Spring Break Tapes’ Mystery Batch
5.18.16 by Mike Haley

Some people hate surprises. They like the comfort of knowing exactly what is and isn’t going to happen. They don’t want to be offered a slice of chocolate cake that turns out to be a turd I found at the zoo (dessert prank!). But not all surprises taste like capybara poop. Some are awesome!

Back in April Spring Break Tapes announced preorders for a two tape “Mystery Batch”. No information about the artists was given, other than these would be their debut releases. The tapes would be limited to 50 copies was pretty much all that was said about the releases. Within 24 hours all but artist copies were gone. Sold to chill risk takers with a few bucks in their PayPal account and a knowledge of SBT’s fairly dope track record. If you ask me, and I know you did not, this was totally a smooth move by Spring Break. An amusing way to place new sounds in ear holes that may have missed them otherwise. And it was fun. And fun, IMHO, can be fun to have.

The now un-mystified cassettes, shipped with a “special gift” (maybe capybara pooooop??), are from halcyon soothsayers Gaetano Cappella and Contagious Yawns.

“Italian artist, Gaetano Cappella’s debut Maiella is a cassette dedicated to and inspired by his birthplace of the same name. Cappella equally holds strong feelings for his process of drone creation. All the sounds on Maiella were solely created by him with guitar, natural ambience and a cassette recorder. Like most drone releases there is a darkness to the recordings but you can also feel the spiritual quality they have, as though you were atop the highest peak of a mountain as it moaned and wailed it’s first sounds after a thousand year slumber.” – Spring Break Tapes

“Influenced and inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick’s epic drama of adventure and exploration, Contagious Yawns’ debut, Some Places Aren’t Around Here, shares some of the same qualities as the classic film. Hypnotic rhythms and ethereal synth organ create a feeling of suspense, a sense of chaos and a path of uncertainty. Some Places is undoubtedly an impressive release from an artist we’re sure to hear more from.” – Spring Break Tapes

Both artists will have copies for sale for those who just had to know what was in the box. The label has plans for future blind batches, which I fully support.