Ball of Wax 52 Songs: A.F. Jones – “a charter”

The multi-faceted sound artist A.F. Jones makes his Ball of Wax debut with “a charter,” a sound collage created from audio gathered on a fishing charter. We start off with the motorized drone that must be a constant companion on such trips. Soon more sounds are added – water, a clanking steel door, and other, less identifiable sounds. Despite the mundanity of the source material a dark, sinister feeling gradually creeps up on us. Distorted, echoing voices in multiple languages layer over each other, and then a pulsing bass note fades in, pushing that sinister subtext to the foreground. And then, like a cloud blowing past the sun, it’s gone. We hear a hushed, informal conversation, engines and water. We’re on a boat. It’s a lovely afternoon. Everything is fine. A.F. Jones manages to pack a lot of story and dramatic tension into one small audio package. Do yourself a favor and get your ears on a copy of four dot three two one, the album from which this track was extracted.