Isa Christ/Cruudeuces - Human Error [Idiot Underground/Ghetto Naturalist Series]

There's been a little stack of 7inches building up recently and its high time they get reviewed (expect some more 7inchers to make appearances in the coming weeks.

We start things off in dark territory with a 45rpm split noise single by Northeasterners Isa Christ and Cruudeuces.

This is my first encounter with Isa Christ (proprietor of Idiot Underground) and his side "Ruin Song" is a straight up harsh-ass rager. From the moment the needle drops, you're subsumed into thick, grainy crunch. Mr. Christ flicks in a few warbly hi-pitched tones, sounding like he's cutting up a recording of a construction site. Jackhammers pounding, heavy machinery lurching, the cathartic clang of metal caving in on itself. The side is pretty good; it's relentlessly active. But on the other hand, after all the times I've listened to it, it has never proven to be particularly memorable. But if you're looking for 100 mile per hour drive to the harsh side, uh, you don't have to look any more.

The proprietor of Ghetto Naturalist Series, Nathaniel Brennan's tapes/clarinet murk project Cruudeuces delivers some nice work on the flipside. "Gull Slang" opens up with just that. Brennan's clarinet is relaying some conversation in which seagulls are hurling insults at each other at the top of their lungs. Over a burly bass tone, Brennan lets loose a shitstorm of feedback-drenched reedwork. The piece is especially nice when he lightens up and you just get quiet intimations of clarinet intermixed with all the other throbbing tones crawling all over each other. The track feels too short (yet it still hits the 4 1/2 minute mark) but Brennan's signature strength is on display here: texture, texture, texture. Even though everything is looped and delayed to hell, he always has a handle on everything and navigates his piece with a sure hand.

Still in print so hit up the labels.

Amateur Childbirth - Brighter Futures Dialysis [Wet Nurse Directory]

I came into contact with this guy Ivan Matthew Hicks through slsk one time and he sent me a couple CD-rs of murky organ and tapes weirdness from Australia. Then last Fall he got in touch again wanting to send a new CD he was putting out (like a real, professionally manufactured CD.) I said "Sure, man" expecting something along the same lines but boy were my expectations subverted.
Opener "Womb Envy" is a burst of rapidly strummed nylon strings and syllables, setting the tone for the album. Brighter Futures Dialysis, which clocks in around a half hour, feels like a blur. The ten songs fly by, in part, because they're so quickly paced and catchy in their own strange way but also the record is so well put together that moving from song to song seems so natural that you don't realize how far you've traveled until you look back when the silence hits.
One of Hicks's immediate signatures is how he crams words where they don't want to go, particularly on "Cat Power's Armpits." Simultaneously raw and verbose, whether delivering apocalyptic love visions on one of many standouts "Venus on Fire" or the metaphorical environmental descriptions in "Winter is My Favourite Airport" Hicks is never short on bizarre syntax or chunky guitar chords. In "I Just Wanna Be Noticed" Hicks adopts the voice of an egotistical, bigamist, possibly anarchist politician. "I just wanna be noticed/I wanna be the one in charge/Just want to be the guy with my finger on the button" goes the refrain, the most memorable description contributing to the portrait of a rather sociopathic and despicable character.
Nothing is sacred in Hicks's vocabulary, not in the sense that his lyrics are offensive but because no words are off-limits. On "Cat Power's Armpits," "dandruff," "diarrhea," and "herpes" all show up in the same phrase; yet, it doesn't seem like the words are chosen for shock value. Who knows, maybe they are but it doesn't matter because they don't seem like it. Those words are nestled alongside clever declarations like "take control of your own opinion polls" and the delivery is so mild, matter of fact and quick that no single word or phrase is dwelled upon. There really are quite a few words crammed in this thing. Very little space on the record is not accompanied by voice.
The employment solely of a "$40 acoustic guitar" is quite an inspired and fitting choice of accompaniment. It's sparse and unadorned, letting the spotlight shine on Hicks's voice, but it's presence is sturdy enough to provide a very important, and much needed harmonic base. That said Hicks's Australian-accented cadence does actually deliver on the melodic front; he's not shy about belting it out and the record is all the better for it. His vocals are not the most skilled but they're uniquely effective and his delivery of such outlandish lyrics is pitch-perfect.
Brighter Futures Dialysis is an unusual and fantastic record. It's scope is specific--it's as much a product of its limitations as it is pushing the envelope--but oddly enough it's rare when I listen to it only one time through (I usually spin it in twos and threes) and I never listen to just one song. The more I digest, the more I want. There is a much more brilliant and clever authorial hand guiding the record than is noticed your first few times through.
Since I really don't think this review did a particularly good job capturing the feel of the record I recommend just listening to it. It's real good.
Though the record is available for free streaming and download at the above link, it's also available as a pro-pressed CD in an edition of 500. It comes with this totally weird booklet documenting a correspondence between Archwire & Partners Youth & Family Services and someone named Xavier. They write to tell him he owes $230 dollars in cancellation fees and not to miss anymore of his government-ordered appointments and he writes them back with a multi-page scree to fuck right off, hand-scrawled over every square centimeter of notebook paper. Just another enigma to add to the package.

