Auxiliary Out Radio Programme #16 (3/2/08)

“Bees” Death Chants I Have Seen A Thousand Swim Through Darker Skies Than These (CS one-sided) [Sloow Tapes, 2006]

“Dial 747-Creepozoid” Lamborghini Crystal Dial 747-Creepozoid (CS) [New Age Cassettes, 2007]

“The Blackest Medicine” The Folk Spectre The Blackest Medicine (LP) [Woodsist, 2007]

“I Know a Lot of People Who Should Be Dead, and You’re One of Them” Warmth JK Tapes 1 (2xCS) [JK Tapes, 2007]

“Narasimha” Sir Richard Bishop Earth/Sir Richard Bishop Split (LP) [Southern Lord, 2008]

“Drum Movie” Valet Naked Acid (CD) [Kranky, 2008]

“Southgate House, Newport KY, August 2005” Yellow Swans & Burning Star Core Yellow Swans & Burning Star Core (LP) [Blossoming Noise, 2007]

“Born to Live Life” Black Vatican Zed Omega (CS) [Night People, 2007]

“Untitled” Poor School The Holy Master (LP) [Ecstatic Peace!, 2008]

“The Peacock Angels Lament” Earth Earth/Sir Richard Bishop Split (LP) [Southern Lord, 2008]

“Lucifer Rising” Aaron Dilloway Lucifer Rising (LP one-sided) [Hanson, 2007]

“Side A (excerpt)” Splash Splash (CS) [New Age Cassettes, 2007]

mp3: part 1 part 2

Auxiliary Out Radio Programme #15 (2/24/08)

“Vihaan Vitusti Kaikkea Mita Kulutusyhteiskunnan Aikaansaama Pinnallinen Alkoholiin Perustuva Sosiaalinen Kayttaytymiskulttuuri Edustaa” Futurians Futurians Play The Breathtaking Sounds Of Tivol (7”) [Soft Abuse, 2008]

“Aquemini” Black Forest/Black Sea Portmanteau (10”) [Secret Eye, 2008]

“Relleno For Kings” Slurp Dogs Postal Licks (CS one-sided) [Sloow Tapes, 2008]

“Under the Clouds of Sleep” Du Hexen Hase Under the Clouds of Sleep (3” CD-r) [No Label, 2008]

“Chthonic Exterior (feat. Crystal Dragon)” Drunjus Enceladus (CD-r) [Peasant Magik, 2008 (forthcoming)]

“Attempting Posture” Cooper Jones Cooper Jones/Cars (CS) [Night People, 2007]

“Void Lake 2” Haunted Castle Void Lake (CD-r) [Arbor, 2007]

“Blood Honey 2” The Holy See Blood Honey (CD-r) [Digitalis, 2008]

“Untitled 1” Sean McCann Dreem Ordeal (CD-r) [No Label, 2008]

“Motorcade” The Goslings Occasion (CD) [Not Not Fun, 2008]

“Freedom of Pollen/Floodstory of Warwick” Jazzfinger King Murnam (CS) [JK Tapes, 2008]

mp3: part 1 part 2

Auxiliary Out Radio Programme #14 (2/17/08)

“Side A” Slicing Grandpa Big Monster Canadian Goat (CS) [Goaty Tapes, 2008]

“Side A” Ben Nash Magnetophon 8 (CS one-sided) [Sloow Tapes, 2007]

“Side B” Ajilvsga Behind the Masked Spirit (CS) [JK Tapes, 2008]

“Iced Beat/Slow Pan” Non-Horse Evil Eye Broadcast (CS) [Tape Tektoniks, 2007]

“Side A” Mossy Throats Wing Socket (CS) [Goaty Tapes, 2008]

“Fear of the Bark” Single Helix The Quick Brown Fox Jumped Over the Lazy Dog (CD-r) [Screeching Snowflake, 2008]

“Vole 1” Slasher Risk Vole (CS) [Abandon Ship, 2008]

“Double Reflection” Treetops Cool Runnings (CD-r) [Digitalis LTD., 2008]

mp3: Part 1 Part 2

Auxiliary Out Radio Programme #13 (2/10/08)

“Untitled” Silver Daggers Silver Daggers/Child Pornography Split (CS) [JK Tapes, 2008]

“Scurvy Seamen” Human Adult Band Impotent & Filthy (CS) [Abandon Ship, 2008]

“Trench Tide Zone” Sparkling Wide Pressure Guide Me Little Tape (CD-r) [Digitalis LTD., 2008]

“Webcam/The Divorce” John Thill The Sluts (CS) [JK Tapes, 2008]

“Alp Turqoisii” The Cosmic Mandoliners Colorn Lincorn (CD-r) [Ruralfaune, 2007]

“Photosynthesis (Excerpt)” Century Plants Without Mercury (CS) [Abandon Ship, 2007]

“Side B” Family Battle Snake Sudden Hole Equation (CS) [JK Tapes, 2007]

“The Secret Gregorian Plug-in” Xenis Emputae Travelling Band & Jani Hellen Sing With Me (CD-r) [Harha-Askel, 2008]

“Happened in the Sun/Moccasin Stamp” Cursillistas Wasp Stings The Last Flavor (CD) [Digitalis, 2008]

