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.

TULLUM "Voluptous Astral Freeze" (Mancat)

This tape of the little known Austin, TX punk band Tullum was recorded between mid 1986 and early 1987, but it's only now getting it's first US release, on Shawn David McMillen's Mancat Records. When he brought it to me he described it as something like "Black Flag on more drugs", but in reality it sounds more like "Flipper on worse drugs", but that's more than okay in my book! The music herein was recorded at Scratch Acid's practice space and these guys once got a half page write-up in Maximum Rock'n'Roll. The recording quality is uneven, but there are some real fucked gems on here and the tape surely deserves repeated listens. Most of the songs feature solid midtempo riffs and sing-talking, but there is one track that has some brutal screaming and backwards guitar. That one is pretty cool. Apparently these guys were Hippies just like Flag and some of that comes across here. It's by no means the greatest find of the century, but I really think you'll want to pick this up if you're sick of wading through the mire of hypnagogia

Buy the tape and check out the interesting back story of Tullum here:
http://www.mancatrecords.com/tulum.html

VILLAGE OF SPACES CORNERS "Morning Nap" c46 (Turned Word)

Wow, this is a really lovely tape. For those who aren't in the know, Village of Spaces (currently residing in and around Belfast, ME) is the new moniker for Dan Beckman and Amy Moon's longstanding group that began as Dan's solo project, Uke Of Phillips, morphed into Uke Of Spaces Corners County, which released two LPs on Corleone (check their website: they didn't quite get the baffling syntax right!) and is now onto a more collaborative band sound with members Asa Irons (Feathers), Clare Hubbard (Caethua, Sports, Ancestral Diet), Andy Neubauer (Ancestral Diet, Impractical Cockpit), Big Blood and Michael Hurley (!). This tape is a collection of "demo" versions of the tunes that appear on the newly released Village of Spaces "Alchemy and Trust" LP (which is a co-release between Turned Word, Corleone and a few other labels). I believe they were both recorded by Nemo from Time-Lag Records.

These versions are just as strong as the ones found on the record, and I actually find myself listening to this one more, though I suppose that's because I don't have a record player in my car. It's got an over all rawer sound and there are times when you can hear Dan and Amy's kid crying, but I count both of those things as assets. The songs are vaguely psychedelic (read: echoy with cryptic lyrics), but they also fit nicely into a number of American and English folk traditions. The first cut, "Alchemy & Trust" is so jaw-dropping that I would call it nothing short of a masterpiece. The rest of the album flows nicely from there, with all of the tunes creating wonderful mind-pictures of the beautiful, but sometimes challenging, Maine landscape.

I really haven't found a tape that has been this exciting to me since Chris Weisman's outstanding "Fresh Sip" from last year. Dan covers most of the lead vocals here and his vocals have that amazing nasal/otherworldly quality of Ed Askew's work, but his lyrics are a touch more grounded in reality than on that classic ESP folk disk. But now that I mention it, you should also check out the new Ed Askew LP reissue "Imperfection" on Galactic Zoo Disk/Drag City. Those songs are more autobiographical then any of his two previously released albums, & it's so wonderful!! Only 500 copies, so get it while the getting is good. But hey, we are talking about Village of Spaces here. This thing is only an edition of 100 copies, so snap it up before it's gone.

Peace

DYLAN ETTINGER - "Botany Bay" c24 (NNA)

Dylan Ettinger continues his epic journey into future's past, with Botany Bay.Four brand neu interplanetary club jams, made from neon vapors and dolphin dreams.Treble-soaked synth excursions are headed straight for the sun, drizzled with ultraviolet arpeggios and sweaty, motorik beats.Put on your future shades and sink your fingers into the pink sand beaches, this is what summer vacation sounds like on a square planet.A place where gold chains have melted into vast oceans, waves ride surfboards, the giant fruit speaks, and the water drinks you.Everyone has a twin, and hologram animals are running shit.Botany Bay is something you would hear pumping from a dance club floating a mile up, and requires more than two feet for it's dance steps.A true minimalist sci-fi score in 5-D.Comparable to his New Age Outlaws LP on NNF, and all the more astral.This cassette is an ancient artifact sent from the future, excavated from a lost dimension, somewhere between 1980 and 3080.Ettinger has birthed yet another battery-powered newborn unto the world of electronic music.Fantastic
Get it here.

