From: The Cassette Mythos, Autonomedia 1990
There used to be a time in Seattlewhen underground bands were furrowing their way hither and yon, making molehills every couple of yards, poking collective heads up in sundry performance places. And though money was scarce for rewarding such activities, everyone liked doing it, poking their heads up, looking for a shadow. Shadows were scarce in those days, which was good, but so was money, which wasn't so good. Thus, many of the groundhogs found that the best way to supplement their meager incomes was to work at a music-canning company called Muzak.
Now, here was a womb for many nascent bubbling ideas. The 1,001 String Haven for Aluminum Symphonettes became an oasis for improvisors, up-and-coming heavy metal glitter mongers, and general cacophoners. It was a beautiful thing. Little did elevator riders know, but those Beatles songs had been assembled by people who enjoyed three distortion boxes on their guitars and volume-wah pedals on their kick-drums. Instrumental music by day, and by night Boeing surplus honeycomb metal dotted these molehillers' dreams all the darned time.
Though the burrowing cacophoners often put their best paw forth to help soothe the savaged nerves of elevator riders, their other best paw was often put into producing tours, recording anthemic mole songs, appearing on radio talk shows, and starting their own record labels--and bit by bit the string haven became more and more deserted. The heyday of burrowing underground personnel began to decline. It was no longer such a beautiful thing.
And today, just a few cacophoners remain, secretly enjoying the aluminum satellite feed, especially when the automation system runs amok. Nothing like Vivaldi on his back with Ol' Blue Eyes on top, crooning about winter wonderlands.
So now the 1,001 String Haven for Aluminum Symphonettes has turned back into the Heaven of 1,001 Accountants, and the molish musicians are few and far between. But those few are still at it, mucking about, hither and yon, by day and by night.
Originally published in Electronic Cottage
Here is her website: Amy Denio and Spoot Music!
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