GOOD WILLSMITH (Hausu Mountain)

Jorge Arana Trio - "Mapache" (self-released)

Jazzy virtuosity in the cassette world isn't something I hear too often, yet with the debut album by the Jorge Arana Trio, that is all I hear. Mapache is a prog/fusion sketch book. None of the compositions stretch out, or go seeking unknown vistas of sound like classic jazz-fusion era recordings by Miles, Herbie Hancock, or Mahavishnu Orchestra did back in the 70s; only two of the twelve compositions break the four minute mark, hardly "exploratory," but what these pieces lack in improv-scale run splendor, they make up for in professional chops. The dissonance of some of the keyboard chords and/or the freak out bursts of electric guitar are the best bits for me. For example, the screeching fuzz and irregular riffage of album closing "Ether" is part On the Corner, part Beefheart. I enjoy the giant sound these three fellas capture from their straight forward trio line-up. There are a lot of good ideas on the debut album from Jorge Arana Trio and I look forward to hearing how they grow past the tentative (though pleasing) first steps.

Buy and Listen HERE.

DR. EVILLETOWN "Dirt" (Brain Plan)

Cool amateur fucked up downer punk with humor.
 

tapes

BALDER 'Humble Fluorescence'(Thuggee Productions)

BALDER- 'Humble Fluorescence'

Thuggee Productions

http://balder-jwjones.bandcamp.com/album/humble-fluorescence

Totally infinite! 1st side kicks off with some delight inducing synth patterns undergoing heavy concentric circle overlay by raindrops. Other squalls and gloops superimposed on this. A tape which takes its time and is good music to work to, would increase worker productivity in the supermall 3000, or could also imagine it as the background noise to an avantgarde airport. Next is a pretty guitar tune with lots of delay that reminds one of Durutti Column, then another delay piece....imposing atmospherics on the 2nd side with a good Dune cinemascope reach...maybe Balder is going for a black metal ambient feeling. Weird titles evoke impossible moods: 'Pedestal-Vehicle to Mother's Basement'. Processed pleasure loops for future toadpeople.

HOT RELEASES - Carrboro, North Carolina

Ryan Martin performs as Secret Boyfriend. Check out his new tape on the always top-notch label I Just Live Here. It's called Furnishing the Void and it's as good an album as he's ever made. It covers a lot of different ground.  When I first saw Secret Boyfriend in a basement in Northampton, I thought he was just a harsh noiser, but the more times I check out his live act or releases, I find a wealth of other musical information.  Martin is as true an outsider as we can have in this modern age and his music should not be ignored.

Neither should his fantastic vinyl label, Hot Releases.  Last year's Ashrae Fax archival find and the year before's double dose of M.B. reissues should already be in your collection, but the new batch is the best yet: Russian Tsarlag / Secret Boyfriend split, Ghedalia Tazartes reissue, Inspector 22 full length, Profligate LP and Tracey Trance full length co-release.  Russian Tsarlag / Secret Boyfriend LP was a great way to start my day. A super mellow long player that showcase's Martin's most spacious side. Gorgeous dreamy vocals and organ can be found on both sides.  The Tsarlag material is a few years old, but has never been issued.  All very hi fidelity.

Ghedalia Tazartes is a French born sound collage and vocal artist who first came to my with the 2011 reissue of his first LP Diasporas from 1979.  His music explores the limitations of the human voice and is both human and experimental.  The new Hot Releases LP Voyage a l'ombre was originally released on CD in 1997.

Inspector 22 Passin' Time 12" I've long been curious about this guy's stuff.  He seems to have a few fans up in Portland, ME where I lived for a time.  Based on the super specific insert, this guy seems like a true character.  Surface comparison's could be made to current ramshackle pop acts like the Happy Jawbone Family Band and also Charlie McAlister and early Beck sonically, but I've got the feeling this goes pretty deep.  The label sums it up best, "blown out Satanic and death-obsessed folk songs with a pleasingly bent guitar style. Death has come, time is near."

Profligate Come Follow Me LP. In case you missed it Noah Anthony's Night Burger project has changed names, but it's still providing the same dancey industrial thrills. This is a companion piece to his current 12" on Not Not Fun.

http://www.hot-releases.org/

Listen to samples from all of the aforementioned Hot Releases on soundcloud

WORKIN' MAN NOISE UNIT

UK band that sounds like a pastiche of American underground rock over the last 3 decades: Royal Trux, Sleep, Black Flag and the entire state of Washington, depending on which track you're listening to.  Pretty well done though. The tape is sold out.

