BRUCE HART - "Music For Drawing" C31 (NNF)

Goooood lord!NNF continues to just melt my brains away this year..(and Paypal balance).Bruce Hart is the solo project of Blanche Blanche Blanche's Zach Phillips.Music For Drawing is his first venture under this moniker, and it's pure magic from front to back.Diluted synth dynamics, with a heavy sci-fi and digital punk-noir vibe.This is a mysterious and all consuming noise indeed, and some of the tracks come off as somewhat heroic, even.Something like a funkier, more futuristic version of Axel's Them, smashed together with the more skittering moments of the War Games score.Each movement tells a similarly dark and seedy tale, with layers of gold spray painted bass lines and mirror-lensed keyboards, all trying to crawl atop one another.I'ts sometimes backed my dusty machine drums and the occasional foreboding vocal creepout, but all in all, it's a fresh and deeply compelling synthesizer pop workout.Deep drone interludes will bulge and then drop, giving a nice break from the constant high speed chase, but not for long.It's not entirely too far off base from Blanche Blanche Blanche's un-retro curiousities, with piles upon piles of freakishly perfect synth scales, but Hart lets the keys do most of the talking.This dude knows his way around electronic instruments, and if this were any better it would be terrible.Highly Recommended.Get one from Not Not Fun.

THE FIRST BAD REVIEW

Here at Cassette Gods, we've traditionally taken the view that positivity should be paramount on these pages. The thinking has been: "well this label/band/person only put out 100 copies of the tape anyway, why waste the time to dis on it", but after an intense 24 hour meeting of the Cassette Gods, fueled by coffee cake and Merzbow tapes, we've come to the conclusion that we will let the iron curtain of positivity fall, essentially opening the floodgates to a whole new era of bilious spew. I figured I'd be the first to make a crack in the dam of good intentions and post some reviews from the last few years that I thought it better not to write in the first place. So keep those tapes coming buckaroos!

THURSTON MOORE "Black Weeds / White Death" c40 (Meudiademorte)
Thurston Moore? Talk about Thurston Less. No thanks!

NONHORSE "Subtle Revenge" c90 (NNA)
Nonhorse? Talk about FeelsForced

MERZBOW "April 1992" c48 (Green Tapes)
Merzbow? Talk about Merzboring!

DENNIS TYFUS "Kje Fij Gloo Arte Nieece" cTAPE TAPE (Ultra Eggs-ema)
Dennis Tyfus? Talk about Dennis Lifeless!

ANGELS IN AMERICA / WEYES BLOOD "split tape" c30 (Northern Spy)
Angels in America? Talk about Angels in Why-care-ica! Weyes Blood? Talk about Weyes Dud!

CAVE BEARS WITH KOMMISSAR HJULER AND MAMA BAER "You Find The Key" c43 (Feeding Tube Records)
Cave Bears? Talk about Cave Unbearable! Kommissar Hjuler? Talk about Kommissar Drooler! Mama Baer? Talk about Who Cares?

DOLPHINS INTO THE FUTURE "The Voice Of The Silence" c30 (Catacean Nation)
Dolphins into the Future? Talk about Dolphins into the Pooper!

NOISE NOMADS "Hermetic Devices" c30 (Bonescrapper)
Noise Nomads? Talk about Noise NO-mads!

UNICORN HARD-ON "Forever Fantasy" c15 (Tangled Hares)
Unicorn Hard-On? Talk about Unicorn Hard-to-really-groove on!

RUSSIAN TSARLAG "Classic Dog Control Booth c40 (Not Not Fun)
Russian Tsarlag? Talk about um...oooo spooky graveyard! Not Not Fun? Talk about not fun at all!

WOLF EYES "something something people illegible 2" c? (American Tapes)
Wolf Eyes? Talk about the Wolf must die. Like Los Lobos, but different.

DUCKTAILS "II" c30 (Future Sound Recordings)
Ducktails? Talk about Duckfails!

PAK "Box" c20 (Eggy)
Pak? Talk about Pack It In!

SAM GAS CAN "Dedicated To Lauryn Hill"c22 (Ydlmier)
Sam Gas Can? Talk about Sam Gas Can't!

DIAGRAM A "New Double Tape" (Self Released)
Diagram A? Talk about Diagram Aimless!

STRANGE BREW "Live Weird, Die Weird" c30 (Ecstatic Peace)
Strange Brew? Talk about Strange Boo!

CHRIS WEISMAN "Fresh Sip" c60 (Autumn Records)
Chris Weisman? Talk about Chris Why Man?


Hey, I love all you guys...

