John Duncan – Crucible (1999)

1 Crucible

Field Recording [Field Recording Made By], Photography By [3 Inserts], Layout – John Duncan
Layout – Marc Behrens
Mastered By – Giorgio Tomasini

Outdoor concert for Topolò Event Festival, July 1997

"For a remote mountain village, Topolò has an intense history. A few minutes on foot from the Italian-Slovenian border and cut off from standard sources of media information by the surrounding terrain, Topolò and its 50 inhabitants lived on the cutting edge of the cold war and were subjected to sustained anti-communist propaganda campaigns by CIA funded Italian nationalists. These visitors, the village's principal source of information about world events, repeatedly told of planned invasions by Slovenian forces, warned them to treat any Slovenian acts of good will as signs that attack was imminent, and paid selected village residents a steady income to spy on their neighbors.

"The water there tastes sweet, one of the few places on the planet where it's possible to drink directly from local springs. It rains often—the concert was nearly cancelled because of lightning storms that went on all day, and the audience stood under umbrellas in the rain to listen.

"Whether or not this had anything to do with the sound or form of CRUCIBLE, I leave for you to decide."

—John Duncan