MIST "Certain Expansion" c40 (Pizza Wagon)

Debut release number 3 for today (sort of)! This one off of Cleveland's own Pizza Wagon which is a split release by Wagon run by John Elliott of Emeralds and Pizza Night run by the perennial nice guy Sam Goldberg though it doesn't show up in either of their discographies so maybe this is a co-release venture.

Appropriately this tape is these two dudes collaborating on two sides of heavy heavy synthesizer with credits for a voice and electric violin in there though they must heavily processed in the mix because it just felt like two synthesizers oscillating as yr hurtled through zero gravity in an epic, endless somersault. Really beautiful black hole, blind folded centipede leg jams.

Unfortunately doesn't appear to be available from any of the labels but they're worth checking out if yr intrigued.

Sam's Pizza Night label:
http://clevelandpizzanight.blogspot.com/
John's Wagon label, though everything is sold out:
http://clevelandwagon.blogspot.com/

EMERALDS "Servant" c26 (Wagon)

Cleveland based Emeralds serves up another frothy stew of mystic miasma, probably my favorite to date. If you've been following these dudes for a while yr sure to be pleased by this release. The Ohio trio serves up two sides of mind squirming, swamp shifting, asteroid soundscapes, drawing openly from their influences (listed in the first page of their website!) of terry riley's minimalist tonal patterns and tangerine dreams moody dystopian synth soundtracks. Type of music that makes you turn off the lights (if they're not already) and stuff yourself between two mattresses and get yr creep out on (if you're not already).

Full color art of what looks like a byzantine mosaic.
Not sure of the edition or if it's still in print.
Check the sort of awkward page of the label here:
http://clevelandwagon.blogspot.com/

EMERALDS & AARON DILLOWAY "Under Pressure" c60 (Hanson)

The work of Aaron Dilloway should be no mystery to the readers of these pages, label head at the venerable Hanson Records he has been a constant source of releases new, old and above all mysterious. His prodigious output as a solo artist, in collaborations and work with Wolf Eyes makes it hard not to run into his sonic incantations and for that you, listener, are better off. Here we have dilloway running alongside, instead of head-on, with Emeralds, an equally charged outfit, who have been here to western mass playing live more times than most local bands in the last 3 or so years. Again, for that, we're all the better.

The tape seems to walk between the worlds i imagine both of these artists inhabiting though i doesn't feel like their doing this out of a lack of shared space or goals, it's two languages that meet without needing to be translated to understand each other. The emeralds vibes are often high and in front, the repetitive warmth of analog synth lines (can't tell if they're loops or not) carried in on a bed of fog and haze. There's a really melodic, almost nostalgic/evocative tone the synths bring that allow the bed of noises to speak much more than usual. A bit of what sounds like tape fudgery has a real garbled feel that is a well timed switch out of the swelling, moody synth-mospheres. These hold solid and work as a nice contrast to the role-reversal moments that are a lot more dense and give the sensation of drowning in the haze feeling light disappear and yr eardrums burst, a nice second side to the out of body ether tones of the first side.

A solid, thoughtful take.

black and white cover, white tape. Still available from the label.
http://www.hansonrecords.net

SUNBURNED HAND OF THE MAN / EMERALDS split (Man Hand)

Cool split between some dudes who have been running the underground track since Nirvana was a band on Geffen not New Age Tapes and some dudes who have been smoking indo on analog synths since No Fun Fest 2006. Old meets new, basically. Savvily and radly, Sunburned reign in their clattery beard blather for an Emeraldsian zoner séance of keyboard levitation and moon sparkle that’s probably the best jam I’ve heard by ‘em in my lifetime (though I’ve only heard about 16% of their discog, I’d guess). Ohio’s chosen sons, for their part, do not disappoint in the least. The Joan Osborne-ly titled “What If God Was On The Subway” ascends a single-file escalator into the sky using a glorious procession of synth arrangements that all sound immaculately mapped and pre-destined to fuse together into this piece’s singular architecture. I gotta say I passionately love it when a band with as much online fervor/hoopla/hype as Emeralds back it up release after release with consummately executed magic like this. So thoughtful and deliberate and intentional it demands the rest of the musical planet’s droners raise their own game, NOW.