Gwasg Gelert - Y Côd Da Vinci

Thema Sophie, the third track on Y Côd Da Vinci has been on the listening heavy rotation for weeks now. An eight minute thriller with grooved out ties to all things futuristic and fiction, but the controversy regarding this entire release kept chipping away at the pure bliss of it's allure. Every track filled with highly refined components of spoken word, in Welsh, and sinuous synthesizer melodically permeating all natural gateways in the consciousness. This slick cassette released by Strategic Tape Reserve is fantastically just "to cool". There is already worry stemming from the many repeated listens if some internal reprogramming has been accomplished. 

Even the source of Y Côd Da Vinci is blatantly an issue. Why did I keep listening? Sure the back story was intriguing, Y Côd Da Vinci, a Welsh phenomenon of bootleg acclaim. The publishers, Gwasg Gelert, seemingly persecuted by English authority, gives affinity towards the creators. And of course Strategic Tape Reserve's involvement, those well penned machinators. Look at the first word in the label's name, "Strategic". It's like a club to the back of the head and as the ground approaches from the fall, the words "I'm an Idiot" kept flickering through.

This is an awesome collection of tracks, playing like an OST from a science fiction story you were individually priveldged to take in. But true realizations have their way of exploding in the pathways of listening enjoyment. The question that kept surfacing, "how many people speak and read Welsh?". From a 2011 census, only nineteen percent of residents over the age of three. Why such a fuss over The Da Vinci audiobook in Welsh? Maybe the spoken words in this Strategic Tape Reserve Release are using this relatively unknown language to convey nefarious messages.... Like buy those cans of Cawl of the grocery shelf, hanging a Gareth Bale poster on the wall and possibly following Strategic Tape Reserve on twitter for your continued assimilation. 

All of this skepticism could possibly be out of place. The best suggestion is to read the descriptive story of Y Côd Da Vinci on the bandcamp page. This will allow you to grasp all of the issues, the backstory, the release, the label, everything is just to good. This is easily one of the best releases listened to this year so far, but there is concern. Asking a Welsh person to translate.... only a 19% success rate. Do hurry though, only twenty five of these cassettes were released. They are currently available, but will not last very long.

Links
Strategic Tape Reserve link - bandcamp - twitter

Rambutan - The Temple of Echo 3

A sonic landscape exuding delicate qualities of what can be understood, but this is only a fragile mirage of a unexplored vastness. Rambutan sends listeners back through time, to ancient civilizations where celestial knowledge factored in with life itself. Tranquil serenity, saturated over centuries by the cosmos and the voice it renders. Mystic tones dancing through cyclic rituals, their interaction with distant worlds is only imagination in present day. This is the natural beauty of Temple of Echo 3, a shimmering focus on past enlightenment.

The sounds on this composition slowly engulf thoughts, like fog surrounding mountain tops or tides taking land away, the process is difficult to fathom. Much effort is exerted in trying to connect Temple of Echo 3 with current similarities, but these tones remain elusive. Melodies configured in friendly guises, yet containing sharp edges of disrupt. Rambutan taps ancient energies, from times when beauty and danger were the composition of all living things. The second to last track, "Parasitic Demand" is an excellent example both in sound and title. There is a lot to take in on in Temple of Echo 3, almost an hour of sublime realty distortion. Each selection arranged in unique style, but all held together to make a beautiful emulsion of equanimity and presage.

Temple of Echo 3 is the third in this series by Rambutan. The first goes back to 2014 and is sold out in physical form. The second installment is still available from the Tape Drift Records as well as the third, which this description focuses on. All editions are on compact disc, not sure how many are in the run for Temple of Echo 3. Tape Drift Records also has this available in a batch deal with their one hundredth release included, a Rambutan C47 Cassette titled "The Salt Migration". Some excellent sounds in all forms.

Links
Tape Drift Records site
Rambutan - bandcamp

Bitter Fictions - Walker

From crystalline tones to distorted droning haze, Walker imparts qualities of the world around us. A paned window in an old house, the glass is etched by years of exposure. The crisp clear view now hazy and filled with heavy nostalgia. Either condition holding their own merits of beauty, but "well worn" takes time to achieve and is held by deeper roots through the physical fabric. Bitter Fictions rests in these foundations. Beautiful sounds that have tolled for ages, clarity replaced by virtues that can not be duplicated. The sonic path is specially eroded and filled with unique tranquility.

