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Dylan Reviews _'s tapes

5/31/2018

Last week I received a pair of tapes from our good friend _ from Denmark!

The first tape I listened to was Skolens Toss. Side A consists of more traditional pop songs done in _'s unique style, which brought a much-needed warm and fuzzy happy feeling to my mind (which has been kind of nerve-wracked all week).

On Side B, he gets a little more cinematic/experimental, with an instrumental track that sounds like he's watching a low-budget horror movie in the background, followed by a gloomier number that wouldn't be out of place on Matthew Moyer's PopNihil tape label.

After that is a song with delay added to the drum machine while _ sings and strums his acoustic guitar over it, and eventually a John Carpenter-esque synth enters the foray.

Towards the end is a plunderphonics collage of various recordings from other artists run through delay, like changing through stations on your radio.

This tape is like his version of Eno's Another Green World or Bowie's Low. Strongly recommended!

Up next was Folk & Støl. Cover photos from our good friend Jen Sandwich!

It started raining when I hit play on this tape, which was very fitting for what I was about to hear.

A majority of this tape consists of more melancholy songs of just vocals and acoustic guitars, much like Nick Drake's swan song "Pink Moon", but also recommended for fans of Skip Spence, Leonard Cohen, and Sebadoh.

There's also some dark Casio jams and spoke word collages towards the end of this tape, hence the Sebadoh comparison.

I strongly recommend these tapes to brighten your day. I'm so glad I live in a universe where _ exists!

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May 2018 Package from Frank Goshit

5/29/2018

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Frank Goshit (from Quebec)
is one of the pioneers of shitnoise –
intentionally bad recordings recorded on handheld devices (usually cassette).

Frank played guitar in the noisecore band Deche-Charge back in the mid-90s (and would later infamously have his own "imposter" version of said band for a year or two), and along with fellow Deche-Charge member Dan-Charge, co-founded the legendary GOCHARGE RECORDS.

Gocharge's releases mainly consisted of either Frank or Dan (sometimes both) recording under different project names on a tape recorder. Releases varied from acoustic noisecore, spoken word, trash-talking Seth Putnam for signing to Earache, being stupid while watching tv, doing the laundry while singing GG Allin songs...literally anything goes. And the tapes were mostly limited to less than a dozen or so copies.

Many of Frank's recent releases also consist of him tending to his livestock (chickens and donkeys), his cats, tapping on plates while yelling, walking to the store, and riding his bike, among other things.

Today (May 29th, 2018) I received this package from Frank in the mail. I haven't listened to any of them just yet, but knowing Frank they will no doubt be amazing listens. I am especially fond of the packaging on the Common Sense Cassettes releases.

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three collages by Kristy Mann

5/24/2018

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Some one-of-a-kind collages from my friend Kristy Mann from Panama City, FL.

In addition to her artwork, she is also a multi-instrumentalist in the local punk and noise scene, and books shows there as well.

Panama City is one of my favorite spots to play in the state of Florida. Home to Fork and Spoon - both a house venue (run by Scott Bazar) and a DIY label (run by Joel Switzerland aka "Joel nobody") - as well as Mosey's and A&M Theater.

Scott and Joel often play together as the free improv duo Vantage Planets, as well as in the more structured but wild rock band known as Barkers of the Wrong Tree.

Anywho: I've acquired the first two collages from Kristy on cinco de mayo 2018 during Efficiency Fest at Fork and Spoon. The third one was from when I stopped by on my way to New Orleans Sound Art Fest in October 2016.

Enjoy!

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Postcards from Scott Kindberg (May 21st, 2018)

5/22/2018

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I'm very happy with these amazing postcards sent by my friend Scott Kindberg from north California. Thank you, Scott!

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Apartment Music #29 (from Dylan Houser's perspective)

5/21/2018

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If you're on EC, then there's a pretty good chance that you're already familiar with Hal McGee's Apartment Music series, which takes place in his own living room.

This one took place on a Sunday afternoon as opposed to the usual Saturday to accommodate Hal Harmon's work schedule.

There were many regulars at this event (Hal and Mark McGee, Hal Harmon, Lumen K, and myself) plus several people performing there for the first time (Todd Novosad, Adam and Aimee Naworal, Jonas van den Bossche, and Emmy Lou).