Tabs Out | Stephen Molyneux – Wings and Circles

Stephen Molyneux – Wings and Circles
4.24.17 by Kat Harding

wings

Stephen Molyneux, from Denver, put out a tape in February on No Kings that is a relaxing foray through folky improvisation. “Wings and Circles,” with beautiful radar and map views printed in orange and blue on cream paper, is a work of art both inside and out. A map of the night sky graces the inside of the art work, with the Stuart Friebert quote “My body wants the place where the wings and circles are.”

“Wings and Circles” hums awake with tones from an electric organ. The tape was recorded in a basement, which usually brings dark connotations, but this is a warm and welcoming place. Dulcimer, melodica, pan pipes, banjo, lap steel, and percussion all make appearances in the music. It’s engulfing and relaxing, like a warm summer day, or a thick blanket in the winter. The tones echo and vibrate through the space, with clinking bells punctuating the song randomly, like they’re blowing in a gentle breeze. The track is divided by lengths of silence, but it doesn’t feel like we’re switching songs. It feels like we’re taking a breath before continuing the same track, just a different verse. The gentle purring of the organ carries us through the track and it’s more than 16 minute length is perfect to lull you into a trance.

Side B starts off with sharp banjo and lap steel, already louder than side A, but still relaxed. This is a front-porch pickin’ side, with an adept player experimenting with a familiar instrument. The clear chords disintegrate into humming and echoing, like an amp buzzing after the last verse. At about six minutes in, the organ picks up in full effect, giving serious church procession vibes. While we contemplate our sins, the organ continues, with clanking bells twinkling through. With the organ as the backbone of the song, the track meanders along, adding new sounds layered on top. Both sides add to give you more than thirty minutes of soft organ music to unwind to. Prime listening spots include hammocks, beach towels, couches, beds, or any other place to get a moment’s rest.

Get a copy of the C32, an edition of 100 copies, on Molyneux’s Bandcamp page.

Tabs Out | Flusnoix – s/t

Flusnoix – s/t
4.12.17 by Kat Harding

flusnoix

Flusnoix, a Montevallo, Alabama-based group of musicians, was founded by Jess Marie Walker and her need to connect drawing and making music. The group’s improvisations were recorded in March 2016 at the Kewahatchee Lounge in Birmingham. Using flusdrawxing and flusvoxing in other performances and art installations lead to the creation of Flusnoix.

It’s hard to tell what’s on the scratchy black and white photo of the cover; we might be in a cave, we might be in a field, and if you stare hard enough, you can make out the shape of a woman in a flowing skirt standing rigidly in the space. The tape opens in the same mysterious way, with sparse tones weaving through space. Gentle plucks and chirps over tones reminiscent of cars driving past an open window fill the air. The next track, “it ran” ramps up the energy, and we do feel we’re on the run, bobbing through quirky needling sounds, like a guitar being played underwater. Put on “into” while getting ready for your next date; it’s a sexy and relaxing track that’ll give you confidence and calmness.

To see these musicians perform together must be quite an experience, as their pieces fit together in the most natural way, as though they’ve been playing together since the dawn of time. To know they’re an improvisational group is to understand the level of talent they have. The more-than-nine-minute track “the garden” is an incredible work, with soft guitar chords picked over sounds straight from outer space. Soft clanking keeps the track out of the anxiety-inducing realm of deep space and firmly grounded. With alien blips and a deep bassline, “harborin” takes us on a wild ride through time. The tape closes with “mur mur in,” a sweet, almost tropical sounding tune that closes on a high note.

The whole tape is perfect, relaxing music. With mysterious tones and easy-to-listen to experimentation, this should be your choice of sunny day listening. Get a copy of yours from the Sweet Wreath Bandcamp.

Tabs Out | Dan Walsh – Fixity

Dan Walsh – Fixity
3.23.17 by Kat Harding

fixity

Out on Ireland’s KantCope comes Dan Walsh’s “Fixity.” Dan’s the drummer of Great Balloon Race and the tape is his latest foray into production and composition. Released in summer 2016, the jazzy improvised and experimental tape is perfect for these flashes of winter we’re experiencing now in March. Sit by a fire, gaze out of the window, and let Dan’s controlled chaos warm you up and take you away.