CAVE BEARS "Tragic Ceremony" c52 [Ozonokids]

Yikes, been meaning to get this review up here for awhile but these Cave Bears are so preposterously perplexing I wasn't sure how to generate the feel of this tape into sensical language. Each time I thought I was onto something it was "nope, back to the drawing board."

Silly spoken word snippets start it out but they're taken over by no-fi rock outs--I mean seriously no-fi maybe even anti-fi; agitated vocals, a grinding bass riff, tortured guitar feedback all whipped into an unintelligible mess-one of best portions of the tape. It throbs and oozes, like a pustule-ridden pulsating mutant tongue. There's an odd female voice acoustic ditty in there too. Someone's little brother or sister takes over on the mic during one portion ("This is funny. Oh my God") while the band is just doing some practice jamming. There's some aggro-old timey hillbilly rockin' later on with a feral yelper, someone attacking a twangy guitar and random harmonica interruptions. The first side features a lengthy sample of some guy gushing about his obscure photography magazine collection (or something; he mentions Tonya Harding for some reason at one point) while the Bears add odd snippets of electronic music around the source recording. It's one of my favorite moments on the tape because there's this connection forged between the two oddities, the person in the recording and the people making this recording. This unfortunately lapses into grating dry heaves into the microphone. This is the Cave Bears world, a violent shifting back and forth between something cool and weird and something annoying and weird.

The B-side is full of junk shop dumbassery. Someone sings about a "horror world" and then someone half sings that "murdering is really cool" over a reggae song. This devolves into someone asking "was anyone at the Strange Maine show?" At another point they try singing about a "dragon crystal magic motion" and the "confusion." Aware of the ridiculousness of this whole ordeal one person asks "Where'd the reggae go? Bring back the reggae." The reggae isn't brought back. It just continues to play very quietly. Is this something you want to listen to? That is a question you will have to answer for yourself.

It's hard to categorize this tape because Cave Bears is a band that makes music that loosely resembles songs (except when they're hanging out chatting about whatever enters their minds.) There's almost always guitar, drums and vocals, yet as a creative entity they have no regard for the way you're "supposed" to make songs. Songs are often cut short or interrupted by snagged tape, the singers just say whatever comes to mind, the guitars provide no hooks or melodies, the rhythm section doesn't keep perfect time. It's the kind of thing that some people view as not knowing how you're supposed to play an instrument and others would view as not caring how you're supposed to play an instrument. Some people probably don't see a distinction between the two.

How much I enjoy a Cave Bears release depends on my mood. Sometimes their all-nonsense rock is a lot of bizarre fun. Other times it's an abrasive and generous bestower of headaches. I personally think they could use an editor to put together all the good stuff on a c15 instead of spreading the good stuff over the course of 52 minutes, because this tape did not need to be 52 minutes long. If you do make it through the whole tape though you are rewarded with a nails-on-the-chalkboard cover of "House of the Rising Sun."

Cave Bears... they're one of those bands you either love or you hate, or you think they're okay.

Tragic Ceremony features awesome artwork, kudos to Arnau Sala and his Ozonokids label out in Barcelona.

Ozonokids

Cave Bears

PEOPLE IN GENERAL - "Manhunter" c21 (Hard Body Sounds)

This was quite a nice surprise.Judging by the minimal b&w cover art, at first glance, this looks like it could be a long lost industrial gem, or some overlooked cold-wave classic.What I found was neither.Manhunter begins with a deep and heady synth progression, and it's already rather compelling and uplifting.The production is nice and warm, and the synth-bass lines remind me of something off Air's Talkie Walkie album.Ultra thick organ movements wash over slow, minimal percussion, and create a relaxed and easy vibe.As things roll on, some lite and breathy vocals begin to echo throughout thick walls of analogs, and things start to come together nicely.Bits of bubbling melodies are sprinkled on top, and give the song a full-bodied sound.The next two tracks are similar in style, and rarely does they ever stagger or get lost in themselves.It's a bit repetitive at times, but the instrumentation is solid enough to hold your attention for the duration.PIG spends little to no time chasing his own tail.Side B presents a somewhat different tone.The songs are a bit darker, and the percussion is a tad more upbeat and driving, giving them a slight contrast."Cool World" is an icy outsider tune, with a minimal, driving beat and hushed vocal delivery that reminds me of Suicide.The songs are moody and moving, and although each of them pulls you in a different direction, Manhunter sticks to it's guns, and remains cohesive and focused.I'm looking forward to what's next for him.Limited edition of 100.
Get it here.

