Checkpoint Charlie
by Ghost Against Ghost
The Checkpoint Charlie EP is two tracks totaling 14:30 in length. This
first release of 2015 by producer and composer Christopher Bono, Ghost Against Ghost is a dramatic, dreamy experiment in lush, dark, romantic harmonies and grating, headsplitting noise featuring a 46-person string orchestra, noise experimentation, vocal stacks, drums, percussion, electronics and synthesizers. The full orchestra was recorded in Prague with members of the Czech Philharmonic and Prague Philharmonic. The rest of the album was recorded in upstate New York at Bono’s Apollo 37 Studios
Ghost Against Ghost - Checkpoint Charlie EP [Digital Downloads]
Written, Produced and Arranged by Christopher Bono
Christopher Bono: producer, composer, vocals, synths,
keyboards, programming, mixing, noise, arrangement
Thomas Pridgen: Drums
Czech FILMharmonic: Strings
Mixed by Christopher Bono and Satoshi Noguchi
Mastered by Gavin Lurssen
Recorded at Our Silent Canvas’ Apollo 37 Studios
Checkpoint Charlie
(Official Music Video)
Ghost Against Ghost- Checkpoint Charlie
(official music video by Craig Murray)
<OFFICIAL SELECTION> 2016 Cucalorus Film Festival
<WINNER> 2016 Golden Lion Award, Barcelona Film Festival
<OFFICIAL SELECTION> 2017 New Renaissance Film Festival, Amsterdam
The elaborate and beautifully shot music video accompanies a remix of the work by Ghost Against Ghost's Christopher Bono and film score mixer Satoshi Noguchi. Checkpoint Charlie is a dramatic, dreamy experiment in lush, dark, romantic harmonies and grating, headsplitting noise. Composed and produced by Ghost Against Ghost frontman Christopher Bono, the epic work features the Czech FILMharmonic string orchestra alongside Bono's ethereal and strange vocals, and moments of thunderous drumming by Thomas Pridgen (Mars Volta, Trash Talk, Suicidal Tendencies).
Craig Murray, known for his experimental films and videos for Mogwai and Converge, proved a perfect collaborator for Bono's music. "I'd been looking for a music video that would let my shots breathe and immerse the viewer," Murray says. "Unlike the usual barrage of shots cut to a beat in most music videos these days."
The two parts to Checkpoint Charlie depicted in the film are described thusly:
Part 1 is a lush and beautiful piece, unique in its use of the orchestra against synths, vocals and ambience. Drawing on the influence of late romantic and neo-romantic composers alongside psychedelic, progressive and post-rock influences, the movement is a fascinating fusion of orchestral writing and post-rock tendencies.
Part 2 "The Descent" portrays the psychological descent into hell that is experienced when one is cut off from a fixated object of love. The consistent, dissonant, droning waves of "The Descent" are designed to cut into the listener psychologically and voice the sense of persistent darkness that abounds in the experience of despair once the terror of heartbreak sets in.