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LISTENER'S GUIDE TO CLOUDS WITHOUT WATER The Coming Anarchy The title of this piece is taken from an essay written by Robert D. Kaplan in which he argues that scarcity, crime, overpopulation, tribalism, and disease are rapidly destroying the social fabric of our planet. The music was specifically written to reflect the spirit of Kaplan's ideas. Field recordings of the Masai People of Lake Natron, Tanzania are featured. Our Way of Life In Blood Orchid, author Charles Bowden describes with Old Testament fury and twentieth-century anguish the state of the American spirit as the long, bloody century draws to a close. Matt Johnson of TheThe provides a particularly poignant reading of this excerpt. In Golden Light This story is told from the point of view of a ghost singing to her lover who is still alive. Early Music specialist Julie Comparini performs the vocal with poise and a deep sense of melancholy. Winter Wind Brendan Perry of Dead Can Dance soulfully performs this dark ballad, an existential meditation on the passage of time. Ken Rich plays bass. Ashes Falling Julie Comparini sings this song which contrasts the eternal aspects of nature with the ephemeral life span of human beings. The Masai People of Lake Natron, Tanzania are once again featured as well as world renowned bassist Tony Levin. Clouds Without Water This instrumental piece features a solo cello performance by Erik Friedlander who plays a lamenting melody floating in a toxic, technological atmosphere. In These Rooms In this poem/song of murder and mayhem Jennifer Charles of Elysian Fields displays her incredible talent as both singer and method actress. Behind the Lake This piece is based on a work by the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966) which deals with the fear associated with an unknown source of impending doom. Early Music specialists Julie Comparini and Paul Shipper perform as a choral ensemble. The Rain Begins Julie Comparini reads this dark poem set against a nightmarish, industrial soundscape composed of guitar textures, odd whispers, sampled noise and screaming parrots. Wakeworld Written several months before 9/11 this epic song eerily compares the fall of the Roman Empire to present day America. Brendan Perry performs the lead vocal, plays bass and sagat (Arabic finger cymbals). Here the Deities Approve Julie Comparini performs this seventeenth century work by Henry Purcell.