Ender Belongs to Me – Memory (Crash Symbols, 2012)

Ender Belongs to Me – Memory
Crash Symbols 2012

Ender Belongs to Me is a New York based duo, both going by the pseudo-name Peter Wiggin, the violent older brother from the sci-fi novel Ender’s Game. “Kick/Scream” features melancholic, flange-y synth melodies with an experimental pop structure. The melodic hooks are gentle and catchy, supported by drum set and minimalist drum machine patter. “You, Sir” quickly brought to mind Gang Gang Dance, in large part due to the groovy drum machine rhythms and their echo-y textures. It could also be their pairing with the female vocals, which we hear for the first time. The synths keep the flange tinge, and this time they are really in a locked rhythmic groove with the drum machine throughout the song, which sounds great. “Animate” begins with hypnotic, polyrhythmic, metallic bell clatter soon joined by found sound spoken word distortion. The synths enter the mix, sounding slightly more dissonant and more like a piano (no flange). Initially the percussion seems very organic, like a human was actually hitting things (though perhaps not), yet as the song progresses it subtly mutates into a quantized drum machine, which sounds good too. “All Working” is composed of repetitive, minimalist synth layers that are beautifully gentle and rhythmic. When the soft 4/4 bass and digital patter kick in amongst the synths the piece becomes quite cheerful and danc-y. In “Teddymuffin”, the female vocals become more long-form and chant-like towards the end of the piece, joined by churning drum samples and pulsating synths, acting more as a rhythmic bass.

Cassette for purchase:

Welcome Back Sailors – (Love) That’s All (Crash Symbols, 2012)

Welcome Back Sailors – (Love) That’s All
Crash Symbols 2012

Welcome Back Sailors is the duo of Danilo Incerti and Alessio Artoni based in Italy. “Stronger” is a real slow dance of a tune, with a down tempo drum machine. Slightly cheesy synths drift in and out of chords joined by melodramatic vocals. “(Love) That’s All” has a similar psychedelic pop style and instrumentation. There’s a thumping bass riff that makes the piece a bit groovier, kind of like a slowed-down funk/soul track. The vocals throughout the tape remind me of Ariel Pink. “Flesh & Blood” is dancier, with an up-tempo drum machine and arpeggiating synths pulsating about. “Stronger (Keep Shelly in Athens Remix)” brings out the old school, r&b aesthetics in the vocals, maybe emphasized by the drum machine. “Stronger (His Clancyness Cover)” is a rock interpretation of the piece, with rock instrumentation, maintaining the down tempo quality and emphatically emotional vocals. “Flesh & Blood (Death in Plains Remix)” is a dancier and heavier mix than the original. When it is just the vocals and the lightly bouncing synths I dig it the most.

Featureless Ghost – Biologically Sound Cyber-Bodies (Crash Symbols, 2012)

Featureless Ghost – Biologically Sound Cyber-Bodies
Crash Symbols 2012

Matt Weiner and Elise Trippins formed the duo Featureless Ghost in 2007 in Atlanta. They have also released material on Night-People, Ruralfaune, and Double Phantom Digital. “Brain Case” really translates their theoretical concepts into practice quite well (which, perhaps surprisingly, isn’t always the case between the translation of text/language to a non-linguistic medium, or vice versa). It utilizes retro-futurist rhythm machine aesthetics, pulsating kosmische synth arpeggiations, and lyrics based around motifs of virtuality and cyberspace. They are sung in a sort of cyborg fashion: robotic, mechanical mimicry, yet inherently tied to the limited expressions of the voice/body. The drum machine in “Data Dancer” is a bit more in-your-face and aggressive, joined by layers of repeating synth hooks, and clipping, bubbly (wordless) vocals. The textures of the instrumentation have a more ambient and glitchy consistency. The composition sounds like less work went into it than the previous track (only trying to provide an honest critique here), which in my humble opinion I found to be much better crafted. “Prophet Transmission” consists of similarly lyrical vocals heard in “Brain Case.” This time they more flanged out, which I really enjoy. The synths and drum machine are more subtle and repetitive, acting more as a support for the vocals. In tracks such as “Web Walk” and many of the others, the vocals do a fe/male trade off between Weiner and Trippins, which is often an appealing balance with a duo. The track also does a nice job with the synths, mixing more bass-y and upbeat melodies with shimmering, oceanic ambience.

Power Animal – Exorcism (Crash Symbols, 2012)

Power Animal is the solo project of Keith Hampson from the Philly area. We received this tape from Decoder magazine’s cassette imprint Crash Symbols. “Better Water” features swells of synths and vocals being played backwards, a technique which for some reason I often enjoy. Underneath the bed of synths and the vocals enters a skittish drum set, giving the dronier vibe of the tune a more rocking beat to it. “Rough Year (Interlude)” has a more drum machine and glitchy quality filled with intermittent samples. The piece gets pretty groovy around a minute and a half in, when polyrhythms develop on the vibraphone, drum machine, and maybe a synth. “Mold Spores” consists of crunchy drum machine textures mixed with synth and banjo (?) instrumentation. “Bow and Arrow” is introduced by beautiful acappella vocals soon joined by down to mid tempo drum machine distortion. The title track, “Exorcism” incorporates military marching band style snare rhythms mixed with a 4/4 house beat. Hampson’s lyrics give all the tracks a unique pop sensibility amongst all of the sample-delica.

The B side of the tape features remixes of the first five original tracks by a variety of artists. “Better Water (Lushlife Remix)” is kind of a more tripped out, delayed out take with a glittery, descending sample and down tempo, funk/r&b drum machine. “Bow and Arrow (Melting Season Remix)” is also funkier on the drum machine, joined by digital shaker percussion and bassy synth tones. I really enjoy “Exorcism (Spirituals Remix)” for its chopped yet gentle vocal edits, groovy drum samples, and for really doing justice to and maintaining the integrity of the original vocal melody. It definitely represents what a good remix should be. Somehow it even manages to subtly throw in free jazz sax skronk in there as well, and it works.

Cassette for purchase: