Top 10 Cassettes Releases of 2011
2011 may go down as the year cassettes forced their way back into wider acceptance as a legitimate medium for aural documentation; on a personal level, I have become completely reacquainted with the format to such an extent that I could probably have ten number one cassettes that I cannot distinguish which was my favorite one minute to the next followed by twenty-four to forty-nine other examples of great cassette releases this year. Here is just a taste.
Life In The Dark - Hushed Bloom (Sunyata)
This is a cassette of two sides. One, dream inducing in a pleasant and almost beautiful manner; the other side is more nightmarish and disturbing without getting loud or over the top directly frightening (it is a subtle nightmare). A completely logical step for Life In The Dark falling the Sunyata Rising / Limbs In Gloom release that further solidifies the growing niche that this project is starting to build and fill with moody pieces of sonic manipulation. Hushed Bloom is further evidence of the approaching essential listening quality from Life In The Dark; get lost in the dreamy sounds.
Cremation Lily - Funeral Home (Waterpower Electronics)
Bar none, I have never heard a more wondrous take on the violence of Power Electronics than the Untitled debut from Cremation Lily. Shards of noise, pounding industrial sounds, screeching, et al lay one of the most droning and hypnotically infectious just under ten minutes that you may ever hear. Conversely, 2 may be even better than the first tape… maybe. Luckily for some quick people, Waterpower packaged these both up into a tidy release, Funeral Home which took both tapes and housed them in an old film box and made to look so strangely neat and clean. If I were you, I would kill to hear this.
Cremation Lily - Sexless Merit (Strange Rules)
Sexless Merit ups the ante and features six new tracks spread out over three cassettes (the 1st press is this way and looks and feels better in my opinion). Cremation Lily drop crushing and brooding noise that does not venture into the all out destruction of Harsh Noise but stays just teetering on that edge creating a tension that is awesome to hear. Another step in the short but rapid evolution of this project that makes me obsess over it.
REMNANTS - SUSPENSION (Tycho Magnetic Anomalies)
This belongs here. SUSPENSION is so much of what I want to hear in a tape, literally. I have worn out two copies of this tape while seemingly so few have paid attention to this under the radar release. Both ambient and noisy, REMNANTS has found a way to straddle a line that no one else I have heard to date has been able to come near. If I were an astronaut, this would be the soundtrack to my wandering in outer space.
Royal Tropical Institute - Ornaments (Strange Rules)
Yeah, this was a total surprise to me. Ordered specifically because Strange Rules was releasing it, Ornaments has proved to be a necessary listening experience for me to function from day to day at this point. Royal Tropical Institute uses rebounding sound figures and other bouncing sounds to conjure one of the weirdest most infectious tapes that I have heard or own.
Everlovely Lightningheart (Dead Accents)
There are not many outfits that leave off their legacy with a release that contains both their first performance and their last performance, but Everlovely Lightningheart does just that with this cassette. Hearing the whole where they started to where they ended (plus two other tracks) makes for an intriguing document; throw in the handmade packaging, and you will probably be hard pressed to find a more striking overall release than this one from Dead Accents.
Chapels - Call It Killing You Off (Imminent Frequencies)
Possibly, all of this noise is making me insane because Call It Killing You Off is one hell of a creeped out listening experience that I would not recommend listening to in the dark if you are faint of heart. Chapels makes some tense atmospheric pieces on both sides of this tape that make a wholly engrossing just about a half hour.
Ash Borer - Discography (Land of Decay)
When you see a double cassette from any group or project, it looks massive (almost like a brick that you would throw through some jerk’s window); Ash Borer’s Discography (so far) double cassette was intense looking right from the start, and listening to the whole thing took me quite a bit as just doing so seemed a rather daunting prospect. When I finally put this in my tape deck and pressed play, the soul crushing songs that tumbled through the speakers only further cemented the previous daunting first impression that I had upon seeing the release the first time. Well-constructed and long songs that bring to mind a weird melodic black metal influenced mélange of heaviness are what you can expect to hear on this release. Now, Ash Borer seems to get lumped into that whole “Cascadian atmospheric Black Metal”, and while that might not be completely inaccurate, these guys seem more raw and crushing and less overwrought to me than other outfits that get lumped in that group. If you can get this, it is well worth it.
Vice Wears Black Hose - Part 6 (New Forces)
Vice Wears Black Hose has some great imagery, giallo by nature (go look it up) and named after a giallo film… it sold me on the project. This double cassette contains some of the harshest noise that some of you may ever hear; it is absolutely glorious. I pop this sucker on and forget about everything as the tapes blare at me and wash out the reality not between my ears and the speakers.
blsphm - YAMA (Dead Accents)
I do not own this tape. I was afraid of it when I saw it. The pictures were intriguing and horrifying at the same time (like watching Alien) with nails and maybe bits of broken glass seemingly melted into the cassette; YAMA looked as though it would hurt you to hold it and forget about the potential damage to your tape deck. I imagine that the sounds on it are so blackened and terrifying and absolutely profane (in the way that profane used to mean). I wish I owned this tape.
Words: Bob
