‘A Fragment from the Lives of the Conquistadors’ is a short story that I wrote for L.A. artist Steven Hull for an incredible Californian arts festival called Glow Santa Monica. The audio—with analogue synth accompaniment by Steven—was released on the vinyl LP A Puppet Show in 2014, and I also put the MP3 up on my Soundcloud page. For some reason(?) the file had got corrupted, so I just had to reload it. As ever, feel free to download it, so you can listen to the MP3 on your own device.

Here’s the blurb:

Track #1 from A Puppet Show, vinyl LP by LA artist Steven Hull (Nothing Moments, 2014). Tony White reads his short story, a psychedelic parable about Cortés presented as a piece of Castañeda apocrypha, with sound by Steven Hull. This new short story formed the basis of Steven Hull’s huge Puppet Show performance commissioned for Glow 2013 (a triennial, dusk-to-dawn arts festival on Santa Monica Beach). The story is now available on a beautiful yellow vinyl, gatefold LP from Nothing Moments, featuring audio of the story with sounds and music by Petra Haden, Tanya Haden and Anna Huff, Steven Hull and the legendary Gibby Haynes of Butthole Surfers. A two-fold, full colour pamphlet insert features the full text of Tony White’s story, plus photos of A Puppet Show at Glow and an interview-essay with all participants by Christopher Schnieders.

A Puppet Show, track listing:

A Side:
#1 ‘A Fragment from the Lives of the Conquistadors’ story by Tony White and sound by Steven Hull, 12:50 min.
#2 ‘Horse Parade’ by Petra Haden, Tanya Haden and Anna Huff, 3:47 min.

B Side:
#1 ‘Maigizo ya Bandia’ by Gibby Haynes, 10:12 min.
#2 ‘Conquistadorable’ by Petra Haden, Tanya Haden and Anna Huff, 4:51 min.

Image: A Puppet Show listening station in the exhibition My Little Boat of Sorrow (opens PDF of press release): Tami Demaree, Alex Evans, Tanya Haden, Gibby Haynes, Steven Hull, Jim Shaw, Allison Schulnik, and Marnie Weber. Rosamund Felsen Gallery, July 12 2014 — August 9 2014.

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