Tabs Out

Top 200 Tapes Of 2013
12.3.13 by Tabs Out

Well here it is. The obligatory year end list all music sites must do in order to keep their blogging certification up to date. Like ALL “best of” lists it is flawed and missing things you would’ve included. We only listed tapes that we actually own. Ones that we have held in our hands and listened to on an actual cassette deck (so nothing we only heard on Bandcamp). If it wasn’t sent to us, something we bought, or found in the glove box of a stolen Volvo ala the Breaking Bad finale (Spoiler Alert!) then it’s not listed here. There’s also other factors. We probably didn’t get around to checking out every cassette we’ve gripped this year. Tabs Out received about 700 tapes in 2013. Big ups to everyone who sent us stuff! We appreciate it! But that is A LOT to go through and doesn’t include the stuff we’ve purchased and traded for along the way. Maybe we forgot about a tape that we really dug? If there was an artist that put out eight insanely good tapes, we tried to pick two or three of our favorites rather than flood the list with their entire output for the year. We also didn’t list any tapes by our projects (there might be a comp or two one of us is on. sue us), or that were released on the 905 Tapes or Beyond The Ruins labels. We grouped some releases together as we felt necessary.

So before you go on about “Where is the ____ C30!?” or “Why isn’t the ____/____ split C24 listed!?” or “why is this list coming out before the year is over!?” just chill out. This is all in good fun, and pretty ridiculous, so enjoy it. When possible we provided links to the label’s site. If any of this stuff is available, BUY IT! Make 2014 rule as hard as 2013 did! We wrote about a lot of these tapes in our Tape of the Month features and Who Has Tapes Anymore? column at Ad Hoc if you wanna check those out. When you’re done with the list, check out some Casstats from it.

Here we go…

 

 

1. Cream Juice “Man Feelings” (Orange Milk)

Like my parent’s generation with the Kennedy Assassination, I know exactly where I was when I first heard “Man Feelings”. I had just gotten back from the Philadelphia Zoo and a package was waiting for me from Orange Milk. I opened it up, threw the Cream Juice tape in a Walkman and started making dinner. I had to stop about half way through Side A to make phone calls. The crew NEEDED to know about this tape. Cream Juice is the duo of Seth Graham and Keith Rankin (Giant Claw) who operate the Orange Milk imprint, most definitely our most beloved cassette label in Tabs Out world. Together they generated the most frantic, sexy, and overwhelming fusion of sound I have heard in a long long loooong time. Layers and layers of perfectly stacked rations of ooey-gooey synths, midi mind benders, drums, sax, cut ups, clap tracks, guitar shredding, and who knows what else. Inspirations from every genre worth a damn are dunked into the special sauce and coated beyond satisfaction. Years from now, like JFK, teachers will stand in front of students and attempt to explain this cassette to them. YOU. MUST. HEAR. THIS. TAPE.

