Released on:
Dead Cities
Runtime: 6:37
A really quite sinister environment fades in from the end of ‘Herd Killing‘, and the words “I had killed a man, a man who looked like me” announce the arrival of the title track. The sample comes from the movie Deep Cover, spoken by Laurence Fishburne. It’s one of those oft-quoted samples in FSOL fandom, and a very rare instance of the Dead Cities era looking backwards: it, and some of the samples around it, were first used on the September 1994 VPRO broadcast. The track begins with a dark synth motif and some fairly complex beat programming. Although not as aggressive or loud as a lot of what gets called IDM, the beats here as densely sequenced as any ’90s FSOL track: layers of scuttling samples and analogue drum machines, skittering around each other, different percussive lines coming and going throughout the track. Similar detail is given to the melodies: the opening doomy synth pads very quickly give way to a a haunting flute melody, returning to the opening pads only to quickly divert into a secondary sequenced pad line. Halfway through a completely new melody comes in, a plinky, percussive motif that, combined with the flute part, lends the piece a sense of serene melancholy, contrasting with the darker opening section. Throughout the track, particular arrangements often come in for one or three bars, rather than the usual four, constantly wrong-footing the listener. It’s a deceptively complex piece of music.
The closing environment heads further into haunting territory, Garry taking up the microphone to sing. “Faces milling round like cars / Look across the tables, they’re there in the piss-stained bars.” As the music fades out entirely, Cobain takes up the words in a sinister whisper: “Make me believe I’m not going to die, for that I’d gladly give you something. Faces milling around like cars on the slimy street. Look across the tables, they’re there in the piss-stained bars.” All quite dark imagery. The words are attributed to “Dick Verbatim”, a one-off name for Garry. Interviewed for GLR radio, Garry exclaimed “well there are very conventional things on there. On there I’m singing, for God’s sake!” Which gives a good idea just how far away from the mainstream they were, if this is considered conventional. Footsteps, manhole covers opening background urban noise close the track, a lone figure walking down a dimly lit alley way through the fog in the early hours of the morning.
‘Dead Cities’ definitely has samples, both in the percussion, and the alarm-like sound used throughout, but it’s also a remarkably synthetic track too. The densely programmed drums and constantly changing melodies replace the former ‘throw a ton of samples at it’ approach, giving the piece a more stark, linear sound. Despite the darker mood in the main pads, the sadness in the flute part has always defined the track for me: I imagine looking over the cityscape seen through the Poplar bridge on the cover, wondering if everything is about to collapse for good. It appears to have been a late addition to the album, a rough written tracklist in The Most Important Moments in a Life skipping it entirely, and it never appearing on a known transmission for the tour.
A promotional music video was made for the track, combining elements from the ‘Far-out Son of Lung‘ VHS and ‘My Kingdom‘ promo video.
Credits
Written and produced by The Future Sound of London.
Recorded at Earthbeat Studios, London ’96.
Engineered by Yage.
Fractional Difference 