05. Telepath (1:32)

[ross adey]

the most audible instance of the second voice - "don't be nervous" sounds like it's spoken in a scottish brogue. one of the brothers' own voices maybe? maybe not. sounds that way to my ears at least.

[Techboy]

If it's a Scottish accent - and I agree it probably is - it's from the islands. I thought it sounded Irish, and since you're Irish and think it sounds Scottish, it's probably from somewhere like Lewis, which has an accent best described as "celtic". And also, since we've got a recording of Mike and Marcus speaking to John Peel - definitely not them. I suspect it's sampled from TV or radio.

[Lens Larque]

the most audible instance of the second voice - "don't be nervous" sounds like it's spoken in a scottish brogue. one of the brothers' own voices maybe? maybe not. sounds that way to my ears at least.

I imagine Oliver Reed but I'm hard pressed to find any recording of Oliver Reed counting.

[Lens Larque]

Oliver Reed from David Cronenberg's masterpiece, The Brood

[CatsAreKloppervok]

longtime lurker here.

I've probably put this album on weekly since it came out, and from the very first listen (put it on while watching Killings at Outpost Zeta on mute, awesome experience) this track blew me away. One of their darker "transitional" tracks, personally. Really drove home the theme of the album for me.

Anyway, listening to it recently, I've kind of come up with a sort of picture in my head based on the title. I get this really strong image of a sort of underground bunker somewhere, a dark sort of lab. The album has this really cinematic feel of an Earth drastically altered by disaster, and the place is isolated and hidden away.

To me, the piece is from the point of view of the telepath. This person is being tested on and studied in this place, perhaps to study how to harness something like telepathy or the mind in a Cold War type of situation or endgame (MK-ULTRA or something of the like). The counting voice, the more prominent of the two, are the telepathic messages this person is receiving from one tester, and because it is among first sorts of communication of its kind, it is a simple, uncomplicated message. The voice is garbled and drawn out; it's coming in out of focus in this person's mind, who even picks up on the person saying (or thinking) 'Oops.'

The voice(s) in the background ("Don't be nervous") are others in the lab, actually speaking to the subject. So, this person is receiving two different messages at once; it is to be in the mind of a telepath.

Or, perhaps the counting voice is the person speaking, trying to lull the mind, while the other voice is the telepathic message. Can you imagine if you heard someone say "Don't be nervous" to you through your mind? Yeesh. In any case, I like the other scenario better. But basically, I just get this vibe of some sort of involuntary psychic testing in some dark, underground lab.

Also, because of this image, I kind of hear around 0:45 "Well this is pointless...his brain may have concealed thiiiiiiiiissssss (one?) section." Interesting what the mind does to make things fit.

At first I imagined a sort of broadcast or something, but the voices don't sound robotic or programmed, they sound garbled and too human ("oops," "this is pointless," etc).

Anyway, it's great how people all get these different images and ideas from this stuff. I just love putting this album on in a dark room at night and kind of seeing the world this album seems to come from.

[arvy]

That was interesting, thanks for sharing it

[Polaris]

I read some strange article in one on the Polish newspaper portal. Sorry, I will not translate, it's too long and my English is not good enough to transnate such texts, but just in case if anyone speak/read Polish, and is interested, here is a link: http://technologie.gazeta.pl/internet/1 ... h.html#Cuk

Maybe it's not something really serious, but interesting. The article is about enthusiasts who monitor and gather information on 'Number Stations' and other related radio transmissions. These 'Number Stations' are radio stations, that broadcast... numbers spoken in various languages. Most of these radio stations were active and used during cold war, however still some theories say that they are used for sending encrypted messages by spies.
One of the links in the article leads to a short youtube compilation of recordings of such broadcasts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIH7cG3YmIo

Well, I don't have to mention, that seeing the pictures of antennas and the sound of spoken numbers via radiowaves it immediately reminded me BoC track "Telepath".

There are groups of such enthusiasts, one of them is Enigma2000 -> http://www.apul64.dsl.pipex.com/enigma2000/index.html

There are several radio wave recordings with sequences of numbers, unfortunately there is no source file of recording used in Telepath, as I thought could be there: http://www.apul64.dsl.pipex.com/enigma2 ... les01.html . I feel there is some connection between these 'number stations' and BoC track "Telepath" - maybe not exactly on the mesage content level (the sound used in "Telepath" is not exactly the radio wave recording). Who knows, maybe brothers are also fascinated by these radio stations and recordings?

One the recordings is quite interesting - voice modulation very similar to BoC broadcasts with code sequences during viral campaign before TH was released: http://www.apul64.dsl.pipex.com/enigma2 ... es/E27.mp3
(notice the pronounciation is quite hard, that is typical for non-native speakers and people from eastern part of Europe).

Thanks for reading. Now I realized I'm really BoC-weirdie since I'm sharing such things with you, and now I need to call a shrink .

[Radiobuzz]

^ You should really check out this awesome album called Geogaddi.

[i-the-wayside]

don't mean to be a buzz-killington here dude, but I think this has all been covered

[mc10101]

^ You should really check out this awesome album called Geogaddi.

Ouch, shot down in blaze of noobism

[Cupz]

Dont give Polaris shit. I wish I could hear geogaddi for the first time again...

