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Tabs Out | Shingles Sets Off On A Twelve Tape Voyage

Shingles Sets Off On A Twelve Tape Voyage
9.9.15 by Mike Haley

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These days we usually find out it’s someone’s birthday via Facebook. I ,however, discovered that Jesse DeRosa (of Baked Tapes/Grasshopper) just turned 32 through the announcement of a massive cassette endeavor for his solo project Shingles. Of course, I read that announcement on Facebook. Sooooo…

DeRosa will be releasing a cassette each month, from September through August 2015, of unreleased solo and collaborative material. I’ll just let him explain the goods, as he did on that Facebook post I just mentioned:

“To kick-off my 33rd rotation around the sun (as well as provide a much needed kick in the ass to deplete an ever growing archive of unreleased recorded work), I’m proud to kick off the first installment of a new archival project. Because admitting you have a hording problem is the first step…

Archival Symmetries 33 will see the release of 12 previously unreleased solo and collab EPs in total over the next year. Each installment will align (or at least will attempt to align) with the symmetrical date of each calendar month (sept 9, oct 10… jan 1, feb 2) from September 2015 (9/9) through August 2016 (8/8). Each edition will be available digitally through bandcamp as well as in handmade physical editions across a handsome selection of contemporary and archaic formats.

The first installment, released today, 9/9, is available digitally as well as in editions of both thirty-three cassettes and thirty-three 3″-cdrs.

The four movements of “Generosity of the Suns” were recorded over the course of a frigid New York December using a modified Sequential Circuits Pro-One and an EVI. They were recorded as an exercise in adjusting the ear to working within a series of non-octave repeating scales derived from the ratio 20:11 for the major third. Breaking each octave into ~34.2 just-tones provides intriguing harmonic options in precision intervals, especially when factoring non-repeating octave displacements (approx 7 cents loss per ascending adjacent octave). Lotsa number-crunching for some rather peaceful jams.”

I think that means it sounds awesome. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I would say that these silky nail biters are available from the Shingles Bandcamp for $5 + shipping, but I literally just bought the last one. Gotta be quick on the hot ones. You can still get it digitally, or on 3″ CDr if you got into a moped accident and busted the part of your brain that judges which formats are good.

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Tabs Out | Gee Weaver – Merchant Ivory

Gee Weaver – Merchant Ivory
9.9.15 by Jacob DeRaadt

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Gee Weaver is a self-described “knob-twiddler” from Pasadena, CA, who runs the Colossal Tapes record label. I hear very little knob twisting going on for the duration of this cassette’s 20-minute span.

Initial fragments of pop calls to mind the work of Joseph Hammer, albeit with more digital reverb in the mix and less organic tape decompression. Admittedly, I’m a huge fan of this genre (pop music nostalgic remix?). The treatment of snippets of information is masterfully orchestrated in some passages, like a room full of vintage radios and televisions’ signals interrupting one another, witnessed by a solitary geriatric in a decrepit rest home.

“Passage 2” delves into some sumptuous organic field recordings treated to the digital equivalent of demagnetizing techniques reminiscent of Knækkede Stemmer’s recent release on Alien Passengers. There is a melodic drone element underlying many of these pieces that separates it from being strictly Hammer-worship, and I’d still rather hear someone ripping off Hammer’s aesthetic rather than another HNW or new age keyboard wanker making a concept record that holds no water in regards to the contents of the release. There’s a mood of warm hopefulness permeating the atmosphere of this release. The sounds of childlike conversation and water dripping bring up themes of nostalgia yet again.

This release is a concise statement with a consistent processing approach, making it a refreshing audio document to compliment the waning days of summer, allowing us to remember the summers of our youth.

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Tabs Out | Chondritic Sound Marks 300th Release

Chondritic Sound Marks 300th Release
9.8.15 by Mike Haley

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The movie 300 was about soldiers. Soldiers Disease is a blog run by Greh Holger. Greh Holger runs Chondritic Sound. Chrondritic Sound has made it to their 300th release. You see what I did there? Impressive, right?

