Private View: ‘Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains’ Prog-Rocked my world!

by A_F_R_O_W

Remember the great old days of the multi-player grams?

In essence, when one 7-inch had played, the next would fall into place, in wait for the needle-drop which, in-turn, had the listener on the edge of their seat, anticipating three-minute hedonism…The comforting, rhythmic crackle of the revolving disc emitting through the speakers, accompanied layer upon layer of delicious acoustic nirvana…

Similarly, ‘Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains’ at the Victoria and Albert Museum is an absolute layer-cake of multi-media escapism!

Thus, do not attempt perfect recall…. Simply receive the state-of-the-art Sennheiser cans, turn on, tune in and rock out!!

Far be it from me to suggest you turn up in your best swimming ensemble either, but I am charging you to ready yourself to dive into the deepest end of your psyche than, either you realised you could, or ever knew existed!

Yet, have no fear!

…Just don’t be surprised if the self-contained audio frees you to such an extent that you get raucous in your own mind, then get loose and strut like a star at your own concert!

F.Y.I…. Lay-out, unnecessary.

Simply, follow the cleverly-integrated repeat motif of telephone boxes and you won’t miss a beat.

Expect to be swallowed whole, though, by the frontal lobe of an entirely immersive moment in time, which challenges the norms of what we know to be time-travel and sends you hurtling through a vast maze of music, moods and ground-breaking creative moves.

I mean it….

…At times, everything engulfs you.

In one pace, you move through the avant-garde ambition of Pink Floyd, to the incredible physical objects of stage memorabilia. The next step, you round the corner and see pigs flying over Battersea Power Station! Mesmerising are the conceptual ideas behind the fine artwork and eclectic wardrobe and wondrous are the intimate band voiceovers, guiding you, like long-lost friends, through the stories behind such shifting sonic patterns and vivid chord progressions encountered in the vast ocean of soundscapes, known as their all-consuming albums!

What is remarkable is that you never, ever lose the feeling of being a child in the best room of toys…

…especially when up-close-and-personal with some of the most exceptional musical instruments, displayed at all eye-levels, adding an awe-inspiring reverence to guitars and drum-kits, which have vibrated some of the most directional hits in prog-rock history. However, before any childlike, look-but-don’t-touch disappointment tries to encroach upon the wow-factor, you spin on a dime and see the sweet-shop set-up of mixing desks, encouraging you to become über-producer and remix ‘Money’! Although already blessed with a biting, syncopated bass, my version became even more sizzling, when placing the line centre-stage, which is just where I love my bass to be! Then again, removing all else, save the pealing clarion of ‘Money’ and the subsequent vocal rendition was a sheer joy, particularly with a splash-and-dash more reverb…

I truly loved that particular, free-flowing quadrant of the collective Pink Floyd brain.

In fact, I wasn’t aware of trying to work anything out in a strictly linear fashion, but I am sure that there was a mass of rapid visual information processing going on, because I was still thinking about it all days later…

For me, that’s quite the point of the best memories.

No matter when or where you are, there’s no need to attempt to bring them to mind, because effortlessly, they revisit you.

In such a way will all of the treasured experiences in this extraordinary exhibition become and remain immortal.

afrow