In Rotation #3

Tired Trails sent over a big fatty of a package containing 7 tapes, all in handmade fabric enclosures. The first tape I popped in was The Mind of Christ by Odawas because it was a soundtrack for a short film that played Cannes Independent Film Festival last year. Not sure if it's associated with the regular old Cannes Festival or not but it is actually in Cannes so that's pretty cool. My favorite track on the tape is "Mariner's Hymn" as it's full of epic spaciness, you could throw it on as an alternate soundtrack for For All Mankind if you wanted. The aforementioned film, Kill Yr TV by Neil Blakemore is embedded below. Elsewhere in the package is a noisy tape by Endometrium Cuntplow (what in the fuck is an endometrium cuntplow?) and On Growth in Form by Endless Endless Endless which delivers some really nice grooving, synth-drones. Besides, who could dislike anyone who looks as friendly as these guys do. I'm halfway through the Tired Trails stack and I gotta say the gorgeous warbles emanating from The Death of Kung Fu by The Diamond Family Archive (pictured) is absolutely top of the pile at this point. It's a lo-fi backwoods folk trip on the first side gradually morphing into some beautiful droning compositions on the second side. Wonderful stuff. I'll finish the rest of the pile in the next rotation.

The other night, I saw Davy from Weird Forest play in his killer guitar/sax/synth combo with Matt Kretzmann, eloquently christened Garrincha & the Stolen Elk, recently reviewed by yours truly. (By the way, that Stunned tape is the entirety of available recordings of the former 4-man line-up so I suggest you hop on that while you can.) Anyway, Davy, incredibly kind gent that he is bestowed upon me 3 double LPs Weird Forest dropped last year.

I'm obsessed with this incredible head scratcher, Rain in England by Berkeley-based, recently death-threatened emcee Lil B. Relentlessly serene, the double LP features B rapping in free verse over drifting new-age synth pads. It's hip hop without beats, without hooks just set adrift. His voice sounds like a combo of Lil Wayne, Sensational and Prince; his flow is harder to pin down but it has the elasticity of Vast Aire on the The Cold Vein. This really is a record. Each track sounds more or less like the last but as a whole, it's entirely engaging, perhaps even a little addictive, over all four sides. I am gonna be doing a lot more listening to this. DJ Yo-Yo Dieting (Portlander Pat Maherr a.k.a. Glamorous Pat, Sisprum Vish, Indignant Senility et al.) billed even more awesomely here as Expressway Yo-Yo Dieting also decimates hip hop convention in an entirely different way on Bubblethug. Unlike the Lil B record this one is bristling with groovin' beats. The bad ass abstraction at play here comes from the seriously complex chopping and screwing going down. The best thing about this record is it still is a hip-hop/DJ record at its core; you scrape away all the cough syrup residue and aural vomit and you have some sickass catchy beats and melodies throbbing underneath. I get up multiple times to dance over the course of the thing. It's incredible that Maher retained the essence of the source material while rendering it completely unrecognizable. Still not sure how he pulled it off, will listen more for clues. Damn fine work, damn fine.

The last of the three records is a 10th Anniversary gatefold reissue of Afternoon Tea (which I hadn't heard until now) by the one-off supergroup of Oren Ambarchi and Keith Rowe on guitar, and Christian Fennesz, Peter Rehberg and Paul Gough a.k.a. Pimmon on computer. Over the course of the incredibly dynamic recording guitars clank, rumble and drone processed by digital tones, oscillations and plenty o' crackle. Perhaps the most attractive quality of the record to me is it delves masterfully into deep, deep zones but the quintet keeps everything rough; the set is fluid but most definitely not a smooth ride. So much of the time, music created with heavy use of computer ends up devoid of texture--this is an instance where the absolute opposite is true. Though since this album employs software circa 2000, maybe them computers back in the day were a lot more raw and instinctual.

In addition to the original Afternoon Tea recordings, there is a second LP with a fairly short remix Fennesz did and two live recordings from the What is Music? festival, performed on the evening of the Afternoon Tea sessions. The "evening tea" sessions are pretty much just as essential so it's great to have them included here. Heavy and hardy recommendations to each of these records, each one tickles a different fancy but they are equally stellar.

