Datashock "Live Love Data $" cs

Datashock

Live Love Data $

Eiderdown Records

Lovely. Deep, lush swells with minimal percussion and vocals become a  psychedelic symphony. Listening to this is like watching Holy Mountain for the first time. Super wild. Reminds me of Circle quiet a bit and probably for a good reason. Eiderdown is one of those labels where you pretty much need to buy everything they do as you will not be disappointed. 

     Beautiful cover and handwritten text by Max Clotfelter which is worth purchasing this cassette alone. Hand screened by Andrew Crawshaw at Broken Press (the only printer you need to know) and professionally duplicated. It's pretty great. 

Marcus Rubio "h_h" cs

Marcus Rubio

"h_h"

Already Dead Tapes

This is a real pleasure to hear. I mean it. This makes me feel great and totally happy. This is beautiful looping music in the style of maybe Megabats, Fuck Buttons or Emeralds. I would actually say a super minimal Emeralds with tons of patience. Yeah. Whatever it is it's like falling asleep in a perfect stream on a perfect day wrapped up in a perfect life. 

     The overall design is nice. I am not a huge fan of these mini cereal boxes that tapes fit in (I know that's not what they are) but it doesn't really bother me too much. 

     I highly recommend hearing this. I should also mention that when I stopped this tape my three year old daughter protested until I played it again. I think I am going to be as familiar with this album as I am with the Wiggles "Bow Wow".

Spettro Family "Rio Lapis" cs

Spettro Family

Rio Lapis

Black Horizons

We are all very lucky that labels like Black Horizons continue to release excellent work like this. Labels become an extension of the label owner's taste. In this case James Livingston and specifically in this case you are in good hands. This is some very out there music. It feels a little 70's–80's in it's experimental vibe and that is awesome. A little Coil, a little Tangerine Dream, a little Brian Eno and a touch of Faust. Maybe… It's hard for me to say but it's pretty amazing all around. 

     The look is dark. Dark, dark, dark, dark, dark. Literally. There is almost no light reflected from this. It's super low contrast blacks and grays printed on vellum that when layered becomes almost entirely black. The case is dark red so that basically means you get this evil looking red case full of wonder. Dark, dark wonder. 

Raven "Atomic Garden" cs

Raven

Atomic Garden

Centipede Farm

The first thing my daughter said when I put this on is "Daddy, you're hurting my ears." So I feel like a bad parent but that also means this is a pretty killer bit of noise. I have heard a bit of Raven's work and it's always pretty sweet. Fans of Birchville Cat Motel with his piercing highs and grinding mid range noises will be very pleased.

     It's not a bad cover. Looks like a 12" from the 1970's converted to fit on a cassette. I can dig it. The inside doesn't really have anything to do with the outside though. THe font choices are pretty poor in that regard. Not horrible but not without it's flaws.