SICKNESS

There are just too too many amazing tapes that have been floating around in the past months, and in between running a record store/label and booking multiple tours I just haven't had the time to give them all their proper due. Cheers to Kenny for writing up the absolutely stellar Gypsy Treasures tape, that one was high on my list. Here is said list, and it needs to be said that each of these tapes deserves a complete write up. All come highly recommended.



New Blockaders- Live At Morden Tower (Mirror Tapes) - NB at their very best, early '80s live recordings issued for the first time (?) in complete form. Sounds like a bunch of metal being scraped together and shook up, if that's your bag, then do not hesitate because this is very limited.



NNA Tapes - I believe the name of this label stands for Nu New Age, and while you won't find too many surprise in their catalog (Caboladies, Oneohtrix Point Never, Ryan Garbes, Three Legged Race, Nonhorse, Driphouse) all the releases are highly listenable and have a uniform and attractive look.



Limbs Bin - Familiar Combatants (Tickled Meat Productions) - I don't really know what "digital hardcore" is, but I'm guessing this about fits the description. 30 second songs, angry barking and pummeling drum machine mania. Rinse, repeat. What makes this work is actually the repetition and the the sense of humor and caring that comes across in the lovingly assembled packaging (sewn-in info book, lyric sheet). Music made by one Josh Landes of Western Mass, who is a total sweetheart.



Charlie McAlister - Crappie Fishin (package deal #5) (Unread Records) - Here we see the latest in the world of c.mcalister. this long awaited project is entitled "crappie fishin" or "package deal #5" - which follows the same basic theme/scheme of package deals gone by. the cassette contains all new sound collage works compiling various old reel-to-reel tapes, shortwave radio snippits, telephone conversation, skipping records, found sounds, etc. hear the excitement as the tanker truck blows! a strange and surreal trip through a bizzare terrain indeed. The VHS contains the films : mundane calculation & pragmatic vacancy / realms of triple-ism / crappie fishin / making the sandwhich. Items contained in sealed plastic porno bag co-released with SPACE CULT in an edition of only 30 copies.


Blanche Blanche Blanche - Songs of... (Night People) - Just. Absolutely. The. Best. Band. Can you feel the beat of my pop heart?



Russian Tsarlag - Eternal Flame // Mark Lord - Straight From The Hand (Ranky Tanky) - You'll probably want to pick up both of these new releases from this great label run by the guy who does Night Burger. Heather Nicole Young and Dick Neff tapes available too.



Happy Jawbone Family Band - Return To Hotel Double Tragedy (Spooky Town) - an equally winning sequel to last year's Hotel Double Tragedy: gold edition LP on Feeding Tube Records.



Daniel Higgs - Ultraterrestrial Harvest Hymns (Moon Glyph). You know you want this. The whole album was recorded direct to the master tape.



Ecstatic Peace - Our colleagues at E.P. just released 10 new tapes. Some of these may be done and gone already. I have copies if people want, but this NOT a paid advertisement, just you know...whatever. Don't be mad at me! Anyway, there are a few really good ones. The highlights for me are the Black Hole Miami tape (INC style hell) and Body/Head "Fractured Orgasm" (Bill Nace + Kim Gordon). There is also a Stegm double tape that i have yet to check out.

*BODY/HEAD – “Fractured Orgasm” – sick guitar duo Kim Gordon + Bill Nace.
*CALDERA LAKES – “Arranged” – beautiful dream noise from Eva Aguila (Kevin Shields) and Brittany Gould.
*STILLBIRTH – “Before Things Got Worse” - focused noise drama from Luke Moldof (Razors & Medicine).
*LEAH PEAH – solo cassette of harsh noise love from member of Head Molt.
*BLACK HOLE MIAMI – “Pure Hell” – over the top trio of Rat Bastard (To Live & Shave in LA), Ulrich Krieger (Zeitkratzer) and Chris Grier (Scarcity of Tanks, etc.).
*BLYTH HOLES – “Blyth Graveyard” – kitchen table UK harsh electronics super-trio of George Proctor (Mutant Ape), Ben Jones (Jazzfinger) and Dean Glaister (Romance). Artwork by Kim Gordon.
*STRANGE BREW – “Live Weird, Die Weird” – solo noise action from Ann Arbor, Michigan legend Michelle Birawer.
*SOUND OF POT / PEWT’R – split cassette from Western Mass underground wizards, exploring internal synth moves. SoP: Conrad Capistran (Tarp), Pewt’r: Ron Schneiderman (Sunburned). Cover art by Thurston Moore.
*WEIRD HABIT – amazing new solo venture from Sarah Bernat of 16 Bitch Pile-Up.
*STEGM – “On Tight White Sheets” – 2Xcassette in white vinyl case. Killer harsh noise project of Canada power electronics master Ryan Bloomer.

