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Tape Reviews from the World-Wide-Web
Cassette Gods: T. S.
ROCKAFELLER “Live, Laugh…Die” Review -
"Taking Musique Concrète to an overwhelmingly
schizophrenic level, T. S. Rockafeller gives us “Live, Laugh…Die”, a
self-smothering quilt of disembodied soliloquies, de-contextualized pop
snippets, bizarr-o soundbite-crumbs, synth-jamz accompaniments, cascading vocal
utterance-overlaps, hi-lightred one-line zingers, commercial cadences,
wilderness field recordings, distant ceremonial documentations, a good part of
Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator" speech, legless tap-dancing
percussives, botched karaoke participations, and a whole slew of other
titillating, if not emotionally taxing, aural ephemera to (attempt to) digest.
You won’t get any particular passage stuck in your head so much as a nagging
feeling that you’re now a li’l more plugged into the greater collective
consciousness…for better or worse is contingent upon your own stress capacity
at the time. Much like camping hanky-panky, this release is FUCKING INTENSE!
You have been warned."
http://cassettegods.blogspot.com/2019/08/t-s-rockafeller-live-laughdie-c21.html
Cassette Gods: COOL PERSON
“Weird Person” Review -
“Loose & Dirty” isn’t a fairly common description for a
New Age-y artist's synth improvisations, but it fits Cool Person fairly well.
Alternates would include “Lo-Fi”, “Aleatory”, and
“Stream-O-Conscious-Slippery,” to name a few. CP’s “Weird Person" is a
glorious study in dynamic interplay as its own cohesive set; for every single
stoccato element, there lies its equal, sustained counterpart somewhere nearby;
for every minimal field of vast open space there lies an underground city
teaming with squirming, frolicking life; for every delayed note there lies an
arpeggiated one in the vicinity, as well, this ever-wily-cycling-chaos of a
recipe tumbling over itself in endlessly varying possible perceptions. Which is
to say, it’s a deceptively complex string of simple poses that won’t grow old
any time soon. Permanent Nostalgia shows yet again how they know how to keep it
weird and interesting!"
http://cassettegods.blogspot.com/2019/08/cool-person-weird-person-c30-permanent.html
Cassette Gods: WYATT
PROSPER/ZEBULON “Split” Review -
"Ontario’s Wyatt Prosper & Floridian, Zebulon, each
honor R. Murray Schaefer’s request that we let our ears take in a rich
soundscape every bit as hungrily as our eyes take in a beautiful landscape.
WP’s half documents a meditative, rural traversing and its yielding nuanced
blends of distant highway din, immediate path-frictions, and a slew of
wind-battered artifacts. Z’s side juxtaposes with a focusing on a
small-to-mid-sized port town’s weekend’s farmers’ market’s eclectic, eccentric
mix of diverse musics, languages, and social rhythms. Pretty amazing stuff!
Keep ‘em coming, Permanent Nostalgia!"
http://cassettegods.blogspot.com/2018/11/wyatt-prosperzebulon-split-c22.html
Cassette Gods: COOL
PERSON “Good Person” Review -
"Gainesville’s Permanent Nostalgia label has been
kicking out some seriously visionary tapes these days & this newest release
has pretty much everything one could ask from experimentally progressive New
Age music. Acoustic timbres of kalimba, pan flute, xylophone & chimes
(seemingly) independently stumbling gracefully about underneath soaring sci-fi
synthscapes, disembodied samples & cheesy preset tones, all of these
elements themselves operating as one cohesive unit while individually flailing
and fluttering about at random. Like watching a headless-tailless funnel of
Vaux’s Swifts preparing to roost; No leaders, no riffs, or any apparent mission,
yet, somehow, everything just…fits, right as rain. More, please!"