Speaking of impressive, Chondritic Sound is (as I heard through The Brvtalist) releasing an impressive double cassette compilation to mark it’s 300th release. Over the past decade+ it has been the boss with the hot sauce when it comes to singed electronics and ice cold synth destruction with a majorly impressive aesthetic focus, racking up releases from the likes of Prurient, Sissy Spacek, Jason Lescalleet, Dilloway, Greh’s own Hive Mind project, and more recently folks like Scant and Shredded Nerve. The celebratory comp, titled “All The Little Devils Are Proud Of Hell”, is a crash course in the what’s-what of Chondritic. 18 tracks, packaged in those 5″ reel boxes Greh has a penchant for, from little devils such as Hive Mind, SECAM Kino, (Tabs Out’s own) Pleasure Island, Scant, Smokey Emery, Granite Mask, Plagues, and more. A dark, dark journey my friend. One you can preview, in full, below.

So you absolutely, positively never forget, “All The Little Devils…” will be released on 9/11 in an edition of 200. Which I’m sure will be gone in no time flat. Ordering has begun!

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Tabs Out | Bromp Treb – Stickless Sharkless Bagless

Bromp Treb – Stickless Sharkless Bagless
9.6.15 by Jamie Orlando

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Ever wonder what it would sound like to have a root canal in the Alice in Wonderland universe? Me neither, but here’s what I’d imagine it would sound like. Pick up Neil Cloaca’s project’s Bromp Treb’s new tape “Stickless Sharkless Bagless”; a limited edition C20 on his very own Yeay! Plastics label. (Great label name by the way!)

There are three tracks: “Stickless Bag Shark”, “Sharkless Stick Bag” and “Bagless Shark Stick” on this pretty-looking clear shell with purple print on the label. I was sensing some sort of pattern with these track titles, but I couldn’t figure it out. Then I went to Google Images and looked them up, and got a mixture of: vacuum cleaners, fish sticks, cigars, an Eddie Munster tee shirt, fighter planes, the San Jose Sharks, The Bible, some Klondike bars, a gecko, and many more things that seemingly don’t go together.

I still wasn’t getting it. Then I listened to the tape and it began to make sense.

I heard lots of flitters and flutters, glitching static, tribal singing, broken Commodore 64s, asymmetric loops, weird manipulation, field-recorded foley, possessed fax machines, turntables, 8 bit snare drums, vocoded spookiness, vacuum cleaners and every once in awhile, some chirping birds to calm my nerves.

I don’t really know what else to say. This thing is a mess! It’s just STUFF! It’s hectic, it’s chaotic and it makes no sense. I even played it for my grandmother and she didn’t seem to be enjoying it. I liked it though!!! And if you found this article, you might just be deranged enough to like it too.

Pick up a copy … oh wait, there’s none left. Tape prank! (I’m sure you can find it somewhere. Try, and try hard)

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Tabs Out | New Batch – Lillerne Tapes

New Batch – Lillerne Tapes
9.4.15 by Ian Franklin

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We over at here at Tabs Out know what you like. You like the raw and the experimental; the challenging and the contemplative. The perennial and all-out awesome. We hear you. Well, Lillerne Tapes knows what you like too and lemme tell you, they just dropped a new batch of varied experimental sounds crossing a broad range from lo-fi art pop to semi-autonomous modular synth explorations to sprawling and introspective ambient universes. There’s a little bit for everyone here so let’s jump in and take a look.

LL67: Wage, the duo of Daniel Luedtke and Ana Raba, throw down four tight jams of angular, deceptively catchy synth pop.  Using a small instrument setup of a few synths, drums, and vocals Wage really pushes the limits with their songwriting approach. The third track, “Holy Light”, starts off with a fluttery low-oscillation before picking up intensity with a driving bass drum and squealing synth lines converging halfway through in a menacing and abrasive heaviness. The album opener, “Neutral”, pins angular drumming with blasts of fuzzy synth tones around the edges of the beat. A little bit Black Sabbath at times, little bit Genesis, little bit Jefferson Airplane, little bit 10,000 Maniacs, and so much more; these songs retain a sense of grounded exploration that most lo-fi pop tries to retain but falls just short of. Without dissolving into strange esotericism the duo calls forth an immediately recognizable and distinct sound maintaining a sincerity that’s undeniably attractive. Edition of 50 home-dubbed Type II’s with some killer screen printed J cards from Daniel.

