BBJR - Decelebrate

Bob Bucko Junior is like a sound farmer. Planting seeds across multiple labels and delivering a plethora of musical styles and variations. On Decelebrate, the mission is clearly cultivation on external planets. Air and gravity and different mixtures, producing both sinuous and beautiful specimens of sound.

Seven tracks energized by BBJR radiation. Amazingly slow and patient developmental growth. The beats coarse with speeds of reptilian vascular systems. Each track sprouting new foliage and transforming into advanced life. Bob Bucko JR uses voice throughout, a mesmerizing tone and timber developed for organic stimulus.

Have you ever seen the eighties movie Flash Gordon? For a few seconds when Decelebrate kicks in, the soundtrack came to mind. BBJR channeling Queen in some metamorphed equation! Some of the effects are similar...

This is an interesting composition by BBJR. Some how orbiting in the distant reaches of pop. Shorter tracks maintaining a congruent flow through the entirety of the tape. If you have not taken root with Bob Bucko JR before, this is a superb place to begin.

Quantifying the solid build of Decelebrate is the fact of being on Already Dead Tapes and Records. In an edition of sixty and now down to only two remaining as this is written. Be quick cause these are on the way out.

Links
Already Dead Tapes site - facebook - bandcamp
Bob Bucko JR - bandcamp - facebook 

Complainer - Floodplain

A blur of punk music. Fast paced drums, seemingly beyond human speeds. Guitar chopping away at serenity with massive amplified riffs. Vocals reminiscent of some hybrid mix between early Bad Brains and angular Pylon.

Floodplain is a timeless effort in the realm of simple raw energy. There is a tenacious preciseness cementing these eight tracks, like both strings and percussion are being conducted by some unknown mathematical equation. Complainer constantly pours sounds out, the mind overflowing with a spilling brim of notes.

Mabel Suen and Joe Hess are the musicians making up Complainer. Together their sound is a double espresso with two scoops of ceremonial Matcha whisked in before consumption. Decibel destruction of the inner cortex as the perennial mosh pit wails on the soul. Be ready when pressing play on this cassette, there will be no rest.

Floodplain was released on Already Dead Tapes and Records. Tapes made in an edition of one hundred. This is their debut album and unfortunately for cassette fans who did not purchase Floodplain, this one sold out. Fortunately, this composition can be heard and purchased digitally from Already Dead and if you live in the St. Louis area, you can see this band live.    

Links
Already Dead Tapes site - facebook - bandcamp
Complainer - facebook

alex keller and sean o'neill - kruos

The droning loneliness the spirit feels when separated from those we love. Commotion, like rounds of artillery being discharged in the slowly approaching distance. In order to quell the clarity of fear the mind assembles, the place and time become oddly peaceful. As if the experience is bestowed on one participant, one listener. Billions of souls living together hear only fragments and dismiss any relevancy. An audio odyssey entwined with depth and darkness, uniquely appreciated by those generating their own tranquility. 

Alex Keller and Sean O'Neill combine consciousnesses, delivering unfamiliar energy in an all consuming harmonious surge. Together, mining the currents of cosmic singularities. The final sounds escaping gravitational slide, as both everything and nothing are compressed into unknown space. Kruos requires your attention! Once this condition is met, your thoughts will be embraced by an undiscovered beauty. In this unilluminated aural space, the listener is granted an understanding of polarity. The end is also the origination. Pressure and darkness at ocean depths creates its own wondrous world. Kruos has achieved this in sonic stature. Gone so far into remoteness and unveiled sounds entirely new. The last bit of the composition reels back the exploration. The cumbersome clanging of the slow recoil. Eventually back to the world we know. 

Kruos is released by the excellent label Elevator Bath from Austin Texas. On clear vinyl and in an edition of two hundred and fifty. The artwork in vibrant gray scale on heavy jackets. Posters included while supplies are there. Every detail for this Elevator Bath heavy is meticulously crafted with love for sound. The tones within are reflections of this.  

