3 X Haute Magie

Back for more dabbling in the diabolic darkness with the vaguely occultish cinema music released by Austin's Haute Magie label...I've got three cassettes staring at me, asking for air time...can I handle the nouveau relica? First up is the debut album by The Blood Wisdom, Fall/Rise (The Twin Inside). This is heavy rock - not metal or anything like a genre would fully embrace - but just HEAVY vibe, bleak atmospheres...I'm intrigued by the use of organ lines, acoustics, and pure electronic production built around menacing guitar riffs and delicately "alternative" vocal melodies. Score! 

Next is Bathaus' Bastien, which is exciting for me because I really enjoyed the last offering from the B. This cut-up, electro-sampledelic tape is another top notch collection. I'm an admitted fan, but fans of the electronic arts should dive into this cassette soon. Finally, I have OObe's Delphi to digest, then I'm done for the evening...more darkly dance&paste electronic music. Different from Bathaus for sure, but working on a level similar to my ears...hallucinatory passages and steady beats. By now I know that Haute Magie is a label that cares a great deal about putting out well-designed and adventurous tapes. The artists are going to give you something to talk about...so sample some of the releases above, you will likely find more than just a few quality jams.

Buy and Listen HERE.

4 X Haute Magie

Time to review the neighbors. Not literally neighbors as in go next door for sugar, but down the road apiece neighbors...fellow Austinites. Austin based label Haute Magie has had a lengthy ride to were they are today. Founded in '09, the label closed up show to rethink and refocus their vision. Operations began again in 2011 with a more professional look and structure. I recently received four tapes from this haunted crew and I'm pleased to say that I love both the art and the sounds. For the most part the music straddles a fine line between archaic mysterious vibes and modern ingredients. 

Mike Bruno & the Black Magic Family Band's album The Willing of the Wisps has the charm of backwoods religious-cult-folk music mixed with a touch of Jandekian isolation. The songs do not reveal themselves to you easily, but the sound of the listening experience is thrilling...if you want to get lost that is...deep, in acoustic guitar lines, mournful ballad voices, and "out there" percussion hits. Bathaus is a one-woman cut&paste electronic collage maker. Her beats are classic, but her end results are new. ArcaneIIICut is a close tie with the Mike Bruno release as my favorite music from the cassette world this month. I can dance the blues away or meditate on mortality with this album. Bravo!

The next two tapes I listened to from the stack of Haute Magie are more layered and unexpected listens. Pan and Mitchum both have albums of thoughtfully composed sound-cycles that will likely appeal to a discerning fan of fluttering tonalities and motion sickness. Pan's self-titled album is one delicate creature. The vocals (when they appear) are as much pure sound as the prepared guitar or washes of feedback. I can't say where I've been, but I've been through the looking glass with this tape. Mitchum's tape is...wait...is this hip-hop? Holy Shackleford...instrumental tracks of beats, samples, (even) flutes! Damn, I'm digging this ride!! Who knew Germany (the country of origin here) had such a skilled producer roaming their streets? Check out "The Pit." 

Bottom line here folks: explore the releases from Haute Magie. I haven't heard such varied sounds from a label in weeks. These bastards live in the same city as me? Wild. Proud. 

Buy and Listen HERE.