MIDNIGHT WINDOW SCREEN “Orange Achievement” C38 (Personal Archives)

 

I am at a total loss when it comes to Midnight Window Screen. Online search engines take me to Lowe’s, Home Depot, Ace Hardware, and other companies specializing specifically in screens for your home. But that’s not what I’m looking for, Bing! That’s not what I’m asking about, Jeeves! I want to know more about these Midnight Window Screen folks who make music, the ones who’ve released Orange Achievement into this world. Why won’t you help me out, just a little?
 
I guess I’ll have to do all the heavy lifting myself, then. MWS is a “band,” ostensibly, in that it looks like there are three people in play here, although their photographic likeness is smeared with paint on the j-card. The trio (I’m just gonna lean into it) dons a meditative fedora for the most part, although “Infinities of Black” begs to be called noise, what with that piercing frequency. But in general, synth tones mix it up with soft drums, while vocalizations happen back there in the mix somewhere. Side B hits a few more noise notes again with low-pitched seismic rumblings, but these are simply grumbly textured passages rather than ear shredders. And while “Pure Tibet” wants to close this thing out with lovely ambience, it gives way to the 10-minute “Cobwebs and Memories,” which sort of wants that, but sort of doesn’t – the drums clatter like far-off thunderclaps that ride the vibe all the way to the end of the line.
 
So in the end, Midnight Window Screen seems like a singular, focused entity, and it plays like that too. MWS combines fascinating elements and emerges unique. Hard to do, people!
 
https://personalarchives.bandcamp.com/
 
--Ryan

BBJR / ARU “Europe 2172” C37 (Personal Archives)

 

I know what I’ll be doing in the year 2172: chilling in the literal afterlife. What about you guys? For Bob Bucko Jr. and ARU, they’ll be fresh of their sold-out, co-headlining European tour, each decompressing in a separate mansion while already germinating the ideas of their next collaboration. Bodies full of legal, mind-altering substances. Evolved craniums pulsing with creative energy.
 
Imagine that, Europe still existing in 2172! So rich.
 
BBJr. and ARU – aka long-running Dubuque project of Randy Carter – predict the future here on Europe 2172, an imagined artifact of that glorious triumph of live performance. Bucko tinkers with his gadgets and guitars, his pedals gleaming in the setting sun, melding generous ragas with future meditative jams, all but forecasting what we’ll all be listening to 150 years from now. (Well, those of us who haven’t been raptured, that is.) ARU dares to turn the tables on BBJr., entering with some milky dub that curdles and spills all over the gears and circuits, clouding everything purply, shimmying and shuffling in dizzying chaos. But this is what the 2172 kids are clamoring for – or their clones are anyway, who’s to say which is which, especially from a legal standpoint. ARU delivers. BBJr. delivers.
 
Our future is once again less bleak. Our past selves from 2021 are grateful that either Bucko and Carter are clairvoyant or time travelers. Either way, we benefit.
 
https://bobbuckojr.bandcamp.com/
 
https://arumusic.bandcamp.com/
 
https://personalarchives.bandcamp.com/
 
--Ryan

HEALTHY REALISM “Dog Armor DLC” C25 (Personal Archives)

 

Dog armor. Is that a “from” or a “for”? I’m not sure Healthy Realism, the trio composed of Max Senteney (drums), Alex Colombo (guitar/synthesizer), and James McKain (tenor saxophone), even knows, although if “DLC” is any indication, you’re prepping your game avatar with something. Maybe armor that makes you look like a dog. That would actually kind of be funny.
 
Whether your downloadable content is dog-related or not, Dog Armor DLC content is packed full of defense-boosting attributes, or at least it conjures up some kind of force field or protective mechanism that allows you to ward off whatever it is that Dog Armor DLC is manufactured to guard against. If it’s boredom, boredom doesn’t stand a chance against Healthy Realism – Healthy Realism is the antithesis of boredom, its archenemy. When Senteney, Colombo, and McKain start ripping into their improvisations, instruments wielded like weapons at the ready, they fill the empty spaces of your nemeses attention until they’re jittery, bloodshot-eyed wrecks. They scribble every conscious moment with fistfuls of sonic crayons, and the wondering minds of their targets are the construction paper canvas. They might want to get some dog armor themselves – then they’d be on the same page as all of you!
 
Dog armor. Is there anything it can’t stop?
 
