John Mills-Cockell - Canadian music composer

A performance piece by John Mills-Cockell & Blake Parker

"The tale is a moral allegory. In Stella's world, animal eyes polished like mirrors stare out of silver windows dissolve in the wash of static gives back a picture of sleek foreign desperadoes with hair-raising underworld connections. In Stella's world, the photo twins drift down sunset streets neon lights winking hello-goodbye and their smooth bodies give off a faint whiff of negrito dreams and mental crack-up. In Stella's world, we walk down noisy streets of memory paradise same time same place whispers telephone voice frozen in storage vats of the brain a slender hand reaches up for new moisturizing tint sparkles on the magnetic water leaves us speechless with cold feet and a cancelled ticket. The political world of children's illustrations rubs shoulders with that of the radio DJ, advertising lingo, pop music, classical tangle of nostalgic strings dissolves into a stark image of Stella in black and white."

Turn on your radio Disk jockey talk radio sparks in the wet blue night, I tell you the journey to paradise is shortened by virtue & lengthened by vice. Let the voice of Ancient Biological Radio light up your life! Do you hear what I hear? Sound of saxophones & telephones, train whistle moan, & the dried bones clack in the dead-city night. the voodoo dolls and carbon types are making hullabaloo over on tenth avenue.
	Look in the mirror Stella! Look out the window. Skulls are breaking out there & spines crack. Blood flows down the street in a twisted track. There is a cold wild wind ablowin' & the neon rain is slashing down. Steel animal teeth are tearing up the deep ground & God's secret name is written in the dangerous sparkle & rush of the high flames, amber, green, turquoise, crimson
& the sirens scream in the city night & the screams rise up into the city air like lost souls then fade to the timeless dry rustle of old newspapers, dead air & radio static lapping up on the shores of consciousness & the message is: to dance is to be free!

Sample audio from the performance, Blake Parker reading, Leora Cashe singing, Greg Kozak percussion, John on keyboards: