Christian Mirande writes about “active listening” when it comes to Pale Shelter, like I’m expected to screw
up my consciousness and direct it right to a point where nothing recorded to
this VOSP tape can even remotely get past me. Well, the joke’s on him, and
VOSP, and Anathema Archive, because I don’t have to do a g-d*mn thing to “actively
listen” to Pale Shelter. Pale Shelter does the work on its own,
making it so I don’t have to Zen out and pretend that I’m paying attention
while manipulated field recordings of insects skritch past my waking mind and
directly into my subconscious. Nope – all I do is turn on this g-d*mn tape and
it’s got its friggin hooks in me. Are they skritchy insect hooks? G*d, I hope
not.
Maybe it was intended as a lecture. Was it intended that way? I could
do without lectures. You get lectures from me,
not the other way around.
VOSP, though – VOSP is an attention grabber. VOSP doesn’t skimp on the
entry points, on the jaw-droppers. When you talk about “active listening,” you’re
assuming a mindset, a focus necessitating prep time. Well I went in cold on Eric
Grieshaber’s wild sonic fantasies, and I was ripped from my worldview and
chucked through a black hole where everything was reverberating and pulsing all
around me. Was I a cartoon dog on an interstellar surfboard, catching some
cosmic gnar on a molecular level? You better believe it. That’s how I was able
to get to the center of it all, pass through the “Colorless Dream,” and hang
ten on a friggin constellation. Some of you might be thinking, “Well, isn’t
that neat. I’ll get myself ready and dip my toe in the water.” That’s not going
to be enough. First, Pale Shelter is
going to serrate your face. Then, it will become so cold that it boils. Then,
it’s all cartoon dogs and surfboards.
Life doesn’t always make sense. You can’t always gear up. Just roll
with it. Lecture over.
--Ryan