2. Witchbeam “Shadow Musick Vol. 1” (Tranquility)

3. Tether “Guest Bed” (Dokuro)

4. Unguent “Scanning” (Refulgent Sepulchre)

5. Holly Waxwing “Goldleaf Acrobatics” (Noumenal Loom)

6. Fairhorns “Satan Replicant” (Deathbomb Arc)

7. Charles Barabé “Taches”(La Cohu)

8. V/A “Taxidermy Of Unicorns” (Watery Starve)

9. PLKZFX “PLKZISTENTIALIZM” (Further Records)

10. Astral Social Club “Destiny Snfu” (NNA)

11. Giant Claw “Impossible Chew” (Field Hymns)

12. Bitchin Bajas “Krausened” (Golden Cloud)

13. Andrew Scott Young “Warm White Light” (Baked)

14. Belarisk “On Amorphous Dawn” (NNA)

15. Aaron Dilloway “Opened Door” (Chondritic Sound)

16. Circuit Rider “Hold Units” (Jehu And Chinaman)

17. Amalgamated “No Way Out” (Metaphysical Circuits)

18. Katie Gately “Pipes” (Blue)

19. Foodman “?IROIRO?” (Digitalis)

20. Pierrot Lunaire “This Love Of Mine” (Sic Sic)

21. Paul Hares “Blurred” (Rotifer)

22. Ssleeperhold “Ruleth” (Holodeck)

23. Sindre Bjerga + Micromelancolie “Anaglyph #1” (A Giant Fern)

24. Jason E. Anderson / Matt Carlson split (Discriminate Bonus)

25. The NES Soundtrack Series (Auris Apothecary)

26. Shingles / Josh Millrod split (Hausu Mountain)

27. Ma Turner “Priest Anus, Ripe Slice” (Animal Disguise)

28. Headboggle “dba head-boggle intl'” (La Cohu)

29. Mr.Matthews “High Pass Heart” (Tranquility)

30. Jerry Paper “International Man Of Misery” (Orange Milk)

31. Ecstatic Cosmic Union “XCU” (Eiderdown)

32. Marnie Stern “Chronicles of Marnia” (Dog Daze)

33. The Rita “Retrospective II” (Total Black)

34. Keith Fullerton Whitman “Live Occlusions (1)” and “(2)” (Protracted View)

35. Radioshock “Adapter” (self released)

36. Christopher Merritt “Imaginary Colors” (Orange Milk)

37. Headboggle / Vibrating Garbage split (Turmeric Magnitudes)

38. Gripgevest & Kling s/t (Hare Akedod)

39. German Army “Holland Village” (Dub Ditch Picnic)

40. Arabian Blade “Perpetuate Myself” (Elm Recordings)

41. Black Hat “Covalence” (Field Hymns)

42. Metalux “Paw The Elated Ruin” (Obsolete Units)

43. Alan Gesso “Obliscence” (Field Studies)

44. Looks Realistic “Where Does it Come From?” (Constellation Tatsu)

45. PrismCorp Virtual Enterprises “Home™” (Beer On The Rug)

46. V/A “Book One” (Otherworldly Mystics)

47. Maharadja Sweets “In An Orange Milky Way” (Orange Milk)

48. Beard Closet “Missions” (Horror Fiction)

49. Former Selves / The Original Flowering Earth split (Planted)

50. Raspberry Bulbs “Deformed Worship” (Personnel)

51. Gareth Flowers “A Beginner’s Guide To Lucid Dreaming” (Sunshine Limited)

52. Knækkede Stemmer “Betynget Af…” (Nostilevo)

53. Radio People “Night Club” (Treasure)

54. Datashock “LiveLoveData$” (Eiderdown)

55. Kisses “Other Planets” (Hornbuckle Records)

56, Grapefruit “Blurred Tunnels” (Golden Cloud)

57. Vibrating Garbage / Bonus Beast split (Turmeric  Magnitudes)

58. Giant Claw “Tear In Static” (Singapore Sling)

59. Maurice’s Hotel Death “Hot Jone” (Rano)

60. Lafidki “Absynthax” (Orange Milk)

61. Karen Novotony X “Nothing Here Now But These Recordings 78 – 79” (Golden Cloud)

62. Seth Graham “Creaky Clumsy” (Tranquility)

63. Matt Calson “Certainty” (Draft)

64. Philip Corner w/ Phoebe Neville “Concerto For Housekeeper…” (Imminent Frequencies)

65. Foodman “Shokuhin” (Orange Milk)

66. Pandelindio “Fuego Y Soma” (Feathered Coyote)

67. G∆ted “Dust&Loops” (self released)

68. Joey Molinaro “The ‘Rage: Live Recordings” (self released)

69. Collapsed Arc “In Complete Nihilism” (Compulsion Rites)

70. Mace. “The Metamorphosis Through Dreams” (Further)

71. Tiger Village “I”, “II”, and “III” (self released)

72. Life Partner “Dead Wrestlers” (Sophomore Lounge)

73. Tabloid “Access Ch.1” (Chondritic Sound)

74. Cray “Digest 54” (Sic Sic)

75. Yvette “Process” (Godmode)

76. V/A “Duets II” (Tranquility)

77. Derek Rogers “Signifying Memory” (A Giant Fern)

78. Phork “Entertainment” (NNA)

79. Dads Against Vietnam “Courage” (Baked)

80. Robert Turman “Macro” (Fabrica)

81. Jason Crumer “Gentrification Suite” (Banned Productions / No Rent)

82. Ala Vjiior “Clocks” (La Cohu)

83. Horsehair Everywhere “When Eyes Walk” (Goldtimers)

84. Hering und seine 7 Sachen/Parashi split (Skell)

85. Pax Titania “Rounds” (Dokuro)

86. Cremator “Alpha Ralpha Boulevard” (Field Hymns)

87. Âmes Sanglantes / Alberich split (Hospital Productions)

