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Larry Gordon – Sea Section
11.18.15 by Mike Haley

Like a mixtape that your number one sweetie made ya, which somehow became infected with a nasty strain of malware, Larry Gordon‘s “Sea Section” cassette on Kirkland spews an infected froth of awkward popups and heavily-dosed frustration. Attempts to sit back, relax, and listen to a buzz clip from The Smashing Pumpkins or a poorly dubbed Tears For Fears number are ransacked. Overrun by password hacks, phishing IM’s, and offers for Fr3e V1agRa. Only snippets of the original audio work their vibrations through the cracks of dizzying, agitated loops and buffering obstructions, creating a circus of oddball structures out of samples that have no right being sampled. It’s a magnificent flea market of mistakes, wallpapered with vertigo.

The low points are rather low. Pessimistic detours through the muddy back-roads of deep web Vine audio. That all easily transition into straight goofball’n (Ever hear a duck run out of free hours of AOL? Ever hear it on repeat?!) and these killer distraught melodies constructed from polluted fragments. Impressive work for a guy with the name of a insurance salesman. Though I’m assuming Larry Gordon is a moniker. Maybe of someone possible behind the inner workings of Kirkland? Maybe someone who fucks with Gee Weaver? I don’t know, I’m not Columbo! Peter Falk is dead! … He is, right? (googling….) Yeah, he’s dead.

Gordo uses a Lenovo Thinkpad, Numark PT-01, and Tascam 414 on these recordings. I only know that because it was written on the Jcard. Like I said, Columbo-a-no-no.

Pick up this tape, check out the weird way Kirkland folds their Jcards, and be happy!

New Batch – Constellation Tatsu
11.13.15 by Mike Haley

You’ve been battling gelatinous blobs and winged creatures for weeks, searching for the Ω stone. The sole object that is foretold to bring balance back to the planet. To once and for all wipe out the virus that no one has bothered to name. But after giving so much you have nothing to show. That’s because the Ω stone does not exist. It never did. And instead of toiling through wretched caves and swamps, you should have e-hiked over to the Constellation Tatsu website and checked out their fall batch; A fascinating triple-set equipped with massive healing forces. That would have been so much easier. You are so stupid…

So what exactly are these three tapes that rival the restorative forces of the Ω stone? Well, first of all, remember that the Ω stone doesn’t really exist. We went over that already. Let’s talk about the rejuvenation techniques of these three cassettes.

Step one in this mending process is an extended player (about an hour and a half!) from Paul R. Marcano and Andre Martin. This split works as a yoga/hypnosis combo equivalent of sorts. Marcano’s piece, a 45-minute recording from 1973 called Valley Flutes, is an expansion of consciousness through satiny ambiance. After recording himself playing a recorder on a reel-to-reel at slow, medium, and high speeds, Marcano took those flute sounds and sorted them into a fragile pattern that wavers and lurches like colored smoke under bright hot lights. It’s really quite the body high. Andre Martin takes a similar trajectory with a track from his personal archive, As It Is. If Paul Marcano filled the room with smoke, then Andre is hovering on it. He moves so slowly as to no disrupt the nearly nonexistent surface of each cloud. Even with that smoothness on full display, sounds so mellow and sweet they don’t even penetrate mist, they’ll dig right inside of you. They’ll fill you with a vibrant intensity through restraint and ethereal kindness. The smoke never clears. Everything is beautiful, and warm, and we’re only 1/3 of the way into the process…

Now that you’ve detached from the thought of pain it’s time for Step Two: Andrew Weathers “I Am Happy When I Am Moving”. Weathers takes you outside for some good old fashioned fresh air on this seven-song tape. He treks through rickety ghost towns and serene deep woods, with his determined, minimal guitar plucking and genial synthesis leading the way. background jitters and the occasional deep breath are almost nonexistent while he casually chugs along, determined to reach placid peaks. Easy comparisons could be made to similar recordings by Daniel Higgs, but you gotta give it up to Andrew Weathers for forming structures that are unique and beautiful.

For the most part, you should be feeling pretty fucking good right now. This new Constellation Tatsu batch has stretched out your mind and muscles. Now to top it off with a medicinal nightcap. Step Three is “Union Of Worlds” by Majeure. Plenty of space is filled with the tension of sinister, atmospheric synth on “Union Of Worlds”. Majeure definitely has a way with forming pressure and stress through chilling methods. But the snow-melting arpeggio blasts, like on the bombastic track Physis, are also genuinely crafted and equally stunning. Definitely one of the better synthesizer tapes this year.

So the Ω stone was a bust. Oh well. These tapes will make up for that with their killer sounds and artwork. They are available individually or as a batch.

Q&A With Never Anything Records
10.27.15 by Mike Haley

Much like suckers, there’s a cassette label born every minute. And while a lot of those new labels tend to be suckers, creating mountains of unnecessary plastic and magnetic tape, some shine through the gratuitous gobbledygook. One of those new labels sparkling in the sludge is Never Anything Records. Never Anything recently released their first batch consisting of three tapes; A refreshing mixture of poignant pop and brisk synthesizer alchemy. A lovely, chill start to a label that already seems fully realized. I caught up with Never Anything with a few inquiries. Shall we?