In pre-order stage. Physical copies will be available on July 7th. 

Links
elevator bath site - bandcamp - facebook - twitter

Rats Mouth - Bad Grammar

Cool f'n band, i like them! You got the sweet label and now a little press. Have not checked out your facebook or the cool threads you may or may not be styling. Your swirling punk, metal, pop drives effortlessly as thoughts of jangled tunes cycle in cadence with every flip of the cassette.

The beauty of Rats Mouth's tape Bad Grammer is exemplified by the last track "I'll Be Your Mirror", a Velvet Underground song from 1967. Such a great choice as a cover song by Rats Mouth because this new rendition is so sincere, upholding the original with acoustic esteem. But "I'll Be Your Mirror" is more, Bad Grammar is a mirror of itself, making the VU cover deeply resonate. Starting with the opening track "Snoozer", the metal infused intro, the songs are all redone as acoustic versions on the reverse side of the tape. So far from redundant, more exposing how and where the talent generates from. Rats Mouth is playful with a plate full of wit. "Cool Rock Band" is that really what you want? Sounds like Bad Grammar made it happen doing exactly what was fun. No concern, only a casual and delightful approach. Alternating song perspectives make this quick listen infectious.

Released on Already Dead Tapes and Records at the end of March. One hundred editions made. Available from Already Dead's bandcamp page. Thank you Spencer and everyone for a great cassette to start the summer with.

Links
Already Dead Tapes site - facebook - bandcamp
Rats Mouth - bandcamp - facebook

Dane Rousay - blip

How to describe a composition made almost entirely of percussive sounds? Something for music scholars or expert drummers maybe? Dane Rousay emerges from another dimension and leaves the door open. Billowing through come rhythms disguised as physic chaos. Tranquility disturbed, transformed into an organic pulsating spectrum of a tumbling consciousness.

Blip is eight vignettes just under thirty minutes. The pace or tempo throughout the entire composition maintains a fairly wholesome steadiness. A quality much appreciated since this free form expose' needs a solid binding agent. Raw and undefined push at the ears straight away, but once these beats and blips coagulate together the skilled talent becomes more understood. Dane seems to have the slightest native sprinkle of Gamelan influence, maybe attributed to the organic foundations or choice of varying agents of metal and glass. Some sounds bounce along in rhythmic dance while others are dragged through and over the aural landscape. Blip is many sound samples from a mind with high vibrations resting outside of the body. Listeners will need "clear" minds in order to absorb the depth of blip.

Released in April of this year. The first batch sold out quickly. There is a second pressing of fifty and these are available from Dane's bandcamp page. Another connection is with Already Dead Records & Tapes. Dane plays percussion and electronics for The Freebiez, who have a brand new split cassette with More Eaze on Already Dead. This is still in the pre-order stage.

Dane Rousay site - bandcamp - facebook

Cop Funeral – Part Time Pay / Paid Vacation

An intense call for all the drone heads out there to wake up, nappy time is over. Cop Funeral funnels red lining hypertensive industrial fluids through the consciousness. Sound waves forced through mental membranes with expertly guided creativity. The body's resting equilibrium punched aside as these new rhythms travel against the gradient.

Part Time Pay / Paid Vacation is the third proper release by Cop Funeral. This composition cycles through violent upheavals and placid static wash. Divided by the flip of the tape this Cop Funeral release is two EPs.

The first side, Part Time Pay is a staggeringly high mountain range of sound. The crossing is beautiful and extremely rugged at times. Altitudes beyond the troposphere, where the sound of space can be heard. The beauty exposed as the listener chooses the path more than once.

On the reverse, Paid Vacation grounds the foray. Moving under the crust of the Earth, where densities and temperatures vary. A vibrantly constructed decent, tones escaping through cramped molecules. Electric, industrial and rooted to the consciousness by some unknown organic medium. More introspective than Part Time Pay, patient in it's reveal.