LL68: Gora Sou’s “Modular Environments For Home Listening Vol. 1” is a largely unmanned journey. From the artist, “The Music on this cassette consists of one-shot recordings of a Modular Synthesizer System. It was patched to create and play on its own, with little or no human interaction. The recordings were edited down and sequenced into two programs for continuous play. The idea was to leave every aspect of the musical creation solely to the machine, resulting in ambient textures to contemplate everyday activities.” The cover image shows the system patched up accompanied by various candles and relics and metaphysical ephemera I can only assume helps get the machine in the creative mood. Drifting in on a slow creep, hazy washes of filter-swept synth cascade through the growing molten bubbles of arpeggiated tonal bloom. Tripping over delicately plucked synth strings, passages fall and rise gleaming with resonant pops and echoed footsteps. An elemental theme running throughout, if there is one at all, is that of rhythmic dynamics: the slowing down and speeding up of sequences and triggered events; of the mind’s perception of time and space. The machine moves in defined ways but through the patterns of complex maneuvers, conjuring scenes from the electronic depths and spread into our consciousness through voltage control. Edition of 50 home-dubbed Type II cassettes.

LL69: Like the overlain image across the cover of Body lvl’s “Petri”, the sounds within mix together the same interplay of dissonant themes into a dance of complimentary forces. Breathy synth tones drift through open stretches, mutating and transforming shape along the way. A couple of the longer tracks like the second track “Baudine” and the 14 min. closer “Panama Disease” have their own microcosms all together: mixing major and minor tones, extended transitions, and with compositional elements that hint at small universes within. The extending mood is that of introspection through outward transcendence; to see within by seeing throughout. This is captured well on the third track “Cavendish” which begins with a slowly pulsating synth repetition that comes to an almost standstill before growing bolder with layers of gain and slightly distorted tones building up the framework before ultimately dissolving into a pool of digital resonance. This is a wonderfully introspective album which demands repeated listening for full potency.

The edition size of that one, like the others in the batch, is 50 copies. Which means you should hop to it. Grip all three from Lillerne’s Bandcamp.

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Tabs Out | Peter Kris – Rim Of The World

Peter Kris – Rim Of The World
9.1.15 by Mike Haley

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It’s not often one needs to give or get a lesson, however brief, in the history of an artist’s region before listening to their eight song cassette tape. But that is just how “Rim Of The World” begins. Before the first pluck of a guitar string, Peter Kris describes Southern California’s Inland Empire on page one of the 22 page booklet that accompanies this tape. An area plagued by economic disparity, short-sighted real estate lust, and austerity. Or, as Kris puts it, 27,000 miles of “a dramatic mix of wealth-driven development and hopeless decline”.

It’s also Kris’ home, and he’s called it that for most of his life. His photographs of it’s abandoned habitats and forgotten scenery just east of Los Angeles are what fill the rest of the booklet. They are simple images that some people might write off as cliché; paint pealing from a ceiling, abandoned vehicles, graffiti covering what’s left of an unrecognizable structure that is either falling apart or was never fully built. I think his shots are very strong. At some point someone painted that ceiling. A human. They probably were bummed when drips landed on an un-tarped part of the floor. I’m sure someone took pride in that truck, maybe even overreacted about a scratch on the fender. Now it’s just a pile of rust. It’s fucked. It’s a nice reminder of how everything will eventually be discarded scraps of a larger presence. A rusted shell of previous satisfaction. Fucked. Or maybe I’m just too stoned.

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The photography with this releases doesn’t end with reproduced copies in the booklet. Each version of “Rim Of The World” comes with a one-of-a-kind photograph on the cover. Which brings us to the tape itself. As I said earlier, there are eight song. And as I hinted at, there is guitar plucking. Peter Kris (and it goes without saying that’s not his real name, right? Even though I just said it) is the backbone of German Army. Going solo here, he basically soundtracks the images provided. Guitar bliss, often with a covert twang, shivers freely. Reverb peels off notes like old lead paint, fostering desperation and heartache. Memories and longing for things you never had. While the ax wielding is clean as a whistle, plenty of electronic tremors are mixed through. Kris totally captures the essence of the modern day ghost town and a general “what the fuck have we done?” vibe. I’m not saying that these sounds will blow your mind, but they will most definitely blur your senses. Moments of slowed/stripped down layering remind me a bit of older, home dubbed Mark McGuire releases. Others inflate into awesome dream sequences.