 

Who are the humans behind Never Anything? Where does everyone live and what (if any) bands/projects/etc is everyone involved with?

Never Anything is myself, Jeff Lane, Tyler King and Clay Mahn. Tyler and I are residents of Portland, Oregon, and Clay just moved to Chicago from Portland to get an MFA at SAIC, where, oddly enough, I received my MFA before moving back to the PNW. I’ve been recording under the name Tereshkova since around 2010-11. Tyler has been featured on almost every Tereshkova cassette in some capacity, whether it was adding drums, synth lines or what have you. In March I recorded my first album with a band (still under Tereshkova), which consisted of Tyler, Clay, and a friend of ours named Salvador Perdomo, and that album, Bouquet Slush, is coming out on Already Dead Tapes in November. Clay’s project, Lustana, was NA-1, the first release on our label.

What/who inspired you to start a tape label? Did any other cassette labels influence you at all?

I think the desire to start a tape label was a natural progression for me. After having my albums released on tapes, it seemed inevitable that sooner or later I would get involved, because I really wanted to.

In terms of label influences, the number one visual aesthetic I’d say that we have or talk about is Wergo Records. For the uninitiated, it was a German label founded in the 60s that put out primarily avant-garde classical gems. Their early vinyl covers are beautiful. But, in terms of the cassette landscape, I would say that as a direct result of releasing material, the labels who put out my stuff were very influential to me: Rok Lok, Lillerne, Teen River, Already Dead, Illuminated Paths and Night-People. From each experience I learned a little bit about what I liked about labels, and maybe what I didn’t as well.

I very much appreciate the modus operandi of Teen River (RIP? for now? I know Jake Acosta is running Lake Paradise, which is an awesome label anyone reading this should check out) and Already Dead in terms of being down to release a diverse array of material. Night-People have that amazing unifying aesthetic where the entire catalog transcends the normal parameters of a label to become one huge art piece, which I admire. I think these two elements are very important to us: having a unified look/impression, and releasing music that is “good” to us, whatever that might mean, regardless of trend, and definitely not in a singular vein or niche. I’d like to avoid pigeonholing ourselves as a label that releases only X kind of material. Our goal is to be surprising, yet consistent, but this is also contingent upon the music we receive (send now: neveranythingrecords@gmail.com).

I really dig the look of this first batch. Who did the artwork and decided on the template? Are they elements that you think will be a permanent thing with Never Anything releases?

Clay Mahn did the artwork and decided on the template for the first batch. He’s the engineer of our aesthetic. We talked a lot about the look of the tapes, and from the beginning, we knew we wanted a strong, fairly minimal design that continued from batch to batch and also allowed for variation while still remaining within our established visual context.

Your logo is two reels, one loaded with tape and the other empty. On the Demonstration Synthesis & James Benjamin collab (NA2) both reels are loaded. Why is that? (my guess: because it’s a collab? sorry for the silly question. haha)

Good observation, and not a silly question at all! The colors of the reels, or the appearance of two loaded reels, is purely a design choice. Clay wanted variation between the logos. Going forward, the general design of the logos will remain, but their colors will definitely change depending on j-card color, etc. We want to have some fluidity rooted within our visual frame of reference.

Tell me a little bit about your first batch. Where did you first hear these artists?

Clay is one of my best friends, and I heard his Lustana project develop from the ground up. We spent a lot of time in his art studio listening to his recordings at full blast, drinking beers, talking about song structures and album flow. His album was definitely an impetus to starting the label as well.

Dillon Sturtevant, who records as John Dillon, is a friend who I met while living in Seattle. He sent me some of his early demos, before he’d had the songs completely hashed out or the groundwork for Never Anything had been established, and I thought they were fantastic. When he sent me the final mix of the album, I asked him if we could release it in our first batch and he was kind enough to oblige. He’s a great, really talented guy.

I’d been an admirer of Daniel Leznoff’s work since his DS6 release came out on 5cm Recordings. His Demonstration Synthesis project has been one of the most consistently imaginative synth enterprises around. I sent him an email asking if he’d like to be in our first batch, and luckily he had this very cool collaboration with his friend James Benjamin to offer.

The first three tapes appear to be home dubbed. Was that out of necessity or by choice?

We dubbed the tapes at home more by choice than necessity. In setting up the label, part of the fun was acquiring the tape decks, learning their capabilities and limitations, and tackling the inevitable technical problems that arose. While home dubbing can take up lots of time, the process definitely strengthens our personal connection to each release.

What’s up next for the label?

Next up for the label is a December or January batch. I’m pretty excited to release a Tereshkova album I’ve been working on for the past four months or so called “Golden Tomgirl”. Right now we’re talking to a couple of artists about getting involved, so we’ll see what happens. Again, if you’d like your music considered for Never Anything, hit us up.