MICHAEL JOHNSEN & PASCAL BATTUS "Bitche Session" C50 (OMFT)

Organized Music From Thessaloniki is a tape label from Greece.They cater to mainly avant-noise and improv acts from all over the world, and this is their thirteenth release.A 49+ minute cassette from improv dudes Michael Johnsen and Pascal Battus.Bitche Session is overflowing with action/reaction type minimalism, or "new music", and rarely does it hold a tune or any real melody.By standards, this is just a bunch of clicks, cracks, thwaps and hums.To fans of this type of thing, this is pure gold.Together, the Johnsen and Battus manipulate mysterious analog machines, tapes, magnets, light percussion and a saw.And although you might not pick up on it by just from listening to it just once, it's actually got plenty of replay value.Side A kind of reminds me of more recent Wolf Eyes, with about 90% less sheer terror and little to no distortion.Things begin slow, with a wobbly saw sent through the meat grinder, and over time build into some fairly intense busts of random noise.Every so often they pull out these tiny squealing notes and percussive gallops, and things almost make it into "actual song" territory, but alas, they shift the very next second into a wild thudding and scratchy electronics.Side B is a bit different, it's a bit more harsh and loud.No big finishes, or catchy grooves, but consistently weird and wildly unexpected for sure.If you are a fan of this stuff, you're gonna want this one.Edition of 135.

John Zuma St. Pelvyn "Ampex, Stolaroff, Dogwood, Rain" c41 (Lighten Up Sounds)

Incredible debut release from solo guitarist/experimentalist, John Zuma St. Pelvyn (an alias that rolls right off the tongue), that came out a few months back, but is so deserving of more attention. Reportedly recorded while the artist was living in a water tower in Northern California, “Ampex, Stolanoff, Dogwood, Rain” has a highly personal and meditative sound, as though St. Pelvyn was trying to unlock some hidden tone from his minimal set-up of modified acoustic guitar and theremin. His playing over the sidelong “Balboa Spits Towards the Motherload” recalls the ghostly industrial blues that the late John Fahey was exploring at the end of the nineties on his Table of the Elements releases. The Fahey comparison is, of course, one of the more overused references in describing any solo acoustic guitar slinger with experimental leanings, but there are indeed similarities in the overall approach and sound here. While St. Pelvyn’s extended technique draws on similar blues motifs, he also has these interesting quick runs that fill in some of the empty spaces between notes. And on the closing track, “The Wreck of the Pacific Garden Mall”, he shapes squelching theremin sounds around his clanging slow motion acoustic strums, which is the point where you realize that this is an emerging new talent to keep an eye on. The tape comes housed in a fetching oversized package with the curious inclusion of a small baggie of wood shavings. Still available from Lighten Up Sounds.

BLANCHE BLANCHE BLANCHE - "Songs of..." c32 (Night-People)

Blanche Blanche Blanche are a duo out of Battleboro, VT, and Songs of..is their first official full length for Night-People.With some very pleasant reactions to their recent single on Feeding Tube, along with a handful of fun videos popping up on random blogs, etc, this release is being hyped all over the place as of late.This is no flash in the pan, or accidental hit, though.This thing is really quite fantastic, and worth a hundred listens..I'm probably close, too.It's got a heap of Young Marble Giants' brilliant simplicity, with barely a single beat to be found anywhere on the album, and couple it with 80's new wave and post-punk stylishness.They make these ultra catchy, nearly perfect electro-pop ditties, carefully crafted from minimal synthesizer melodies and bare boned vocal harmonies.Their beauty is so pure and simple, that it almost drives you completely insane.The male/female duo sing pleasantly out of tune, as their voices rise and drop with ease, and it's painfully charming and easy to listen to.Parts of this remind me of Stereolab's more minimal arrangements, with a few nods towards Broadcast, with the prickly synth tones and layered vocal parts.The lyrics are smart and affectionate, with a clever delivery, somewhere between romantic poetry and comedic wit.BBB do tend to go on a bit of a noisy jazzed up tangent a times, letting the keys and analog machines do the talking, but for the most part, Songs of.. remains a refreshing and unpretentious jaunt into minimal pop music.Highly Recommended!
Get one from Night People.

