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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.

Two-Sided Gay Shape
5.20.14 by Mike Haley

I don’t really know which shapes are gay. I guess an inverted pink triangle would be the obvious one. That and the experimental trio of Mickey O’Hara, Abdul Sherzai and Joe Bastardo. Who late last night made available their latest Gay Shapes cassette, a self titled, 50ish minute workout on Bastardo’s Moss Archive label. The two side-long tracks are exercises in restraint and casual peculiarity as the three… Massachusians?? Massachusianites?? … dudes from Massachusetts deliberately leak Doctor Whoish cosmic wobbles,  sharp Atari-mode pings, and soapy undercurrents. All of the sounds drip in moderation, some lingering for a tad, others stopping by for a brief, animated cameo. The black and white artwork is equally as minimal and matches the sci fi vibe well with it’s crudely menacing obelisk and floating eyeball.

This sucker is available in an edition of 50 home dubbed copies and can be picked up for a cool $5 (or more) here. Each member of Gay Shapes has also released solo material on Moss Archives, O’Hara and Sherzai under their names, and Joe Bastardo under the Bastian Void moniker. All sold out from the label, but definitely worth tracking down if you can. Stream the s/t jam, in full, below.

Bridgetown Spring Batch
5.15.14 by Mike Haley

Between massive tours across the country, Kevin Greenspon finds time to fling out Large Marge sized batches on his Bridgetown Records imprint. Which is preciously what he did earlier this month with the release of Bridgetown #101 – #107.  The seven cassette spring batch, available at $6 a pop or all bundled up for $35, sports the lavish neo-psychedelia of Reighnbeau, ambient excursions by Paper Armies, and some cathartic indie-pop bounciness from Greenspon’s recent tour mates Big Waves Of Pretty, among other seriously dope sounds. The hallucinatory artwork and similar motif brings the entire batch together perfectly.

The Bandcampability of this spring activity is 100%, so here they are to check!

#101: Big Waves of Pretty “It Is A Sight He Never Forgets” C29
125 pro-duplicated type II cassettes

#102: Paper Armies “Trying” C42
125 pro-duplicated type II cassettes

#103: Filardo “UNKNOWN Sessions” C20
100 type II cassettes dubbed in real-time

#104: Apollo Vermouth “Fractured Youth” C30
100 type II cassettes dubbed in real-time

#105: Autococoon “Spirulina” C33
125 pro-duplicated type II cassettes

#106: Widesky “Silhouette, and the Stars Emerging” C44
100 type II cassettes dubbed in real-time

#107: Reighnbeau “Hands” C39
125 pro-duplicated type II cassettes

Kevin was also kind enough to offer a 14-track mix for download, obtainable by clicking this hyperlink.

 

Bathetic Has Created A Monster
5.13.14 by Ian Franklin

Bathetic Records’ newest release exists in a strange form of personal exposition alongside a thread of continuity and singularity. “Dynasty at Ghost Town” is the name of the staggeringly large collection of 11 different pro dubbed Type II Chrome confessionals from 11 different musicians/bands, known here collectively as “Various Artists”. Featured in this collection is a grouping of Bathetic favorites and all around experimental sound gurus including Aquarelle, William Cody Watson, Ekin Fil, Lee Noble, Planning for Burial, Scott Tuma, M. Geddes Gengras, Zac Nelson, High Aura’d, Padang Food Tigers, and Panabrite. The sounds therein run through the gamut of experimental styles and instrumentation including but not limited to: electro-acoustic melodics, drifting ambient arenas, solo synth explorations, complex digital gardens, subterranean rhythmic movements, hazy afternoon reflections, music box memories, repetitive structural procedures, industrial park white noise, and more than a healthy dose of soothing aural wave patterns.

The biggest common thread running through these 11 distinct releases is the artwork done by Simon Fowler. Beautifully minimalist in execution but complex in design, the covers for all the tapes link together top to bottom to form a long continuous and evolving piece taking inspiration from underwater reefs to geometrical and crystalline structures. Sometimes evoking a nebulous gas and other times twisting into piercing spires, the piece transforms to encompass all of the different, yet connected sounds from the artists within.

