MOMOHAUS / ANDREW JELLISON “Split” (Sweet Sounds Records)

“Want to get away from it all?” says the voice introducing “Astroflower”, the lead track on Momohaus’ side. The open-ended question lingers throughout, even into Andrew Jellison’s contributions. Momohaus’ “Bow Echo” and Jellison’s “Erratic Motion” recall early Mouse on Mars with playful textured Krauty rhythms. This is just another cause for these artists to release work together.

While Momohaus engages with the New Wave to the Industrial, Jellison integrates New Age and Tropical vibrations. There is a rich variety to select from.

“Astroflower” closes with a voice saying, “this may be the last thing I ever do on Earth,” suggesting the metaphysical and spiritual journey the cassette provides for the listener.

https://sweetsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/split

--Adam Padavano

CALLADO “Lights Out EP” C14 (Sweet Sounds Records)

One pretty cool thing about this tape is that the reverse side is truly REVERSED, as in, if you were listening to a part of one of the songs and said to yourself “I wonder what that would sound like played backwards,” you really can! Just flip the tape over and press play! Can’t do that nearly as easily with a record and you sure as shit can’t do it with a CD…yet?

So, musically…I can’t shake the likeness here to a Krishna-core band from the ‘90’s, Shelter, specifically the album “Mantra”, the song, specifically, “Letter to a Friend”. This strained peak/sung vocals and alterna-grungey-ness is pretty strong on the first 3 songs, with the last one, an instrumental, very different altogether, and, by far my favorite, with calming swells of droning strings taking us back down a notch. Also, this song sounds just as good backwards.

           

www.soundsofcallado.com

and/or

https://sweetsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com/

- - Jacob An Kittenplan