Infinity People's the Serpent Tape is the best cassette I have been given to review since I began writing for Cassette Gods this summer. This album is a cathartic, multigenre prog-rock orchestra with brass sections, multiple voice harmonies, classical piano solos, tape manipulation, 80ties metal guitar, synth oboe mediations, bird calls, horror movie soundtrack and straight up hippie noise. It sounds like a collection of many different musicians who in two compositions, an A and B of a cassette, are all given a spotlight. Their flow of tone is carefully and beautifully composed through the songs various movements.
Often times post-modern music that splices genre can feel like it has a deficit of attention or concentration. This is because splicing genre is as simple as rubbing your finger across a sliding AM/FM radio tuner; the task of mastering various types of music is accomplished easily through the assistance of computers and digital devices. Infinity People stand out because these musicians play analog instruments (although electricity, tapes and frequency effects are very present). It is music that could be played live at the Boston Symphony Orchestra or in a dingy Olneyville warehouse; This music is accessible to almost a universal audience, but is still forward thinking and challenging for a listener.
Their two compositions (an A and B side of the tape) share a serious dramatic mood. Side A's piano solo sounds almost as if it could be accompanied by jazz great Pharaoh Sanders but morphs into a metal power ballad. The second half sounds more ambient and is less operatic. Instead it sounds more like an urban slasher movie soundtrack with meditative synth parts and a movement with distinct low tomb tribal drumming. Choral chanting, fuzz distortion marshall stack guitar, gong and timpani are even heard!
This cassette is an epic DIY achievement. Unapologetic, meditative and quite possibly a masterpiece.
Buy your copy here - http://ufofactory.bigcartel.com/product/infinity-people-the-serpent-b-w-the-nest-ufo3-cassingle
--Jack Turnbull
www.jackturnbull.com
Posts
