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Tabs Out | Riding The Relaxation Hydra – A Look At Sounds Of The Dawn

Riding The Relaxation Hydra – A Look At Sounds Of The Dawn
5.10.16 by Mike Haley

sotd

A step through just about any low hanging prism can land ya in world made up of illuminated pyramids, vibrating crystals, and moon-lit dolphins. A microcosm where the floors are grids. Where denizens grasp their zithers tight and keep their pony tails tighter. New Age. The cosmic relaxation zone on the musical spectrum. Flutes to found sounds stretch on for days. Weeks. Months? Anyone who has been to a thrift shop has spotted, purchased, and lost a new age cassette. Or maybe you just dove right on in with that recent, insane auction on eBay (that I may or may not have thrown down a bid or two on).

William (just William) from the Detroit area (possibly thee most un-New Age locale in the country?) has been hitting up the Salvation Armies, New Age book stores, and the good old internet for a few years himself, looking to grip some meditative gems. After amassing enough cassette to fill a floating orb, and working a job that provided both the boredom and opportunity, William started Sounds Of The Dawn. Since December of 2012 he’s been rippin’ and uploadin’. 150 tapes in all, with 100% downloadability.

SotD was originally on Blogspot, and the first cassette put up was “Sunborne” by Constance Demby, a composer from California. “She worked on making her own instruments. Put out a lot of stuff in the late 70’s early 80’s, made/makes spiritual space music,” William said. “Sunborne was the first New Age tape that got me hooked on the music. It is a masterpiece.”

Let’s be real. New Age music gets a bad rap. Mostly due to the over-the-top themes and artwork, which often teeters on the edge of goofy, usually falling off into buttery oceans and super fluffy clouds. But there is A LOT to love about it. And we can all use an extended release, extra strength chill pill now and then. “I do believe music can have a healing, soothing effect,” Williams said of the optimistic genre. “I have never been one to listen to harsh sounds. I get that it’s not for everyone and the aesthetic is not for every one. I am not trying to recreate an era, I just want to appreciate it.”

Yes, you can definitely smell the appreciation. Over the last four years the ever-expanding site has added a monthly radio show on NTS, mixes, and a YouTube channel of digitized relaxation VHS and Laserdiscs called SOTD-TV. With their first release, SotD has also added their name to the long list of cassette labels. Mentioning as an example the “First Light” cassette by Inner Travels, who has compiled mixes for the site, William started finding beautiful, current musicians that were creating chill sounds and releasing them on tape. After some E-digging, he unearthed jams by Russia’s Hybrid Palms (aka Konstantin Skolnikov). The long player “Pacific Image” was released on Sounds Of The Dawn in March, and is described as “deeply weird and uplifting ends of jazz and electronic music in a true hybrid fusion.”

Much more is slated, so check up with Sounds Of The Dawn often. Pick up Hybrid Palms’ “Pacific Image” from Bandcamp.

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Tabs Out | I Know I’m An Alien – I Know I’m An Alien And I Want To Go Home…

I Know I’m An Alien – I Know I’m An Alien And I Want To Go Home…
5.4.16 by Mike Haley

i know im an alien

On a standard occasion, one must put a coin in the slot of a strip mall spaceship to hear music like I Know I’m An Alien. This tape from late 2015, with the full title of “I Know I’m An Alien And I Want To Go Home Sometimes But Then I Remember I Gotta Try And Understand You”, is persistently jovial, but also a little bit “off”. A steady serfdom to bugged out, Weenish cartoonism, contagious fringe rock, and dingy weirdness. It all makes me think of a 1-star Chuck E. Cheese’s bootleg joint that opened up just a little too quick after a flood/fire combination took them out 3 weeks ago. But Teddy, the night manager, his cousin Ray “knows drywall” so they redid the whole place themselves. The carpet was soaked AND burnt, but is somehow still sticky to the touch. Layers of pizza ooze and “Slarpee’s” must have burrowed deep into the abyss of fibers. They didn’t even throw out the old pizza. It’s called “before flood pizza” and costs 50 cents less. Rejected mall cops dance in pathetic Sonic The Hedgehog costumes for 6-9 year old’s jacked up on Mountain Dew flavored pepperoni.

