Noisepoetnobody—Oso cs

Noisepoetnobody

Oso

Chittenden Jones Industries

Excellent. Really excellent work. Noisepoetnobody has created a tense and immediate piece of work here about a town in Washington state that was completely buried in a massive mudslide. Abstract beats and drones create a texture that immerses the listener in way that is both pleasurable and anxiety-inducing. It's a little fucked up but I dig this. The way it looks doesn't hurt either. Really nice design where he has broken out of the usual boundaries or the 3 panel j-card. Crucial. 

German Army—Socotra Scripture cs

German Army

Socotra Scripture

Horror Fiction Tapes

German Army is my favorite band today. This tape has that wonderful warm blanket of audio patina that just melts the end of my day. This is what drugs should sound like. 

I love this design. First of all they bent the rules on what goes where on a tape j-card. That's important. Secondly, the j-card is actually pages from a 1962 novel called The Wizard of Linn by Vogt. I have never read this but I'm a little curious. The texture of the paper sounds like the music. This is an important design element. Bravo the the designer and the label. I'm impressed. Maybe I can con them into releasing a blsphm tape. 

German Army—Pennantia cs

German Army

Pennantia

905 Tapes

Another excellent piece from German Army. I guess you call it electronic experimental if you were trying to explain it to a parent of someone you went to high school with 15 years ago. You could also just say that it rules. Excellent samples and loops with a beautiful, ancient wooden sound. The layout is simple and well designed and I'm very pleased with it. You will be too. 

Meghann Wright—s/t cs

Meghann Wright

s/t

Black Top Records

Hmmm. Not totally sure why this was sent to me. It's not horrible or anything but it seems like it is far from my musical world. Meghann Wright is a singer/songwriter that sounds a little like Amy Winehouse singing for Frente. Do you remember Frente from the 90s? They did that New Order cover that everyone loved and an entire other record that no one remembers. Anyhow, that's pretty much what we have here. Soulful, adult contemporary rock that brings to mind Adele more than anything. The tape has a super 90s look as well. It's really not something I enjoy expect for the fact that I keep imagining that I am watching Lost in Translation and the band in the bar, Soulsalito, says, "Thank you, thank you. We're Soulsalito. Uh, we have cassettes for sale." 

Battalion of Cloudships/Faint Glow—split cassette

Battalion of Cloudships/Faint Glow

split cassette

Assorted Psychedelia

So this is almost two years old at this point and I need to apologize again to everyone that I am so behind. Not only do I need to apologize to the producers of so many fine cassettes and music but to the audience that isn't getting the word that these things rule. That said, this thing rules. Faint Glow has been reviewed on here before but this is probably my favorite thing of theirs so far. Super simple and brittle. Like the music frayed wires would like to listen to. It's awesome. Battalion of Cloudships, besides having an awesome name, have really done something special here. It's sad and deeply hurting. I really love when I find something that acts as a mirror to how I feel most of the time. I'm going to were out this cassette. Someone needs to put this out on a one sided 7" or something. 

The tape looks great. Simple O card that has been deftly assembled to have some real depth and texture. Really nice. The type treatment is very minimal but done well. They even used a ligature. Nice. 

At Jennie Richie—The Communists Garden Expanded EP plus cs

At Jennie Richie

The Communists Garden Expanded EP plus

Readymade Tapes

I will never own everything At Jennie Richie has put out and that's a bit of a bummer. Luckily though sometimes things get released again and I get to hear a bit more. This is one of those cases. This is a excellent example of the collaborative nature of At Jennie Richie. Whether they are working with irr. app. (ext.) or a child there is always something sort of brand new happening. This is a beautifully strange collection of disparate tracks that will slightly pull you brain apart. Consider yourself lucky. 

I dig the look of this thing. The type and image on the front are pretty low-quality and resolution but it somehow works really well. I think because part of this was a digital only release at one point it makes the hyper-digital nature of the artwork really the perfect choice. Find this.