Kill Yr TV from Neil Blakemore on Vimeo.

In Rotation #2

Man, I have to tell you about this Demons cassette (pictured) that Green Tape sent over recently. I posted the picture so you can judge for yourself, does that not look like something that would contain some vile harsh noise or black metal? I mean the fuckin' thing's called Beheading and isn't Demons also the name of a Zac Davis-related (or was it Nate Young?) noise thang? Not in this case, it's the duo of Chicagoans Sam Cholke and Paul Kim. Anyhow, so I popped this thing in the first time and it turns out it's basically a DJ tape. And it's awesome! This is the funkiest thing I've heard in ages and it's only like 12 minutes so I'm infinitely flipping it over in my Walkman when I'm at work. I think probably a good portion of it is sample-based; if you're into Endtroducing...-era DJ Shadow then I'm sure you'd be vibin' to this in no time. I suggest grabbing a copy from Green Tape while they're still available. It'd make a great double date with that Tad cassingle on DNT; coincidentally they both share their names with other, less cool bands.

I saw Caldera Lakes play a couple weeks ago and it was AMAZING. They gave me a copy of what was apparently their first tape from way back in '08 on Bill Hutson's Accidie label and I also picked up their tour CD-r. Man, there's really great shit on it (I am really loving "Up with the Birds.") It's not the most abrasive or loudest of their releases but it seems the "noisiest." There's usually a good amount of static in play thanks to Eva and I continue to be impressed with Brittany's voice (it's just as fantastic live too.) The duo have such great chemistry together (they seemed almost telepathically linked during their set) and they pretty much carved out their own unique niche from day one. Not many bands you can say that about. Make sure to see 'em if they roll through your town.

Galtta Media out in Philadelphia has sent over their first 6 releases and there's quite an interesting array of material on display. The most striking thing to me about the label was that everything is jazz, and not necessarily free jazz either. The brand new tape En Nuestros Viajes by the guitar/Rhodes duo of Matt Davis and Javier Resendiz is incredibly pleasant (perhaps a little too pleasant for it's own good at times.) Rewind collects some of the work of bassist Mike Boone and it's a super solid record but pretty traditional jazz quartet stuff. Not what I initially expect to hear on a limited-run cassette but I will take it! Cassette is such a fantastic medium I'm always happy to hear it spreading back into the more "normal" music realms. That said, Galtta isn't exactly Blue Note. Symbiosis Syndicate regularly use EVI and synths alongside their trumpet/piano/percussion line-up taking jazz into a pretty interesting direction on their self-titled tape (a track is named after Silver Apples FYI.) Labelhead David Lackner (along with frequent collaborator John Swana) probably delivers the most interesting stuff to my ears. Jazz is definitely at the core of what he's doing but it's often cross-polinated with a range of other genres or may serve as the seed of what grows into a much different tree. Lackner's music is texturally complex but always finds a place for melody. His split with Swana and his new tape My Leader, the Baby is Dead (which also comes with a cool little handbound artbook by Gabrielle Muller) are both recommended.

Barcelona's Circuit Torcat label just put out a tape by Toronto/Barcelona by-mail duo Kamtchtka. The tape is super minimal, not something that you'd expect to be a product of more than one person let alone a by-mail collaboration. As is the case with pretty much all Circuit Torcat releases, I found the tape to be a rather pleasant experience but it's definitely not for diehard fans of volume, both spacial and aural.

I continue to listen Jours Avec Jennie by Zach Phillips (under the guise of GDC) as it is possibly the best tape of last year. Midwestern label Alchemist Records wisely took my advice and reissued this instant-classic so there are (thankfully) a 100 more copies of it in existence. The new pro-dubbed tapes sound good and they're yellow so A+ on that front. If you do not have a copy, I highly recommend you remedy the situation. Alchemist has also put out a couple other fine tapes this year by Local Winds and BAnanas Symphony. The Local Winds cassette is another example of Alchemist's bread and butter: easy, breezy feelin'-nice-right-now vibes and BAnanas Symphony, while the tape is perhaps a touch uneven as a whole, delivers many bangin' pop tunes vaguely 60s-inspired but realized in a variety of different ways--looking forward to listening to it some more.

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.

