TERENCE HANNUM "Obelisk" (Self released)

CG readers might be familiar with Terence Hannum through the Chicago groups Locrian (who have a forthcoming 7" on Mark Solotroff's Bloodlust! label) and Unlucky Atlas. A Locrian tape previously reviewed in these pages was a hazy, overall guitar heavy dronescape which borrowed from contemporary Japanese psych such as LSD March or Suishou no Fune. Hannum's solo entry carries the same feeling, but here it's melodica and harmonica that carry the melody, buoyant on waves of bass and vocal drone. There's something about a melancholy melodica sound processed through delay and echo that's too classic to ever be wrong. (Admittedly, that's coming from an Augustus Pablo fan.) "Obelisk" isn't nearly a dub track, although its wide influences could also include ambient, psych and noise. Shimmering and lulling at first and darkly caustic towards the end, "Obelisk" consistently focuses on a subtle, drawn out interplay between harmony and atonality.
The single eleven minute title track carries across both sides. It's a bit of a downer to hear the gradual buildup cut off at the halfway mark, but the material is enticing enough to flip repeatedly. As with the self-released Locrian tape, this is wrapped in a letterpressed slip of thick black cardstock. From a glance at Hannum's Myspace page it looks like there are still copies available, so connoisseurs of today's underground Chicago sounds take note. RECOMMENDED!

http://www.myspace.com/terencehannum
Or: P.O. Box 220651 / Chicago, IL 60622

EMESIS / SCISSOR Split (Trapdoor Tapes)

Trapdoor Tapes have been emitting various strands of hiss cultures from their Sunshine Coast, Queensland domicile since 2005, from what I could gather. A batch of five tapes arrived a while ago, so more information as it develops. The Emesis side is dubbed quietly but hits the spot with some hellish manipulated tape, delay and feedback maneuvers, possibly captured in a live setting. It's static, despondent and hallucinatory stuff with a machinated, almost industrial tone. The Scissor side is dubbed about ten times louder. Whirring drills grind away at harsh noise territories, bludgeoning the signal into obscured crackling at some points and chugging into phaser-heavy repetition at others. There are some interesting textures created with polyphonic signals, but the gadgetry feels overloaded. Eventually the signal totally dissolves into shards and pops, and the side is over. The casing for this split is probably the most grotesque of the whole batch, with a paint job straight out of finger painting hour and a sticker of Paris Hilton in all her irony, staring you down. I wasn't able to find info online about either of these groups, but check the Trapdoor Tapes pages below:

www.myspace.com/trapdoortapes
www.trapdoortapes.tk/

C-SECTION 8 "Mounds" (Trd W/D)

Not quite in the vain of noise that references pop culture, C-Section 8 is more a legit DJ act that would appeal more to the psychedelically aligned than any pants sagger. Coming from the same New Orleans camp that Load's Impractical Cockpit shoots insanity from, this dude thrives when adding his own drum machines to carelessly looped and abusively effected samples of oldies, pop, and rock n' roll. The result is a combination of lofi textures, sly progressions from one compelling yet sideways rhythm to another, and a dominance of beats and catchy melodies. For those aware of the Fat Worm of Error/Bromp Treb dichotomy, this plays out in a similarly as Impractical Cockpit/C-Section 8. Ultimately, great pop music for the trippy minded.

MOSSY THROATS / SCISSOR SHOCK Split (JK Tapes)

The combination of artists on this tape could be as unusual as it gets for your average split release. On one end there's Mossy Throats, Daniel Dlugosielski's solo project. Dlugosielski is probably better known for his Exitebike Tapes label as well as being half of Detroit's Haunted Castle. The untitled track on this JK Tapes offering kicks off with low, pulsating oscillations punctuated by high end squelches. The first section maintains a dismal, oppressive feel fed by grating low frequencies, tape manipulation, feedback and heavy delay, heightened by occasional bursts resembling animal distress calls. The second segment, though only lasting a few minutes, is more subdued and composed with periods of silence to allow sounds to appear and dissipate.
On the flip, Columbus, Indiana based Scissor Shock (Adam Cooley et al) lay down a cutting room floor's worth of styles. Ranging from yelping thrash to blast beat mayhem to nonsensical sound collage to spacey acoustic interludes, it's hard to discern what the band was aiming for. In any case Scissor Shock plays the most original- possibly the first- combination of trombone, drum machine, acoustic guitar, 303 acid loops and chimes heard yet, anywhere. The end result is such an affectionate homage to music that one can't help but admit that Scissor Shock succeeds by being wholly themselves. Perhaps if Half Japanese was reincarnated as Sissy Spacek this band *might* have some competition, although fans of Realicide might get down with it. Includes full-color insert with restrained but surreal photos (and no spraypaint this time, unfortunately).

