7.18.19 by Mike Haley
Stephen King warned us in short story form back in the 70’s that sometimes they come back. He repeated that warning in the 90’s in feature length movie form. I ignored both instances because, with the exception of The Langoliers and it’s groundbreaking animation, I don’t appreciate King’s rude attempts to spook people. No thank you. That might explain why I wasn’t prepared for Third Kind Records to [jump scare] COME BACK!
It was a paltry hiatus that Third Kind took, lasting only seven month or so, but it’s all behind us now with three new (non-scary, quite limited) tapes.
South City Hardware – Redirected Midi
One would assume that South City Hardware is not associated with the South City Hardware And Sanitary Store located in India, which is the first Google result their name turns up, but I could be wrong. Hardware and sanitation are analogous in this situation. Hardware could be producing the vertigo’d footwork and woozy, crytpto melodies that wall-to-wall Redirected Midi. And a sanitation issue would explain the oozy sheen on each rapid clickpopclickpopboomsampleboomclick.
Nicholas Langley – Nix Six New Plus Two
Langley’s Nix Six New Plus Two appears to be six new tracks plus two more, which is… One moment here… Eight tracks. Mostly short lil’ buggers, taking up only 15 minutes worth of magnetic tape, these self-described “too cute” ditties mine the fantastic fields of character select screens by way of overly vibrant synthshine. The tapes come packaged in (dishwasher safe??) Bottle Buddies© (see above).
All Cats Are Beautiful – a/c/a/b e/p/3
All Cats Are Beautiful, a name that plays on the more accurate All Cops Are Bastards, deal level-headed experimental dreampop comparable to LEDs wobbling their light in a dark room. The 30 minute recording is held together by the lush urgency of layered vocals dosing dreamy keys and strings. Almost enough to relax the brain during humanity’s current nightmare scenario. Almost.