On Saturday Nov. 1, 2008 at the Downtown Bookstore in Owen Sound, Ontario, Joshua David Richardson presented an evening of spooky filmic fun.
Beginning the evening, “Separations” by local film-maker Isaiah Walters made its world premiere. This 20-minute short weaves grim tales of abandoned homes along the Grey-Bruce shoreline, as the film-maker explores their vacant architecture and the artifacts that remain.
For the main event, local musicans provided a live Hallowe’en-inspired soundtrack to Benjamin Christensen’s classic 1922 film Haxan (trans. “The Witch”). The film is a silent-era docudrama using re-enactments, imaginative special-effects sequences, and documentary footage to explain the persecution of so-called “Witches” as medieval society’s misunderstanding of the mental illnesses.
The musicians, from stage-left to stage-right, included:
Charles Glasspool – upright piano
Joshua David Richardson – computers
Jonathan O’Leary – violin
Jonathan Cox – electric guitar
R.G.Daniel – electronic drums and noise toys
Patrick Dorfman – banjo, flute, percussion and effects
There were two short rehearsals for the performance, buy soma muscle relaxant online which were more about setting up and soundcheck for me, and which never included the full lineup. There was some discussion of structure, and cues, and pacing ourselves. But for the most part, that was all moot, and the performance ended up being almost entirely improvised. This was the first time I’ve played with these folks, and I look forward to the next time. I think we all agreed it went rather well!!
Presented below for your amusement, a baker’s dozen, or a witches’ coven, of short audio clips from the live soundtrack. As usual, start anywhere — they will loop around. I will probably edit the full show down from an hour and forty minutes to an even hour or so. CD’s of that final edit will be available, once again for the low cost of one million dollars (discounts may apply).
