Tomorrow I'll be on my way to Copenhagen for the next festival, so it's time to review at least a part of the haul from the last two, right? Plus two new other recent releases... Here we go: part thirty-four of my cassette craze chronicles!
DARSOMBRA - Dumesday Book (2023)
Ok, no beating around the bush, that big VHS case is of course the most intriguing object in this picture. So what is it? The duo Darsombra played an absolutely fascinating, very fun and DIY, but also immerse and magical multi-media show at Roadburn - and this two-tape boxset represents the band's balance of home-made charme, humour and actual art / great music perfectly.
The box contains two cassettes in slipcases, a high format booklet, a poster, a sticker, two pins and a miniature "thing", which resembles the one on the album cover. And - which sadly seems to get less popular these days - also a Bandcamp download card. Not knowing what to expect I was very happy when I opened this box. How can you not love independent artists, who put so much love into their releases?
And the music matches the visual side. The seventy-five minutes consist of mostly instrumental tracks based on loops, synth and guitar and very few actual rhythmic instruments. But you actually don't miss those, because everything here sounds exactly like it's supposed to sound. A gorgeous mixture of Space Rock, Ambient soundtrack elements and drone in a somehow very personal, but still wide open and epic format. Yeah, this is weirdo stuff. This is hippie shit. This is White Hills, Earth and Sula Bassana summoning the Kraut spirits of old and binding them into a dreaming Roboter. Call the doctor and sing along!
I am so freaking glad that I took the plunge of buying "Dumesday Book". It's really everything I wanted it to be - and more.
The box contains two cassettes in slipcases, a high format booklet, a poster, a sticker, two pins and a miniature "thing", which resembles the one on the album cover. And - which sadly seems to get less popular these days - also a Bandcamp download card. Not knowing what to expect I was very happy when I opened this box. How can you not love independent artists, who put so much love into their releases?
And the music matches the visual side. The seventy-five minutes consist of mostly instrumental tracks based on loops, synth and guitar and very few actual rhythmic instruments. But you actually don't miss those, because everything here sounds exactly like it's supposed to sound. A gorgeous mixture of Space Rock, Ambient soundtrack elements and drone in a somehow very personal, but still wide open and epic format. Yeah, this is weirdo stuff. This is hippie shit. This is White Hills, Earth and Sula Bassana summoning the Kraut spirits of old and binding them into a dreaming Roboter. Call the doctor and sing along!
I am so freaking glad that I took the plunge of buying "Dumesday Book". It's really everything I wanted it to be - and more.
SUNRISE PATRIOT MOTION - Black Fellflower Stream (2022)
No, visually the other tape I bought at Roadburn definitely cannot keep up with Darsombra. The music however is more than fine; a dark and desperate take on Post Punk / Gothic Rock with lots of keyboards, lead guitars and a big industrial building echo, made by dudes coming from a Black Metal background. While mostly staying in the same up-tempo (or the half-time of it) the band comes up with enough variety to make this half hour fel like only twenty minutes.
The memory of the drummer playing with so much feral energy as if he was trying to smash his kit into pieces is for sure helpful to enjoy this mini album. But even without that aid this is damn good stuff from a group positioning itself comfortably in their own sonic niché.
The memory of the drummer playing with so much feral energy as if he was trying to smash his kit into pieces is for sure helpful to enjoy this mini album. But even without that aid this is damn good stuff from a group positioning itself comfortably in their own sonic niché.
HAVE BLUE - Trübe (2023)
Yet another merch table purchase, but this time from the much smaller Dazed & Spaced Festival in Hamburg. We're starting from a similar musical point somewhere in the early Eighties, but then the mostly German-language "Progressive Punk" of Have Blue from Berlin takes on a completely different life on its own. In spirit and at the base of their sound is indeed raw Punk, but interspersed with Funk and Surf licks, creative bass lines and some surprisingly elaborate rhythmic ideas. Above all however all this makes just one half of Have Blue's sound with the other half being firmly rooted in various flavours of Psychedelic Rock. No, these guys aren't afraid of experimenting and actually playing their instruments, while still keeping a believable Punk attitude.
