Radiant Husk - Points and Lines [Bezoar Formations]/Sogol - Miniature Orbits [Bezoar Formations]

I really love Matthew Erickson's projects, dude's gotta be one of the more under-appreciated guys going today in my opinion, and this pair of tapes from Radiant Husk (Erickson's solo mainstay) and Sogol which I'm guessing is a one-off project by Erickson as well are two more entries that will continue to spread the gospel of Matthew. Erickson's Bezoar Formations imprint dropped these sometime last year and it looks like the label is gearing up to drop another batch soon.

Side A is christened as "Thermal Beings." It starts with waves of Erickson's signature reeds, which are accompanied by tapes, keys and wave machine on this recording. Erickson also jams it in the killer guitar/sax duo Sudden Oak, but where SO has a rough, evershifting sound, Radiant Husk slowly puts together these gorgeous little miniatures. The project doesn't generally work in the long form but develops a series of episodes through course of a side. Erickson's work here is so deliberate and in tune; he gradually builds these little hills before letting the sea in to erode them away. Then a solitary saxophone will often take the lead once more. Radiant Husk features one of the more unique saxophone voices out there, it's not really jazz and it's not your average basement reedage either. Erickson creates a complex field of sound with it; you could almost dive in. One of my favorite moments happens later on the side where Erickson tries to squeal through the lively swamp of loops he created. The other element at work here that has to be mentioned is the place of rhythm in the project. Rather than just looping sustained blasts of sax over and over (nothing wrong with that FYI) Erickson often creates these gentle, rhythmically complex and highly contagious tapestries.

The second side "Lines 1-7" begins with a single echoing saxophone grunting away in the silence. From the single sax it mushrooms into a sheet of sound before getting stomped out by a deep ominous reed growl. Over a cyclical set of loops Erickson delivers a brief solo before promptly moving into the next section, an almost tribal amalgam. This passage is shortlived as well and segues into a beautiful bit of filtered sax. The tape keeps moving, rapidly hopping from section to section. Quiet nudges of sound shift to cavernous reed squeaks and that's all folks.

I'm pretty sure this Sogol tape is Erickson as well. It's focused on keyboards but it still bears his stamp. Miniature Orbits is a perfect title for this tape as it's a pastiche of beautiful, stand alone miniatures. It's difficult to properly describe but the sections range from a minute or so to seconds long. They tend to be very minimal, some only featuring a few notes. There's some pause button stitchwork in here too, so if you're down with other keyboard/cassette combos out I'm sure you'd climb aboard here with no trouble. Some sections could be the sound track of a UFO hovering over San Francisco, others are more full, new agey and soothing. It's wonderful little tape, each nutshelled idea contributing to the whole.

The second side is much like the first moving between floaters and more grounded minimal bee-boop experiments. There's a rather long passage on the B-side that stumbles through echoing single key plonks, pitter-pattering around, dodging trebly pitch swells.

Pretty much everything with the Bezoar tag will be ace but these two both come highly recommended. It looks like there are still a couple copies of the Rad Husk tape kicking around Bezoar Formations but you'll have to seek the Sogol tape at the distros.

Arklight/Dead Gum - Split [Phase]

