... I'll Be Right Back

GMLT will be on a brief hiatus while searching for new digs in the great state of Michigan. I'll be back posting awesome tapes in a few weeks. Until then, go buy a bunch of music and...

S U R V I V E - HDXV

Heads up on pair (see below for the other) of essential tapes from Austin, TX based Holodeck Records.

Swirling, pulsating, seething synth work from the four piece S U R V I V E, with HDXV. Actually a re-release of their debut album, these nine tracks sound as fresh as if their patterns were programmed yesterday. And just like their previously reviewed 2012 self titled tape, it also sounds beautiful, incredibly intense, and somewhat nasty. Like Steve Moore playing Streets Of Rage 2 with the guy from Terrorfakt. Angry and visceral, and yet still fun as heck to nod your head along with. I’m nowhere near qualified to add any insight on the creative process behind these sounds, but of all the tapes I hear, I’d be hard pressed to find one that feels as fully developed and completely ready as this one.

Pro dubbed and printed edition of 200, stream in full on Bandcamp, and then grab the physical at the Holodeck Store.

Dylan C - Samsara: Causes and Conditions

The other monster in this pair (see above for the other), is a patchwork of minimalist and ambient dance beats from Dylan C, with Samsara: Causes and Conditions.

It takes a lot for me to post something (my own pretentious bias) so overtly pleasing to the ear, and heck, so overwhelmingly danceable. But that’s how much fun this one is. A massive c63, the front half, Causes, thumps right into your chest. Beats mixed right up front, swimming over collages of sounds and rhythm. Six tracks that escape the sterile overly digital realm of glitch, and opt for something that feels alive and organic. The back half, Conditions, presents a counterbalance, with washes of ambience combined with eerie reverberating percussion. Otherworldly dance music for ears drawn to obscure sounds. A impressive middle ground that deftly mixes moments of absolute ambience with songcraft and melody. A beautiful statement in modern dance.

Pro dubbed and printed, edition of 100, stream and purchase on Bandcamp, or go straight to the source at Holodeck.

Travel Kyoto - Empire Of Signs

The perfect combination of jet age retro chique and seaside vibes from Travel Kyoto, with Empire Of Signs, on Singapore Sling Tapes. Soundtracking the perfect beach getaway. The c-20 opens and closes with the prolouge/epilouge, Tomorrow People, a spoken sample offering philosophical encouragement to imagine your mind as fist, and then open your fist. Perfect preparation for the relaxed vacation vibes contained within. Smoothed out calypso rhythms, easy obscured vocals, and synth patches reminiscent of Goichi Suda's Flower, Sun, and Rain. Sounds like the ultra stylized offspring of a Pan Am promotional video and a pet pink alligator named Christina. Totally digging this.

Thematically perfect collage art, limited edition of just 30 copies, grab direct from Moscow based Singapore Sling.

Wolf Fluorescence / Wet Eyes - Split (Freebie!)

Heads up on a killer new split release from two favorites here at GMLT, Wolf Fluorescence and Wet Eyes, from Wet Eyes Productions. The front half, from the WF moniker of Ross Devlin, interweaves a massive volume of experimental and ambient elements in a single side long transportive master blast. From sounds that feel ripped from the NES classic Captain Comic, to warbled raw piano, to looping melancholic synth, to hooting owls. About fifteen tracks worth of A level composition combined into a single piece that works really well. On the flip, Ross Auger delivers the most robust and fully developed ambient guitar work I've heard from his Wet Eyes project to date. Four tracks of reverb drenched guitar melt. Patient, deeply relaxing stuff, highlighted by the standout seventeen minute exploration, Flying Kites At Night. An absolutely incredible track that sounds like watching a sunrise and sunset at the same time.

Hand numbered and produced edition of just 40, stream in full and grab directly from the Wet Eyes Productions Bandcamp. Ross from WEP has been cool enough to send me two copies of this tape to pass along as freebies! Hit me up at guidemelittletape at gmail dot com, and one of them is yours, no catch, first come first serve. Gone to Bill and Mike as of 3/21! Enjoy!