Humans have evolved into animals that aren’t capable of being responsible with this planet. We construct with rapacity and destroy without concern. An optimist might look at “Rim Of The World” and see it as an attempt to find beauty amid that doom. A pessimist will probably just find an OST to a slow death. Whoever you are, this is a fantastic release both visually and musically. The overall presentation also kills it. A very clean look, hand numbered out of 100, solid gold shells. Spring Break & Peter Kris teamed up like Jordan and Pippen and ‘Rim Of The World” is a…. (I want to say “slam dunk!” so bad. SOOOOO bad. But I wont do that to you) an amazing release. Go buy it now, unless you’ve sworn off even the idea of capitalism. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Tabs Out | Andrew Kirschner – Weighted Ghost & Lil Mac

Andrew Kirschner – Weighted Ghost & Lil Mac
8.24.15 by Mike Haley

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When not making mistakes down by the lake or talking nerd mess, Andrew Kirschner can be spotted chiseling out dope sounds down in his cherished Hate Basement. A double dose of evidence is available for inspection if you wanna fact check that statement. “Weighted Ghost” and “Lil Mac” both dropped in the past few weeks and are like two sides of the same coin.

“Weighted Ghost” from Kirschner’s employer Hanson Records is the nastier of the two. It’s pre-disintegrated cycles irk along with minimum manipulation. A certain level of listening-dedication is sometimes needed to even notice the undercover morphing of hiss and flutter going on, but that dedication can also get ya trapped in the stagnate depression of crumbling loops. It’s not mind control music though, and this material is far from being mile-long expanses of white noise. Aaron Dilloway’s “Modern Jester” is a good reference point to start at. Damaged and distorted, like listening to raw meat getting stuck in industrial machinery.

“Lil Mac”, an ode to AK’s canine bud, ditches the grit for more sedated soundscapes. I guess this is where the mind control sessions ended up. Going the synth route, Kirschner soaks every inch of the cassette with gusty, hovering vibrations. A mesh of lo-fi synth tones take it’s time streaming over the occasional ominous throb. I used to have this reoccurring dream as a kid. I would be in the alley behind my house when a car would pull up, and an old dude would get out. He would slowly approach me with a creep grin on his face, holding a cup of who knows what. In every occurrence of the dream my legs would give out and I would fall over as he poured the cup into my mouth. Both tracks on this C22 from White Reeves Productions could soundtrack that sequence. I haven’t thought about that dream in years. Sorta wish I hadn’t now. Thanks, a bunch.

At the moment, both of these jams are still available from Hanson and WRP.

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Tabs Out | Various Artists – Stray Dog

Various Artists – Stray Dog
8.21.15 by Jacob DeRaadt

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I’ve been looking forward to listening to this compilation ever since I picked it up at Ende Tymes Festival in Brooklyn a few months back. For many of us die-hard noise fanatics, caffeine is the perfect modern drug paired with anti-musical electronics. For this head, the substance of choice is an iced espresso. Short attention spans satisfied by brief blasts of ego annihilation.

P.I.G.S. starts off Side A with a track of on-the-red, over-saturated, crisp digital harsh tones that flicker through the stereo field, resembling what one imagines a roman candle would sound like with proper internal amplification. When the track first starts, I had the thought that my headphones had bit the dust. Any time that my perception gets distorted in this manner, something of substance has been achieved. KIRA follows with another slice of harsh noise. While texturally satisfying to this listener in some moments, they indulging what sounds like mixer feedback farting through a butt plug. Yuck. F.T.P. gets things back on track with some blown-out, full-spectrum assault bordering on the HNW (harsh noise walls for the uninitiated) attack of mid-period Oscillating Innards. The attack is sudden and over before one gets a chance to analyze the damage done. Short and to-the-point, the way I like it. Next is Los Angeles veterans Sissy Spacek with their signature brand of cut-up noisecore. Tip-toeing the tight-rope of harsh electronics and noisecore is what they do best, and this is a more straight-forward example of their ongoing war against eardrums. Barely-dicherable vocals riding a wave of chaos and destruction (de)constructed from fragments of abused guitar strings and broken cymbals. Yummy. Sects begins their track with a short sample of German voice followed by a cut-up attack and ends with another short vocal sample. Nothing sticks with me on this one. The Pig Lady, a side project of Sissisters/Patrick Murch, follows up with a churning loop of grating feedback that slowly builds with a layer of static. This furious circular motion abruptly drops out to reveal a disintegrating pattern resembling a blank tape loop. Yes! Give me more contrast and asymmetrical movement like this, people. Wrong Hole delivers another head-scratcher of stereo confusion involving high-end tones and sounds of cardboard boxes being kicked around in an empty room. Subtle tape warbling accentuates crackling feedback that is constantly disintegrating into new corroded forms. A near-perfect intersection of tape manipulation and harsh noise.