In Rotation #1

I'd been wanting to check out Chicago's Catholic Tapes imprint for a quite a while so last November I took the plunge and ordered a chunk of new releases. Through a big ol' nasty fiasco (or perhaps a series of them) I didn't get my order until a couple days ago. That was lame but the contents of the package have certainly made the wait worth it. There's a pair of gnarly ass synth tapes, Section 1 from Alex Barnett's ever growing Section series and The Pylori Program by Elon Katz, a name I was previously unfamiliar with. Barnett's cassette is as solid as ever and features the first "epic" I've heard from him, the side-long "Soldier" which even gets a reprise on side B. I don't know if the tape was recorded before sections 2-4 or how the chronology matches up to the numerology but they're all great tapes so I just plan to keep collecting each Section. The Katz ain't too shabby either and features the totally rippin' hit single "Ode to John Connor." I don't even like The Terminator (I will eat my shoe the day James Cameron makes a good movie--fuck that hack) but this shit is bangin' in every aspect. For Terminator and non-Terminator fans alike.
Also in the package was a very drone-ish tape from Michael Vallera, Don't Call This Home. The first side "Leaving at Night" is a moody piece of what sounds like piano and guitar. There's enough fog to obscure pretty much everything but it's beautiful none the same. "Safe" on B-side is more percussive and pretty cool as well. Solid.
My two favorites though, are vastly different but each totally bitchin'. Andrew Scott Young (of Tiger Hatchery) delivers a gnarled as all fuck cassette called Slophaus Diver, full of upright bass scrape and clatter--totally up my alley. Tactile, dark, claustrophobic, just killer really. I can't wait to listen to it more. Severely cool. The other stand-out is the 45rpm 7 inch split between Running and Loose Dudes, released by Catholic Male (Catholic Tapes + Priority Male). Running's full-length from earlier in the year was getting hyped (shit, I need to pick that up now that I've heard this single) and this track "Right Lane Leaning" makes good on the hype. Total neo-Jesus Lizard/Big Black savagery, very fucking awesome and very fucking Chicago. After being wrecked by the first side, I was totally blind-sided by the Loose Dudes side which is even better. They're less feral and more melodic than Running but, man, just as good. "Black Preacher" shot to the top of my singles chart within the first 20 seconds. Motherfucker, it is just the most goddam catchy thing I've heard in a while. Killer riffs, killer solo and killer chorus (I've been singing "Black preacher, you have my devotion" all week). The singer might be slightly tone-deaf but dude makes up for it infinitely with his showmanship. "Father's Day" their other song is another good one too. Fast and ragin' just how I like 'em. This record rules, can't recommend it highly enough. I gotta hear more of both these bands.
Also in today's rotation is a really bizarre thing I've been wanting to get a few words up about. It comes from Lighten Up Sounds and it's called Hands by Mole (pictured). It's a VHS release of "Live improvisation for 16mm, 8mm/Super 8mm, magnetic tape, AM radio, adapted machines, electric guitar, amplifier and electronics. Documented directly to VHS." Mole dropped this simultaneously with a mammoth c90 (also on Lighten Up Sounds) so this mysterious drifter has a ton weird shit up his/her sleeve. The majority of this runtime is dedicated to three overlapping frames, one is a white frame that continuously flickers, there's an out of focused video of something (sometimes it seems like it could be a western, a battlefield or people launching their canoes) and another frame that's very dark and there appears to be something crawling around in it. Needless to say I'm very perplexed watching it. The video has a cool feel, very lo-fi and the aural accompaniment is surprisingly melodic. There's some garbled speech in there and it seems like the majority of the sound sources are manipulated loops of samples. It sort of feels a little like a MF Doom or Wu-Tang Clan interlude minus all traces of hip-hop and zonked beyond recognition. A weird (even in this day and age) but enjoyable experience. Edition of 25.


MOLE "Hands" VHS (excerpt) from M.H.H. on Vimeo.

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.

Scissor Shock - Psychic Existentialism [For Noise's Sake]/Expensive Shit - ATX Ghosts + Flowers [For Noise's Sake]

As you've likely noticed, ain't been too many reviews poppin' out of these Auxiliary Out tubes lately. There has been no shortage of great stuff comin' in the doors here; it's just been that time has been incredibly elusive this year. Although, to quoteth Galaxy Quest, never give up, never surrender. I am chipping away steadily, if glacially, at the stack of patient submissions here. Well, I just caught a few minutes of Madrid on Globe Trekker yesterday, I figure it's a sign to give these transmissions from Madrid's For Noise's Sake the review treatment.

Scissor Shock is the work of insanely active, insanely motivated and insanely nice guy Adam Cooley. I use "insanely" purposefully there because a few things about Adam are a little insane, probably most of all is his music.

