7.1.21 by Ryan Masteller

I’ve never shied from the term “athlete” over the years – if that’s how people want to refer to me, then they’re absolutely free to do so. Be my guest, I say. It’s true that I can run far and fast, I’m a pretty good swimmer, and I probably would have been recruited to several college baseball or soccer programs had I not quit the biz to focus on more artistic endeavors … like music, and writing. Which, I have to say, don’t pay nearly as well as soccer or baseball might have. Just think of the wasted possibilities!

But Huddyglo, regardless of physical abilities, did not have the best experiences with sports, and so he set out to redefine the concept for himself in a way that was more meaningful to him. Still, “Sports” the tape is totally on my wavelength as a jammer, as it gets butts wigglin’ and movin’ like there ain’t no tomorrow. It’s got this disco-fied indie thing going for it, like it should be lined up for a Galtta catalog number but ended up on Birmingham, Alabama, tape jawn Earth Libraries. Huddyglo, aka Hudson Glover (oh!) has us all ready, not for Jazzercise, or Peloton, or CrossFit, or whatever floats your boat, but for a psychedelic, mental workout that “challenges gender expectations” and “questions the looming control that capitalism has on our bodies.” So it’s mental aerobics! I’m totally down with that.

And what better way to approach this kind of fitness than via a massive smashup of Arthur Russell and Stereolab? (Thanks press copy!) Huddyglo effortlessly zooms through funk blasts and dance rips, kicking down doors shut in the face of forward progress and universal acceptance. Wait, isn’t that all physical activity? Jamming, kicking down doors? What about laughing with friends, playing with cats, runway modeling? All of these things fit into Huddyglo’s nu sports universe, and those last three were even suggested by Glover himself as things you can do to “do sports.” I have to be honest, I considered having a lark with this one, dancing through the concepts of organized sports and juxtaposing them with the Tabs Out audience (Dave is really the only athlete I can think of in the group), but once I aligned with Huddyglo’s trajectory, I found it impossible to not be swayed by the irresistible charm of this tape. It totally changed my perspective!

EP (green transparent cassette shell!) available from Earth Libraries. Also in T-shirt form!