I’m torn between choosing which version of this song I love the most. The original one, recorded for Flies the Fields, has a clarity that makes its ambiance both meditative and pessimistic. The live version from One less heartless to fear has that same eerie disposition, with the added power of being displayed for a pleased audience.

Always felt this song had an apocalyptic nature to it and I used it as a template for a sci fi book I’ve mentioned before. Since a major part of the book is telecommunications and the desperate vocals in Axons and Dendrites feel like overlapping radio stations, it made sense to make it an inspiration.

When I got stuck with that book and revisited another one (I gotta start naming them so people don’t get confused), there is a chapter about this electronics genius (who goes unnamed) that is managing to capture old radio transmissions with some sort of weird ass technology. He uses this to capture lost media and sell it to collectors, like the ones who speculate with missing Dr. Who episodes, and that’s this person’s modus vivendi.

Eventually this person captures a conversation from the other book. I was trying to tie it all together as a single universe, which sounds clever, but perhaps not very entertaining except for the author. With time I’ve assumed that chapter will not make the cut, because it’s too solipsistic. A novel I read a few years after confirmed it, when the internet handle of the author in real life turned out to be a life saving password. It’s offputting and stinks of ego.

Shipping News was one of the first “big” bands I reviewed and interviewed for this website and I’m still fond of them to this day. Their music could jump from contemplative to aggressive at the drop of a hat and I think that’s what made them special.

-Sam J. Valdés López