"Psychic Existentialist" breathes life into the record and actually isn't that crazy at first. Sure, a little scatterbrained maybe, but not crazy. Chopped up samples (ranging from vibes to children's programming) mingle with "free" drum programming. There actually is nearly a jazzy feel at parts but Cooley is much too eager to stop and go at a whim, trading in mellow grooves for skittering melodies like it's nobody's business (it isn't.) At 6 minutes, it's the second longest of like 13 tracks. Most wrap-up in a little over a minute such as "Cat Planet Woman" which features a similar vibe to the opening track but daresay it sounds much more focused? "Ghost with Shit Electronics" flips the script with a lonesome guitar intro before launching headfirst into a spastic showcase of stitched together guitar and drum programming. If sheet music shoved into a food processor made a sound, this record might not be too far from it. I don't want to cheapen the music with hyperbole because what makes the record is not the split-second editing; it's that Cooley will end the frantic, hi-speed collision of the aforementioned "Ghost" with a detuned guitar and vocal ditty. So there is Jungle in here as well as shredmasters but there's this weirdo sensibility as well. It seems like when Cooley eases up on the gas a little he reveals great little moments. Sometimes it's a strung out acoustic guitar. Sometimes it's a lingering, aural tone. Though, the record can still sound pretty good when the pedal's to the metal. The 9 minute title track works like a plunderphonic punk/hardcore track. Breaking down and mashing up the various signatures of punk and hardcore music along with spurts outsides genres. Unexpectedly, the piece drifts out on a few minutes of mild, psychedelic drone while the next track "Sunset Dream of Codeine Eyeball" is a few plucked guitar notes. "Bring Back the Guillotine" stands out because of how it begins. It's more or less a rock song, albeit an extremely debilitated rock song. The track doesn't necessarily continue in that same fashion, but it does seem to choose melodies over tropes which I am in complete support of. "Man of the Graveyard Man" does straight-up morph into a one-man DC hardcore track that's pretty rad while it lasts. "Tearing Wings Off of a Pigeon" continues the string of hits. It's actually a song with vocals and a melody all the way through. The final 23 seconds (titled "Johnny Merzbow Psychic Contact") are pretty badass, so badass in fact need a little more than 23 seconds, Adam. C'mon! Don't leave a guy hanging.

How much you really enjoy Cooley's music probably depends mostly on how chopped-up you like your audio. Though I'm not a big fan of that generally, Cooley imbues all the cuts and splices with the overarching character of his music. He's obviously fond of chopping the shit out of everything which I can respect (especially because I know my lazy ass would never have the patience nor perseverance to make music like that) but as I alluded to earlier, it's all things that don't jump up and down, demanding your attention that make the record interesting.

This Expensive Shit CD-r had a couple things going for it before I even listened to it. First of all, I like this gang's name. Second, the cover (intentionally?) evokes Rampage one of the most badass arcade games around. Third, there's the winking nod to Pitchfork media's most hated Sonic Youth album.

The disc consists of a single 19 and a half minute rager. The thing is so blown out, so gnarled, so ravaged that my agitated girlfriend asked me to plug in the headphones.

There's some semblance of "music" here. Expensive Shit is definitely a "band" just one that plays furious 19.5 minute-long, improv'd disasterpieces. Every so often the drummer takes the lead, with the rest of the band following his torch through the cave of clang.

The second half, much like the first half, of the track features a lot pounding, thudding, crashing, slashing but also some weird harmonic licks in there too. It may be the most developed section of the track, which ambles along from bit to bit fluidly if a little languorously sometimes. By the end of the set, though, they are really grooving like a mid-period Six Finger Satellite but caked with dirt, rust and oxidation rather than basking in radioactivity. For full band free noise-rock, these guys aren't a bad source. They will certainly beat the fuck out your face if you let them out of yr sight.

I'm curious to hear more from Expensive Shit, or hear them develop rather. These guys got the sound down, but I wouldn't mind hearing a few songs driving all the volatility next time. I highly doubt these guys take requests though.

Hit up For Noise's Sake for the discs.

York Factory Complaint - Remorse of Conscience [House of Alchemy]