www.jktapes.com/

various artists "NEON COMMUNE" (Not Not Fun)

Available only at Not Not Fun's Neon Commune Fest at the Echo Curio in LA, this set of four c-20s and three 3" cdrs (gasp, mentioned in Cassette Gods!) are the essence of the rare gem release. So, while ebay and human greed will eventual turn these into something else, for this very moment (because as I write, the fest still continues) they are a true treasure from the vaults of passion. Each of the items shows Not Not Fun at their most daring in the sculptural packaging realm that has been such a pivotal characteristic for them. The most successful of these risky bets is the Uneven Universe cassette that presents the tape in a mock impulse-buying bag, the same style that peanuts near the cash register of a gas station are packaged in. Two little plastic doggies, both on a lease tied to the cassette, and more than just "thrown in," but presented with a perfect balance that flatters the feng shui gods. On the other hand, when one takes a lot of risks, one must also expect to fall short. Hence the Metal Rougue 3" that is sort of just slapped onto a piece of wood. An artisticly loved piece of wood, but still raising that WTF factor with its loose ends. As a set though, everything is elevated and having a range of successes and failures just adds to both the immediate charm and to the fact that these are basically party favors for a fest not just of NNF bands, but commemorating a landmark in the NNF time line. Since these party favors can only be purchased while standing in room full of every release that the crafty duo has put out, the love that Britt and Manda put into everything they do is personally injected into these items in a way that transcends the normal music collecting experience. Enabling Britt and Manda to create this experience is the cassettes (and yes, cdrs) themselves. While the immediacy and tenderness of home-dubbing is always a part of any cassette release, in the Neon Commune setting it is put on a pedestal. Or is it NNF on a pedestal made of home-dubbing tenderness? In any case, it wouldn't have worked with a pro-pressed format. Also, don't worry yourself so much about if you can get these tapes for yourself, because honestly, they are worthless if you buy them on ebay. The lesson to learn is that there is a power and love to be harnessed in cassettes that Not Not Fun has shown only gets stronger, more meaningful, and groundbreaking the longer you nurture it.

VESTIGIAL LIMB "Headless Supplicant" (Husk Records)

It's like "My First Harsh Noise Tape" spelled all wrong in cute backward letters. This may sound totally arrogant and condescending, but this guy's real young right? Or he just started making noise? 'Cause it sounds like it-- but that's not a bad thing. Everybody started out sounding just like this. I'm serious. But there's promise here, no question. About twenty five percent of the choices Vestigial Limb makes on this tape kick ass. Another half are fine, totally acceptable. And the last twenty five percent are things an artist learns to avoid as he matures and masters his instrument. If I'm wrong and this guy's been at it for years, then I guess I'm an asshole. (I'm probably an asshole either way...) But youthful enthusiasm comes through in these recordings, even if technical virtuosity does not. And that's the stuff you can't learn, right? Everything else just takes practice, but without the passion, your music will end up sounding as soulless as Yngwie Malmsteen's. Total support.

SWAMP HORSE [S/T] (Husk Records)

Reverb mix = 100% wet. Gloomy and awesome. Swamp Horse is, apparently, Josh Lay and Morgan Rankin. But seriously, who cares what sounds are going into this cavernous processing chain? You could play a Steve Miller Band CD through this much reverb and it would probably sound cool. Well, perhaps not. But this is some serious dank cave shit. Real dank. And it's good. There's a lot of this kind of stuff popping up nowadays-- the kind of stuff that sounds like the soundtrack to an unrealized horror film script. A bunch of people are playing with that theme lately, and I'm usually very suspicious of it. The doom fetish really does nothing for me, but this Swamp Horse tape works, despite its participation in the sub-genre. It does so through simplicity. The pieces never leave their homogenous soundworld, nor do they attempt to manufacture any narrative. There's no payoff to the suspense they build, Swamp Horse just leaves you hanging. (And I like weird tape lengths-- a c21? Weird.)

