The Dave - Lois / Poof!

 

Label : Self-Released

Year : 1984/85

Country : US

Format : C45

Here are two tape rips sent to me by the great Tony Coulter. A long time coming, these. I have posted this group on here in the past, probably half a decade ago on one of the Outward Inward comps, but here they are in full swing. Bizarro indie with improvisational folk inclinations. A good comparison would be the vastly underrated Flying Nun outfit Marie & the Atom, of which I'm hoping to see a reissue campaign come to light sometime soon.

These two rips were split by myself, going by whatever the submitter at Discogs thought the track listings were. It's all so weirdly structured that you cannot be too sure of where one song ends and another interlude begins and vice versa. In any case, these are buried gems in the junkyard (in a good way!) of the 80s cassette underground.

Here

City Wildlife - City Wildlife

Label : Edition Unibeirrt - L

Country : Switzerland

Year : 1987

Format : C30

Swiss not Scheiße. Neutral bias, maybe? Another one from the conspicuous corner of New Wave obscurity; Residential, yes. Dash of early Ween I feel. To avoid rehashing my RYM review, I'll actually talk about the music in English rather than buzzwords and halfhearted platitudes.

Yes, a mini-album as described by the experts at Discogs dot com. As can be seen from the tracklisting on the J-card you can get a glimpse of the brevity of most tracks on the album. Sketches more like, as I do like to describe. The music is a strange minimal treat for minimal ears. Synth experiments mix with vocal experiments and guitar experiments. Or maybe it sounds like one big (small) experiment. A demo album, perhaps? Maybe that's how I got it from Recrec just a week or few days ago.

Here

The next reupload roundup comes nearer and nearer, just need to polish some stuff up; Stayed tune, mon  lecteur.

Panda Haus - Exercises In Brevity

Label : Polyamory

Country : US

Year : 1999

Format : C44

Most of some of the time trawling the assorted obscurities of Discogs' database bears strange and rewarding fruits. This is one of those times. As soon as I saw that notification on the electronic mail, I as there. I first discovered this little dirtied gem of a tape when I, as I am wont to do, inputted some appealing filters with the sites rather limited Style system. I believe it was something to the chune of "1990s, Cassette, Avantgarde, Synth-Pop". A winning combination.

As can be seen from the image, this was likely sent for review to the subunderground zine Muckraker and addressed to its honcho Patrick Marley. Though I bought this from CMS Foundation's Chris Sienko, one of those things that get mixed up when buying a little something. When describing the music, I could say that it is along the thread of experimental pop with lofi production with little smatterings of noise here and there. The noise element, though very understated, is appropriate given the involvement of Tovah "Dead Machines" Olson. Personally, I have found more enjoyment in this sort of project, that is melodic yet chaotic and noisy pop rambling, than the more harsh and glitchy sounscapes that has found prominence over the last two decades or so.

Here

Vale And Year - Holy Music And Art / Field Recordings Vol. 1

Label : n/a

Year : 2004

Country : US

Format : CD(s)

A chance encounter I've found. Browsing the internet leads to strange discoveries at times, and on a fateful minute I found a post from the ancient days of 2013 talking about my blog. It had been posted by David Bernabo, a member of this odd little project. I had previously posted the first album served here back in those days, and I had not realized that I never reposted it after revitalizing this digital warehouse. So here we are.

I got both of these from a local library which supplied many a release from around these parts. Not a lot really sprung an interest from me, but these are exceptions. I want to say I first of this band from the Blastitude webzine, but apparently it was not where I had first encountered them. I think I might have first seen it be perchance on the fallen fakejazz superhighway xerox, though I never got much into that one so who knows. Anywho, this is an interesting admixture of noisy indie rawk with some experimental smatterings across the (maybe a bit unnecessary) 2 disc set. The other album is a collection of free improvs and maybe some field recordings. Maybe. I have not heard these in awhile and just now dug them up from the last remains of my old HDD. So enjoy. 

