The 'Floyd-Wizard' Syncronicity Effect

We all are aware of Pink Floyd's ability to weave powerful, forward-thinking rock. We know too well. We hear it over and over again, on every Rockumentary, in every 100 Greatest Albums list. The Dark Side of the Moon continually gets voted as one of the most influential albums ever produced. We know, we all bloody know. But, less discussed, is a sub cultural myth that attaches itself to the album. It sounds, at first, pretty nutty: pause a copy of it at the beginning in a CD player and, playing both at the same time, play Wizard of Oz on mute. Jesus Christ, this is what happens when you leave a group of wired students alone for an evening. Lies and bullshit you might say, but I tried it, and for a good half hour into the film, the syncronisation is astonishingly accurate. If you were ever looking for a modern legend, than this is it. No doubt, wispers floated around by way of the typically convincing see-it-to-believe-ploy and it roped me in. It drew me in as an ice-cream truck draws in sugar-junky children.

Similar is the overzealous interest behind conspiracy theories. I spent an evening watching the JFK assasination over and over on youtube to develop my own opinion (we'll meet Bill Hicks later at the docks). The 9/11 conspiracy documentary Loose Change still sits on my hard drive as well as my mind. The quest for truth can sometimes send you beyond basic logic and reason and the internet is more than happy to oblige, acting like a shitty little sewing circle in its desparate need to tell you what's "really going on".

But back to the case in hand. 2001: A Space Oddessy also presents another significant moment of timing, but of a different nature. Around the time of its release in 1968, reports that at the moment of the famous 'Star Gate' scene, nearing the thought provoking close of the film, an average dose of LSD kicks in at the very same moment when the character Dave begins his enlightening high-speed adventure. The zooming, colourful textures of the ensuing minutes suggests a strong psychadelic influence. It went down pretty well with the counterculture of its time, and I'm guessing it would have sent numurous kids into unavoidable paranoia. But then again, the weird is what you're after when you're tripping.

What both The Dark Side of Oz and The Acid Oddessy share in common is that these syncronisations are accidental, judging at least with what we know of the artists or directors intentions. Both are a part of the same intriguing phenomenon where two seperate artforms, one of sonic and one of film, mysteriosly combine. Is this the only occurance of its kind, or are there other couplings yet to be discovered? Has the Floyd-Wizard effect randomly struck elsewhere? I was itching to know and set out to see what I could find, only to be somewhat disapointed.

This subject initially appeared to me to be virgin material, ripe for the taking and I lept on it with enthusiastic glee. Books were writing themselves in my head, thesis' built on study and experimentation were coagulating together like rain drops on a window pane. But of course, as always, the internet is two steps ahead (there goes my publishing deal, god damn it) and lo' and behold a website called Syncronicity, dedicated to these pockets of discovery, proudly displays them in full geeky glory. Their archive is eccessively focused on the albums of Pink Floyd (they even have 2001: Space Oddessy coupled with Pink Floyd's Echos which someone kindly created on youtube) but there are a few more unique couplings to try out. The joining of Radiohead's Amnesiac with Dark Crystal is tempting. I'll admit, it's a little obessive this fascination with syncronicity and heavily implies the use of narcotics to aid enjoyment. You only have to scroll down to the bottom of the syncronicity webpage to reveal a mini purple mushroom (see picture), what's being hinted at here is evident. It most certainly comes off as an occupation for the dangerously bored or hazily wasted. Perhaps your brain's got to be crawling up the wall and running laps before the music and visuals seem to synchronise, but maybe not. As informative as the website is in its many suggestions, it doesn't beat an accidental discovery, because when you find one for yourself, it becomes your own. I remember watching Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times muted while playing The Flaming Lip's Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots a few years ago. A friend of mine would also mute the train journey scene of Spirited Away and drift off to it while listening to The Velvet Underground's beautifully droning Heroin. The idea is to culminate a mood or meditative experience. Obessive? Maybe, but you won't know until you try it, will you?

The Convincing Power of Words

In 1946 George Orwell wrote and published a small essay giving, what he felt, was inductory help to the process of writing. Entitled Politics and the English Language in it he looks, in depth, at the way certain words and phrases can confuse and blur your understanding of what is being communicated. The essay acts as a warning against language oppression. A few years later he would publish Nineteen Eighty Four, one of the most important works of literature in the last century. In the book a governmentally initiated language called New Speak acts as just another tool in controlling the population. Expression, through a mechanical language, was suppressed. The essay in question, published a few years before this, lays the foundation for this very idea. Orwell promotes writing truthfully and keeping a strong grip on meaning. The voice of the writer must reside in the text instead of being clasped in ego or in the need to convert the reader. To simplify is to bring clarity; less is essentially more (I wonder how well I'm doing keeping out of irony at this point).

The relationship between language and politics is very close. One could argue that it was Noam Chomsky's study of linguistics that lead him into political activism, although he has denied this. In a 1969 interview in The New Left the drive, for him, was "rooted ultimately in some concept of human nature and human needs". Over the many years after the interview, his intuitive knowledge of semantics would have given him a wise outlook on the progression of politics leading up to and into the 21st Century. Remaining steadfast, he opposed the early 90's "War on Drugs" policy claiming the language choice to be misleading and has been highly critical of the position of the American Media.

Frustratingly, these warnings appear ever more relevant in our current political situation. You have only to watch Prime Ministers questions for a few minutes or catch a glimpse of Fox News to see substantial evidence for this. Our parliamentary debate is a veritable shit-slinging of buzz words and hollow sentiment, all supporting partisan interests. The word 'change', used almost to absurdity by many politicians, has mutated from its definition. If Enoch Powell rose from the grave to be seated in Parliament this would count as change. Such is the convincing power of words. When I hear it, I wince and my eye flickers in nervous aversion. As a word, it's political profanity and, used so many times, remains empty and untrustworthy. Even Barack Obama's early speeches rung with an unconvincing air of synthetic 'change'. Ultimately, it was his optimism and honesty that lead this message into belief; but it took some time. Phrases such as "War on Terror", "Coalition of the Willing", "Tough on Crime"; all serve to create a form of brand-name or catch-phrase politics, for a culture fed on TV and advertising. It's getting more and more difficult to speak with conviction or with a unique voice. Just telling someone that you love them for example produces a depressing feeling of cliche, the feeling that it has been said over and over, a billion times before.

Of course, it's not politicians who are to blame for this perversion of language. Our happy acceptance of being lied to is phenomenal. We ignore it, we let it go, and perhaps with reason. We want to believe that our government is acting on this proposed 'change' and if not, we don't want any part of it. It's hard to condemn people who see nothing but smoke and mirrors in politics. Truth is now an desperate animal, lost in a fog, moving in and out of the endless, evolving realities that we find ourselves in. Language can create barriers in society. What unites us is our sense of reality, our collective understanding of our environment and it's hard to see how constant mention of 'change' fits into this, other than to draw us further away from the will to actually achieve it for ourselves.