The new TISM album ‘Death To Art’ contains a Melbourne suburban travelogue featuring a hearse of a 78 minute journey to Springvale cemetery.
The album starts with two funeral directors having a discussion as they drive their hearse to Springvale cemetery, the dead centre on Melbourne. The dialogue continues between the tracks starting ’78 Minutes to Springvale’ and counting down the length of the album at 75 minutes, 70, 64, 59, 49, 45, 40, 25, 19, 14 and finally four minutes out of Springvale cemetery.
Ron Hilter-Barassi tells Noise11.com, “The metaphor of going in the hearse from some place about 76 minutes away from Springvale cemetery and the conversation between the hearse drivers is recorded at the start leading to a metaphoric conceit as if every song on the album was from a cassette that they found in the back of the hearse. That conceit continues through the album where TISM’s meditations on art are concluded as they drive into Springvale cemetery.
Ron says the 78 minutes out at the start is not meant to be taken as a physical starting place. “That’s a literal reading of it. I think like people who read the Bible literally, you misunderstood the nature of the metaphor. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that the running time of the album exactly replicates the time the hearse drivers take to arrive at the cemetery”.
Watch the Noise11 interview with Ron Hitler-Barassi and Humphrey B. Flaubert (if you dare):
Watch TISM ‘I’ve Gone Hillsong’ from ‘Death To Art’:
Watch TISM ‘70’s Football’ from ‘Death To Art’:
Watch ‘Death To Art’ from ‘Death to Art’:
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