Top Tapes for 2014
Some really great tapes came out in 2014 and I've compiled a list of things I really liked. A lot of these might not have made it my way if it weren't for the podcast, so thanks to everyone who made suggestions and sent submissions. This list is based on which tapes got the most plays on my home system this year.
- Listening Center - Cycles / Other Phenomena. This is real good. Perfect tape to put on for mixed company. Nicely arranged electronic music with a retro futurist feel to it. Looks like a few more copies just became available.
- Karl Fousek - Relative Position of Figures (Phinery) Contemporary concrete, if that's even a thing. Tape delay and modular synthesizer. Minimal compositions are quick and to the point.
- øjeRum - There is a flaw in my iris (A Giant Fern). Quiet guitars, field recordings and the occasional soft vocal appear on this outstanding collection of recordings. Perfect music for a quiet afternoon or evening. Paw Grabowski is also the visual artist responsible for the 12 pieces that grace the covers of this 4 tape batch from A Giant Fern.
Timeghost - Cellular (Chondritic Sound). Exploratory noise from Providence, RI. Very interesting and original compositions. Multi color, splatter painted clear shells. Just a few copies left on the Chondritic Sound site.
- Lower Tar - Torrid Fields (Night Gaunt Recordings). Dark and synth heavy industrial electronics with stark vocals from L.A.'s Lower Tar (great name, right?). First offering from new label Night Gaunt Recordings.
- Anji Cheung - Angelic Black. A haunted collage of vocals, drones and field recordings in this edition of 93 cassettes from Anji Cheung. Quiet and chilling. Highly recommended.
