The
Philosopher’s Stone. Many have yearned for it, as its possession would
surely entail untold riches for its owner. It could even extend life. Some may
have fleetingly been in its presence. I have. How do you think I’m still alive
after all these centuries? You should have seen the Middle Ages. Absolute
nightmare.
That’s where the Mutus Liber comes in.
You can imagine how someone would try anything, desperately, to harness the
power of something like the Philosopher’s Stone. Lord Voldemort sure tried. The
Mutus Liber, published in 1677 in La
Rochelle, France, purports to be a
guidebook on manufacturing the Philosopher’s Stone via alchemical means. Take
it from me, from experience, that this book knows its stuff.
Anyway, batcrap mysticism aside, Giulio Aldinucci (Siena) and Moon Ra
(Florence) represent two of Italy’s most exciting sound artists working within
the experimental and found-sound idiom. What they’ve done on their respective
sides of Mutus Liber, their split
cassette on Santiago (Chile)’s No Problema Tapes, is take the concept of the
cryptic tome and applied it to their sound design. Meaning, they’ve concocted,
via literal alchemy (right?), music
that turns metals into gold and grants eternal life. Meaning also, if I keep
listening, I don’t have to keep drinking this awful stuff that I make from the
Philosopher’s Stone. (You get that I’m implying I have a Philosopher’s Stone in
my garage, right?)
Aldinucci’s side focuses on the wonder and excitement of creation and
discovery. There’s a palpable joy in his four tracks as the surprise of
scientific breakthrough occurs after a lengthy period of experimentation. Moon Ra’s on a different track, though – she
realizes that playing with alchemy is like playing god, and in doing so they’ve
gone too far, unleashed something too powerful and uncontrollable. The playing
of Mutus Liber is like opening up
Pandora’s Box, and there’s no way to get that lid back on. Her tense pieces
belie this sense of “Oh no, what have we done?”
Which is where I come in. Somebody’s gotta clean up this mess, and
since I’ve got a little bit of experience in this area, I’ll see what I can do.
But don’t let all this stop you from grabbing yourself a copy of this tape –
I’ll make sure nothing bad happens to you.
--Ryan Masteller
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