CRUUDEUCES "St. James" c21ALEX HOMAN "That Is No Way To Talk To A Lady"WEIRDING MODULE "Peace Offering" c57(905 Tapes)

Cruudeuces is the music project of Nathaniel Brennan of North Adams, Massachusetts; a cool town to visit if you ever find yourself in the Northwestern part of the Bay State.  First off, you've got one of the coolest geological sites in all of New England: The Natural Bridge State Park (cool).  Secondly, this old mill town is home to a very cool contemporary art museum: the spacious and enticing group of buildings known as MASS MOCA (whuzit?).  Lastly, there is Mr. Brennan himself, noisily submerging his clarinet through a number of aquatic effects and using a net of coarse mesh to reel in the day's catch of sound.  This guy puts out a lot of stuff, and this is as good as any I've heard. The state park is just a minute from the dude's house, so blast some noise music as you drive by.

Alex Homan - Swishy delay loops with a bit of vocals and a lot of guitar.  Some of it gets very jiggy, but the endless echo bores me.  Only occasionally does a clear sound cut through on the A-side.  If you get drunk enough, you can make this kind of music without an effects pedal in sight.  Looks like Mr. Homan got the memo and attempted something on the the B-side that sounds more like the Beatles' acid damaged outtakes for "Across the Universe" followed by decent Popul Vuh imitation.  Make what thou wilt of this. c38

Michael Troutman, bassist of motor-city-styled rockers Awesome Color, makes something much more interesting with his Weirding Module solo project.  The first track "Cat Suicide"is a really heavy instrumental take on an Alan Vega-less "Ghost Rider."  The tape doesn't let you down from there.  Each of the following nine pieces is filled with interesting and dynamic electronic music of various styles.  Great recording with deep bass and an uncluttered arrangement. This guy has done a lot of good stuff already (check), but you'd be hard pressed to find a better representation of his skills than this new release. Recommended.

905 Tapes - Over 150 releases thus far and not stopping.  All of the tapes in this new batch have great art design: the front image being a removable rectangle that covers the J-card on which the credits are written.  Very much so: http://905tapes.com/

WEIRDING MODULE / ARNAU SALA split c40 (senseless empire / ozono kids)

These two dudes have been on a roll in my "book" lately, Weirding Module runs the senseless empire label which released that Canopic Lidz tape that awkwardly rules, Arnau runs the Ozono Kids label that has been putting out awesome Angeldust, M Ax Noi Mach Records and running the barcelona noise scene. It's no that their recorded output, as you'd guess, is up to par.

The Weirding Module side is a continuation of the territory that he's been digging through, mucking up and re-wiring. Low repetitive bass lines loop and roll on top of each other like so many worms in a can, burbling and boiling in clean tones that are soo deep you almost lose a filling. This dream team is followed by a floor cleaner gleam on a super sharp drum machine loop that really lacks the warmth and presence of a synth, but it's a short walk alone as the beat carries on the whole side of the tape tormented, threatened and eventually subsumed by a wave of electronics and synths that whip and whirl about finally enveloping the beat as part of it's mermaid vomit sea algae jam, harsh and patient enough to soften glass.

Arnau's side is more a dentistry nightmare to the outerspace grease of the WM side. Thick electronic layering feels like a fuggin sonic weapon, all the while remaining warm. This side is also distinct from WM's with the presence of vocals. A lot of times, voices can be a hard match for the limitlessness of "noise" and as a result, at it's worst, can un-do all the hard work an artist has done to create something interesting, by grounding it, making it totally tangible and often times just a background to the voice. In the best case scenario, as is close here, the voice and the noise become the good cop/bad cop, or really, the bad cop / bad cop with the antagonism of the voice only becoming more palpable because of the shrill, skittish electronics teetering above you. This is well played out here especially at points where Arnau is practically whispering, like a stalker in the closet. Throw in some drum machines, gasping electronic and shortwave interference and you've got yrself a hot tape!

comes in real nice two color silkscreen on black paper, numbered to 100,
black tapes.

still available from the label:
http://www.senselessempire.com

WEIRDING MODULE "Underwater in Space" (Silver Ghosts)

Weirding Module is the solo synth project of mike, the bass player awesome color. If you're familiar with their rip roaring rock and roll records, this tape may come as a bit of a surprise. If you're only familiar with mike as one half of the duo Bisexual Ghengis Khan (with colin from usaisamonster) than this will seem like familiar territory for this soldier of rock to walk.

It feels almost like the release was named after him trying to describe the sound of the tape to an aunt or an uncle who hadn't smoked pot. Underwater in space, though not possible (is it?) is a pretty literal description of the noodles, franks and beans that make up this primordial stew. A really great tape that starts with lots of decaying sounds, tones being ripped apart and bounced about in semi-rhythms, half in time half out creating a reallly disorienting set of blerps and beeps to follow. The second piece is a lot more minimal and almost devious in its pause. Comes across like a true vouyer staring into a mirror.

The second side starts, appropriately, wave-like with pulses cascading in and out and crashing against anything in their way. I remember a koan about the strenght of something soft, like water, breaking something hard, like stone. Soft is harder than hard. These pieces in all their mechanical circuitry have something soft in them, an ability to rise and descend to express and manipulate while still being rather cold and rigid, almost surgical in their execution.

A great tape, well played and pretty diverse in the approach and the movement of the music. Not particularly bleak or dark but not really uplifting and storybook. Maybe that's what space is like, or underwater. Environments that are almost totally inhospitable to humans, yet, with the proper equipment somehow people end up there staring at themselves and whatever goo and dust is floating by.

Silkscreened covers by M. Padding, in a plastic tape case perfect for filing.
No website available, you can email silverghosts@gmail.com for copies