Side B kicks off with Constrain (Kevin McEleney of the Heavy Psych label) known for the brevity and raw focus of his compositional style. Full of screeching acoustic feedback that contrasts a singular style of cut-up technique. Again, short and sweet. Kirian Arora brings the corrosive forces of constantly blasting noise that reveals a sinister background of slowed-down vocals, interrupted by a short segment of junk noise. Allegory Chapel, Ltd. brings dead static shifting around the stereo field. Not the most shining example of this veteran’s work, but a decent study in putrefaction nonetheless. AMK (Anthony Michael King/Banned Production), Elden M., and GX Jupitter-Larsen (mastermind behind the Haters) end the compilation with an oddball blend of natural sounds and record manipulation looping against a background of twirling electronic detritus. Any experienced listener can pick out the separate roles of each performer on this live piece.

All in all, a good representation of Los Angeles’ harsh noise scene. Unfortunately, the cassette edition is sold out, while a CD reissue has been made. Get it from Oxen.

Track Listing:
P.I.G.S. – Dyskinesia
Kira – Now She’s Black
F.T.P. – I Can’t Breath 3:23
Sissy Spacek – Material Consumption
Sects – untitled
The Pig Lady – Republican Marriage I & II
Wrong Hole – Imposing Blanks
Constrain – Life Trap
Kiran Arora – Catalepsy
Allegory Chapel Ltd. – Nakhon Phanom
AMK, GX Jupitter-Larsen, Elden M. – live at dA Center for the Arts 

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Tabs Out | An Interview With Power Moves Label

An Interview With Power Moves Label
8.12.15 by Mike Haley

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Kevin Cahill has been running the Power Moves Label imprint for the last two years, releasing some finely selected tranquility and gloom. I caught up with him on whatever Google Hangouts is to talk about the roots of Power Moves Label, it’s transition into Power Moves Library, and Mark McKinney’s opinion of his brother.

 

I gotta start things off with a totally inconsequential question, but something I think whenever I see a tape you’ve released. Do you say the word “label” or is it just Power Moves?

I do both, but I included it right off the top when I was hammering down the WordPress/Bandcamp. There was a hip hop Power Moves Productions, I think from early the 2000s or late 90’s, can’t remember now, but I wanted to move away from anything that would seem to close to that. Then it just stuck. Sort of weird but works for what I was after. And we started included it on all the tapes, etc.

So if someone said “Hey, what’s the name of your label” what would you say?

I would say Power Moves Label. Haha

Glad that is cleared up. Haha. And how did Power Moves Label come about?

I was working on a few things, some solo stuff as he Row project with my wife, Cheryl (whom is Sealadder, too) and knew i wanted to self-release but wanted to keep the doors wide open to continue to have other things fall into place from outside us, friends, and beyond even. So it riffed from that.

What name do you do solo stuff under?

Running Point.

The first release on the label was “Strachan” by Row, the project you do with Cheryl. Which is older, your marriage or that project?

Marriage by a few years, ha. Relationship by a mile.

Where was the picture on the cover taken?

At this Allan Gardens Conservatory here in Toronto. Has tons of plants and trees and birds housed in different spots in this old building. Used some reflection.

A lot of the material on that tape seems prepared. Am I correct to think that or is it all improv?

It is mostly improvised, just using layers and quick little melodic/tone ideas as starting places, then building little figures on top. But mostly creating on the spot to be exact. It’s more structured through editing and how we treat some of the minimal layers, etc.

So after releasing that tape, in an edition of 50 which is long gone, you did a cassette for your solo project Running Point called “For Guitar And Amplifier”. What is the main difference(s) between the stuff you do in Row and as Running Point?

Running Point is more free-flow and just me and my guitar and amp and a few pedals, just meandering/creating on the spot and sometimes less melodic, more outwardly fingerstyle, more delta/indian influenced, more loner. Row is very much a duo and we come at it differently with starting points and how the instruments play off each other tonally/colour-wise is huge to us. More locking in and riding/zoning mood and texture. With a hair more dreaminess/electronic feeling.