Adam Richards's House of Alchemy seems to be on the road to becoming a full time cassette pusher, Amen to that. This one by York Factory Complaint came along in a batch with a Chris Dadge solo percussion tape (which I will speak on at a later date) as well as an expansive split/collab double tape between Richards's Chapels project, Sleepwalkers Local and The Circle and the Point.
Never heard of this duo before the tape, though I've seen the name around a couple places since. The tape is kinda weird to write about because it keeps me at a distance. I don't really know how to get close to it or into it. Maybe the fact that it's an antisocial junkbag could be part of the problem.
The cassette starts out with some motherfuckin' rumble. As the side (titled "Asleep in the Arms of an Ocean" as if anyone could confuse this racket for a lullaby) moves forward it sounds like that some of this noise could be originating from percussion or guitar bashing rather than just inbred circuits. The tape is weirdly "musical." There aren't any melodies or discernibly intentional rhythms so maybe it really is just two dudes trying to peel the paint from the walls but there's a lively physicality to it buried underneath not found in all noise music.
York Factory Complaint are absolutely trafficking in no-fi, recorded-in-a-dumpster audio-garbage so the sound doesn't get anymore detailed when you crank the volume. Like it or not, the Complaint are giving you big, broad, abstract strokes like playing mud on your turntable. Their brand of impressionist noise obscures its artist, along with everything else really.
"Marked" is my preferred side, if only for the sharper, trebly bite it has. Various sources of feedback, forced to mingle, unwillingly breed making for bastards and bastards of bastards all clamoring over each other in forbidden instinct. The side isn't any less caked with shit than the previous (it might even be a little more unstable) but the claustrophobia of "Ocean" is gone leaving the sounds to exist in a strangely open territory. The funny thing is for all the "crumbliness" of it, the piece sort of seems in a vacuum. I'll throw some oxymoronical buzz words at it: infinite destruction. How can something be destroyed if its infinite? I don't know, talk to these guys...
York Factory Complaint, in my estimation, are somewhere between junk noise brethren like the Fossils family and other thicker, electronics-based harsh noise artists. Does that sound appetizing (or, more likely, vomit-inducing?) Well, come to the stable and let the House of Alchemy feed you until you burst.

Alex Barnett - Section 4 [Pizza Night]

This is the fourth installment of the killer Section series by Chicago-based analog synth maestro Alex Barnett. The previous installment featured "Try Harder" a bad ass John Carpenter-ish jam of epic proportions, which is still the pinnacle of Barnett's work for me, though Section 4 is pretty solid all the way through.
"Bad Omens" comes to life like a re-animated body, a pulse first that gradually builds into the actions of an agitated malformed nervous system. The piece moves forward with scientific precision yet a woozy rage seems to bubble underneath. Halfway through Barnett flips the script, whipping out a speedy arpeggio and dueling counterpoint melody. It's a sizzling, banshee-like scree that pushes the piece over the top though. Slipping into dirge territory the ephemeral melody emerges again as an even eerier figure. Tough act to follow. "Day Dreams" finishes out the side. It works well in conjuction with "Bad Omens" because there is a certain wooziness as well as toughness. But overall, the piece comes off as brighter and simpler with an auto-panned synthesizer aura.
"Streams" wastes no time getting the next side moving. It emphasizes Barnett's playing more as there are no overdubs making for a nice introduction to the side. "Cavernous Places" really changes things up as it veers closer to noise territory. Percussive noises scrape around and writhe on the floor leading into "Foldover" and its zippy, percussive arpeggio over which Barnett tears into his oscillator. It is a simple piece, but the 3 or so components prove to hit the right marks, amounting collectively to an effective piece of work. The closer, "The Best Day of Your Life" features the same rough-edged synthesizers but is a little sweeter at heart. Glistening waves of keys chime in over a couple looped arpeggios.
This set of pieces feels a little looser, with Barnett often laying out a simple theme and then improvising and exploring the piece from there. He keeps the works tastefully short though so they never end up in meandering territory. That's characteristic of the series as a whole; one of the strengths of Sections is Barnett keeps each installment to 20 minutes so each new tape finds him probing the areas of synth composition a little more but in a manageable fashion. Every tape is considered rather than a series where artist says "here is everything I have been up to lately" and drops hours of material at your feet.
Check Pizza Night for copies or hit the distros.

Tad - Path to the Dutchie [DNT]/Al Qaeda/Demonologists - Split [Teen Action]