“Side B” Traum Ecke Traum Ecke (CS) [Goaty Tapes, 2008]

“Sea Cave” Bonecloud Teenage Lycanthropy (CD-r) [Leaf Trail, 2007]

“Final Mission” Gallows Gallows/Pillars of Heaven/Wether/Deerstalker Split (2xCS) [Peasant Magik/No Horse Shit, 2007]

“Observatory Cg III” Arecaceae Observatory Cg II & III (Coconut of Teotihuacan) (CD-r) [New Age Cassettes, 2007]

“Evergreen Lore” The North Sea Snakeroot Ceremony (CD-r) [Phantom Limb, 2007]

mp3: Part 1 Part 2

Du Hexen Hase – Under the Clouds of Sleep [No Label]

Hey, a quick (but awesome) one here. This is a 3inch by local (Seattle) act Du Hexen Hase, which I know little about other than its Adam from Dull Knife’s other slammin’ drone trio. Adam gave me this at a totally killer show with masters of the universe Yellow Swans a while back and anyway, I’ve really been slacking on the reviews so I’m just now finally giving this CD-r its due. Also worth noting, the guys list Mitch Hedburg as an influence on their myspace page, so my question to you is: how can they not be great?
“Under the Clouds of Sleep” is a single 17.5 minute track. It sounds like there is maybe two guitars though I suppose it could be one looping over itself. There are plenty of others groans and creaks emanating from who knows what, doubling the track’s mystifying-ness. My favorite thing about the track is its melodic sensibilities. Despite the eerie, almost film-score vibe, there are many moments of beauty in the rotted greyness. The guitarplaying is the element providing the melody and it really anchors the track, so whoever was playing guitar during this session—gold star to you. There are a few layers, particularly a simple repeated arpeggio and a really great almost shimmering staccato type part that pops up occasionally. As the track moves along various bits of electronics noise curls around the frame of the guitar playing. This track is really strange for me to listen to, because it’s an incredibly pleasant listen yet it almost always makes me think of grim, incredibly unpleasant things like a plane crash or a post-apocalyptic world. Under the Clouds of Sleep is like Cormac McCarthy’s The Road but done d.i.y. drone style. Du Hexen Hase conjure up the sonic equivalent of the smoke rising from ashes and burnt rubble. Sorry to get so bleak on you but, hey, I can’t help it. Some ephemeral elements I particularly like towards the end of the track are the echoing clanks of cymbals/sheet metal and a shrill sound device reminiscent of the synth used on Liquid Swords. The piece as a whole is interesting; it’s simultaneously about half repetition and half free form. And even despite the repetition, the track is endlessly replayable. It’s a meditative zoner but not in the typical “drone” sense (there are very few if any sustained tones). Anyway, this track is a killer and though I’ve yet to hear any other pieces of Du Hexen Hase’s discography, I’ve got a feeling they’ll be pretty sweet too. Now I just need to fulfill my duty as a Seattle citizen sees these dudes shred in the live environment.
The CD-r is self-released and adorned with fantastic ostrich art and limited to only 47 copies (a shame). So if there are any copies left, I’m not really sure where to look (maybe their myspace page). But if you come across it don’t hesitate to snag it, and if you don’t, better pray for a re-release. One of my favorite releases of ’08 so far.

Yes Collapse – Final Diagnosis [Crucial Bliss]

Yes Collapse is a group I’m entirely unfamiliar with but I do know it’s got Matthew Reis (Teeth Collection) in it. And I know they’re pretty awesome.
I’m gonna cut right to the chase. The first of the nine untitled track is a kind of loosey goosey noise plus atmosphere (silence) thing. It works as an intro type thing but the good stuff really starts with the second track. “Track 2” starts with a sustained tone and a synthesized cymbal sound and a dude not saying words (at least not any that I know). Like going down the hill on a rollercoaster the track accelerates into a really sweet rhythm ‘n noise deal. I can’t tell if it’s live percussion or a sampler or drum machine or what but honestly it doesn’t really matter. Someone is credited with “metal” so I’m assuming some of the percussion is them pounding on scrap. There’s a breakdown at the end of the track with a cool two-note synth whine. I’ll be the first to say the track is too short but I guess that means we can listen to it more times. Killer track. “Track 3” that follows is pretty sweet too. And when I say sweet I mean like nice and sedate, for the first half of the track. The second half is a harsh scrap heap. I’m not sure which half I like better but I’d probably have to go with the sweetness. The fourth track is a lurching mess of pedals and loops and more monoto-crush percussion that primes you for the next head ripping piece…
Alright, you know how there are some tracks that are so good that regardless of how good the rest of the album is you have to own it just cause it’s got that one really fucking mindblowing track. Well this is one of those tracks (and lucky for us the rest of album is good too). Remember the name “untitled 5” but because it’s gonna be your new favorite party jam. Guaran-goddam-tee it! I wish I had a better knowledge of club music so I could do a nice critical blender for this track but alas I don’t go to creepy night clubs (yet I still hear slammin’ tracks like this one so the joke’s on them). Anyway, I should probably attempt to describe this track. I this has the most monster bass groove I’ve ever heard, it makes me want be like Grand Master whoever and get a convertible and some big ass speakers and drive playing this track in the summer. You know, as a public service. This sounds like the guys are sampling an earthquake or something like that; it is volcanic, it is destructive, it is relentless. The only thing I can think of that sounds remotely similar is “Stabbed in the Face” from Wolf Eyes big Sub-Pop debut. This track is a little like that one but on a murderous rampage while fucked up on ecstasy, drinking glowsticks. So I don’t think I ever did a good job describing it in all those words, so sorry about that. But if I ever soundtrack a dance party (unlikely) “untitled 5” by Yes Collapse is going to come right after Boney M’s cover of “Sunny” and it will be outstanding.
Most of this album’s tracks are a length that most people would consider to be the length of songs (3-4 minutes), the dudes hold on to their experimental cred with this 11.5 minute piece. This thing is still heaving on the bass but takes the tempo down a few notches, playing pretty noisy for most of it but getting unabashedly groovy at the end. The album closes out with another long one. At one point it resembles a slowed down version of that track I just lost my mind over. Who knows, maybe it is. Then all of a sudden things get eerie and silent though. It sounds really strange and scary after being used to all the big pounding patterns. The guys slowly swell a few tones before unleashing a Kevin Shields style assault. Oh man, it is crushing and awesome!! On a dime, it’s gone with a bit of quiet static and that’s the album. Apparently the band split a while ago, but I guess they put out some other tapes and CD-rs so keep an eye out for those, I certainly will.
Adam Wright-Carmean of Crucial Blast/Crucial Bliss takes his CD-r shit seriously. All his CD-rs come in 4x6 cardstock folder looking things that fold out, printed on both sides. Even the CD-r is color printed and sits on an invisible nub and many of them blend into the artwork like a chameleon. The release is limited to 150 so if you want one, hit up Crucial Blast.

