1. |
A Mirror
02:27
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the superficial depth
the chilly voice of death
this rotoscope reality
zipped and decompressed
a mirror for your mind
seductive, unrefined
shocking joviality
erratic and unkind
the rising and the dying of the light defines the day
and days all run together in the light of this display
you’ve seen it all before, don’t come expecting more
nothing else in store for you
intransigent, immobile
not hospitable or hostile
a mirror for your mind
there since the beginning
the bell that’s always ringing
a mirror for your mind
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2. |
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distracted, by the station
for just about the thousandth time
and I’d like to take it all back
now that it’s mine
a no-mark daytime dreamer
trying to pass the infinite time
and you’ve got a necessary evil
in your mind
but I don’t hear the traffic as I watch you walk by
I don’t feel the static as it shatters the sky
it’s a question you once asked me, I forget my reply, but
that sandstone monument erodes your tessellated lie
confounded by solutions
feeling like I traveled through time
and now I see it all so clear
I think I must’ve been blind
the lonely desktop sleeper
swimming in the breathable brine
a lost head and a lasting sense of dread
that runs up your spine
but I’ll allow history to be my judge
I’ll leave some undegradables to shine in the sludge
while the aeons reclaim all the guilt and the shame
I’ll still get distracted when the void cries out your name
and the flames licked the ceiling in the barroom today
it’s a curse or a prophecy that won’t go away
and though the water kept rising, the fires still burned
the smoke and steam remind me of a lesson I once learned
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3. |
More Dread
02:54
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the medium is not the message, baby
truth refracted doesn’t need to make no sense
haven’t done a lot of listening lately
deafened by a decade of arrested innocence
radiate cold shafts; an inversion of the past
cultivate black mass.
radiate cold shafts; perverted sorcery collapse
fill the open gaps
a repercussion is expected soon, child
nothing passes without incident these days
sacrifices to the supermoonshine
star-white diamonds with a lightning frosted haze
radiate cold shafts; an inversion of the past
cultivate black mass
radiate cold shafts; perverted sorcery collapse
fill the open gaps
distant echoes of a past life resound
the evening rooftop atmosphere is rarefied
a broken bottle, a cold metallic sound
bitter memories you learned so well to hide
radiate cold shafts; an inversion of the past
cultivate black mass
radiate cold shafts; perverted sorcery collapse
prepare for aftermath
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4. |
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vestigial sigils:
two dimensions and the truth
redeliver the illusion
Calliope wrought in steel
a liminal construct
balance the tensions on the lens
realignment of values
no repetition of broken ground
the individual village
little black flames remember you
the ritual broken
overarching geometry consumed
frenetic delusion
thousands of boxes all alike
systematic communion
riddled with space negated
polytopical prism
open the surface shades of glass
incognito awareness
navigating the frosted pane
oblivious idol
grandiosity manifest
revision of symbols
the face-blind messenger collides
a drifting regression
symbolic reticent ideal
a living bleeding animal
gregarious business magnate
solemnity vacant
pernicious alumnus draining you
50 nails in the ceiling
invocation of Olney’s legion
pandaemonic location
cement the foundation of insight
running the gauntlet
syncretic ersatz renegades
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5. |
Supervoid
03:32
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the supervoid is no illusion
it’s all around, and its staring into you
divide and rule, slide and drool,
hey look at me, I can be vindictive too
the fault lines now revealed are chopping up the space
the message signed and sealed is scribbled all over your face
no more compromising to your relentless proselytising
I did my time, but what a waste, what a waste, what a waste, what a waste
survival of the least salubrious
callous idylls of the sick and dying king
recant no more, no-one’s keeping score
but this cold war has left me doubting everything
and now your hands are tied but mine are out on bail
round here you just can’t hide cos everyone is for sale
no more sympathisers, only ruthless advertisers
avert thine eyes to no avail, no avail, no avail, no avail
hallucinating skies of diamonds
the fickle loyalty of mercenary friends
creative drones strike these gated homes
unbroken bones hide within you till the end
around the ruins people gather in their throngs
clasping hands together, singing earnest songs
and it’s so tantalising, to witness this mythologizing
but now they’re gone it sounds all wrong, it’s all wrong, it’s all wrong, it’s all wrong
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6. |
Exhume
03:49
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did you find that you became bored when the time had come to exhume
no riposte and no accord for the overbearing tune
I have never folded on to the face of great potential
every day is birthday cake when you’re trapped between the void
You’re a slick toe-tapper kid, and I feel your cackling echo
walk the streets, like a flame, like a peddler on the roof
ring the change, leave the page, without urgency or warning
I’ll keep the light burning bright, as you rush towards the truth
It’s a long dark night for me, but for you it’s just the morning
nothing blows your mind no more, for it has become the breeze
creating psychic junglescapes, to escape the criminally mundane
it’s a future memory, playing out on blackened screens
What a holy motormouth, what a harbinger of sweetness
it’s a broken social scene that I just can’t wait to leave
Drop a line to start to unwind the unfathomable downward spiral
Scan the coast, feel the wind crying out in hopeless pain
eyes at night echo bright, like a thousand flicking lighters
illuminate the life you hate with a cold unnatural glow
crooked teeth lie beneath this most phosphorescent visage
and I bet they’ll all forget, who had persecuted you
stick or twist, through the mist, every step a simulacrum
make a choice, use your voice to construct a sense of I
slipping town through the town to the cracks below the basement
is it pseudo chemistry that will reignite the lie
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7. |
Shortcut to Resentment
02:45
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it’s a shortcut to resentment
for the man who knew too much
his kneecaps are busted, and his insides are rusted
now they’re kicking away his crutch
a moment captured in amber
we can all precisely picture the touch
tragicomically played on this portable stage
for the man who knew too much
Derek and the Dominoes
Fleetwood Mac
trade all your ghosts in for heroes
never look back
never thought you were part of the problem
now the problem is part of you
a radiant facet of a liquified asset
that is trickling down your shoe
cast your mind back to the open audition
and you’ll see exactly what you should do
a quarter life crisis with criminal vices
is the only option open to you
old Robert Zimmerman
young Reg Dwight
transmute the sin into cinnamon
and fade to white
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8. |
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Aufidius Bassus recommends:
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by The Scarlet Phonebooth
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Songs for Pierre Chuvin
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Surprise! "Songs for Pierre Chuvin" is the first all-boombox Mountain Goats album since 2002's "All Hail West Texas"
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Days Of Heaven
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