This is a unique type of release, of which Bathetic is no stranger to pulling off. They put out the simultaneous split/collaboration between Rale and Lolly Gesserit over two different cassettes with alternating artist sides released a few months back. These types of collaborative releases are genuinely interesting and fresh to me, hopefully encouraging others to explore “extended” release structures and experiment with different forms of presentation.

Check out Bathetic’s website to see track info, artwork, and sound samples for each tape. Not for sale individually, the whole batch will put you back only $50 which is an absolute steal considering the artistic talent of all involved.

Double (Hooker) Vision
5.8.14 by Mike Haley

The lawfully wedded label Hooker Vision, who were the subject of our second Laser Focus episode back in December, have been running quiet for about a year now. Thankfully that is going to change come June with releases from label heads Rachel (Motion Sickness Of Time Travel) and Grant Evans.

Samples from their forthcoming cassettes, Alpha Piscium C44 & Lacerations C34, are ready to rip on the label’s Soundcloud page and conveniently embedded right below. You see em down there? Good. Check em out! MSOTT’s fizzy synth simmer and GE’s dreary basement bleakness, along with some dope artwork, suggest these are gonna be some straight bangers and wont stick around very long.

While Hooker Vision has been silent, the Evans duo has been far from dormant. Rachel has been self releasing a bunch of those round shiny things in handmade packaging while Grant has been growing the VAALD family. Still, it’s awesome to see Hooker Vision back in action. Hopefully there is more to come.

Scope Some Rare Moons
5.6.14 by Mike Haley

We get a harvest moon every year. A blue moon occurs roughly every 2 – 3 years. A tetrad series, or four consecutive total eclipses, represent a blood moon. Hundreds of years can pass by without one of those suckers popping up and scaring the shit out of religious people. Fred Espenak, some eclipse-obsessed egghead from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, said their “frequency sort of goes through 585-year cycles.” An even more uncommon lunar incidence: tapes being released by the Moon Mist cassette label.

No doubt dubbed over dumpstered books-on-tape cassettes from behind the library with poorly cut Jcards, Moon Mist bounced out of hibernation, announcing five new plastic goodies for your decks. Continuing the cut-and-paste-rip-and-dip-stoner-primitive style comparable to Michigan brethren American & Fag Tapes, the rowdy crew includes a dope sounding compilation and various mutations of label head Dan D in solo and collaborative form. Here is the raw deal, straight from the horse’s mouth…

Body Morph “Pussy For Breakfast” 2xCS
“Brand-new double cassette of slipstream saxophone insanity from BODY MORPH. First legit solo tape in a while. Alternately lush and grating slabs of nebular reed rubbing for sleep and love-making. The sound of space folding and waking up full.” (edition of 40)

V/A “Live Puzzle Vol.2” compilation C90
“Wild and confusing live sets recorded across the great nation of michigan. Musician offenders include: UNEVEN UNIVERSE, FLOATING HEADS, BODY MORPH, CRIMINALS, JOSH BURKE, E.A.S, and SLOWSLAG. Its like you were there, except better.” (edition of 40)

Winter Ruby “Open Grave” CS
“A couple of years ago, WR wrote several new songs, recorded them, and ceased operations for the time being due to life circumstances (good ones). OPEN GRAVE is a collection of those songs. Recorded in scenic warren, mi and it sounds like it.” (edition of 80 copies)

Major Blast s/t C30
“Napalm layers of absolutely horrible saxophone crust. Like dancing in acid rain mixed with sharpened reed hail. Severely unchill/a true blast. MAJOR BLAST: knox mitchel/dlugosielski duo” (edition of 30 copies)

Tarpit “Gradual Paralysis” C40
“Shivering primordial ear pollution from the TARPIT sound dungeon. Listen to your brain fall out your ear. A negative experience. SIDE A: solo; SIDE B: hooker/dlugosielski duo.” (edition of 40 copies)

You can grip these mugs on the cheap: $5 for single tapes, $10 for the double banger. Just zip line into Moon Mists’ Big Cartel, scroll down past the giant image at the top of the page, and you’re good to go. Have fun!