Sixteen cuts make up this gonzo-pop jukebox, each with their own coltish antics. Rowdy bass lines. Synthy kookiness. Conehead vocal stylings. It’s batty, man. Imagine Teddy’s band playing a gig through the water-damaged PA system while video games act up, ski ball goes haywire, and a gaggle of piss stained brats attack the token guy. The tracks exist in that perfect, on-the-fritz zone, where you don’t know exactly what will pop up next. A toy piano cover of Chariots Of Fire by someone’s pudgy newphew, Spanish guitar, and a globby softvapour drill all make their way into the fray. This is good time music, for nice people.

Low DPI cover art and 1998 font work only helps further I Know I’m An Alien’s nutty agenda. Full support over here. I hope they get back home one day. In the meantime, you can pick up a copy of this cassette, which is limited to 50, from their Bandcamp.

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Tabs Out | Future Museums – An Absence [ video premiere ]

Future Museums – An Absence [ video premiere ]
5.3.16 by Bobby Power

future museums

Since 2010, Neil Lord has steered his Future Museums project through a number of limited edition releases that mine the most psyched-out corners of modern ambient, drone, and lo-fi. While the band has sifted through a number of members, including Justin Sweatt (Xander Harris) for a spell, the Austin-based project recently settled itself into a comfy trio, featuring Lord, Maxwell Parrott,and Nicolas Nadeau. Now, the trio follows up its recent run of tapes on Fire Talk (including the excellent Tapestry Of Time and Terrain / Pleasure Cruise double-tape opus) with “An Absence”, a new 37-minute EP released on Mirror Universe. To celebrate, the label has put together a snazzy new video shot and directed by T.C. Johnson, who also does live visuals with the band. Musically, the 12-minute teaser finds Future Museums ambling through vibrantly desolate and deprecated locales, equipped with a modest set of effects pedals and a lethargic but hopeful drum machine. Landing somewhere between Windy & Carl’s epic, melancholic drifts and the band’s own peripheral sense of optimism, the trio finds a deep and inherent sense of beauty in the lowliest of places. Visually, Johnson parallels Future Museums’ aural lament, contrast stark and bluntly natural scenes of rustic decay with analog infidelities for a hypnotic and calmly disorienting, altogether captivating, series of meditations.

“An Absence” is available now from MU’s Bandcamp for digital / cassette preorder. 100 physical copies will be available May 20th.  Do yourself a favor and pick up the label’s “Austin, TX power trio” bundle of tapes, featuring this EP and new jams by Single Lash and Slow Pulse.

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Tabs Out | New Batch – Spring Break Tapes!

New Batch – Spring Break Tapes!
5.2.16 by Ian Franklin

spring break

I was supposed to listen and write some words on this batch from Spring Break Tapes! closer to when it was released back in March, but some unfortunate life events prevented any type of creative spirit and sucked all the energy out of me. These three sat on top of my deck staring at me for the last month and change, beckoning me to dig in, almost forcing me to listen. But, I resisted for whatever reasons.

Sometimes things don’t work out the way you want them to. Sometimes things royally fucking suck and it can feel crushing and impenetrable. The loss of a loved one, a personal failure, a dissolving friendship, a monumental weight on your mind, the impending disaster of things you can’t control. But the shadow is cast from the flame, and darkness is not the only reality.

Music has the power to heal and transform. Sometimes it may be the only light that shines, but all light moves with the greatest speed and with undoubting assurance. Returning to these three tapes from Avery Gabbiano, Amulets, and Head Dress has been an overwhelming and positive experience. Not only because they were weighing on my mind for a long time, but also because they’re so fucking good. Let’s dig a little deeper.

The continuous theme of cyclic movement and regeneration is present in all three releases though evident in different patterns and ways. They each develop in their own style while at the same time moving through equal fields of intention, whether it be through tidal movements, looping forms, or rhythmic presence. They mold together as wholly separate but connected sides of the same prism.