Grip Never Anything’s tapes from Bandcamp and follow them on Facebook.

V/A – The Long Halloween Mixtape
10.21.15 by Mike Haley

Halloween can be a scary time. Hell, some might even say #tooscary. But if you’re the kind of person that can get down with spooky goblins and skittering critters, then Third Kind Records has the tricks and treats for ya. “The Long Halloween Mixtape” is a 105 minute (that is quite long) compilation wrapped in pages from the graphic novel of the same name. The tracks aren’t necessarily Halloween themed. You wont hear any haunted house sound effects or witches cackling, but instead an unbelievably tight curated mixture of experimental sounds. Much like a post trick-or-treat sack that contains everything from a razor blade cloaked in a Fun Size Snickers to carrot sticks.

Present on this 20 tracks monster are a few Third Kind veterans; Nicholas Langley who runs Third Kind with Molly Askey-Goldsbury, appears in a few forms, including collaborations with Ian Murphy. Wrong Signals. who released the satisfying “However, The Joke Became Serious” C40 last year, provide a fresh track plus one remixed by Fisty Kendal (who also give up a couple of cuts on this comp. Fisty also released a Third Kind tape alongside it). And a double dose from New Zealand’s Reflex Condition. The lineup is rounded out by names previously unfamiliar to me, but better late than never.

Not only is there no Halloween-theme on this Halloween mixtape, but there is also absolutely no marriage to genre either as the compass needle whirls for over an hour and a half. Concept Devices‘ eight minute opener might be the closest representation to a creepy 10/31 vibe. But as soon as you’re thoroughly coated in dank and malleable spans of low-pressure drone and a generous oozing of slender feedback, Wrong Signals accelerates the situation. A downpour of gum drops fall from the sky during their hasty, colorful delivery of sound before a blending into the next track. Oh, that’s another awesome thing about this cassette. Each track smoothly transitions from one to the next, with slight overlap, like a fine gradient. So when you find yourself surrounded by the enchanting melodies and compelling vocal supply of Erm & Charlotte (possibly my favorite track here) or buried in the saturated, gurgling fields of Slash’s Wormhole (definitely my favorite artist name here) you’l have breadcrumbs to find your way home. The question is, will you want to go home? Probably not. Proceed!

Don’t fret over becoming disoriented by the divergent buffet that is “The Long Halloween Mixtape”. Give in. Each artist does what they do with immense capability, and this tape deserves a full, devoted listen. The final three tracks sum up it’s sundry of sickness nicely. An excitable demonstration of experimental techno from Son Of Celluloid is the beginning of the end for this comp. Restless beats and vocal sampling morph into the symphony of disfigured seduction that is Reflex Condition’s second contribution “Lullaby Graveyard”. A tough one to explain here. A warm bath of awkwardness? A tormented nap? I don’t know, but I love it, as well as the bubbling synth finale by ModulatorESP. A brilliant ending to a powerful various artist offering.

This is, without a doubt, my favorite cassette compilation of the year. Buy it now.

Shapes – s/t
10.12.15 by Mike Haley

Square, circle, triangle, hexadecagon. Those are all of the shapes known to humans. At least, that is what we thought…

If finding water on Mars has taught us anything it’s that another discovery is always around the corner. We’ll never truly know all there is to know about our complex existence, but as long as we continue to explore and scrutinize, we will mature mentally. We will learn, understand, and harness. Our mothers and fathers lived out their days comfortable in the fact that there were only four shapes. Every first kiss, broken bone, and dream postponed was done in a world with four shapes. I am here to announce a fifth. A fifth shape that is the luscious indulgence of Niklas Dommaschk’s synthesizer music.

Germany’s Meudiademorte Records packaged up this self-titled cassette slick and sexy like. The double-sided Jcard layout and black on silver cassette shell sticker are mucho posh, and give an inkling as to what world you’re about to enter. A world with a copious score of tolerant, dreamy fantasy-sounds. Shapes’ enticing synth chords ricochet off mirrored walls, finding themselves in calming cycles, relieving the listener’s shoulders of stress with each glide by. As tracks go by, in lengths of just under three minutes and just over ten, the pearly gates open a bit wider. It’s not all a back rub providing glossy elevation. The pleasure does not come without the portentous. A listen to a track like “Troubled Light” and it’s paranoid notes lurking beneath the tonal equivalent of crystallized dew is a reminder that the clouds can turn black. And while it never actually rains, the slight malaise incorporates itself nicely into the overall texture.

I can only assume there is an admiration for the obvious heroes. Niklas Dommaschk surely has a collection that doesn’t shy away from the ilk of Carpenter, Vangelis, Tomita, etc. And while he isn’t reinventing the genre, he isn’t making a replica either. There are 103 of these wonderful self-titled cassette available in all, in two different color schemes. Grab your copy here.