How do you prefer to record? Alone or as a duo?

Alone is much easier and I do it all the time when the mood strikes. Just set up and go and see where it takes me. Row is more letting things/ideas age and blossom even when we’re not creating, it’s much more patient and relaxed and less anxious. Both are wild. I feel like each needs the balance of the other (speaking for myself) as I can go down some rabbit-holes and I need rhythms and other riffs to play off/with.

Looking at a snapshot of all the releases so far, there seems to be an overarching theme of blues and blacks on the covers. Was that done on purpose or just a happy accident?

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Happy accident for sure. Just seems to be the way things went. Same with names, lot of ‘R’s and ‘S’s.

Whoa, I’m just noticing that now. Haha. It says “15 release cycle” on the side of your Bandcamp, and your currently at 14 releases. What does that mean?

Means 15 will be the last pro-duped release for that part of the family/record tree, moving into a home-dubbed go-crazy element next. Last album is a compilation coming very soon of all the artists to date on the label with new tracks. Will be for a nepal relief/rebuild foundation, all proceeds. Tapes for sale, pay what you can digital. Really looking forward to putting it all together and happy about the cause and hopefully how it will shape up.

Was that the plan from the beginning? Andy why 15?

The plan was always to keep it sort of manageable as I get busy with other things at home and work and I knew I wouldn’t be in that creative spot forever, so to speak. Also knew I wanted to move/shape it into other things when they came about. Leave some room for exploration and more experimenting. 15 seemed like the perfect number with how all the tapes were flowing and what projects were left/could turn into the new home-dub smaller run direction.

Will operations continue under the Power Moves Label name or move on to something new?

Seguing into Power Moves Library. Always felt like I should have nailed that name down but missed it. Ha.

Putting an expiration schedule on that one too or just letting it go for now?

Letting that one go for now. It’s all me at home, no other piece needed, so it’s easier/looser with how it all will come out. Costs way down now, more fun thinking about putting releases together with art, and I have some other surprise-type stuff that should fall into place too, like mixtapes on the other side of the tape. Did that on this first Running Point. Some art/writings I’ve started with Ryan Waldron (Talugung, an awesome artist). Etc, etc. Loose, just getting going, more laidback and even more out of the spotlight. Ha.

What kind of edition sizes are you doing for Power Moves Library?

This first one is only 15 copies, with a mixtape from vinyl on side b. Second one is by a fellow named Derek Baron with a great audio collage album up on his Bandcamp currently called ‘The Man I Love’ and I have his next project all dubbed and ready to go. Releasing it when he gigs here in town with another group he plays with called Causings (whom are rad too). Super amazing work and can’t wait to let others hear it. Crazy good field/percussion/drone/documentary vibes.

That’ll be Sepember 20, and it’s 25 copies. I’ve been dubbing on a single deck using a WAV-rip on CDr in real time, so it takes time. Though it did go faster than I thought.

What kind of deck you using?

Using a Luxman and loved how it performed. Turned out way better than i thought.

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Is the logo for Library going to be the same dudes as Label? And what move is being performed there?

New logo! Both are by Ryan Waldron. New one he did was of a guy climbing over a guy on a ‘corporate’ ladder motif, but couldn’t get the whole piece to fit my specs. Ha. First one is a dude in a suit flipping a ‘potential’ robber over his side/back. Can’t fuck with the power moves. Love the corporate office type riffing too, just a funny inside joke with Cheryl and my brother. So new one is a dude climbing the library stacks, so to speak. High shelves. Hidden. Or the corporate ladder.

You guys dig the “Crushing Your Head” character from Kids In The Hall?

Love Kids In The Hall. Funny story, my brother Pat was eating breakfast in this tiny little coffee shop/all day breakfast/sandwich place and Mark McKinney was sitting behind him and he (my bro) didn’t know he was there and was just riffing on how some (almost most) of the music in The Last Waltz is shitty “cause they’re all coked up and sort of banging their way through the tunes like ‘look, i think i got this!'” type debaucery. And then my bro leaves and his friend was saying Mark was listening and laughing the entire time Pat was holding court. And he nodded to Pat when he left.

Haha. That’s so great.