 

Avery Gabbiano “Oracles & Chambers”
Side A’s track, Sacred Incubation Chamber, begins immediately with an underwater deep sea dive into chambers unseen; elements of structure that only live in light-less environments. Bubbles of watery pops and resonance float around circular stabs of more fossilized synth arpeggiations. Not quite water and not quite electronics.  There is a threshold that sits just below the shadowy depths. A slow and steady melodic current drifts through stronger waves of filter sweeps and undulations. The feeling of a surrounding weight mixes perfectly with the feeling of endless expanse. Heavily reverbed and delayed tones bounce and reflect in a glowing radiance while warm drones fill the stereo spectrum. Ancient systems flow through dynamic structures.

Oracle of Osaka picks up the current where the tide let out. Deep and glistening bass drone floats underneath flashes of synth that dances from ear to ear. Disconnected voices splash on the shores of memory leaving a thin layer which ultimately drifts back to the source. Long distance travels. The steady pattern of continuous synth creeps back to the front. There and back again; always present. Turning slightly aggressive, the storm of swelling patterns hint at the danger that is always present and sometimes unavoidable. Distinct though familiar, the sounds match perfectly to the j-cards multitude of deep-sea organism artifacts across it’s numerous panels. Mystifying while simultaneously comforting.

Amulets “Auras”
The Coldest Time Was Always Midnight begins with distant field recordings of a passing train in the night. Or perhaps a fading tape loop pushed to it’s limits. Or maybe the slow undulating pulse of time itself. Creeping guitar haze penetrates the outer reaches and works its way towards covering everything in sight. The most gentle beginnings drift into an all encompassing presence, replaced continuously over again like ripples pooling out to the edges. A brilliant light which burns and fades though it leaves the mark of remembrance in it’s wake.

A Funeral By The Sea kicks off on the flip side with a strong and dense field of ambient hiss that slowly melts in to the porous edges that keep the structure together. Weathered and exposed guitar passages dance slowly back and forth. Pleasant feedback makes its presence felt but hardly seen. Looped fragments across multiple octaves fill out the massive structure and balance together with ease: slow and methodical bass, small flashes of upper register, pulsating drifts through the middle frame. A full body cast shaped and sculpted around a fading figure. Some of the most beautifully haunting sounds I’ve heard in a long, long time.

Head Dress “Rose”
Prickly stabs of synth pierce the beginning of Salet, the first track of the A side. Staccato splashes that bounce and trail off into the farther reaches. They’re met with a deep and expounding call of bass rhythm and meditative vocal loops while a slow undercurrent melody runs through the middle. Fading from the view, the undercurrent swells and disappears into the growing blackness that surrounds. Lurching from the beyond comes “Black Cherry”, with its deep breaths of filtered bass tones. Small, fluttery modulations skip through the weighty pool like dragonflies over a underground canyon reservoir. Though they never linger to long before disappearing back into the night.

Darlow’s Enigma starts things off on the B side with flashy pops of synth rhythm, a 4-dimensional field that grows strength from all it absorbs. Resonant spikes pierce the outer layers; sharp edges dissolve and grow into new territory. A dance of structured yet unstable movement. Pieces of vocals once again enter the territory. Distorted and fleeting they dissolve into the ether of the pulse. From the beginning…the rise; to the inevitable end… the fall.

A word on the j-cards for these three releases: BONKERS. Straight up gorgeous fucking pieces of artwork from label head Joe McKay displayed over 6 panels, front and back. Each one fits the mood of their respective sounds perfectly and adds to the overall release in a way that is refreshing and exciting. You really just have to experience these for yourself. Stock is running low on these so do what you must and grip these babies NOW!

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Tabs Out | William Cody Watson – Patriot

William Cody Watson – Patriot
4.29.16 by Mike Haley

wcw

William Cody Watson (aka WCW, fyi) has been casting a wet shadow deep below the surface of the underground for more than a few years now. Various solo projects (Pink Priest, Gremlynz, Malibu Wands) and duos (Wild Safari, Virgin Spirits) have seen releases on No Kings, Night People, Bathetic, Sweat Lodge Guru, Different Lands, etc etc etc. His latest concoction is a bombed out C46 recorded a handful of years ago from Lime Lodge, the labels fourth release and first cassette.