IGNATZ "Because Time Is Too Short" (Taping Policies)

Really great acid scramble from Belgian artist Ignatz, a trip through whose discography is very rewarding.  I really like this new stuff and it reminds me in some ways of the work of one of the 20th Century's most under-appreciated psychedelic figures, Robyn Nice (fan page). Check out the 'Natz if you like some spun out downer lysergic folk.


The Ignatz webzone:
http://www.ignatz.be/

Taping Policies is a really great looking new Belgian label.  Besides this tape, there are current DVD releases by the Flower-Corsano duo and Leah Singer & Lee Ranaldo, plus upcoming releases by Charlemagne Palestine/Tony Conrad (DVD) and Bill Nace (cassette).

Label website:
http://www.tapingpolicies.be/

LOW CHARGE "Cop-Out Trip"

Don't really care much for this cassette.

DISISM (Taped Rugs)

DISISM- self-titled

and "60 Seconds Left"

Taped Rugs Productions

http://archive.org/details/DisismFirstCassette

http://archive.org/details/60SecondsLeft

80's Delirium alert! There are many ways to achieve total delirium. One of the most time-honored is to spin around and around in circles until the self is released from rationality. Disism do sort of the same thing but with tape loops, piling more and more on until you submit to the concentric force and just sit there enjoying the woozy wave. Its a way of resisting mass culture by piling it all onto the same sound plane. Solid Eye, I would say, is a distant cousin, in the organic drippy squash texture that is achieved, you could say Fripp/Eno, but Disism seem to have been their own isolated sound laboratory. But would you ever listen to Disism for pleasure? Well, lets day you had a long car ride ahead of you, perhaps across the country, and you need something landscape-like to alleviate the boredom and combat the billboards. This music is sublime, landscape-like. I bet the two members of this band are into cross country skiing, or al least grew up n the country, you can feel it. There are two Disism tapes, originally from the late 80's. Which is better? The self titled tape is more abstract, sculptural, truly for PHD candidates in sound manipulation. It has a cooler cover. 60 Seconds Left is more political with samples drawn from the Iran Contra Affair, Kipper Kids-like moments of rhythmic guttural nonsense. Not for everyone, but if you dig Ron Geesin you might want to check out what kind of Zoviet Frantic birthday cakes these gents are frosting up and then get the HELL out of there before 1. The boss gets back from vacation to find contact mics all over his office 2. Your insane mother escapes from the asylum wearing a Genesis P-Orridge mask 3. Voting machines everywhere get hooked up with wireless internet.

TEEN AX "Pure Soft Metal"

Here's some new noise from the Australian sub-sub strata for you:



Here's a video of a dog eating shit:

THINGS FALLING APART "One Must Not Move Quiet" (Greentape)

Deep journey on this new release from Green Tape (greentape?), not to be confused with Knox Mitchell's  Green Records , which I think used to also be called Green Tape. So now it's Greentapes and Green Records...both labels are great.

MEAGER WEBSITE
http://www.freewebs.com/greentape/

OUT OF PRINT Greentapes
http://greentapes.blogspot.com/

Night-People Tape Guide

Iowa City's Night-People has so many great cassettes in print right now, that I thought I'd provide a handy guide to some of the less talked about ones.  Behold a treasure trove of otherworldly sounds.

Use http://raccoo-oo-oon.org/np/ for reference and cassette ordering.

Support underground labels and artists for "doing their thing."

ADAM VOID "131 Fires"

Adam Void included just the kind of crudely scrawled psychopath note that tends to warms the cockles of my heart.  Feast your ears on this ladies and gents:


Order a tape here

adamvoid.com

This guy is involved in some political type stuff, but I won't hold it against him.

Heilo En Varsovia “S/T” (Psychic Mule)

I’ve been holding out on reviewing this cassette from Madrid’s Heilo En Varsovia for a while now. To be honest, I was initially a bit turned off by all of the post-punk references I heard within this release. Hell, the band’s name alone translates to “Ice in Warsaw”, so right out of the gates you have to believe that this trio is trying to channel some serious Joy Division vibes. But after giving this tape multiple spins and a fair shake, I’ve come to hear a group that is on to something far more dark, complex, and epic than the vast majority of those derivative nth generation post-punk groups from circa-2002. On this U.S. debut release, Heilo En Varsovia arrive at an interesting cross-section of sounds that primarily balances dreamy, minimal wave synth pop with a darkened, post punk urgency. Gurgling vocals appear here-and-there, but are often buried in the mix, serving more to create added texture than to necessarily communicate anything directly. That being said, I don’t speak a lick of Spanish, which I assume is what language they’re singing in, so I could be completely off the mark. Scattered amongst this are a few extended, dirge-like instrumental passages that have a crushing weight to them. Taken as a whole, this self-titled release comes off as a murky, psychedelicized-take on post-punk, probably closer to something like Leaves Turn Inside You-era Unwound than anything from Joy Division, really. This tape release is in an edition of 100, each packaged in a hand-numbered cloth drawstring bag.