With five songs on side A, there is a lot going on. The tape breaks open with “Hungry Clouds,” which gives the feeling of the calm before the storm. A mysterious bass line and rolling drums drive the song along, picking up low murmurings of lyrics and a plucked guitar along the way. We get to relax a bit with the following track “stigmatostigmata,” a meandering and calming track, breathing softly through improvisations and jazzy tones. Every track shows the pure artistry of the instrumentalists, crashing together and pulling apart, feeling highly improvised but at the same time, like the musicians have played together for years. Dan on the drums is the backbone of each track, with bass, guitar, and saxophone building up and around the sound, pushing each song further into contained pandemonium. The last track on the side, “Blue Paint,” is a more than eight minute jam, sure to raise your heart rate and pull your attention from anything else in the room. An ethereal chorus hums life into the song, sounding like angels from on high while the drums quicken. The song breaks down into the pops and crackles of electrical feedback before buzzing out completely. Were we just in heaven or hell?

Side B is just two songs, opening with “damagedgood.” A sweetly strum guitar holds the tune while fuzzy droning swarms behind it. Dan has brought us to the bottom of the ocean and we’re staring up through the clear water to the sunshine above. We’re floating and drifting along, aware of the inherent danger of the open ocean, an anxiety communicated in the background of the song. It comes to the forefront with buzzing growing increasingly louder and more prominent, competing with our trusty guitar, soon overtaking it, the screeching alone closing out the song. “Song for Tree” brings us back to land, grounding us in bass and enveloping us in reverberation. The track is warm and comforting and ends with sparkling tones that fade to silence.

This tape is for fans of experimental music, sure, but also for fans of jazz. It’s chaos coming together in a beautiful way. Pick up the tape now.

Tabs Out | Sarin – Just Beat The Devil Out Of It

Sarin – Just Beat The Devil Out Of It
3.13.17 by Kat Harding

sarin

Peering out at you from the front of the cassette is a mysterious grey alien, barely decipherable on the green and black cover, guarding the bright green tape inside. Released on Des Moines’ experimental tape label 5CM Recordings, Sarin’s “Just Beat The Devil Out Of It” is almost 40 minutes of droney, psychedelic improvisation by Matt, Kyle, Kaylee, and Mathias. Recorded in early 2016 and released in August, the tape is nearly 40 minutes of tight listening.

Both sides named after vibrant pigments: Pthalo Green I and II, matching the vibrant green of the cover and the tape. Each side is almost twenty minutes of improvisation ranging from psychedelic to drone to sludge metal. The side starts off with rolling drums, creating a noisy, echoing, drone-filled space. Continuing with anxiety-inducing guitar wails, feedback weaves through the song as it meanders along. A mysterious feeling overtakes around the 8 minute mark, reminiscent of the part of the horror movie where the character doesn’t realize they’re being followed by a monster, but we know. Will they figure it out in time? Probably not. But the song and improvisation continues, even coming together for a brief foray into a jazzy section, with lots of cymbals and a low bass beat. The song picks up speed, screeching around, for one last bit before coming to a halt with one last cymbal crash.

The second begins with industrial reverberation over clanging, moving into a toe-tapping section, that while dark, is more upbeat. The drums are out of control on this song, with heavy-handed smashing and constant cymbals. Continuing into a section of alarm-style tones, the cymbals then throw the song into a section of heavy sludge metal. With seven minutes left, the psychedelic influences reappear, begging to be paired with a projected, swirling light show over a blank wall. The alien repetition evokes outer space and all it’s vast chaos: I’ve never felt like the dense universe would be a peaceful and calming place. The song unravelings into twinkling chimes over pulsating drums and fading to reverb, closing out the song in more of a whimper than a bang — just like the world will end.

Pick up the tape for yourself on 5CM’s bandcamp.

Tabs Out | Pal+ – Pictorial

Pal+ – Pictorial
1.24.17 by Kat Harding

pal

Released in September 2016 on Os Tres Amigos (“The Three Friends”) label out of Portugal, Pal+’s “Pictorial” tape features melodic beats and vivid synth sounds for an upbeat and energizing listen. The cover art is a smattering of paint and crayon in vibrant blue, purple, pink, yellow, and black over the familiar blue lines of notebook paper, enclosing an off-white tape full of Fernando Silva’s recordings made between 2012 and 2016.