Got a pair of recent cassingles here, each with their own specific genre influences.
Tad (not the local grunge mofos) is the musical moniker of Tynan Krakoff, perhaps better known as the CEO of DNT Records. His debut Path to the Dutchie is dub through and through. And I don't been "dubby," lots of bands are that but this tape is creatively and faithfully dub.
The first side is the title track which blinks to a start with synth blips and some groovy-ass organ. Krakoff unleashes one of the most monster motherfucking grooves I've heard in a while. The melody is straight-up infectious and Krakoff couches it in an ever-shifting sound world of heavily effected keyboards, guitar and drum programming and also plenty of oddities (I swear there is a sample from NFL Blitz in here.) It's flat out amazing and gets out of yr hair quickly. This would be sad except the flip side "Version" is probably an even better rendition. Making good use of a reverb-laden melodica, this side takes the previous side's infectious melody and turns it inside out. While the melody holds down the jam, Krakoff sets about, in true dub fashion, to live delay pedal knob twiddling of percussion samples, trumpeting elephants, cackling dolphins and, I don't know, some insane monkeys or something. Totally out of left field and yet totally loveable.
This thing is about the perfect cassingle. Not just because the music is great but because the two tracks sound so great looped back to back over and over. Vinyl ain't gonna do that for you. Having to flip the record over constantly would make it a chore, and I'm pretty sure Tad would come out fiercely against chores. This tape has been out for two months and I ain't sick of this bad boy yet; I am starting to doubt I ever will be. Absolutely recommended.
Switching gears drastically, Al Qaeda and Demonologists are reportedly finding their black metal roots with this cassingle. I figure Bad Brains put reggae and hardcore hand and hand so why can't I do that with black metal and dub for this review? I haven't heard either of these crews so this makes for a quick get-to-know-ya.
Al Qaeda makes the jumpoff with the trio delivering 5 tracks in like 4 minutes. I was probably expecting 45 second raging metal tunes but AQ got something more abstract brewing. Starting out with "Battle Fuck" (a name so ridiculous it just might work) percussive bass throbs and wind blows before some obliterated vocal cord shredding bares its teeth against a weird looped keyboard. End track 1. "Bottom Feeder" actually features a rock band set-up pounding away on a rhythmic riff and the track plays out like an intro to an unmade album. "Shitting Gold" features warbly keyboard against distorted backwards tape loops or something of the like. "Lepper Cuss" opens with a scream and shuffles along heavy on the groove and light on the fidelity. Possibly the tape's standout. It shifts abruptly into "Veritable" which sounds a little too clean to be "black." Nearly glistening tones are sustained all the way through along with some bizarre brushing-your-teeth noises.
Passing to the other side, Demonologists deliver a single sidelong track, "The Bastard Curse." The jam is immediately heavy on the crunch. This is some Oops, All Berries crunch. I can't tell what the fuck is going on underneath all the distortion on this thing. Vocals? Guitar? Keyboard? Drums? There are a few sustained tones near the end but that might just be feedback. I figure if this was made with a combustion engine that runs on goat's blood, I'd get a press release letting me know, right? Then again maybe not...
Both tapes are available from the labels. The Tad tape comes shrinkwrapped with sweet prehistoric artwork. The AQ/Demonologists cassette features awesomely bleak xeroxography. A pair of handsome fellers don't ya think?

Terence Hannum - La Repitition [Peasant Magik]

Philly label Peasant Magik dropped an insanely big batch of tapes, 15 to be exact (is there a larger batch on record anywhere?) and I'm very slowly working my through them, with a number of heavy hitters still on deck. This solo release by Locrian's Terence Hannum marks the second tape in the batch with some French cinema inspiration (I wrote up the other one here.)

I haven't seen La Repitition (directed by Bertrand Duma) so I have no frame of reference for this cassette but apparently Hannum has composed a soundtrack to the film. Eight pieces for guitar and accordion are spread out evenly across the two sides. The first side "I-IV" has an effortless flow to it but slight undertones of melancholy and decay. Both the guitar and accordion are smeared together, so unified they're nearly inseparable at times. After the first piece streaks the sky grey, the second (or possibly third) movement finds a guitar in a duet with silence, inching forth a note at a time. Hannum gradually introduces other sounds and melodies which curl around the edges, never breaking the concentration of the central guitar's three note meditation.
The fifth piece that opens up the second side "V-VIII" is quite pretty, made up of alternately looming and luminous accordion tones which eventually becomes susceptible to waves of rushing static. Rolling guitar drones materialize at some point prodding the piece in a more musical direction with spiraling guitar tones embedded in the fuzz. The movements are so fluid, I never notice any marked changes. The side just seems to tumble on by, moving forth, capturing your attention and consequently receding back into the tape hiss before you even realize it.

La Repitition is resigned, forlorn, desolate and empty. Don't know what the movie's about but I'll be surprised if it's a comedy. I think fans of Locrian would definitely enjoy this but Hannum's work here is pretty fragmentary and evocative, a little different than the metal formalism that Locrian is currently interested in. It is fun to hear what other kinds of sounds Hannum has going on up there in his noggin.

The tape is dressed with the utmost professionalism and care as is customary with Peasant Magik. This tape is still in print at the label along with plenty of other great ones so take a gander.