Buy HERE
Listen HERE

Carrageenan - "The Golden Beast" (Transprocesz)

Carrageenan is the solo project of one Matthiew Levet, from Brussels. The Golden Beast cassette is heavy on the percussion experiments. Different bangs and clangs build to create a whole lotta riddim. This album might be a comment on robot sexuality...but I doubt it. Some compositions mess with the simplicity of drum machine cymbals/snare cracks, like "Dead Vegetables," while other pieces explore those same building blocks, but mold them into more hypnotic forms. I will not say this tape is easy to listen to as anything other than background sounds for an art installation that might be forming in yr very own listening area. A solo show for the bedroom gallery! On the other hand, those of you interested in counting and math, could potentially hear something in this release that I cannot.

Buy HERE.
Listen HERE.

THE GARMENT DISTRICT7" on La Station Radar

This French label has done some fine work so far (don't miss the Blanche Blanche Blanche "Papa's Proof" LP) and this 7" by Jennifer Baron is no exception. She's collaborated in the past with Jowe Head from Swell Maps and here she offers a track remixed by Sonic Boom (aka Peter Kember of Spacemen 3 fame) as well as two new songs.



You can hear the original version of "Nature-Nuture" here.

Bestovitch - "Rituel De La Haute Magie: Kiss From A Witch" LP - Haute Magie

About 20 records/cassettes sluiced from the Haute Magie motherbrain last year. Whether they keep it up in '13 or not, that's a hell of a run. Rituel De La Haute Magie: Kiss From A Witch is the label's 10th release and a decent way to get acquainted with the imprint (though expectations shouldn't be brought from release to release; trust me on this one). Ten years ago this might have been called an instrumental hip-hop record, and now ...

I'm not so sure where to put this one, and that's half the charm. The other half is the quirky way it's all put together, lots of stutters and glitch-steps and twitches. Reminds me a bit of that great Blithe Field LP that came in last year, though Bestovitch are a much more bombastic presence, brandishing an almost rap-like bravado at times. Significant gains are being made each day, people; finally, there are labels that can actually keep up with genre-shifting units like myself.

Dust off the relics HERE.

Joe Bastardo and Sam Gas CanWorcester's proud sons

Oh gee whiz, I've just got so much rad stuff here in my box from two of Massachusett's finest dudes. Here's a brief run down of what's available from Moss Archive and Faux Pas Recordings and their associated patrons. Moss Archive is run by synth master Joe Bastardo from the band Gay Shapes, and Faux Pas is run by prolific musician and artist Sam Gas Can.  These guys are real cross-pollinators, hence the double post.

Let's start off with a tape of Sam's on Moss Archive. "Life of a Dog" is the best and most accesible Sam Gas Can recording yet.  Check out "Time After Time" and "I Hope You Die."

Sam also has more new tapes of his own out on Hidden Temple, Don't Trust The Ruin and Feeding Tube





Sam's label Faux Pas Recordings has put out some really great new tapes since we last checked in. All of the following come highly recommended:

Bastardo's Bastian Void project is presented on a split tape with Three Fourths Tigers

Also the debut tape by Philadelphia's Suicide Magnets
Cassette Gods's favorite Anthro Rex (Dan Cashman) also has a new Faux Pas Release
  Also check out Cashman and Gas Can's duo, The Fribbles. A cassette exists, but I couldn't find anything to share with you, except the artwork:

Faux Pas is also still offering the last copies of Noise Nomads' "Menacing Bells" which I've already reviewed favorably.  The label is one of seven to co-release the debut LP by Tracey Trance

Moss Archive also has some new tapes out besides the Sam Gas Can keeper.  

Another spaztastic release by Boston's drum machine duo Bang! Bros, who recently broke a world record.

The current Gay Shapes EP is a generally representative of the trio's dense psychedelic noise.

Bastardo's solo projects are also represented by the new Bastian Void tape on Field Hymns and by the Homeowner tape on Moss Archive.






So much music!!!!

