New Batch – Field Hymns
2.2.15 by Mike Haley
If any cassette label has passed the Turing Test it’s the zone-cosmonaut Field Hymns. It’s widely accepted that the day-to-day operations of FH are handled by a human, but something deep down inside me says there must be some artificial intelligence behind the scenes over there. The superior jammer-drafting is just too perfect, and the eye candy artwork windsurfs across the pupil in a way no mortal could pull off. The latest batch of two cassette, released February 1st, only builds up my speculation.
Exhibit A: Grapefruit “Some New-Age Bullshit”. Yes, that really is the title of the tape. And, yes, that really is the best title someone has given a tape in a long, long time. Your immediately provided with optical bliss with the artwork; Some new-age bullshit on the cover with rainbow roads zapping a triangle over a pink and blue magic eye puzzle. The interior design is just as lush, but the real gratification kicks in once you pop that aqua blue cassette into your deck. The launching pad opener, “Saucerful Of Semantics”, gets right to it with some tasty percussion before an array of tactile synth work kicks in. That’s the theme laid out over this entire album by Charlie Salas-Humara, aka Grapefruit. Tons of tribal rhythms, sensuous leads, and luminous song-writing with keys, strings, and a plethora of mystic ammunition. The description from the Field Hymns site pretty much nails it right on the head. “Krautrock spiritual tribalism.” That is a fucking perfect way to describe this multi-instrumental beast, to those in-the-know and the uninitiated as well. “Some New-Age Bullshit” is a pro-dubbed tape, limited to 75 copies.
Exhibit B: Go No Go For Launch “Re-Entry”. This material was sent to a label that the “human” who runs Field Hymns was working for in 2006. The material was rejected by, what I can only imagine, were a bunch of jelly-brained nitwits who don’t know when something is insane. “Re-Entry” is insane. Duh, ya goofballs. This is video game music that is so fucking good you’ll jump head first into your television set in a fool’s attempt at getting closer to it’s vigorous force. Even if there wasn’t a micro-bit cover of the McGuyver theme song (which there fucking is by the way) and hyperactive tunes careening through portals, Randall Taylor’s “Re-Entry” would still be able to get the dead pumped up. I’m just now noticing, after typing the above, the presence of a tiny person on the cover. Looks like he was beamed into a circuit board world and is standing on some sort of floating, purple platform. Maybe he jumped into his NES game. Maybe he made it. Maybe there is hope. JUMP IN! This is also limited to 75 pro-dubbed copies.
Perhaps one day I will meet the machine responsible for curating this elegance. This wonderment of cassette charm. Maybe it will be on the field of battle during the human/robot war. One of us may find the end of our existence that day. In case I can’t get the words off my lips during the campaign of bloodshed and twisted metal, I want to say this now. Thank you, you bastard of wires and ICs. Thank you. Grapefruit and Go No Go For Launch cassettes can be found at the Field Hymns shop, along with an overly impressive back catalog of goodies.