Abuse Report – El Diablo Está en Casa [Pendu Sound]

So I’ve been sitting on a pretty killer cache of analog goods from Pendu Sound for a long while now, and it is way past high time I get to talking about them. For those unfamiliar, Pendu Sound is the music arm of the larger Pendu Org which triples as a gallery and bookshop in addition to being a label. So that’s intensely awesome. Abuse Report, the author of this tape, features Todd Brooks, who runs the label, writes for Foxy D and plays in Ghost Moth as well, Cassette Gods scribe Max Gudmunson who also plays a part in K.P. and Matt Folden who I know nothing about.
I don’t really know too much about this c40 either. Though it sounds like the trio rolls in the electronics department, with probably some guitar in there somewhere too. They have a noise drone thing going that’s vaguely sinister but not really harsh or intentionally ominous sounding. It doesn’t feel like Abuse Report is trying to scare me, like some bands do, and I like that they don’t. There’s slurred vocals against a fuzzy bog of sustaining tones and synth sputters. It reminds me a little of the way Family Underground does things but with much less emphasis on guitar. Some of the best parts of the tape are when things break down a bit and there’s a simple echoing rhythm repeating against a few cascading swells of fuzz. To go back to the sinister-ism point, the first side on here is like “leisurely sinister”, the dudes manage to sound slightly off-kilter and menacing without even trying. Whenever I listen to this tape it makes me miss drone trios and quartets, well “miss” probably isn’t the right word because there’s still a fair amount around but, as much as I love duos and solo acts, it’s great to hear 3 or 4 people totally locking into the same imagination and weaving together a piece music like on this tape. There’s just something about having more people that adds another dimension, a kind of looseness that sounds tight anyway. Or maybe put more accurately it is even when a band sounds tight there’s still a looseness, where all the pieces float magically into place. Anyway, this tangent has lead me to the first sides second track “Outer”, though if you weren’t paying attention it may seem like a sidelong track. There is a clearer sounding drum thing going on, still echoey and distorted but you can tell they’re drums (or at least I think I can tell they’re drums). The track’s a pretty short one, it builds to a glistening, if slight, crescendo before dropping out.
“Exo” takes up the entirety of the B-side and it has a more extended feel to it. The guys create a fuller, more “drone” sound I guess is how you would describe it. It has got an odd pseudo-propulsion to it which I think is the result of dirty loops buried way way down. The first good chunk of the track is lead by hi-pitched sounds, probably from a guitar or synthesizer, but by the end the tracks gets pretty heavy and monolithic. The track despite its twenty minute length actually feels like it’s over pretty quick. It’s one of those that you discover more when you listen with headphones, lots of buried layers to excavate.
Pendu has a couple of killer LPs worthy of your attention as well (a newish Talibam! one and a comp called Getting out the Glue), but since this tape is only limited to 25 copies (eek!) I figured I better get the word out on this one first so you can snap it up before it’s too late. El Diablo Está en Casa is available from Pendu and has a color-printed 3-panel fold out and a black tape with a silver Abuse Report logo drawn on. Definitely worth checking out if you were into the 3 man drone/noise sound.
czech out this interview with Mr. Brooks about Pendu

Auxiliary Out Radio Programme #12 (2/3/08)

“To Hide Her Blinding Brightness” The Mighty Acts of God We Could Fail Under Stars (CD-r) [MusicYourMindWillLoveYou, 2007]

”Silpoydin (Static)” Jani Hellen Sing With Me – Music for the Human Voice (CD-r) [Harha-Askel, 2007]