COUGH COOL - "Clausen" C28 (Not Not Fun, 2011)

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Dick Lickerer "Title????" (Friends & Relatives)

This release is part of a great new batch from the ever reliable Friends & Relatives Records run by Justin Clifford Rhody, currently of Ypsilati, MI. I just had the pleasure of meeting Justin for the first time and he was a wonderful host and a great guy all around. His label has never been one to latch onto any trend or have any pretensions of "hipness" and has released some of the best truly underground music of recent memory. "Dick Lickerer" is a trio collaboration between Rhody, Logan Durgen (formerly of the band Sports) and Mark Williams (formerly of DigShovelDig). These sessions were recorded whilst hovering over a mic late into the night. The whole thing was done without trying to wake up the roommates who were sleeping in quarters nearby. I'm not sure if these boys were successful in that regard because it sounds like they were making quite a ruckus, but the tape certainly is successful from a musical standpoint. The closeness of the sound really helps bring you into Dick Lickerer's world. There are a few noisy four-track jams that sound like guitars of basses being struck by metal objects, but most of the tape is made up of the sound of moving various objects together or across the floor within the close proximity of a microphone. The assorted instrumentation includes packing tape, dust brooms, plastic bags, paper and silverware. Sort of like a more snotty modern day Group Ongaku/Taj Mahal Travellers. I would describe the approach of these folks as "anti-technology". I think it's great that more and more artists are mining this rich vein of music and that there are people out there all over the county who are willing to put it onto a cassette or record. Hopefully you'll be willing to listen. Contact friendsandrelativesrecords@yahoo.com for a copy of this and other fine releases.

The group was only around for a brief period in Asheville, NC about five years ago. Here is their inactive myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/dicklickerermusic

GREAT SLAVE LAKE - "Untitled" C30 (Teen Action)

GSL makes their Teen Action debut, with this dazzling cassette.One looonnng movement fills each side, and they are both pretty compelling listens.Al does the notorious Scotch Tapes label, and Derek has been involved with various drone projects over the years.With their Great Slave Lake project, the two lay down some seriously slow roasted loops, layering an endless collection of found sounds, deep synths, and minimal percussion, creating warm and textured landscapes."These Storms Could Have Been Avoided" begins with a subtle metal clank and a bit of tape hiss, and sounds something like a high school shop class played through a busted tape recorder.As things patiently build, random noises, possibly nature sounds and other field recordings make their way into the pot, and things really start to take shape.A giant synth chord starts to emerge, and you get the feeling that something is sneaking up on you.Without completely drowning out the percussive clicks and machine sounds, it grows slowly and becomes more present, filling in the open spaces.By the end of Side A, the synths are sounding HUGE, with the countless layers of random sounds ticking away like clockwork, and this one big chord pushing through them all.Pieces of it reminded me of Pine Smoke Lodge, but only for a minute or two.
Side B offers a similar dirge, but this one has more of a damp, murky vibe, sounding something like OPN and Belong jamming in an underwater cave.There's a howling wind blowing constantly in the distance, along with what sounds like tiny drops of water trickling down onto acoustic guitar strings, in no particular key.There's a bit of whispered conversation that lingers for a minute, and then the atmospheric synths start whirling around it all for a big finish.GSL seem to have this shit down, and as "right now" as this kind of stuff sounds, they are doing it better than most.Highly Recommended for fans of drone and sound scape type of bliss.Edition of 50 from Teen Action.

COLOUR BUK "Our Favorite Fucking Day of the Goddam Year" c30 (Weird Forest)

Weird Forest, after delivering top-notch vinyl issues for years, has been making a splash in the world of cassettes recently. This tape is one of three excellent tapes released early Summer (the others were by Kevin Corcoran and The Preterite). While those two explored a certain sound over the length of the album, Colour Buk is all over the the place. With tracks ranging from 10 minutes to less than a minute, the crew covers strange junk-skronk, messy tape collage, gnarled electronics creepage and a couple lethargic and/or catchy songs. They wear a few different hats over the course of the tape but they all look pretty flattering.

"I Got Thought" is a sprawled little number consisting of various layers of shimmering organ, guitar loops and drum machine. A sleepy voice sing-speaks over the collage. The stand out though is "Magic Keys to Conv." which could seriously pass for a lost Ben Wallers track. A few intertwined melodies pump forth pushed by a couple rhythmic sources. There's plenty of tape collage gibberish smeared all over and the vocal delivery is spot on. Really awesome track, I hope they got some more in them.

The markered insert doesn't provide much info as far as personnel goes (just that the tape is presented "in true Hi-Fi.") This seems like it could be one weirdo or a few. It would be cool if this was a full-fledged "band" as the world could use more weird, totally-out rock bands.

Definitely a promising tape, I'm gonna have to investigate Colour Buk a bit more and see if I can uncover any more gems.

