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Montreal Cuts - 3 - Zark Behida's"Isis"

Montreal Cuts - 3 - Zark Behida's"Isis"

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DATE : Sat, 20 May 2006 15:48:57 -0400
Entered in Database : 2006-05-20 19:48:57
length : 54014784
Link to the Show / Show Notes

The journey begins in the futuristic sand planet of Subai. Two hot suns beat down on razor-sharp sand making it inhospitable and arduous to hang out there. Only the indigenous space-camels can traverse the hot sands. This is the gateway planet leading to the Dovis Spiral (which is the only way to reach The Union) but most expeditions do not even make it past this point! Later, there is a bit of an operation desert storm, as ruff sands are driven by some heavy winds.Step Scarlet - these are space steps that Zark must climb. They are high and difficult to negotiate. They also sway violently in the moonlight, adding to the difficulty of the situation. Zark negotiates the steps with ease, of course, because of his training. Later there is some thunder and lightning but it's too late - the steps have already been traversed! Zark leaves the steps without any scars whatsoever.In the treacherous caves of Devig Tuin, Zark is forced to bounce from one"tuin"(a sort of space-geyser found in caves) to the next. There are also treacherous space-bats ("devigs") that must be shot with the ray gun - or suffer their bitey wrath! It's fun. A bit dangerous but mostly fun, as the song suggests.The city of Delig Too And is the last stop before the wormhole known as the Dovis Spiral. It's a throbbing metropolis, vibrant and earthy, but also creepy - kind of like a Zombie city, except they aren't trying to bite you and make you one of them, they're just violent dicks. The descent into the city (via space ship, not pictured) is itself quite rough and scary. There's a part where he feels safe for a bit in the middle there, but it's still a bit of a rough time in old Delig Too And. Re-fuel and get the fuck outta there!Here's where the journey really begins. Everything up till now has been a peice of cake. The Dovis Spiral is this thing...it's like a wormhole basically. But there are red arrows pointing all around it...The idea is to catch one of these arrows - like catching a wave - and ride the fucker all the way through. What is on the other side? Nobody knows, where Zark Behida is from. It's all mere conjecture. It's part of the quest, to find out. It starts off smooth and regular, then we confront the spiral and it's sort of like"should we go in? should we do it?!?!"Yeah you gotta do it! You gotta save the princess or something! (what is this whole thing about anyway?)Weri Ferrah describes the state of emerging from the Dovis Spiral - it's the last bit of roughness of the spiral itself (hence the sonic similarity) and then emerging into this completely different realm. There are creatures there that have never been seen by the likes of one Zark B, for instance. Yet it is strangely serene. Serene and almost a bit jazzy. There is definitely a feeling of anticipation for"what else is out here in this crazy new place?".Once we get into the main cosmic thoroughfare, on this"other side", we start to see other space vessels. Other ships in the ether, with people going on about their space-business. Yet, since Zark has just come through the Dovis Spiral, there is a certain stigma attached - there are still little dying red arrows surrounding his vessel, and everybody in the other ships know that he is new in town. They stay away from him. It's a bit parallel-universe - like walking into a club in a different city that is strikingly similar to one you frequent back home. There are bizzarro versions of everyone yet you know nobody. The overall impression is"creepy"- albeit with full knowlegde that there is a groovin'good time to be had."The Eebnia..."(said in A&E Biography-type narrator voice)"...are benign creatures that dwell in these far off regions...". They stick together, and they don't cause much trouble. They are strangely beautiful. They resemble a manta-ray, or some similar type of earthiling undersea life (N.B. Zark Behida is not from Earth...). They are dextrous and perform what amount to aerial maneuvers around Zark's craft. Never once is there any contact. It's like swimming with dolphins. So far so good.....Not so Theeb Neb. He (the females have different markings) is a space-dragon of sorts, who tries to act all tough if somebody shows up in his territory. His distinctive markings reflect the bassline of the track. Basically he tries to put up a bit of a front and prevent Zark from proceeding, But Zark collaborates with him and improves the bassline, resulting in good times for all. There is even some dancing. Zark is surprised by the overall lack of violence so far....The Unia. So close yet so far. This chill moment makes Zark B think it might almost be the final destination, until these videogame-esque bars of colour give way to a fierce bit of 15/4 techy business. Zark is forced to take evasive action and dodge these suddenly-hostile bars of blueish light! Luckily it doesn't last long, proving that The Unia's bark is worse than The Unia's bite (as the old saying goes). Zark brushes up against one of the corrosive colour bars though, and suffers minor damage. This mysterious voyage was never gonna be a walk in the park though, Zark remarks quietly to himself.Napatheeb is the Imperial name of the abandonned lair of the guy