For a period of time in my life I was uncharacteristically drawn towards the mythology of warfare and the military. I know for some people the 'dark' side of humanity 'rules' and the order and discipline of enlisted life meshes perfectly with their choices but for me it always had an air of the unreal, something not of this world that didn't mesh with any of my logical choices and as a result I couldn't get enough.
Many of the most famous war movies are also my favorites, Deer Hunter shares the upward realms along with Apocalypse Now, Thin Red Line and Full Metal Jacket among a host of others not necessary to list in order to understand this tape. Of those movies Apocalypse & Thin Red Line each share a certain quiet element to them that is in complete contrast to that which is actually being experienced; how in the world can chaos be so placid? How do you distinguish between detachment and focus?
The scene comes to mind wherein Martin Sheen arrives at the bridge under bombardment, with fireworks and gunfire meshing perfectly the question he keeps asking is "who is your C.O?...Who is in charge? Who is the commanding officer?" To which he gets an "I thought you were" for an answer. This loss of / gaining of control lends itself perfectly to the aforementioned disassociation. At what point are we listening for a lead and do we expect, from the chaos, there to be a distinct (in the case of this tape sonorous) intent. 'Dripping down the walls' imposes one side of aftershock inducing chaos and a second side that relents just enough to expose a skeleton of what's attacking you but never enough to suggest yr going to be able to tell the fireworks from the gunfire.
Full color cover of melting dude (though in a domestic setting) works perfectly with the analogy. Edition of 33, still in print:
http://www.905tapes.com
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