Consider yourself lucky to have in your possession this defensively offensive (or vice versa?) implement. Do damage to everything as you attempt to control its power! But have faith – Dog Armor DLC will always get out of hand. In the best way possible.
 
https://personalarchives.bandcamp.com/
 
--Ryan

PET PEEVES “Mild Fantasy Violence” C40 (Personal Archives)

 

Ripped from the tabloid headlines, Pet Peeves’s Mild Fantasy Violence makes good on the otherworldly chaos promised in the title – but only mildly! Because if you had full-on, red-band, TV-MA fantasy violence, we wouldn’t be here having this conversation. We’d be at the hospital begging for someone to reconstruct our eardrums following what I would only imagine to be a death metal/speed jazz onslaught of serrated, blindingly fast, and barely tolerable weaponized sound. Some of you might find that unpleasant.
 
This isn’t that.
 
That doesn’t mean Pet Peeves, the Alex Maerbach/Joe Cavaliere duo, can’t get a little crazy with the cheese wiz, ’cause they do. They do big time. But they’re much more content to wade in the noise-rock/post-punk end of the pool, where they shred as much as they want but don’t have to do it at dangerous levels. They lurch and jive, using guitars and drums to cut in and out of their compositions, divebombing unsuspecting indie nerds with massive riffage one minute and whipping out sheet-metal walls of feedback the next. Their bag of tricks is a rock lover’s dream!
 
If you want to think about the damage Mild Fantasy Violence will do in comparison to the full-body onslaught of hard-R violence, consider it the equivalent of lopping the top off a pumpkin and scooping out all the grossness, the music carving up the interior like semi-sharp instruments. So, nothing happens to your human head, just the imaginary pumpkin one. You can picture that, can’t you?
 
Mild Fantasy Violence’s TV-14 rating should not scare you off – it’s a heckuva ride.
 
https://personalarchives.bandcamp.com/
 
--Ryan

LISA CAMERON AND CLAIRE ROUSAY “Vertices” (Personal Archives)

 

I’m so used to experimental percussion releases like this one to be abstract minimalist performances around a prepared kit where it’s struck very infrequently with suspect rhythm. Not that, of course, all drum music has to have “distinct rhythm” or anything, but let me be the first to say “Thank god” that Vertices has elements of a smashed jazz watermelon to the face. Does it have its abstract moments, it’s passages of experimentation? Well, yeah, that’s kind of what Lisa Cameron and claire rousay do – they experiment within their idiom. Does that mean I’m left high and dry on a pleasurable percussive experience? Not on your life – I’m in the splash zone.

“Taut” is a weird intro, with what sounds like a metal string stretching maybe past its prime tensility to a point where it could be struck or rubbed to such a degree that the potential energy stored up in it is instantly audible. Over almost ten minutes there’s thwacks and runs, crisp reminders that we probably just heard a drum head being stretched, not a bloody guitar string. Anyway, ever listen to jazz drum solos and not wonder where the rest of the ensemble is? Get used to it with these two – they’re like they’re own group, and they have no use for any melodic accompaniment. Plus, the drum solos sound like a full band.

Get ready also for feedback of some sort – the centerpiece of Vertices is “Invitation,” an excursion in atmosphere. It seems impossible that Cameron and rousay can coax such subtlety from such instruments, but hey, such is the case. The duo rips some more jazz drums on the closer, “Spurn.” I think I may have peed a little in my euphoric state. I did not see that reaction coming. I’m not saying it was unpleasant or anything, it was just weird that I got to such a high degree of enjoyment and then – boop – pee.

I’ll go back and edit that out later.

https://www.discogs.com/artist/1032009-Lisa-Cameron

https://clairerousay.bandcamp.com/

https://personalarchives.bandcamp.com/

--Ryan

HEAVEN DRUGS “Heaven Drugs” C14 (Personal Archives)

 

Vaporwave either gets a bad rap or it finds itself utterly beloved – there’s not a ton of middle ground. I mean, sure, you can slow down an R&B jam until it sounds like syrup and call it vaporwave, but where’s the fun in that? I could do that. Heaven Drugs decidedly does not do that. In fact, I barely even started listening to Heaven Drugs when I was like, “Yep, this is going over in that ‘beloved’ column. This is great – and I’m barely two minutes in!”
 
I had to do all fourteen minutes (which, trust me, is an absolute joy), but the dreamy mix of looped source material is perhaps unintentionally gripping. Isn’t this supposed to narcotize the heck out of you? But look, this thing shifts from one thing to the next without really pausing for breath, and it all works really well together. And it’s NOT one of those syrupy smear-jams, it’s like an uplifting mixtape for your spirit animal’s soul. Can you hear the seams? Heck yeah. Is it super-amazingly endearing and make you want to swim around in a pool of it for hours? Also heck yeah! When it was over, I was like, “Aw, man, it’s over?” I didn’t want the Condo Pets melodies to dissipate into the ether, but there they went …
 
That’s what happens when you only get fourteen minutes to spend with something good.
 
