Song Of The Day 6/18/2015: Das Kabinette – “The Cabinet”

Synthesizers That Are Dead Inside: I kept meaning to watch The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari this week for research. It’s free on YouTube, and we got YouTube on our TV. It’s comparatively short. It’s silent so there were reading portions which I always find helpful. I just ran out of time bub. My pedigree with early 20th century film is pretty thin. I regret missing out on it. But from what I’ve read on the tree of knowledge, somebody byte-writers consider it the first true horror film. It looks like the kind of horror film I would really like: one that lacerates and dices apart more sordid facets of the human condition, and involves a carnival. Carnival life is not the aristocratic side binge it used to be in the 1800’s. Now (and by “now” I mean since 1910) it’s more of a traveling exhibition of compromised physicality and malformation, one which we view from our lofty perch as comparatively perfect observers, until we then become ugly ourselves for our slovenly gazes at the misfortunes of others, and we throw up a little cotton candy in our mouths. Oh, the traveling life. There’s also a somnambulist in Dr. Caligari, which hits a little too close to home for me. It reminds me of when I worked at Microsoft. Zing! (Zune?)

Das Kabinette were all about The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, as you can probably tell from their name. They were all art students who were stuck on the movie. “We all have a fascination…with its twisted tale of madness and unforgettable imagery and this was the theme we borrowed for our demo,” according to Mick Hall, the singer. Their single “The Cabinet” was floated on BBC Radio 1 for a bit. Certain factions in Europe still remember the song fondly. According to their website the band are still friends who drink at the pub on a regular basis. True survivors of the cabinet, they are.