Scylla & Charybdis by Escape Route

The second actual Escape Route gig was one of two halves (kind of). The first half comprising two duet sets: The first with me (Alan) and Simon both on guitars. I'd just taken the guitar with Zoom effects and delay this time (no synths) leaving all the guitar synth work to Simon. The second duet was with Chris and Steve, with Steve this time limiting himself to what he could route through the Tascam 4-track, and Chris adding all the synth and "pretty" tonalities. The two big jams by the four of us are witnessed here in considerably edited forms, to give it all a sense of composition, balance and dynamics.

In keeping with the mythology theme of "Pandora's Box" we have again another aptly titled outing with Scylla & Charybdis, as playing free-improvised live electronic music can be like being between Scylla and Charybdis, trying to stay afloat and avoid being sunk under the waves!

Scylla and Charybdis are two sea monsters of Greek mythology who were situated on opposite sides of the Strait of Messina between Sicily and Italy. They were located in such proximity to each other that they posed an inescapable threat to passing sailors; avoiding Charybdis meant passing too closely to Scylla and vice versa. Scylla was a creature who dwelt in a rock, had six heads and ate people, while Charybdis had a single gaping mouth that sucked in huge quantities of water and belched them out, thus creating whirlpools. In Homer's The Odyssey, Odysseus is forced to choose which monster to confront while passing through the strait: rather than risk the loss of his entire ship in the whirlpool, he elects to pass by Scylla and lose only a few sailors.

Tracklist

1.	Odyssey [Alan & Simon]	17:57

2.	Scylla [Chris, Alan, Steve, Simon]	13:54

3.	Whirlpool [Chris & Steve]	16:44

4.	Charybdis [Chris, Alan, Steve, Simon]	18:03

Credits

released May 27, 2024

Live at Bambu, Welford Road, Leicester, 24 January 2008.
Recorded direct to mp3 recorder. Edit and mix by Alan Freeman February & July 2008.

Chris Conway: theremin, synths, flutes, whistles, kalimba, voice, effects
Alan Freeman: springs, acoustic CD, guitar, metal, plastic, effects
Steve Freeman: acoustic CD, prepared tapes, voice, effects
Simon Styring: guitar/guitar-synth, effects

CD-R Auricle AMCDR 130 £7.00
and bandcamp download
duration: 66'35"

Versions...
CD-R - released 2008.
Bandcamp download - released 20/9/2014.
CD-R second edition - released 18/10/2016.

License