”Side B” Teeth Collection Black Ghost Knife (CS) [Husk, 2007]

”Italian TV 1” Spectre Folk Papa Smurf Smiles Down on us from Heaven (CS) [Abandon Ship, 2007]

”Pink Panther Blood” Amber Lions Pink Panther Blood (3” CD-r) [House of Alchemy, 2007]

”Side B” Scissor Shock Split with Mossy Throats (CS) [JK Tapes, 2007]

”Third Sparkling Echo” Birchville Cat Motel Three Sparkling Echoes (CD-r) [Celebrate Psi Phenomenon, 2007]

”A5” Orphan Fairytale Seahorse Soup (CS one-sided) [Bennifer Editions, 2007]

”Untitled” Panda Tapers Gremlins (CS one-sided) [Dreamtime Taped Sounds, 2007]

”a5” In the Eye of Vision In the Eye of Vision (CS one-sided) [Man and Dolphin 2012, 2008]

”Landing Hallucinations” Ixchel Dreams Of (CD-r) [Leaf Trail, 2007]

”Side B” Bonecloud XI:XI (CS) [Buried Valley, 2007]

”Chickenwing” Andy Futreal Ophelia Wanders (CD-r) [Harha-Askel, 2007]

”C1” Northampton Wools Northampton Wools (2xCS) [Bonescraper, 2007]

”Stopover” Pumice Pebbles (CD) [Soft Abuse, 2007]

”Side A” Sean McCann Gall Flood (CS) [No Label, 2008]

mp3: part 1 part 2

Auxiliary Out Radio Programme #11 (1/26/08)

”Untitled 2” Uton Alitaju Ylimina (LP) [Dekorder, 2007]

”Side B” Buddies Buddies (CS) [Open Mouth, 2007]

”South Fork Trinity” RV Paintings Trinity Rivers (CD) [Root Strata, 2007]

”Untitled” Pure Fetor (CD) [Freak Animal, 2007]

”Side B” Abuse Report El Diablo En Casa (CS) [Pendu Sound, 2007]

”Untitled 4” Social Junk Social Junk (CS) [JK Tapes, 2007]

”Horsehead Waltz” The One Ensemble Wayward the Fourth (CD) [Secret Eye, 2007]

”Sudden Arrhythmic Death Vol. 1” Ettrick Sudden Arrhythmic Death Vol. 1 (3” CD-r) [American Grizzly, 2006]

”Flowers of Flesh” Nadja Touched (CD) [Alien8, 2007]

mp3: part 1 part 2

Robedoor – Hopeless Transformation [Goaty Tapes]

Alright so it’s been forever, and I’m sorry. I had to focus on some other things for awhile but people still kept sending me really rad sounds and I can’t leave them hanging any longer. My life is still kinda crammed but I'm gonna try and get reviews posted has regularly as possible. So wish me luck. Anyway that is plenty enough of that, lets get to the review.
Tonight we have a sold out Robedoor release (is there any other kind?). It’s a cassette (w00t y3@h!) on the pretty much just born Northeastern label Goaty Tapes. Hopeless Transformation is the first release on Goaty Tapes (the name always makes me think of that lame Christian rock label Gotee records, maybe it’s a play on that?) and also challenges Hidden Ascension for the title of best Robedoor release in existence.
The piece on Side A is called “Scaled Apparition” and its pretty killer from the get go. There is a looped keyboard, bass and some distant vocals and the whole thing just sounds so smoky and awesome. The piece just lilts and drifts along interrupted somewhat by rough bass abuse, at least I think it is bass but it would make sense if it was distorted drums cause the thing really rumbles. The track is really led by the vocals despite them feeling so far away which is kinda cool. Things stay pretty sedate throughout until the vocals get louder and more anguished. There are lots of sounds going, like I’m pretty sure there’s drums in there somewhere, but it’s hard to discern where everything is coming from. It’s a big looming mass. As rad as the first side is, Robedoor totally one-up themselves on the B-side.
“Violent Memory” is among the best single pieces Robedoor has put together. The track is simple but entirely engrossing and even occasionally addicting. It’s based on a long loop of bass/guitar and a church organ type thing creeps in along with other drones. It is a somber but melodic trudge through space and mud, and sounds wonderfully murky on tape. Around halfway through voices and cymbals somehow both augment and transcend the dirty gloom. The arrangement slyly thickens up on you too, what started as a lone looped instrument is now gently rolling hills of fuzz. Listening to this track, I’m finding myself in one of those binds where a track’s beauty/greatness/whatever is beyond my ability to express it in words. I can’t properly illustrate the cycling hypnotic melody for you or even really do that great of job of describing the arrangement itself. It’s just Robedoor at the top of their game, on the best medium to transmit their sounds, and I sincerely hope there is a reissue on the way (it'd be a hell of an LP too) or you stumble across it at some point in your life if you haven’t already. One the most effective uses of fuzz and drones I’ve heard.
Also I have to mention how killer Goaty Tapes has made this release too, especially for a first timer. There’s a professional quality j-card with artwork reminiscent of New Age Cassettes but in color and on cardstock. What I found to be the coolest was the labels on the black tapes, which are fittingly cut and printed to look like dark, mysterious mountains. It comes with a handnumbered insert of someone praying as well. Goaty, job well done, I hope to see more of you and your tapes.
As I mentioned earlier, sold out at source :( but maybe a distro somewhere is still holding onto a copy?