88. Bataille Solaire “Documentaires” (Constellation Tatsu)

89. Aaron Dilloway & Tom Smith “Allein Zu Zweit” (Fragment Factory)

90. Marie Davidson s/t (Holodeck)

91. Calidonia County “Telegraph Canyon” (Baro)

92. C.Reider “Hold Music” (Vuzh Music)

93. Keep Sheila On Acid “Erotic Theology” (Auditory Field Theory)

94. DSR Lines “Venndiagram” (Smeltkop)

95. Millipede “The Lower World” (Failed)

96. V/A “Splenic Injuries” (Spleen Coffin)

97. C. Lavender “Fortitude In Wintarmanoth” (Ecstatic Peace!)

98. Decimus “Jyestha” (House Of Alchemy)

99. Horselover Fats “Pierre” (Godmode)

100. Givan Lötz “Snarling” (Other Electricities)

101. Ventla “Smuggled” (Orange Milk)

102. Pulse Emitter “Outdoor Session” (Cosmic Winnetou)

103. J. Soliday “A Succession of Poisonous Breaks” (Dokuro)

104. Sensum And Clunch s/t (Holodeck)

105. Occasional Detroit “Down South EP” (Dog Daze)

106. Homeowner “Themes from 172” (Orange Milk)

107. PLVS VLTRA “Yo-Yo Blue” (Field Hymns)

108. Sundrips “Lakeside View” (Fadeaway)

109. Ironing & Hal McGee “For The Sake Of Sound” (Hal)

110. Motion Sickness Of Time Travel “Penchant Mode” (No Kings)

111. The Kendal Mintcake “Insignificant Digits” (Big Sleep)

112. Burro “Tangerine Rising” (Unit Structure Sound Recordings)

113. Beaunoise “Remixes” (Crash Symbols)

114. Tipow “Dust From Ancient Holographs” (Worn Habit)

115. Posture s/t (That’s Cool)

116. dsic ‘Tiamat/Taniwha’ C64 (Rano)

117. Former Selves “Calico Sunset” (Sic Sic)

118. Hong Chulki + Aaron Dilloway collaboration (Idiopathic)

119. M.Sage “The Receivers Peaking” (Moon Glyph)

120. N.N.N. Cook “(Bl)end User” (Bezoar Formations)

121. A. P. Vague “Empty Rooms” (Bluebird)

122. Jailbird s/t (House Of Alchemy)

123. Grant Evans “Roman Persuasion” (Vaald)

124. Afterlife “Surfacing Illusions” (Tranquility)

125. V/A “Goldrush 2013” (Planted)

126. Spectral Park s/t (Crash Symbols)

127. Ala Vjiior “Bemused Muses” (Different Lands)

128. Mezzanine Swimmers “Cougar Opaque” (Already Dead)

129. The Ether Staircase “Winning the Olympics” (Cave)

130.The Slasher Film Festival Strategy “Wet Leather” (Mirror Universe)

