Don’t be thrown by the title of the video “meet jeff,” it’s a video for the song “slit scan” from the forthcoming GATEFOLDE album O due out January 22, 2022. “Jeff” is songwriter M. Fanuzzi’s name for the dystopia of late capitalism. The video is a depiction of three figures mutated and mutilated by the current state of the world as are many of us to varying degrees even if “only” psychologically. The song employs analog synth and other electronic instruments to convey the background sound of post-industrial white noise that represents the elements of our current civilization that seem impossible to escape including the constant demand of late capitalism of our participation in it whether by increasingly drawing our time and energy into it directly or indirectly with marketing/advertising which has permeated nearly all realms of life and, perhaps just as if not more insidiously, social media which has become the vehicle for keeping in touch with friends and family in aggregate and putting a barrier between people through the illusion of connection. The music of the song goes from a fairly playful and chill electronic free jazz with saxophones into something more chaotic and disorienting to parallel the disruption in our lives and alienation from self. The DIY stop motion animation/claymation visuals while perfect for expressing these ideas also contains an element of nostalgia and humanity because it is inherently imperfect and wouldn’t be effective if rendered in a more finely digital form. In casting this symbolic drama of the dysfunction of the modern era, the video and the song is a reminder of how even connecting to the uncomfortable aspects of our existence is proof of our humanity and that everyone knows deep down that late capitalism is a failure that serves no one’s interests and is inherently destructive to the environment and basic human institutions and relationships that we value whether we consciously take them into account in the abstraction of our economic lives separate from context and consequences beyond those slender considerations that define the modern capitalist system. Maybe the GATEFOLDE video and song is a minor act of resistance by holding up a creative mirror to the system that is eroding and destroying our lives but it is one that rewards indulging. Watch the video for “slit scan” on YouTube and follow GATEFOLDE at the links below where a cassette of the album O is available to order on Bandcamp on January 22, 2002 in a limited edition of 100.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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