LAISSEZ FAIRE "Asylum" (Abandon Ship Records)

Peter Friel's most recent offering on the Abandon Ship label makes up his sole output of last year, which is interesting considering the steady torrent of releases from his own JK Tapes imprint. Then again, the amount of time the man must spend painting his product (he's one of the most committed devotees of spraypaint as a commercial medium, in my opinion) has to account for many a missed recording opportunity. "Asylum" is full of the same psychedelic and chilly gutter resonance that would entice any ears particular to Mike Pollard's Arbor label. Appropriately too, since Friel and Pollard have previously collaborated in Widening Horizon (an earlier review of which can be found here). As with Pollard's recent Treetops cassette "When I Was Younger," "Asylum" deals with oncoming winter with a meditative but somehow ominous outlook. The first of four tracks, "Afgan" drops with an icy thud into percolating ambient loops and blurry melodic distortion which is most likely from a guitar or synthesizer but mashed beyond faintest recognition. Most of the album sticks to the same formula, but during the most frantic moments of "Platypus" and "Pomegranate" the churning scrapes and drones take on a unique animal-like tone. The dynamics range from lulling bass swells to harsh grainy obliteration, and although the sound is heavily layered it retains a live feel. One could gripe about the single sided c40 format, but it's a minor (and arguable) objection to an otherwise solid album. Nice iceberg motif on the full-color insert as well.

Abandon Ship: http://www.abandonshiprecords.com/

DIAMOND LEMONADE "Transmissions From the Past" (JK Tapes)

(Disclaimer: Being an idiot, I wrote the review below totally oblivious to the fact that it had already been written about. Sorry Brian! Well, it's Mr. Schütte's lucky day, apparently.)

Ulf Schütte is a German artist who runs the Tape Tektoniks label and has recorded numerous albums as Shivers (solo) and Aosuke (duo with Tobert Knopp). This Diamond Lemonade thing is pretty confounding; it reminded me of the scene in "Akira" when the stuffed animals came to life in gigantic proportion and destroyed Tetsuo's hospital room. "Transmissions From the Past" consists of two tracks which repeat on the opposite side. The first is a disorienting loop collage of backwards bells, swirls of toy sounds and minimal synth refrains. Track two is an acid-soaked nightmare of whirling bleeps and what might as well be the Teletubbies theme played with microphone feedback. Each composition lasts only a few minutes, which works to its advantage. Both take full use of stereo effects, so headphone listening is essential. Imagine Hans Grusel's jarring early work and you're not far off. The packaging is classic JK Tapes style with some of the best artwork seen yet, depicting a totem pole figure in a Gary Panter-meets-Mat Brinkman mythological dream field and washed over with watercolor. The cassette itself is a sweet sea foam green and goops of grey paint line the inside of the case. Lovely.

http://www.tapetektoniks.de
http://www.jktapes.com/

CENTURY PLANTS "Without Mercury" (Abandon Ship Records)

Century Plants is a duo of Eric Hardiman and Ray Hare who hail from Albany, NY. Judging solely from pictures on their Myspace page, this looks to be a predominantly guitar-based project. There's kind of an underwater psychedelic ambience permeating the twenty minute long "Floating Elemental," which starts off minimal with chopped and screwed cat mews before shifting to more discernable repeating guitar lines and controlled feedback loops. It might linger too long for some ears, but if you're in the right mood it's a nice meditative backdrop. "Photosynthesis" is heavier, and there's a nice texture created with the juxtaposition of bass-heavy drone and blurred vocal recordings. It can be difficult for a group like Century Plants to find a unique sound in a scene saturated with guitar-heavy psych, but "Without Mercury" isn't lacking redeeming moments, such as an unexpectedly ecstatic harmony appearing in the tail end froth of "Photosynthesis." Plus there's an opaque yellow tape involved that screams "educational." How can that possibly be a bad thing?