“Patriot” is like a fairy tale. One of the classic cuts. The dark as fuck German shit where parents are constantly dying. Nothing sugar coated or CGI’d. “Patriot” is actually worse than the Brothers Grimms’ yarns, because “Patriot” starts off with everyone dead. Well, not EVERYONE. The listener is functioning. And maybe a few talking snakes and grey scale mushrooms. Other than that, no life. Just drones. The drones are heavy. That’s the easiest way to say it, to be honest. They’re like the sound of a brown paper bag blowing by you, filled with dark matter and bad voodoo. Filled to infinity. It blows down two overlapping paths that lead to opposite edges of a dank spectrum. You limp down the paths with blinders on (if you were a horse they would shoot you). WCW wont shoot you though. At least, I don’t think he will.

About halfway through End Of Hiding, the lone track on side A at 20:00, the blackness becomes polluted with an illuminated glow of hope. Embedding itself into the bleak ether, more encouraged layers of sound besmirch the stern posture of the track with thirsty optimism. But the glass is not half full. It’s overflowing with venom. The track continues to crumble, crack, and corrode.

Always Bleeding picks up side B in a similar fashion, only now it’s raining. And maybe you’re wearing something tie-dyed. Not a shirt or anything over the top. Something subtle, like socks. Synth runs are trapped in a clay-like recording on side B. Like a big, dumb grizzly bear hugging a crystal ball. It’s a beautiful, muddy, volcanic piece that inflates with tension. Exhaustive and exposed stretches of caramelized audio evaporate after a bipolar struggle. Fuck.

“Patriot” is limited to 100 copies on pro duplicated cassettes with outstanding artwork. Indulge, my friends.

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Tabs Out | Q&A With Heavy Mess

Q&A With Heavy Mess
4.27.16 by Bobby Power

heavy mess

Braeyden Jae first released his solo material a mere two years ago, with a run of frayed but beautiful cassettes issued via some of the international tape scene’s heaviest hitters, including Patient Sounds, Phinery, Hel Audio, Spring Break Tapes… the list goes on. But the SLC-based musician has been active in the tape scene since 2010 with Inner Islands, an imprint Jae founded with Sean Conrad. Now, Jae seems to only be getting busier, having just released his first work on vinyl via Whited Sepulchre and launched Heavy Mess, a self-described “discrete cassette label.” We caught up with Jae just after the release of two new tapes to talk about the beginnings of Heavy Mess, where it’s at, and where it’s headed.

 

When did you decide to start Heavy Mess, and how did the label first come together?

It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time, like late 2013. It was initially going to be called Soft Etc. I had the first release lined up, it was the Gossimer tape “Across That White Plain” that Absenter ended up putting out. I was finishing up my gender studies degree at the time and it was something I realized I couldn’t take on in a sincere way, so I put things on hold. But the urge to get back into running a tape label kept creeping up, so I eventually came back around to it and re-dubbed the label Heavy Mess.

You initiated Heavy Mess with “soft launch” that included a release of your own, Broken Punk. Do you plan on releasing your own future work on the label?

I do have plans to release my own stuff with the label, but am giving priority to releasing other peoples work right now. So probably won’t see anything from me on Heavy Mess until sometime next year.

And now you’re returning for a true launch with two tapes: one by Sister Grotto and the other by Orra. How do these releases represent Heavy Mess?

I want Heavy Mess to be flexible in the type of sounds it can release. I had previously started Inner Islands (which Sean Conrad of Orra is currently running, and doing such a great job with), and got bogged down by how specific the zone was. Kind of like, feeling trapped by it’s aesthetic parameters. Heavy Mess will have a lot more freedom with what it can be. So more than an indicator of the type of zones Heavy Mess will stick with, I hope the Sister Grotto and Orra tapes will set a good tone for the quality of releases people can expect from the label. I really adore Sister Grotto’s and Orra’s work. And everyone involved with those projects are the kindest folks you could know. Really honored to have their trust in lending me their sounds for the label.

You’ve worked with a number revered cassette labels now. Did you learn anything while working from these labels?