Atlantic at Pacific - Weddings [Alchemist]/I and I - The Hardest Part [Alchemist]

A pair of tapes from the relatively young Alchemist label here.
First up is Atlantic at Pacific, the nom de plume of Santa Cruz dude Austin Wood. Wood gets the endorphins flowing right off at the bat with hazy bedroom electro-pop jam (and album standout) "Hallucinations." It's a very simple piece but sturdily constructed with unassuming but still HUGE synth hooks littering the track all over the place. I've never actually timed how long the track is but, damn, I always know that it's way too short. "On We Go" starts out a touch chillier but thaws out over its duration. Initially entering with an almost trip hop drum track, it's almost into DJ Shadow territory when the track reaches full bloom. "Drifting" whirls around on a woozy arpeggio with a drum machine pumping along faithfully before jumping ship for the keyboard solo. Upon its return the piece becomes more focused leaving the fog behind. The brief "50" certainly brings back the hip hop influence, collaging a handful of beats in more misty reverb. The title track stomps steadily underneath a luminous 3 chord synth progression which is given a moment to shine on it's own before Wood expands the piece to full force, including an infectious tinkling counter-melody. It's another piece that could have lasted longer not that it's especially short. And really I should probably be praising Wood's brevity as its a quality too few artists have. "The Sun Melt the Sky" is a rather swirly piece lead by stark a piano melody. That is before it morphs into a late-night downbeat raver. The side wraps with "The Lonely Ocean," an aquatic head-nodder I can envision MF Doom dropping a verse over.
Side number two kicks off with "For the Record," a thoroughly breezy just-go-with-it jam. "Tired" features burly keyboard chords and just a hint of early 90s videogame soundtracks. It's hard to pin down the mood of the track, a touch too intense and rhythmically involved to be somber but not light or uptempo enough to be a peppy pop number. The grey area works for it. "Intentional Pt. 1" is an unusual one for the cassette. There's a zonked monotone vocal drone, a synth snare at an almost punk tempo and bright keyboard melodies. "Summer Nights" is ponderous with a plodding synth progression and chiming counter-melody while the sunnier "I Know You Know" follows it up with a rattling drum track and fuzzy chords. The closer "Who Are We" spreads massively echoing vocals across the track with a sparse keyboard melody plinking away in the ether.
Wood doesn't create the most unique textures out there but his songwriting is pretty fucking solid making for an incredibly pleasant listen for a variety of moods. For fans of takin'-it-easy music.
Alchemist label head Adam Sarmiento is I and I (or i and i as he seems to prefer to have it written) which causes me to ask is that a Bad Brains reference? If it is, you probably wouldn't be able to tell from the music contained on this tape. The Hardest Part is more or less a cassingle but of the "12 inch single" variety, i.e. it lasts more than 7 minutes and it features the single version of the title track as well as two remixes and then an additional track ("Pocahontas.") "The Hardest Part (single version)" has a bit of a similar vibe to that Atlantic at Pacific tape but minus the haze. The vocal presence is much stronger as well (it actually has discernible lyrics) in fact the vocals are the focus. The rest of the elements are kept pretty minimal for the most part, crisp drum programming, fuzzy electro bass and stark piano notes. I think how a listener responds to Sarmiento's voice will probably dictate how he/she feels about the track. I am a bit on the fence regarding that matter myself. Sarmiento doesn't have a bad voice but it feels a little ill-fitting for the production. Or maybe more accurately its the production that doesn't suit his voice the best. "The Hardest Part (Radio! remix)" which I think was done by Austin Wood takes the opposite route of the original. Pushing fragments of the track through loads of effects and minimizing the vocal presence by comparison. It's pretty darned sloshed and, while still using the original as it's source, it refashions the original into a far more "electronic" track.
The second side brings the Nassau Caledonian remix of the title track. It retains the mellow vibe of the original and keeps many of the elements intact but really ups the "club" quotient with big splashy drum tracks and sequenced synth at points. There's some nice synthesized strings at the end too moving the piece briefly into a different realm. The ironic thing about this tape is that the "b-side" is actually far more interesting and my favorite track. "Pocahontas" feels a bit grittier, with wobbly drum programming and an ambling synth melody. There's a cool fuzz organ solo in there too. Again, Sarmiento's voice seems slightly out of place but as more elements enter throughout the song it seems to fit more and more. There's a brilliant little counter-melody with stabs of keyboard notes that is worth it's weight in gold. The song takes an unusual path moving from a slightly abstract, ramshackle drum and synth duet into a fully (de)formed pop ballad forgoing most of the rules along the way. It's vaguely similar to something like Dragging an Ox Through Water, where there's a real solid pop song core but the way it is ultimately outfitted is more than a little unexpected. This little nugget makes me curious about just what Sarmiento can do. I think he may be onto something with this "Pocahontas" thing.
Both releases are available in cassette, compact disc and downloadable formats from the label. Your call but you know the right decision is tape. You can also stream both releases from the Alchemist website too which is pretty sweet.