Auxiliary Out Radio Programme #10 (1/20/08)

“Live in Seattle” GHQ Bored Fortress Split Series (with Ex-Cocaine) (7”) [Not Not Fun, 2007]

”Everything Living Glows” Nessmuk Flies Free (3” CD-r) [Abandon Ship, 2007]

”Black Wind” Skullflower Tribulation (CD) [Crucial Blast, 2006]

”A1” Monopoly Child Star Searchers Start Levitating Now! (CS) [Pacific City, 2007]

”Side A” Diamond Lemonade Transmissions From the Past (CS) [JK Tapes, 2007]

”Out Dual Head Vibration” Terracid Out Dual Head Vibration (CD-r) [MusicYourMindWillLoveYou, 2007]

”A4” Fossils Fly By Night (CS) [Ley Line Magnetic Tapes, 2007]

“Text-Message From Beyond” Fricara Pacchu Stories of the Old (7”) [Fonal, 2007]

”Untitled 4” Acid Eagle Acid Eagle (CS) [New Age Cassettes, 2007]

”New Neighborhood” Child Pornography She’s Got Legs (CD) [Deathbomb Arc, 2007]

”Side A” Mossy Throats Split with Scissor Shock (CS) [JK Tapes, 2007]

“Untitled” Yellow Swans Bored Fortress Split Series (with The Goslings) (7”) [Not Not Fun, 2007]

”In the Shade” Big Blood The Grove (CD-r) [No Label, 2007]

”Untitled 3”Dull Knife Apophenia (CD-r) [Debacle, 2007]

”A Beauty That Needs of Blots”6majik9 Ritualisimo Putrido (CD-r) [MusicYourMindWillLoveYou, 2007]

“Virgin Mafia” Brian Miller & Kevin Shields Virgin Passwords (Split with Pump Kinn) (LP) [Weird Forest, 2007]

”Untitled” Dolphins into the Future Untitled (CS) [Dreamtime Taped Sounds, 2007]

”A4” Monopoly Child Star Searchers Start Levitating Now! (CS)[Pacific City, 2007]

“Rivermouth” Ghosting Split with Robedoor (7”) [Not Not Fun, 2007]

mp3: Part 1 Part 2

Fossils – Fly By Night [Ley Line Magnetic Tapes]/Fossils – All the Homicides [JK Tapes]

Here are a couple double-oh-seven tapes from Canadian junkyard thrash unit, Fossils. Fly By Night came out quite a while back on the impeccably mindblowing Bread & Animals imprint, billed here as Ley Line Magnetic Tapes, and the other dates back to late summer on the auspicious JK Tapes label.
For as much as stuff as these Fo$$il$ dudes put out (A LOT) I’ve only heard a wee bit of it. I remember hearing their Cut Hands CD-r a while back and I just heard their split tape on Pendu Sound with Ghost Moth but, in general, I’m not too accustomed to ‘em. Anyhow, I don’t know what that has to do anything but you know I’m a straight shooter, even when it don’t really matter. The one-sided 30plus minute monster, Fly By Night, is certainly my favorite of the few I’ve heard. There’s no info about it but it sounds like there’s four “tracks” on the tape and the first is longest. The first few minutes bring some odd clanging sounds randomly detonated and run through a delay pedal. It kinda has a cut-up type effect though I’m pretty sure it’s recorded live. Fuzzy lows creep into mix and things start to ramp up a bit everything cuts out and there’s a return to the minimal odd sound thing. This time though there is a lot effects and old computer sounds and they do a better job spreading the sounds out. Again after a while things drop out and AM radio guitar clank takes over. Sounds like there’s maybe two dudes on guitar and one guy processing. Out of nowhere, the track turns into a catchy little ditty. Weird but rad. A subsequent, mild feedback-laden vox/effects session and dogs barking end the track. A short, livelier track follows with scrambled effects and scrambled contact mic-ery as well (I think). Near the end some vocal transmissions break in too. The piece is real jagged and scuzzy but not harsh, which I kinda like. The third “track” sounds to me like a Fossils rendition of a soundscape type track. At least at first. There’s some mellow pulsing and slummy atmospherics with interjections of noisy electronic bleats and on occasion a lucid de-tuned guitar. The fourth track sees the group all sticking to one idea for a little while with a simple rhythmic loop and mounting layers of fuzz. Sharp toothed, stuttering loops compete through a good portion of the track before some heavy delay manipulation swoops and smears. The thing I dig the most about this track is the use of short loops, which gives the madness a hint of structure and, at times, even a little melody. At one point some dude gags on the mic and it sounds like it gets sampled and fucked with as things get pretty intense and wind down as dogs bark to the beat. Perhaps Fossils’ biggest strength is how hard they are to pin down. They’re like those sharks that are always on the move. The greatest strength of Fly By Night is that Fossils manages to make sense out of their nonsensical attack. Only problem with the tape is it’s a one-sided c90, which doesn’t really make sense to me cause there’s a little over a half hour of material, split pretty cleanly down the middle into two segments. Maybe there was a sale on c90s or something.
While I’m being a little complainer I’ll say this too; even though All the Homicides is billed as a c30 there is about 17 minutes of music on it. 13 minutes on the A-side and three and a half on the B-side. I’m confused how there wasn’t enough material to fill up the second side, especially when Fossils is putting out a thousand plus releases a year. Side A has a distant, reverberating sound. There are a bunch of short stretches of repetitive sounds that eventually putter out. Just when things start to squelch and thump, appearing to get going they come to a sputtering conclusion. Around a third of the way through the group maintain some semblance of forward motion and things sound pretty good. The side has a pretty muffled, unthreatening tone which is a nice contrast to the jumpy thrash of Fly By Night. There’s some really great, even sort of pretty, moments on the side. Though Fossils never really sustain those moments for very long, always moving forward to silence and constructing a new set of sounds. The final bit brings some coherent guitar along in the fuzzy, pulsing feedback muck. Overall, a pretty cool track despite a few points that drag a bit. Side B again has the same muffled lo-fi vibe. The track is dominated by crackling scratching sounds that don’t really do much for me. There’s some cool static-y stuff going on in the background, but it’s pretty hard to discern.
Art-wise, the tapes are class acts. Bread & Animals packaging pretty much always rules and Fly By Night is no exception. It has an awesome tropical wraparound cover and a teal/mango splatter job on the tape. All the Homicides, features the best artwork I’ve seen yet from JK. A totally epic history book collage on a fold-out insert with grey sprayed and labeled tapes. Each tape is sold out at source but, I’ve seen them around distros pretty recently so have a look there.