Totally, I’ve been really fortunate to be able to work with so many honed in labels, and I’ve for sure learned a bit from each of them. I’ve been super impressed with Joe who does Spring Break Tapes. I really respect his process. He’s super involved and communicative and just really pumped on the stuff he puts out. He’s also a really good dude. Like, I haven’t released an album with him since late 2014 but he’s still actively supportive with what I’m doing. We text back and forth on a regular basis and he’s always making time to check out my new sounds. I’d like to have that type of interaction with the artists I work with, having it be more than just “I put out your album”. I’d like there to be family vibes ya know?

Are there other tape labels or artists who directly inspire you?

I’m consistently blown away by Orange Milk and make it a point to keep up to date with what they are doing. Also really into Astral Spirits, I have a pretty hefty collection of their tapes at this point. My fav label that popped up last year though was Lime Lodge, all three of the records they put out are top shelf stuff, and their minimal visual aesthetic is so honed in. But yeah, there’s so much great stuff going on right now. It’s really inspiring to see the overwhelming amount of quality work being put on a regular basis.

Where does Heavy Mess fit into the SLC music scene? Besides your own material, do you see the label issuing local sounds?

I guess it doesn’t. I’ve always been really shitty about figuring out how to integrate into the Salt Lake music scene. I’m also not too concerned with Heavy Mess having a geographic identity with the city it’s based in. I’m a pretty big introvert and honestly my deepest musical connections have been formed via online interactions and with folks that I rarely get to communicate with face to face. I’m also planning to move this fall, so Heavy Mess will be vibing elsewhere. Though, I do have plans to release a tape from a Salt Lake artist, Blush Stains. It’s a project by Taylor Christian who recently put out a self-released album with his band Seven Feathers Rainwater, as well as a tape on Phinery, with a drone duo he’s in called Iconographs.

Do you have final say on the audio and art of each release, or do you leave it to each artist?

There is a simple formatting for the j-cards that will be consistent for each release. Other than that, the artist has plenty of say in helping curate the visuals for their release, I like to keep it an open dialogue and get to a point where both sides feel good about it. As far as audio goes, I’m working with artists that I really adore so not a lot of input on that end. Just little things I guess, like suggesting which track worked better for the “a” and “b” side on the Orra tape.

What’s next for Heavy Mess?

I’ve got things planned our for the next while. It’s all on the site. The next batch will include albums from Blush Stains, Christian Michael Filardo and Teasips (Ang Wilson from Electric Sound Bath). After that will be two double cassettes from Ashan and Gossimer, both are solo projects from the folks involved in Orra. Than later on, stuff from Heejin Jang, Macho Blush, Padna and Amulets. I’m keeping myself busy.

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Tabs Out | Music For Intention & Growth: A Purpose-Driven Sound Series

Music For Intention & Growth: A Purpose-Driven Sound Series
4.21.16 by Mike Nigro

moog

This Record Store Day, I didn’t go to any record stores, in fact, I didn’t even buy any records. Instead, I went to Ace Hotel in Herald Square for some free tapes.

As far as promotional giveaways go, Moog Music’s “Music for Intention and Growth” series is about as down to earth as can be. The synth manufacturer looped in their local Asheville, NC cassette label Twin Springs Tapes to help coordinate the project, and worked with some real live contemporary synth heroes to make sure the jams were tight. Good on ‘em.

First up is Tabs Out subscription series alumna TALsounds: “Natal Host” centers itself around dark, sequenced riffs, which provide an unsettling foundation for Natalie Chami’s vocal layers and synth leads to wrap themselves around. Constantly shifting shapes, crossfading, and even occasionally going for some hard knife-to-tape edits, “Natal Host” is a restless listen that provides plenty of rhythmic nooks and crannies for your ears to get stuck in.

Kyle Landstra’s contribution, “Variables of Resolve”, incorporates lush polyphony into Moog’s mono world. Both sides start with patiently applied base layers that slowly build into skyscrapers of spiraling arpeggios, laser beams, and masterfully dialed-in steel drum tones. Landstra gets damn near stopping time with this one, and when the deck clicks you’ll wonder how long you’ve been staring at the patterns in your floorboards.

