Tabs Out

qualchan. – the end of all seasons.

12.4.19 by Ryan Masteller

Are we living through the woooooziest times of all? I know we’ve had an Ice Age and a Bronze Age, but how about a Wooze Age? I get it – it’s hard to really compare the level of wooziness to times past, where the concept of “wooze” was only for the privileged. Now that we’re all privileged, thanks to the internet and smartphones and blinders toward the rest of the world, a certain sense of languid, eerie calm has descended upon our way of life. It feels sort of … yeah, woozy.

To be clear, I don’t think this is OK, and I doubt qualchan. does either. But that doesn’t mean qualchan. can’t properly comment on it within his preferred idiom … which happens to be quite WOOZY beat-tape extravaganzas. On “the end of all seasons.,” there is indeed a sense of melancholy and contemplation, of reflection (both self- and general) upon personal and social history. Indeed, the opening track is called “everyone has a low.,” which totally points to an overall malaise. And qualchan.’s music itself is of the 3:00 a.m. variety (see “calling the cab at 3am.” if you don’t believe me), all minor-key drift and vapor. Life is a lonely walk in the dark when you can’t sleep for worry!

But at least the tape is awesome – I personally love those short fragments that are all woven together in dream logic, and qualchan. is really good at that. This is easy on the ears, and should you find yourself in a state where it seems like “the end of all seasons.” is wrapping you in a cocoon of gauze, don’t worry about it – just remember that when the tape ends you have some work to do in your neighborhood and community. Also, the secret to this tape should now totally be called “the end of all seasons 2.: the secret of the wooze.” Right? Get it?

Tape is sold out already from Strategic Tape Reserve (why did you wait so long?), but maybe you’ll get lucky on Discogs.

Lena Tsibizova – 3rd Track

12.2.19 by Ryan Masteller

Daydreams, conversations, interaction, imagination. That’s what “3rd Track” has going for it, a fluid and expressive concoction from Moscow, built upon a “collaboration between Lena [Tsibizova] and her friend Sasha, during her visits to Saint Petersburg.” I wish I had the wherewithal to travel to Moscow or Saint Petersburg and spend some time there to get the sense of everyday life and to immerse myself in the culture there, but it would probably look funny, what with our big, moist president and Russia’s president all buddy-buddy, etc. I’d be under pretty intense scrutiny in the press, I’d imagine. (No Collusion!)

All is not lost, however. Tsibizova infuses “3rd Track” with so much detail that you get a real vibrant sense of place regardless of whether or not you’re actually there or have been there or have dreamed about being there or will be there in some capacity in the future. Wherever she is, there you are, whether it’s subterranean microgrooves or drifting ambient or crushing electronic slo-mo mayhem. Why not throw some napalm-burnt trip hop in there? Might as well – everything else is happening all at once. 

Whatever the style that’s thrown at you, “3rd Track” finds its own identity that weaves itself throughout the pieces. It’s at once melancholy and playful, chilled and revved, breathless and at rest. Tsibizova definitely has a flair for the dramatic, and she couches her work in mystery, restraining the secrets of her craft while amping up the tension of every moment. Like a wolf in the wilderness, as fittingly depicted on the cover, Tsibizova thrusts herself into rugged conditions and survives, coming back with a document of gripping artistry.

Edition of 70 “duplicated by Headless Duplicated Tapes in Prague, Czech Republic.” On Baba Vanga!