Hamilton, Ontario’s “Quiet Bedrooms” label seems to be no more. Their Bandcamp page reads “RIP 2017-2019”, hosting all five tapes they’ve put out, every last one of them still up for sale*. How could this be? Perhaps, they were too ambitious...
Case in point; see their second release, “Year 01”, a sprawling compendium of just how goddamn weird folk musicians can get in the privacy of their own bedrooms when given a laptop and some recording software. It’s pretty easy to posit “all lo-fi/bedroom/freak folk sounds the same” if you’re not familiar with it, but this *checks notes* FIFTEEN TRACK** behemoth proves otherwise, shedding light on just how serene (and unsettling) one Southeastern*** Canadian can get in their solitude.
If this tape doesn’t sound intense enough, you gotta take a look at the liner notes! It’s an illustrated mini-zine/documentation of what each artist’s recording studio/sleeping quarters/happy place looked like when capturing these songs****, and…on a personal level, I cannot say enough just how beautiful it is to see an acoustic guitar resting supine on a bed or couch!
Yes, perhaps QTQB were too ambitious with this one. You be the judge via the link below, though, without the physical artifact, it’s hard to imagine just how powerful this collection truly is/was.
— Jacob An Kittenplan
*Including an Aidan Baker tape!!!
**21 if you’re counting the digital release’s bonus tracks
***as in, every. single. artist. on this comp!
****I’m inferring here. Please forgiveth.
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