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The Spookfish – Pumpkin Beats 2

7.16.20 by Matty McPherson

Every time I open the newspaper (for your information, I read *insert local metropolitan paper here*), I’m bombarded with an advert for the latest rehash, ripoff, or (dare I type) the dreaded sequel. Nothing gets me more riled up than an unnecessary sequel, and my copy of the Spookfish’s latest release, Pumpkin Beats 2, was headed to the trash can until I tripped over my copy of this New York Times hyperlink and watched the tape somehow miraculously jump into my boombox!

The Spookfish (aka Dan Goldberg), should be a name familiar to Hudson Valley DIY + nature lovers. For the past several years, Goldberg had been hosting a series of Mountain Shows, where people hike and stop for musical performances “at scenic spots”, while cranking out no-fidelity synth tunes and folk ditties for himself as well as the big wigs at Fire Talk. Pumpkin Beats 2, a sequel (of sorts) to the Pumpkin Beats 4-track EP from 2014, was released on Lily’s Tapes and Discs earlier in March and might be the closest experience you can currently have if you wished you could be at Goldberg’s Mountain Shows but now sit at home and stare at cars passing by.

Like the previous batch of Pumpkin Beats, the Spookfish really plays into the idea of “no-fidelity” surreal blips. Many of these songs are rudimentary sketches, laid bare with drum machines and synth sounds (“Oaf” in particular gives off the vibe of running a DND campaign about raiding a Spirit Halloween store on November 1st), or stripped down piano/guitar and murmurs (“Path”, a truly misunderstood slowcore ballad). They rarely stretch above two minutes. In this state, these songs cast off a strange aura out of the ‘ol boombox, like you’ve stumbled into someone’s basement when they’re trying to hold down a young prayer to a pagan temple for themselves. But they’re still friendly and invite you to sit in!

Yet, the best track is really saved for last, with “In the Dark” stretching to SEVEN herculean minutes as the Spookfish combines synth drone/noise and acoustic strumming to weave up the feeling of being drowned out, taken to a passive state. My only complaints are that it’s not longer, nor that it’s ending is anything more than just a sudden stop.

I really did at first want to decimate this album. However, everytime I look up from my room at a barren, empty street (I live in a college town, in a college county, in a college state) in the middle of the night, I feel the strange inkling to start my own occult dedicated to the Spookfish.

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The Tuesday Night Machines – Acid Tape

7.6.20 by Matty McPherson

Since I’m not getting anywhere close to Germany in this economy, I have to live out my acid house fantasies with The Tuesday Night Machines’ bluntly titled Acid Tape. A funny lil’ feller, TTNM was on quite the tear last year, making the rounds with a series of consistently shifting tapes that dabbled in drone, ambience, and natural sounds as longform playgrounds to explore the almighty power of modular synthesizers and sidrax organs. In a better economy, he’d be on the front cover of Ambient Monthly! But TTNM is craftier than pigeonholing himself into the ambient market and I’ve got the scoop-he’s pivoting to dance! Perhaps the tip-off came with TTNM’s meta-beat tape for Strategic Tape Reserve or the crunch of Super Dolomiti Crunch, but that’s only a sample of le’ Acid Tape. Armed with just two Cyclone Analogic TT-303 Bass Bots and a TT-606 Drum Drone, TTNM ventures into the fried crevices of acid house.

This is an estate that oozes futurism in neon green. The sound is focused upon a minimal, obsessive regiment comprised only of warped n’ giddy high-hats, laseresque bass wobbles, and on one track a good ‘ol fashion modular synth. Yet, TTNM’s DIY-mindset sees through the limits of that mindset, maintaining a lo-fi state of bliss. One like “Death Valley” might start with a simplistic beat before the regiment makes a sudden swap or a bass wobble uproots any stability, leading to greater speed and excitement. Others like “Un Dimanche à la Campagne” uphold a slow n’ steady BPM that is ready made for a beat tape, even though the wobbly yelps of a 303 are the real vocals. Acid Tape lets abstractions take over this regimented sound, turning what could have been a series of pleasant experiments into another rapid-fire ten track odyssey.

Does it lend itself to the dancefloor? Of all calibers including (but not limited to) analog boombox, mental mindset, and philosophical otherworldliness. Would it be wise to place it in my skateboard chase frenzy video? If you video has the budget, “Sloppy Accident” is the cut. Should TTNM be remixing all those DFA 7” from the “Great Dance Punk Frenzy of 2k3”? That’s just my headcanon.

Edition of 20 from TTNM’s personal bandcamp, complete with ACID sticker!

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R.E. Seraphin – Tiny Shapes

6.24.20 by Matty McPherson

The Paisley Shirt tape label out of San Francisco has quietly set up shop with a roster dedicated to an alternate history of post-punk where the Monochrome Set and Feelies got books written about them and everyone went to the beach for surf rock parties. (The label promises you’ll “get a good idea of what we’re about” by listening to this zany song)! It’s made for an ideal home documenting west-coast punk that is anything but hardcore. They’ve got songs your dad would love!

Thus it makes sense that R. E. Seraphin’s new solo album, Tiny Shapes, finds a nice home on the label. Already a veteran of making garage rock with the Talkies, Seraphin, with the original Talkies rhythm section, sets his sights on an 80s college rock sound with plenty of bar rock power pop. And yes, it is complete with those kick up drums and power chords that are so dear to the ears. The album wastes no time with the one-two punch of “Today Will Be Kind” and “The Score”, where the emphasis on a jangly, yet chunky sound triumphs over his lowkey, yet endearing vocal delivery. 

It’s an endlessly relistenable power pop dirge fest, with raucous sing-a-longs fit for a pint of rustic saison on the first half AND slow dances for your lonely single-wet-hop IPA sipping nights on the back half! How Seraphin manages to balance the heartfelt, heartstruck, and heartworn energy of power pop is best summed up on Fortuna. Backed by shimmering jangle at the chorus, with a funky bass, Seraphin’s musty, muttering vocals daydream of “I want it all/Fortuna Falls”. When you’re staring at a blank wall with an empty pint glass, you too want Fortuna Falls.

At only the low, low price of $3, it’s an excellent excuse to go and pick up Paisley Shirt’s nearly sold-out lineup of tapes!