Description
The Melancholic songs of the desert… These songs were composed during the last days of the Bush/Blair era and reflect the feeling of isolation and disconnection from any part of the political process and any sense of identification with the prevailing air of hos- tility and intolerance generated by this pair of religious xenophobes. The unjustified war in Iraq and the subse- quent lies and propaganda engendered a feeling of revulsion and powerlessness. Once again it was “unpa- triotic” to criticize or protest against the government’s actions, and there was a rise in nationalism and extrem- ist views. These songs are a retreat into the one place that no government has yet found a way into, the free and open spaces of the mind. They are spontaneous and mediative reflections looking for an inner peace in a world made ugly by hatred and war. They symbolize a kind of “walkabout” and a reconnection with a lost sense of belonging spiritually, intellectually and physically with the world we inhabit. In a broad- er sense they also re-affirm long held sympathies with the thoughts of writers and philosophers such as Camus, Sartre and Burroughs, and the profound wisdom of eastern philosophies such as Taoism and Zen. The music here looks for a sense of inner being that one can only find in quiet isolation.
— Robin Story, Newcastle upon Tyne, 5 June 2009
Melancholic Songs of the Desert is Rapoon’s first new release for Soleilmoon since the “Alien Glyph Morphology” tryptich (DVD, 2x 10 inch, CD) released between 2005 and 2008. It’s presented in a hand made, screen printed folder and is limited to 500 copies.
