Posted on Leave a comment

Week #14/52: The Stone Tape and a number of layerings…

The Stone Tape-Radio 4-Nigel Kneale-Peter Strickland-James Cargill-Broadcast-Life On Mars-Andrew Liles-The Dark-A Year In The Country
File Under: Trails And Influences / Year 2 wanderings

Well, that got me thinking about The Stone Tape again and in particular the (relatively) recent radio broadcast and adaptation of it.

This was a production where the layering and backstory were at least as intriguing as the broadcast play itself.

As a play, it was almost as if somebody had sat down with a very particular hauntological-esque wish list and created it as a piece of culture that didn’t need to actually exist in broadcast form, it just needed this layering, to be thought about and anticipated.

The Stone Tape-Radio 4-Nigel Kneale-Peter Strickland-James Cargill-Broadcast-Life On Mars-Andrew Liles-The Dark-A Year In The Country-2

Six layerings:

1) Place: I was particularly taken by the images of the location it was shot – the textures and contemporarily chic almost gothic horror of it all.

2) Person: Peter Strickland as it’s director. Well, what more do I need to say? Spinner of very particular cinematic worlds and re-imaginings courtesy of the stepping through and never were of giallo sound recordists and imagined Jess Franco-esque/once-upon-a-never-was very particularly European fairytales/mesmerisations.

3) Music: James Cargill of non-pop pop music-ers Broadcast, sometime Children Of Alice-r and previous Mr Strickland world creation collaborator and layer-er.

4) Soundscape: Andrew Liles, England’s hidden reverse co-creator and aural sculptor.

5) Script: Matthew Graham, one time creator of sort-of-mainstream-hauntology series Life On Mars.

6) Listening: The Dark provide a communal listening experience for above layerings and to add another layering.

The Stone Tape-Radio 4-Nigel Kneale-Peter Strickland-James Cargill-Broadcast-Life On Mars-Andrew Liles-The Dark-A Year In The Country-2b

A further six layerings courtesy of a venerable auntie: Nigel Kneale’s Stone Tape in six facts.

“Read all about it” (said in a 1920s New York paper sellers voice) here.

Mr Dorans and “old hand” Mr Augood consider contemporary and past layerings and transmissions here.

The Stone Tape-Radio 4-Nigel Kneale-Peter Strickland-James Cargill-Broadcast-Life On Mars-Andrew Liles-The Dark-A Year In The Country-4

An interwoven study of future haunted media around these parts here.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.