Abrada Improv Adventure
5.6.14 by Mike Haley

Years ago on the old Troniks message board some shmohawk posted a personal fear of theirs about noise turning into jazz. Specifically that all of the endless collaborations and improvisation were somehow a bad (or new?) thing. I don’t really remember why they were concerned that the noise world would do something similar to one of the greatest musical genres ever, nor do I care. In the eight or so years since I’m sure they have moved on to dozens and dozens of unworthy gripes while chiller crews have been experimenting, creating, and generally having a blast.

Case in point: Abrada.

On Thursday, the 10th of April, Francesco “Hobo” de Gallo and Piotr Kurek got together for a jam sesh before a gig later that night at Peut-etre Vintage in Montreal. The two had never played with each other before, but would be under the Abrada moniker. The pre-jam yielded a 25 minute compelling, tactual landscape of sound zones. Zones that ended up on this self titled cassette, the first born on Piotr Kurek’s Family Adventure label, released today in an edition of 100 copies. de Gallo’s sax squeals wail and swirl in loops through a stream of organ drum presets gingerly processed by Kurek. They spend time navigating through cosmic rhythms and puddles of crackle and confusion while that forgotten Troniks board member is all like “the cables for cell phone chargers aren’t long enough!”

The tapes come in gorgeous custom stamped Ocards with a minimal design. To order a copy get in touch with Kurek by email: patrapapapak at gmail com.

Foodman “How”
5.2.14 by Mike Haley

When I first read the name “Foodman” I laughed because “Foodman” sounds funny. But you know what isn’t funny? Brilliantly creative, genre-jumping, electronic unpredictability. Actually, I supposed that could be funny if you found that sort of thing to be humorous, but I don’t. I find the music of 食品まつりa.k.a Foodman to be awe inspiring. Awesome as the kids say.  That introduction, the one where I was like “Foodman. haha”, was a 2012 cassette called Shokuhin on Orange Milk. The 18 tracks, ranging from 30 seconds to just over two minutes, ricocheted around eccentric flavors of dance, chiptune, and noise. Stellar material that didn’t seem to have any clue as to what an off switch was. Foodman kept pumping, contorting, and exposing a spectrum of quirkiness shade by shade.

When the follow up cassette on Digitalis dropped the following year I let out a tiny giggle at the  Foodman moniker (I’m only human) then gripped it right up.「IROIRO」was another banger and I was starting to believe that Foodman could do no wrong. Which is why I was so excited to hear that a cassette release was in the works for one of my new favorite labels Noumenal Loom. The “Drum Desu” C39, due out this month, will be an edition of 100 pro-dubbers with storybook style artwork by Oal Yor.

Stream the sociable, rhythmic thumping and glossy glimmers of the track “How”, then get ready for the rest in the coming days.

Austin Cassette Fest
4.30.14 by Mike Haley

Area cassette heads who do not live by the strict policy of not messing with Texas should check out the Austin Cassette Fest on Saturday May 17th. The day long event, hosted by Graveyard Orbit and Sound Dessert, will take place at the MASS Gallery in East Austin starting at noon. Local and surrounding labels like Crash Symbols, Fleeting Youth, Tape Escape, Ritual Tapes, and more will be slinging cassettes straight at you. The day will also feature a cassette-only DJ (so CJ I guess?) set from The Vegetable Kingdom and a few other live acts.

$5 will get ya in the door. Another $5 will get ya into the after party at a place called Cheer Up Charlies, which I am assuming is a Willy Wonka themed bar. Here’s the Facebook event page so you can be like “I’m going”. I’m sure it will be a reel good time. Get it? Did you get that? Cassette puns are special.

Here is a sampling of sounds released by a few of the labels involved with the Fest. Enjoy!