A performance piece by John Mills-Cockell & Blake Parker
“The tale is a moral allegory. In Stella’s world, animal eyes polished like mirrors stare out of silver windows dissolve in the wash of static gives back a picture of sleek foreign desperadoes with hair-raising underworld connections. In Stella’s world, the photo twins drift down sunset streets neon lights winking hello-goodbye and their smooth bodies give off a faint whiff of negrito dreams and mental crack-up. In Stella’s world, we walk down noisy streets of memory paradise same time same place whispers telephone voice frozen in storage vats of the brain a slender hand reaches up for new moisturizing tint sparkles on the magnetic water leaves us speechless with cold feet and a cancelled ticket. The political world of children’s illustrations rubs shoulders with that of the radio DJ, advertising lingo, pop music, classical tangle of nostalgic strings dissolves into a stark image of Stella in black and white.”
Sample audio from the performance, Blake Parker reading, Leora Cashe singing, Greg Kozak percussion, John on keyboards.
[audio src="http://johnmillscockell.ca/wp-content/uploads/mp3/Stella.mp3" /]
Blake Parker
Turn on your radio Disk jockey talk
radio sparks in the wet blue night,
I tell you the journey
to paradise is shortened
by virtue & lengthened
by vice. Let the voice
of Ancient Biological Radio
light up your life!
Do you hear
what I hear?
Sound of saxophones
& telephones,
train whistle moan,
& the dried bones clack
in the dead-city night.
the voodoo dolls
and carbon types
are making hullabaloo
over on tenth avenue.
Look in the mirror Stella!
Look out the window.
Skulls are breaking
out there
& spines crack.
Blood flows down the street
in a twisted track.
There is a cold wild wind
ablowin’
& the neon rain
is slashing down.
Steel animal teeth are
tearing up the deep ground
& God’s secret name
is written
in the dangerous sparkle & rush
of the high flames,
amber,
green,
turquoise,
crimson
the sirens
scream in the city night
& the screams
rise up
into the city air
like lost souls
then fade
to the timeless dry rustle
of old newspapers,
dead air
& radio static
lapping up
on the shores of consciousness
& the message is: to dance is to be free!
“Stella” is released with cassette and script packaged in a hard shell plastic book: Cassette & script: $25.00 Cdn, $20.00 US Contact to buy CD