http://cassettegods.blogspot.com/2018/11/cool-person-good-person-c47-permanent.html
Cassette Gods:
ROYALLEN "Found Tape” Review -
Making one feel loopy, Royallen’s “Found Tape” is a loom of
thrift-store score snippets*, their decay’d riffs and slippery vignettes having
been appropriated, decontextualized, and irreverently spliced/looped into,
over-top, and straight through one another, all minimalist stitches glowing warmly,
the underlying uneven wear of warp and weft celebrated earnestly as wabi-sabi,
again, making one feel loopy. *snippets pilfered include but are not limited to
various pre-1990: -vintage infomercial dialogues -a’capella gospel &
worksongs -saccharine/cheesy soap opera interludes -piano practice recordings
of arpeggios & raw, faltering recitals -whispered confessions -fledgling
techno beats -R&B choirs in their pre-chorus prime -70s British Folk
wankery -60s flat-pick’d/slide Country & Western guitar -50s classical
romantic string arrangements -elder pop croon’ry & indecipherable soul
vocal swagger -Liz-Phair-esque muddle of harp-ish piano-bridge -phrenetic,
trebly chaos via orchestral pit -the list goes on & on, as the tape
progresses, becoming further and further disparate in genre-pairing. All sounds
melded & ingested, the end result yields either a novelty-seeker’s
satiation, a confused/amused notation, or an irritated bystander, begging for
the back door, unsure of “what the heck music even is, anymore!” Plan your
picnics accordingly!
http://cassettegods.blogspot.com/2018/09/royallen-found-tape-c20-permanent.html
Cassette Gods:
BLUESHARP "Green Burial” Review -
Side A: In the director’s cut* of Memento, the protagonist
barges into his neighboring hotel room** to find out what all that shrillness
and buzzing is about. He discovers an empty space***, but for one electric
guitar, run through a dangerously rusty delay pedal, into a fairly large
amplifier that has, indeed, seen better days, itself. His anterograde amnesia
does not allow him to remember that used to play for Shipping News**** back in
the day, but somewhere in his blood, he knows of the freedom-justifying maxim
that “if you play the wrong note, play it again, only louder”, and that,
although decibel level isn’t exactly what Mr. Davis***** was talking about,
persistence, patience, and forgiveness sure as shit was. He picks up the
guitar, strums a chord, picks a few bass notes, &strums again, letting the
slightly sharp strings ring out, bounce back from one wall to another to
another to his own hear. He strums again…and has forgotten what he has already
played. Soundcloud was not a thing back then. Side B: Is a lot like Side A, but
with some pretty COOL****** surrounding sounds from outside said room
incorporated. Perhaps a window was opened. Perhaps a radio tower was fritzing
more heavily than normal, eliciting robotic possession of said beat up amp…
and, man…once you get to the end of this relatively short tape, there is one
SICK door-hinge riff that absolutely SCREAMS! It is worth mentioning that
listening at different volumes to this recording yield DRASTICALLY differing
results. Explore! *I am totally making this shit up as I go along ok
**Seriously I can’t even remember anything about this movie other than the
short-term memory loss theme please bear with me *** Bluesharp the recording
artist is all about a recording environment’s stranglehold on soundwaves and
how they make it to your ears and or a recording device so know that ok
****Seriously I could not begin to stop hearing “Axons and Dendrites” and
wondering if this “Green Burial” album is what the beginning of that song might
have sounded like were it written while coming down off any number of powerful
narcotics or downers or tranquilizers or other such stuff *****Miles Davis
never said this and I can’t figure out who did or if I’m just referencing some
false memory or whatever but you get the idea ******Cool as in a Cool Person as
in a reference to yet another rad artist on the Permanent Nostalgia roster!
http://cassettegods.blogspot.com/2018/09/bluesharp-green-burial-c20-permanent.html
Lost in a Sea of
Sound: Royallen “Sample Tape” Review -
Pilgrimaging Moroccan reed flute player flying to uncharted
islands of serenity. Escaping years of performing the Sama, the traveler plays
with drone like meditation and brief interludes of anticipation. Thoughts of
tranquility can be heard in the back of the mind. Communications end with a
brief listen into jumbled airwaves, evangelical wisdom and volleyball. The
oasis of peacefulness starts with the second side of this cassette. Aged
recordings of ancient piano and flute played countless times for new visitors,
welcome this journeyer. Tropical fauna can be heard accompanied by ethereal
voice. The last succinct moments of worldly static surface then flutter away.
Royallen delivers all of this on the twenty minute cassette titled Sample Tape.
Released at the end of September 2014 in a run of seventeen. Sold out from the
Permanent Nostalgia site. There is for sure a copy available for purchase at
Tomentosa, as i write this. Happy to write about a Gainesville, Florida artist.