GYPSY TREASURES - "Buried Goods" c27 (Not Not Fun)

Aria Jalali, otherwise known as Railcars, dips into some seriously heavy drone-worship with his new Gypsy Treasures project.Buried Goods is quite the suitable title, delivering it's unearthly trances in a tarnished gold chalice that's overflowing with Eastern European influence, and mystery.These four songs possess a loose, yet calculated vibe, and a fully realized stagger through sprawling psych wastelands, and murky dub territories.Watery, nomad guitars drip with heavy treatments, washing over the stumbling percussion thumps and rattles, as if they are unraveling an ancient gypsy tale of some sort.Some fairly entrancing slow-gallop percussion holds it all in place, with it's organic, hypnotizing thump.Things are so nicely layered, and the instrumentation is spot on.You can almost hear that stolen baby being traded for some gold pieces in some tattered old shack.As repetitive as things may seem at first, this cassette holds plenty of deep, dark secrets.Tiny hidden rhythms just seem to unfold in front of you with each listen, and things never seem to sound the same twice.This was MADE for NNF to release.Pure magic.

FRKSE "st" c47 (Ihaa)

new ihaa release:

FRKSE - S/T c47 olive tape:
An amateur study in trash reappropriation and the power of gauze devotion, FRKSE stitches together the S/T cassette with garbage compacted drum breaks, soiled bass guitar riffs, synth piety, and rosewater drones to create a secret devotional hymn spanning about 40 minutes. With an early-era Swans like ferocity, the S/T appears on an olive tape anointed with post-religious artwork courtesy of Albane. A wondrous treat for those looking for a way out, the cassette version comes with two bonus tracks. Limited to 250.

Who is FRKSE?:
FRKSE is Rajbot - originally from Reno, NV - transported to Jamaica Plain, MA - FRKSE is a beat producer that is interested in metal/thrash/noise/experimental sounds. FRKSE is from India culturally and his style of musical sound bares distinct influence of India. FRKSE enjoys a good fallalfal from time to time and runs his own imprint "Divergent Series" and writes for UGS Mag.

(to buy/stream album)

HIGH WOLF - "Etoile 3030" c40 (Not Not Fun)

Not Not Fun plays medium to yet another fine release from ritualistic loop-hound High Wolf.Six new tracks of treated analog smoke-outs and digital-drum circles by the name of Etoile 3030.Traveling the same winding, hidden path that the Ascension LP guided us down, High Wolf continues their journey through other-worldly drones and sticky electronic pulses.Flowers of Congo is a lengthy bender of wah-laced guitars that tunnel their way through the piles of synth and organ rubble, gently tiptoeing atop a thin layer of icy drum loops.Bass lines The layers of stumbling synth wash and woozy guitar noodling might bring the mystical space-dub of Sun Araw to mind, as well as other like-minded psych dudes, but High Wolf continues to create their own colorful realms.Their world is one of contrasting themes, a place built on blatant repetition, yet it survives solely on constantly shifting rhythmic patterns and never-ending audible boundaries.Clusters of purple clouds linger above, and a heavy downpour of glittery tones soaks the soil below.As the red sun's neon rays find their way through the clouds, unfamiliar new sounds sprout up from the ground and start to grow wildly.Etoile 3030 is HW's most accessible dream inducer to date, and will hold you over until they drop their new full length this spring.Artwork by L.A. Vamp/Pocahaunted voice Amanda Brown.Limited to 150.

LEFT BEHINDS "Recess at the Psych Ward"C15 (Tampered Reels)

This is something I'd like to see more often: bands mining the rich and deep vein that perhaps produced the most glowing ore on the Meat Puppets first record and slightly less so on the Sun City Girls "Midnight Cowboys from Ipanema". Frantically destroyed country/surf/punk riffs with muppet vocals. Maybe this band is secretly from Arizona? These songs were all made up on the spot and they've got great titles like "The Emperor's New Record Collection" and "The Tadpole's New Motorized Wheelchair". Web stuff here: http://tamperedreels.tumblr.com/ or you send $3 post paid to Tampered Reels 64 Riverside Dr. Florence, MA if your interested in getting a tape.

