10.2.13: An Auris Apothecary Halloween

Auris Apothecary, the Indiana label responsible for the NES soundtrack cassettes, announced their Halloween 2013 batch. And it’s pretty insane. The label describes the seasonal curios as “the darkest, most abrasive, or generally destructive releases in our queue” spanning over genres (droning shoegaze, black metal, harsh noise, ambient, …) and formats. Some standard, some… Unconventional. Here is an idea of what’s in store.

AAX-074: Dante Augustus Scarlatti “Worship at the Throne of the Oscillator” C40
Not only does this cassette come packaged in one of those over sized vinyl boxes that hold a single tape (man, I love those) but there is also a booklet with transparent pages and a fucking 555 timer chip pushed through the cover! The tape sounds killer, too. Check it out:

AAX-073: Shrouded Elk “Skeletal Forests” VHS
This seems like something you should only be able to buy in a really sketchy basement of an already really sketchy store. Like a clerk with a sweaty mustache gets really close and says “You wanna see some of my” *looks around* “private collection”? A 10 minute VHS tape in a velvet pouch with two artcards and a lacquer-coated elk antler coin. The Silk Road got shutdown, so Bitcoins are worthless. Antler Coins are the new underground currency.

AAX-053: Unholy Triforce “Untitled Tape Loop [II]” 1/4″ tape
Remember that episode of Bob’s Burgers when Tina came out of her shell and danced with Jimmy Jr? This is like that, but instead of Tina, it’s 1/4″ tape coming out of it’s shell. And instead of gyrating like a boss, it’s stuck in a vial with a cork. I think you play this by drinking it.

AAX-097: Unholy Triforce “Some Assembly Required” Anti-C10
It should be noted that Ophibre (and maybe someone else, I’m not a Wikipedia) did this in 2008 for a release called “Compositions For Disassembled Cassette”. No disrepsect to the O-man, but damn, it didn’t look this dope. Each element of this Unholy Triforce cassette is affixed to an acrylic sheet with glue dots & tiny drug baggies. And the tape is a TYPE II Chrome tape, like that fucking matters. You ain’t putting this together, man.

The batch is rounded out with more cassettes, a DVDr, a god damn single sided 17″ lathe cut, and an Auris Apothecary box cutter that they call a throatcutter. The projected release for all of these is Halloween, but AA heeds warning that may not happen. With a batch like this I can understand why. Everything can be ordered individually or in a few bundle deals in their Pharmacy. The “Archivist Pack”, which includes the whole shebang, will set you back $95 (US Only). The “Dissonance Pack” and” Triformat Pack” are available for the lesser of lunatics amongst us.