shadows of reindeer - part two

so, in continuing to cast further light upon the facts in the case of 'shadows of reindeer', might i present to you the complete lyrics transcription of the song, replete with extensive hyperlinks to all of the various images, places and times contained therein, that you might get to discover the layers of detail which i attempted to capture in creating a written accompaniment to the astonishing musical composition which AbSUrd assembled for the track. so, sit back, put on your reading glasses, and prepare to journey into a strange, compelling world of myriad paths through psychedelic lands.

shadows of reindeer - text by jamesreindeer

sunken salt plain basilica silhouette tone poem snake bite hazard tundra. marbelled and tiled, baked in kilns. live from the jordanian bedouin triclinium lamb feast doused in hookah smoke and moroccan mint tea paraphanalia. 

head of david. isfahan. mυστικός δείπνος. samarkand. 

clark-nova's clattering. martinelli's clattering. 

watching sunset from the dome of the petran monastry of the masculine dead facing west at sunset. burning incense for hatshepsut. pork bones discovered underneath  the archeological digsite at masada. bradley tanks shooting fire into the west bank death valley kibbutz jonestown compound. 1098. hagia sofia. centipede ingests masonic host in seven day ritual bathed in oil lamp glowing parade, insect grin masquerade polaroid session. shadows of reindeer hang upon the ballustrade.  venetian pirouette and chasse step in ancient trade-route textile luxury. 

high yield junk bond medeci tomb swansong, canto octo. basic face mask transplant, tribal dance. ethiopian rock cut george cross holiest of holys, kerosene soaked ark of the covenant. swampland DDT bi-plane toltec complex, mayan codices calendar senders programme the machine to self destruct. financial district board members black magic cloaks and hats in flames levitate over the grave site of the world trade.

nomadic yemenese wedding ceremony under endless desert skies. ra and set in nile delta, unification of the two lands. heliocentric world view, maize and mead, despotic paths of tamerlane. crawl five hundred miles to die in bethlehem. the elite at play in the twilight of empire. orixa rhythms echo damascus backstreets in the steady half-light of the christian district. remote ministries, outpost and citadel, bees making honey under azure light. yage root hanging dense in mesoamerican cortés viral epicentre under a sinking deep red and amber sky. coca leaf tea in a zurich apartment amidst springs gentle haze. el tio, miners dynamite and fuse wire cyanide air, blood sacrifice to the mountain god and pachamama. geotagging zapatista gravesites, pick axe in the kitchen.

under the setting sun watching the snow melt back in the surrey hills. old world pagan island hand-print standing stones winter solstice festival pyre conflagration. holy lands dead sea hebron, jesrusalem and tiberias gallilee. algebra, algorythm, the shape of the world, ancient islamic scholar archives preserving written history. wolf doctrine blood parasites iraqi programme lets fires rage in the vaults of the worlds heritage in massively public display of total devil man based ignorance and sustained brutality. campires by lakes under lush green forest canopies.

clark-nova's clattering. martinelli's clattering.

so, there we have it. part considered attempt at putting words to the worlds which AbSUrd's music creates, part stream-of-consciouness / automatic writing under the influence of the material. i sincerely hope that this text might offer you a clearer view of  the words themselves , and that it might enable you to better enjoy the psychedelic spiral that is 'shadows of reindeer'. thank you kindly for your time and interest.

keep safe and warm

jamesreindeer 

shadows of reindeer - part one

so, to begin my efforts in detailing the various strands that have occupied my time these past two moons, might i begin with turning attention towards the wonderful new video which bhopal created for the 'shadows of reindeer' song collaboration between myself and the mighty AbSUrd for his debut album 'close to distantly', which we released on decorative stamp last autumn. the video is something of an astonishing psychedelic treat indeed, perfectly capturing the feel and strangeness of the song itself. do be sure to have repeated viewings to catch all of the wonderful layers of detail which bhopal has assembled for this marvelous project.

however. since we are here, might i also take a moment to make further discourse surrounding this piece, or at least the musical aspect, of which i can consider myself to be a co-authority. working with AbSUrd is always something of a ritualistic experience for me. since first hearing his work, specifically since first hearing 'bird irony sleeps' from the debut murmur breeze release, i have felt myself regularly swept up in the beautifully psychedelic meditative space he creates with his work, and how in continual waves the music helps take the mind to strange alternate lands, to such vivid degrees that all one needs to do is put pen to paper and how the words come with such ease. automatic writing at the hand of his music.

