Exclusive album premiere of ‘Tethered Tales’ by Deadman’s Ghost, out today via Cruel Nature Records.

This album presents alternative audio reels for two experimental short films from the 1950s. These new scores explore the worlds of isolated characters seeking to free themselves from repressive forces, implying narratives not originally intended by the directors. Once loose of their visual anchors the resulting tracks unfold as ominous, shifting soundscapes. Available on Limited Edition Cassette.

<a href="https://cruelnaturerecordings.bandcamp.com/album/tethered-tales">Tethered Tales by Deadman’s Ghost</a>

1: The Poisoned Wood. (15 mins) Written for Arrière Saison (1950. Directed by Dimitri Kirsanoff)

In this rural drama, a woman plots to escape the remote place where she lives with her woodcutter husband. A mixture of drone, folk and field recordings lend the story a sense of tension and dread. Has the forest placed a curse on the couple due to the husband’s actions, or is there some other dark undercurrent to their marriage?

2: The Blind Prophet. (11 mins) Written for The Way to Shadow Garden (1954. Directed by Stan Brakhage)

Synths and samples evoke the shadowy forces of an era which spawned McCarthyism and Project MK-Ultra. Was the protagonist a subject in a secret government mind control experiment? Back in his urban apartment, strange phenomena, radio propaganda and a book of Greek tragedy propel him on a terrifying quest for enlightenment.