Sir Richard Bishop‘s Tangier Sessions LP came out this week on Drag City, and today we take a look at his video for “Safe House“. Composed of photos from Bishop, and pal Robert Millis‘ recent stay in the city, during which the album was recorded, this is a visual paean to Tangiers, the famed North African city. From 1923 till it’s reintegration back into Morocco in 1956, Tangiers was the center of a neutral demilitarized zone initially held between France, Spain, Britain, and Morocco–as a means of solving a disagreement between the countries. The Tangier International Zone would become known for it’s diverse mix of cultures, and due to it’s particular political circumstances, a certain sense that a sort of lawlessness prevailed. Drawing a radical mix of ex-pats from the US and Europe, writers and artists like Jane and Paul Bowles, Brion Gysin, and William Burroughs would all spend time there; and the city would go on to provide the backdrop for Burrough’s mysterious Interzone, an interplanetary stop-off famed for it’s illicit markets and high intrigue.
Bishop’s “Safe House” might indeed point back to a time when the cities’ status as a sort of temporary autonomous zone meant it was the center for things like smuggling, money laundering, and espionage, but the video, edited by Robert Millis, paints the city in a homey and loving light. Hypnotically composed to Bishop’s fevered playing, Tangiers is viewed through hundreds of personal photographs that document the cities’ complex and enigmatic beauty.
