Knit Prism - Pace (ST17)

Jane Doe gets her kicks from Knit Prism. peace and love to my friends at Humboldt Relief :)

Pace, from Knit Prism, is the result of a marriage made in experimental music heaven. The artwork - attributed to Scissor Tail Records head honcho, Dylan Aycock (Talk West) - immediately brings to mind something from the vaults of Worn Habit. While the art of Talk West and Knit Prism manifests differently, the place from which it blossoms is similar. At the cross section, both create music that embraces and magnifies the moment - opaque, hazy recordings with a gentle aura that illuminates the soul. More so, each artist is adept at using space in their recordings - The Hired Hand reissue on Scissor Tail is another touchstone. For those not familiar, Knit Prism is the long running project of Michael Pouw, thee man at Worn Habit and House of Sun. Pace was recorded at the same time as the Avant Archive release, Growing.

Over two sides of tape, dusty processed ambient sounds loop, modulate, pulsate, and contort to the point of establishing a radiant haven for the listener. It is very easy to lose oneself in this music. Lumbering, resonant tones touch down on fields of hazy ambient noise, its energy diffuses over the denizens. An amalgamation of airy tones swirl torpidly in the distance. Tendrils of gentle sound grasp the listener, spiraling around its body. Electronic droplets permeate eerie passages. Through a welter of clouds, one can hear faint whistles, tones with soft edges and conspicuous crackle and hiss. Splintered sounds wrestle next to metallic noise, progressively becoming more intense. Meanwhile the latter part of the flipside contains some of the most menacing noise heard yet from this project. It certainly is a departure from the languid, dreamy state established heretofore. As the flip commences gentle currents, drone and tranquil guitar wrap one in a gauzy filament. Bleary sounds rise and fall with the breath. Concomitantly halcyon vibes and drone abut the trembling soul. Listening to these sounds is the best i've felt the entire day. Later on side B, one can barely perceive anything, save for the benevolent ambient sound that lifts one from their malaise. Even when the listener senses the sound as being distant, Knit Prism could never be more proximate. Toward the end, ominous noise temporarily dislocates the listener until they float back to earth in the slipstream. Admirers of Hototogisu; the Evans' Courtly Illusion Limited and Coyote-related projects; and Josh Mason should not spare a minute in procuring a copy directly.  

Pace has that top shelf vibe which makes Jane's trichomes sparkle like splintered sunlight. Released in a limited edition of 25 cassettes with a letterhead insert, only a few remain. Pace may be purchased directly from Scissor Tail. 

peace and love, friends :)

   

Nathan McLaughlin - Karen Studies (ST13)

These beautiful deconstructions are devoted to Humboldt Relief.  Peace and love to my friends over there :)

Even before pressing play, I had a hunch that Karen Studies would be a tape to remember.  The emotional honesty expressed on the j-card encompasses one in a spectrum of energy that radiates from Nathan McLaughlin's banjo.  This latest release from Nathan, on Scissor Tail Editions, is a tape that concerns the folk musician, Karen Dalton.  More specifically, these are deconstructions of  'Katie Cruel', an old American folk song most prominently recorded by Karen Dalton.  Her version is renown for good reason. Within the last seven to ten years, White Magic released a record on Drag City that contained the track - another beautiful rendition. Karen Studies consists of two side-long tracks, each of which consists of three parts.

       Being such a moving, affecting track, Nathan's reworkings of 'Katie Cruel' proficiently exhibit the banjo's range.  Side A, Promises, commences with sustained, vibrant passages that inculcate the living space with a sense of anguish.  In the next section, lucid, poignant strings hover uneasily - plucks producing sorrow so visceral.  The first two parts of side A are ones to remember.  On the flipside, incipient drone slowly exudes energy.  Shortly, notes waffle with apprehension in the presence of creaking drones.      

Through these resonant reworkings, Nathan bestows a level of emotional intensity on the listener that is omnipresent.  It's the type of sonic energy that hangs uneasily, waffling in the still air, almost paralyzing - the listener hanging onto each manifestation of sound. For anybody that appreciates banjo, Karen Dalton, Stephen R. Smith, and more generally, sound and experimentation, then I recommend to move quickly before this one is OOP.  Produced in a limited edition of 100, Karen Studies may be purchased directly from Scissor Tail.

peace and love, friends :)