The Commodity of Light
Original Release Date: 02/02/4411
Whether one sun or two (or sometimes three), the nearest star represents the freedom to survive. Warmth, energy; life can exist with its near-infinite supply of tasty rays. For planets bathed in darkness, due to dying or recently dead stars, light is a commodity worth more than any precious metal or stone (including the infamous Retortunga Wishing Stone, which grants any wish the owner desires, except the ability to produce more light). Companies hoard electricity and keep prices far from reach, powering their homes high above the smog, turning their corporate penthouses into twinkling stars of their own. The Commodity of Light was a product of one such exoplanet, Eversaura IX, where fizzling electricity was a tool and luxury of the rich and the destitute scavenged for disposed batteries and just a taste of what might be in front of them. Composing mostly in the dark, triplets Oomar, Kuutaar, and Meekump kept their sanity by fantasizing about what they would see when the lights were on for good. Would they finally be able to see what was in their fridge? Would they see beauty? Or would the world be as dark and black as before, except now the nightmare was real? They did not seem to care, as hope fueled their creativity. When pushed to these extremes, the need for ingenuity becomes a necessity. Their next-door neighbor, whom they called Bhubbo, fancied himself an inventor and would spend his time fiddling in a workshop, lighting shipping boxes on fire with the help of a flint to battle the darkness. His time was considered wasted, but when a joyous scream erupted from behind the door of his hovel, the triplets knew in their hearts what transpired. Light suddenly burst forth from tiny holes bored into Bhubbo's home, showering the street with a disco ball of twinking stars. After months of failure, the eccentric inventor had finally created electricity and light from mere sound (his shouting had been the catalyst for the shower that now reflected off the triplets' eyes). Those in the vicinity danced with vigor as the trio began playing their well-tuned playlist, feeding Bhubbo's machine with plenty of sound, and, in return, powering their neighborhood enough to enjoy a hot meal and a hot bath. Enhancements came quickly, but the siblings could not afford to play constantly through the night for the benefit of Eversaura IX. Bhubbo, renewed and on a bit of a hot streak, created the necessary tools to record their music and play it on a loop into his conversion machine, thereby generating an untold supply of light. As you might imagine, dear Audionauts, the elite did not take kindly to this free electricity, and soon their penthouses began to dim, the lights flickering randomly as they, too, could not afford the rising costs required to maintain the creature comforts of high society. Spectrum Red was the album that sustained the slums of Eversaurua IX for nearly a year, until the jackbooted authorities, loyal to the upper crust, brought their so-called "truncheons of peace" down upon Bhubbo and his invention. The world was plunged into darkness and placed in a choking quarantine, which saw little to no survivors, except, dear Audionauts, for a solitary vinyl containing the entirety of Spectrum Red, the happiest album ever produced in a darkness so sad. Its lasting beat was full of eccentric plotting, trippy bass over cheeky rhythms, and synth that encouraged you to shine with your own light. While Oomar, Kuutaar, and Meekump did not survive the deadly raids that snuffed out most of the paying customers of their planet, their legacy lives on, like a shooting star leaping through the cosmos, filled not only with tasty electricity but with the heart of the many brave souls of Eversaura IX.
Side A
All Those Shades of Red
Dripping in the Dark
Beyond the Visual Spectrum
Strike A Chord
Side B
High & Low
Echoes of Hope & Love
Silent Discotheque
Buhbbo Bounce