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Descent

by Joel Cathcart

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1.
Zenith (A Flock of Windows) 04:28
lyrics
soft grid in the bleached air a luminous flock of windows slow touch of terminal grey anxious mountain towering obsession cutting through a mesh of agnostic signals straining up towards perfection arc lights on a proud mast immoveable storied saviour
2.
Hopeful Young Keyholders 03:17
lyrics
short commute to the base of the spine as big a deal as I could break the sharp frontiers of villa slums throw staggered shadows on the rails we staple on another shelf sculpt another vertebra chase the dream above our heads draw our breath a little shorter stubborn urban loggerheads sleek and sterile battering rams frozen just before collapse ice fields playing dead for time
3.
Hubris 07:58
info
4.
Mother Tongue 04:47
lyrics
well-heeled heretic, featureless figure of eight sentinel architect, docile pick of the week windowledge shipwreck, moribund man on the moon flexitime pessimist, sackcloth ship in the night I will look after you cut your slack slowly but in the interim unstitch your origami heart from your sleeve fairy tale figurehead, comatose eye of the storm tourniquet citizen, safety valve tip of the tongue I will deliver you wring your neck out but in the aftermath you must look the other way renegade monument, parody pillar of salt blossoming precipice, coup d'état, cavernous heart virulent daydream, ravenous jack-in-the-box
5.
Black Sunburn Riot Mind (Thousands of Splinters) 00:45
lyrics
it hit us in a surge of fractured song clotted minds scorched with shock and I’m swallowing paraffin just to fake a tongue of fire but I don’t have words for this anymore it caught us in our parched and half-built home a flood that washed out every floor and I’m jetsam set to foam along our fissured fault lines and I know the fault is mine bruised borders shrouded in light blind glare of an unknown voice severed bloodlines spraying loneliness
6.
Glossolalia 04:34
lyrics
drag net of continents does not fray hallucinates held in place a myriad fated colours glisten in the faraway sea charred edge of memory will not seal hope escapes out of date a bristling cloud of thoughts that burst in disarray top heavy exodus cannot keep empty lands wait for us the reckless sapling so all of reached the roof incomplete our advancements checked its growth our vivid focus turned back as dissipates hungry rout tidal fragments leaves no trace no distant prophesy spelt the end signposts born much too late
7.
Shells 08:14
lyrics
spars protrude like broken limbs spars protrude like broken limbs our girder god is splayed out and exhausted our dead-end elopement our dead-end elopement stranded handstand halfway up the sky
8.
Mute Stampede 03:55
info
9.
Poetics of Defeat 07:55
lyrics
embrace the struggle like another well-worn sister sad and splintered embrace your shadow as a burnt-out puddle flattened parcel forgive your blood its solemn gestures livid etching forgive the dusk its weary posture faded gospel embrace the detailed contradictions grainy ficta embrace a world of imprecision choice perfection forgive the dust its thoughtless chatter friendly clutter forgive the crowd their indecision garbled wisdom before they set the clocks on you before your plans are shelved forever before you have to understand the claims you stake will split your life apart before they set the clocks on you before your wounds are drawn together before you come to recognise the halves you split will stake your life out

about

"In a flash of vision he understood how other feet would cut their track arrowstraight towards the city, understood how the tower was laying a hand on the whole landscape, altering it, dominating it, enforcing a pattern that reached wherever the tower could be seen, by sheer force of its being there". William Golding

Descent is an interdisciplinary project, combining a forty-five minute song cycle with a large mixed-media sculpture. It was premiered in the Queens Film Theatre, Belfast, on September 4th 2009.

Descent's multiple narrative trajectories navigate the intersections of architecture, society, language and memory, taking as their thematic catalyst the Old Testament story of the city and tower of Babel.

credits

released April 9, 2009

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Joel Cathcart image

Joel Cathcart Genoa, Italy

Joel Cathcart is a composer, songwriter and visual artist.

He specializes in intimate live performances in unusual locations.

His latest album, 'Flotsam', is a collection of post-apocalyptic puzzles whose hybrid ensemble sound signals the creation of new listening spaces amid flooded ruins and overgrown motorways... ... more

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