I guess I could just listen again.
 
Plus look at all the cute little 2 x 2 art inserts by Matthew Crowe! (J-card by Taylor Luetkehans.)
 
https://personalarchives.bandcamp.com/
 
--Ryan

COSMIC FRAILTY / BBJR. “Family” / “Extended Stay” C22 (Personal Archives)

If this is how the thing sings, I want every part of it. I’m not going to say that I know what Cosmic Frailty and Bob Bucko Jr. are doing on this split EP, but I’m pretty sure that whatever objects and instruments they’re amplifying and manipulating are doing some heavy lifting in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), blasting as they do their frequencies beyond the confines of our planet and into the outer reaches of deep space. Did you know that BBJr.’s personal Personal Archives headquarters has a massive radio tower on its roof? Did you know that BBJr. bounces signals off NSA satellites for amplification? Did you know that he frequently receives answers to these transmissions, but that he’s just not telling anyone about them?
 
Oh, that’s a saxophone.
 
Look, I’m not here to tell you what to do with your life, but I am going to recommend that if you’re feeling at all in a familial way and perhaps find yourself inclined to make yourself comfortable with your familial relations for a while, look no further than “Family” / “Extended Stay” to support that frame of mind. Do beware, though, that “Family” takes on the pulsing and effected ripples of black hole travel (it’s a thing) and that the “Family” you may be seeking is not the kind of “Family” you’re bound to find. Ever seen Invasion of the Body Snatchers? No, the Donald Sutherland one – the good one. That might happen to you. If so, you’ll be in for an “Extended Stay” with said “Family,” perhaps even a permanent one, with even more ripples of deep space action and then the final reveal of open-mouthed, wide-eyed, bleating saxophone, right in your face. That radio tower wasn’t an innocent transmission at all, it was a beacon!
 
https://personalarchives.bandcamp.com/
 
--Ryan

 

BLOOD RHYTHMS “Heuristics" C69 (Personal Archives)

"A heuristic technique, or a heuristic, is any approach to problem solving or self-discovery that employs a practical method that is not guaranteed to be optimal, perfect or rational, but which is nevertheless sufficient for reaching an immediate, short-term goal."

    ~W. Iccapedia

Fitting name for these Arvo Zylo études, excavated from his bountiful catacombs, dated back from 2K-2K15, all of which are fast & loose, raw & dirty, unhinged and unadulterated. There’s an Evangelista-esque psalm, a (relatively) sleepy ambient vignette, a scary story, a KMFDMish-guitar-led shred sesh and a slew of other dusty artifacts that all fit fairly well together in their (dark) spirit of exploration and atmospheric command. 

https://personalarchives.bandcamp.com/album/heuristics

and/or

http://nopartofit.blogspot.com/

—Jacob An Kittenplan

BBJR “Tragedy ± Time” C86 (Personal Archives)

In a brilliant subversion of the C86 genre, Bob Bucko Jr., resident purveyor of Personal Archives, drops Tragedy ± Time, a collection of his own home-recorded work from throughout the year. Wait, did I say subversion of the C86 genre? I mean he doesn’t even come close to it! The times just add up that way. Nothing more to see here.

Instead, there’s a manifesto, and we’d be wise to heed it: “Home taping won’t save music … but it can keep it fun.” Despite the pessimistic attitude of the first part of that declaration (home taping won’t save music? Says YOU, Bucko!), the second part is where you can pony up and really put your money where your mouth is – or where independent tape labels keep their cash (many use massive wall safes the size of bank vaults). BBJR knows about that second part. He keeps it fun.

Comprising a variety of experiments recorded September 2019, Tragedy ± Time is a clearinghouse of solo Bucko improvisations. I thought it was all going to be guitar work at first, but there’s some noise and other guitar work in there. What makes it fun (hence the manifesto) is Bucko’s distinct refusal to cater to genre or style, or even to transition from one thing to the next in a coherent way … which of course makes the whole thing ultra-coherent because of its disparity. Gosh, I love contradicting myself.

