various - The Stone Tape - Analysing A Ghost By Electronic Means
If you’ve never seen The Stone Tapes, it’s well worth a watch over 50 years after it originally came out. The story is of a bunch of audio technicians setting up a workshop in an old stately manor, but end up realising that the traumatic events of the building’s past have embedded themselves into the stone walls. With their new electronic equipment, the crew are able to “play” these fragments back like an audio/visual medium. It’s a fantastic concept that the hammy BBC production style doesn’t distract from. The film from Quatermass creator Nigel Kneale, is a touchstone of both British folk horror and the emergence of 70’s experimental and electronic music. The main characters are audio technicians and they fiddle with various bits of recording equipment, making what would have been otherworldly sounds whilst they were at it, which would have been many viewers first exposure to electronic sound.
This new album The Stone Tape - Analysing A Ghost By Electronic Means is very much a nostalgia piece, a compilation of music by artists using the original film as a touchpoint for instrumental, electronic music. Groups like Broadcast, Boards of Canada and the BBC’s own Radiophonic Workshop are clear touchstones too; vintage synthesizers and equipment are definitely key to the authentic sound that the compilation is trying to capture. And I think it does work, with there being a nice variety of styles here to stop it from sounding too same-y. The opening track “Written In Stone” by The British Stereo Collective has some classic synth sounds, straight off the Blade Runner soundtrack. “Chuffy” by The Hardy Tree is a bit more wistful but still has a nice mix of older sounding keyboards. The short track “Its In The Computer” is maybe the earliest piece that sounds menacing with it’s warbling electronic sounds, and “There Are Words” is the first track to really specifically reference the original film, via cut up samples of the film’s dialogue.
Other unnerving moments come from the track “Vigilamus” from The Souless Party, with it’s dire intonation about the radar facility that will issue the 4-minute warning of a nuclear attack, and “The Strange Beyond” by Drew Mullholland is genuinely creepy thanks to some dark, droning synth sounds. I really like “The Summoning” by Charles Vaughn, which sounds like a broken transmission emanating from some dark place. I think this is a great compilation, which avoids the pitfalls of other similar albums by having the music anchored by a strong identity. The source material is really influential, so all the artists here have created something that doesn’t stray too far from those ideas presented in the movie. Either it’s alternative soundtracks, or using the haunted, forgotten fears of the 1970’s as a leaping off point, Analysing A Ghost By Electronic Means is a really strong collection of unique music.
Other Stuff
Fuck it, let’s have some more scary stuff ‘cos it’s Halloween in 2 days time, and because I steadfast to refuse to acknowledge until a week out. As I’ve said before any companies or individuals who mention Halloween when it’s like mid-August, are getting a slapping.
Most found footage horror is pish, but I did enjoy The Houses October Built as it does maintain it’s believability for a while, unlike most films of the genre:
This new Argentinian horror flick When Evil Lurks might be the best horror film in years, it is full-on and shocking in all the best ways:
Another great Argentine horror experience is the short story collection The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enriquez. The stories are all a kind of modern gothic, taking place mainly in Buenos Aries but I was taken by the story set in Barcelona, where some Argentinian ex-pats are held in the city by the foul stench of dead orphans. Highly recommended:
A pound of flesh for 50p is an art installation by Alex Chinneck; a house made of wax that slowly melts in 30 days. It look very unsettling.
I’ve been listening to these long form YouTube videos a lot this week, either the dark and gritty lo-fi beats from Ill-Advised Records:
Or the long, single drone pieces from Midwich Music:
As for spooky games, I’ve been mostly playing the Dead Space remake which is very good and only lightly dipped my toes into the long-awaited Alan Wake II, but I feel that is the game is going to hold more surprises for me:
Once I’m done with both of them, I’m going to give World of Horror a try, a game I’ve been looking forward to for a while now:
If you’re looking for a book recommendation,