^ - Wire Migraine

Wire Migraine, by ^ on Gross Domestic Product is something truly totally unique. In an effort to explain the sound, I'll use genre labels like EBM and Post Industrial, but this stuff is too emotional and musical for Industrial, and far too aggressive and authentic for EBM. Heavy vocoder, massive cavernous synth, pulsating mid tempo rhythm, and exceptionally well crafted song structures. The entire album just feels raw, like a synth, a drum machine, and a single artist absolutely letting emotion bleed directly to tape. Sounds like the future of music.

Grabbed on cassette while exploring the stock at Tomentosa. Also available digitally by visiting Bandcamp.

Black Velvet Stereo - Metal Rain Machine

Black Velvet Stereo on Sacred Phrases kills with Metal Rain Machine. Seems like an exercise in stark contrast, and beautiful synergy, between disparate subgenres of electronic music. An extremely refreshing intermingling of electronic relatives. Vast, evolving, ambient spaces weave into blissful focused drone. Waves of overdriven melody give way to propulsive layers of rich, full, progressive synth. Each side peaks with an absolute standout track, the massive uptempo burn of the Alex Barnett-esq “Hope” on A, and the pulsating, extraterrestrial emotional pull of “///” on the flip. When c40’s are born, they dream of becoming a tape like this.

Don’t miss this one, seriously. Grab it along with the rest of the new batch directly from Sacred Phrases.

Seabat - Mountains of Palawan

Mountains of Palawan from Seabat is a mind melting carpet ride to an alien dance party. Big waves of synth layered thickly across agile rhythm patterns that will absolutely bounce the db meters on your tape deck. The timbre and melody on this tape seem both foreign and extraterrestrial simultaniously. I totally dig stuff that straddles the line between experimental and accessible, and Seabat is getting it totally right. The entire sound floats and drifts, and assisted by the images on the cover art, I envisioned myself doing the same.

I grabbed this one along with the rest of a massive 8 tape batch directly from Goldtimers. This was my first pickup from GT, and their art and packaging are really sharp. All the tapes are pro printed, and the J Cards are full art front and back. Killer.

Giant Claw - Clash of Moons

Pure madness from Giant Claw on Bridgetown Records. Clash of Moons sounds big and precise, with confident melodic passages, and massive layers of synth programming. The standout title track runs the entirety of side B, with spastic, twitching notes pacing lush melodic progressions. The entire piece moves with such breakneck pace it becomes like watching a flip book of still images come to life. Each finely placed note becomes swept up in the greater whole, as the track evolves into a single living, breathing entity. If a proper successor to the NES were ever identified, it's games would have sounded like this. Prog rock around the edges (just barely), 8 Bit in the center, and a whole lot of other stuff I can't describe.

I picked up Clash of Moons along with the rest of the new batch from Bridgetown which includes really sharp releases from Sky Stadium, Reighnbeau (Loved this one), Dr. DR Barclay, and Hakobune. Kevin sent along a hand signed poster to boot. Killer.

Battered Movement - Garden-Shackled

Whoa. I wasn't familiar with Battered Movement prior to this release. Picked up the new batch from Digitalis LTD and got my hair absolutely blown back by huge walls of complex synth and distorted bass. Garden-Shackled sounds absolutely huge compared to most of the tape scene. The entire tape has an extremely thick bottom end, both with beats, rumble, and some melody. Nothing wrong with focusing on small delicate soundscapes, but it's really refreshing to hear 8 tracks rip right out of the speakers at you. I think it sounds like Alec Empire fighting with Lunar Miasma while high on pain killers but what do I know?. I purchased directly from Discriminate.

Peter Rehberg - Work for GV 2004-2008

Peter Rehberg on Editions Mego. Harsh and melodic synth sounds that weave in and out of consciousness, intertwined with spoken word readings that seem to be almost pieces of a journal written by a regretful drug addict and prostitute. There is a strong story-like progression to "Works" that carries heavy emotional weight. Tracks make glacial shifts from contemplative and introspective, to more ominous, and finally to hopeful with the standout "Boxes & Angels". Giving the entire work 2 consecutive listens left me feeling emotionally drained and almost sick. Super highly recommended, and available at Discriminate.

Neon Pulse - Field Recordings from the Heart Station

Double cassette release from Neon Pulse on the experimental micro label Sango Plasmo. Field Recordings from the Heart Station is an imagination capturing tour through 11 tracks of blissful synth work, limited to 60 copies (mine was 45). Lonely emotive sounds of outer space swirling and droning, but never losing musicality. I can almost visualize the heart station reaching out across the galaxy seeking with human emotion for a response. My favorite releases in the cassette world find ways to remain creative, while keeping their sense of melody. Neon Pulse does that here. I purchased directly from Sango Plasmo. You can also find more Neon Pulse on the excellent, Bandcamp.

Oxykitten - Toucht (Freebie!)

Toucht by Oxykitten is a batch of twisted videogame beats and retro synth work on Field Hymns Recordings. Sounds like a jam session between Prince and Koji Kondo after a night of watching horror movies together. I purchased my copy directly from Field Hyms If you're interested in this tape, email me at guidemelittletape at gmail dot com. This item will be given away on a first contact basis. Gone to Bennett from DC as of 1/5. Enjoy! FH005 Oxykitten - Infinite Posse by Field Hymns Records