that ZB is on his way to see (possibly). The abandonned lair, that is - nobody is present. We can surmise that The Unia were once the personal guardian of this person, whomever he fucking is. Napatheeb is plush though. Plush and lush. There are many layers of fine fabric, a bit of space dust and wear and tear, yes, but all in all this place is opulent. Once here presided someone of importance, it occurs to ZB. But now, deserted and devoid of significance. This track was written in Florida and I think that pretty much sums it up. This is time for recuperation and a bit of rest, despite the oppressive vacuousness of the surroundings. Zark is left with the unforgettable and gorgeous chiming choir of Arturia Minimoog softsynths as he leaves.The calm is shattered by the apparition of a menacing and vaguely-Native-American-Art-looking thing. A sort of"eye". A sizzling eye! What could be more terrifying? 9.4 space-kilometers in front of the ship looms this downright scary-looking eye thing. Well, get right in there and blast the fucker with your phasers on full! It's about time there was some fighting in this story. Some of Syzzeye's brutal tentacles wrap around the vessel in an attempt to draw it in to the hostile molten core, but Zark Keeps on blasting away. Luckily he invested in the turbo phaser controller before he left, so he can just hold down the"A"button, and the thing will keep firing. Eventually, Syzzeye freaks out a bit, has a bit of a last hurrah which is all show, and then SPLITS APART IN THE MIDDLE OF THE EYE, giving way to.......the freaking-out, yet totally harmless, second incarnation of the aforementioned eye. Even though the thing freaks out and goes all crazy like a bug that you have swatted but only partially killed, what it gives rise to is atmospheric and beautiful to behold. LTJ Bukem wishes he could have been this atmospheric! The slain Syzzeye provides some visually pleasing space-pyrotechnics, then it's time to move on. We are only just past the half-way point of this album and there is still much to do.A series of space discs comes into view. It's time to get into the groove and roll with it. However, to negotiate these discs, Zark must get out of his space craft. The rest of the terrain he will encounter is too sensitive to negotiate with a space ship. Around here there are winged space camels though - distant space-relatives of the camels from back on Subai. The whole scene starts off reminiscent of Subai (ahh, simpler times....) but things get roaring pretty quick. It's a madcap romp from one disk to another. There are seven disks in total of course, each more rough and rollin'than the last! Will he make it! Will he fuck.No sooner is Zark past these seemingly serene space disks than does he encounter the hardest-core obstacle yet. A giant manacing electricity thing. It looks similar to smaller-scale electricity things found in earthling physics labs, but this one - N-Nymn, has a mind of it's own and seriously wants to fuck Zark's shit up big time! It has seven jagged peaks and valleys, again representing the acidic bassline in the tune. Honestly, this part reminds Zark of a surreal yet absolutely terrifying reccuring childhood dream. Not a nightmare mind you - there was no overt threat. Just these big waves of electricity coming slowly towards you. Their slowness makes them way scarier. The key here is not to try to get past them, just wait it out, sit there and observe it, try to gain some understanding as to what the fuck exactly it all means. Hum some jazz chords to make the experience a bit more pleasant. It gets a bit more tolerable towards the end. Eventually it's over and nothing has even happened. Lesson - chill the fuck out some times and let things pass of their own accord.A Giant Space Wizard. He throws out this sort of five-teired force field - that is his main attack move. The five different tiers of the force field are represented by a five note chord, with staggered start times. Do you understand? These drawings are visual representation of the music have you not figured that out yet? Five deadly"simulatedmellotron"notes come hurdling towards Zark Behida (floating there in his space suit - not pictured) at the speed of sound! (speed of sound at sea level = 340.29 m / s). I know what you're thinking, there is no sound in space. Well haven't you ever heard of poetic liscence? So this soundboy's soundwave forcefield attacks happen about three times over the course of the encounter, but ZB dodges'em deftly. Veska has a secret weak spot (can you see it?) and Zark fires exaclty one well aimed phaser blast at the cocksucker and takes him out! That's the end of that!Space Surfin'USA! Not long after the bloody encounter with Veska the space wizard, ZB finds himself on a watery planet, where the only option is to surf. And surf the shit out of it, he does! There are these wierd, steppy waves which must be negotiated with grace. Check him out, negotiating those steppy waves! There is a freaky, perma-eclipse sort of sun, too. This song is in 5/4 and has a bassline that goes against the grain by being in 7. At the end of the wild surfing ride, he lands on an alien beach and has a moment of tranquility, accompanied by some nice modulating chords. I wish I had had such a surfing adventure in hawaii, but all i got was a chaffed chest and a couple litres of swallowed salty ocean water. Surfing is difficult.Zark walks for a while on the land of this watery planet and eventually realizes that he