Weird Forest

TONGUE AND TEETH "What Have We Done To Your Quiet?" c30 (Skrot Up)

I've really been digging on SUT's last few releases, and this one only continues my obsession with this fantastic label.Tongue and Teeth are a young band from Copenhagen, and they make quite an eclectic brand of noise.This thing is pounding, confrontational and overtly brash from the very first note.It's vaguely familiar, and yet totally fresh, with more than a few nods to Penis Envy era Crass, and your favorite Riot Grrrl bands, only a bit weirder, as it teeters on post-punk's deep grooves and no wave's clever absurdity.The powerful female vocal attack is equal parts pissed and woozy, as the words just seem to spill out of her mouth quite effortlessly, creating heaps of unexpected, and possibly accidental vocal hooks.The rhythm section is loose and jagged, sounding like they could fall apart at any second, but never quite get there.Funky, crawling bass lines slither throughout tight and rigid guitar scratching, and the dizzying drum patterns are hanging on by a thread.It all seems to work out very well for them.T&T's timing falls somewhere between flawless execution and pure luck, sounding air tight and improvised all at once, and it makes for a very interesting contrast.Their stumbling, yet witty sound isn't so different from The Fall, or more recent post-punks Divorce, but it's hard to pin them to any one genre.They are doing wondrous things to your quiet, and I will definitely be keeping my eye on this band.Edition on 100.Get one from Skrot Up.

MUTWAWA - "Mayan Mutations" cs23 (AEN/CNP Records)

Gary Stevens and Jason Hodges are Mutwawa.They both abuse those amazing ribbon synths, samplers, and a slew of other machines and deep noisemakers.Mayan Mutations is their most recent kick to the face, and it's been on constant repeat here lately.It reminds me of a more dance floor friendly Merzbow, with it's HEAVY synth jabs and pummeling low end gurgling.Harsh 808 beats are blasted out at full volume, bringing with them an arsenal of spiraling synths and buzzing modulations.This stuff is no joke.They've got their analog toys so beefed up and their presence is crazy and unavoidable.Pure dance party trash, coupled with Industrial's forgotten sleaze and muscle.This stuff seems to play extremely loud, not matter what volume level you have it on.Some of the songs sound like they were pulled straight out of the seedy electroclash scene, the one that flooded NY's underbelly almost 10 years ago, and then given a much needed adrenaline shot and waaayyy bigger amps.Mutwawa wants to play techno, but it's not in their nature.Their music is listenable and familiar, but unkind.If you like your club jams dripping with glowing green blood, and your power electronics to bump, then this is what you have been waiting for.Killer black light poster artwork to boot.YES.Get it here.

CRAZY & THE BRAINS - "Don't Need No Snacks" 6 song cs (Baldy Longhair)

Baldy Longhair is a fairly young cassette label out of Rahway, NJ, and if this surprisingly fun release(their third)is anything to go by, it looks to be a very promising punk imprint.It comes from four talented weirdos called Crazy & The Brains.This thing is packed full of insanely catchy pop and punk jams, all very well crafted and tasteful.It's all here, tight and jangly guitars, swaying bass lines, popping drums, and countless vocal hooks.Not to mention the fair amount of xylophone harmonies sprinkled atop, for good measure.The description from the label says "for fans of: The Black Lips, Moldy Peaches, Vaselines, and Dead Milkmen", and that statement pretty much describes this tape perfectly.There's an especially noticeable Dead Milkmen vibe, with all the messy acoustics and light-but-speedy delivery.All the elements of a good pop punk album are here, and then some.The vocals are goofy, yet crisp and confident, half shouted/half sung, hanging somewhere between the teenage angst of David Byrne and maybe Adam Green, but with much runnier noses.The lyrics are playful and fun, with song titles like "Lindsay Lohan" and "Snacks", but the overflow of solid songwriting makes it a less comical listen, or listens.I'm not sure who is Crazy, but he and his Brains have restored my faith in weirdo punk, and I hope we get to here more SOON.Includes digital download link.Four different covers and tape colors, one with each member of the band on them.They fun.Get them HERE.

SAND CIRCLES - "Midnight Crimes" c18 (Not Not Fun)

Another shiny diamond from the amazing Not Not Fun label.Instant gratification from a talented young Swede by the name of Martin Herterich .Midnight Crimes is his newest venture into minimal synth strays, Casio bleeps, microscopic drum machines, and fuzzed out tape loops.Late night bedroom party jams in miniature.The songs are completely free of vocals, but chock-full of content and personality.Flirtatious psych pop masked as elevator tunes, made from fragments of dubby smoke-outs and unpopular micro-house cuts.Layers of deep synthesizer chords nuzzle up against each other, creating lots of open space the for sharp, glittery keys and bright scales to flourish.Things really open up on "Subaquatic Highway", a semi-robotic bounce that comes off like some kind of scrapped NEU!/Tangerine Dream collaboration. Slightly doused with ping-pong delay, the 808 stomp never lets up on this one, carrying some rather stiff keyboard hooks and scattered blips under it's arm.This one is just screaming for a remix or three.Moments of Midnight Crimes carry a hollow, and deeply ethereal vibe, similar to a more club friendly OPN, or a beat driven Emeralds.You might pick up on a touch of Hype Williams' more recent joints, too.All positive.A pleasant surprise at every turn, and I look forward to hearing lots more from them.Get a copy here.

