Jen Paul / No Lakes - † (Haute Magie, 2012)

Jen Paul / No Lakes - †
Haute Magie 2012

Jen Paul is a musician based in Philadelphia and this tape consists of selected songs from previous albums. Jen Paul / No Lakes is the name of the project, in other words, this is not a split, as far as I can tell.

“Towns” features layers of reverbed, down tempo, electric guitar melodies. But the song is confusingly short, because it sounds like it is building up to something more. “Muerte O Casamiento Durmiente” begins with a lo-fi, hissing, acoustic guitar instrumental in a similar down tempo, melancholic style. An electric guitar enters, playing quietly and gently plucking one note at a time. “Won’t Always Be Blue” is like in slow motion as the echo-y guitar chords are plucked. The chord progression sounds like a 50’s rock and roll slow dance song. The whole tape thus far has a very languid, sleepy, half-awake type feel. In songs like “Christmas 82” there’s a fine line between melody and drone mainly because of the distinct pace of the music. “Brunette” sounds like it has field recordings of cars honking and maybe trains mixed in among the guitar instrumentals. “Swollen Bloques” includes echo-y, drone-y, wordless, vocal chants, presumably from Jen, among ambient, dream-like guitar chords being strummed. “Julian’s Bridge” incorporates found sound spoken word, albeit indecipherable, mixed with distorted, long form, electric guitar chords. At the end of the song it sounds as if a keyboard is being played in a free form and frenzied way. “Wheel and A Chime” sounds like a harp is playing in the beginning but I guess it could be anything. The recording is uncharacteristically lo-fi, also featuring more chanting vocals and a found sound of someone speaking. The “harp’s” melody sounds like a lullaby it’s so sweet.

cassette for purchase/full stream: http://hautemagie.com/relics/008/

David Carter / The Witch Family split (Haute Magie, 2012)

David Carter / The Witch Family split
Haute Magie 2012

David Carter unfortunately passed away last year and I can’t figure out where he was from. The flip side of this tape features remixes by Ryan Harris as The Witch Family.

Carter’s side begins with pulsating, distorted, percussive noise in quite a minimalist way. It sounds like a field recording of a factory at work, or a machine. The second song is more ambient, composed of wavering, lo-fi textures. They have an old and spooky quality. More layers enter with overlapping oscillations of different lengths. There is one droning sound that has a more breathy, airy texture to it, which I really enjoy. Song three oddly consists of in your face danc-y drum machine beats, which are stylistically very different from the previous two songs. But they drone on, the samples not really changing, and the song feels like it almost becomes a study in drum machine textures. Song four also incorporates layers of drum machines, but this time the rhythms are more complicated and experimental. Joining the drum machines are gloomy synth drones fading in and out. Song five features an interesting mixture of down tempo, melancholic piano chords, drum machine, and blippy, arpeggiating synths. A repeating, percussive melody enters which sounds pretty cool, like synthesized bells. More spooky, lo-fi, ambient atmospheres can be heard on song six, this time joined by a mid-tempo, 4/4 bass beat and crackling, noise static. The blippy synths return as well. A repetitive synth melody enters atop another drum machine beat. With all these mysterious layers being added the song becomes quite hypnotic. Song seven features a sort of retro industrial synth melody, which I really dig. A super heavy and bass-y drum machine beat enters, completely transforming the minimalist vibe at the beginning of the song.

The Witch Family’s first remix is stylistically completely different, as layers of synths envelope up and down sounding really echo-y. The second song features a light, quiet drum machine rhythm mixed with droning synths and haunting, oscillating, ambient textures which sound similar to Carter’s original track. One of the drones gets gradually louder, more dissonant and unsettling as the other sounds fade out. Song three is composed of a muted version of one of the original drum machine tracks. However it is joined by gloomier bass beats, synth and….you guessed it…a sexy saxophone solo! Kind of out of nowhere but it is so groovy and awesome and totally works, balancing out this darker, industrial vibe. Quite a unique song. The drum machines on song four sound a little more filled out and groovy. The synth drones that enter are texturally a bit softer or lighter. Song five is made up of free form, sporadic cymbal crashes and synths mixed with walls of ambient, echo-y drone. It sounds quite chaotic. Song six begins with a heavy down-tempo, drum set rhythm mixed with synth drones of epic proportion. The spooky ambience can still be heard in the remix. The synths build in volume sounding quite suspenseful and scary towards the end of the song. The last remix phase shifts the original synth melody sounding pretty cool I might add. The bass beats are slightly more down tempo, taking a more casual approach but still maintains this dark and industrial aesthetic. Gentle, harmonious synth drones fade in atop the drums, submerging the original melody.

cassette for purchase/full stream: http://hautemagie.com/relics/007/

Mike Bruno - The Sad Sisters (Haute Magie, 2012)

Mike Bruno – The Sad Sisters
Haute Magie 2012

Mike Bruno is a guitarist and vocalist based in Philadelphia. The Sad Sisters was originally released in 2009 on CD and was released on LP earlier this year. “April Showers” incorporates intricately finger picked acoustic guitar melodies with Bruno’s sung lyrics soaking in reverb. There’s a ghostly and kind of haunting sound in his voice and just in the whole vibe as well. “Rites of Spring” is a bit more down tempo, but features a similar singer/songwriter setup. The melodies on the guitar are nicely balanced, having just the right amount of darkness and brightness. “Lovebirds” has a nice lo-fi hiss to the recording, and perhaps just a bit less so on the previous songs. On this song Bruno gets a little more expressive in the vocals, and in general, you can hear a unique kind of spirit in his singing. They certainly sound sad, but also powerful at the same time. “No Knight Errant” is a deep and heavy track, emphasized by breakdowns with added percussion. More back up instrumental work can be found on “Wandering Fool”, featuring gloomy piano chords ringing out nicely among Bruno’s echo-y vocals. In essence, it is quite a consistent and artfully composed album, exhibiting some talented songcraft.

LP for purchase: http://hautemagie.com/relics/003/