I thought this was going to be some sort of glitch loop tape from the cover design; psych-collage with futuristic nodding type work (I thought the artist name was RUMPLMINTS for the longest time). Upon diving in, I was insanely mistaken as to where this cassette was going to take me. Instead of the future, I was placed inside a live performance of spooky swells and modified vocal transmissions seemingly taken from radio or television broadcasts from years past.
While the initial vibe was interesting for me, the lack of dimension in the tape left me a bit disappointed. I do think plenty of more established long form listeners will enjoy this performance, but I just felt like I was listening to a playthrough of Bioshock. The vocal transmissions are a bit hard to decipher and pop in and out of frame like I am pacing through a mall of youtube channels dedicated to compiling historic radio broadcasts.
Shadowtrash Tape Group’s description “quantum cherries, picked and collided to form a conflicted travel log, detailing saturn's rings live from Fiske Planetarium” helps me appreciate the performance a bit more, but once the finisher of the album hits, I am spent. This album ends with a crowd clapping sample that echoes and decays for 10 minutes (that is far too much for me to enjoy).
LIYL: Valerio Tricoli, Aaron Dilloway, The SFX of Bioshock
http://www.shadowtrashtapegroup.com/tapes
-- Joseph Morris