We continue our search across the world of cassette releases to provide you with a few gems from the many excellent releases out there. As always these are, mostly but not always, also available on digital for you to enjoy. This time we take in some classic kosmiche, dream techno, analog hardware acid house jams and a lot of Roland gear.
Harmonia :: Documents 1975 (Groenland)
Simply stunning live psychedelic explorations recorded at two different Hamburg venues and the mythical rural Forst studio. Quite how these tracks have lain unreleased until now is almost impossible to believe. Moebius, Roedelius and Rother show us how it’s done, delivering four tracks that most bands would die for. About as shimmering kosmiche as you can get, melding rolling percussion, reverb laden guitar, synth whackery and that pulsing melodic sway that only the ’70s can produce. This is available separately on cassette or on wax as part of the tempting Groenland Harmonia box set.
Yayati :: OOO (Fuselab)
“Dream-techno and some absurd post-vapor fantasies from hot and cozy Olympic Sochi town.” Now there’s a description you don’t often read. Lovely tape saturated melodies from Russia—lots of classic Roland gear, strange samples and netherworld haze to be found here. This St. Petersburg label is new to these ears—time to explore some more!
Head Technician :: Zones (Ecstatic)
Tape only (no digital) acidic explorations from Martin Jenkins (aka Pye Corner Audio). Keeping things stripped back, Jenkins deploys deceptively simple Roland 303, 202 and 606 programming with muted nocturnal pads and tom tom laden drum machine chug. Suitable for late night dance floors and excellent headphone mind fodder.
Topdown Dialectic :: /\9 (Aught)
Featured in our first Tape Transmission; Topdown Dialectic deliver the 9th in a series of compelling releases from mysterious Aught cassette label. Dismembered dream music is the order of the day here—it’s so difficult to get this kind aesthetic right without it bordering on being too weird to be interesting, but Topdown Dialectic completely succeed here. Like being trapped in three people’s skulls listening to their minds decipher umpteen sound sources at once. Each track is exactly five minutes long which, with its unnecessary accuracy, greatly appeals.
Nackt :: Virex (100% Silk)
There’s plenty of acid revival hardware only efforts to choose from at the moment, much of which is excellent. None more so than this from California’s Johnny Igaz who, with collaborators Dr Sleep, Michael Claus and Jason Key, serves up a work of 303 infused dexterity. Featuring Roland gear aplenty Virex shows off not just the flexibility of those original pieces of kit but also the production talent and creativity of the Nackt crew. Hands in air!