The hypnotizing “Aural Canvas” opens side A, a bright humming track that clocks in at just over two minutes. “Africa Eyes” picks up after a beat of silence with buoyant drum beats and simple, repetitive chanting over circuitous synth work. I really like “Morpheus,” which sounds like it could be found in a tiny club with strobe lights and everyone dancing and drinking colorful cocktails. Mysterious airy tones add lightness to the gripping track, which fades to a peaceful end. The industrial clanking and sinister synth at the start of “The Ice Palace” create an unsettling world building to a swell and ending with a heavy crash that reverberates through your skull. The silence ends and “Grand Canyon” begins, a Middle Eastern-esque track with soft wailing over a constant shaker and fast-moving percussion.

The first track on side B, “Mantra,” starts off with frantic, breathy sounds building over beats reminiscent of the opening of Netflix’s Stranger Things, evoking a sense of uneasiness that nearly tips over into full-blown fear. The longest song on the side, and the whole tape, the track often slows, pulling the tones down to a much deeper register before speeding back up again. “Motor City” is much less threatening than “Mantra,” and feels like a light relief after the panic of the former track. “The Emerald Hill” closes the tape, a roaming animated tune with alien synth sounds and a beat to move to.

Get your own copy of the tape on the OTA Bandcamp.

Tabs Out | Mary Lattimore – Returned To Earth

Mary Lattimore – Returned To Earth
1.12.17 by Kat Harding

mary

Harpist Mary Lattimore has teamed up with Soap Library to release her latest cassette, “Returned To Earth.” The New York-based holistic tape label is offering Mary’s tape with hand-embossed artwork and a packet of heirloom orange zinnia seeds, ensuring the beauty of the outside matches the inside of the latest tracks.

Side A, “For Scott Kelly, Returned to Earth,” is Mary’s welcome home message to American astronaut Scott Kelly after his year spent in the International Space Station. After a fall left Mary with a broken jaw, wired shut and unable to speak, she channeled her feelings of isolation and loneliness into song. Scott’s frequent updating of his social media feeds, including the progress of his “space flower,” an orange zinnia and the first zinnia to be grown in space, kept him connected to Earth and served as inspiration to Mary. His beautiful posts of Earth’s wonder from afar was a small reward for his solitude, and Mary’s incorporated all of these feelings into a six-minute track, full of wandering chords. Picked strings seem to dance over gentle strumming, calling to mind Scott’s view of swirling clouds over our lonely planet and his whirlwind of a journey home. The trailer for the cassette, hand-drawn by John Andrews of indie band Quilt, features hyper-color crayon drawings, inspired by Scott’s time in space.

Side B, also just over six minutes long, is an improvisation from Mary and musician and artist Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, who met in the wonderland of Marfa, Texas, and recorded in New York City. Named after a tiny town in California, “Borrego Springs” features piano, guitar, and harp coming together to form peaceful melodies one might listen to while staring up at the stars in Borrego Springs, a town 55 miles away from any bright city lights, where astronomers flourish. The song quietly starts off, nearing a minute by the time the harp and piano have begun to fill the space of the silence. Gentle echoes and reverberation of guitar and piano alternate around the harp. It is not long enough, and the whole tape should immediately be played again.

Get a copy of the beautifully packaged cassette, or pick up the digital files, on her Bandcamp page. Every dollar of proceeds from Bandcamp will go to support the Sierra Club.

Tabs Out | Rags – Cipher Of The Infinite Moment

Rags – Cipher Of The Infinite Moment
1.3.17 by Kat Harding

rags

The 37th release from San Mateo, California’s ((Cave)) Recordings, Rags’ “Cipher of the Infinite Moment”, is James Seevers’ experimental journey through time and space. With each side-long, 16-minute track, it’s easy to put this on and get enveloped in the otherworldly echoes and reverberation.