131. Mundo Animal / Dark Spring / Black Thread “Primavera” (Turmeric Magnitudes)

132. Roadside Picnic “Magpies & Lies” (The Centipede Farm)

133. Sterile Garden “One Year Cycle” (Dumpster Score)

134. V/A “DYVNZMBR2″ (DZ Tapes)

135. Metzengerstein “Albero Specchio” (Sonic Meditations)

136. Mike Shiflet “The Ocean Doesn’t Care That You’re Drowning” (Spirit Throne)

137. Bossbattle “Into This World And Out Again” (Apt 421)

138. Gnar Hest “I Will Attack You” (ZamZam)

139. Sashash Ulz “Hibernation” (Lighten Up Sounds)

140. Falcony “III” (Vwyrd Wurd)

141. MICROFL▼RSCNCE “I” (Patient Sounds)

142. Klangberg / Tea Factory split (3BS)

143. Cadaver In Drag “Breaking And Entering” (Husk)

144. Schimpfluch-Gruppe “Nigredo” (Fragment Factory)

145. Idpyramid “Fantasy Variations I-V” (Eye Vybe)

146. Nite Lite “Pepper People” (Tape Drift)

147. Digital Natives “Artificial Ass Flavor” (Noumenal Loom)

148. Transfixed Movement “Expanding Collapse” (self released)

149. Cenote Glow “Palmetto Rose” (Worn Habit)

150. Villages “Sun Control” C32 (Sacred Phrases)

151. Underwater Escape From the Black Hole / Devin Dart split (Personal Archives)

152. Indian Weapons “Messiah” (Sunshine Ltd)

153. Andrew Kirschner “Paranoia” (Alien Passengers)

154. Howard Stelzer “The Impossible Astronaut” (NNA)

155. deLarge “Weedkiller” (self released)

156. Shooting Guns “Spectral Laundromat” (Dub Ditch Picnic)

157. Trails “Kalevela” (Spirit Cat)

158. Terlu “Royal Broadcast” (Dept)

159. Somnaphon / loopool split (Welcome to the 21st)

160. Magic Nanna “Brainilingus” (Em lala Terra)

161. Nautilus “Pumpkin II” (Meudiademorte)

162. Flesh Coffin “Raise The Dead” (Prairie Fire)

163. Dylan Ethier “Gardens Gate” (La Cohu)

164. The Smoke Clears “Listen” (Further)

165. Tom White “Corrugated” (Imminent Frequencies)

166. dSCI​/​Cangarra split (A Giant Fern)

167. Motion Sickness Of Time Travel / Imperial Topaz split (Tranquility)

168. Shredderghost “Concretion” (self released)

169. Floating Gardens / Golden Donna split (Field Studies)

170. Planets Around The Sun “Cosmic Job” (Eiderdown)

171. V/A “Belgrade Is The World” (Posh Isolation)

172. Robert Tubman / Sugarm split (Hausu Mountain)

173. Kösmonaut “Paragon” (Rubber City Noise)

174. Oxykitten “Escape From New Amsterdam” (Field Hymns)

175. Bean Snack s/t (Personal Archives)

176. Reluctance “Weary Souls On Troubled Soil” (Mistake By The Lake)

177. Abortus Fever “Injury Metabolism” (The Centipede Farm)

178. Daniel Fromberg “Battery Acid Vol.2” (Grade School)

179. MYRRH “Hymns” (Lighten Up Sounds)

180. Astro Zwo “Freunde Sein” (Sic Sic)

181. Sparkling Wide Pressure “Little Shrine” (No Kings)

182. Raw Thug “Black Walmart” (Loin Seepage)

183. Cremation Lily “Drug Trafficking Case Histories…” (Strange Rules)

184. The Rainbow Body “Free Sentient Beings” (Ginjoha)

185. Streicher / :m: split (Freak Animal)

186. The “A Kitchen Tape” Series (Sic Sic)

187. Ivory Prince s/t (Total Black / Angoisse)

188. Ingen Nära Gudar “Flingpaket” (MT5)

189. Raising Holy Sparks “Era Of Manifestations” (Feathered Coyote)

190. Harshcore / Der Einzige split (Old Bicycle)

191. Seziki Tetrasheaf “Sirocco’s End” (Rotifer)

192. gut nose “eaT biscuiT” (self released)

193. Bary Center “Break Through The Pain” (Headway)

194. Electrical Cord Noose “Devoid of Value” (Amnesia Program)

195. Strange Mountain “Slow Midnight” (Lillerne)

196. Monte “Index” (Dept Tapes)

197. Gnomeadze s/t (Headway)

198. Rangers “Scrap” (Bezoar Formations)

199. The One (Family) s/t (AMOK)

200. Dave Orders A Pizza “Dave Doyen Drinks His Own Pee” (40 Acre Soundwork)

 

Check out the Casstats!

