Originally, the sample or field recording used to create a sound portrait had a loose connection to the creature I was writing about but this piece was created after a walk in a local park, where I took recordings of metal railings. It was 19 secs of a what I thought was a “spoiled” recording, with added wind and talking passers by, that proved to me that I shouldn’t just delete files as there may be hidden possibilities.
Anyway, on reading the full story of the Minotaur, I am of the firm decision that the Ancient Greeks had a mean streak.
The Minotaur was a half-bull and half-human monster who lived in the Labyrinth, which expanded underneath the court of King Minos in Crete. This bull was sent as a gift from Poseidon to Minos, in order to support him in his struggle to become the ruler of Crete. However, Minos did not sacrifice the bull as he was meant to, but liked it so much he kept it. Poseidon was enraged, as Ancient Greek gods often were, and made Minos' wife,Pasiphae, fall in love with the bull. When the Minotaur was born, he would only eat humans as he was an unnatural creature. Minos asked for advice from the oracle of Delphi, and was told to create a maze (designed by his architect, the famous Daedalus) underneath his palace and put the Minotaur there.
The Minotaur’s woes didn’t end there.
One day, the son of Minos, Androgeus, decided to participate in some Athenian games but he was killed by mistake. Minos, infuriated, attacked Athens and then demanded that fourteen young people from the city be sent annually to Crete as a sacrifice to the Minotaur. In a following year, Theseus, son of the king of Athens Aegeus, volunteered to go and kill the monster. When he arrived in Crete, Ariadne, daughter of Minos, fell in love with him, and offered him a sword, as well as a ball of thread. She told him to tie the thread near the entrance of the labyrinth and unroll it as he goes deeper, so that he could find the way out later. Advice that all helped in the demise of the Minotaur.
No wonder my Minotaur is such a sad tormented creature, a lost soul wandering in the bowels of the Labyrinth.
credits
from Imaginary Creatures,
released November 20, 2019
O Johnson / museleon (2019)
Artwork by O Johnson
An irresistibly catchy mix of lo-fi house and juke, the bouncy rhythms on SECAT's latest could soundtrack any bedroom dance party. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 7, 2022
Created from recordings and collected sounds with a zoom recorder, Safe Jazz's album is effervescent and energetic. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 18, 2022
"A comic book suite of beats" from the Pop Can Records co-head, cobbled together from viral samples and half-broken instruments. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 29, 2021
First released 10 years ago, this psych-electronic album has lost none of its charm and inventiveness, serving up dizzying song structures. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 29, 2020
More futuristic muzak from the beloved vaporwave composer, a tug of war between serene ambient and unsettling glitch electronics. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 31, 2019