Abandon Ship Records: http://www.abandonshiprecords.com/

DIAMOND LEMONADE "Transmissions From The Past" (JK Tapes)

Without hearing the actual sounds on this c-20, the 70's Sci-Fi styled title may seem a little gauche. Fortunately, Diamond Lemonade are running the entire race with this music-from-the-future cliché and end up with completely enjoyable results. Too many noise tapes seem desperate in their attempts at having a theme solely through their use of a "meaningful" name. But Transmissions From The Past is an apt title for Diamond Lemonade's sounds that invoke the early-electronic/synth aesthetic that is associated with not the actual future, but the future as a dandified, fashionable utopia. That of course makes these sounds inescapably retro, but by being presented here in rough gem form of spray painted cassette, one has to wonder if this is the 70's sci-fi fantasy come to actualization. More likely made with a computer or some other DIY thrift store gear than an actual fancy modular synth, this is noodley oscillations and bell-manipulations being made from the layman's world rather than about it. Long before the Wright Brothers people dreamed of flying machines. Dreams that became real, but looked much different than the airliners of today. Well, the once dream of music's sci-fi future may have become real on this cassette. It may not be as fashionable as a Buchla dream, but we all love watching the National Geographic channel. Don't we?

BLANK REALM “Blight Monument” (Barnacle Rodeo)

This Brisbane posse have been disseminating their strange strand of damaged jam/psych DNA for comin’ on a couple years now, but they’re still pretty sub-radar for most folks. This oughta change. “Blight Monument” is a new-ish missive, and it’s a monster. Sprawling, shifting explorations into indefinable architectures. Would be easy to lump ‘em into Donnelly’s down-under MYMWLY beard brood, but BR fashion a far more focused take on unclassifiable psych, it makes them very difficult to describe. The A side pieces together several long-form song fragments carved with ebowed guitar, cavernous voice, and fried percussion, and lets them overlap and sink into one another, creating endless spools of swirling ritual. The B is darker but also possibly deeper, weighted down by stasis-heavy drones and even slower arcs of instrumental mood-reading. A really amazing tape, and highly worthy of a wider audience than this edition-of-50 will likely reach.

MENEGUAR “Tone Banks 1: Some Downs” (Fuck It Tapes)

Most message-boarders know Meneguar for their tireless touring and tightly honed indie anthems on TMU. But until now there was little to zero publicly available recorded expression of their looser moods. Which is where “Tone Banks” comes in. “Some Downs” is the first volume in what’s supposed to be an ongoing documentation of Meneguar’s practice space explorations and pre-song musical map-making. And it’s pretty fucking good. The A side starts off like a “Strangers In Our House” hit before unraveling into a propulsive instrumental engine room of cyclical guitars and driving drums. The second song, “Fields of Gaffney,” is a sparkling wasteland of chimes and psychic strings that could easily pass for a sweet Shepherds outtake. The whole B side of “Some Downs” is composed of an epicly bizarre jazzy reverb chamber come-down called “House That Home/Over and Over” that sounds nothing like Meneguar or anything else on FIT/Woodsist, and is all the better for it. Comes in a J-card with a typically sick Jeremy Earl collage cover. Probably sold out already, but maybe not.

HAMMER OF HATHOR “Field Recordings” (no label)

Off-the-cuff Portland pair who’s basic approach is to go somewhere specific (a creek in Idaho, a porch in Montana), press record on a Walkman, fiddle around with whatever instruments they’re holding, and then call it a day. The results are as casual as the methods. A couple jams clatter freely, some snare and horn hop-scotching in a field, while a few wander and ponder more folky-style, and a handful just scratch their nose and stare. The variety’s nice, but nothing sounds premeditated, and the laxity of execution keeps things pretty sleepy/sloppy. Also, for what it’s worth, the field recording aspect is pretty negligent. You can’t really discern that these pieces occur amongst scenic prairie winds, or wild bird calls, or running water – it’s just varying levels of tape hiss. Serves as a decent enough diary for the couple involved, but hopefully future statements step up the editing element.

