Wobbly | MonitressHausu Mountain (CS/CD/DL) After multiple spins so much has registered, so much hasn’t, so many echoes of impressions. Wobbly (Jon Leidecker) has long been at this, the making of sound sculpture through effects, collage and a myriad of sidesteps for many moons. Monitress is his latest, and its a very fine vintage, indeed. […]
Patrick Shiroishi | 烏の涙American Damage (CS/DL) Issued on Chicago’s American Damage tape label, this new release by Patrick Shiroishi blends folky blues with wild improvisation to a stunningly contrasting effect. Shiroishi’s guitar playing is incendiary and it sounds like he has an extra pair of hands on the fret board as he lets loose. His […]
Brian James Griffith | Inner Work Histamine Tapes (CS/DL) Los Angeles-based sound artist Brian James Griffith‘s new tape Inner Work hit me right in that bright spot that tranquilizes the expectations and tribulations of the everyday. It’s a morphing and moody ambient set of eight pieces that neutralizes the sappiness of new age and somehow […]
Midcentury Modular | Drones self-released (CS/DL) Out of Raleigh NC, comes Drones the new tape from Midcentury Modular (John Mitchell) recorded between 2016-18. As a rather new artist to the scene this is his sophomore effort after Arps (earlier this year). A half-dozen new tracks that explore drone on his terms. Side one begins with sick […]
Various Artists | Tranquility Variations Matter (CS/DL) Releasing tomorrow from independent Japanese imprint mAtter is an interesting collaborative work mixed by Yukitomo Hamasaki which fuses sixteen pieces into one. This marks the Tokyo-based label’s tenth anniversary, and their interests have always aligned with my own, art, sound + architecture. Aside from Hamasaki this recording includes […]
Nathan Moody | The Right Side of Mystery Noisejockey (2xCS/DL) In what looks like a neat lil’ limited edition package (8 remain at presstime) Nathan Moody unveils his latest, a twenty-one track double tape set titled The Right Side of Mystery. Let’s jump into the first of four sides via The Namegiver. A dark strum greets […]
Thomas Bey William Bailey | la production interdite Elevator Bath (CS/DL) My Austin neighbors (down the road a piece from muddy Ft. Worth), Elevator Bath, have released the latest from psycho-acoustic sound artist, Thomas Bey William Bailey, with his new limited edition tape (only 50!) – la production interdite. Consisting of one self-titled half hour long […]
Julia Reidy | Beholder A Guide To Saints/Room40 (CS/DL) Berlin-based Australian guitarist Julia Reidy (who plays with Splitter Orchester) dedicates Beholder, her third full-length recording, to fellow guitarist, Melbourne’s Phil Houghton who passed last Fall. The tape includes four tracks (ranging from five to nearly 15 minutes each) begun on the island of Syros, during […]
Vanessa Tomlinson | The Inside Space Room40 (CS/DL) Lauded Australian percussionist Vanessa Tomlinson has often been a collaborator in various ensembles and with other artists, but this may only be her second solo record thanks to the good folk over at Room40. Her new tape The Inside Space runs just over a half hour and […]
John Atkinson + Sabriel’s Orb Split Tape (Whited Sepulchre Records; CS/DL) This is an interesting split tape by Brooklyn-based Australian sound artist John Atkinson and Salt Lake City’s ambient/techno artist Sabriel’s Orb (Willow Sky-Biggs). Released in a limited edition of 100 cassettes in the coming week, each side runs just under twenty minutes on Cincinnati’s […]
Bardo Todol + M.M. Peres + Úgjü Sectas Adzer (Sucata Tapes; CS/DL) Don’t let the crazy cover fool you, this is not Nat Geo – this is a three-way split tape of Argentinian goodness, packed with flavor. Adzer presents two tracks each by Bardo Todol, M.M. Peres and Úgjü Sectas. The cassette runs in an […]
OCA Preset Music (Constellation Tatsu; CS/DL) Preset Music was recorded in Berlin by OCA, a duo comprised of Yo van Lenz and Florian T M Zeisig, and it’s one of the fresh Summer batch from Oakland’s tape imprint, Constellation Tatsu. From the very first note of HeavenCent you are straddling a 70’s new wave loopy […]
Panchasila Panchasila (Discrepant; CS/DL) The Argentinian duo of Juan José Calarco and Guillermo M. Cerredo make up Panchasila whose new tape (ed of 150) on the Discrepant imprint is am ambient force that breaks new ground. They had an earlier EP, Pallqa (Test Tube, 2014), though this is their official full length debut featuring themes […]
Howard Stelzer & Frans de Waard The Rebels Fold Scratchy, Relaxed Meanings Into Their Smallest Actions (Park 70; CS/DL) This is an interesting premise for another collaboration by these two venerable experimenters, a recording that blends parts and pieces from their many collaborations over two decades. What’s more, they entrusted a Knoxville-based start-up, cassette-only imprint […]
Ross Khmil Suburban Lights (Hellscape Records; CS/DL) Kiev-based Ross Khmil has been twisting knobs and plugging in wires for the last few years, and has delivered a most unusual tape in the form of Suburban Lights. The release includes a half dozen tracks each running on average at about nine minutes, so you get a […]
Gruth Laments (Tormenta Electrica; CS/DL) The sophomore effort from São Paulo-based Gruth (Juha Puuperä) is the latest tape Laments (released 7/31). Consisting of two lengthy tracks, one per side, with a running time at just about 50 minutes, Lament I is composed entirely of the processed violin of fellow Finnish collaborator KuJo. This pairing has […]
Blanket Swimming Open Colour (Histamine Tapes; CS/DL) Mississippi sound project Blanket Swimming (Nick M.) has just put out their second release on this limited edition cassette (ed of 30) on Vermont’s slow-growing Histamine Tapes. It’s a dusty buzz Western guitar drone, layered with a slow-roasted harmony. Each track, Open Colour pts. 1-5 build on each […]
New Tendencies L5 (Forking Paths Records; CS/DL) Toronto’s Matt Nish-Lapidus is New Tendencies and the tape (in a short edition of only 40) begins with Start. Flared bleeps and electronic squiggles pervade the space as a crashing percussion enters and exits. It’s all coated, concealed as if you are listening to it from outside a […]
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