KEN SEENO - "Open Window" c48 (Watercolor)

Ken Seeno has already pumped out a handful of great releases in 2011, and it's only July.Open Window is his debut solo release for the fantastic Watercolor imprint.You may know him better for his tactical shredding, along side fellow axeman Dustin Wong and crew in Baltimore act, Ponytail.Seeno has adapted quite the patented style over the years, with a tight, razor sharp guitar tone, and a knack for mesmerizing free-pop freak outs.With his solo work, Seeno applies his quirky styling to a more laid back, droning electronic warble.Building on simple guitar chords and minimal noodling, he uses an array of buzzing synths and thudding sequencers to create something both fresh and compelling.Bits of minimalist kraut and electro are sprinkled throughout Open Window, with more than a few nods to Eno's "Another Green World", as well as his work with Cluster.Seeno's work is fairly modern sounding, utilizing a handful of digital synth modelling and analog machines, yet his music holds a very warm, vintage analog tone for the most part.Shadow is a subtle micro-house tune, and it the bpm's a bit with a miniature tropical electro beat.Swirling sine waves surround robotic 8-bit Casio blips, creating a colorful contrast that's very, very easy on the ears.Perfect for morning rituals and headphone escapism.Good vibes cover every inch of this.Get yourself a copy his stunning debut, here.

QUICKSAILS "Silver Balloons in Clusters" (Deception Island)

Quicksails is the solo project of Tiger Hatchery percussionist, Ben Billington. Unlike his fierce work in Hatchery (or his staggering 90 minute solo percussion session for 905 Tapes) Billington indulges in synth and electronics as Quicksails. This tape for the Deception Island label follows up a very cool tape on Cylindrical Habitat Modules. Silver Balloons sounds cleaner and the percussion and synth elements are less integrated creating a contrasting pallet of smooth synth-tones and reverberating bells, cymbals and other percussion. Billington seems to be occupying dual roles here as keyboard/electronics guru and percussionist. The synth is certainly the central element pushing each track but it feels fresh to have percussion in the mix.

Update: UK label Under the Spire has since pressed Silver Balloons in Clusters on vinyl

You may have noticed...

We've changed Cassette Gods ever so slightly. For one, you can now comment on our posts. Also, note the new addresses on the right hand side of the page. I guess it looks like a lot of us live in Western Massachusetts... Guess that's just cause it's the coolest place ever! If it's ever seemed like a tape you worked real hard on, stuffed into a pretty envelope, affixed bountiful postage to and sent our way simply vanished into a void, rest assured we'll be getting a lot more reviews up soon, so keep those tapes coming! We've decentralized our operation and have provided the addresses for all the active Cassette Gods writers. So try to pick the reviewer who seems to best fit your aesthetic and send it directly to them. Hopefully we'll be getting some more in depth content up here soon, like audio samples, interviews and band/label write ups. But don't worry, we will remain firmly rooted in our archaic 2007 trappings.

The tapes I've been jamming for the last couple of weeks:
Angels In America / Weyes Blood split Northern Spy Records
Bastian Void "Ported" Digitalis ltd #202 NEW
Post Materialists "Love" Eggy Records #27 NEW
Ryley Walker "Evidence Of Things Unseen" Plus Tapes 050 NEW
Warren G "Regulate...G Funk Era {Clean Version}" Def Jam OOP
Psychic Steel "Marthyan Reign" Catholic Tapes NEW
Astral Plane Junkies / Servitor split Hidden Temple NEW
Dead Girl's Party (Foust/Krefting) "The Things I've Lost" Entr'acte NEW
Boo Frog "Undead At Satyricon" Skullman Records NEW
Attar Cups "S/t" Sloow Tapes OOP
Jack Callahan / Matthew Reis Factotum Tapes fact039 NEW
Miracle Johan "No Time For Maniacs: 80 Dub" tlt004 OOP

Actually, that last tape deserves special mention. I have no clue where it came from, and neither does my partner, who it belongs to. It's a really strange and arresting mix of funky wah-wah guitar psych jams and heavily reverbed spoken word pieces about the illusory nature of time. Reminds me of weird private press records like Vulcan's "Meet Your Ghost" or ???. If anyone out there knows anything about it please write me at cavebears@gmail.com. A cursory internet search reveals that this guy started out writing Rap songs exclusively about the Boston Celtics. Weird...