The most restrained of the three, Inner Travels’ “Blue Light” does more with less. There’s impressive use of stringed instrument sounds on the A Side, which pluck, strum, and bend their way through Parts I-III, utilizing a healthy dose of reverb to show off all their shimmering overtones. But it’s Part IV that really takes the cake in my opinion, where stargazing music box melodies weave in and out of slow ‘n low bass phrases to create a masterpiece of minimalist synthesis.

It’s clear that some real thought and care went into making the “Music for Intention and Growth” tapes legit releases on all accounts and not just slapdash freebies. Each of the artists brought their musical A-game, Logan Kelley knocked the art and design out of the park, and Moog did a great job of working with and contributing to their local cassette and synth scenes.

The “Music for Intention and Growth” tapes are available in Moog Mother-32 synthesizer boxes while supplies last, or maybe behind the counter of your local Ace Hotel or Asheville, NC record store.

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Tabs Out | Tape Label Or Weed Strain?

Tape Label Or Weed Strain?
4.20.16 by Mike Haley

green tape

Here we go again. Back by popular demand it’s the Tabs Out 4/20 Tape Label Or Weed Strain quiz! Last year’s quiz was taken over 5,000 times with an average score of about 50% correct. That’s pretty bad. Hopefully you dopes don’t have such a tough time this go around. The rules are simple. Click “Start quiz” and decide whether the names you see are that of cassette labels or weed strains. Got it?

[WpProQuiz 4]
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Tabs Out | Glou Glou – Fey Flight Founders

Glou Glou – Fey Flight Founders
4.15.16 by Mike Haley

glou glou

Full Spectrum is an outstanding label. Anyone who thinks otherwise has gravy for brains. One releases from their stacked catalog that really sticks out for me is “Hymn Her Hum” by Glou Glou. I had not heard anything from or about the Glou Glou duo previous to that 2014 releases, and had not heard anything since. So the arrival of their latest alliterated tongue twister, “Fey Flight Founders”, was a more-than-welcomed surprise.

Gretchen Jude and Arjun Mendiratta. Those are the humans behind this magnetizing Bay Area two-piece. An open air recording gives their already temperate sounds an even deeper organic glaze on this hour long, single session cassette. Lustering violin and vocal drones shiver, balloon out, and maneuver through wayward zones of knob swiveling. Brief patterns emerge, but the Glou Glou modus operandi is a random and chill one. Accidental, adventurous rambles through misty holograms. Skipping stones on frozen lakes. Cicadas as house pets. And minimal. Very minimal. There are moments when it seems that one (or possibly both?) of the crew dip out for a brief recharge or plate of spaghetti or something. They recover from each respite and continue their hunt for austere sound souvenirs. It made me feel good. I believe it will make us all feel good.

Glou Glou’s relaxed, indica sound fragments are perfectly coupled with equally serene, new age artwork by Gretchen Korsmo. Pick up one of the 50 copies made by Full Spectrum ASAP.

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Tabs Out | Castle Bravo Previews Upcoming Doberman Cassette

Castle Bravo Previews Upcoming Doberman Cassette
4.8.16 by Mike Haley

doberman

4/22. Save the date. Mark it on all of those calendars you got hanging around the house. That’s the drop date for the third Doberman cassette on Castle Bravo. For the unenlightened among us, Doberman is the anguish-electronics unit responsible for massive murk back in 2014 (this and that). Their rusted oscillations ushered Castle Bravo into existence, who has been surreptitiously distributing bruises via Czern, German Army, and others.

“Alley Walkers” offers more raw skin crawls. The limited excerpts officially leaked to the world wide web suggest extensive servings of spiraling drone and carbonated dankness. Tedious, bummer music for the Negative Nancy in all of us. Need to come down from some good news? Doberman will scratch that itch. Feel like vanishing into the ether for an afternoon, float in the emptiness with some menacing rhythms keeping you company? Check, mate.

Test out an almost 6 minute chunk below. Bookmark Castle Bravo. Be excellent to each other.