Soup Purse / Argumentix split "True Guru Electronics" c28 (Below PDX)

When i saw the title of this tape "true guru electronics" i didn't know if these dudes were playing off the current wave of interest in 'new age' culture and music, proclaiming themselves the true gurus of electronics or just liked the way they sounded together (a great pairing of words if you ask me.)

well, after listening, i still can't tell what the exact intentions were of the artists, the Argumentix side does have a nice "tone therapy" vibe to some of it, though it sounds like a lot of the sounds are made up of tapes being eaten or distorted, stuff being cut up played backwards and washing out yr earhole, which is fine by me! a short side at 14 minutes, but a nice divergence from the more beat oriented stuff he's been doing lately.

the soup purse side is a bit of a mystery and not necessarily in a good way. don't want to harsh on anything here, but what starts as a nice pile up of voices, creating a healthy murk of vocal sounds and curdling electronics turns into samples about pissing on people and talking faux-whitehouse style vocals? can't really tell if it's a joke or serious or what and that being said it's hard to determine what to do with it. I know james (below pdx head honcho) has a real sense of humor and isn't afraid to introduce it to his music/label, and kudos for it, but this side just missed the mark and undercut what maybe was serious music? yoinks...

full color cover of some blue jumpsuit lady bowing before a disgusting 'guru' looking dude with a extended unicorn turd for a walking stick. red tapes with black and white labels, still available from the label:

http://www.belowpdx.com

ARGUMENTIX "Nightmarcher" (Below PDX)

Slooowed field recordings, radio fuzz and all-around dingy 4-track nonsense from the Portland label Below PDX. Is this "sound poetry?" Well, in that whole can o' worms that Nurse With Wound and cohorts opened up, "Nightmarcher" falls on that end. The best vocals remind me of Golum having an existential crisis (wasn't he already?); preferable to other sections where homeboy is ranting artistically about being overcharged for dinner. Select moments with gross-out throat junk or lonely train horns (one of my favorite things) are compelling enough, but as per the norm with this fast-paced collage stuff the goods vanish on impact. Congrats due for the sweet packaging featuring a screen-printed wallpaper (!) insert and a classy color-coordinated spraypaint and sticker combo on the cassette. If only texture was a consideration for more people, this world would be a better place.
www.belowpdx.com