EVAN A. JAMES “Falling Out with Number 1” (Dirty Pillows)

 I know you remember the review I wrote for Evan A. James’s self-titled tape on Adhesive Sounds, because it was your introduction to the man’s masterful work. Thank you, thank you. He’s at it again with Falling Out with Number 1, twelve tracks of inventive and experimental jazz-tinged electronics, and kids, if you expected a sophomore slump, fuhgeddaboutit. James is as in tune with his compositional chops as a kickboxer’s feet are to his opponent’s face. That means Evan A. James is kicking the living crap out of all other genre wannabes. End awkward metaphor… now.

Still recalling Badalamenti at times, but also reaching into the Orange Milk Records roster for inspiration (e.g. label honcho Giant Claw), James reveals his restlessness throughout Falling Out, presenting here his tunes in bite-sized chunks that barely ever reach three minutes in length, yet better serve the album as a whole by their brevity. It’s easy to see this play out through the first few tracks, as “Bleakarcade” opens the tape with fidgety vaporwave before transitioning into the chamber synth of “Alch,” complete with processed vocal samples (there’s the Giant Claw comparison). Then “Tumble” manifests itself, all one and a half minutes of jazz bass and strings, totally jostling the listener out of any sort of pattern. This sort of stylistic dance keeps repeating over the full course of the tape.

It’s not a stretch to suggest that Falling Out with Number 1 is one of the most inventive listens you’ll encounter thus far in 2016, and here’s hoping that Evan A. James brings more of this A-game action to future releases, hopefully in the very near future. For now, go back to “Bridge, where human voice samples are matched with mournful strings for a powerful effect. Or “Transparentradiosong” or “Danse,” each equally emotive, for more down this same path. Or, heck, even “Fallingoutwithnumber1,” which ends the tape and flips the whole thing on its head by going in for the electronica kill – kickboxer style – complete with “pop chorus” … ish. See? I want to talk about every single tiny part of this tape – all of it is worth obsessing over.

Dirty Pillows

Evan A. James’s Soundcloud

--Ryan Masteller

Pride of Lowell - S/T - (Dirty Pillows)

The real fun of writing about tapes and LPs isn't about snarky reviewer tendencies or the "collector" habits of music obsessives like myself, but the true discovery of new music. Dirty Pillows Records is new to me and I'm already a big fan. I recently received the label's fifth release, Pride of Lowell's self-titled album of contemporary free jazz. The duo of Max Goldman and Patrick Breiner make for some raucous sax bleating and drum beating music. Fans of John Coltrane's Interstellar Space will probably enjoy this duo (though they don't reach the unreachable of Coltrane, they do very well for themselves). The album's seven cuts were recorded in one day back in August 2011, and it must have been a hot one from the sound of these performances. 

Check out: "Trophallaxis" -- Highly recommended for jazz fiends.

Buy and Listen HERE.

follow me on twitter: @teflonbeast

WAYLON THORNTON & THE HEAVY HANDS"Melted Rings: A Stack of Tracks 2007-2011Dirty Pillows) GUEST REVIEW

As promised, here is the first of many guest reviews that I'll be posting on the blog. This one is by Tucker White of Salt Lake City Utah - ed.

Well howdy doodie, tootie fruity. This is some fun stuff. Nice lofi garage pop from the hubby 'n wifey duo out of the good ol' FLA. They bust out some real groovin'/catchy

jams in a bluesy punk kind of way. Waylon breaks out some really great vocal melodies that almost sound like the cramps or something at times. I mean you've definitely heard this type of music/sound more than a couple of times before but they pull it off in such a fun way that it doesn't really matter if it's not a "new sound" or whatever people are calling that sort of thing. Listening to it now in my bedroom, all alone, late at night, with a 40oz of Old Milwaukee that's nearly empty, really makes me want to go out skateboarding around town, in the sun, while bumping this tape full god-damn blast on my glitchy-ass walkman. The qualilty of these recordings (which are compiled from 9 different releases) work perfectly with the sound these guys have going for them. It's all dirty and muddy but it's more like a mudslide pie or something that tastes all nice and sweet and delicious. These tunes are bound to put you in a good mood. They makes me want to skateboard all the way down to the pie shop and get a huge piece of mudslide pie. but I can't on account of the hour. That and I don't even know if there's a pie shop around here. But that's what this tape makes me want to do. So if skateboarding and eating mudslide pie sounds like a grand old time to you then you should pick up this tape pop it in your (hopefully unglitchy) walkman or ghetto-blaster and skateboard your ass down to the pie shop. And you should probably pick up a 40oz of your favorite booze on the way; while you're at it.

Cheers to you, Waylon and Meggy this last swig's for you.

Find it here

DEAD PEOPLE "s/t" (Dirty Pillows)

Good old-fashioned slop rock from New Orleans based Dead People. This is the band's first release and also the first release on the Savannah, GA label Dirty Pillows. A fine debut for both entities. As on the above-reviewed Day Creep tape, it's nice to see that the state of the limited run cassette in 2012 has come to include all genres of music and here's to Cassette Gods continuing to cover it. These guys throw a good party for the length of this four song EP and I bet they're really fun live. Keep 'em coming. You can look into buying the tape from the label's website here or listen to some other Dead People tunes over here.