I wish we would have crossed paths during my lengthy stay in Hogtown. Sample
Tape is a really good release in an abounding discography from Royallen.
http://lostseasound.blogspot.com/2015/01/royallen-sample-tape.html
PROFESSIONALS print zine:
Cool Person “s/t ( HookerVision )”
Review -
The friendly but mysterious dude behind ROYALLEN and the
Permanent Nostalgia label gets his efforts duly immortalized on this fifty-copy
release for the scene-defining Hooker Vision imprint. Like much of his work
under Royallen, this tape is fun and whimsical and subtly melodic. The A side
dedicates itself to glistening neon synth tones that fall somewhere between HAL
9000 reminiscing about his childhood in the prairies and HAL 9000 having a wet
dream. It’s the tasty flecks of melody that really pull you in, forming
micro-hooks out of the vague keyboard vapor. The B side plays like someone
testing out all the functions on their brand new 1993 Yamaha home keyboard –
and I mean that in the best way possible: umbilicated synth blobs, pustular
synthesized snare hits, etc, etc. They all coalesce into a jubilant and fundamentally
unpredictable spell of sound; as the various elements transiently lock into
step, new grooves are discovered and fleeting moments of near-perfection are realized.
Such is like in the Cool Person universe.
Aquarius Records: Cool
Person “s/t ( HookerVision )” Review -
No idea who this Cool Person is; but he / she / it / them
hail from Gainesville, Florida and landed this outside chuck of electronica on
Hooker Vision. At its most sensible, the Cool Person ethos follows more of a rhythm-less,
atonal, and organic sounds similar to Matmos and Mouse On Mars, all done on a
very lo-fi scale, with squelching tones and ring-modulated arpeggiations sent
along diverget paths; but at other times, echoplex delay patters crosshatch
into swarms of gritty feedback or swarming Reichian drones that cut against
abstracted polygons of golden tones with hints of those Frankenstein tape
constructions from any given Joseph Hammer project circa 1983. A strange one,
but a very intriguing tape from this anonymous project. Released in a tiny
batch of just 50 copies, all of which are sold out at the source, so these are
the last few copies…
http://www.aquariusrecords.org/
Foxy Digitalis: Royallen
/ Llanten, “Split” tape Review -
This is a split that consists of two very different artist.
Royallen gets this splt started with a side A mix tape of found montages of
radio kitsch. It’s like flipping through the various stations and each offers a
moment of random ramblings from the local DJ or a juncture of juxtaposed junk
jingles and jangles. There’s nothing particularly interesting or memorable
about any of the spliced selections. However, the whole concept of concocting
chance collections and then re-presenting it as a track all one’s own is
fascinating to me. It’s not quite as thematic or understandable as many visual
collages that I’ve seen in art museums, where found images are assembled in a
particular way. This seems much more accidental and haphazard. But, like I said,
that’s what I found so crazy about this. It further pioneers the though-provocations
of Andy Warhol’s Brillo boxes and Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountain.” It
challenges what is truly art and what an artist can truly take credit for. I
think this philosophical point, which Allen probably wasn’t even pressing, is
the most redeeming thing about his side. So, I’ll just go with that.
Side B from Llanten is a bunch of mass musical mysticism
that consists in tribal ritualism, primitive rhythms, narcotic washed, and mesmerizing
trails. It’s an anthropological hodgepodge that continuously flows from one
groove to the next. Cultural immersion in collective postmodern contrast and contradictions.
Everything is recognizable yet hidden, presented yet veiled. A common enough
mix of psychedelia that fits well with any number of other similar artists. Not
necessarily stand-out, but comfortable and safe. If you like psych at all then
you’ll enjoy this side. On a whole, though this tape will by no means go down
in history, it still deserves a listen.
http://www.foxydigitalis.com/foxyd/?p=32500
Vital Weekly: Royallen
"Motivational Tape (VHR)" Review -
Royallen's muddled motivational brew is a seething cauldron
of sample-o-phonic sound - be it Bodyflex infomercials, skipping records
(Morricone, I believe?), crackly new-age film score melodiousness, or eerie
relaxation instructional tapes. And that's all on the first side. This is,
basically, your ideal twenty-four minutes of thrift-store musique concrete, its
joy predicated on the profound juxtaposition achieved by pairing disparate
audio sources with one another. It's a fine solo debut from Mr. Royallen, who
has issued a steady stream of splits n' comp appearances on Housecraft Records,
and who also occasionally records as Zebulon. There is plenty of
tongue-on-cheek humor on tap here, but some of my favorite moments are those
which blend the germane with the outright ominous, experienced best, perhaps,
on the garbled speech and synthesizer gloom of side B. God bless experimental
music that dares to be fun.
http://www.vitalweekly.net/725.html
Foxy Digitalis: Bluesharp
"Staggered Marsh" Review -
In this typically gorgeous, virtually anonymous Housecraft
release, Bluesharp puts together some breeze rhythmic explorations, sometimes
revolving around guitar, bass and delay. Folks here are associated with Royallen,
but the identity of the musicians isn’t important here, as the release functions
as another lo-fi insight into what folks are up to.