In the year 4040 A.D., Miracle Johan crash landed on planet Earth. His ship hit a shark on the tooth and blood was everywhere. After he fixed the shark teeth with his hat, he swam through the icy ocean to Hadley, or where Hadley once was. There was a great amount of ice and snow and general coldness. It was the first time Johan saw his breath, ever, seeing as though his former planet's atmosphere was made of a whole mess of birds, solid with birds. It kind of freaked him out. I mean the seeing his breath. He kind of liked it. He also kind of liked the freak out...he had never been freaked out before. Then, just as he was noticing a giant herd of giant ice age horses ice skating towards him on their ever-evolving lucky shoes, perhaps to fight, perhaps to offer assistance, the shark returned. He was walking and with one giant flipper he was holding his cheek. Perhaps Johan hadn't fixed that sharktooth at all. He only had one option...he travelled back to the year 1996 and began recording on a 4track. Along the way he learned to love drum machines and keyboards and the celtics. And dub. He loved dub. He still likes pretty and meandering guitar parts. The shark will be back, of course, but this time Johan will have just the thing for that crappy shark.

BORON - "Aria Statica" cs (Field Hymns)

This tape starts with a batch of sine waves and various frequencies ,all blipping and buzzing against each other, without any real tune or melody.Just when you are about to snap, things begin to plateau a bit, and a more subtle, "catchy" tone sets in.Layers of busted synths, outdated processors and random analog machines pile atop one another every so often, creating a pretty interesting sound collage.I felt like i spent most of this listen waiting for some sort of song to emerge, or at least something resembling one, which never really happens, but that is also the allure of this album.Batches of channeled distortion and bent machines going haywire, at the bottom of a dry ocean, in outer space.The anticipation factor, was enough for me to listen to the other tape i got from him, which is also pretty interesting.Boron's harsh and sprawling tape loops are far from accessible, and yet, it won't bore the shit out of you.If scathing electronics are your thing, check this out.Headphones are suggested.Edition of 100, with download code.

GREM - "Esme" c30 (Skrot Up)

I really can't stop listening to this tape.It's nothing terribly unique or unheard of, but the songs are well written, and after hearing it on from both my computer and my ipod, it's one of those rare recordings that actually sound spectacular through Walkman headphones.Grem is a solo project of one Mr. Shaun Durkan, a core member of San Fransisco band, Weekend.With a lack of any real information about this release, I'm going to have to assume that he plays all of the instruments on the songs, which is quite impressive.This has a heavy 90's alternative vibe, and that is a very good thing in this case.It sounds like an early AmRep band trying to play melodic indie pop tunes, but also like a modern folk band playing messy grunge jams.It's somewhere right in the middle.Fuzzy, blown out guitars create walls of riffing, with some insanely catchy melodies and heavy chord structures.Dirty acoustics strum along quite often, coupled with dense synthesizer buzzing, making for a glitchy, eclectic sound.Most of the songs are mid-paced bangers, with heavily processed guitars making for a heady ,shoegaze vibe.Durkan's voice howls away beneath the murky swells, but there's a few moments of slow and muddy balladry, where the vocals burst through a bit more, and they are quite nice and tuneful.The highlight of this tape, is the ultra-slowed, downer cover of Chris Isaak's mega hit, Wicked Game, if you can imagine anything more of downer than that.It's fantastic.Black Skull is a deep closer, and Durkan shows that he knows how to track an album properly.A perfectly gloomy ending to this awesome piece of music.

Night People Spring Round-Up

The uniformly beautiful releases from Night People, the label run by Wet Hair's Shawn Reed of Iowa City, are surely not strangers to the readers of these pages. While we here at Cassette Gods often toil to shed light on the darkest corners of the audiotape producing world, bringing new talent to the forefront, we oftentimes find it helpful to check in with our old pals. The newest batch of NP tapes deserves special mention as there are some really ACE releases here. Let it go without saying that you'll probably want to check out the latest missives from Robedoor and Factums; enough said there. Here are some other spools that you'll surely want to unwind:


Goldendust "Digital Skies" c16
A really great short tape from this Midwest duo (LP forthcoming). Written songs with organ and minimal beats. Some new age-y lyrics as can be expected with this kind of stuff, but the production makes it entirely worthwhile. Crazy panning effects in the first song reveal the weirdness early on. Then some subtle guitar underneath. Crazy alien Vocoder singing leading to a darker B-Side. You can tell these folks are going for something more than creating a haze. Good time paranoid sci-fi vibes.


