Tabs Out

6.15.19 by Ryan Masteller

Will Guthrie is probably haunted by a ghost drum kit that follows him around on a noncorporeal plane, playing itself at the most inopportune moments and freaking Will out. It won’t let him sleep, either, which is a whole other story, but let’s just say that the restless nights surely take a toll on Will’s constitution throughout the day, also making the ghost drum kit seem more real even then. It’s enough to drive a rational person mad.

“Some Nasty” pairs Guthrie with Hasana Editions, the tape label based in Bandung, Indonesia. “Some Nasty” also pairs Guthrie with the madness that’s slowly overtaking him, and Hasana has given the France-based Australian an outlet for him to turn that madness into creative expression. Nice one, then, Hasana Editions! Guthrie spreads his percussive acumen over two long tracks, one per side, like drum-based jelly on a biscuit. Among the activity we have a propulsive John McEntire–inflected breakdown, a creepy spoken-word bit, an ambient pullback, more creepiness, but this time like horror-movie creepy, and then some full-kit work, which devolves into more restrained tiptoeing, like there’s someone trying not to arouse the attention of a certain watchful poltergeist.

Through it all, we ride (get it, there are “ride” cymbals) with Guthrie through down the halls of his mind on a crazy motor scooter hell-bent on knocking over furniture as it goes. Nothing remains as it is for long, as if the mind can’t settle itself on one path forward. It’s constantly moving, constantly shifting, and Guthrie’s constantly looking over his shoulder, changing it up, having visions, not sleeping, falling asleep at the wheel of the motor scooter, and we’re all just riding pinion and shrieking along with him.

Ghosts are scary, especially drums!

Only seven remain of the original 100-tape release, so get on over to Hasana Editions now, before it’s too late!

6.14.19 by Ryan Masteller

So OBVIOUSLY something called “Emotional Indulgence” is going to be suggestive before you even press play, and that’s OK. You’re allowed to have expectations. You’re allowed to have even more expectations when you realize that Emotional Indulgence is the duo of Daniel Hill and Juliana Dieterich, who formerly released music under the moniker Ethereal and the Queer Show (EATQS), whose “Fairy Super Crystal Blue” was received quite well by yours truly once upon a time. In fact, in this case, you SHOULD have expectations – expectations that Hill and Dieterich now going to knock your socks off again, just under that different name.

This beautiful tape traffics in, ahem, “ethereal” pop and delightfully nimble electronics, and it’s no surprise that it’s released on Noumenal Loom, a “sister label” of sorts to our pals at Orange Milk. OM and NL are at the forefront of experimental electronic/pop hybrids, pushing the boundaries of rhythm and melody until they break through IRL frameworks into bitmapped 3D virtual worlds. Emotional Indulgence comes across like a non-vaporwave vaporwave act, with Dieterich’s vocals floating effortlessly above the neo-soul glimmers interpreted and output by computers trying to perfect their AI. What results is true dystopian longing, longing for the equivalent of love that is an absolute mystery. Think Future Islands, but way more subdued maybe, with Julee Cruise on vocals. I hate making comps, but hey, there it is.

These lovely tapes are available in an edition of 100 from Noumenal Loom.