v/a: The Stations of Abandoned Daysv/a: The Stations of Abandoned DaysFollowing in the tradition of The Flight of Everson K and Transmarine, The Stations of Abandoned Days marks the third installment of Radio Khartoum's signature series of imaginary soundtracks, 18 Frames Per Second.
The series aims to create a listening space for pop artists to experiment outside the bounds of what would fit on their normal albums and singles, and to create coherent compilation records which simply can't be described as "samplers". For this ongoing project, Radio Khartoum proposed a series of imaginary soundtracks, suggesting abstract themes to each potential contributor, and encouraging the artists to seek out their own interpretations. The best of these experiments are periodically compiled by Radio Khartoum into new "18fps" episodes, each compilation being a miniature soundtrack in and of itself.
The Stations of Abandoned Days provides the score for the wanderings of a drifter, disappearing into the noise and haze of a seaside bar in a faraway port. Drenched with romanticism and fantasy, with a touch of the tropics and a bit of wry humor to boot, this might be Paris, Texas re-imagined by a younger Jean-Luc Godard.
On the soundtrack:
Chesty Morgan - An odd collective from Stockholm, the Chesties generally provide their Euro cabaret take on gypsy music. Happiest in a live setting, they imported stage, props, costumes and a live audience into Tambourine Studios for their "studio" album on Vibrafon. Members of Eggstone have been known to occasionally sit in on Chesty Morgan's sets (in fact, Eggstone wrote their own Il Trascurato after first hearing Chesty Morgan play) and the regular band line up (as heard here) includes Johnny from Bob Hund. For their contribution to our soundtrack, Chesty Morgan play a pair of variations on theme they composed for the Danish film, Svensk Roulette. It's a whistler suitable for slinking into the shadows of a darkened alleyway halfway around the world, and we've chosen the two parts to open and close our soundtrack.
Cinnamon - Frida and Jiri - the Bonnie and Clyde of Scandinavian pop - provide us with I Can (Almost) Smell the Sun, a tune that's more about breaking free and finding life again than it is about the relationship that proceeded. Based on Springtime of My Life (from the CDep of the same name on Soap), I Can (Almost) Smell the Sun was re-fashioned by Cinnamon's Finnish friends Sam and Jussi from The Pansies into a song so different everyone agreed the word "remix" would have been misleading.
Hitoribocchi - Mystery man and sometimes collaborator of Julien Ribot, Monsieur Hitoribocchi makes his debut on The Stations of Abandoned Days with a musical interlude which might have been the sonic backdrop for a weather forecast on Mars via shortwave radio.
Chocolate Barry - Missing in action since playing the opening for The Flight of Everson K, the elusive Chocolate Barry returns to Tambourine Studios with a postcard from some tropical Hell, sent care of Brian Wilson. A collection of released and unreleased tracks by Chocolate Barry is long overdue from the France's Riviera label, but this gem won't be found there.
Caramel - One of the essential outfits of the mid-1990's indiepop scene as far as we at Radio Khartoum are concerned, Caramel were from Limoges, France and represented the more eccentric side of the movement. La Scène du Bar was recorded by Denis during his residency in Wales, and features (as a sort of bizarre homage to Jean-Luc Godard and the early days of La Nouvelle Vague) the first (and perhaps only) acting performances by a couple of locals. This lounge drama was the very first track commissioned by Radio Khartoum for the 18fps series...sadly, it was the last Caramel track Denis recorded before pulling his own disappearing act.
For further information about the artists or label, interviews, etc., please contact Radio Khartoum.