Ajilvsga – Thorazine to Infinity [Peasant Magik]/Ajilvsga – Sacred Arrow [Arbor]

Ajilvsga is a project of Mr. Foxy Digitalis himself, Brad Rose, and Nathan Young. Just so we’re clear, Nathan Young is not Nate Young, at least as far as I can tell. In conference with a few close friends we’ve decided this new Ajilvsga stuff (these two and the double cassette on Not Not Fun) is the best Mr. Rose has put his name on. Is it a coincidence they are all on tapes? I think not. Furthermore, I’ve heard rumors that his upcoming label is gonna be doing a few tapes. Is it that the proclaimed hater of cassettes, Mr. Rose, has finally seen the light? Let’s hope so, both for his sake and our own, cause these little suckers—released on Peasant Magik and Arbor—are total domination 2 tha maxx.
Thorazine to Infinity begins with the hum of electricity, certainly a fitting beginning. There’s some thick dirty guitar (bass?) going down and maybe a bit of synth or effects too. It kinda has a drone-doom thing but you know, not mind-numbingly boring. I tend to be a fan of low frequencies so I wish they were mixed a bit louder for full on quaking effect but they still do a damn good job as is. It is tapes like these that make me wish I was one of those dudes whose hobby is his stereo; you know so I could play this way too loud on huge fucking speakers and go deaf and get kicked out of my apartment. It’s a good thing I’m not one of those dudes though cause I wouldn’t want to be deaf and homeless. I don’t have the balls for that. “I am Your Charred Remains” is easily my favorite piece on the tape. It’s more actively droney/noisy than the mildly lethargic opener. Again, the Ajilvsga dudes are playing with raging thickness/sickness. It sounds like there are lots of loops/tracks stacked on top of each other, shuddering under the wait of it all. Short repetitive loops are contrasted with the protracted fuzz giving the mass a good dose of rhythm/momentum and ending with some dude cackling. Total daze of thunder.
The twelve minute tremor, “Asphixiation”, starts slow with an insistent revving and loopy synthtones. Almost halfway through a weird percussion type thing starts going down. I think it’s a handdrum of some sort and it comes out of nowhere. Somehow the bizarreness of the hand-drum-on-tremulous-electronics action works, don’t ask me how though. The piece takes on a strange, sauntering psych vibe. Man, what a peculiar ordeal that was. The short closer, “Lex Talions”, goes even further into psych territory with more drums and other percussion, a bowed/blown instrument, guitar feedback and a thumbpiano/musicbox device of some sort. These guys sure turn the tables with style.
Sacred Arrow isn’t as colossally crushing. “Salt Plains” sounds like might just be two guitars a-droning. Well it’s not necessarily droning cause there’s definitely some strumming going on, yet it still has that effect. It’s a nice simple track that doesn’t get old despite a relatively small amount of change. There’s some theremin-esque sounds at the end too. Strong but subtle (it’s oxymoron day!) sense of melodic structure too, so it sounds real nice on the ears without being obvious. My only complaint is one guitar has too much of a transparent flanger thing going on. “Wolves Standing in Water” brings back the rumble; well I guess for the first time on this particular tape. There’s an elusive melodic loop buried underneath the murk that’s pretty fun to chase. It’s a pretty solid wall of low-end too, which I like, consuming everything like a black hole or the blob. The final minute sees the blob get briefly upturned by a couple pulsing rhythmic loops before blasting them away and everything ending in Armageddon. “Fire Builder” takes the entirety of the B-side and, soundwise, it fits somewhere between the two on the previous side. It’s also the most straight “drone” to my ears. Woven in between the long heavy layers are different bits of manipulation, originally, I thought a field recording of some sort but now I’m not so sure. More eerie theremin sounds pop up too. Yeah, eerie is a pretty good way to describe to the track. It reminds of the more sluggish (not in a bad way) work of Family Underground and other acts. Though perhaps a bit too protracted for its own good, “Fire Builder” is excellent way to, as that one Oscar-winning m&m guy put it, lose yourself in the music.
Each label has done a fine, classy job packaging their respective cassettes. Thorazine to Infinity comes with a textured slip cover, printed j card and the whole deal. Sacred Arrow comes with a double-sided full color printed/screenprinted j card and sprayed case. Both are still available but limited. 100 copies of Sacred Arrow and only 75 of Thorazine to Infinity.

