Readers, is there a better city for cassettes than Chicago these days? I want to know...write me and let's take a poll.
Bowie had Aladdin Sane. Disney had Robin Williams. Chicago label Lillerne Tapes has Scammers' Phil Diamond. Diamond is a one man show and, according to the label's website, he's a goddamn great performer. Magic Carpet Ride is a concept album about Aladdin, but don't go screaming, running in the opposite direction from the word "concept" because it doesn't bloat this album one bit. In fact the tape is a scant twenty seven minutes! Hardly Quadrophenia people...On my first listens I didn't even bother with the lyrics. I'm not that kind of listener anyway. What I noticed what how much I liked the sounds coming from my stereo. The first cut, "Blue Satin," is very Bowie/Eno "Berlin" mixed with a heavy helping of Ian Curtis vocals. It is a slow developer, but I couldn't turn it off. One element I really liked was the drum programming. On several tunes big thuddy tom-tom fills roll in and I smiled and kept on dancing. The up tempo numbers are the most immediately enjoyable and again, I don't give a fuck about a lamp and three wishes, I have to shake da rump! Scammers' tape is a good one. I eagerly wait for his next offerings...take that Jafar!
Sometimes I'm just not in the mood for slow build textural drone works. Hell, I'm only human! Baby Birds Don't Drink Milk (Crazy ass band name, but cool right?) wallow in the lush life of methodically constructed music. Their sculpted tones did nothing for me when I first listened. I was kinda distracted to be honest. The night was calling my name, but I wanted to sit down with this tape and stare it down. So I listened, yet heard only the muttering crank in my head. I don't recommend forming an opinion of some band's musical efforts while in a foul mood, but that's what I did...I'm guilty of not paying attention to BBDDM. I've since listened again and the patience of the musicians to record this work must have been great because I don't think I could've accomplished the slow motion performances. Now, I might be a faster bpm dude who likes songs, but BBDDM is recommended to the listener who can focus on minutia. I have this suspicion that I'll go back to this tape and suddenly find new things to like about it. Such is life.
Listen and Buy HERE.