Half High - Calling Nina (Eiderdown 2014)

The menace is loose - disquiet abounds. peace and love to my friends at Humboldt Relief :)

Light up before you enter this portal. Once within this ghastly, yet beautiful sonic atmosphere, it's difficult for the flowers to combust. I've experienced many states from the catalog of Eiderdown. However, nothing quite matches the visceral dread and spooked synths of Half High. Based in Sydney, Australia, they are among the founding members of Naked on The Vague. Calling Nina was recorded in a space that was once used by scientists to conduct research on the psychokinetic powers of Nina Kulagina. Following her death, it was determined that a poltergeist had taken possession of the area. Subsequent attempts to channel the presence resulted in twelve deaths. Just like Eiderdown suggests, Calling Nina may be an attempt to make contact with her spirit and collaborate with the inherent vibe of the space. When you press play, be prepared; these excerpts taken from live tracks swoop down from desolate, opaque portals suffusing the environment with dense spine-tingling apprehension. 

 Foreboding reverberations and mellow synth are concurrently crystalline and eerie. Cavernous vibrations abound. Something lurks in the copious recesses that dot the shrouded labyrinth. Sputtering and churning, sonic bile is spewed from the icy speakers - one cannot escape the palpable unease. Downcast synths hover and metallic, paranormal vibrations leave a lustrous streak. Electronics pensively ruminate in disturbed air that trembles portentously. Ravaged, disembodied voices skitter on the precipice. On the flipside ethereal drone and buoyant energy devolve into baleful emanations. Ominous pulses are slowly depleted of
vigor, yet, in a torpor, the terror and fright still loom large. Beams of radiant electronics are refracted effervescently. The flipside becomes progressively more sinister and taciturnly unrelenting. Halfway through it reaches what appears to be stasis. Yet, the chill from the speakers suggests otherwise. Deleterious and ashen, wayward oscillations and voices suddenly abate to the influence of mournful synth.  

I'm spooked and can't stop listening!! These folks from Sydney are first-rate sound sculptures. Five minutes into side A, the blinds on my window literally rolled up unprompted - that hasn't occurred in many years. Eiderdown tapes light up my head like few others. Just like Gonzalez & Steenkiste and Ecstatic Cosmic Union before them, Half High grabs the listener's attention by filling the room with their aura. Instead of golden, meditative drones or cosmic exploration, this time around a sinister, ghastly presence hovers. Max Clotfelter's artwork, a staple of these beautiful tapes, does a nice job of matching the vibe. Released in a limited edition of 100 cassettes, Calling Nina may be purchased directly from Eiderdown.   

peace and love, friends :)

Orto Stro - Deaverchester (TST008)

lost in the haze of these sweet vibes. peace and love to my friends at Humboldt Relief :)

While I have yet to hear the entire discography of Twin Springs Tapes, Deaverchester's mix of hazy ambience, virulent noise and visceral apprehension presents a nice contrast to many of the releases covered here. A somewhat mysterious release on Twin Springs Tapes, a dearth of information is available about Orto Stro, an artist based in Asheville, North Carolina. Though I was unable to locate anything on discogs, the soundcloud page will allow you to sample the foreboding ambient goods that make Deaverchester such an irresistible listen. Orto Stro's music is saturated with palpable disquiet and warm sound; guitar and drone create otherworldly transmissions that momentarily seem lucid, only to be obscured by nascent noise and eventually subsumed by a deluge. Yet, as the noise devours the tape - flecks of memory swirling in the breeze - there's something beautiful that juts up from the sprawling mass of disquietude. Given the intensity of Deaverchester, I recommend leaving your mental luggage at the door and ensuring that the crystal-covered provisions are sufficient. Upon pressing play, solemn, warm guitar drone subtly becomes ensconced in morphing noise. Suddenly, one feels less proximate; not necessarily enveloped by the slowly unfurling intensity, but it reminds me of the manner in which time warps the accurate portrayal of a memory - quite lovely. Sinister screams ravage the tape, and distended voices roar with feral intensity. The listener travels in a noisy kaleidoscope on the flipside. One is shrouded by frenetic noise immediately. When it finally abates, the charred fragments still displaying a crackling afterglow, something dubious emerges; we may need some boots for this. Abruptly, encroaching noise writhes uncontrollably.  

Produced with lots of love, Deaverchester comes in an edition of 50 cassettes and may be purchased directly from Twin Springs.

peace and love, friends :)