Description
Reigns – “Dead Centre” – Hardback Book And CD
by Tim Farthing/Reigns
Wrong Speed Records have taken an ambitious step into book publishing, presenting the debut novel of one of their in-house creatives, Tim Farthing – who plays in Hey Colossus, noise rock trio Henry Blacker and also, here, electronic duo Reigns. An impressive multimedia package – I’m not sure if it should be considered as a new Reigns album, with an accompanying book; or a book called “Dead Centre” with an accompanying soundtrack…? Whatever, doesn’t matter, it’s great either way!
The music of Reigns is instrumental post rock, like a dubby version of God Is an Astronaut-meets-Boards Of Canada. This is their seventh album. 40 minutes long and one song in two parts.
The novel is a mysterious dark fantasy. Complete with superb pen and ink illustrations by the author, a talented bastard all round. Beginning as social commentary on hard-luck poverty (a la James Kelman) before heading a little off the rails into a twilight zone with scary echoes of classic horror movies – Carnival Of Souls, Dawn Of The Dead – creeping in… only for it to then go accelerating downwards into the underworld, craziness turned-up to the max, charging helter-skelter into Dante’s Divine Comedy, and beyond. Only 200 copies have been made of the first print run (hardback). Each one is signed by the author and hand numbered.
Hardback 2462 pages, 15cm x 22cm.
