Mincemeat Or Tenspeed - "Games of Chance" cassette tape
Mincemeat Or Tenspeed – “Rhyming Scheme” MP3/download
David Harms is heading in a confounding direction. His music under the nom de plume Mincemeat Or Tenspeed is getting noisier AND dancier, though, as I’ve seen expressed on other sites, only the true crazies will groove to this pedal-worshiping line of jackhammer clatter (and, as I found out later, this description only applies to Side A). Where did this music come from? It’s like Kid606 isolated the roughest patches from his vast catalog of drill ‘n’ bass numbers, stripped them of all percussive elements, and dumped them like nuclear waste into a gulch the size of Rhode Island (though remember, that’s not very big).
Then, a few years later, like the stereotypical superhero, Harms rises from the debris and invents an atom-defying solo guise with a nonsensical moniker only a mother could love (even mom flinched). His power? The ability to draw infinite amounts of electricity, light and energy from seemingly docile household distortion pedals. I remember recording a jam back in Glens Falls, N.Y., from a beat on an old church organ I still own and it sounded cool because the organ had a drum machine that absolutely mangled my amps when I turned up the distor. THAT’S JUST WHAT THIS SOUNDS LIKE, but better because there’s a whole shitload of fiery, spittle-flying action whirling around on the outskirts, like a gang of old confederacy-loving weirdos plotting around a campfire on the edge of town. That’s lethal.
“Games of Chance” is one of the best tapes I’ve heard in a busy year. If those wanks with the analog synth empires could wring as much from their wares as Harms does from his peds, well shit, you might see Gumshoe getting a lot more excited about that cluster-fuck of artists.
As it stands, you just don’t hear the “whoooosh” from most of those jokers. Even when “Games” gets introspective somewhat, as it does for most of Side B (I’m assuming it’s Side B because it’s got that “Side B” feel; couldn’t actually tell which side was which on the cassette), there’s enough tinkering and tweaking to keep the brain busy. I suppose if I’m going to mention the noodling of the analog-synth set I should also point out the noodling of these tunes; they tend to drift and never reach a full conclusion. For me, however, that’s the beauty of it. He spends Side A throttling the neck and B soaking in a huge, steaming man-tub. It’s too HAWTTT in the MAN-TUB!
Those with patience will dig these cuts even more as they liquefy, spread then congeal all over the room. Lots of calming patterns that dip and expand like water drops on a calm pond, billowing like clouds of smoke in a closed in space. You get your ears filled; your soul slaked. Don’t ask questions, just check it out, tell ‘em GUM sent ya …
I’ve always liked the cut of Mincemeat Or Tenspeed’s crooked, pixelated jib, I suppose. In fact when I got this tape I couldn’t read the cover font and thought as I listened, “Man, these guys are proof of Mincemeat Or Tenspeed’s influence lately.” Then I realized it actually was Mincemeat Or Tenspeed, and felt glad to still have never witnessed anything quite like Harms’ sly concoction of throb, drift, pulse, surge, melt and explode. That says it all.
