![[Negativland]](negativland.gif)
Negativland
presents OVER THE EDGE, Vol. 2 -
PASTOR DICK: Muriel's Purse Fund
Seeland (CD)
If you're not familiar with the whole Negativland collective/zeitgeist thing (Yes! I've finally used the word
"zeitgeist" in a review!), or if you haven't heard from them since their
<sign of cross> SST </sign of cross> days, "Pastor Dick" might
come as a bit of a shock to you.
Like the rest of the Over the Edge series, "Pastor Dick" is culled from broadcasts
of Negativland's weekly radio show of the same name. The show is freeform in the
extreme -- an often bewildering melange of tape loops, music, reverb and unscreened
audience phone calls. "Pastor Dick" brings a (purely relative) degree of
coherence to the narrative, centering around the titular, fictitious (but
entirely believable) radio clergyman's broadcasts. Its centerpiece, "Muriel's Purse Fund," is
an attempt by Pastor Dick to recover some stolen money via a dollars-for-sins pledge drive in which he
takes a sip of champagne for every dollar promised...
Bewildered? That's okay. It's a stream of consciousness thing, interrupted
by odd carts, abrupt reverb, inappropriate music, profanity... "narrative" is a relative term. But the whole
thing will be utterly hilarious to those prepared to laugh at religion's expense. The
Purse Fund, the Bible Quiz, every little bit of "Pastor Dick" (especially the enclosed "Flagship Faith" pamphlet) is almost, but not quite,
real enough to be at once hysterically funny and profoundly frightening.
This might not be the best introducton to Negativland, or even the O.T.E. series,
but it's guaranteed to occupy the "most unique" spot in your CD collection for a while... --gz
IF you check out one link from Splendid®, check out the Negativland site.