Side A begins with some percussive, repetitive lines that
immediately conjure an archeological dig of some kind, yielding to a tangle of
roiling bass notes. A surprising passage of rhythmically echoed ground buzz
takes over, building to a lulling crescendo of what could be slowed-down slide guitar
notes and bass clusters. Bird sounds, and cassette intrusions of old radio
shows. The side ends with an appealing electronic whir amidst whimsical
microphone fumbling.
Side B is much more guitar-focused, beginning with some echoed
strumming aligned with plunking bass. The echo continues to be used heavily throughout
this side. There’s water plunking, as well as some nicely out guitar chords –it
sounds like the best of kind of experience of someone picking up a guitar for
the first time. Much of the strumming is done behind the nut (or bridge) here,
guitars are unplugged, and suddenly we hear chugging bass and vocal incantations
and then some tense fluttery guitar, perhaps something placed on the strings.
The effect is natural, unhurried, and refrains from
searching for any particular direction or dramatic ascent -- this is a
performance that is a perfect document of a relaxed musical excursion by open
minds. There’s no overarching urgency here, but there’s also a coherence to the
searching that keeps the release together as a satisfying whole.
http://www.digitalisindustries.com/foxyd/reviews.php?which=5653
Ear Conditioned Nightmare:
Zebulon "Webolo" Review -
Here's another one received as part of that first Vanishing
Hour batch, and like the Antigua Ibis it falls into a weird little category all
its own, combining field recordings with odd instrumental interludes and
electric current for a pastiche of subterranean sounds.
First side opens with some pastor, whose proclamations are
quickly derailed in the name of contact mic futzing and choral drift while some
barber gets the old electric razor out beneath and has at. Muddles about a
while while guitar comes in and presents a few chords over some bird clatter,
but none of it goes anywhere at all, instead opting to sort of ruminate it over
a bit. Keeping an eye on it while it hardens and becomes brittle. A nice go of
it, totally allows itself to just wander the grounds and take in the scenery
until it comes to some nice looking lap pool speckled with potted plants around
its exterior, so you dive right in and lo and behold there's some tiny humpback
whale living down there, no longer than your fore arm I'd say, and it's sort of
scoping you out for awhile, taking in your impressive size and gorging itself
on plankton, till you've had enough and leap out, wet as hell, and head right
for the fair on the other side of the field. Tough to get there though, so
attention starts to wander and you settle in on some workers banging away at
some concrete and chattering their chatter while they're at it. A real strange
land no doubt, but one that's a pleasure to dabble in.
Flip explores much the same ideals, if in a slightly more
focused--or at least diverse--landscape. Little metallic clatters rebound it
into being before it mellows down a notch and starts to hover just over the
crisply cut grass. Still that same suburban surreality though, with voices of
red-haired wives tending garden or men in "Kiss the Cook" aprons
flipping burgers while the chilluns huff paint behind the swingset. Only still
spot seems to be where the cat's lying, on a carpet letting the sun fall over
him and dreaming of mice. It's these moments that really keep it lively too,
and somehow the movement from convoluted sensory overload to simple statements
of quiet beauty flow nicely, giving it a chance to get you somewhere beyond
mere residence. Really cool little tape, interesting straight through, though
apparently there are only two left at the label HQ so you might want to move in
for the kill quick. Otherwise Tomentosa and, apparently, Discriminate Music
have copies.
http://earconditionednightmare.blogspot.com/2009/08/zebulon-webolo-vanishing-hour-revival.html
Balladry Magazine
fall 08/winter 09: Zebulon ”The Spirit
Of Spatterdock And Muminchogs” Review –
I’m in love with the Housecraft burners out in Florida, I’ve
gotta tell ya. Zebulon is one of my favorites as of late, too. This tape (in
typically awesome Housecraft packaging/art) is tape collage/found sound at its
best. Scratch y and catchy with samples of birds and bells and fuck knows…its
like some twisted walk through a carnival of sideshow freaks. Sign me up.
