2.11.19 by Tony Lien

Hunted Creatures is a supergroup of sorts — consisting of White Reeves Productions label heads Micah Pacileo/Ryan Emmett and earth/vessel member Jeremy Yamma. All distinctive noise artists in their own rights, these three dudes have pooled their respective talents together in a cauldron and conjured something quietly magical.

Behold “Sleep Weed.”

The album is so deliciously lo-fi it feels wrong to listen to it on a computer — which I tried after letting it play through on my tape deck. Consider this the first of two instants in which I implore you to buy the physical version of this album.

Tone-wise, the music reminds me of the soundtracks used in 1970s-era nature/science documentaries I used to watch in middle school on VHS. In this sense, the nostalgic element of classic Vaporwave stuff is present. There’s even sort of a meta-Vaporwave moment near the end of the album when the first track is slowed down slightly and repurposed as the sixth track. An unnameable eerie element permeates these tracks as well — but only in that special way strange dreams tend to be eerie. Nocturnal logic abounds.

The overall fabric of the album is held together not only by the music itself but also by Tim Thornton’s (label owner of Suite 309 and the singular mind behind experimental electronic project Tiger Village) mastering work. The unity of sound he was able to achieve is something to be celebrated.

Lastly, it’s worth mentioning that this is an aptly named album. You have a 100% chance of enjoying this music if you’re listening to it in a dark room whilst smoking weed and attempting to drift off into a warm slumber.

Honestly though, you have a 100% chance of enjoying it no matter what. I’ve been a sober guy for a long while now, and it still struck me just as hard as it would have otherwise. As of writing this, there are seven copies remaining on the White Reeves Productions Bandcamp page. There’s my second ‘buy this tape’ plug. Don’t sleep on it.