WAGNER "70s Floyd Lite" (Colossal Tapes)

The description of this album on the Colossal Tapes' bandcamp page is honestly perfect: 13.772 billion year old universal power drones - drone patterns found in the Higgs field before the big bang.

The tape begins with ferocity. A smashing dronescape with space and abbreviated length. My favorite Drone is in short form, due to my lack of attention span. Wagner continues to feed into my preferences with strange blips of guitar jams in between stellar atmospheres, pitch-bent synthesis, and general cacophony. Hawk's Prarie (Save Point) is a welcomed breather at the end of side A, and a standout composition. Thick melodic drone, encased in a dreamy framework that seems to contract and expand throughout the piece. A real palate cleanser.

Side B opens with a taste of drums and more satellite drone of the spectral void. 70s Floyd Lite is part of a very small group of drone and ambient albums that are perfect in their succinct take on the genre. It tests boundaries and jolts me into new spaces every few minutes. This was a very exciting listen.

Odd Nosdam helmed mastering duties which is cool, since Wagner's style seems to fit ON's vibe very well. I picture this tape aligned very well along the sound Sisters and 70s Floyd Lite is sure to satisfy a lot of ON listeners.

LIYL: Odd Nosdam, Hakobune, Bastian Void, Amulets

-- Joseph Morris

SALLY JESSE RAPHAEL “Holiday” C20 (Colossal Tapes)

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.

soundcloud.com/sallyjesseraphael

www.colossaltapes.com

--Ryan “Terminal Velocity” Masteller

STEPHEN SCOTT DAY "Mother" (Colossal Tapes)

I wanted to hate this b/c it's the guy's full name and the album is called "Mother," but I suppose we all have some demons to battle. This is pretty tight! Beautifully programmed drums battle w/ groaning synths and loops, creating a patchwork of insistent beats and moments of water-y pregnant pause. The martial drums on the second track pop. That's definitely the highlight, wish it had picked up again.

Best suited for short, awkward romps in a safe, homey car where the heat rarely works. Worry not, "mother", it happened in a Volvo!

www.listen.colossaltapes.com/album/mother-c24

--Mylanta Stamz