Chairs - "Indestructible Machine". Paolo was surprised by how quickly he and the factory owner came to an agreement. The contract was drawn up, the notaries approved, and then suddenly the document was sealed and dated, with two splashes of signature. "See you on Friday night," the factory owner said, as he slammed the door of his Volvo. Paolo had come by bicycle. He cycled home along the hill roads - downhill, easy. At the vineyard his brother, Matthew, was waiting. Matthew had refused to come to the meetings; he stuttered, he thought somehow he'd blow it. "H-h-h-how'd it go?" Matthew said. He had the biggest heart of anyone Paolo had ever met. "It went perfectly," Paolo said. "We will start the wine on Friday night."

So four days later Paolo and Matthew and five of their workers got on horses and motorcycles and dragged four wagons of grapes up the hill to the factory. They watched as the five PM whistle sounded and the smokestacks stopped smoking. Factory employees streamed out the big steel doors. They stared at the wagons of grapes like they were wagons full of rubies - treasure from another world, untouchable. Matthew reached into one of the pallets and grabbed a handful, tossed these to one of the curious lookers. "Why are you here?" someone asked. "Making wine," Paolo said.

When the way had cleared they went into the factory. The owner was there in his suit and waistcoat, leaning against a control panel. "That's it?" he said, surprised. "That's it," Paolo said. "This is Matthew, my brother." "H-h-h-hello," Matthew said.

They used the freight elevator to lift the wagons to the top floor, above the machinery. The motorcycles were left down below, some of the workers took the horses outside, lit up cigarettes. Paolo and Matthew led each of the wagons out of the elevator and to a gap in the grille catwalk. The factory space was filled with giant steel turbines, carbonised axels, and a thousand toothed gears, some small, some behemoth, frozen in place. "Can you hear me?" Paolo called down to the floor. "Yep!" answered the factory owner. "Can I start?" Paolo glanced at his brother. His brother's mouth flashed a smile, for a just a second, before he concealed it. "Yes you ca--" Paolo shouted, but before he had finished a great noise started up and the turbines began to whirr and the axels began to twist and the thousand gears began to turn, crunching.

Together, Matthew and Paolo lifted the end of one wagon. Two workers lifted another. Grapes poured off the edges and into the grinding machinery. Fruit smashed between metal teeth. And juice was pouring out, down, to collecting troughs on the brick floor. From their vantage-points, Matthew and Paolo could not see the grape juice. They could scarcely hear each other in the clanging hall. Paolo looked at Matthew, and nodded, and Matthew looked at Paolo, and licked his lips, and shouted, through the din, "It's benign."

[bandcamp / sadly we missed the Chairs' gig at Casa on 30 October / they are from Montreal / they'll be back]

---

If you live in Montreal, please support CKUT Radio.

The Luyas made quite the video for "Montuno". Horses and dusks and zebras and dresses.

(photo source)