Here

Rik Albatros - Abandoned And Left To Die

Label : n/a

Year : 1994

Country : UK

Format : C30

Ripped by OminousMafioso

As prophesied by... well, me. Here is another tape from that venerable pseudonym. This is a strange one, in a different flavor compared to the regular strangeness purveyed around these parts. Discordant low-fi synth pops in adoration of the Mountain Goats. This guy really seems to enjoy the music of Mr. Darnielle, and is an infamous and famous figure in the following of that fine musical project.

No longer abandoned and left to die, now exhumed and left to fester on the internet!  

Nothing's "here", the creator of this tape wanted me to take down this link. I wonder if he has something brewing...

Some Rare Footage - Stony Love

Label : Memphis Music

Year : 1994

Country : UK

Format : C60

Ripped by OminousMafioso

Another 90s gem from the man with the plan... This kind of tape would probably be better suited for the more "indie" nostalgie blogs, conforming to more of the poppier/footwear glancing side of noize as opposed to the harsher/collage-based/industrial explored here. Though I do have a propensity for synthy stuff, so I guess it's a wash.

Not much info on this group, and I would have probably found more if not for some kind of bad loop on the internet archive. It's a shame, really. Something about Television, and I'm not talking about the consumer electronic though you hear a good amount of those on this cassette. Marquis de Moon Television, must have been a collaboration. Anyway, this is a UK Noise Pop and Post-Punk project by and by, composed of Ric and Marianne, whoever they may well be.

Here

Various Artists - Industrial Folk Vol. 1

Label : Squealer - SQR 014

Year : 1995

Country : US

Format : 7 inch

Since I'm lazy, I'll just paste the review for this I made on Rateyourmusic:

An interesting little document of something of a sound of bygone days, described here as "Industrial Folk"--not Industrial folk as in the traditional music of the worker but of the "merger of folk roots with modern technology" sez the liner notes. Further on, these folkish roots "are modified by the alien technologies available to the modern artist; tape loops, feedback, and the static of everyday life". I feel like I'm padding an essay here, but it is a pretty interesting perspective especially in retrospect.

A number of these artists would not seem too unfamiliar to those who have gone through the underwaternow tape archive. In fact, I associate this time and place and sound and aesthetic with this particular website. A different flavor of cassette culture.

If you could gather any meaning from that melange of text, I mean to say it's a pretty cool EP. I was going to make a grandiose point on how appropriate that something christened "Industrial Folk" would emerge from the fallen follies of the rust belt, when I realized only a few of these groups would qualify as being from said wastelands. 

That's a cool thought, though. "Industrial Folk" as a genre, not Industrial Worker Folk music, which apparently is something that people have categorized, but a designation for the fin de millénaire incarnation of lofi folk found on some-a tape from labels like Shrimper or Bees Make Honey or, of course, Squealer. 

Here

1m54 - All Breaks Loose, I Suppose

Label : Toothpick - TP08

Country : Belgium

Year : 1996

Format : C30

Ripped by OminousMafioso

Very personal and intimate, as lowfi cassettes are wont to be described. This is definitely worthy of such labels, as each sparse track flows along the hiss like some kind of metaphor which loses meaning when I extrapolate on it. It's nice, very nice. And I'd been looking for it for quite the while til I contacted the person who had so graciously gleamed me with a rip of it. The screen name above is someone to watch out for, he has a great collection of tapes and is a very cool guy on top of it. Cheers!

Here

Pacebreaker - Mormon Lullabyes

Label : Superlux Recordings - lux 004

Country : US

Year : 1995

Format : 7 inch

Here

Bikermutt - Island Of Moreau / I Won't Hurt You

Label : C & O Records - CO-9001

Country : US

Year : 1990

Format : 7 inch

Here

Gravity Wax - Toma Coast

Label : Burnt Hair - SINGE 002

Country : US

Year : 1995

Format : 7 inch

Here