Released just recently 1980 Records. Not sure how many, but am positive this cassette will test speaker thresholds. A little while back posted another description for 2 STRESSED 2B BLESSED by Cop Funeral. This is on Already Dead Tapes & Records and is available as well. 

 

Stag Hare - Starlights Gloom

Starlights Gloom explores the pulsating fields of the spirits existence across both known and undiscovered dimensions. A pinpoint in time spiraling out through the twisting vortex. Drone like rhythms drizzled with ethereal vocals, creating the nebulous enlightenment of what we know is Stag Hare. This composition cuts the tethers and moves in one direction, focusing less on the organic roots and more on cosmic reaches.

There are many connections Starlights Gloom has with earlier Stag Hare releases. Long sustained beats with swirling tones, creating the density to hold the soft dreamlike whispering vocals. On the release, The Djorna Trilogy, Stag Hare had divided sounds into three eras. Starlights Gloom is definitely the polished gem stone of the third era. Tempos are faster and tracks are just a little shorter. The website description says "Starlights Gloom is made up of primarily sampled material from throughout the Stag Hare catalog". These tracks show the change in an artists life, from happiness or turmoil, neophyte to well experienced, what we all enjoy or appreciate changes. How we accept changes in another persons life revolving around their artistic approach is difficult. We all move through time at alternate rates. Maybe the artists gets there before the listener or the listener tires of music that never progresses. Starlights Gloom has arrived before me. I am happy to follow and catch up. Stag Hare has always and continually pushed my listening enjoyment down new paths and this composition guides as well.

Released on Inner Islands at the end of May. In a limited edition of one hundred on delicate indigo paper with silver ink. From reading, this looks like the last release for Stag Hare. A ten year project many have loved to follow. This one will be gone quickly, so do not hesitate.

Links
Inner Islands site - bandcamp - facebook
Stag Hare site - bandcamp - facebook 

Husk - s/t

The process of describing music rests in an inverse relationship with how much love and talent went in to creating it. Discovering a composition like Husk by Wesley Powell, throws the brakes on any quick and tidy summary. There is so much ground covered on these eleven tracks totaling over forty minutes. Every song is it's own little world, varying approaches with angular guitar winds made even more complex by from the center passionate lyrics.

The entire cassette erupts with a vintage equatorial sound. The deep resonating drum lines danced upon by precise and playful strings. Revolving romantic lyrics filled with happiness and turmoil. Seemingly played beneath twinkling lights hanging from gently moving palms. Wesley captures or channels music from changing times. Vanguard styles lost in the sea, floating to and above the surface with Husk adding buoyancy. Could be the guitar and amp set up Wesley uses, has the retro coolness to it. The "Bye Bye Love" cover is superb and a superlative connection in the contiguous sound of the composition. The first two tracks, "Wicked Mantras" and "Not Yours, Not Mine" reminded me of a little of an album i grew up with by the Bongos titled Drums Along the Hudson. Here is a sample to compare. There are plenty of differences, but the effortless and laid back musical flow of both Husk and Drums Along the Hudson are very similar. The third track "Amnesia" has a tasty Velvet Underground vibration to it. More tracks resonate with an almost English Beat rhythm to them and call to mind another album from my past. The eight track "Quiet", is a sound glimpse revealing Wesley's drone chops. From pressing play, then every flip, Husk has a great sound overall and is worth every chance to listen.

Available from the Husk bandcamp page. This was released on Curly Cassettes at the end of last year.

Links
Husk - bandcamp
Curly Cassettes site - facebook
Wesley Powell - facebook 

Mu Vonz / More Eaze - Split 7"

Mu Vonz and More Eaze on a colored seven inch split from Already Dead Tapes and Records. Six different versions (colors) in increasing limited quantities. Psychedelically sweet artwork by Curtis Tinsle. Music cast out and dispersed in the asteroid belt. Timeless and infinitely unclassified, both Mu Vonz and More Eaze await exploration. Rotating rhythms, heated and cooled in an orchestrated dance around your mind's threshold.