PEDRO MAGINA - "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five" C35 (NNF)

This kind of sprawling, minimal electronic noodling is pretty much everywhere these days.With some amazing acts like Emeralds, Oneohtrix Point Never and Arp churning out such massive and well received records as of late, most things of this nature get tagged as "ripoffs" and such, and are quickly discounted and pushed aside.But, every so often, something comes along to remind us that big things still come in tiny packages.Such is the case with Pedro Magina's latest cassette, "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five".The faded old credit card imagery on the cover doesn't give any real insight to what you will hear, which made this listen all the more worthwhile.Magina shows his love for the 80's at every turn, with a literal slew of synthesizers, electric organs, vibes and analog sounds of future's past.It's not entirely too heavy on futuristic retro junk, or generic nostalgia whatsoever.Instead, Magina's created a focused and full-bodied collection of songs, and each one is more compelling and memorable than the last.His miniature epics are like gentle streams of subtle melodies and bright arpeggios, trickling down into a much larger riverbed of strings and deep chord structures.Nothing repeats itself all that much, but this is far from "jamming".A surprisingly fresh and fun take on a somewhat overexposed genre.Highly Recommended.

Head over to NNF and pick one up.

VAGINA BISON "Saigna Bovin" C30 (Pleasence Records)

Vagina Bison is the Collaborative Project of Toronto's Andrew Zukerman (Gastric Female Reflex) and Montreal's Emilie Mouchous (Gmackrr). Just another fucked up slice of contemporary life: howling, screeching, toys uttering their final death cry, you know, it's what the kids are up to these days...unless you live in California or New Jersey or somehthing. Beautiful printing and cool velcro tab in the Beniffer Editions style, though this is actually the first release on Deirdre O'Sullivan's Pleasence label, though you'd be hard pressed to determine that from the packaging. This is intricate music for dismantling robots, but it's got a funky core similar to the best Gastric Female stuff. Apparently this was recorded over the last few years, but the tape just came out.

Maybe you can find one here: http://andrewzukerman.blogspot.com/2010/09/vagina-bison-first-cassette.html

Here is the facebook group for the label: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=134784393228436&v=wall&ref=ts


I've posted a whole bunch of new stuff to the site, so continue to scroll down...

ANDREW SCOTT YOUNG "Slophaus Diver" C20 (Catholic Tapes)

This is really one of the best tapes I've heard in a while. 20 minutes of harsh, punishing noise created on an acoustic bass, found percussion, bass strings on metal, electric bass, electric guitar, and cello and recorded extra hot to create an electronic-like soundscape. I don't believe any post production work was done on this stuff and it was surely not needed. Young is the bassist in the esteemable free jazz trio Tiger Hatchery, and I picked this up on his solo tour with Hatchery drummer Ben Baker Billington (wish I'd got one of his tapes, cuz Quicksails his synth set was also through the roof). I'm a really big fan of acoustic noise, but not so much of bass solos, so it is a real testament to the quality of this music that I've played this thing a number of times. This will really hollow out your skull. Who needs all that excess grey matter anyhow?

Andrew's site: http://www.reallyloveto.blogspot.com/
Catholic Tapes: http://catholic-tapes.com/

TRACEY TRANCE "Hangtown USA II" C60TRACEY TRANCE "S/T" C40 (Eggy Records)

Tracey Trance is just the best, okay? Super sunny, repetitive major pentatonic keyboard scale runs with falsetto vocals in harmony to a march beat. His releases on Night People and Not Not Fun have been nothing short of outstanding, but it's always been his tour only releases that have gotten the most play in my stereo. "Hangtown II" is the sequel to last tour's tape and I've already played it about 8 times. He's on tour right now with The Savage Young Taterbug, so maybe you'll get a chance to pick up one of these soon. This is the kind of music that gradually reveals itself on repeated listens. It's not that Tyler (as Tracey is known in the "real" "world") makes incredibly complex music, but more that he creates a sound-world where his becomes "the only music". I could go on to say that this might be the music of the little green elves that create our reality, but that might throw the authorities onto me. Plus, I think the swirling melodic runs contained herein paint a different picture in every listeners head, similar to the graphic work of Brion Gysin. Oh and this tape has a really great dancehall mix tape at the end of one of the sides.