Cellophane Spill "S/T" c26
No hypnagogabop here my friends. This is some very cleanly recorded weirdo electronic music with fractured rhythms and a varied sonic pallet. It's similar to some of the best 1980s European stuff in this vein like Club Moral (but less harsh) or BeNe GeSSeRiT (but less weird). Most of the vocals are heavily processed and evil but when the first clear song comes in it sounds like they are actually singing in German? Some research seems to suggest these folks are from Texas, but it sure doesn't sound like it. Great stuff and the most unusual thing in the whole batch.


Blanche Blanche Blanche "The Songs of Blanche Blanche Blanche" c32
In my book the award for "album with the most heart" goes out to this Brattleboro, VT duo, but these guys are my friends so maybe I'm biased. Screw that! this is just exceptional stuff. Zach and Sarah write concise, complex melodic keyboard driven pop songs that evoke the common woes and WOWs of the 21st century 20something set, all without managing to slip into the same-old-same-old cliches so present in contemporary songwriters. Sarah is the "Mo Tucker of Vocalists", beautiful naive and solid as a rock. Zach is the mad genius behind the group's music and anyone who has followed his other projects (Heat Wilson, Horse Boys, Nals Goring) knows that the music on here is an evocative mix of modernist piano composition, 60's pop and 80's new wave. A match made in heaven.


Lantern "Stranger I Come/Stanger I Leave" c26
This tape opens with an only halfway successful attempt to enter the mirror, but once the electronic noodling is out of the way, Lantern reveal themselves to be more than decent Stooges inspired guitar/bass/drums/vox scorchers. The slower jams don't do a whole lot for me, but when they are on full-burn I like this tape quite a lot. A nice deviation from the usual NP sonic aesthetic and that's just like sister ray said.


The Savage Young Taterbug "Theme For Gasoline Weirdo" c16
As a performer and recording artist this guy Charles is a real STAR of the drunken feathered cap wearing set. Unlike his often baffling live performances, his two NP tapes have been really lovely, drippy-trippy listens. However, I feel like the overly reverberated trend doesn't necessarily suit what I find to be so special about Taterbug's music. I'm still waiting for him to record the truly Savage folk/pop album that I know he has in him. His songs and lyrics are real winners and it's a shame to bury them in so much of the murk-of-the-day. If you've never witnessed once of his more stripped down live sets, then you won't know what's actually underneath all this and I imagine you would find no fault with this stellar release.


Naked On The Vague "Midnight" c32
Remixed soundtracks from these Aussie mainstays. The spookiest of the whole recent batch. Ominous synths collide with foreboding feedback.

WATER BORDERS - "Drippings" C30 (Skrot Up)

San Fransisco's Water Borders are by no means a new thing, their recent ep on Hungry For Power, along with some much deserved attention from 20JFG and Fact magazine, has made them somewhat of a household name, if you r house full of introverted neo-goths.Their wonderfully terrifying video for the Akko remix has been strewn about the web for the past few months, as well.Good, good stuff.This tape was released in 2010, just before their ep, and contains three lengthy songs, or movements, rather.The first being "Ararat " ", a dark and rather brooding tune, full of swelling synths, both analog and digital, and deep, baritone vocal passages.This song hardly resembles anything beat driven, or new wave, having little to no percussion at all.It slowly crawls through a handful of key changes and tempos, and keeps it's gloomy swagger, without a single thump.Water Borders is one of those rare acts, who don't rely on clicks and clacks to create something completely moving.Instead they fall back on dense, low end keyboard rhythms, or pulses, like the synth bass, and use them to make driving, beat-less rhythms.Their music is organic and artificial all at once, like a liveing, breathing, machine.This clever dirge, along with layers of dreamy synths, and carefully crafted arpeggios, make up most of Drippings music.
The most memorable song, and definitely the most full-bodied and driving of the three, is the last track."The Man With Fish In His Hands", comes off as some sort of busted Xiu Xiu scraps, playing from the bottom of an old well.The vocals come courtesy of Lynette of Bestial Mouths, and her scratchy squealing voice makes for an interesting contrast, up against WB's stern, deep moans.They mostly take turns spitting their venom, but at one point they overlap each other's tortured vocals, and it's purely black magic.This song is the only one of the three that features percussion, and they really give to you here.Swarms of tattered snare cracks and other various clicks and thuds are brought on harshly.There's no subtle head nodding, that's for sure.The staggering beats carry their wild voices and crushing synth patterns perfectly, as things just seem to grow and expand as the seconds pass, until everything drops out, leaving only a muffled whirring sound, tucked beneath what appears to be a very haunting, continuous choir chant.Completely enthralling, and full of wrong turns, this tape is fantastic, and anyone who's unfamiliar with Water Borders should get on it, asap.
Edition of 100.Get a copy from Skrot Up.

