Voices in the Dark

In this episode of I Scream Sunday, we explore the darkness. In winter, and in space, the days are short and the nights are long. In the darkness, we hear voices… Cousin Silas: “Voices” from Twang 007 Dan Pound: “Thunder Voices” from Door Beyond Time Cotton Blossom Band: “Voices in Outer Bass” from Soulshining Jim Ottaway: “Astral Voices” from Deep Space Blue Lutz Thuns & Wolfgang Gsell: “The Silent Disappearance of Your Inner Voice” from The Moon is Low Medicine Man: “Coma Voices” from The Ether Mark Mahoney: “Voices Within the Solar Stream” from Beyond the Vaulting Sky REMY: “Silent Voices” from Exhibition of Dreams (10th Anniversary Remaster) The live set this week is inspired by the symphonic poem Isle of the Dead by Sergei Rachmaninoff. He was a groundbreaking composer. It’s in an unusual time signature — 5/8 — which feels like the unsteady rocking of a boat. The work was in turn inspired by the painting of the same name (Die Toteninsel) by Arnold Böcklin — the rocking is relevant. When I was broadcasting with public radio stations (mmpph) years ago, it became one of my favorite works, and the recording that introduced me to the work included the Böcklin painting on the cover. If you’re not familiar with it, the painting shows a small boat being rowed by a hunched, dark figure. The passenger, a newly passed soul, stands at the bow, entirely covered in a white robe. There is not much detail to the figures. They are heading away from the viewer, toward an imposing island of rock and dark trees, with passages cut into the rock like ancient dwellings. I was fascinated: the image was not frightening at all. It was instead serene, silent, a little chilly, and utterly calm. It was, to me, a beautiful depiction of the beginning of the afterlife. The poem I read was something I wrote earlier in the day when looking out at the grey near-winter sky: Voices in the Dark The cold is everywhere, The days short And the nights ever longer. Darkness seeps into my soul Like the chill in my bones. The cold grey sky has become My comfort, my confessional, My keeper of secrets — My guide into the void. The dry leaves rattle Like chained ghosts In the night wind. They whisper their sorrow, A desolate cacophony of dispassionate, bloodless voices, Unaware of the myriad souls Brushing past them On their way to the deep earth. Post-live tracks: Bing Satellites: “The Eternal Dark” from Twilight Sessions volume 7 Robert Scott Thompson: “Nights, Darkest to Fall” from Alphabet of the Trees