Transmuteo - Transmuteo

This is it for me. I use the word "meditative" very frequently as an album descriptor. Typically in a figurative sense, to indicate that a record could be used to release ones self from the limitations of the ego. But this, the self titeld Transmuteo LP, from Transmuteo on Aguirre Records, is literally a meditation record. An insistent yet soothing female voice opens the record instructing the listener to repeat spoken affirmations, and again, closes the record by acknowledging that the participant may now be asleep, but has, unconsciously absorbed these reaffirming thoughts.

Between these bits of instruction, lie moments of completely blissed out new-agey wizardry. Tracks that, without borrowing too heavily from the inspiration of the album jacket, feel akin to floating, out of body across oceans of crystal blue tropical paradise. An other worldly trip, buoyed along on currents of crisp pulsating arpeggios and washes of ambient texture. Truly an exceptional work, regardless of one's appreciation for the more esoteric elements. One that can be enjoyed for the piece of mind expanding material I think it aspires to be, or simply as an essential piece of electronic music.

Edition of 200, black vinyl, I found this release so essential, that I commited the sin of "double purchasing" to get the digital copy required for hikes and stuff. Grab direct from Aguirre

Morgue Toad - Buzzing Vibrations

You know how sometimes you get that tape, and it's just so weird and so raw that you can't help but play it over and over and try to figure it out? Buzzing Vibrations from Morgue Toad on Juniper Tree Songs is that tape. I actually think it's that tape twice and a bit of a third time. Thirty tracks, packed into a c-23. Nasty little pop songs, blown out and produced with the fidelity of a thirty year old punk demo crushed into the bathroom floor of an art space that no longer exists. All made crazier with found sounds and random vocal samples. Just totally off the wall, and so typical of the variety I'm digging from this awesome little label. Fearless.

Pro dubbed and printed, not exactly sure how many copies, could the album art be more appropriately crazy? Grab direct from JTS

Sindre Bjerga - Radiant Flux

Two live cuts of sinister, chaotic sound collage from Sindre Bjerga, with Radiant Flux on Lighten Up Sounds. Scraping, seething movements that drill, not with volume and harshness, but with patience and cyclical patterns, into the back of your skull. Ugly, filthy bass notes and assorted sonic detritus that swirl and twist, reveling in their displeasure. I can't help but picture a dimly lit figure slouched over an incomprehensible pile of mixers and machinery spewing out sounds horrific to the unenlightened. Over the course of both side length tracks, a palpable tension builds without release, trapping your ears within the mix, disengaging you from the listening process, and engaging you in the experience. A challenging and rewarding synergy of noise and texture.

Hand numbered edition of just 44 on yellow shells with vellum liner notes. Sewn into a printed soft plastic sleeve which must be cut open. Grab directly from Lighten Up Sounds.

Easy Feelings / Sagas (Freebies!)

Hey it's Friday and positive vibes abound. Up for grabs is a duo of incredible out of print tapes. Breezy psychedelica from Easy Feelings on Sic Sic Tapes, and two live cuts of guitar experimentation from Sagas with Permutations On The Infinite on Biological Radio. Great tapes, great labels. Both of these have been wonderful companions in my personal collection, and now it's time to pass them along to another to enjoy. Support and share great music!

If you have interest, email me at guidemelittletape at gmail dot com and they're yours, no catch. First come first serve. Gone to Paul from Oakland, CA as of 3/9, Enjoy!

Planets Around The Sun - Cosmic Job

Gritty electro space rock from Planets Around The Sun, with Cosmic Job, on Eiderdown Records. Propulsive psychedelic jams, swirls of noise, and get this, vocals. I can't remember the last time I heard vocals on a tape, and it's really refreshing. Four tracks that absolutely feel spontaneous and alive. Although I don't know it to be true, it feels like the whole thing is perhaps outtakes of longer improvised session that could have gone on for hours. Part of some bizarre and wonderful Hawkwind worship session. The lead track on the flip, Bump Tounges pretty much encapsulates the entireity of what makes this one special. Thick, nasty mid tempo riffs echoing all over the freakin' place. Sounds like a rocketship ride inside a blacklight.

Black shells, double sided j cards featuring (as with all the Eiderdown editions) the very unique art of Max Clotfelter printed in vibrant colors. Grab direct from Eiderdown.