the magician and the tarot cards

it was albert bouchard who asked for the tarot cards on the front cover of agents of fortune. the artist (lynn curlee) provided the concept. later he did the cover for black sabbath’s heaven and hell (angels smoking) but he never got to meet the band. the blue oyster cult came over to his studio en masse. 

the magician on the front cover of agents of fortune is probably servais le roy. his last magic show in new york was a disaster, he burned all his equipment and props the next day and retired to new jersey. asrah the floating princess  was the illusion that made him famous. you know the one -the magician levitates his assistant under a sheet and then makes several passes with a hoop so that we can all see there are no strings. later the less subtle ‘sawing a woman in half’ replaced it in most magician’s repertoires. 

there are lots of still photos of horsemouth and enza cavorting (is that a kind of dance?) around in costumes as part of their dancing about architecture performance. some work. some are good but have poor alignment. the ones with the magician’s wand work really well (it is like horsemouth has entered into the straight lines of the painting and rendered them in 3D). 

circumstance has given him the opportunity moving into the world of film making (thanks enza, thanks suke). all is going well (apparently) on the production possibly called the fall of the house of fitzgerald. his music for the party scene (a version of darktown strutter’s ball renamed high rise strutter’s ball) is apparently rocking the spot. 

horsemouth is pleased. he recorded it in a hurry and thinks it could probably do with some tidying up (but on the other hand he thinks it will do). there is also the eviction of the party scene (this horsemouth thinks will go well too, he thinks the music for this will work well). the next step is the more contentious (because more imagistic) dream sequences. the trick horsemouth thinks, is to work with the colours of the fake kandinsky. the burning sword sequence, the collapse. 

the cat’s dream horsemouth thinks can be soundtracked with cat purrings and music box sounds (possibly the ones off the front of the blue oyster cult’s flaming telepaths). he is pleased to have got it shot almost entirely in a black and red palette, he thinks it will look good.