Tabs Out | New Batch – Constellation Tatsu

New Batch – Constellation Tatsu

3.14.19 by Gray Lee

Four more stars are added to the ever growing constellation of Tatsu, continuing a growing tradition of elegantly produced free-form, ambient works from a variety of artists all over the globe. Yeah that’s right – I said globe – as in ROUND. Don’t expect these elemental wanderings to impress your flat-earthing uncle, who is likely still jamming the Eagles’ greatest hits while painting anti-vax protest signs – these four well-curated tapes full of meditative abstractions and flowing ideas are great for getting into another headspace and exploring the uncharted reaches of your inner self.


Curved LightFlow and Return

The key word here is ‘return,’ as this is a follow up to “Quartzsite,” the straight-up amazing release Curved Light dropped in 2017 on Tatsu. Abstract sound artist Peter Tran takes us into an endless sky of clouds and sunsets, accented with glitched time lapse photography audio poems that draw upon unusual and unexpected shapes and patterns, with synths that curl and dissipate like wisps of windblown mist high above the realm of men. Melodies convolute in and out of ambient walls of bliss, sometimes resembling terrestrial instruments such as the flute or the bagpipe – but in a distinctly weightless way. Prepare for next-level out-of-body travel on this one, tape heads.


Chris OtchySubterranean Landscapes

Chris Otchy neatly boxes us into his concept with the title of this piece. A bubbling brook of organic synths flows over angular rock formations in shadowed places only lit by glowing flora. Bright notes glint like gemstones, while looping low tones carry the listener through the labyrinthine corridors of stone. The distinct sound Subterranean Landscapes is built from is much like a system of caves, with one central composition as the main entranceway, and each individual track a branching path. Provocative titles like “The Day after the Banquet” or “Pets or Children” produce more questions than answers. This journey through an unreal kingdom of stone is detailed, steady, and transformative – perfect for your nighttime reveries.


Jordan Christoff Enveloped

My first question was “Enveloped by what?” but it immediately became clear. As we have already visited places both high above the sky, and deep below the ground, it seems only natural now to move beneath the billowing waves of the ocean. Longform ambient works that evoke an undersea world full of wonder and tranquility mark this debut release from the artist. These compositions are monumental in their oceanic scale, moving in graceful arcs through the open seas, beholden only to the magnetism and mystical energy of the natural world. Peaceful jets of ambient undercurrent pull the listener effortlessly through meditative periods of shimmering reflection.


Rose – Night Places

After a day of exploring the wonders of the great, round earth we live upon, Rose brings the batch to a close with the darkened rooms and pulsating rhythms of ‘Night Places.’ Return to altogether human settings for an evening in town, cruising through a dimly lit urban landscape from one exclusive, underground club to another. Three ultra-smooth ambient house tracks offer a delightfully grimy mixture of the sacred and profane perfect for your next vampire gathering, or gothic make-out in the parking garage against the limousine. 


Despite what your intolerable uncle thinks, the Constellation Tatsu Winter 2019 batch is one of the label’s best to date – and it’s available right here.

Tabs Out | Premiere: The Binary Marketing Show – Short Term Fix for a Long Time Death

Premiere: The Binary Marketing Show – Short Term Fix for a Long Time Death
6.7.18 by Gray Lee

“Time keeps on persistently like a child tugging on your sleeve.” So goes the first line of “Daydream (I Cannot,)” off of The Binary Marketing Show‘s latest release, “Short Term fix for a Long Term Death,” a title that is perfectly fitting for this recording – as Portland based artists Abram and Bethany weave a tapestry of field recordings, spiraling synth drones that shimmer and reverberate warmly, and lyrics that are as wistful as they are painful – a blending of peaceful and melancholy thoughts. Fuzzy instrumentations and passages of noise organically punctuate thoughtfully written lyrics, which come about like afterthoughts, hastily jotted on a scrap of newsprint and taped to a dirty mirror.

