From:
http://rvamag.com/articles/full/23238/latest-batch-of-richmond-tape-club-releases-demonstrate-the-quality-and-varietyPosted by: Necci – Apr 18, 2014
In conjunction with
RVA Noise Fest III, which takes place over the course of this weekend, the
Richmond Tape Club
will be bringing five new releases into the world. Richmond Tape Club
is an ongoing project curated by Jonathan Lee, owner of local label SMTG
Limited. Since its 2008 inception, SMTG has curated a roster of some of
the best experimental and electronic musicians the area has to offer,
using whatever means possible to get that music out into the world.
Having worked with vinyl, CDs, and digital formats, it would only stand
to reason that the label would also utilize the increasingly popular
cassette for their recent series of shorter works by local artists.
Over the course of the Richmond Tape Club releases thus far, we have
heard anthemic vocals over dreamy synths (Negative Gemini), soundtrack
dub (Slow News Day in the Vampire World), destructive clouds of
nightmarish drones (Elian), and much more. If these releases teach us
anything, it is that Richmond has a diverse electronic scene. The most
recent installments in the Richmond Tape Club focus on variations of a
certain aesthetic, one that favors amorphous clouds of sound that, even
when clustered around rhythmic or tonal centers, eschew familiar
structural elements in favor of something more challenging.
The content comprising
Anduin's
entry - labeled Richmond Tape Club 4b to emphasize its relationship to
his previous contribution to the series - consists of material recorded
at the same time as Richmond Tape Club 4. The project of Jonathan Lee,
SMTG's owner, this new release operates in a space not dissimilar to his
previous releases. Sinister keyboards undergird backwards-masked
samples which are in turn flecked with glitchy percussion sounds. Like
Lee's past work, these electronic elements are counterbalanced with
organic recordings, both of live instrumentation (harmonica player Noah
Saval and saxophonist Jimmy Ghaphery, both previous Anduin
collaborators, are featured prominently) and of atmospheric field
recordings. These organic sounds aid the music's cinematic quality by
offering a real-world grounding to some of the more abstract electronic
elements. Unlike previous Anduin releases, Lee pushes the rhythmic
elements into more assertive territory, with both “Wooden Kimono” and
“The Guild” featuring drum loops that, while halting and minimal, are
more assertive than the Oval-style clicks and pops that normally serve
as his music's pulse.
Photo by Kat McDaniel
Richmond Tape Club Volume 5,
Stephen Vitiello's
contribution to the series, consists of two pieces which, though not
especially stark contrasts, manage to distinguish themselves from each
other. “Single Coil/Buchla Rhythm” consists of a series of short drones,
brief snippets of sound that last only a minute or two before they fade
to nothingness as abruptly as they were introduced. Some of these
sub-sections feature familiar components (the subtle guitar in the
piece's final passage), some are stranger and less familiar (the
high-pitched chirps that begin the piece), but the overall
disjointedness of the arrangement can prove disorienting. This isn't to
suggest that any part of “Single Coil/Buchla Rhythm” is at all poorly
executed, only that each of the elements tends to be more engrossing
when allowed room to stretch out, a compositional tack taken by
Vitiello's accompanying piece, “Captiva Photogene.” In it, a bed of
chiming guitar harmonics lays the foundation for a sequence of layered
textural passages that build upon each other until all that remains is a
swirling, blissful haze of sound. This steady push forward renders the
latter half of Vitiello's release more successful, with the jarring
starts and stops of its predecessor replaced by a more measured
unfurling of all the piece's respective component elements.
To paint
Brandon Hurtado's
Richmond Tape Club 6 as a monochromatic endeavor might not be wholly
inaccurate, but it also fails to do justice to the quality of the work
contained therein. Each piece consists of textural guitar playing,
recorded with the sort of fidelity low enough that it practically
becomes another instrument. With a ruminative quality to the performance
reminiscent of Loren Connors' better work, and a grainy production
quality not a million miles removed from Grouper's farthest-out moments,
Hurtado's work retains a consistency throughout, its melancholic
tendencies establishing a mood far more effectively than many
experimental musicians are capable of.
Richmond Tape Club 7 sees those prolific weirdos in
Mutwawa
continue their journey on the veldt. They prey upon tribal grooves with
precision instruments built in the 80’s bearing the name CASIO. Once
captured, said grooves are taken to a remote lab where they are
augmented with distorted synths and leftover Atari Teenage Riot tunes
(in sound, not lyrical content).
Matt Boettke
of SCANT, Daggering, and local promoting fame releases the first tracks
under his own name for Richmond Tape Club 8. These tracks, named
"Oedema" (Parts 1 and 2), feature slow organic drones building upon each
other and multiplying. The fabric of the universe heaves into a vortex,
pulling all objects towards it. Light collapses into the ancient force
of gravity. Matter compresses until it resolves into a singular
substance stretched into infinite combinations. Finally, it dies down.
Gases cool and we are left with our existence--at least for a little
while.
Despite the differences in approach, the newest volumes of the
Richmond Tape Club represent distinct parts of an extremely
multi-faceted whole. Though not overarching in their representation of
the artists' capabilities, each presents a condensed version of their
respective creator's vision, a modus operandi writ small that serves as
an excellent tasting menu for the wider smorgasbord of compelling
experimental music in the region.
To receive proof in a live setting of the quality of this region's
offerings, check out this year's installment of RVA Noise Fest, which
starts today and goes on throughout the weekend. The fest is still short
$125 of their funding goal on their Indiegogo campaign, and if you
contribute $25 to it before midnight, you can get digital versions of
all 9 Richmond Tape Club releases.
Click here if you're interested in contributing, and
click here
for more details on the fest. The latest Richmond Tape Club releases
will be available for purchase at the fest, or you can order them online
by going to
SMTG's webstore.
By Graham Scala & Turtle
