WETHER “Heir Bud" C23 (Strategic Tape Reserve)

Bordering on downright aggressive, Wether’s newest offering “Heir Bud” holds our ears to the staccato crackle of atonal rhythmic destruction for so long, it begins to sound like a hell-rented frog pond. Enter in some soaring/delayed ghoulish samples & soundbites and we’re back in the deepest bowels of Hades once again, the only reprieve of side A being a bizarrely tonal closing that wraps up like Bach’s iron fuckin’ fist.

Side B is a parallel hell, swapping out knob-tweaking rhythmics for more bleak musique concrète schizophrenia, finishing off with a possessed karaoke hymn of despair. 

Not for the faint of heart, this release pairs well with STR’s following/most recent offering, Q///Q, as it’s pretty much the polar opposite. 

https://strategictapereserve.bandcamp.com/album/heir-bud

and/or

https://wether.bandcamp.com/

—Jacob An Kittenplan

WETHER “Heir Bud” C23 (Strategic Tape Reserve)

For me, writing about Wether is like fishing in a public fountain: it’s frowned upon in general, and the authorities love issuing me citations about it. Plus, there’s no fish, so there’s no reason for me to even be there or doing that anyway. Yet here I am, pole and tackle box in hand in the midst of morning rush hour, surrounded by people (c’mon, everybody, COVID! Go home …), ready to try my luck yet again, even though I know the only thing I can possibly reel in is the loose change people tend to throw in these things, and not even that because my hook’s not magnetized.

Feels like a fruitless endeavor, right? It sort of is. Mike Haley is our Wether-man, and he’s second in command at Tabs Out (behind Dave) where I also dabble in some writing, so I’ve been banned from reviewing his stuff over there. But guess what, Mike? You have no authority here at Cassette Gods! Not that it matters anyway, I guess. As I’m sure you’ve prepared yourself for it, the typical Wether map forecasts burbles and samples, with a slight chance that one of them is going to be a reveille (I want that to be pronounced “revile” so bad) trumpet. Heir Bud doesn’t disappoint, as there’s enough burbles and lasers and other noises and samples (including the warped trumpet, and even some Sound of Music!) to make you forget that we’re living in troubled, troubled times.

Still, the typo on the cover is fairly disappointing – the name of the movie you’re trying to reference is Air Bud, not Billy Madison (which was nicknamed Heir Bud on set – fun fact).*

*[Not a real fact.]

In the end, I think the words we’re all looking for are “Great set, Mike.” Great set indeed. Although I fear that, with this whole endeavor being as fruitless and fairly illegal as it is, I’ve only managed to reel in a couple of metaphorical nickels and a penny or two – which, let’s be honest, I just scooped out of the water with my hand.

http://www.tabsout.com/

https://strategictapereserve.bandcamp.com/

--Ryan

WETHER “Ghoul Treatment” C20 (Gay Hippie Vampire)

I KNEW this day would come. Still, no matter how much you prepare yourself for it, you’re never really QUITE prepared. But now, as the first Wether tape randomly crosses my path, I have to face the truth and come to terms with the existential crisis that rages in my heart and in my mind: I have to write something about Mike Haley.

But no, I’m not going to review this thing in any way.

You know Mike as one of the three main hosts of the Tabs Out Podcast, whose site I also happen to write for, so whenever he sends me one of his tapes, he’s always like, “DON’T WRITE ANYTHING ABOUTHIS.” So I won’t. All I’ll say is that Mike likes synthesizers, and for some reason he’s decided to write about scary ghouls for this release despite being terrified by anything remotely scary, so I’ll just curl up in a ball over in the corner and be traumatized forever by this madness.

Ghouls are predators. Didn’t you know?

Anyway.

Buy from Gay Hippie Vampire, who for some reason decided not to put anything on the SPINE OF THE JCARD. But whatever, GHVR rules.

https://gayhippievampire.bandcamp.com/music

--Ryan

WETHER "Perception Shifts" C30 (White Reeves Productions)

Mike Haley’s been tending productive noise gardens for a li’l short of a decade now, most notably as label head of 905 Tapes (a forfuckingserious propagator for East Coast experimental noise acts) as well as his monocker, Wether. Here, he’s chilled out sliiiightly, dropping a half-hour pre-pre-panic attack on Pittsburgh, PA’s bad ass White Reeves Productions, and it’s perfectly fitting.