Aptly titled “A Long Corridor,” the track is a long journey to the deep unknown and back to the surface. The track hums open with a buzzing guitar and underwater sounds swishing around, then moves to feature what sounds like the voice of the devil himself. Slow, low, and barely decipherable, it’s joined by a chorus of cave dwellers in an unsettling concert. Rattling bells follow, with clacking drumsticks and rolling thunder building to a swell. Around 5:30 in, simple guitar-picking echoes to near-silence while clacking and clanging continue. A pleasant electric guitar tune picks up midway through the song, with the disembodied and distorted voice coming in to strike fear in the lone listener. One can faintly make out “what are you doing?” or at least that is what I personally heard while keeping a panic attack at bay. With six minutes left of the song, Rags relapses underwater and comes up for air again. Bursting forth at almost 12 minutes in, bright reverberation screams forward, ebbing and flowing over the silence. Hurried, frantic guitar strumming comes in and suddenly Rags has the listener in a punk song. A beat of silence gives way to a clear, melancholy tune that plays the song out, ending abruptly in peace.

Where side A featured the devil, side B, “A Flickering Light,” opens with a chorus of angels, a litany of light voices finding a harmony together, soon petering out to the ramblings of a madman about movement, connection and energy, a frantic TedTalk from underground. With a buzzing behind it, the one-sided conversation continues, mentioning cosmic waves, motion, and information. By three minutes in, the track reaches sci-fi synths that then dissolve into a flamenco-inspired guitar stream. Faint voices weave in and out of the music, with reverb competing with the mysterious lecturer, this time going on about imagination and black holes. With about five minutes to go, the song is a melodic and thoughtful guitar track, with the faint choir joining in one more time. The preacher joins again, urging belief, but in what? A deep cello sound eventually ends the song, leaving the listener buzzing with existential questions.

Pick up a copy of the cassette on ((Cave)) Recordings’ Bandcamp.

Tabs Out | Wild Anima – Blue Twenty-Two

Wild Anima – Blue Twenty-Two
12.6.16 by Kat Harding

blue22

The word “anima” can be translated from Spanish to mean “soul or spirit” and from French to mean “the feminine part of a male personality,” also referring to Carl Jung, the Swiss founder of analytical psychology. Put “wild” with it and the band is a perfect fit for UK label Blue Tapes and X-Ray Records, who describe themselves as “secular drones and spiritual pop.” Featuring an eclectic group of instruments including violins, Korean flutes, and more, Wild Anima’s Blue Twenty-Two tape is an atmospheric and at times, supernatural, experience. Alex Alexopoulos is at the helm of Wild Anima, with help from friends.

Described as “Songs from Above,” side A was inspired by a trip to India and her observations of Tibetan culture. Compassion and forgiveness swirl through the tracks, broken up digitally into 5 smaller listings, but considered as one on the tape. Recorded in one take on a farm in southeast England’s Devon in January 2013, these tracks came about before Wild Anima even settled on a name. The side gently opens with echoing vocals and minimal instrumentation, and continues down an aerial path of swirling reverb and soft tones. The velvety sound can easily fill a room, engulfing you in celestial tones that never feel too dark or unsettling. The middle of the side, “Forget and Forgive,” is my favorite, with misty sounds reminiscent of floating peacefully the bottom of the pool.

Side B is billed digitally and on the tape as one long, beautiful song called “Selene,” produced by French Ambient Dub producer Tom Morant, also known as Natse. He was driven to make this ambient track after having listened to “Songs from Above.” Using some of Wild Anima’s violinists and Alex’s vocals, as well as Inuit shamans’ voices, he pieced together a celestial and haunting song. Side B feels more full than side A, with more apparent instruments and the shamans’ chants, weaving together to soundtrack a dream sequence where you can imagine the flashing lights and seemingly endless tunnel of that Willy Wonka psychedelic boat ride scene, only less scary. Where side A is shadowy, side B has a glittering brightness to it.

Pick up a copy from Blue Tape’s Bandcamp, where you can just grab the tape, or you can get a subscription to all Blue Tape’s releases.

Tabs Out | Red On – Ghana Remixed

Red On – Ghana Remixed
11.29.16 by Kat Harding

ghana

“Ghana”, an impressive experimental album by Red On, was written and recorded just over two years ago on October 23, 2014. Never meant to be released, it was a day of improvisation and recording of one-of-a-kind tracks with analog instruments in a mic-ed up room. I chatted with Red On, also known as Philipp Dittmar, about the original tape “Ghana”, the remixes, and what “Red On” really means (nothing really, just a play on the German word for red, “rot.” Rot On!).