"Hypnotize" is the title of the Mu Vonz side. A sing song narration crisscrossing an ethereal dubbed out dancing drizzle. Early morning, before the sun rise, soothing grooves crafted for spirits in between sleep and awake. The click click outside your ear traveling to make your toes tap.  

"Binaries" rest on the flip side and is the contribution by More Eaze. Sounds floating in the space making up the nothingness that surrounds us. Multiple directions collecting surrounding harmonies and bringing all into focus. "Binaries" is ancient and futuristic, classical and pop, grounded and aloft, all in simultaneous delivery.

These descriptive words hopefully will perk your interest, creating the moment you listen to this split. Both artists rest outside the world of music as most know it. Released in mid April, get this from Already Dead Tapes and Records.

Links
Already Dead Tapes site - facebook - bandcamp

Matthew Squires - Tambaleo

Matthew Squires is a musician you want to pin down but have difficulty in doing so. The instrumentation combined with lyrics and voice make me end up thinking of musicians mostly with a country tilt. Maybe this is a correct path since Matthew hails from Austin, Texas, but there really is no country sound in Tambaleo, possibly a southwest tinge. Articulation spanning the distance with subtle complexity, thoughts and stories mixed with adept musical composition. This might be a long reaching comparison, but Matthew has an impressive capability much like the late John Hartford, take a listen. Amazing ability to create unique music then combine it with outstanding lyrics sung even more distinctive. Now you are thinking Matthew and John do not sound similar at all, and rest in completely different genres, but that is not the gist. The thought is; Song writing, playing music and singing are all different talents. When you encounter artists who can do it all, there is something special. So sure, i could have come up with a more modern comparison, but John Hartford is incredible and Matthew Squires has like talents. 

Tambaleo is a mighty composition, over three quarters of an hour and fifteen tracks. The guitar playing is perfectly balanced with the vocals. Tempo varies with the way life is described. There are some pop moments, but the overall multiplex of influences delivered, push Tambaleo beyond any words in some sub pop category. So because i said it, here is a more modern comparison of talented individuals.... Listen to the tenth track on Tambaleo "Dead or Dying" then listen to this. That was a surprise and again, completely different genres. Matthew has composed music with a wise heart. Give this a good listen and be whelmed.

Released in January on Already Dead Tapes and Records in an edition of two hundred and fifty. Currently available.... And also in a bundled package of an earlier Matthew Squires / Already Dead Tapes and Records release titled "Where the Music Goes to Die".
 

Links
Already Dead Tapes site - facebook - bandcamp
Matthew Squires - facebook - bandcamp

Caramel Ship - Marjoram

Marjoram is here with health benefits you should understand. Eleven tracks crafted with therapeutic relief for the monotony of the long summer days. Robust flavoring of sounds flowering out from the pop center. Dipping into the groove then hovering above, Caramel Ship flirts with multiple genres and avoids being pinned down.

Desmond C. Simmons and Yuki Shindo are the creative minds making up Carmel Ship. This helps explain the worldly diversity that infiltrates these sounds. Spanning from  Detroit to the out skirts of Tokyo, the artists influences are subtly entwined. One of my favorites, "Disco for Robots" exemplifies both sides of the globe, portrayed with excitement and a flare for fun. There are a few tracks, "Dear Mimi", "Modern Take" and "Sea Foam Holiday", diving into the late night, tranquilizers radiating in harmony with street lights in transit. The eighth track "A Guessing Game" even touches on hip hop before mutating into it's own style.

Looks like this cassette is not on a label and was released in February by Desmond and Yuki.  Includes cool stuff like a comic and stickers. Much love and consideration went into the presentation Marjoram. The sounds within reflect this as well.

Links
Caramel Ship site - bandcamp - twitter