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White Cyclosa
| White Cyclosa | |
|---|---|
| Running time | 3:13 |
| Appears on | Tomorrow's Harvest |
Comments[edit]
- "White Cyclosa" is highly reminiscent of, and possibly a homage to, music from the film Day of the Dead (1985). Suggested comparison - the opening sequence of "The Dead Suite" on the soundtrack album, credited to John Harrison.
- There seems to be a direct connection between "White Cyclosa" and the ending of the 1982 animated film The Plague Dogs - as if Boards of Canada wrote the track as an alternative score for this segment of the film. This is most apparent as the helicopter in pursuit of the two dogs flies directly overhead (synchronizing flawlessly with the helicopter sample in the track's intro). The finding is illustrated below in a YouTube video uploaded by KensDreaming.
- Narratively, following the implied nuclear apocalypse presented in "Reach For The Dead", this track may refer to a nuclear winter, a severe and prolonged global climatic cooling effect that is hypothesized to occur after widespread firestorms following a large-scale nuclear war. In essence, an artificial ice age where the Earth is completely covered in endless, or cyclical white sheets of snow and ice. Following this, Jacquard Causeway may imply the thawing of the planet, revealing rocks and causeways underneath, and the new upstart civilization using sophisticated technology (a jacquard loom).
- In the Stargate SG-1 episode called "Beneath the Surface" (S04E10, September 2000) the musical melody at the 11m46s mark is identical to that played in White Cyclosa at the 00m38s mark.[1] Coincidentally, this episode deals with a supposed impending ice age, where a working class of people is subjugated into underground living by an elite class under the pretense of a hostile environment in the surface.
Samples / Lyrics[edit]
- The sound of a large helicopter's blades whirring plays throughout most of the track.
Trivia[edit]
- Cyclosa is a genus of spiders that create webs with linear decorations and which heavily incorporate the remains of their prey and other debris, likely serving to camouflage them. The species Cyclosa tremula is black and white colored and crafts decoys from the remains of its prey, which it imitates by vibrating its body to appear grey when disturbed. Another species, Cyclosa argenteoalba, may become infected with the parasitic larva of the wasp Reclinervellus nielseni, which forces the spider to build a web before eating the spider and using the web to complete its metamorphosis. The name of the genus, Cyclosa, is derived from the Greek "to move in a circle." While most orb-web spiders face downwards in their web, some (including argentoalba) face upwards.[1]
- A Ghost Bike is a bicycle painted all white and welded upright in place to memorialize the spot a local cyclist was killed by obtuse traffic, to promote bicyclist commuter awareness and safety. (christ.’s 2007 album was titled “bike”)
Videos[edit]