ADDERALL CANYONLY / YVES MALONE “Split” C65 (905 Tapes)

Don’t be a shit. I see you looking at me like that – if you’re wondering why I’m dressed like a killer owl with a third eye, look no further than the cover of this tape, the new Adderall Canyonly/Yves Malone split. Then listen no further than this new tape, front to back. Then look at me again. Pretend like you haven’t been transformed. Pretend like you’ve never heard of Adderall Canyonly or Yves Malone. I dare you. I triple dog dare you. You can’t, because you know why? You’ve been in the presence of greatness. Maybe even in the presence of the Almighty himself. Or at least a minor deity. Probably a minor deity. An owl deity. With a human skull in its talons.

Why so melodramatic, you ask? Because this tape is the bomb-digga-saurus, the tip top of my favorite tapes that have come out this year, or at least in a while. Adderall Canyonly has released a wacky amount of material. Yves Malone has also released a wacky amount of material. Together, they form a synthesizer Voltron of wackiness, and send me into paroxysms of blissful wonderment. Listening to this tape is pure indulgence. Seldom have two such likeminded artists been presented on a split release, and even more seldom have both sides of the split been worth a damn. I believe each side at least warrants that much value.

Adderall Canyonly expands upon his wide-ranging synth soundscapes over four pieces, titled “I” through “IV.” Vangelis and John Carpenter collide with Dieter Moebius (in heaven now) and Klaus Schultze, and by the time you get through his contribution, you’re just freaking loving every second of life you could possibly have. For those in the know, that feeling isn’t an unusual one to get while listening to Adderall Canyonly music – he practically transports you to that plane every single time.  At once bucolic and retrofuturistic, Canyonly’s everything to everybody, and everywhere at once. It’s transcendent.

Then you flip it. Flip that shit, flip it real good. Yves takes all that goodwill and tanks it with “Momes Rath,” a raging minor-key synth clanger that knocks you right out of your state of intense meditative being and into a dark, grotty side street, running from whatever. He doesn’t let up on the midnight vibes, and even manages some great horror soundtrack excursions (“Blackest Ever Was,” “Death’s Lovely Assistant”), to which he is not unfamiliar. And then, check this out – he does a serious Future Islands impersonation (without the Sam Herring part, of course) with the excellent “Til the Eyes Turn Red, Shall the River Bed,” and by the final track, “Last Angeles,” he’s mimicking the incidental detective music from Fletch. (Fun fact: Fletch takes place in Los Angeles, and Fletch himself is a huge Lakers fan.) I can forgive him for busting Adderall’s mood – he kicks all comers to the curb on his side, in his unique way.

So uh – buy this tape. Have you figured that out yet?

And for some reason I’ve decided to dress up like the album cover constantly, and it’s not even that close to Halloween. Who can blame me? Don’t be a jerk about it.

http://www.adderallcanyonly.com/

http://yvesmalone.com/

http://905store.blogspot.com/

--Ryan Masteller

CRUUDEUCES "St. James" c21ALEX HOMAN "That Is No Way To Talk To A Lady"WEIRDING MODULE "Peace Offering" c57(905 Tapes)

Cruudeuces is the music project of Nathaniel Brennan of North Adams, Massachusetts; a cool town to visit if you ever find yourself in the Northwestern part of the Bay State.  First off, you've got one of the coolest geological sites in all of New England: The Natural Bridge State Park (cool).  Secondly, this old mill town is home to a very cool contemporary art museum: the spacious and enticing group of buildings known as MASS MOCA (whuzit?).  Lastly, there is Mr. Brennan himself, noisily submerging his clarinet through a number of aquatic effects and using a net of coarse mesh to reel in the day's catch of sound.  This guy puts out a lot of stuff, and this is as good as any I've heard. The state park is just a minute from the dude's house, so blast some noise music as you drive by.

Alex Homan - Swishy delay loops with a bit of vocals and a lot of guitar.  Some of it gets very jiggy, but the endless echo bores me.  Only occasionally does a clear sound cut through on the A-side.  If you get drunk enough, you can make this kind of music without an effects pedal in sight.  Looks like Mr. Homan got the memo and attempted something on the the B-side that sounds more like the Beatles' acid damaged outtakes for "Across the Universe" followed by decent Popul Vuh imitation.  Make what thou wilt of this. c38

Michael Troutman, bassist of motor-city-styled rockers Awesome Color, makes something much more interesting with his Weirding Module solo project.  The first track "Cat Suicide"is a really heavy instrumental take on an Alan Vega-less "Ghost Rider."  The tape doesn't let you down from there.  Each of the following nine pieces is filled with interesting and dynamic electronic music of various styles.  Great recording with deep bass and an uncluttered arrangement. This guy has done a lot of good stuff already (check), but you'd be hard pressed to find a better representation of his skills than this new release. Recommended.

905 Tapes - Over 150 releases thus far and not stopping.  All of the tapes in this new batch have great art design: the front image being a removable rectangle that covers the J-card on which the credits are written.  Very much so: http://905tapes.com/

TRAVELS "Dripping Down The Walls" c20 (905 Tapes)

For a period of time in my life I was uncharacteristically drawn towards the mythology of warfare and the military. I know for some people the 'dark' side of humanity 'rules' and the order and discipline of enlisted life meshes perfectly with their choices but for me it always had an air of the unreal, something not of this world that didn't mesh with any of my logical choices and as a result I couldn't get enough.
Many of the most famous war movies are also my favorites, Deer Hunter shares the upward realms along with Apocalypse Now, Thin Red Line and Full Metal Jacket among a host of others not necessary to list in order to understand this tape. Of those movies Apocalypse & Thin Red Line each share a certain quiet element to them that is in complete contrast to that which is actually being experienced; how in the world can chaos be so placid? How do you distinguish between detachment and focus?

The scene comes to mind wherein Martin Sheen arrives at the bridge under bombardment, with fireworks and gunfire meshing perfectly the question he keeps asking is "who is your C.O?...Who is in charge? Who is the commanding officer?" To which he gets an "I thought you were" for an answer. This loss of / gaining of control lends itself perfectly to the aforementioned disassociation. At what point are we listening for a lead and do we expect, from the chaos, there to be a distinct (in the case of this tape sonorous) intent. 'Dripping down the walls' imposes one side of aftershock inducing chaos and a second side that relents just enough to expose a skeleton of what's attacking you but never enough to suggest yr going to be able to tell the fireworks from the gunfire.

Full color cover of melting dude (though in a domestic setting) works perfectly with the analogy. Edition of 33, still in print:
http://www.905tapes.com

BUDWEISER SPRITE "trash on the grass" (905 Tapes)

Back with more noise-constructed rock n' roll, the man with the positive vibe has an epic one this time. A c-92 usually means dulldome for just about anyone, but here Budweiser Sprite shines. Starting off with unrelenting, fast paced, driving rhythms that last for nearly half the side of the cassette, there is no boredom to be found. Only after it seems that this approach will define the entire release do the rhythms begin to change. Still using mixer/4track/circuit feedback to create sludgy and farty loops, the aesthetic is lo-fi. Unlike so much lo-fi noise though, this is multi-textured, surprisingly expressive, and never flat or dull. Rather, it occupies a certian voice that is immediately recognizable as Budweiser Sprite. This is greatly due to how he uses this fart-range. So much action is put into the sounds, so much movement and an incredible sense of head bobbing and fist pumping pace, that the true joy he gets out of making this music is immediatly translated to the listener. These muffled tones come from a party beyond the perifory, centered into focus in a way that shows how awesome and straight up happy the unknown and mysterious can be.