Like the incomprehensible amount of time this world has seen, Walker breathes slowly and deep. Forty minutes on this cassette, divided among six tracks. From the beginning, "stumbling down that hill", sounds travel from clear collecting pools, through sparse and rugged terrain, then finally disperse into the myriad of frayed ends. Like the cassette itself has deteriorated over decades, clarity behind a film of settling residue. The beauty remains, muddled in it's own distinct way.  The last track on the first side "thaw", adheres to it's name. A surfacing of clearness, distorted guitar bellowing forth, like church bells gone awry. The second side breathes more lucidly through the gnarled decay of time. The first two tracks, a lullaby of strings and drone. The serenity dissolving near the end of the longest track, "youth angered by world writes first poem". Immeasurable static feedback settling over majestic strings. The final selection is perceptibly precise, everything that has come before packaged in a closing adieu.

Released on the label Shaking Box out of Montreal, Québec. In cassette form consisting of fifty in this edition. Bitter Fictions is Devin Friesen and his work extends back through the years. Walker is an excellent example of how creativity, experience and patience can culminate delicately distorted beauty. A alluring sonic foray into the haze we all reside.

Links
Shaking Box site - bandcamp - instagram
Bitter Fictions - bandcamp - facebook

Gadgen / Caribbean Health - PLEB TALK

Listening and writing about music is like driving along and encountering sporadic road blocks. Very often, and it seems like this is exponential, a composition will throw question marks out. Just like the obstacles on the path, albums require time to navigate around. This equates to listening again and again, familiarizing and becoming comfortable. Amazingly during this process, sounds begin to weave their way into what makes us relaxed. PLEB TALK is an excellent example for this process. A deeply thoughtful collection of songs all turned slightly askew. Reality to dreams, consciousnesses touching, the physical world only held by one remaining tether.

Trevor Coleman is both Gadgen and Caribbean Health. The first project name was used early in his work, connecting these tracks to fledgling creativity. Also good indication of how close to the heart these tunes are. The first side is filled with upbeat rhythms, a groovy haze of timeless song writing. There is a fragile quality, like these tracks were not intended to be heard by a larger audience. A delicate fineness that takes a breath of understanding, beauty from far within. The second side follows suite, happiness and melancholy, carelessness and concern, Trevor creates these gems on the precipice where feelings can climb higher or plummet below. The last track completely explodes, a one man Tonestartbandht in free psychic expression. This balances the entire composition and shows how diverse and talented Trevor is.

Released on Already Dead Tapes and Records four weeks ago. This is Caribbean Health's second release, the first titled WORMS? was back in 2017 and was digital only? Not sure about that but physical copies of PLEB TALK are currently available. David Drucker from Already Dead has an excellent write up on the bandcamp page.

Links
Already Dead Tapes site - facebook - bandcamp
Caribbean Health - bandcamp
Trevor Coleman - facebook

The Hell Hole Store - Three the Hard Way

Darko the Super and iAlive returning together to Already Dead Tapes and Records after a two year hiatus. The Hell Hole Store three is what the wait has been for. The composition dial has swung either way on the previous two releases, beat rich to vocal heavy. Three the Hard Way lands these two artists perfectly balanced on the center notch. Fourteen tracks excellently written and backed with the best grooves so far. Not trying to lessen what has come before, only making note Three the Hard Way is the perfect recipe.

This cassette glides through time, sustaining loft from beats and rhythms through thirty years of existence. The first few tracks are good examples, "Blare In Your Face" has the feel of Three Feet High and Rising. A chilled out hold of the microphone with smooth and playful rhythms to complement. This moves straight away to "Breaking Free", beautifully connecting to Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop. Seriously simple beats with a high focused message of history. This is just a snippet of the sounds from the vast landscape Three the Hard Way extends. Two years in the making, producing a lyrical exchange between Darko the Super and iAlive that is true poetry. There are guests on this cassette, Day Tripper of The Difference Machine, Open Mike Eagle and Height Keech, each spinning Three the Hard Way into a more fantastically intricate web. After listening to this tape for the last week, so many tracks could easily be a favorite, but "Godzilla" still is the beast. Acute lyrics taking down a four story robot with a judo chop, trippy backwards base line and iAlive's use of the word dromedary, "That's the Hell Hole Baby"... a waggish tail of destruction.

Released on cassette just three weeks ago by Already Dead Records and Tapes. Only one hundred in this edition. These will sell out quickly, just as the previous two releases have. Forgot to mention the second track, respect given to Already Dead. Please include mine as well. Thank you.

