Ten Thousand - Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir

by Joss Murray
Illustration by Tim Murray

Well I’ve been hammering this axe into this big oak tree for ages now. What started off as a kind of whack sound has become more of a deep thud. My pace has become metronomic (about 140 thuds per minute, but who’s counting). My axe is blunt. I don’t care. It’s pretty cold in the yard. Quite early on I tried to make a fire. The wood doesn’t burn. I carry on hammering never the less. My sore throat asks for water, I give it cigarettes. My blistered hands bleed. My back throbs. My eyes sting. I could stop, but its fun. I enjoy it.

All of sudden the sun trombones down on me through a gap in the trees, there’s a jangle of banjo from the old fellow who lives next door and tambourine sounds come from the throat’s of a nest of starlings.

I keep on hammering. Thud. Thud. Thud.

I trample off into a day dream about slide guitar and whiskey, which makes my axe feel heavy and my pace slow, but it’s rhythm never drops. This axe is full of energy, it’s my dodgily tattooed arms that are drunk. The axe is as sober as a new born.

I carry on hammering, now drunk as a drip tray at the end of a busy night. The sun has gone. The cold has come and my wood doesn’t burn. I carry on. At some point I hit what an athletic man would probably call ‘the wall’. I call it being numb, but for whatever reason this numb wall of mine has put a spring in my step. I decide, quite pretentiously, that my day’s work has taught me something about the spirit of misfortune, which brings a smile to my dry mouth. The tree falls for the last time and I lie next to it, content in my drunken slumber.

Merriweather Post Pavillion - Animal Collective

By Tim Murray

Illustration by Kate Bellamy

As I dip my head under, the world turns blue. The bright sunlight, filtered by the tinted window of water, gives this new landscape an eerie atmosphere but that's not what scares me most.

I dive down further, evacuating my lungs as I go. I turn around to see the bubbles rise like clear balloons and burst on the surface. Pop. A shoal of minuscule fish dart past my eye line and disappear into the blue. I try to follow them but my shank-like limbs aren't adapted for this environment.

Looking down, I wonder what could be below me. A sunken ship. A cruiser maybe or a yacht that capsized and fell to the depths below. It's hull cracked and creaking under the pressure of gallons of water. It's radio still broadcasting mayday signals like a lost child in a silent crowd, echoing off nothing. Or maybe there's a whale, one of the big ones, just metres underneath me where the eerie blue turns black unknown. Maybe it's rising like a huge blubber bubble and I'll be unable to get out of its way. Helpless. This thought sends shivers through me.

I hear it's call. A low, deep bellow that comes from the basement of the ocean and moves every molecule around me, like they are dancing. I suck harder on my oxygen mask to calm myself and more bubbles float to the top. To escape.

I wish I was going that way instead of hanging here, like a motionless puppet whose strings are attached to nothing. I feel vulnerable from every side and angle. All directions pose an unimaginable threat. My heart is pounding in my chest like a tribal drum. I need to stop myself concocting these images so I start humming a tune, its bright and cheery. It makes me think of the surface and my life there.

I start heading up, following my bubbles. I am a bubble. I feel light and jubilant. I break the surface and almost carry on going up. I feel the sun on my face and take my first breath of freedom. I have escaped.

Welcome Again

Quite alot has changed since I first created A Sonic Reaction. Initially the idea behind the site was to create more of a music website than a music blog, a vault of reviews, features, interviews etc. but I realised that there were already loads of those sprayed across the net. And I probably couldn't do it as well as places like DrownedInSound, Pitchfork, The Line Of Best Fit etc.

So after a long think, I came up with a new idea. How about if I post art that is inspired by pieces of music. Literally sonic reactions to albums or songs and the reactions can take the form of anything. From detailed drawings to quick squiggles, epic stories to 5 word reviews, essays to post it notes, photos, collages and everything in between. Pretty much anything goes.

I'm hoping this will become a place for artists and writers to display their work and I will be able to link back to their own website or email address. If you want to get involve then send me an email at heyitstim@hotmail.co.uk.