Indoor Life - Archaeology

I came across this track while reviewing B-Music: Cross Continental Record Raid Road Trip for the upcoming issue of Ugly Things magazine. Released by Finders Keepers Records, this fantastic compilation is absolutely essential for connoisseurs of Krautrock, world psychedelia, acid jazz, or European soundtracks from the 1970s. For readers possessing the peculiar tastes championed by this blog, the song Archaelogy should be nothing short of a revelation. This tasty prog rock rarity features performances by J. A. Deane, a trombonist and experimental synth musician who pulled a stint with the Ike and Tina Turner Review horn section, as well as DJ/synthesizer wizard Patrick Cowley, a pioneer of electronic dance music better known for his disco collaborations with Sylvester and his 15-minute remix of Donna Summer's I Feel Love. Considering the ensemble's collective track record, this piece is quite the oddity, sounding less like standard disco fare and more like a lost soundtrack nugget from an Italian horror film circa late '70s and early '80s. With its sinister synthesizer motif and howling, elephantine trombone lick, the song would cap off the opening sequence of Lucio Fulci's The Beyond perfectly.

Hailing from an unspecified society on the edge of collapse , the main character seems to be a power-mad villain who looks forward to a future era when archaeologists will unearth the remains of his city and unwittingly set him free to wreak havoc upon the new world. His main motivation is unclear. Does he want to bring about the apocalypse? Summon up the Old Ones? You be the judge. The complete lyrics follow:

They will know who I am
They will recognize me
They will make out my name
by a mark on the street

When the cities fall
Here we will remain
Embedded in cement
with only science to explain

The fated behemoth
The man who tames the beast
will not lie forgotten
never old, ever deep

And dig and dig and dig
the future waits beneath
until they excavate
until they set us free

We will meet again.

The lyrics, delivered in a creepy operatic voice by singer Jorge Cocarras, combine with the previously mentioned synthesizer and trombone parts, another disorienting phased synthesizer riff, and a buzzing guitar which evokes the sound of a giant insect invasion to create an effect that strikes this listener's sensibilities as positively Lovecraftian, and definitely weird. Topping it all off, a chittering sound fades in towards the end of the song. Initially, I wondered whether it was supposed to represent the clattering mandibles of the behemoth. I was reading too much into it. As the song fades, the noise becomes identifiable as a jackhammer! Even better, the jackhammer gets its own solo. Brilliant!

Though I do have to ask - what self-respecting archaeologist excavates with a jackhammer?

You can hear a 30-second sample of the song at the Finders Keepers website or download an .mp3 of the track here for a whopping $0.15.