TASHI DORJI "Hills Rose Up....." (Turned Word)

Beautiful solo guitar tape, no effects pedals.  Somewhere in-between Derek Bailey and Robbie Basho, but trending closer to the Englishman (I swear I just wrote that before looking at the label's description quoted below).  Lovely screen printing.  Always a treat to get new releases from this fantastic label, sometimes stylized as Trd W/d.

http://www.turnedword.com


I found myself out in the gardens’ July sun pencil scratching onto an old receipt. All about friend and improvisational guitarist Tashi Dorji and how wonderful he is and how much I adore his music. Thinking about the time we were jamming and some sound I made on the guitar caused him to outright belly laugh. And some scrawl about the story he once told me, about how the prince of Bhutan had asked him to play some Elvis songs in Thimphu , and Tashi declining the request. Or the countless times that we shared a meal together, or a fire. And how Tashi showed up at my job once, dragging me away because I was overstressed and needed food. “I’m way too hungry to cook now…..and plus, all the food that I have at home would take far too long to make, “ I whined.


He calmly demanded that I list the things I had lying around. Next thing I knew we were eating the most toothsome dish of something so simple. Potatoes, tomatoes, a little oil and some spices. Maybe one more ingredient? His presence and his music is like this too. Bare of pretension yet full of newness and uncompromising inertia. Seemingly quick, sharpened and then mellowed, presenting an intensity to fall into the moment and nourish oneself with the ingredients at hand. Reminiscent of the rythmn experiments of Derek Bailey, the lavish east leanings of Robbie Basho's playing and the intensity of Bill Orcutt's attack. Featuring the artwork of Amy-Moon. Offset printed. -- Dan Beckman

VILLAGE OF SPACES CORNERS "Morning Nap" c46 (Turned Word)

Wow, this is a really lovely tape. For those who aren't in the know, Village of Spaces (currently residing in and around Belfast, ME) is the new moniker for Dan Beckman and Amy Moon's longstanding group that began as Dan's solo project, Uke Of Phillips, morphed into Uke Of Spaces Corners County, which released two LPs on Corleone (check their website: they didn't quite get the baffling syntax right!) and is now onto a more collaborative band sound with members Asa Irons (Feathers), Clare Hubbard (Caethua, Sports, Ancestral Diet), Andy Neubauer (Ancestral Diet, Impractical Cockpit), Big Blood and Michael Hurley (!). This tape is a collection of "demo" versions of the tunes that appear on the newly released Village of Spaces "Alchemy and Trust" LP (which is a co-release between Turned Word, Corleone and a few other labels). I believe they were both recorded by Nemo from Time-Lag Records.

These versions are just as strong as the ones found on the record, and I actually find myself listening to this one more, though I suppose that's because I don't have a record player in my car. It's got an over all rawer sound and there are times when you can hear Dan and Amy's kid crying, but I count both of those things as assets. The songs are vaguely psychedelic (read: echoy with cryptic lyrics), but they also fit nicely into a number of American and English folk traditions. The first cut, "Alchemy & Trust" is so jaw-dropping that I would call it nothing short of a masterpiece. The rest of the album flows nicely from there, with all of the tunes creating wonderful mind-pictures of the beautiful, but sometimes challenging, Maine landscape.

I really haven't found a tape that has been this exciting to me since Chris Weisman's outstanding "Fresh Sip" from last year. Dan covers most of the lead vocals here and his vocals have that amazing nasal/otherworldly quality of Ed Askew's work, but his lyrics are a touch more grounded in reality than on that classic ESP folk disk. But now that I mention it, you should also check out the new Ed Askew LP reissue "Imperfection" on Galactic Zoo Disk/Drag City. Those songs are more autobiographical then any of his two previously released albums, & it's so wonderful!! Only 500 copies, so get it while the getting is good. But hey, we are talking about Village of Spaces here. This thing is only an edition of 100 copies, so snap it up before it's gone.

Peace

SWORD OF THE ANCIENT: “head of the tide” (Trd W/d)

Just as a cold wind whispers secrets in your ear, standing in an abandoned, but not yet dilapidated house that you wandered into through the woods in your backyard, such is Sword of the Ancient. Kristen Myers and Amy Moon O.S., both members of Uke of Spaces Corners County, head out on their own with these ghost moans and dulcet tones, like a femalular Russian Tsarlag, seemingly there to scare, but actually apparitioning just to comfort and maybe tell a story or two. Like white witches singing siren spells, every instrument on this tape has a voice. I’ve never heard a violin speak with such tragic loss. Drum drones and chants lull you into a dream and have you singing their incantations like “pencil, pencil, paper” and “I’m going to talk and talk until my face falls off” long afterward.

I’m unsure of the actual length, but it’s LONG, eight songs per side, a really full listen, bang for your buck (if you want to put it that way). Comes with xeroxed insert in clear poly box.

P.O. Box 286
Belfast, ME
04915

C-SECTION 8 "Mounds" (Trd W/D)

Not quite in the vain of noise that references pop culture, C-Section 8 is more a legit DJ act that would appeal more to the psychedelically aligned than any pants sagger. Coming from the same New Orleans camp that Load's Impractical Cockpit shoots insanity from, this dude thrives when adding his own drum machines to carelessly looped and abusively effected samples of oldies, pop, and rock n' roll. The result is a combination of lofi textures, sly progressions from one compelling yet sideways rhythm to another, and a dominance of beats and catchy melodies. For those aware of the Fat Worm of Error/Bromp Treb dichotomy, this plays out in a similarly as Impractical Cockpit/C-Section 8. Ultimately, great pop music for the trippy minded.