[Polaris]

^ You should really check out this awesome album called Geogaddi.

Indeed, it was something that sounded familiar to me in these radiowave recordings - Gyroscope. This means I need to throw away TH and start over listening to Twoism, and so on...

Ouch, shot down in blaze of noobism

Well, but see - I'm having fun with discovering things like that - you're not.

[zeoevil]

I imagine Oliver Reed but I'm hard pressed to find any recording of Oliver Reed counting.

To me, it always sounded to me like John Noble from Fringe and the Two Towers, except there is no way it could be because that would be too obvious. Someone would have spotted that right away.

[Radiobuzz]

^ You should really check out this awesome album called Geogaddi.

Indeed, it was something that sounded familiar to me in these radiowave recordings - Gyroscope. This means I need to throw away TH and start over listening to Twoism, and so on...

I don'think if your priority is to discover these kind of easter eggs (if you will) then you should go for Geogaddi, then The Campfire Headphase and then all the rest. MHTRTC is pretty straight forward in that regard, things are usually more on display.

[Skyraider]

Found something interesting at this page: http://www.worlditc.org/k_06_spiricom.htm

third audio sample down:

Doc Mueller: William, I think that's much better. Right there, William. Now, William, did you understand? Williammmmmm?

Bill O'Neil: Ye sir, I understand Doctor.

Doc Mueller: Very well, I will hive you a count from one to ten. One, two, three-four-five-six-seven-eight-nine, ten. One moment, William.

Bill O'Neil: Okay.

Doc Mueller: Very well, then. Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snow. And everywhere that Mary went the lamb would goooooo. Goooooo. Play that back for me, William. (silence) William?

Bill O'Neil: Yes, sir?

Doc Mueller: Play that back for me.

Bill O'Neil: All right, Doctor. I am sorry, I was lighting a cigarette.

Doc Mueller: Oh, those cigarettes again!

[egbdf]

Found something interesting at this page: http://www.worlditc.org/k_06_spiricom.htm

third audio sample down:

Doc Mueller: William, I think that's much better. Right there, William. Now, William, did you understand? Williammmmmm?

Bill O'Neil: Ye sir, I understand Doctor.

Doc Mueller: Very well, I will hive you a count from one to ten. One, two, three-four-five-six-seven-eight-nine, ten. One moment, William.

Bill O'Neil: Okay.

Doc Mueller: Very well, then. Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snow. And everywhere that Mary went the lamb would goooooo. Goooooo. Play that back for me, William. (silence) William?

Bill O'Neil: Yes, sir?

Doc Mueller: Play that back for me.

Bill O'Neil: All right, Doctor. I am sorry, I was lighting a cigarette.

Doc Mueller: Oh, those cigarettes again!

Interesting.

[i-the-wayside]

Found something interesting at this page: http://www.worlditc.org/k_06_spiricom.htm

third audio sample down:

Doc Mueller: William, I think that's much better. Right there, William. Now, William, did you understand? Williammmmmm?

Bill O'Neil: Ye sir, I understand Doctor.

Doc Mueller: Very well, I will hive you a count from one to ten. One, two, three-four-five-six-seven-eight-nine, ten. One moment, William.

Bill O'Neil: Okay.

Doc Mueller: Very well, then. Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snow. And everywhere that Mary went the lamb would goooooo. Goooooo. Play that back for me, William. (silence) William?

Bill O'Neil: Yes, sir?

Doc Mueller: Play that back for me.

Bill O'Neil: All right, Doctor. I am sorry, I was lighting a cigarette.

Doc Mueller: Oh, those cigarettes again!

I tried dropping the pitch and speed in Logic, but I'm an amateur so it's real shitty. Anyone fancy having a go?

...all I'm saying is that it obviously isn't a direct sample, but it's all so uncanny, especially the "6" (with the slight pause after it). My brain puts delay on it.

I don't know how you've found this, but well-bloody-done.

[Skyraider]

I tried dropping the pitch and speed in Logic, but I'm an amateur so it's real shitty. Anyone fancy having a go?

...all I'm saying is that it obviously isn't a direct sample, but it's all so uncanny, especially the "6" (with the slight pause after it). My brain puts delay on it.

I don't know how you've found this, but well-bloody-done.

I landed at that site more or less randomly in reading up on EVP, apophenia and related phenomena, and when I heard that clip and read the transcript, I was immediately struck by the similarity to "Telepath". I agree with you, it doesn't sound like it's an actual audio source for "Telepath": the telepath voice is distorted a bit but basically sounds like it has normal inflection, whereas the Spiricom voice is monotone and sounds exactly like an electrolarynx. (I found it REALLY creepy in those few instances where the pitch modulated up for emphasis. WILL-iam!) And the accents are different: North American instead of UK.

It's probably just a coincidence, but it's still a bit spooky (no pun intended.)

[Cupz]

would explain the title "reach for the dead"....is there a sublayer of afterlife on the album?

*listens*

[i-the-wayside]

It's probably just a coincidence, but it's still a bit spooky (no pun intended.)

A little TOO coincidental. Certainly seems like something the brothers would be into.

I agree, that "WILLiam" is haunting, not sure why!