I like tape
Pattern Is Movement - Grimes Cutup
Now, I'm not usually one for gimmicks, but this record, Canonic, is so cool and quirky, I can't pass up telling you all about it.
Ostensibly, this Canonic record is by the Philly-based oddball math-rock group Pattern Is Movement, but see, the album says "Scott Solter plays Pattern Is Movement" all over it. The album is essentially a dub-remix record, akin to the heyday of Scientist or King Tubby, when there wasn't any new material added to the dub versions, just the original source material run through loops and effects. In this case, the only material used was last year's PIM album Stowaway.
Scott Solter - who has engineered and produced for John Vanderslice, Spoon, Two Gallants, and the Mountain Goats - was actually one of the main engineers and producers of Stowaway, which they recorded at Vanderslice's Tiny Telephone studio, and Solter's own 15th Street studio, both of which are in San Francisco. He left the bay area and relocated to North Carolina earlier this year, and spent months working on this project. It sounds like it was really quite the undertaking too, with Solter literally cutting and splicing tapes (the credits list Solter as "machines, razor, tape") and running them through all manner of analog gear to get the desired effect. The resulting sound is pretty amazing actually, with dubbed out vocals (which he left intact on only a couple of songs), chopped up (literally!) hip-hop beats, tape hiss, overload, and buzz, and layers and layers of sound. Check it out and see what you think, but I know I like it.
Canonic comes out in October on Home Tapes, whom you may remember from this post about Paul Duncan from last year. They themselves relocated this year, moving from the wilds of Miami, to the lovely mountain-town of Boulder, Colorado - good luck this winter guys! You'll be able to pre-order the album in a week or so. Also of note is the awesome album art and packaging, designed by Michael Kiser and the Chicago-based Sedaqa Design group. This seems to be another one of the label's real strengths, where every release looks great and completely different from the previous one. Recommended!