feels like shit. He doffs the old space helmet and realizes (with the use of his trusty space mirror - not shown) that he has some kind of space fever. This illness is common, and known as Vever Foss. He has some measles-esque red splotches! Eek! Zark is vain, and hates the fact that he has these splotches. Take pride in your appearance, is how Mrs. behida raised a young Zark B. What is an intergalactic pretty boy to do? Well, we all get to a point some time in life where we must cast off the shackles of mom-taught principles, in favour of new, self-taught ones. And this is just what ZB does at this point. He says fuck it to the space measles. Who cares if he has red spots? There are people with way worse shit out there. Like space AIDS people, space-colon cancer dudes, languishing in space-hospital beds, the poor pricks. Chin up. Zark then notices a structure of some sort - a temple of sorts. Let's forget about this superficial bullshit and go see what lies within....What lies within. It's not so much a temple, but yet, a sort of massive open-air courtyard with more water. Water which must be traversed. To get to the other side - towards this irresistible yet utterly unknowable goal. By this point the twin moons are out and it is quite a serene scene to behold. A serene scene of bass-heavy choppage (the sea within this structure is indeed choppy). This one is for the drumfunk nerds. Pellerachi, is the name of this whale-like creature on this futuristic-yet-primitive watery planet. Low and dubby, rising every 15 quarternotes for some precious gulps of space-air. All this while the drums chatter and cascade above the surface in beautiful stereo syncopation. Zark suddenly realizes that Pellerachi is not at all his enemy and is in fact quite benign. Grab on to that massive dorsal fin and hold on for dear life, turns out to be the most efficient way of getting to the other side of this undescribably vast body of water - all of which is confined within the perimiter of this skeletal"temple". However, towards the end of the water crossing, the waves die down, and Pellerachi stops altogether. Zark is mortified to realize that he cannot let go of the creature. There is some kind of mental energy at play here, bonding Zark to the massive space-whale. Zark is forced to sit there and just chill - he has no other choice. A moment of reflection comes over our space-weary hero."Only by understanding the enemy, can we possibly resolve whatever conflict there may be. In this case the dualistic"other"is not even an enemy, but a benign creature who is helping me."It then dawns on Zark Behida that Pellerachi has helped him not only to cross this vast expanse of water, but to understand a fundamental in dealing with an organism that is not you. Granting that you hold on to the"you and not-you"notion. Pellerachi realizes, in his primitive whale-brain, that his work is done and releases Zark from his mental-energy-powered clutches. As he walks away, shaking off the space water, does Zark see that whale eye wink at him knowingly?Mind utterly blown, Zark emerges from the interior"lake", but is still within the perimieter of this so-called Temple."What a rich and crazy universe we live in", is his primary thought. Regardless of this revelation, Zark realizes that he still has the aforementioned space fever (aka Vever Foss) - he touches his fine face and can indeed feel the splotches, still present. He is also dazed by what his brain has just processed. It is a heavy moment, and some serious contemplation ensues. Somehow, in his state of semi-conciousness, he envisions some sort of mental"health bar"or"solid antidote bar", which could possibly cure his space-illenss. It's tough to describe because Zark is in a fugue or"dream"state at this point. Beautiful chords are heard. In what can only be described as a euphoric dream, Zark envisions and fairly"feels"this"healing bar"enter an unknown-until-this-moment"slot"all up in his head-piece. The thing just slides right in, and in a few space-seconds, clears up the whole Vever Foss problem. It's purely mental. Minds are blown ever further. This has turned out to be a voyage not of conflict and violence, but enlightenment and self-learning. To travel far into the outer reaches of the known cosmos only to learn profound things about The Self - The Self being the absolute antithesis of the vast outer reaches of the cosmos. The Self is as close to home as you can get, but sometimes it takes being half a universe away to get in touch with it (The Self). Zark fucking fully feels the heavyness of the moment. He straightens his tie, composes his-self, and proceedes into the final stage of all of this...............................................This end of the journey, in which nothing really physically happens, but things are realized. It's humbling, at best, right?. The Union is the core of everything- do you understand this? The Union...it's.......it's undescribable in it's beauty. No words can really do it justice. THE UNION is this state of ultimate knowingingness.........it's such an ultimitely beautiful yet impossible to behold, thing!!!! No human entity can even judge this whole thing; it's too unknowable. Zark is just floating in space at this point, his mind fundamentally altered. He has completed his journey. There is no climax to this story. A search party has found him floating in space and is on the way to take him home, but it will not be at all the same for Zark Behida when he gets there.Triumph.