WEBLINKS:

FAUX PAS: http://fauxpasrecs.blogspot.com/

MOSS ARCHIVE: http://mossarchive.blogspot.com/

DON'T TRUST THE RUIN: http://dontrusttheruin.blogspot.com/

FIELD HYMNS: http://www.fieldhymns.com/

Memory Pavillion - S/T (Carpi Records)

Memory Pavillion is the music of soothing tired minds. Like the well-oiled fingers of a talented masseuse releasing tension from your knotted back, the eighteen minutes of ambient sounds on this tape become relaxation. Does that make it all that fun to listen to? Um, sorta...it is quiet, "turn off/tune out" disconnection stuff...I'm not necessarily in the mood for it right now however. Are you an ambient music enthusiast? If the answer to that question is yes...then dive in, but I'm going to dig through current mountain high stack of tapes for albums with "songs." This tape has been produced in an edition of eighteen (mirroring the total play time? If that is on purpose, awesome!) and the French label, Carpi Records, has a nice vibe going for it. Investigate for those times when "real life" is driving ya bat shit crazy!

Buy and Listen HERE.

follow me on twitter for more music type stuff: @teflonbeast

Zomes - "Variations Vol. 1" (Imminent Frequencies)

Zomes is Baltimore's Asa Osbourne and Variations Vol. 1 is a work of a composer exploring just how much music one can make without superfluous "extras." These minimal keyboard pieces seem to go nowhere, but then all of a sudden you're somewhere. This is keyboard raga. I don't have much to say about this one other than if you're obsessed with minimal, distorted keyboard riffs then you might of hit the jackpot with Zomes. 

Buy and Listen HERE.

NEW FAST "New Fast IV" (Sun Hypnotic)

Naming your project after a song by DNA will at least get me to post your tape. This is not what I expected, but it is pleasant enough.  I actually like some of the electronic loop based stuff here. There's also a few numbers with "rock" instrumentations and others based on slowed down samples, which are less interesting to me.

I Want To Kill Every Human - Tape/7" combo (Bill Murray Tapes)

Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover. In this case I judged the cassette/7" combo I received from Bill Murray Tapes' I Want to Kill Every Human solely on the artist's moniker and, it turns out, I was right. I thought, "This will be loud and abrasive." It is. The 7" is downright good for this sorta thing however. Screeching noise wails and eekz are combined with tonally soothing daubs of color. The noise is WHITE into the RED, but the gentle pulses of guitar and/or keyboard balance them nicely. The cassette however is just plain nOIZe...of course that means a lot to a good amount of folks...so...basically, I liked the 7" more than the tape.

Buy and Listen HERE.

follow me on twitter for more music type stuff: @teflonbeast

Midday Veil "Integratron" (Translinguistic Other)

The name of this cassette is taken from the wooden dome built out in the Mojave Desert where Midday Veil recorded this release in. “An acoustic tabernacle and architectural energy machine”, the Integratron was said to be built with extra terrestrial guidance. Believe what you will, but the results of this tape confirm that Midday Veil was channeling something otherworldly within this “acoustically perfect sound chamber” on the day it was recorded. Like communal psych rock movers of yore, Midday Veil’s improvisations seem to unfold according to their own sense of rhythm and time. Slinky and slow motion, they are in no hurry to get where they are going; they know that, in the end, space is the place. It’s tom and cymbal brushes, synth and electronic gurgles, bass and baritone guitar, and wordless vocals that, at times, has a wandering blues feel to it, while others a more animated and explosive rock edge. It’s refreshing to hear synthesizers being used in this context and outside of what has become an over-populated genre (i.e. synth-based music) unto itself. For the opponents of the cassette’s sound fidelity: yes, you can quite clearly hear the ‘room sound’ within these recordings. Bathe in it . . .

Listen and buy HERE

Tough Fuzz - "Vol. 1" (Ewe of Now Records)

As we head into a new year and continue wearing sweater vests, I'm suddenly jamming a tape that is meant for the summer time. Tough Fuzz (formerly known as Beach Demon) has a new tape out on Ewe of Now Records, titled Vol. 1, the fourteen tracks are all summer sun samples & beats with plenty ol' soul-trippin' technicolor to cause me to forget the leaves falling death brown to the ground. The music is very west coast y'all and by that I mean, scenes of Venice Beach sidewalks, palm trees, and surf are all I can seem to conjure while this tape plays out. Even the song titles have fun time in Cali with da girls vibes..."Blondes," "Brunettes," and "New Girl" all get people in the club to bounce. Tough Fuzz's music is made specifically for the kind of listener who enjoys grooves 'n' sunshine. Rave on...

Buy and Listen HERE.

follow me on twitter for more music type stuff: @teflonbeast

Guerilla Toss + The Dreebs WINTER TOUR

Two of my favorite new live bands are hitting the road together starting today.  They'll be covering a lot of ground, and many folks will get a chance to see them.  You'd do well to be one of them.
 

