Land of the Free, Home of the Depraved :: The Unparalleled Influence of Henry Flynt
A lucid shadow that reacts aggressively to unborn light and sharp silver-linings appears before a subway train. Its memory faded into some lonely distance between “career” and reality. Its speed both astonishing and undeniably terrifying as it wraps its alien head around the stone corners before allowing its passengers to embrace its shell-shocked exits. A man appears in a black and white suite in a black and white photo from a black and white realm. His head hanging low as he effortlessly steps into the streets, while simultaneously colliding with the frequencies of the concrete jungle that lied just ahead. Born and raised in Greensboro, North Carolina at the beginning of the Second World War to a photographer and teacher, Flynt immediately flourished in the arts and academia, while being influenced by classical music at the time. A scholar and future Harvard student, Flynt led his high-school orchestra and became the concertmaster where he would go on to earn a full scholarship to attend one of the most prestigious schools in the world. Eventually the future musician of matrix philosophy, perpetual psychology of doom and exceptional violin trickery would isolate himself from his schooling and colleagues to further venture into the unknown of his own subconsciousness to explore the endless depths of his artistic nature. He set out to establish what he coined the “New American Ethnic Music” and for the last half-century has tested the boundaries of man, art, music and society with a dedication and practice like no other before him.
For some of us it was 2002’s subliminal release of “Raga Electric” on Flynt’s home away from home, Locust Music. A startling mantra that spares no one as it violently lunges its listeners into a half opened tomb of endless tunnels and buried, ancient candle wax, whose message is so captivating and haunting, one can only be engulfed in its raw techniques and otherworldly methods of chaotic meditation. A collection of recordings that date back to the early 60s and into the following decade,“Raga Electric” is an explosive attempt to graze the lips of angelic lust as it casts us into the depths of fear, Dadaism and the mockery of the baptized reality that is fed to a starving society hungry for something more spiritual and practical. With the “Central Park Transverse Vocal #1-#4” spiraling into the madness of proper pursuit and anti-gravity and the album’s masterpiece “Marines Hymn”, Flynt ensues into the ruble of what’s left of the human subconscious to repair anything and everything damaged by the bloated system of power and wicked corruption. Like a pill dissolved into the devastating ritual of space time unlimited, there’s a lingering shore just off in the distant ready for its inhabitants to bathe in its humbling warmth.
With so many flawless efforts casted into the glowing lake of fire and ancient brimstone, Flynt’s body of work isn’t just documented in the artifacts of his music, but that of economics, numerous essays, sociology, science, tech and of course philosophy. A rather overwhelming documentation of his findings can be found on his site, but one thing his fans adore and celebrate is his unique and vast approach to conducting music and for that we’re eternally grateful. From “Raga Electric” to the halo crushing sounds of “New American Ethnic Music, Volume 2: Spindizzy”, his early days with Walter De Maria, Art Murphy and Paul Breslin in The Insurrections to the near death echos of the recordings known as “Graduation”, an endless scroll of historical expression is waved directly at the universe with uncanny features that can be inhaled by those who see bravery and courage as their only foot forward. Flynt is one of the most successful challengers of reality and with his shoes unfilled and glasses worn clear with molting crystal eyes piercing through its visual cage as the conductor launches an abstract missile straight into your sore soul without any apologies, there will never be one like him again.
