The banks of the James river in August are no joke. It’s so freaking humid it’s hard to see where the river actually starts.
The banks of the James river in August are no joke. It’s so freaking humid it’s hard to see where the river actually starts. It’s the middle of the night and there’s a thick haze over the brown, barely moving water. Only the most dedicated, daring fishermen dare brave these shallow waters.
Here we are again, Ian Grahan & John Reinhold: fishermen extraordinaire. As usual we haven’t caught anything all night. The real problem is nobody sells good beer this time of night, and we’ve only one left, a mighty stout, staring us down from the cooler. The empty bottles are stacked beside us, glinting in the light of the Richmond city skyline blinking at us through the 100o midnight fog, as the slow electronic drawl of RL Burnside wafts through ipod speakers.
We hear a strange gurgling noise, suddenly, seen puddling down the middle of the river, a huge big pale catfish, It’s just chuggin’ along. The oddest sight, they’re bottom feeders you know, but this one is clearly enlightened somehow.
It stops midpoint, in front of our lines, and croaks. It croaks and the water around it starts to teem with catfish, hundreds, a wide swatch of catfish, it’s really boiling now, as a reddish green mass arises from the center. It is shaped kinda like a man, it stands on the catfish begins to march towards us across the backs of the now-howling chorus of catfish.
“Ain’t that some shit,” I say to Ian kinda scared at this point. “looks thirsty to me.”
Ian shrugs his shoulders, we nod to each other. Ian grabs and heaves the bottle of barrel-aged booze out to it’s waiting maw. Not missing a beat, this damned swamp thing snatches this fine beer from the air, stares at us, then cracks it open and drinks real deep like. A shallow opens from what would be its face down through it’s chest, the catfish suddenly all sing in a droning harmony that vibrates through our chest. Our jaws drop and Ian pulls out his phone real slowly.
What you’re about to hear is the only recording of the noises it uttered as it sank back into the muddy depths of the James.
–
Ian Graham / John Reinhold (*True story bro)
Swamp Thing Illustration by Charles Berger (www.charlesbergertattoos.com/)
*Recorded live on Glitch.fm, contact for tracklisting.
Tracklist:
Reinhold – Swamp Thing
Sound efx Swamp night / Sludge
Stagga The Chilski
Genetix Going in (Original Mix)
Genetix Natural State (Original Mix)
Icicle Acid Step (Original Mix)
Genetix 24 7 Re-flex (Original Mix)
Oicho Kreuzberg Babi (Original Mix)
Juss B The Cell (Original Mix)
Poppa Doses Echo Boom (The Widdler Remix)
Ziplokk Corruption (Original Mix)
Ruckspin, Quark, Planas Miserere (Original Mix)
Killawatt, Thelem Point of No Return (Original Mix)
Gantz Siyam (Original Mix)
Cymatic Electric Church (Original Mix)
Killawatt Mantra (Original Mix)
Kaiju Silverfish (Original Mix)
Lamb, Quantum Soul Strong Root (Original Mix)
Kryptic Minds Cant Sleep
Sound efx Swamp night