Links
Already Dead Tapes site - facebook - bandcamp
The Hell Hole Store - facebook
iAlive - twitter - bandcamp - facebook
Darko The Super - twitter - bandcamp - facebook

Peter Kris - Afternoons In The Valley

Suspended in sonic fibers, delicate strands made fragile by their lengthy existence. The network of melodic tones woven through the consciousness, these sounds are part of the cortex. Flickering feelings, melancholy slowly surging then lifted to higher vibrations. Everything seems so distant, existence is only a point on a line with infinite ends. Peter Kris is the line at infinity, he is his own compliment, and because of this his own anticompliment. Taking thoughts and sentiment from those who will listen, sending everything back in echoing beauty.

Afternoons In The Valley covers many aural square miles. Twenty three tracks across two cassettes. The shortest and longest selections ranging from two to six minutes. These sounds turn quickly, but there is a lazy feel to the entire composition. Melodies moving like Sandhill Cranes, a carelessness concerning the world around, momentum evolved over time periods most can not comprehend. The primordial sounds emitted spark wonder with how distant the connections are. Afternoons In The Valley plays on, going through chapters of a long novel with ease and extreme interest. A rhythmic undertone holding aspects of earliest existence, floating harmonies materialized from uncharted venues. The guitar work of Peter Kris provides the affinity for everything. His patience on the strings serves as the mucilage holding all tracks together. And with these notes, the creation of a familiar sonic landscape many listeners will find their own tranquility in.

Coinciding with the beautiful sounds from Peter Kris, awareness of cool labels around the word is an equally appreciated aspect. This time sonic matter settles in East Montpelier, Vermont, specifically at Histamine Tapes. Using reclaimed cassettes and vintage books, making art from the almost emptiness. With a catalog dating back to the beginning of 2018, all releases in very limited runs, there is much to explore and many releases have only a few copies remaining.

Unfortunately Afternoons In The Valley is no longer readily available in physical form. This edition consists of a pair of cassettes in a book like case, unique artwork for each copy. Two photos are included with track line ups for each tape printed on the the back. Maybe thirty copies tops, not sure but they are old sold out. The digital is there to preview and purchase (at your price). Definitely listen, an excellent composition with many repeated plays waiting. 

Links
Histamine Tapes site - bandcamp - facebook
German Army site  

German Army - No No Boy

German Army has run conduit through time. Connections with sounds from the early eighties, nostalgic and understood. Moving forward into the unknown future, sounds echoing wonder and intensity. This is the table setting German Army places down. Comfortable well worn aural landscapes making you feel at home, while serving heaps of fresh creativity never experienced before.

The new composition titled No No Boy is a massive fourteen track en devour. Amazingly all of these selections are similar in length. This provides the ability to change throughout, but years of experience keeps the entire listen congruent and meaningful. The use of vocal tracks is heavier than past releases and with this attribute comes well manicured textures. Song to spoken word, present yet still distant, never overdone. Tried to do homework and connect No No Boy with great albums from the past. There are some loose threads, they would only serve to send readers on wrong paths, so none worth writing. German Army is very adept in their own body and this serves as good reasoning for the large fan base they carry. This release is extremely approachable, a multitude of variants in rhythmic trance. Surely one will lift an ear, but the whole is the real treat. Deep percussive rumblings close to distortion, difficult to decipher spoken words from non current time. A sonic reflection of the troubling lost identity the character Ichiro was tormented by in the novel No No Boy by John Okada. German Army providing meaningful purpose in album and track titles once again.

Released on cassette by the label Phormix from Athens, Greece. Not sure how many are in this edition, but copies are currently available. Looks like they will not last, since almost everything on the label has sold out and this is a German Army Release.

Links
Phormix - facebook - bandcamp
German Army site 

Partials Vol. 2 by Various Artists

Deep in the cortex of rhythmic tranquility, sounds sustaining zero gravity momentum. Tones are stretched through space, undulations smoothed into droning streaks. Cosmic debris is the only variance. Here the patterns fluctuate, sometimes chaotic vignettes are formed, but more often simplistic arrays of aural beauty. The energy moves on, past planetary wreckage, in the midst of microscopic dust fields, then emptiness again. Partials Volume Two is filled with the conscious projection of fourteen different artists. Each responsible for an onslaught of splendor, the trans-galactic endeavor all listeners will take.

