Sean McCann - “Ocean Lamp” (excerpt)

Sean McCann - Fable Shop c49 [Cylindrical Habitat Modules, 2010]

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Grabbed this in a batch of tapes from Cylindrical Habitat Modules a couple months back. McCann’s Open Resolve tape got a fair amount of attention in blogland earlier this year, and the dude’s got much, much more to offer. (Discogs says 35 releases since 2008, and those numbers are usually low.)

Fable Shop is two side-length pieces with a lil’ one thrown in the middle, and they’re both pretty, meditate takes. McCann’s hushed string-sounding drones are particularly sparse in A-side “After the Spring,” laying atop comforting sounds of unknown object manipulation. All a bit thin and distant, like listening through an ear horn. Your grandfather listening to a small string quartet accompanying the kitchen sounds of making breakfast, maybe? Side B’s squawky “Gaslit Statues” makes way for more bowed beauty with “Ocean Lamp,” the sound now a little lusher, a little more powerful. A potential oboe emerges from the mix. There’s a definite sense of renewal sparked by major keys. Good vibrations.

All in all, a beautiful tape of calm, wheezy, wave-like string drones, with pleasant foreground mystery noises and an overall imparted feeling of purpose and positivity. Mix with summer sunrises for feelings of hope. (Cheesy line, totally uncheesy music.)

Listen to an excerpt of “Ocean Lamp” above, and download the full tape here.

Sean McCann at Myspace and Discogs.

Brett Naucke - “Clouded Sky: (East)”

Above, a cut off Southern California, a cassette from Catholic Tapes head honcho Brett Naucke. The first release under his own name, Naucke uses analogue synthesizer, organ and various electronics to create shimmering sound portraits of the Californian flatlands. The light refracts over the heated surface of Route 1; the sun sets over the Anza Borrego desert. Evocations of black tar, yellow lines and blue skies. The tape’s been out on Arbor for the better part of 2010 and there are still copies available. Buy it for your car and the next time you drive to Big Y you can imagine you’re along the Pacific coast.

Purchase tape: Arbor catalog.

Brett Naucke: discogs.

Taterbug - “Keep On Creeping On”

Treetops / Abelar Scout / Evan Miller / Taterbug - Split 2xc20 [Young Tapes, 2009]

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