Dang, Greeks love Arklight. The country is reliably pumping out Arklight releases even after the whole bottoming out of the economy. Thank you for your continued service Greece.
This one (from the Phase label) is special because a) it’s a tape and b) Dead Gum is on the other side. I’d never heard Dead Gum before this and I can’t say the name lead to high expectations but they were a pleasant surprise. The tape is wound on their side right now so I’ll start the review there.
“Knock Your Head on the Tablet” starts things off with lots of distorted echoing guitars. I don’t know what the band line-up is or if it’s just one person but I’m pretty sure everyone who is actually in the band is playing guitar. The track amounts to a rough, glistening wall of shimmer; shoegaze with balls. “Let Me Show You Around” features rigid marching guitar strums courtesy of a delay pedal. From there the track gets gradually messier as the delays fold back on themselves. This one has a lot more space in it leading me to think Dead Gum is probably the result of a single pair of hands. Unintelligible vocals near the end are a welcome addition as it sort of feels like a bonafide song in its closing minutes. As one chapter ends another begins, Dead Gum segues into the track’s finale edging toward psychedelic territory with a slightly more upbeat and groovy feel. This shifts directly to the stark, jangling strings of “Secret Love.” “Rat of Tide” changes the vibe considerably as it’s a very loose, jangly guitar and voice song. It’s got plenty of prickly points all over but stands apartment from the layers of distortion at the outset of the side. The finale, “Six Packs of Everything,” inadvertently caused me to wonder how many things do really come in six packs, beer/soda, abs, crayons, I don’t think that many things do. Anyway, that tangent has nothing whatsoever to do with the music. The side’s finale is even looser, with some zonked vocals and rustling guitar strings.
This tape sounds awesome with the volume knob up. Not necessarily anything new I guess, but its tried and true cascading guitar fuzz and loner six-stringin’ that never gets old. I’d like to see where Dead Gum goes from here; maybe they’ll imbue their sound with a little more form next time around?
Arklight’s side opens with “Radonitsa.” A garbled weather report on the radio, needling guitars, a thunderous loop of bass feedback or something or other. I think there’s a live hi-hat in here too. Typical of Arklight, it’s an atypical arrangement. The jam stays locked into it’s groove, builds tension until distortion starts spreading like a virus through the track slowly eclipsing everything in static. I always enjoy it when Arklight brings the grooves, and “Russian Ark” flirts with that very idea. A spaced guitar melody slowly loops against unspecified percussive bumps, clicks, steps, scratches, whathaveyous. The piece is relatively unchanging; it almost feels like a Buddha box or something. “Like Light Night” jams on a single guitar a little like parts of the Dead Gum side. Much like some of the Dead Gum side as well, it lapses into a blurry, fuzzed out mess. The closer “Captain General” hits hard and heavy right off the bat with big distorted thumping toms. A guitar that sounds like it’s being molested by a violin bow is panned back forth as the rhythm section thrusts and rumbles on. The drums drop out for a fantastic breakdown, atmospheric guitar touches and especially a clutch bassline totally nail it, making it the stand out moment of the track before the drums return. The track as a whole has an elusive vibe I’m really digging. My favorite jam on the tape, hands down.
Phase did a nice job with screen-printed artwork. 65 copies, still in print. Hit up the label.

Garrincha & the Stolen Elk - We Were Wyoming [Stunned]/Garrincha & the Stolen Elk - Black Sambo/White Mamba [905 Tapes]

I picked up the oddly named Garrincha & the Stolen Elk's 905 tape a while back. It was a lo-fi trip into outer space guitar/sax/synth jams (which I'll get to in a bit.) I definitely wasn't prepped for what came on the new Stunned tape though. The duo of Davy Bui and Matt Kretzmann are joined by the stellar rhythm section of Karlos Ayala (bass) and Kevin Corcoran (drums.) Don't know if the expansion is gonna be permanent or not but I wouldn't mind it.

We Were Wyoming certainly starts on the right foot, "I Can Only Paint with One Emotional Tone/Acqueduct Flux." A solid, repetitive bass riff anchors the piece along with rumbling, almost funky, drums. Bui and Kretzmann deliver vocals back and forth over the stoic rhythm section before erupting into a mountainous spasm of sax, guitar and moog. The duo is really drawing on no wave and the entirety of Dischord's output (Fugazi through Black Eyes.) The "Aqueduct Flux" portion goes through an extended mellow bridge of guitar and drums before ramping up the energy with an angular riff. It's Bui's sax passage that really solidifies the piece though. "Tut" adds a little more Touch & Go to the mix, David Yow-meets-Guy Piccioto vocal delivery over an alternately loosey-goosey and heavy rhythm section. The moog and sax strategically push the track off the edge at key moments.

The instrumental "Crushed (Once)" delivers a great guitar riff from the get-go with a jumpy rhythm section pumping behind. That particular riff absolutely towers over everything that goes on in the rest of the track so it's return midway through is like a shot of adrenaline to the heart. "Staccato Lights" is structured around repeated jabs of sax, synth and guitar and raspy vocals but settles into a nice swing by the end. Ultimately though, the crew just jams it into submission. "II" is just an outro of sorts--a heavily effected, stream of generally unintelligible insults.

I totally lived on this kind of shit when I was in high school and it's great hear someone go at it with fresh energy. And it's nice to hear it on tape! Totally unexpected but entirely welcome. More please.

