Made entirely on Garageband.

A sonic collage depicting a dialogue between the quixotic revolutionary and the oppressive authoritarian tyrant. The pitched-up vocals relay a story about an activist being taken to a secluded place to be interrogated about the activist's dastardly plans for domination. The pitched-down vocals that follow belong to the former president, who forcefully rebukes the possibility of revolution with all the untrammelled power at his disposal. In his words, political activism can only occur under the auspices of established state machinery. However, one is reminded of Audre Lorde's incisive comment that the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house.

I wanted this to capture not only the nuances of this power dynamic but also the larger social context within which it takes place by incorporating contrasting samples of cheering (representing popular support for the activists) and outrage (to evoke the ire directed at the tyrant). We are, whether we like to admit it or not, joined inextricably to the larger communities that we inhabit. None of us is capable of existing in isolation; we are each constantly dependent on one another to participate in and facilitate the myriad intersecting networks of production and trade that keep the trains running and the supermarket shelves stocked for our thoughtless consumption.

The two monologues are separate, taking place in different contexts. The first is an interview conducted by an NGO with a prominent member of the university student activist body. The second is an excerpt from a speech given in Parliament by the former president. These seemingly diametrically opposed viewpoints are shared by a shared raison d'être: they are both committed to advancing a particular vision for how the country ought to be run. True, they are contradictory, yet in their differences lie the similarities. Each instance of disagreement is simply an inversion of the same basic proposition. It is p or ~p: a tautology.

Our Quixotes, our Guveras, our Castros, our idealists and our dreamers cannot exist without their counterpart, their foils, the cruel, callous, and Machiavellian tyrants. It may be reductive to characterise one of these as heroes and the other as villains, but I do so anyway, in my subjective capacity. I chose to incorporate the MF DOOM-inspired trumpet backing track against the final segment to really lean into the classic comic book villain aspect of it, reminiscent of DOOM's interludes and outros on Mm Food.. where Victor von Doom's speeches were accompanied by similar samples. Rest in power, Dumile. You weren't an inspiration but a guiding light, a creative north star. I aspire to you forever.

There is more to be said, but I will leave that to the listener. After all, half of this work is precisely what hasn't been said. And remember: bARThes IS DEAD.

Audiography:

Radiohead – 15 Step, In Rainbows (2007)

Linked Horizon – Attack on Titan Season 2 - Opening | Shinzou wo Sasageyo! (2017)

Duke Ellington – Depk, Far East Suite (1967)
 
Voice of America, Sri Lanka: Protesters Takeover Presidential Residence, Swim in Pool –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9kk-tnNMR4

Newsfirst Sri Lanka, Police confront armed masked men in unregistered bikes at parliament protest - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5_esSq2GCY

Daily Mirror Online,  Will not allow another Aragalaya: President – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwHlnILyIGc

Journeyman Pictures, Sri Lanka's Protests Turn Violent - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgPx8KC8wjc

New tracks tagged #dillaesque