This handsomely indistinct testimony of the soul, brought to us via Already Dead Tapes, is a powerful addition to Binary Marketing’s catalog, expanding, focusing, and intensifying the musical ideas of their previous release, “Anticipation of Something Else,” (also on Already Dead [AD123.]) “Short Term Fix” is anything but short term. It is a densely packaged audio reliquary which will require repeat pilgrimage to fully plum the depths of. Each poetic chapter of this story is expressed with a bare candor that, at times, seems confessional. “The anger that bleeds from my fist/ is nothing that ever should be missed,”‘ sings Abram, as perky electronic beats and swirling harmonies behind him elevate the track to another spiritual plane.

There is something new around every corner in these ten tracks, including traditional instrumentation of drums, guitars, even banjo – but also featuring electronically driven tones, found sounds, or drone elements. These add an air of mystery and suspense, whether lurking in the background, creating a wider space for the song to form, or occupying all of the foreground, demanding apt attention, as in the track “Tradition” This shifting focus and style builds the depth and scope of the work, providing the listener with a varied sensory experience.

“Short Term Fix for a Long Term Death” is now available for pre-order from Already Dead Tapes here. Tape and vinyl officially enters the world June 29th.

Tabs Out | New Batch – Constellation Tatsu

New Batch – Constellation Tatsu
5.25.18 by Gray Lee

The Constellation Tatsu Spring Batch has arrived. Another solid stack of compelling soul journeys.

 

PURR 0090: Alex Crispin – Open Submission
This release is comprised of stylish ambient jams recorded with various instruments, but with a consistent method. Each composition is a singular, clear instrument weaving a meandering melody over a bed of hazy ambient synths and drones. The reverb-laden electric guitar of the title track, floating cloud-like organ passages like those of “Pharoah”, and complex synth compositions all work together to form a cohesive whole.

 

PURR 0091: Chihei Hatakeyama – Scene
Ghostly and haunting ambient works mesh diaphonous drones with heavenly tones to create eerie inner landscapes somewhere between this world and the next. Hovering frequencies shimmer in moonlight before disappearing into shadow. Each composition is its own microcosm, floating through cool, quiet spaces.

 

PURR 0092: Endurance – Shade Terrarium
Described as ‘Music to heal imaginary persons,’ each of these selections is a dense, careful exploration into the unknown. Every droning note is a suspicion, every distant piano key a question mark. This is music created to simultaneously solve a mystery and create one.

 

PURR 0093: Lunaria – Ascension Now
Applying spiritual terminology to ambient releases is nothing new, but in this case, the title is everything. Half of this release is a steady climb into mystical realms above the clouds. The other half, a life lived in that transcendent place. This is music for cleansing, healing, reconnecting. There are no sharp edges. All is light.

 

Grab all four tapes in C Tatsu’s spring batch for $16ppd in the US.

Tabs Out | New Batch – Dinzu Artefacts

New Batch – Dinzu Artefacts
5.17.18 by Gray Lee

Dinzu Artefacts brings us three unique releases that are spiritually intertwined, filled with thoughtful, delicately constructed soundscapes and telekinetic movement.

 

Billy Gomberg – Beginners
A sonic playground of organic tactile sensations. Eerie air moves through hollow tunnels filled with unusual fragments of forgotten lives. Quiet inspections of abandoned possessions take place in shadowed dusty alcoves. Unseen breezes sway aluminum sculptures in filtered sunlight. Is this recording for beginners, who are just starting to explore a hidden world? Explore that world yourself, and you may begin to know.

 
Riccardo Bandi – Shores
This recording is in progress as you listen to it. It is scanning you, listening to you through your speakers. It is echoing the mechanical thoughts that govern your movements, your habits. You are listening to your own footsteps, but you are inside the footsteps. The landscapes Riccardo Bandi is painting are on peeling plaster walls within the labyrinthine passages of the soul. There, on the shores of a dark ocean of consciousness, silent, inescapable dreams are born.

 
NUM – Memory Machine
Metal spires designed by ancient, otherworldly hands contain the lost knowledge, the first magic. They jut from the undisturbed earth beneath canopies of silent trees, in a sacred, unknowable place. Daylight brings deep shadow, while night brings the cool winds, and everything emits a faint, glowing essence.

 
Grab them alone, or all together for a May Batch Nice Price.