Tansy Undercrypt

When I was invited to contribute as a voice actor to Keith Spears’ “49N 15E”, I had no idea what a “numbers station” was. The answer is truly disconcerting: across the globe, shortwave frequencies play a repetitive message or tone or static pattern for their intended listener 24 hours per day – and they’ve been doing this since WWII. The idea that, in a remote Russian village, a lone microphone has sat in a room for over 70 years, picking up clicks and tones with a voice reading codes aloud is creepy enough; when you consider that there’s been one or more human handoffs in those duties since the Cold War, it’s even more foreboding. Spears has used these stations as a basis for an ambient soundtrack that is one part science and one part fiction. Creating an atmosphere of mystery with a healthy dollop of dread, “49N 15E” is unique, intelligent music that puts a chill groove or a back beat on your apocalyptic nightmares. I give this recording a Reaper Rating of 4 (Thrill Kill) for creating its own little bubble of fantasy and fear. Perfect for night driving, if you don’t mind your arm hairs standing up. “There was no one at the coordinates, only a lawn chair by the side of the road …”