A combination of errant airline logistics, inclement weather and a tight budget forced me to spend several hours on the floor of Denver International Airport last week. I collapsed at a makeshift camp between walls and benches outside of an airport employee lounge from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.
A disruptive array of sounds rather than the dirty floor and frigid temperature prevented sleep. The constant clicking of debris stuck in a nearby escalator, the drone of HVAC systems, the faint buzz of innumerable video monitors, the inescapable soundtrack of “soothing” pop music and mandatory security announcements kept me awake.
The experimental Kansas City musician Seth Andrew Davis likely would have shared my aberrant fascination with the noise. Much of his new release Highways Jammed with Broken Heroes is uncannily evocative of the ambient sound of Denver’s airport at four in the morning.
Billed as “a series of pieces for prepared guitar and live electronics,” the digital and cassette release is inspired by innovative artists like Glenn Branca who Davis suggests are “changing the timbral capabilities of acoustic and electronic instruments.” The sincere affection Davis displays for Bruce Springsteen in his choice of album and song titles is deceptive.
Antecedents for the confrontational Highways Jammed with Broken Heroes in (semi)popular culture include Pat Metheny’s Zero Tolerance for Silence and Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music. Davis’s artistic audacity is admirable. Even so, anyone who’s never slept rough might think twice before allowing Davis to guard their "dreams and visions".