285: Magnificent

Internet download (2004)
The criminally-overlooked Magnificent – a ‘virtual’ b-side to Musicology – is a beautiful, balanced affair, with plucked strings and electronic debris floating in elegant equipoise. Deep listening and headphones are mandatory. A closed mind is not. Come fly with me to 200 miles above the Earth, where we tap out a primitive rhythm on the door of the International Space Station. Our secret knock is immediately returned, granting us access inside to witness a zero-gravity wrestle between Jacob and an angel. An Old Testament ballet in the orbit of Gaia. The fight has been going on for millennia but is now accompanied by a carefully-orchestrated disarray of sound. Leaked coolant has gotten into the synth keyboards, causing them to splutter out digital handclaps and tom-toms, and a low bassline begins to squelch in time with the emergency warning lights. The spacecraft may be about to implode but we’re ringside at the eternal dance of the earthly and the divine, and feeling enraptured we’re not giving up our seats yet.*

*Serving suggestion only.