Real Enemies, by Darcy James Argue's Secret Society

Real Enemies

by Darcy James Argue's Secret Society

supported by

Ted Curry Incredible record. The Bari sax solo on Trust No One is the highlight for me on this stellar album. Favorite track: Trust No One.

more...

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

$11 USD or more
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

Get a copy of the Real Enemies CD. Comes with a deluxe 20-page booklet.

Includes unlimited streaming of Real Enemies via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 1 day

Purchasable with gift card

$15 USD or more
Subscription

Subscribe now to receive all the new music New Amsterdam Records releases, including 21 back-catalog items, delivered instantly to you via the Bandcamp app for iOS and Android. You’ll also get access to subscriber-only exclusives. Learn more.

Subscribe Now $85 USD/year or more

1.	You Are Here 08:06	buy track
2.	The Enemy Within 04:37	buy track
3.	Dark Alliance 07:04	buy track
4.	Trust No One 05:20	buy track
5.	Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars 06:47	buy track
6.	Best Friends Forever 04:26	buy track
7.	The Hidden Hand 06:15	buy track
8.	Casus Belli 05:37	buy track
9.	Crisis Control 07:02	buy track
10.	Apocalypse is a Process 05:47	buy track
11.	Never a Straight Answer 07:27	buy track
12.	Who Do You Trust? 04:17	buy track
13.	You Are Here 06:01	buy track
14.	Best Friends Forever (single) 04:26	buy track

about

Brooklyn-based composer-bandleader Darcy James Argue and his innovative 18-piece big band Secret Society will release their third album, Real Enemies, out September 30, 2016. Composed by Argue, Real Enemies is a 13-chapter exploration of America’s fascination with conspiracy theories; narratives behind the Red Scare, the Illuminati, Edward Snowden, and alien sightings are meticulously examined and interrogated through Argue’s dazzling score.

Real Enemies debuted as a multimedia performance (co-created by Argue with writer/director Isaac Butler and filmmaker Peter Nigrini) to impressive acclaim at BAM’s 2015 Next Wave Festival. Taking its title from Kathryn Olmsted’s 2009 book Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy, World War I to 9/11, the project is the product of extensive research into a broad range of conspiracies, from the familiar and well-documented to the speculative to the outlandish. Real Enemies traces the historical roots, iconography, and language of conspiracies, and examines conspiratorial thinking as a distinct political ideology. It chronicles a shadow history of postwar America, touching on everything from COINTELPRO to the the CIA-Contra cocaine trafficking ring to secret weather control machines to reptilian shape-shifters from Alpha Draconis infiltrating our government at the highest level. Real Enemies invites the listener to explore and engage with the conspiratorial mindset. Argue explains:

“Belief in conspiracies is one of the defining aspects of modern culture. It transcends political, economic, and other divides. Conservative or liberal, rich or poor, across all races and backgrounds there exists a conspiratorial strain of thought that believes there are forces secretly plotting against us. Conspiracy theories often take hold because they provide an explanation for disturbing realities. They tell a story about why the world is the way it is. Paradoxically, it’s often more comforting to believe that bad things happen because they are part of a hidden agenda than it is to believe that they came about as a result of mistakes, ineptitude, or random chance.”

As befitting a journey into postwar paranoia, Real Enemies draws heavily on 12-tone techniques, a compositional system based on a tone rows — a sequence of all 12 pitches in the chromatic scale — devised by Arnold Schoenberg in the aftermath of World War I and embraced by American composers during the conspiracy-rich postwar era. However, Argue’s wide-ranging score exhibits a mischievous disregard for how those techniques have been traditionally deployed. Other musical touchstones include the paranoia-inducing film scores of Michael Small (The Parallax View) and David Shire (All The President’s Men), the revolutionary songs of Nicaraguan singer-songwriter Luis Enrique Mejía Godoy, the psychedelic space-jazz of Sun Ra, the FM synth-fueled grooves of early 1980’s LA electro funk-influenced hip hop, and much more. Significant pieces of spoken text from figures like JFK, Frank Church, George H. W. Bush, and Dick Cheney are expertly woven throughout the robust and provocative score, with a concluding voice-over narration provided by actor James Urbaniak. Real Enemies is an intense musical and sensory experience that spins and explores a web of paranoia and distrust, and resonates long after its last note.

credits

released September 30, 2016

Real Enemies Personnel:

Dave Pietro - piccolo, flute, alto flute, bass flute, soprano sax, alto sax
Rob Wilkerson - flute, clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax
Sam Sadigursky - E♭ clarinet, B♭ clarinet, A clarinet, tenor sax
John Ellis - clarinet, bass clarinet, tenor sax
Carl Maraghi - clarinet, bass clarinet, baritone saxophone

Seneca Black - trumpet, flugelhorn
Jonathan Powell - trumpet, flugelhorn
Matt Holman - trumpet, flugelhorn
Nadje Noordhuis - trumpet, flugelhorn
Ingrid Jensen - trumpet, flugelhorn

Mike Fahie - trombone
Ryan Keberle - trombone
Jacob Garchik - trombone, tuba
Jennifer Wharton - bass trombone, tuba

Sebastian Noelle - acoustic & electric guitar
Adam Birnbaum - acoustic & electric piano, FM synth
Matt Clohesy - contrabass & electric bass, bass synth
Jon Wikan - drum set, cajón, misc. percussion

James Urbaniak - narrator on "Who Do You Trust?" and "You Are Here" reprise
Darcy James Argue - composer, conductor

license

about

Darcy James Argue's Secret Society image

Darcy James Argue's Secret Society Brooklyn, New York

press: jill@newamrecords.com

contact / help

Contact Darcy James Argue's Secret Society

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, you may also like:

All Can Work
by John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble

supported by 71 fans who also own “Real Enemies”

It is amazing how a great composer can turn simple, concise emails and a simple brass overtone exercise into an empathetic, explanatory piece of music! I am moved each time I hear it. emersonreynolds
go to album
Both Are True
by Webber/Morris Big Band

supported by 63 fans who also own “Real Enemies”

This albums has some fantastic writing, and is beautifully arranged and recorded. For fans of more modern experimental big band. dreG
go to album
Not Two
by Amir ElSaffar / Rivers of Sound

supported by 58 fans who also own “Real Enemies”

This Album is Fantastic. And the Group was Amazing at the Newport Jazz Fest! minyasthemooch
go to album
Black Mountain Songs
by Brooklyn Youth Chorus

The celebrated youth chorus performs songs commissioned for members of The National and Arcade Fire. Bandcamp Album of the Day May 17, 2017
go to album
The Source
by Ted Hearne

On "The Source," composer Ted Hearne uses bureaucratic language and poetic chat transcripts to create an electronic opera that honors its subject matter. Bandcamp Album of the Day Dec 13, 2016
go to album
Currents
by Michael Mizrahi

On Mizrahi's sophomore album of solo piano works, he ably performs works by Sarah Kirkland Snider, Troy Herion, Mark Dancigers etc. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 10, 2016
go to album
Blueprinting
by Aizuri Quartet

supported by 57 fans who also own “Real Enemies”

string music brought to the very extremes of what string music can be nah
go to album