Urban Dreads / Oracles

A new composition inspired by the work of artist David McGee

(David McGee, The Oracle, 2015, wax, oil, plaster, newsprint, marble dust on burlap; artwork photo by Thomas R. DuBrock.)

The work of Houston-based artist David McGee inspired this brand-new composition of mine. It was commissioned by the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art for McGee’s first major museum survey, The Griot and the Nightingale, on view from March 14 to August 23, 2026.

There are two parts to this soundscape. The first is a dreamlike assemblage of urban ambience, including traffic, unidentifiable machinery, sirens, and children playing. It alludes to McGee’s stark, black-and-white, oil-on-burlap Urban Dreads paintings. Part two resonates with the spirit of McGee’s Oracles, a series of collages paying homage to tap dancer and activist Howard “Stretch” Johnson. Emerging out of the gentle wash of an inverted C major chord are Tibetan bells, local and exotic birds (who populate McGee’s recent watercolor portraits), vinyl record pops and scratches, and fragments of conversation with McGee.

Throughout this soundscape, distortion, the superimposition of rhythms, and the rough edges of my edits (all done digitally) are an aural response to the physical textures of McGee’s paintings and collages.

Much like a painter who tests out ideas with studies (something David doesn’t do!), over the course of several months, I shared several “sketches” with David before creating this final work. And now, each time I listen to it, I hear something new, which is not something one, as a composer, can plan for. You have a concept, your technique, and technology, but the actual process of creation is alchemic, and the result transcendental.

credits

released February 6, 2026
Composed, Recorded, and Mixed by Chris Becker

Becker - Field Recordings, Bells, Soft Synths
Patrick Moore - Cello
David McGee - Voice

Mastered by Douglas Henderson
Artwork photography by Thomas R. DuBrock
Special thanks to The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art and Inman Gallery.