzburg 2012)
|
Youtube
|
2012
|
5
|
The Caretaker
|
Drifting time misplaced
|
History Always
Favours the Winners
|
2017
|
6
|
The Trancendence Orchestra
|
Ampney Crucis
|
Editions Mego
|
2017
|
7
|
Nico
|
My Heart is
Empty (live, in Tokyo 1987)
|
Castle
Communications
|
1987
|
8
|
Nico
|
The End (live,
Rainbow Theatre, 1 June 1974)
|
Island /
Universal
|
2012
|
9
|
R.E.M.
|
World Leader
Pretend (live 1989, Tourfilm)
|
Youtube
|
1989
|
10
|
Swans
|
Bring The
Sun/Toussaint L'Ouverture
|
Young God
Records
|
2014
|
11
|
The Doors
|
The End
|
Elektra
|
1967
|
12
|
Francisco Lopez
|
Hyper-rainforest
|
Self released
|
2014
|
13
|
Coil Presents Blacklight
District
|
Refusal of Leave
to Land
|
Eskaton
|
1996
|
14
|
John Duncan
|
Shortwave 6
|
iDEAL
|
2018
|
15
|
William Basinski
|
The River I
|
Raster Noton / 2062
|
2002
|
16
|
Francisco Lopez
|
Hyper-rainforest
|
Self released
|
2014
|
17
|
Coil Presents Blacklight
District
|
Refusal of Leave
to Land
|
Eskaton
|
1996
|
18
|
Christoph de Babylon
|
Opium
|
Digital Hardcore
Recordings (DHR) / Cross Fade Enter Tainment (CFET)
|
1997 / 2018
|
19
|
Lustmord
|
Part II
|
Soleimoon Recordings
|
1990
|
20
|
Roly Porter
|
Without Form
|
Houndstooth
|
2018
|
21
|
Kolhoosi 13
|
From Comradery
to Sustenance
|
Cryo Chamber
|
2016
|
22
|
Deep Blue
|
Helicopter Tune
|
Moving Shadow
|
1993
|
23
|
Koenraad Ecker
|
Under Glass
Argus Eyes
|
In Aulis
|
2018
|
24
|
Yves Tumor
|
Hope In
Suffering (Escaping Oblivion & Overcoming Powerlessness)
|
Warp
|
2018
|
25
|
Varg
|
Ond_F.T.P.
|
Posh Isolation
|
2018
|
26
|
L/D/R (Lana del Rabies)
|
Submerge
|
Deathbomb Arc
|
2018
|
27
|
Yves Tumor
|
Hope In
Suffering (Escaping Oblivion & Overcoming Powerlessness)
|
Warp
|
2018
|
28
|
Koenraad Ecker
|
L'incendio Genovese (In
memoriam Carlo Giuliani)
|
In Aulis
|
2018
|
29
|
William Basinski
|
The River I
|
Raster Noton / 2062
|
2002
|
30
|
Yves Tumor
|
Perdition
|
PAN
|
2016
|
31
|
Andy Stott
|
Time away
|
Modern Love
|
2014
|
32
|
Lucy Railton
|
Gaslighter
|
Modern Love
|
2018
|
33
|
The Bug
|
Those Tapes Are Dangerous
|
WordSound
|
1997
|
34
|
José Feliciano
|
Susie Q
|
RCA
|
1970
|
35
|
William Basinski
|
The River I
|
Raster Noton / 2062
|
2002
|
36
|
Francisco Lopez
|
Hyper-rainforest
|
Self released
|
2014
|
37
|
Millie and Andrea
|
GIF RIFF
|
Modern Love
|
2014
|
38
|
Coil Presents Blacklight
District
|
Die Wolfe Kommen Zuruck
|
Eskaton
|
1996
|
39
|
Otto Lindholm
|
Cain
|
Houndstooth
|
2018
|
40
|
Francisco Lopez
|
Hyper-rainforest
|
Self released
|
2014
|
41
|
as
|
Trepaneringsritualen manifest
|
iDEAL
|
2018
|
42
|
Lustmord
|
Part V
|
Soleimoon Recordings
|
1990
|
43
|
Rabit
|
Dogsblood Redemption
|
Halcyon Veil
|
2017
|
44
|
Diamanda Galas
|
Εξελόυμε (Deliver Me)
|
Mute
|
1986
|
45
|
Sephiroth
|
Uthul Kulture
|
Cold Meat Industry
|
2005
|
46
|
Diamanda Galas
|
L'Heautontimoroumenos (1857)
(Self-Tormentor)
|
Mute
|
1986
|
47
|
Koenraad Ecker
|
Kurtz
|
Digitalis
|
2014
|
48
|
Keiji Haino
|
“Right Now”
|
P.S.F. / Black
Editions
|
1991 / 2017
|
49
|
Alexander Lewis
|
Back Thread
|
Blackest Ever Black
|
2013
|
50
|
Throbbing Gristle
|
Violencia (The Bullet)
|
Industrial Records / Mute
|
1982 / 2018
|
51
|
Coil Presents Blacklight
District
|
Red Skeletons
|
Eskaton
|
1996
|
52
|
L/D/R (Lana del Rabies)
|
Submerge
|
Deathbomb Arc
|
2018
|
53
|
Swans
|
Bring The
Sun/Toussaint L'Ouverture
|
Young God
Records
|
2014
|
54
|
The Doors
|
The End
|
Elektra
|
1967
|
55
|
Lucy
|
The Horror
|
Stroboscopic
Artefacts
|
2014
|
56
|
Suicide
|
Frankie Teardrop
|
Red Star
|
1977
|
57
|
Pere Ubu
|
Heart of
Darkness
|
Hearthan
|
1975
|
58
|
Ryoji Ikeda
|
+ / -
|
Touch
|
1996
|
Includes additional samples from:
Apocalypse Now (Dir: Francis Fors Copola;
1979); Aguirre – Der Zorn Gottes (Aguirre – The Wrath of God; Dir: Werner
Herzog; 1972), Orson Welles – Heart of Darkness (unmade movie reel; 1939);
Orson Welles – Heart of Darkness (radioplay; 1938); T. S. Eliot reading The
Hollow Men (unknown year).