3-inch CD/tape/quilt jamboree: Eiliyas, Micose & The Mau Maus, Tawee, The Kiwis, Transistor Radio Sound and Oxalis [Album As Art #36]

Browsing eBay the other day I noticed a lot of three cassette tapes at an eye-popping price (as in low, not high). Then I checked “Seller’s other items” and found a lot of four 3-inch CDs, as well.

Guess what? I WON. Now I have all seven artifacts sitting in front of me, and I couldn’t feel better about the latest fodder for my Album As Art series. 

Crafted by Nightpass Handmade Records, which appears to be defunct (am I wrong? Let me know; its MySpace hasn’t been updated since late 2009), these pieces are all tiny and artsy and suffocatingly limited.

Turns out Nightpass Handmade churned out quite a few influential records in its day, including stuff from Viking Moses, The Aum Rifle, Bodyvehicle and Whitman (also check out the pic of the Nightpass “Quilt Series,” of which I now have four copies; can you spot them?) …

I personally haven’t heard a single one of the preceding bands, but the names are good; that’s a sign right?

Here are some highlights from my latest hand-held excursion:

• The best NAb by far is/was the “A Static Rainbow: Violet” purple (duh) cassette tape, by Eiliyas. Pure and simple, this is the sort of noise/drone/collage/echo-cave dreck I cotton to. Every song is different yet Raccoo-oo-oon-/Sun Araw/BxCx/Not Not Fun-ish in its own way, with pitch-bending and flanging becoming so common as to be normal; a way of life. I also hear a bit of Wavves, like maybe Nathan Williams went a little crazy (actually he sorta did, didn’t he?) and started layering his voice overtop a broken, stutter-stepping drum machine. Of course, “A Static Rainbow” came out a long time before Wavves hit it semi-big, so … Dare I call this essential either way? Yes.
• Oxalis do a lot with an incredibly simple formula on the Cycles of Our Electrical World (no. 13 in the Nightpass Handmade’s “Quilt Series”): Two chords strummed over and over, vocals and, most importantly, a litany of sound effects that just … never … stop. THE FRIES ARE BURNING! MY FOREHEAD VEIN IS BULGING!! MY FACE IS TWITCHING!!! Makes me want to start and front a band. Now THAT’s a funny idea …
• A roaring, churning beast with bright-yellow fangs, Micose & The Mau Maus‘ “A Static Rainbow: Yellow” is another gloriously un-taut triumph, full of the sort of knob-diddling/twiddling/fiddling/YIDDling nonsense you can’t help but have fun listening to if you’ve dug yourself in as deep a trench as I have. My ears may be constantly on the hunt for new sounds, but they rest a little easier knowing there are thousands/millions/TRILLions of releases like this floating around in the stratosphere. Chillwave with a black eye, a cast on the left arm and a limp. Blood. Here Comes the Infidels. Animal Collective‘s carcass on the side of the road. You read me?
• I hate to spray almost every song with seemingly perdulous praise here, but Tawee — via the Bright Angles + Seafoam 3-inch CD-R and the “A Static Rainbow: Green” cassette tape — are another tantalizing act that spread through my body like one of those blood-eating diseases you see in horror movies (yeah, THAT one). They, like so many of their brethren, don’t even bother to sing, emoting instead through reeds, hand drums, echo and filth. At this point the preceding four fillings are like eggs ‘n’ bacon (i.e. you can’t escape it), but I’m still at the point where my tolerance for them isn’t exhausted. BRING IT ON. Oscillators optional.
• The Kiwis‘ A 3 Inch Kiss is the only entry here I can’t get behind. I adore the lack of effort, the vocals riffing on Lou Reed — but out of tune, if you get me — and the Neutral Milk Hotel-ish “Raising the Steaks on Love and Scott Bayo” is a lovable romp. But some of these songs cross over from Good to Bad to Good and back to Bad again. That’s quite a cycle to go through. I’ll take a pass this time; keep at it though, Kiwi brothers/sisters.
• If I could get a handle on Transistor Radio Sound‘s MAGIC (no. 23 in the “Quilt Series”) maybe I could do a better job of telling you why I don’t Get It. It reminds me of that A Faulty Chromosome album — good ideas, less-than-stellar execution. Every so often a synth line or a beat will snap me to attention, leading me to believe there’s a Promised Land lurking around the corner. But no … didn’t happen. MAGIC is achingly average, when it’s all tallied, a broad-sheet Ben Gibbard/The Robot Ate Me/She & Him nightmare. Again: pass.

Good lord almighty, I do believe I just wrote for one HECKuva spell. Sorry. If anyone needs me, tell ‘em I’ve gone quiltin’ …