JAN 2 - BOSTON MA @ middle sex

w/ bugs and rats

https://www.facebook.com/events/400183693392930/?fref=ts

JAN 3 - PHILADELPHIA, PA @ little berlin

w/ bugs and rats, banned books

https://www.facebook.com/events/104774823028542/?fref=ts

JAN 4 - COLUMBUS, OH @ bourbon st

w/ american jobs, cavernous body

JAN 5 - CHICAGO, IL @ plains project 

w/ toupee

https://www.facebook.com/events/389701224452162/?fref=ts

JAN 6 - ST. LOUIS, MO @ blank space

w/ britches, braining

https://www.facebook.com/events/563158317044162/?fref=ts

JAN 7 - NASHVILLE, TN @ owl farm

w/ gnarwall, ex-breathers 

https://www.facebook.com/events/126330920851613/?ref=22

JAN 8 - LOUISVILLE, KY @ astro black records 

w/ tropical trash

https://www.facebook.com/events/125738047589172/?ref=notif&notif_t=plan_user_invited

JAN 9 - FAYETTEVILLE, AR @ lala land 

JAN 10 - DENTON, TX @ rubber glove 

w/ terminator 2, unconscious collective
https://www.facebook.com/events/356063574491625/

JAN 11 - AUSTIN, TX - david bartner's house

w/ ralph white, steve fitch
https://www.facebook.com/events/480397195340199/

JAN 12 - HOUSTON, TX @ super happy fun land

JAN 13 - NEW ORLEANS, LA @ TBA

JAN 14 - GAINESVILLE, FL @ mars pub and laser tag

w/ cop city chill pillars

JAN 15 - TAMPA, FL @ cyborg city

w/ cop city chill pillars

JAN 16 - WEST PALM, FL @ baghdaddies

w/ cop city chill pillars 

JAN 17 - ST AUGUSTINE @ nobby's

w/ brown palace, thunderhoof

http://www.facebook.com/events/316066658508476/

JAN 18 - ATLANTA, GA @ das haus

w/ zebu!, cheap art

JAN 19 - ATHENS, GA @ secret squirrel 

w/ bubbly mommy gun, zebu!

JAN 20 - RICHMOND, VA @ the nile

w/ burmuda triangles, floodbeast

https://www.facebook.com/events/457081957683283/?fref=ts

JAN 21 - BALTIMORE, MD @ TBA

w/ ed shrader's music beat

JAN 22 - BROOKLYN, NY @ death by audio

w/ tonstartssbandht

JAN 23 - PROVIDENCE, RI @ JLA collective 

w/ in heat, rotten apples

JAN 24 - NORTHAMPTON, MA @ the elevens 

w/ fat worm of error, zebu!

https://www.facebook.com/events/233612696771684/

JAN 25 - CAMBRIDGE, MA @ the elks lodge

w/ ed shrader's music beat, skimask, gondoliers, zebu!, bone rattle, in heat


Pete from Guerilla Toss started a great label. Stay with him:
http://anonymousdog.com/

SWAATH WINTER TOUR

If you like slow heavy stoner metal made by really down to earth kids, you'd be doing yourself a favor by checking out this basement deep band from Portland, Maine called Swaath. They're going on tour starting today and will be fun to hang out with, I promise.

Write swaathmaine@gmail.com for addresses of unlisted shows, but don't wait til the last minute, cause they don't tour with no pansy iPhones.

JANUARY 2013

Th 3--Portland, ME @ 442 St. John St. w/ Sylvia (ex OCEAN) and Eastern Spell (members of Shabti, Hessian, Paige Turner, Ghost Hunter) 7pm.

Fr 4--Allston, MA @ Uncle Crummy's. w/ Meth Valley & 1 TBA.

Sa 5--Brooklyn, NY @ Acheron w/ Shoxx, No Power, In School

Su 6--Baltimore, MD @ Club K 2101 Maryland Ave. w/ Barbelith, Ophidian and Congenital Death

Mo 7--New Brunswick, NJ @ Bath Haus. 31 Louis St. 8pm. w/ Pharaoh (A389 records), Thorn & 1 TBA.

Tu 8--New Haven, CT @ People's Arts Collective. 212 College st. 8pm. w/ Tomb & Thirst, and MOPE.

We 9--Providence, RI @ Building 16 w/ Groke, Predator Drone, Ari (Xogothua)

Th 10--Brattleboro, VT - keep your ear to the ground.

Fr 11--Worcester, MA @ The Firehouse. 8 pm w/ Eaten, Dry Socket, Dead Languages & (maybe) Woozy.

Sa 12--Dover, NH  - keep your eye on the sky.

S W A A T H