Black Sambo/White Mamba starts out with "Black Sambo" and an intergalactic lurchfest. Electronic crunch, ray gun-style synth manipulation, cosmic sax bleats. Not too shabby. The noise just seems to hurtle through space on its own patient engine. This sounds way grimier than the Stunned tape. Even the "quieter" passages have plenty of grit in the atmosphere. "Octopussy" is a straight ahead guitar/sax duet. Kretzmann on the palm mutes and Bui on the sax runs. Oddly enough, it turns out to be a tender little piece.

The duo heads off side b with "Deserted" and I think they may both be on guitar. Heavily delayed strings move from loner blues into squalling shimmers. It's nice enough but I am feeling the other title track "White Mamba" much more. Someone's got their keyboard set to the "bossanova" setting and the whole thing swings with a killer tropical melody from the sax. The guitar is onto some radar jamming shit though, trying to cover up the whole affair in feedback. The jam devolves into a street brawl between Kretzmann's sledgehammer and Bui's blowtorch. A real cool killer.

Nice pair of tapes. I'm feeling the Stunned one more but that's no slag on the 905. The duo have a lot going for them so I'm looking to see where they'll take us next. These are probably gone from the labels (never hurts to ask though) so it's probably time to hit the distros if you're interested.

J. Hanson - New Ruined Maps (Collected 2009-2010) [DRAFT]

Here is some top-shelf Northwest collaboration, which you know I am always behind. Seattle's DRAFT is a new synth-centric offshoot of Gift Tapes, and among their first few cassettes DRAFT has chosen to release this album by Portlandic synth master Josh Hanson and his Blacet Modular Synthesizer.

"Sawjig" opens. Meaty analog synth vibes with a hint of folksy (Celtic perhaps) influence underneath. It's a very patient and engaging piece for the first couple minutes, limiting itself to a few components. This changes when a percussive track turns up and the keys get more active indulging in that lightly Celtic feel I mentioned earlier. Hanson transitions quite nicely into "Summer Oscillations" and its minimal but definitely groovy, up-tempo opening. The first section is short lived; evaporating into bird calls from where the next portion takes over. The piece almost seems to be on pause, it stagnates in mellow tones, numbing you almost. And then Hanson drops a series of groovy pitter-pattering synth grooves jolt you out of your slumber. "Astoria" immediately catches your attention with puttering loops and slightly seasick melody. Hanson rightly doesn't stay far from this base. Washes of cymbal-like tones and caffeinated, chattering robots make their presences known, but that methodical, loping melody remains the center. "A Patch of Shade" is a little similar to "Astoria" but major key. It's lively and almost into "feelgood" territory. It makes you wanna nod your head, look brightly to future and all that positive stuff. Nice way to end the side.

Hanson flips the theme as we flip the tape. "Mountain by Lake" is gunnin' to unsettle the listener just a little bit. This recalls the Celtic influence again, although this time it amounts to more of an aliens-composing-for-bagpipes feel. It's a great, extended piece of work that continually expands in a number of directions while still keeping its foot planted in the origins of the piece. "Jets to How-Here" is literally about 15 or 20 seconds of Hanson emulating jets on his modular. "Traffic in the Mission" is another favorite of mine. Hanson really lets himself go in the melody department piling on a number of synth gestures on top of one another and I love it. Like a few of the other tracks on here, Hanson anchors the piece with a fantastic stuttering melodic progression. He doesn't cut it short either which I like; he just lets it flow. "2:35 AM" closes the tape. I can't tell if this has anything to do former Portlander Elliott Smith's "2:35" but no matter. Hanson smartly puts it at the end as it wraps the tape up perfectly. It's not too long and it encapsulates the work that came earlier but it also feels different. There's a longing, mournful feel to it which is something the tape hasn't exhibited until now. It's a little bewitching and, as I said, a perfect ending to this here story.

New Ruined Maps is an excellent half-hour of analog synth architecture. Hanson approaches the instrument more subtly than many of his contemporaries which is refreshing. DRAFT lovingly the produced this release and the pro-dubbed tape sounds warm and fantastic. It's a perfect pairing of artist and label. DRAFT also dropped 150 copies of this so you can actually get your hands on one! It's worth checking for sure.