Recorded in the magnificent Veitskirche, Veitsbronn Evangelical Church, Philipp wrote and recorded every track on the album in the moment, the unique improvisations recorded for the one time only, and never meant to be duplicated. Check out this teaser for some views of the hauntingly beautiful space, surrounded by religious relics and carved angels, a perfect fit for the spaced out, wandering tracks. He noted that he spent his childhood in the village near the church and wanted to go into the session not with computers, but with instruments, running everything through bass and guitar amps. The track selection featured very little editing due to the incredible acoustics of the space, which allowed the music to fill the whole room and create an all-encompassing physical experience.

Flash forward to September of 2016 and we’re treated with a remix tape, provided by Philipp and his friends. The remixed tracks are more upbeat and club-ready than their deep and sometimes droney counterparts: these are the songs I want to be soundtracking my exploration of a new city, wandering around in the twilight, while the originals are the ones I want to listen to while laying in a field, drifting in and out while meditating about the universe. Good news for cassette lovers: the tape release is significantly longer than the vinyl, which just features the more dancey selections, according to Philipp. Both were released on Nuremberg, Germany’s Verydeep Records, with the cassettes on a hand-numbered white body, featuring graphic red, white, and black cover art.

Side A of the tape is packed with five tracks, four of which are the same original with completely different interpretations, and it is wonderful. Philipp put full trust in his friends to “do their thing” while chopping and splicing his songs, and then worked on song order together. He did one of them himself, too, under his house music moniker “Philipp Roth.” The second track “Ghana 10 (miira) [Christoff Riedel Remix]” is among my top songs on the side, perfect to dance to, but also has the space to rest in between sections. Although it is difficult to pick favorites, as the following track, a take on the same song by Alex Ketzer, is just as good. Put this tape on to let your body get lost in the sound.

Side B is four entirely different tracks that do not disappoint. “Ghana 11 (moona) [Marx Mid Term Cycle]” is a sweeping remix, washing over you and encompassing you in sound, bleeding seamlessly into the next dance track “Ghana 6 [A. Elm Remix],” a song you cannot listen to without moving. A dark, echoey, and sinister feeling marks the last track, “Ghana 13 [Johannes Lauxens Version]” harkening back to the historical church the base tracks were recorded in. Church bells toll over gloomy reverb for an unsettling end to an exquisite tape.

Pick up the shortened version on vinyl, or the full cassette, from Verydeep Record’s Bandcamp and check out Philipp’s latest project, Miira

Tabs Out | Sister / Body – Spells

Sister / Body – Spells
11.21.16 by Kat Harding

sisterbody

Released at the end of September from Prague’s Baba Vanga label, Sister / Body’s “Spells” is a fantastic distraction from whatever ails you. Sister / Body’s droney, industrial tracks feel like they’re coming at you from a deep tunnel of secrets and it’s worth jumping in.

I could hardly find anything about Sister / Body, other than that they’re from the Czech Republic and they have a handful of tapes out going back to 2008. The Prague duo’s ruby red tape features beautiful and mysterious artwork, like a hand holding a fuzzed out crystal ball, with a person’s hand holding what appears to be lotion on the inside, adding to the mystical, about-to-cast-a-spell feel. They open the tape with “Black Jacket Angel,” a fascinating track clocking in at more than seven minutes that puts equal importance on the sound in the song as the silence. Next up is “Darker Lover,” another spacey track with alien sounds and an obscured, deep voice singing over a consistent beat. “Spell” is the perfect title for the track closing out side A, as futuristic synth sounds wash over the slow, droney lyrics, pulling you into a trance.

Side B starts off with a female voice over vaguely alarming noises, bringing you right to the brink of a panic attack and then back, leaving the beat echoing in your ears; “Moon is Gay” bears little resemblance to the spaced out tracks on side A. I’d love to make a Johnny Cash “Ring of Fire” joke here, but the two tracks are so thoroughly different, I can’t muster one up. Sister / Body’s “Ring of Fire” is dark, growling lyrics over laid back beats, surrounding you in an almost-sinister sound. “Shadows” hails back to the side A, with a less-panic-inducing track to leave you relaxed. The song ambles through quiet and meditative beat with daze-inducing lyrics and an occasional, but not jarring, burst of metallic sound, ending the tape with a bit of fuzzy feedback before leaving you in silence.

Snag a copy of the cassette from Baba Vanga’s Bandcamp.