RUSSIAN TSARLAG "untitled" (Eager Mother Tapes)

Holy shit, this is the motherload. Of the half-a-dozen or so solo Carlos Gonzalez tapes we own, the A side of this C20 is easily the greatest and best recorded collection of his psycho soul songs I’ve ever heard. From the hypno-pop of “Keeper’s Back Glove” through to the languid madness of “Uncovering Many Diseases,” these are crucial Tsarlag gems from the inmost vaults of Carlos’ warped song reservoir. Strangled, ailing guitar notes, robotussin drumming, fucked child rhymes – the combination all hits home like never before. Warrants endless listens. The B side was actually recorded by me, though I had no idea this was even being released. Documenting one of the bleakest, emptiest Smell shows I’ve ever attended, Carlos painted a slime cross on his forehead, wore a cape but no shirt, and set up a cheap strobe light under his chair for the duration of his 8-minute performance. He busted out some classics (“Bleach Party,” “Beach Banquet”) but it was all recorded on a found tape of home-recorded family conversations so there’s this constant vocal babble masking the nuances and deadening the overall audio impact. Too bad. J-card is killer though, tons of Carlos’ beautiful scrawl-figures copied on thick tennis ball-colored neon green cardstock.

DRUIDS OF HUGE “Ergotism/Pure Hype” (Arbor)

Chi-town area crush trio drop two live sides on this cassingle-packaged tape with a wraparound photocopy of a generic landscape. Sounds like bass, drums, and electronics, but the proceedings are pretty fucking raw, so who knows. The drums definitely sit on top of the rest of the murk, kinda wish they were recorded heavier-sounding rather than so sharp (the snare especially), but maybe in the live setting things gel in the ear better. The noise element seems best when it soaks into the strings’ distortion rather than warping around in outer space sound FX mode or sampling radio voices (which it does occasionally). The B side gets a little speedy for my liking but then it winds down with some nice throbbing nothingness. Though this tape doesn’t really convince me, I still somehow feel like this band probably rules so hopefully a future tape/release (with a more visceral, balanced instrument mix) will drop soonish and seal the deal.

TREETOPS "When I Was Younger" (Arbor)

For a double C10 release on his own label, Mike Pollard's alter ego works with a grey palette of dry groans, shuddering low-stringed resonance and melancholy Casio brooding to create some of the eeriest grainy soundscapes heard in recent memory. Inspired by a lingering fall, the four sides of "When I Was Younger" are reminiscent of those November days that seem more dismal than the oncoming winter. They also share a distant feel; the second side of tape one, "Pure Grey" resembles a chanting chorus of Buddhist monks as heard echoing down a long stone corridor. During "Youth" and "Reconsider," one can imagine listening to an obscure Lynchian soundtrack off an old television set, struck by an uneasy combination of beauty and foreboding. The chilling effect is downright psychosomatic, although having no heat in mid December can help (or more appropriately, hurt). Pollard's artwork is thoughtfully considered, concentrating on nature imagery in a vein similar to Prurient releases from the past. The cover photograph bears an odd symbolism; trees in the background which haven't shed their leaves, a row of circles resembling metal plates suspended in air, a line of triangles which are either prayer flags or a long forgotten decoration from summer days. Snap this up by all means, but watch for the steam on your breath.

TAIGA REMAINS “Glass Estuary” (Monorail Trespassing)

More stunning, stellar drone-weaving by Students of Decay CEO Alex Cobb. His two sides here are a bit more contained and to-the-point than usual (it’s a C20), but the brevity doesn’t detract from their flying, floating attack on the mind. The A side is a classic Taiga tidepool of tonal levitation and shimmering surfaces, but the B braves harsher terrain, welding together I-beams of radiant distortion at a construction site on the surface of the sun. The volume grows aggressively (which makes you appreciate what a killer dubbing job was done on these tapes, deafening and clear, with no hiss) before finally tailing off in a slow-motion fade to black. As satisfying a drone C20 as you’re likely to find anywhere.

HAUNTED CASTLE / THE DEAD WHITE (Cherried-Out Merch)

I think this tape is pretty old at this point but Dan finally sent us a copy so I’ve only now heard it. Two bands I love, obnoxiously multicolored collage-barf artwork, 31 minutes of droney voids – what’s not to love? The Castle side is a particularly fantastic voyage of percussive mud, event horizon overdrive, and indecipherable echo-filth hieroglyphics, all racing by the window in a holographic parade. Surprisingly well recorded for such a pair of basement lurkers, and full of enough sick twists and turns and tourniquets to keep you re-jamming this side for a number of nights. A real highlight. The Dead White’s side is way more “Noise” than the past few things I’ve heard by him, which is good or bad depending on yr proclivities. Lots of screeching mixer ear-bleed, sine-wave loops, machine rumblings and roars. Sounds like a guy grappling to dig into a deep zone but not breaking through…far removed from the sacred guitar transportation of his “Holy Deprivation” CDR. Hope he keeps recording though, always enjoy hearing new Dead White stabs in the dark.