There is an abundance of excellent creativity to absorb on this compilation. The requirements... your attention is needed. Without this time, Partials Volume Two, will disperse it's energy before realization occurs. Case in point, at some point during track eleven, where guitar and voice are melodically emitted by Negra Branca, questions concerning the previous ten tracks will surface. The next track, comet tracer by Plant43, vaults the consciousness back on path. A particle burner, jubilant electric pulsations for space dancers. Finally, a fitting piano laden adieu by Constantine ft. Christos Sakellaridis. Where did the first ten selections go? They were blown apart by the Bombe Dub of Spatial. In the fringes of the sonic explosion, A Lost in a Sea of Sound favorite Patrick R. Pärk, along with Ali Wade providing complex rhythmic signals across the emptiness. Directional corrections for the drifting drone of artists like, Shasta Cults and Southfacing. There are many more excellent entries not noted, these remain for listeners to discover.

Changing formats from cassette to compact disc, The London label Frequency Domain has crafted their second compilation. Set for a release date of June 3rd, fourteen artists most enthusiastically supplying sounds that are balanced together for a well deserving cause. One hundred and fifty beautifully packaged copies, this one needs listening time by all means.

All proceeds from Partials Volume Two will go to Eden Restoration Projects. A non profit organization helping to alleviate extreme poverty and restoring vibrant forests around the world.

Links
Frequency Domain - facebook - bandcamp - twitter

Concrete Colored Paint - Linhas em terra

Crossing parallels and meridians is how the world became known. Brave sailors disregarding the flat earth theory, setting off to establish sea routes for trade. Now, air travel expedites the process at exponential rates. And with the world being relatively so much closer, this cassette from NOSTROMO 1999 records has made the journey. The sounds within cause reflection though. Mysterious dream like vignettes, patiently spaced across time and place. Viscous drone holding the diversities in conveyable stasis. A flicker back to the assortment of places sea men would visit or captured airwaves from a present day world?

Linhas em terra could be best described as an astral projection over lines of longitude and latitude. Each destination wrought with sonic opacity, fluctuating background energy droning in consistency, as clouded speech is heard but not fully understood. The late Robert Monroe writes about interactions similar to this. Traveling out of body to encounter people in present time, all being real yet still enveloped with a slight degree of reverie. CCP or Concrete Colored Paint delivers an expounding sonic representation of this experience. A path to different dialects, foot steps leading away, traversing water, encountering music, birds, industrial hum then back to drone. This is all on side A of the cassette. The second side remains much more sedentary, the aural landscape reserved to the seaside. Maybe an inlet or port, a place depicting the contrast of nature and the resonance of man's industrial footprints.

Concrete Colored Paint is Peter Kris. This is the second cassette by CCP to find time with Lost in a Sea of Sound. The first and also the introduction was a split with Tap Water on Lighten Up Sounds. The cassette was released a year ago and is now sold out. Fortunately, Linhas em terra is currently available and is entirely devoted to Concrete Colored Paint. Linhas em terra is very limited, with only forty copies in the edition. One other note, CCP t-shirts are available from NOSTROMO as well. This is also the first time a NOSTROMO release has been described on the site. Other than the fact the labels uses Euros, not really sure where their headquarters is. Another question regarding the label's name, is there any connection to the Joseph Conrad novel?

For the music there in, an excellent sonic foray in well developed style. Peter Kris continues with creativity in all directions.

Links
Nostromo site - facebook - soundcloud - twitter
German Army site

Soda Lite - Vale & Stone

From the confluence of sea surface winds, sounds gently pour down, Vale & Stone is a sonic afternoon shower. Humidity and heat rinsed with aural purity then dried in delightful melodies. Find the time to to listen with attention because, like any storm formation in the late afternoon of summer, the event is over with tranquil haste. Soda Lite is on the edge of nature, the medium between an evolving untouched world and a spiraling man made attraction.

These sounds can easily fall into the background of everyday tasks. Like having the window open to hear natural sounds, anything happening inside directs attention away from the serenity all around. Val & Stone is the composure needed to compliment the chaos. Seven tracks divided over one half of an hour. Birds song complimenting the heavy droplets of synthesizer precipitation. Sinuous euphony taking hold, like the rapid growth of vines over hot summer nights. With repeated listens, this ambience for humans gradual becomes understood as ceremonial joy for flora and fauna. This is how delicate Vale & Stone really is, unalloyed radiance from untraveled landscapes. Easily breakable by the faster pace of urban life. Take thirty minutes, listen, don't let distractions crease the sonic pages. This is how you will understand.

Released on Inner Islands in the middle of May. A label on a long journey, procuring sonic herbs for a listening world filled with need. This time Inner Islands traveled to Melbourne, Australia and worked with Soda Lite. Val & Stone is an edition of one hundred with copies currently available. Thank you for your continued search and all the work.

Links
Inner Islands site - bandcamp - facebook
Soda Lite - bandcamp - facebook