With this trio of releases, Standard Form wraps up its trip down the tertiary roads of numerous provinces, a couple of states, the Shetlands and several European byways. This series of limited edition, 3″ CDRs has been ushered by Damian Valles, himself newly relocated to the countryside, and packaged beautifully in matching, matchbook sleeves by the Standard Form print shop in Toronto.
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Nick Kuepfer :: Rural Route No. 7 (Standard Form)
Recorded in isolation in northern Ontario and the Gatineau region of Quebec, it includes samples as varied as a local wolf pack, goats and birds from Switzerland and choir practice featuring Kuepfer’s parents. An increasingly spinning out of control electric guitar riff, harmonium wheeze and an even more wacky closing session with drums and bass are clear symptoms of the onset of cabin fever. The ambient bit at the beginning is nice.
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Bible, Burke & Henry :: Rural Route No. 8 (Standard Form)
The duo of Jeremy Bible & Jason Henry present an edit of a live performance in Tennessee undertaken with Dan Burke of Illusion of Safety, wherein electronics and field recordings, including a tap class and what could either be a pinball arcade or an Indonesian gamelan, were passed between the three and transformed en suite. Subtly multi-layered colours and textures delicately balanced and no idea what it has to do with the countryside since the site, Kingsport, has a population density of over a thousand people per square mile and is home to several major industries. Regardless, this piece is one of the best of a series already featuring strong work by the likes of Machinefabriek, Kyle Bobby Dunn and The Gentlemen Losers.
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Keepsakes :: Rural Route No. 9 (Standard Form)
You never know what you may come upon when you reach the end of some of these roads. Arizona-based K. Eric Kassner tells a story that I desperately hope is fictional but fear is not. He writes that the five tracks “are born of a tragically broken family and home… Drug addiction, reckless and irresponsible decisions, and tragic indifference intertwine to render the disintegration of a family. At the heart of all this destruction lies the uncertain future of an innocent and dearly loved child.” Kassner’s Keepsakes are as bleak as an abandoned desert boomtown and dry as a tumbleweed, phonograph records stuck in the off-groove, reticent electronics just eking out a muffled cry with a piano or marimba making vague attempts at a tune. The tiny music box grinding out the familiar introduction to Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake”—is that a glimmer of hope or a symbol of ultimate abandonment?
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Rural Routes has been an entertaining and illuminating collection of day trips with very few jarring potholes along the way. The end of the series also means the end of the collaboration between the printing and musical divisions of Standard Form. Curator Valles will soon launch a new imprint called Komino Records and continue to release “conceptually-driven” series.