DAVID NEWLYN "A Nervous State of Mind" (Abandon Ship Records)

Not knowing much about the relatively new Abandon Ship label, I was thrown off guard by this one by David Newlyn, an artist from Durham, England. "A Nervous State of Mind" is a somewhat misleading title for this collection of decidedly easygoing ambient compositions. Ambient, as in the tradition of Brian Eno's multilayered soundscapes, rather than today's effects laden drones, although the glitches and pops of 1990s-era IDM are present as well. Of the variety of instruments employed throughout the album's nine tracks, guitar, synthesizers and miscellaneous software provide the main structure. However, the compositions flow so seamlessly and share so many similarities that it's difficult to distinguish where one ends and the next begins. Occasionally there are sharper high-pitched tones which cut briefly into the lulling keyboard patterns, less commonly an atonal guitar chord, but this material is focused on traditional harmony and seldom leaves that path. Fans of darker territories might overdose on Newlyn's blatantly optimistic sound, but amateurism isn't one of his faults, as the intricate constructions and flow of every track easily prove. Altogether an interesting release from a promising young label, this c32 comes with a full-color insert. Numbered edition of 100.

ORPHAN FAIRYTALE “Big Bear” (Puik)

Another neon-silkscreened 1-sided recycled CS of plinky-plonky Casio ping-ponging from the lovely Ms. Fairytale on Jelle Crama’s label. “Big Bear” has been out for a while but it’s as relevant as ever because no Orphan stuff sounds dated cause it’s all spooned from the same bottomless bowl of fantasy porridge. This OF outing is as SK-heavy as ever, but instead of keys the primary audio source is muted drum sounds, which her sampling style transforms into near tribal-levels of polyrhythmic pitter-patter, like a million tennis courts of bouncing balls. Near the end of the A side she does a weird sound FX piece that sounds like someone playing a harp inside a helium balloon floating above a rush-hour freeway. Kinda reminds me of recent weird LPs on Ultra Eczema. Which of course is a good thing.

RATTLE “Drip Drip” (Eager Mother Tapes)

Spend ten minutes with Carlos Gonzalez and it’s no surprise that the dude’s an immediate archetypal perma-tour vagabond cultural underground hero, but it is a little stunning to imagine anyone attempting to mimic his invincibly inscrutable Russian Tsarlag musical persona/approach. Which is why Ryan from Dreamhouse’s Rattle project is kinda surprising, cause it’s pure Gonzalez in form, instrumentation, and mood (though maybe slightly more hyper). Nonsense lyrics rambled over minimalist anti-music – kindergarten drums, 2-dollar guitar, random tape-manipulation jokes/concepts. R Tsarlag regularly elicits a “what’s wrong with this guy?” audience reaction, and Ryan clearly wants the same thing. And he gets it. Pretty positive the A side was recorded at Echo
Curio last December and it sounds just as purposefully meaningless on tape as it did live. J-card looks good though, scrawled art on purple cardstock.

POD BLOTZ "Agents of Froth" (Hung Like a Horse?!)

To set an obvious bias out of the way, I could listen to Pod Blotz for years. If they never release anything else, Soozee and Loachfillet's slimy trails of sci-fi shenanigans will long be remembered as musically and visually unique, and an essential component of California's modern bizarro contingent. So when the new batch from HLAH?! arrived on my dilapidated doorstep I freaked out. Fans of the Blotz will be happy to know that this pre-"Swamp Command" stunner includes nearly an hour of live material from their Chicago and Oakland tenures spanning 2003-2005. At some points spacious and drifting, others anxiously claustrophobic, washes of gurgling synths and mangled cries wrestle with dirty bass frequencies and creeping static throughout the three sprawling performances. The band's hallmark use of echo manipulation for high-pitched squalor is as hallucinatory as ever, and effects box fanatics will find no shortage of indescribable wierdness to baffle over. While a Blotz record makes a perfect accompaniment for an evening of Something Wierd videos, I cannot stress how astounding this band is live, as these sets attest to. Consider it imperative to catch them now while they're ON TOUR. Originally issued in 2006, this second edition of 50 is probably going to disappear quickly, so head on over to the HLAH HQ and snap it up.