For those of you who can't catch Tracey Trance on tour. You wouldn't be doing your self a disservice to order this currently available release from the fine Portland, OR imprint Eggy Records (http://eggyrecords.blogspot.com/). The pieces on this tape are shorter than on most of the past releases and have some cool vocals and that great organ work like always. There are also a decidedly larger number of slow jams and mood pieces on this one. Overall another fine outing with great printing by label maestro Raf Spielman

oh and definitely look for the OOP Tracey Trance releases on your finer blogs.

WIZARD AMPS "Ice Guitar" C40 (Baked Tapes)

Great drone from the Grasshopper dudes, Jesse DeRosa and Josh Milrod, plus Slaser Risk shredder Andy Borsz playing what I believe to be heavily processed guitars and keys. They told me this was a "blues" tape, but aside from a moment or two that recalls a half second of a guitar lick on cough syrup, I fail to see the connection. That being said, this is the best "blues" tape I've heard in awhile. If you've ever found it hard to write about drone music then you'll understand why I ain't exactly putting out the adjectives. But trust, this is good. These guys totally wowed me the other weekend with an intensely beauteous trumpet/electronics trio set as Hex Breaker Quartet with Telecut Powers/High School Confidential mastermind Mr. Matthews in tow. Doesn't seem like the Baked Tapes site has been updated of late, but you can contact Mr. Jesse at bakedtapes@gmail to procure this and other fine releases. The new Tiger Hatchery tape is pretty hot too.

THE SHITS "The Best Of The Shits" C30

Another review of a tape you probably won't be able to listen to or find (unless you remember how to pick up the damn phone). Only slightly less preposterous than Byron Coley reviewing a 1/1 edition in Wire that he has the only copy of. The Shits are currently playing out of Western Massachusetts and they keep getting better with every passing week. Basically a garage covers band, but really so much more. Sort of like the Monks on a bad dose of something or other or like the Doug Yule era Velvets, but thrice as drunk. You may know the songs, but the vocals get particularly brutalized on every cut and the band is especially scorched sounding. Songs on their first tape: "Louie Louie", "Now I Wanna", "Positively 4th Street" & "You Really Got Me". These guys and gals only play birthday party's for $50 and case of beer, so give 'em a call if your in New England (413) 689-3026.

EDITH BUNKER'S DEMONIZED VOMIT INSURANCE"Edith Qberts Squash Insurance: Save An Absurdist, Eat A Rationalist" C30 (Zeikzak)

Brent Field has been making lonely and depraved music under the pseudonym Edith Bunker for the better part of the last two decades. His stuff has consistently been at the bottom of the barrel in terms of quality, availability, fidelity, positivity & accessibility...in the best way possible! Incessantly negative diatribes against humanity, the sound of things breaking, out of tune acoustic guitar, more sounds of things breaking...Field operates in the comfortable space between credibility and retarded savagery. This is most certainly not for you, unless you're me. The tape in question was the first release on Belgian label Zeikzak from about four years back and is probably pretty hard to find, but it's a winner (in a "hey look, I found my teeth in the toilet bowl sort of way"). Pretty much everything I've got from this label has both looked and sounded fantastic (Crown Now tape, Id M Theft Able LP, etc...), keep them on your radar too.

Try to locate any of his recordings in your finer dumpsters or possibly on the internet??? I think Mangdisc might have something available (http://www.kraag.org/mangdisc/), I know that I sold out of all of the six CDR sets on Feeding Tube almost instantly (and mostly to Japan!).

SPILL YOUR GUTS FRIEND comp C60(RRR/Stomach Ache Records)

This is a tape that came out in the 90's on stomach ache records, home to many depraved and insidious releases. This label may be currently active as Dolor Del Estamago, run by Grux from Caroliner, or that may be a tribute label (you can check out their outstanding CD-R catalog here: http://www.brutalsoundeffects.com/dolordel00.html). Annnyway, that's besides the point, what we have here is a current reissue from Ron Lessard (Lowell, MA) of the old "Spill Your Guts, Friend" compilation which is available super cheap from RRRecords (find it on this page: http://www.rrrecords.com/label-va.php). Relive the days before cassettes with colorful art! Just look at the artists on this thing, and you'll know if you want it or not!