Walmartians - This Is How It Ends (2009)

Epic is the word that best describes this semi-conceptual collection. A combination of repeated viewings of Southland Tales and jetlag inspired this group of songs, particularly the title track.

The title track was primarily constructed from a number of different websites offering online instruments, from loops to online synthesizers. The video for it can be found on YouTube.

…with a rumble and a drone includes a sound clip of Meg Tilly from the 1993 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Sort of a nice slow burn feel to this one.

I’ve been a fan of Loop for quite a while. Loopool was a bit of an homage to them, but not very successful in that respect. Still a decent track.

The title After Later comes from Ian. He used to say it quite a bit when asked to do something.

Longtime friend Darin Brock is a big fan of Wholly Light. Not sure I am quite as enthusiastic about it as him, but it is nonetheless a stomping good time.

Walmartians (Kontakt Aeternum) runs just over 17 minutes. It includes some sound clips of Ronald Reagan (barely intelligible – no pun intended – at the beginning of the song) and later Richard Burton and John Hurt from 1984.

…and stars is a nice break after the epic-length Walmartians (Kontakt Aeternum). The song is for my sons Ian and Colin. It makes me think of them each time I hear it. Inspired in part by Roxy Music’s timeless More Than This.

Thanks to Allan Tait for the use of his Microsynth on Walmartians (Kontakt Aeternum).

Originally released July 2009. Cover image is from Beijing.