Dead Level

Commissioned by Experimental Sound Studio in 2000 to create a radio work for the Outer Ear Festival, Terri Kapsalis and John Corbett returned to their investigation of film noir and pulp fiction, creating a half-hour work of non-narrative radio theater featuring music and text collage, as well as Kapsalis on violin and Corbett on analog synthesizer. Drawing on writers like Jim Thompson and David Goodis, as well as a lexicon of criminal terminology, it offers a Dada roller-coaster ride through diners, speakeasies, and crime scenes. Recorded by Lou Mallozzi at Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago; Commissioned by ESS for the Outer Ear Festival, 2000. Cover image by Corey Escoto; Design by David Giordano.