Peoples Parties – Peoples Parties [Cut Hands]/Tusco Terror – Mapping a Burial [Cut Hands]

Apparently there’s some serious shit going down in Ohio. I haven’t really been keeping up on the old Buckeye state but I guess Joris at Cut Hands has been keeping pretty close tabs. He’s brought us these recent CD-rs by new Ohio luminaries Tusco Terror and one of Emeralds’ solo divisions, Peoples Parties.
I’ve only heard a bit of Emeralds’ insanely large discography but I wasn’t really expecting the aesthetic of Peoples Parties. Steve McGuire is credited to guitar and tapes. “A Trivial Pursuit” has an extended intro of pervasive, digital sounding distortion and a loop kinda sounding like a seagull or something like that. After awhile the guitar is somewhat discernable though buried under the avalanche of fuzz. Long sustaining, synth-like drones emanate from the guitar giving Peoples Parties a sound-sculptor type vibe. It’s heavy on the drone, but, to me, painted with a Fennesz-style palette of grainy panned distortions. And it actually works real well. “Setting a Rat Trap” comes out of nowhere with an almost glitchy sequence of heavily auto-panned guitar notes. It has a cool effect at first, but plays out for much too long. After a certain point nothing more can really be added to the glitch thing so it feels a bit stagnant. It ends pretty nicely with a subtle drone and an auto-panned melody over top. Definitely some cool parts but at nearly 10 minutes it feels overlong. “Sand Bubbler” is half the length and does a better job integrating the auto-panned guitar with waves of crisp distortion. The former adding a rhythmic element and the latter providing the “melody”, driving the track. It ends with echoing Gown-style strums. The strongest track, “Peoples Parties” (who’s ever heard of a title track on a self-titled album?), is an excellent ten minute piece. McGuire is operating in the same aesthetic as the previous tracks but this one has a special something to it. It begins very ominous and apocalyptic sounding but transitions into the sounds of angels singing the song of sweet salvation i.e. a seriously catchy guitar strum/lead bit. The transitioning is outstanding; you don’t see it coming or even really detect it until yr foot is tapping and yr head is in the clouds. It’s a tremendous piece, one of those that just helps you keep your faith in the world. It ends with mechanized panning which seems a little out of place after the sweetness, but you gotta do what you gotta do. The last song “A Cousin a Ways Away” is an interesting, pretty piece. It’s relatively clean toned arpeggios accompanying clips of a couple being interviewed about an alcoholic someone, who I assume is a cousin, a cousin who lives a ways away. The speech recording over music thing doesn’t always work out but McGuire pulls it off. The recording and the music work with each other rather than one drawing attention away from the other. The voices drop out and a very synthy guitar shows up with a swelling counter-melody. The piece reaches an extended but radiant conclusion. And for the record, it also contains the gem, “For a birthday present, Brent, could you please shut up”. While the tracks are a bit samey, Peoples Parties is ultimately a cool record, and I definitely see lots of potential for the project to become totally rad.
Rather than stroking gleaming rays of light from their instruments, Tusco Terror plays in the same junknoise minefield as their Cut Hands “labelmates” Fossils. The pseudo title track “Map a Burial” begins with tape recordings of something but I’m not sure what. At one point it sounds like there’s a couple banjo notes. Halfway through there’s a break a slightly better quality recording comes in. There’s feedback, percussive rustling, tape manipulation, guitar beatings. The track is pretty unfocused and comes off as a random pastiche of old practice tapes or something. It gets slightly more coherent towards the end but I guess I’m not sure what the listener is supposed to get from the piece. “Beat a Dog” follows with slowly plucked detuned guitar notes. There’s garbled sounds of guitar, percussion probably some other stuff too but very lo-fi and distorted. It’s pretty impossible to distinguish what instruments are making what sounds cause they’re all smashed together in the limited-frequency muck. There’s a real great part towards the end where I’m pretty sure it’s guitar, but it’s a pretty slammin’ catchy riff and I wish it went on for a bit longer or more parts like it populated the rest of the track. “Smashed Psyche” is quite a bit more confrontational with cymbal/sheet metal pounding on some really great looming guitar drones. It also sounds like there’s a world of sounds going on that I can’t make out, though I’m pretty sure I’m hearing a vocal sample at one point. The piece ends with a vomiting voice/feedback duet. “Rags (Cut Hands Mix)” is the final track and, from what I can tell, the single. It kinda sounds like “Smashed Psyche” with primitive noise but given a tape manipulation makeover like “Map a Burial”. Other than that it doesn’t really cover any new ground or leave much of a mark. While Mapping a Burial has some great moments, I can’t help but feel the release is a bit slight. Not in the quantity of material, but, to my ears, it sounds like there’s a lot of filler mixed in with the good stuff. Though I should also mention, the junknoise thing isn’t my forte either, but if it’s yrs you’ll probably be down with Tusco Terror’s array of clicks and warbles.
Both CD-rs come packaged in slimline dvd-type cases with pasted on CD labels and insert and wraparound cool/weird artwork, Tusco Terror’s being particularly sweet. Both are limited to 75 copies and are still available from the Cut Hands mansion, so check ‘em out.

