Tangles – ‘Poplars’ cassette
of all glasgow’s guitar wizards who are also astrophysicists, ricky egan is my favorite. when i learned of his astrophysics background it actually made total sense given the fact that his music reminds me of the stars themselves. some twinkling, some shooting, others arranged in nice constellations, all of them immediately present, strangely comforting, but just beyond reach. on 100 white-light cassettes with exquisite cover drawing by visual artist colin david stewart.
Lockbox – ‘Hypersecret’ cassette
kids today grow up with an internalized hyperattunement to the internet and all its implications – we have no idea what the fuck this is unleashing on society at large, but it’s made for some interesting results – riots in london and flash mobs in philly were ok, but now that these kids are starting to make music i’m scared for my life. at 17, jesse briata is living the high school experience so often hypnogogized, and as such is not making music nostalgically, but totally in the present. microcassette post-everything music recorded live on the plane of immanence. comes off like the soundtrack to a ryan trecartin clockwork orange adaptation, or maybe the lost jc peavey solo album. there is no fake id on brilliant music, this is real. 17 years, 17 tracks, infinite reasons to enter the wonderland of “hypersecret.”
Guardian Alien – ‘Drums > Space > Jam’ cassette
THE band of 2012 and beyond, here in an earlier incarnation from the beginning of 2011, featuring turner “ramble tamble” williams on japanese lap guitar, greg fox (ex-drummer of liturgy) on percussion, and alex drewchin on what can very loosely be defined as vocals. retains a remarkable cohesion despite the fact that all three are completely shredding from the start to finish of each jam, and their recordings do a surprisingly stellar job of capturing the spirit of their infamous live performaces. anyone who has fantasized about a teaming up of flower-corsano with magik markers, up your alley. close to an hour in length, limited to 125 red cassettes.
Video Thrills – ‘Video Thrills’ cassette
turn on, log in, geek out. “video thrills” by video thrills recorded in late 2011 in the urban shadows of new jersey, these 10 tracks aim to call attention to such worthy topics as the homoerotic undertones of buddy cop television dramas, playing shows in children’s arcades, and exploring the places that lie beyond the velvet rope boundaries of consciousness. half an hour in uncharted territory on the path laid out by p-funk, axel-f, and i-carly. edition of 70.