going down the rabbit hole a bit but what the hell. everyone needs a cicada break sometime.
this was (maybe) spotted in the Tomorrow's Harvest transmission video:
http://i.imgur.com/ChRUq1j.jpg
they seem to have down-graded the gmaps imagery there if you try to check it out again.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Comm ... ld_E._Holt
the trideco arrays also make an interesting shape.
used for:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_low_f ... on_methods
"Because of the low bandwidth available it is not possible to transmit audio signals, therefore all messaging is done with (coded) alphanumeric data at very low bit rates."
though not audible, the signal is one-way communicated instructions for the military and could be interpreted as the machine language of modern conflict. end of line inarguable orders in lock-step with every other nation doing the same thing. intervals imposed by the limitations of the technology dictate the clock of the chess game.
"on the new record we are rather using the old idea of soundtracks. Small fragments, and melodies that are cut off abruptly."
which would be a clever way to pull away from the scene before revealing how it plays out, if the tension and build-up are what is more important.
the song is pretty minimal and doesn't reveal much besides: melody that can be described as repetitive (even echoing or mimicking itself) and voices which are (partially) childish and unintelligible. pretty good descriptors for the cold war too.
there is also a sweet slow static sweep that begins before the drums kick in, weaving nicely into the rhythm.