Kevin Shields – Cavity Fever [Arbor]/Kevin Shields – Human Wider Experience [Tanzprocesz]

So after I discovered the greatness of Eva Aguila’s Kevin Shields project in the lovely summer of ’07 with the massive mind ripper/contender for album of the year The Death of Patience, I had snapped up some current (at the time) Kevin Shields frequencies right away. So now it’s almost the end of the year and I’m finally getting around to reviewing them, but hey, it’s rare when something I buy gets reviewed at all.
Starting with the Cavity Fever tape first, cause haven’t you heard? Tapes rule! This cassette is a bit more sedate than some other Kevin Shields work, but keep in mind that term is relative. The first track “Homely Straw” is a couple bass tones pulsing at various speeds and a slowed down alarm bell. There is some delayed contact mic’d stuff going on as well, almost chiming as the bass pulse gets more sinister. The track to me, actually occupies more of the drone realm than noise. “Lovely Day is a Hike Day”, however, gets noisy. There are plenty of high pitched sine tones against roughly manipulated waves of feedback. The thing then dissolves into to a strange keyboard part. Not a ditty, but close. The last track on side A, “Coarse Truth”, sounds like an extension of the previous track. The keyboard part is still present but jagged shards of fuzz being worked and kneaded dominate the track. On the second side, “Gaming Ritual” brings back the keyboard slowly adding layers of distortion. Eventually the keyboard is phased out leaving a vast shitstorm of electronics washing over me like the plague. For the all the noise, it’s a pretty moderately paced piece that builds to a great sputtering, spitting climax of charred circuitry and gnashing teeth. The oh so truthfully titled “Because I Know You Can’t Get Enough” closes out the tape, operating like everything heard previously condensed into three and a half minutes. The noise, the keyboard, the scrambled rhythms; they’re all there.
The magnificently titled half-hour of power Human Wider Experience is coarser and more forceful. After the one minute opener “Catalyst”, “Covenant Grunt” takes the stage. With a sustained bass note with actually some really sick beats. Well it’s not “beats” so much as just the way Aguila cuts up the tone but it works and little by little succumbs to a barrage of flames. After the frayed, 91 second inferno “Frecke Wrist”, comes the most interesting and best track “Children’s Court”. I’m not sure what the sound source here is but it sounds like a brittle clanking toy guitar or something. It sounds like there are also some soft vocals in the background which add an interesting “human” counterpoint to the ear piercingness of the other noises. Out of nowhere the whole thing coheres into relatively solid brick of sound (for a moment anyway). There is a lot more manipulated filter/synth type sounds that actually work really well with the harshness, both opening up the sound and adding a bit roundness to the serrated static. Aguila’s knack for composition really comes into play here but because the track, lasting nearly 17 minutes, never gets tired. She constantly adds new sounds and ideas, whether she’s building on previous ones or growing a whole new garden of sound. One of the things I marvel at most about Aguila’s work is how well she controls the chaos. A lot of noise stuff I hear sounds like the gear is running the show not the artist, but with Aguila’s work the effortless construction and grace of her style is unmistakable. As much as I love The Death of Patience, “Children’s Court” may be her best work; that I’ve heard at least. Utterly amazing. The short fifth track, “Shat & Boney Enjoying a Little”, features some help from Amy of Yuma Nora. Though I’m not exactly sure what she’s operating in the track. It’s probably the most harsh and heavy piece on the record. Unrelenting torrents of feedback. “Slug Mouth” really did a number on me because of its sweetness. After 25 minutes of noise, I was thrown off by the extended, clean solo keyboard piece. I kept expecting to be lacerated by a brutal feedback squall, but was even more thrown off when it never came. Just five minutes of twee keyboard plinking. I’ve got to hand it to Eva; she knows how to keep me guessing.
While neither are as brain collapsing as The Death of Patience both are totally sweet in their own right. Cavity Fever is sold out at source but you can probably still get it at a few distros, Human Wider Experience is available however, though limited to a hundred. Both releases are aesthetically pleasing as well which is a trademark of both labels. Arbor did a classy job as always. Cavity Fever features killer artwork by George Myers (Breaking World Records), a double sided j-card and the most beautiful, blue-green sprayjob I’ve ever seen on a tape. French label, Tanzprocesz has been responsible for some of the most innovative packaging ideas I’ve come across. The packaging of Human Wider Experience, while not particularly ingenious, is certainly out of the ordinary. A recycled fold-out, sprayed LP cover with pasted on art and info and the CD-r is floating on of those little numbs. Definitely nice to see when most labels are just doing the standard CD-r-in-slipcase thing. Collect ‘em all.