Tabs Out

Journey To The Edge Of Your Bank Account
5.30.14 by Mike Haley

Well-to-do zoners and New Age tycoons take note. As of the moment I’m writing this you have approximately 48 hours to become the proud owner of an Upper Astral seven cassette lot. Ebay member, and future continuing owner, rodd707 is attempting to sell off these 1980’s psychedelic gems for a cool $1,800.00. Surprisingly enough, no buyer has stepped up with the cash, or the cash equivalent in crystals or space dust, to take em home. It may have something to do with the $3.00 shipping fee Rodd has tacked onto the sale, which, if you ask me, is pushing it. I mean, I’m totally cool with dishing out almost 2 grand for seven cassette tapes so Mr.707 can get his aura detailed or whatever. But why am I going to pay three bucks to have humans drive the tapes to me? Hey, USPS, ever hear of mental teleportation? Media mail doesn’t hold a candle to bending space and time. Duh.

The seven cassettes, all released byValley Of The Sun, are:
Upper Astral Suite, 1981
Manifestation, 1981
Crystal Cave (Back To Atlantis), 1982
Skybirds, 1982
Higher-Self Rendezvous, 1983
Entrance To The Secret Lagoon, 1983
Journey To The Edge Of The Universe, 1983

Brilliant fucking music, but $1,800? Hmmmmm. While you get your affairs in order and talk over this investment with the 24-hour Quicken help line, fade out to Celestial Harmonies from Journey To The Edge Of The Universe below. But please, if you do, Paypal us some scratch. Nothing major, just a hundo or so.

All the Immeasurable Things; Caroline Says
5.29.14 by Ian Franklin

I was never a huge fan of the “King”. I mean, if you’re asking me, the dude had a couple good moves, made an OK Christmas album, but that was about it. “50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can’t Be Wrong” is the title of the new album from Caroline Says, the project of Texas singer-songwriter Caroline Sallee, released jointly through Noumenal Loom and Happenin Records and even though this record sounds nothing like “Elvis the Pelvis”, I’m pretty sure a fair amount of those 50,000,000 would enjoy this wonderful release of sweetly crafted pop Americana.

Released in an edition of 100 pro-dubbed Chrome tapes, these 9 tracks sway and swim down dusty roads through half sunlit destinations. Perfectly laid out and cohesive, each song carries a constant feeling of measured assurance. Song structures feel unforced and relaxed without being wandering. Verse – chorus – verse is barely present on any of these “Winter is Cold” kicks the album off with a welcoming picked acoustic guitar, instantly setting the mood of the whole album in the first 30 seconds. 

Then Caroline’s voice enters. With a syrupy smoothness and a calm confidence she effortlessly flows through longing, missed opportunities and the fragility of a cold winter alone; retreating at the end into the comfort of the opening soothing melody.tracks but it feels all the more better for it. The whole album has a flow about it that is undeniable.

“Funeral Potatoes” looms with its minor keyed piano melody drifting through the somber drone behind it. Backing vocal tracks sweetly stacked on top of each other, a tactic she uses frequently throughout the album with great success, finally resolving in a growing wave of nostalgic backwards and looped melodies (the cello-like resonance of a stretched and processed guitar). Flowing and blooming over itself in a perfectly contained microcosm.

With an expert ability for vocal effervescence, song crafting and mood, Caroline Says delivers a fantastically life-reflective summer companion. The kind you meet and fall for and spend many beautiful moments with before it’s suddenly over; the afterburn still lingering.

Stream the album below and pick up the tape from Noumenal Loom’s bandcamp or Happenin Record’s store.