THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Playlist: ‘Apocalypse Is a Process’
THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Playlist: ‘Apocalypse Is a Process’
By JON CARAMANICA and NATE CHINEN
"One of the most formally ambitious, eerily pertinent albums to emerge in recent weeks was “Real Enemies,” by the ultramodern big band known as Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society. An adaptation of a multimedia piece presented at the Brooklyn Academy of Music last year, it traffics brilliantly in the syntax of American conspiracy theories, drawing from historical episodes, speculative fiction and the political writing of Richard Hofstadter and others. Depending on your state of mind this week, it could be just what you need to hear or precisely the opposite; either way, it’s sure to strike a chord. And while the piece is meant to be digested whole, it’s possible to find meaning in a single track — like “Apocalypse Is a Process,” which begins with a disquieting stir of flutes and woodwinds, and then features a fine tenor saxophone solo by Sam Sadigursky, along with a sampled voice making a remark both urgent and cryptic: “We can’t wait any longer."