I am in the shadow of Colossal Tapes. See what I did there? I took an
existing property, Shadow of the Colossus,
a “video” game from PlayStation’s third console (or PS3), and turned it into a
clever reference. But don’t let me spoil the reference for you with
over-explanation – Colossal Tapes is huge and I have to defeat it by listening
to all of its releases. That or by bashing it repeatedly in its conspicuously
glowing orb-y part.
I’m going to bash Sally Jesse Raphael in its conspicuously glowing orb-y part too, but first I’m-a listen to
this C20, that is, Holiday, a
super-limited release – seriously, only 25 made, son! Sally is someone or
something from Pasadena, California, which is where Colossal Tapes is also from
(total coincidence I’m sure), and who or which makes violently catchy
improvisations using turntables, samplers, and tape loops. This is noise with a
vibe – case in point, the rhythm of “Never on a Sunday” sounds like someone
shaking a can of spray paint while choirs of cheerful imps ooh and ahh through
about 50 years of static. Think that’s weird? “Maybelle” hints at hip hop – I
know! – before settling into a tinny sample blob of beautiful space gunk.
Sally Jesse Raphael exists within an unholy vortex where Leyland
Kirby’s Caretaker and a fully Bermuda-moded Eric Copeland unite across space
and time to form a unique space beast (and specifically so on the amazeballs
“Barcelona”). Actually, Holiday
sounds like the aural equivalent of the real Sally Jesse, present day,
tankini-clad and beckoning under a tropical night sky. Try to get that image
out of your head while pooch-scooching naked over a sand dune. I won’t lie, if
this is happening to you, you may have been drugged, or you may even be dead.
But fear not, because you can take Colossal Tapes releases with you to the
other side! I read that in the Bible somewhere.
Now on to the rest of Colossal Tapes’s discography! I wonder if I’ll
have to climb the next one to smash its head or if I can just hit it with a bow
and arrow.
--Ryan “Terminal Velocity” Masteller
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