still, even by AbSUrd's standards 'shadows of reindeer' was a strange beast indeed. its curiously awkward instrumentation, its heavy lumbering beat, the irregular timing of the drops, the wonderfully enigmatic string lines, that feeling that it might perhaps come apart in one hands under close scrutiny; a wonderfully peculiar piece which lead the mind into a dark spiral of imagery, like burroughs' penny arcade peepshow, projections on four walls of increasingly more surreal and bizarre imagery, with the instrument set painting images of middle-eastern and far eastern lands. my motivation for this track simply to put into words the images which swamped my conscious with each new listen.

another wonderful aspect i find to AbSUrd's work is the perfect sense of freedom in feeling that anything and everything goes, both in turns of AbSUrd's own wonderful trust he bestows on his writers to take the words in any direction they wish, but also in knowing that any listener who is eagerly digesting his music will surely be an adept listener enough to digest so very much more than a few sixteen bars verses and a chorus too on the sermon of simple hip hop. to that end, the lyric sheet for this track is completely uncensored, as i allowed myself the joy of not editing a single line for fear of being too esoteric or simply too 'out there'. to that end, it is perhaps currently the most abstracted song in my humble catalogue, but one that i think thrives rather than suffers for it.

so, before i conclude this small piece, might i again strongly suggest that you allow yourself the time to digest this video once more, and that you investigate or continue to investigate the 'close to distantly' album in its entirety, not to mention both the first and second murmur breeze outings, and that you keenly anticipate future releases from the mighty AbSUrd, including his production work for the forthcoming coffin cutters album as well as the almost still secret talks of our own collaboratory album together. much strange and beautiful music on the horizon indeed.

keep warm, take care

jamesreindeer

returning from the front

gentle readers. might i apologise for the long delay since my last transmission. i have been deeply entrenched at decorative stamp headquarters these past few moons, working night and day on organising the various strands and components that shall make up the forward push of the collective as the spring months slowly emerge from the frozen wintry cold. to that end, there has been little or no time for me to concentrate any specifically jamesreindeer-related activities.

still. all of my activities have been greatly productive and, for the most part have allowed me to be creative in a variety of ways, which has been most rewarding. however, since each various strand is worth detailing in full, i shall refrain from any further detailed revelations in this transmission, suffice to say that i shall be attempting to post a goodly number more reports in the coming few weeks in order to get up to speed with all the latest to-ings and fro-ings... i thank you for your patience and look forward to sharing with you the latest facts in the case anon.

til then, keep safe and warm

jamesreindeer

video evidence from the old cinema

it is with keen excitement that i might now be able to reveal the following video evidence from the wonderful 'rubbert twist & firends' live extravaganza, which occurred at the old capitol cinema in mainz, germany, last september. i was fortunate enough to be invited onstage to join the splendid people that are rubbert twist in performing renditions of two of my own pieces, hailing from the fbcfabric & reindeer album. be sure to sit back and enjoy the spectacle captured in full psychedelic accuracy.

mask of sanity

the only dance i can do

once again, i must extend a big thank you to rubbert twist for inviting me to perform my own set of iron filings and sellotape material, as well as for the opportunity of taking to the stage with them also. here's to many future events in similar veins, and good times to all those that may find themselves involved. ever onwards and upwards then.

keep warm, take care

jamesreindeer

papervehicle and assorted ephemera

dearest readers. again, so much time passing, with so few precious moments to document the happenings. all is a whir of clicking and crackling obsolete machinery here. the midnight oil is burning bright and constant, the plates are all spinning at the edge of control and the thick winter onset is creeping up around the safehouse, threatening to breach the compound.

still, the typewriter keys continue to clatter, the recording equipment continues to preserve events and the decorative stamp ploughs on with great endurance. the papervehicle book and first album re-release are at last upon us. fix yourselves copies directly, for it is surely one of the greatest audio documents in the world of alternative rap music and how the book contains a vast wealth of fascinating facts regarding the case.