With over fifty minutes this album offers a lot and not too much, because this is just very cool stuff. And don't bother about the language barrier, if you don't understand German; I'm confident you'll enjoy this anyway!
With over fifty minutes this album offers a lot and not too much, because this is just very cool stuff. And don't bother about the language barrier, if you don't understand German; I'm confident you'll enjoy this anyway!
KARKARA - All Is Dust (2024)
This is probably the "biggest" release here - at least in Kraut afficionado circles. After their evolution from "Crystal Gazer" to "Nowhere Land" I was pretty confident in the French trio Karkara to give us another uptempo banger for fans of (old) Slift, (old) King Gizzard or (recent) Servo, but with many new impulses to keep it fresh and exciting.
The nine minute opener "Monoliths" may not deliver the biggest originality yet, but it already leaves no doubt that these dudes have grown golden hands for this style. It's just so fucking good. I even really like the vocal performance now. And for my taste it gets even better in the more aggressive second track "The Chase" - especially when you think the song has told us everything it has to say, but then breaks down to a slower tempo and lets a sick guest saxophone burst into the space it has just made. Fucking excellent!
I won't go through all six tracks here, but be assured, those are all bangers! Great bass and guitar tones, cool Desert Rock orientalisms blowing through the dust, tasty analogue synth sounds and B-movie spoken word passages...
If you wanted just one song suggestion to check out "All Is Dust" it would probably be "Anthropia" with its killer earworm chorus and guitar licks. Or the title track? So majestic here, wo unhinged there- and it has a Mexian trumpet solo.
Great album and a nice orange tape shell. The coloured vinyl versions are probably more spectacular than this cassette, but this is fine, it was was cheaper - and a more exclusive limited edition, if we're talking in collector's value.
The nine minute opener "Monoliths" may not deliver the biggest originality yet, but it already leaves no doubt that these dudes have grown golden hands for this style. It's just so fucking good. I even really like the vocal performance now. And for my taste it gets even better in the more aggressive second track "The Chase" - especially when you think the song has told us everything it has to say, but then breaks down to a slower tempo and lets a sick guest saxophone burst into the space it has just made. Fucking excellent!
I won't go through all six tracks here, but be assured, those are all bangers! Great bass and guitar tones, cool Desert Rock orientalisms blowing through the dust, tasty analogue synth sounds and B-movie spoken word passages...
If you wanted just one song suggestion to check out "All Is Dust" it would probably be "Anthropia" with its killer earworm chorus and guitar licks. Or the title track? So majestic here, wo unhinged there- and it has a Mexian trumpet solo.
Great album and a nice orange tape shell. The coloured vinyl versions are probably more spectacular than this cassette, but this is fine, it was was cheaper - and a more exclusive limited edition, if we're talking in collector's value.
WHERE MERMAIDS DROWN - Stellar Frequencies Session (2024)
And finally... those Post Rockers from France again? Is it something new? No. So just familiar songs played live... again? Yes,, it's a studio session though. And you can also watch it on YouTube. So there's actually no reason to buy this on cassette, is what you're saying? Well, is having it on cassette not reason enough? I guess so.
There you have it: the "Stellar Frequencies Session" is far from a quintessential release, but the Mono style epic instrumental Post Rock of Where Mermeids Drown hasn't stopped being great, the recording sounds flawless, the tape doesn't cost much, has a beautiful shell again... and if you already have three tapes a little bit of collector's greed might play a role, too.
There you have it: the "Stellar Frequencies Session" is far from a quintessential release, but the Mono style epic instrumental Post Rock of Where Mermeids Drown hasn't stopped being great, the recording sounds flawless, the tape doesn't cost much, has a beautiful shell again... and if you already have three tapes a little bit of collector's greed might play a role, too.