So will every incarnation of Power Moves have the PML initials, or is that a happy accident too?

Happy Accident, too. You’ve figured me out though.

Going on that happy accident streak, how many of the non-you/your wife releases on PML are random demos you’ve received?

No demos released actually. I reached out to Phong (1/2 of The Shouts From The Sea) way back. I came across Tristan’s (Missing Organs) Bandcamp and loved it before I knew who it was. And I reached out to Ian (Shredderghost) too, as I love his work. The others are my friends, brother/family thing. Baron was introduced via Pat Cain (the other half of The Shouts From The Sea). All great people I deeply respect. Been lucking out, man.

Full Disclosure: Shredderghost/Ian Franklin is a member of the Tabs Out crew. Where did you first hear him?

I heard his work on Bandcamp, and just brief interactions through Twitter, so I asked about releasing something new and trading tapes.

I see you took the picture for the cover of his tape, “Golden Cell”. What is that a pic of?

I spray-painted an older inner record sleeve. It was folding up/curling under the paint and we took the camera out back and shot it live action styles trying to get the paint passing the lense. It looked super neat. Plus I knew he wanted something in the ballpark (loose of course) in the blue colour based off the painting by Odilon Redon, the Golden Cell painting, which Ian had showed me and is beyond incredible.

Gonna end this interview with a question I end all label interviews with. Right off the top of your head, name a project you’ve never done a release for that everyone should check out.

Shit. Love Ravi Padmanabha’s work.

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Tabs Out | Pedestrian Deposit – The Architector

Pedestrian Deposit – The Architector
8.12.15 by Ian Franklin

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For the 15 years Monorail Trespassing has been in operation they’ve released a staggering amount of music. To celebrate their 100th release they’ve delivered the newest offering from Pedestrian Deposit, the duo of Jonathan Borges and Shannon A. Kennedy. “The Architector” (C40) is two side-long tracks built off of material dating from February 2010 through December 2014 “recorded at lungmotor c.n., goose nest, and in the field”. Pedestrian Deposit give a bit of detail on their Facebook about the release stating, “The culmination of five years of obsessive work — fits and starts of ongoing perfectionism that spawned two solo projects and two additional records. Beginning with crude and unfamiliar source materials, each sound is examined from every possible angle, then taken apart and reconstructed along with the compositional process. From 2010 forward, each phase is represented; the past three U.S. tours have given clues, and these recordings offer more of the puzzle, but you will never get everything at once. To be experienced as foreground with no distractions. This begins a practice of self-containment and preservation from outside elements.” For the people familiar with their work already, this presents some very compelling information; but for those who aren’t, it barely hints at the intensely visceral and powerful noise ahead.

Reducing Pedestrian Deposit’s sound to a strictly “noise” signifier, however, would be a terrible disservice to the duo. Their pieces are for the most part composed, with a strict adherence to form, spatiality, dynamics, and timbre. Live performances often include elaborate rigging structures, suspending Kennedy in an array of pulleys, chains, and other pieces wielding contact mics in a seemingly dangerous but composed dance of sonic annihilation. Borges, keenly aware of dynamic minutia, switches from stoically composed to all out furious, extracting devastating feedback from the ether.

Side A’s “A Cold Harvest”, begins with brief flashes of metallic dread on top of a steady and rippling undercurrent of low-end oscillation. The overwhelming feeling is that of dread. The sounds morph into labored groans of synth with triggered splashes of feedback that never seem to spiral out from their control. Sharp stabs of synth build over distant electronic wails. The tension is haunting. Dancing around the edges of complete breakdown the duo builds an already unnerving sound to near hysteria before completely falling off to slow paced crawl of clicking feedback and sublime bowed cello.

“Shifted Snake” kicks of the B side with dexterous punches of harsh noise, silhouetted by almost imperceptible bed of fuzz. Glistening bubbles of synth boil over, melting into the layers of looping textured noise. Soft resonant tones float in and out of the structure. The noise eventually fades leaving only the resonance behind; a glowing orb of distant light rotating around you just beyond your arms reach that swells with a slow and steady speed before ultimately consuming you.

This is an extraordinary release from a titan in experimental music. It makes you painfully aware of the intricacies of awareness, beckoning you to give everything you have to the energy of the performance. “The Architector” is released in an edition of 100 and is still available from the Monorail Trespassing which means you should go get it.