“Perception Shifts”, I posit, asks you to consider what the term “pulse” means to you, while listening to these disparate timbres of proudly nervous arpeggios, slow-motion triangle waves, nearly imperceptible flickerings of trebly squares, and the slight of hand shifting between dissonant and consonant bodies in transormation. What feels almost repulsive, and how impulsive was it to register? How do these signals interact as they pass each other by? Best with headphones and a few hours to re-adjust before bedtime.

WRP + 905T = another great study in psycho-acoustic sound sculpture. The artwork’s pretty great, to boot!

https://whitereevesproductions.bandcamp.com/album/perception-shifts-wrp011
https://905tapes.bandcamp.com/
and/or
https://soundcloud.com/user2169767

-- Jacob An Kittenplan

WETHER “Perception Shifts” C30 (White Reeves Productions)

What’s not important, essentially, is the who or the how, but the why – although, come to think of it, the how could inform the why, and even the personality of the who could be imposed over the whole thing to lend it even more meaning. What? If you’re reading for answers, you’re not getting them. Well, except for the who and the how – it’s Mike Haley as Wether, and he uses synthesizers to make far-out space music. Why? How should I know?

Listen, this wasn’t going to be a cakewalk, we all knew that. What we did know was that our perceptions would shift, if you get where I’m coming from. Shift from what? I had a feeling that any alien transmission nonsense, whether (Wether!) those aliens were lizards or otherwise, would be put to rest in favor of new directions in sci-fi. We got some of that. And we also stayed in the same place, which, it turns out, is perfectly OK in the end.

Haley’s doing the transmitting, and he’s contacting interstellar species. I’m not sure if he’s calling them out from Earth, like he’s puffing up his chest and taunting them for space battles (Mike, give it a hundred years or so, or else we’re gonna get obliterated), or if he’s simply trying to put the human race on the cosmic map. Either way, I’m sure SETI’s got his house and his phone bugged. You can’t just go and try to contact aliens without government assistance. Haven’t you ever seen the X-Files?

Perception Shifts is two slabs of thick synth work, fifteen minutes per side. We should all thank White Reeves Productions on a continuous loop for keeping it super weird.

White Reeves Productions

--Ryan Masteller

WETHER / PILLARS OF HEAVEN / GALLOWS / DEERSTALKER Split (Peasant Magik / No Horse Shit)

This long-playing, four-headed beast of a double cassette from Philly based Peasant Magik and Wilmington, Delaware's No Horse Shit was daunting enough to put off reviewing for a few months (doubtless a few labels could say that at this point). Once the gears get rolling, though, it's damn hard to not play this thing until the bitter end. Wether's "Night Terrors" is a versatile mashup of cacophonous bells, buzzing amplified resonance (not unlike Damion Romero's recent work), manipulation of stereo panning and scorched harsh noise. It's more sparse than cluttered, and Wether's focus on one primary sound at a time works very effectively. Pillars of Heaven follows with "In A Mirror, Darkly," a loping atmospheric piece with multiple layers of wavering tape hiss, distant field recordings and high/ low-pitched oscillations reverberating off of each other. Simultaneously lulling and apprehensive. Gallows is eclectic enough to resist easy labeling, although they resemble Fossils in a soundtrack-ish vein. Miscellaneous clanging, low rumbles and background loops could describe a gaggle of mediocre groups, but this one manages to pull a haunting and melancholy feel from some otherwise apathetic rubble.
The only underwhelming side on here is the closer by Deerstalker. Allegedly a "collaborative effort" between the other artists (there's no mention on the website as to which artists are involved), it bears little resemblence to any of the other groups except Gallows. Rather than calculated drones or walls of distortion, there's some blasé vocal moaning and obscured knob fiddling in the background. Perhaps this was a room recording which translated poorly on tape. This isn't too surprising; as others have previously written, it's not unusual for a one-off noise collab to fail to add up to the sum of its parts.
At any rate, the consistent quality of the other sides should be reason enough to check for this split (both Peasant Magik and NHS have recently had it in stock). The two tapes come in an oversize vinyl case with full-color wraparound art. RECOMMENDED!

www.peasantmagik.net/
http://www.myspace.com/nohorseshit