 

 

 

Tape Of The Month: November 2013
11.21.13 by Mike Haley

ARTIST: Witchbeam

TITLE: Shadow Musick Vol. 1

LABEL: Tranquility

LENGTH: C30

DUBBED: Pro

EDITION: 100

 

 

 

Electronic music can be, or at least can appear to be, an impersonal, detached exercise. It’s often played alone with instruments that can go virtually, or literally, untouched for entire sets. It’s also, bizarrely enough for a crew who’s material is released on formats like cassette tape and heard by (when rounded off) roughly 0.0% of the world’s population, peppered with egos inflated like Snoopy at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Folks fancy themselves on levels of the DIY noise scene that in all reality don’t actually exist. They’re just floating there, doing their Snoopy impression, patting themselves on the back. That’s what makes “Shadow Musick Vol. 1” such a reinvigorating listen. It was straight up refreshing the first time I heard it. And the second time. And the third time. And you get the picture.

I’ll get around to all that in a bit. Let’s start with the basics, shall we? “Shadow Musick Vol. 1” is a new C30 on Tranquility Tapes from Witchbeam, one half of the powerful Telecult Powers cult, recorded over the course of about a thousand days in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOLA seems like ideal stomping grounds for Mr. Beam, who’s inclination for the occult more than bleeds into his sounds. Large chunks of Musick, which is dominated by haunted synths and gravelly oscillator slithers, have spoken word accompaniment to them. Witchbeam and company speaking or chanting about knowledge of the hidden, the Obatala religion of the Yoruba, lost alchemists, and other esoteric themes. The cut Good UFO/Bad UFO is a perfect example Witchbeam’s style of  blending Voodoo folkways, the paranormal, and electronics into what he calls Hoodootronix. The track is backed by djembe sounding tribal drumming with vibrant flutters of notes rushed around Witchbeam’s sermonizing.

“Secret ciphers of forgotten flesh. Secret passage ways of  Draconian cults.”

He takes the imagery that heaps often apply to their aesthetic, half-heartedly most of the time, and lays it all out with passion and originality. It’s painfully obvious that you’re not dealing with a fly-by-night soothsayer who just gripped a National Geographic VHS boxset on the secrets of the pyramids from a garage sale and thought “this is ME now”. Nah, Witchbeam digs it and deals it.

The luminous pings and dense modulated waves on these recordings are all produced by gear custom built by Mr. Matthews, the other half of Telecult Powers, and a real live wire. That is stated on the tape during a personal declaration, which brings us nicely to what I like most about this cassette. Half way through Side B, after a panning drone workout, the slightly processed voice of Witchbeam shows up.

“Hello. This is Steven, also known as Witchbeam, and I want to thank you with all my heart for taking the time out of your life and listening to this cassette which has been recorded over the past three years while I’ve been living in New Orleans, LA”. He goes on, saying that he hopes this tape can help you “destroy all rational thought“. That it can be a tool to “smash your ego a bit” and “get your head straight“. While crediting Mr. Matthews for building his equipment he refers to him as his “best friend“. It left me sort of standing there with my arms up, confused as fuck as to how something so awesome could be so absurdly simple. I mean, the dude thanked each and every listener for checking out this tape. He made a brutal recording not to show off how far he could piss, or how much he could piss in one session, or whatever a pissing contest is supposed to be. He did it in hopes of leveling the fields (playing and mental). There’s also something that I love about him calling someone his best friend. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I like it. Maybe it has something to do with the way people in KVLT (with a capital incorrect letter) worlds want to be perceived, or maybe I’m afraid of losing good friends and get emotional when people talk about friendship in such a public way, or maybe it’s because I don’t think another tape exists in the universe where someone takes a sec to back away from their music and mention who their best friend is. It’s something.

The artwork was done by Caroline Teagle, who handles all Tranquility layouts, in her signature style (patent pending). As usual she did an awesome job. In fact this latest batch are probably four of my favorites. The color scheme on this one is tight as heck and the blue on the cover matches the cassette shell perfectly. The cover also pairs well with Miami Dolphins Zubaz pants. You can keep it in the pocket if ya want. I know I will.

The other three released with Musick are from Seth Graham, Giant Claw, and Loud & Sad. They are all going fast, if not already gone, from the label. You should be able to track em down somewhere (Tomentosa and Experimedia are swell places to start). When/If you do, pounce on that shit!

“Good luck on your journey” – Witchbeam