AFTER AFTER AFTER - C46 (dbl A-side) (Skrot Up)

This one was a total mystery.The insert doesn't tell you much about the tape, or about this group.All I know, is that their called After After After, their Swedish, and this is their new 8 song cassette.Skrot Up has been releasing wild electronics, harsh noise and no wave gems for some time now, and their catalog is quite an expansive one.AAA begins things with a sort of blank, no-wave vibe, nothing too catchy or memorable, and eventually grows into something much deeper as it plays out.Sharp keyboards and stiff guitars are laid over minimal dance beats, and there's a less than enthused, yet strangely tuneful vocals here and there.It's pretty varied though, the song " Kranky", is a slow burning instrumental, with a steady snare roll that points towards a big finish.It's coupled with some ethereal synth sprawls and various electronic sines and pink noise."Dancing in a Mist" really stuck with me.It's got this French new wave vibe, with icy synth repetition, and minimal guitar jabs.It's kind of a danceable, in that "I don't dance" sort of way, and the vocals,although rather incoherent, have a cool, almost sexy tone, and it all works pretty well for AAA.There's a ton of different styles going on here, and this tape goes from scathing electronic dirge, to dreamy euro-pop in a flash, without being overly contrived or scattered.As much Adult as they are Air.Good stuff.Edition of 100.
Get it here.

KEN SEENO - "Invisible Surfer On An Invisible Wave" C26 (NNA)

  The insanely talented Ken Seeno, somehow found the time to create this lush and expansive electronic album, for NNA Tapes.The last year or so has surely been a busy one for him, between touring and recording in his full-time gig, as 1/2 of Ponytail's guitar assault, although you won't find any tropical anthems or weirdo pop jams here.Invisible Surfer is a calm, collected batch of analog synths and keyboard modulations, swirling rhythms and dreamy landscapes.It's a very well crafted collection of deep swells and breezy sweeps, and the amount of vivid imagery this stuff will show you, is intense.There's a fair amount of nature samples lingering in the background.Birds, frogs, streams and other chirping critters, make a handful of appearances throughout the album, and accompany the shimmery drones quite nicely.There's little to no percussion, and zero driving beats in Seeno's music, but Invisible Surfer is still jam packed with deep movements and good, good vibes.Fans of OPN, Emeralds, and the like will totally fall in love with this tape.Perfect.
 

CANKUN - "Jaguar Dance" c47 (Not Not Fun)

French minimalist/electronic brainchild - Vincent Caylet, gives us his debut outting under the new Cankun moniker, a fantastic new cassette entitles "Jaguar Dance".This couldn't have found a more suitable home, than the one it's found at with the amazing Not Not Fun family.This album is painfully addictive and fresh right from the get go.On "O Mountains O", a weightless soft synth drone floats along at a crawling pace, warming up and melting down into pools of thick, bubbling melodies.There's already a deeply organic vibe, one that might conjure images of a liquefied hologram, a sort of neon colored cyclone, spinning wildly through the air.Heaps of colorful guitars are spilled into the mix, with a heavily delayed, slow bounce.They quickly begin to grow and multiply, as the clusters of sharp micro-rhythms find their way into the deep and continuous keyboard swell, the two start to intertwine, creating a lush and vivid landscape.Jaguar Dance's sound is easily comparable to that of Sun Araw and High Wolf having an underwater calypso jam session, with Matrix Metals controlling the soundboard.It's bubbly tone suggest that it may have been recorded somewhere in the depths of a underwater cave, and rarely, if ever, does it come up for air.
As you begin to explore more of Jaguar Dance, you will notice that the songs begin to take shape a bit, and find a more swaying, rhythm based approach,"Congo Mobile Disco" fades in with a swirling psych guitar stride, draped over top of a minimal beat, and just when you've gotten comfy, it pulls you in a whole new direction.Caylet introduces a faster, more prominent drum pattern, along with some subtle, treated strumming in the background.This all plays on for a minute or two, slowly building upon itself, with layers of electric guitar noodling and some rather piercing riffs that climb over top of each other.Things finally come to a head, and then quickly plateau, fizzling out like the red sun, as it descends into the sea at dusk.A very, very good debut on all fronts.Another gold star for NNF.