on halloween i found myself at the knertz headquarters of oskar ohlson and winterismyname for a gathering of close friends to celebrate the occassion. oskar and ms winter had pulled out all of the stops to turn the location into a full-blown halloween dream-sequence with each room leading us all deeper and futher into a mesmerising hollow of grotesquely curious fairytales.

i was also fortunate enough to be invited to perform a small set, and took the opportunity to play a host of old favourties along with a healthy selection of songs from the iron filings and sellotape release, which are a good deal of fun to play indeed. the rather awesome 'no more fun' from the knertz family also graced us with an unplugged performance, and how splendid it was indeed.

the halloween bash also served as a release party for the wonderful new pumpernickle release, which you simply must secure yourself a copy of. the only sad part being that filkoe could not join us for the festivities, being trapped in north america at the time. how he was very much there in spirit though, his presence could be felt in the cartoonish nightmare in which we were embroiled.

recent weeks have also afforded me the wonderful opportunity of crossing paths with some of the skribble gebibble family on my own adopted-home turf, which was awesome indeed, and how it transpires that i will be paying a visit to oberhausen for an impromptu performance this coming thursday, as well as a new exciting collaboratory plan being in the works.

onwards and upwards then. time is short and i must attend to a host of other bits in pieces, including working on a new raft of vocal guest spots for a host of splendid projects indeed. so, i shall away, but shall indeed endevour to find time to word futher exploits as the winter continues to tighten its grip around us. til then...

keep safe and warm

jamesrindeer

clattering keys and the dropping temperature

gentle readers. how it has been a whole lunar cycle since my last transmission. how the season has turned from the warmest indian summer into the coldest onset of winter since i was last able to make time to post some news, and how extraordinarily busy a time it has been indeed. although, in truth, most of the events have been ostensibly decorative stamp, rather than jamesreindeer-related, it has still been a raft of splendid progress by any account.

for the most part, my activities this last month have been directed towards editing and overseeing the completion of the digital book that shall be accompanying the re-release of the astonishing first album from papervehicle on decorative stamp, and how it has been such a pleasure indeed. we have certainly been able to put together something really special for sure. hovering at a little more than eighty pages, the book contains a wealth of information surrounding the facts in the case of the first album, in-depth interviews, song notes, a full lyrics transcription, exclusive photographs, as well as protracted introductory piece from my own fair hand. be sure to fix yourself a copy when the 31st october release date rolls around.

there has also been a wealth of behind-the-scenes activity occurring with further forthcoming releases on the stamp, the closest of which must surely be the vinyl release of the staggering 'foreshore reverie' from murmur breeze, and how it is something beautiful indeed. as well as being a thing of physical beauty itself, packaged gloriously and featuring full-colour artwork from james p honey, the songs themselves have been re-ordered and present a different, but equally satisfying version of the wonderful second full-length release from the most treasured duo.

there has also been much talk and discussion surrounding the order and selection of releases that we shall be presenting this winter, and what a wonderfully diverse and affecting bunch they shall be. without wishing to give too much away at the moment, it does rather look as if the winter will indeed be seeing a selection of more melancholic and darker releases on the stamp, featuring some absolutely incredible material indeed, and how i can indeed confirm that 'decorative stamp volume two' really is shaping up to be something rather magnificent itself. be sure to be poised for a whole host of wonderful new music on the near horizon.

still, for my own part, i am indeed busy chipping away at a host of my own creative enterprises, and do keenly endevour to present you with some more specifically jamesreindeer-related information as soon as possible. i can assure you that there are a host of splendid pieces in the works, and how, as time slowly permits, i will be sure to provide some much clearer information as to quite how and when to expect them. here's to the onwards and upwards indeed.

still, lastly, and on behalf of the whole mysterious collective, i would like to extend great thanks to everyone who has secured themselves a copy of the iron filings and sellotape album thusfar, the response has been quite extraordinary indeed. so much so, that there has even been talk of returning to the vaults to set about compiling a second album of material. reports are very hazy at this point, but it does seem that this shall not be the last we hear from the mysterious collective, perhaps even by a long way. the plot slowly thickens...

keep safe and warm

jamesreindeer