“Come
with me, come with me. We'll travel to infinity.” These were the
words and proclamations of The Klaxons, British “new-rave”
rockers when they descended upon Brooklyn on the night of September
22nd, 2010. Ascending stars in their home turf of the UK,
they won one of Britain's highest musical honors, the Mercury prize
in 2007 with their first album, “Myths of the Near Future,” the
Klaxons (are?)were now working their magick in America. They are
moving through the States telling those willing to listen that they
have been “Surfing the Void” since their last record and have
called their second album by just that name (as testament) in order
to prove it.
Jaime
Reynolds, lead singer of the group, shared with me some of his
visions that went into the record (omit as we sat?) as we sat
backstage after the show. A number of these visions came to him while
journeying with Ayahuasca. “The
first time I saw every symbol under the sun and thousands that I had
never seen before.
And it all
ended up accumulating in a vision…
Vision of
Ezekial, the glowing orb at the top of the stairs surrounded by
winged beasts circling the bottom of the stair case.
I was really enthused by that and I went home and wrote
quite a bit of the lyrics for the record.”
This
vision of Ezekial (that) Jaime described to me is, I think, the
Vision that is described first in The Book of Ezekial. The one where
Ezekial “sees” the face of (YVHV), as well as (omit sees?)sees
the Chariot in the Sky. This vision has been of great interest to
many UFO researchers who claim that Ezekial was describing a giant
space craft revealing itself to the Old Testament prophet.
The
crowd was pulsating in undulating movements as The Klaxons ripped
midway through their set at The Williamsburg Music Hall. They
slid into an intergalactic groove, invoking in me the truth that we
here on earth are really all just passengers on a giant space ship,
moving along (omit to) to invisible angles of orbit and attraction.
The back beat left it easy to move in unison in simple seductive
steps with my girlfriend standing in front of me. We looked into
each others' eyes, smiled and then kissed. With that kiss we were
transported and the atmosphere surrounding us went slightly dim, yet
the music remained even clearer than before. I saluted the(se)
fellows on stage, standing ground underneath the spotlight as true
rock shamans should, letting the energy from the other planets flow
through themselves and their instruments (and) out to where the
revelers danced. (Just)And then, the words of their song came into
focus. “When we're together, we come alive, when we organize. We
share the same space.” The cipher was indeed complete. My girl and
I so connected at this moment, in tantric embrace, and this just
happened so spontaneously…it seemed.
“I
think (New-Rave) perfectly sums up what we are. I think that kind of
spirit of injecting enthusiasm and celebration into music is
definitely where we are and who we are,” says Jaime.
September
22nd,
2010, was the night of the Harvest moon, the first full moon of the
autumnal equinox, when the Harvest moon manifests in this month it is
also known as the Gypsy moon. On my way to the venue, I caught a
glimpse of this moon and became transfixed. It shone bright, yellow,
and big in the sky. I really couldn't take my gaze away from it, I
was in (omit a sort of?) a sort of communion with it, and I began to
howl. (Omit I had to?)I had to, it felt too good not to stop.
I
thought of the moon card in the Tarot deck, a card for the seekers
and searchers, traveling by night with only it's light to guide them,
it is a card for the poets, magicians, and musicians. It is the card
that can reveal that either seeker will get lost in a land of dreamy
illusion, or if he or she(s(he)) can contact their internal
navigator, they can utilize the howling cries of the wolves as a sign
to get (to?)into the streaming river and float towards the next stage
of inspiration and insight.
The
Klaxons, it seems, have been guided by a light much like the moon.
They have navigated deep space and plugged their music into it. This
is a path many in Rock n' Roll have traveled before (omit them)them,
and many (of these travelers) have crashed and burned in both
glorious and pathetic ways. We live in a new era though, and for
those in the position to realize this while also rocking the fuck
out, (omit , they?)they can spark some more light for all of us to go
a bit further(bit further in..?). *It's the ability to strike the
fine balance between far out visions and on the ground everyday work.
About
the last time Jaime Reynolds drank Ayahuasca, he had this to say, ”
it was extremely personal, and all I could think about was family
relations, and inter relations, and personal relations, and all the
things that have gone on in my life. And what that means to me as a
man in this point and time. The last one kinda kicked me into gear. I
stopped getting outside information and dug a bit deeper.”
The
Klaxons strike me as a fairly well read group of guys. The name of
their first album was taken from a short story collection written by
JG Ballard. Their widely remixed and crowd pleasing song “Gravity's
Rainbow” is the name of pehaps Pynchon's most famous book, and
another song title of their's, “The Isle of Her,” draws it's
influence from an Alfred Jarry poem.
Jaime
mentioned about one method he utilized for lyrical inspiration while
reading such great works. (connect prev sent ence with the
following?) Some other artists may dress the method up, but Jaime was
refreshingly blunt about it, “You know, directly lifting and
theiving stuff, hehe.”
Did
I mention that The Klaxons won the Mercury prize for their first
record? Oh, I did, huh. Well, did I (also mention instead of tell
you?)tell you that Mercury was the Roman mythological equivalent to
Hermes, who was both the messenger god as well as the trickster god?
Did I (also) tell you that The Klaxons played Brooklyn on a
Wednesday, the day of Mercury, or Miercoles?
We
got the talking of another great trickster who was also a master
communicator, Robert Anton Wilson. “He makes a lot of sense to me.
I've read 'Prometheus Rising' recently. That book I find really
inspiring on a day to day basis. I haven't yet read his bigger texts
like The Illuminatus Trilogy!, but Principia Discordia is another
book I have lifted from as well.”
Another
writer Jaime is currently impressed with is Daniel Pinchbeck. “I
find Daniel's work to be really beautiful and really inspiring. He
has thrown himself into what he's doing. I think he absolutely means
everything he says. I think he has got some interesting ideas about
the past the present and the future. I think he's completely on it,
and he's not holding anything back in what he's saying. I think he's
rather straight up in what he's saying. I was just really impressed
with his book “2012” I really soaked it up and fell in love with
it.”
To
me, the mission statement of The Klaxons, (is) to remind people that
we are floating through (a) vast universe, full of magick and
mystery, and we should keep exploring this “void,” while
remembering that we stand here on earth in physical bodies that can
accomplish great and amazing things, if we learn the ways of
communication, communion, and organization. It is a hopeful message,
and a message that I too resonate with.
The
last song the Klaxons played that night was called, “Interzone to
Atlantis,” to me a song that most fits their “New Rave” title.
This was the final bit of high energy electro-punk they were imbuing
with the audience before bidding farewell. They left the stage with
the feedback reverberating….(They exited the stage leaving behind
dense reverberating feedback?)