This tour tape was lovingly put together by Bucko himself – it comes in an edition of fifteen, and the whole thing was home dubbed and put together with scissors, tape, and construction paper, “just like in the GOOD OLD DAYS amirite!” (Yes.) And like any self-respecting underground label head, BBJR has packaged this lovely tape with a bunch of random stuff. I got a postcard and some stickers and a keychain. It was like Christmas. Plus, my copy, like the others, was dubbed onto recycled tape – this one Comedy from the Golden Age of Radio from the Phil Harris and Alice Faye Show. Brilliant!

Life is cruel, though; Tragedy ± Time is now sold out. We fade into nothingness.

https://personalarchives.bandcamp.com/

--Ryan

DANIEL RYAN / MATTHEW CROWE “split” C27 (Personal Archives)

It’s splitsville for Personal Archives: Daniel Ryan and Matthew Crowe drop some improv upon us, experimenting with the sonic limits of their …

Wait. I think I wrote that already somewhere. That’s really weird.

Know what else is really weird? This split tape from Daniel Ryan and Matthew Crowe! I was sold right away with Ryan’s side (and not merely because he has a, ahem, STELLAR last name), as he’s whipped up ten short tracks that do their thing and quickly move on to the next. Whether he’s exploring drones or intricate rhythms or scratched noise, Ryan obviously is having fun with his experimentation. It’s nice to see a little brevity in the experimental tape game at times.

And then there’s Matthew Crowe, Sex Funeralist and drum dude who plays here with similarly disparate elements in an ADD manner, only over the course of three tracks instead of ten. On his first composition, which lasts six minutes and is by far the longest track on the tape, he shifts between electronics and rhythm, using the former to disrupt and the latter to form a trancelike pattern. Frustrating our expectations, he both hypnotizes us and shakes us from our stupor. He continues this throughout the other two shorter tracks on his side, and the combined whole is a fascinating event.

https://personalarchives.bandcamp.com/

--Ryan

APATHIST! / CRETELLA+ROWDEN “split” C35 (Personal Archives)

It’s splitsville for Personal Archives: Apathist! (Alex Cunningham on violin, Chris Trull on guitar) and Cretella/Rowden (Chris Cretella [duh] on guitar, Zach Rowden [duh] on bass) drop some improv upon us, experimenting with the sonic limits of their various instruments. Both duos feature guitars. This is a very Personal Archives style release, let me just tell you that right now.

Cunningham is no stranger to the label, and he and Trull scratch strings and wiggle strings and vibrate strings in all manner of ways to concoct the most backwoods extraterrestrial warbling you may ever hear. They scrape and strangle their way through their half of the tape, never wavering from their intention of burrowing under your skin and becoming one with your circulatory system. Sound nefarious and parasitic? Only if you truly believe that both players are ACTUALLY extraterrestrials and not just playing them on the A-side. Apathist! my butt! More like Proactive-ithist!

Cretella and Rowden start off way noisier, with a full minute or so of strange electric and string noises. Then they drop the low end, and it’s a bassfest from there on out. Well, sort of but not really. While the bass takes on a fairly prominent role (which may be in contrast to side A’s bass-guitar-less-ness), the guitar fidgets and dances atop the deep tones, making like Sonny Sharrock fritzing out in a rainstorm. Gotta love that touch – and Cretella and Rowden bounce ideas off each other like each is playing the other’s axe and vice versa in close proximity. Probably how it was recorded.

https://alexcunningham.bandcamp.com/

https://christophertrull.bandcamp.com/releases

https://chriscretella.bandcamp.com/

https://zachrowden.bandcamp.com/

https://personalarchives.bandcamp.com/

--Ryan

BOB BUCKO JR. / TONY MONTANA “Split” C9 (Personal Archives / Poop Tapes)

Bob woke up on the wrong side of the bed one day. In fact, he fell out of it, into a pile of his instruments. In a fit of rage, he flailed about, raising a cacophony that lasted for not very long before he made it to the bathroom and brushed his teeth. Fortunately, as he was flailing, he hit record on a portable tape player, which captured his morning flail. Turns out the ruckus makes for quite the scrambled noise punk improv, a scuzzy blurt of weird rage directed at nothing but what life has to deal you every once in a while. Like tumbling into the midst of your gear.

Tony Montana – NOT Tony Orlando! – was so enamored with Bob’s band Sex Funeral that he made his own song about them. It’s as long as Bob’s three songs on side A put together. It’s also in the exact same vein as Bob’s tracks, as if somehow Tony was hiding in the closet when Bob did his side and tried to improv/cover the proceedings in real time.

I’d actually like to see that happen.

https://personalarchives.bandcamp.com/

https://pooptapes.bandcamp.com/

--Ryan