Sound Colour Vibration (Music | Art | Film | Technology | Science | Culture)

The age of the cassette analog releases is very much alive in 2012. With independent labels all over the globe releasing a wealth of special pressed high grade tapes that run in extremely limited numbers, it’s an age where the communication grid and output of these artists creativity and the levels of interaction the fans of the music takes on becomes the fuel of the entire movement. It’s a movement that is truly full circle from the ground up and it’s been an experience far beyond words to see it all evolve the way it has. 2012 has been a year where we have connected with more labels releasing material in the cassette tape format and I Had An Accident Records has been one label that we are very happy to start covering more releases from. With a history that runs a little over half a decade, we feel they are putting out some of the best albums, EP’s and splits under one roof in the name of experimental music.

I Had An Accident Records sent us two releases recently and it is today that we are covering the first of those two in the split cassette EP with Son Of A Bricklayer and Andrew Felix. Son Of A Bricklayer is the first artist up on Side A and presents the more raw, assaulting and rhythmically intoxicating component to the split. Andrew Felix is an entirely different story, where the tools to create and the purpose achieved is on the completely opposite spectrum of what Son Of A Bricklayer achieved. Son Of A Bricklayer’s song “Aquatic” runs a little under 10 minutes and sounds like it has been created entirely with analog equipment. A deep, swelling atmospheric intro brings the tape into the beginning stages, setting up a dark and mystic vibe. This vibe remains a consistent emotional backdrop to the dirty drum breaks that lace each section of the song. The drums slam into the mix like a train hitting a car, removing matter of considerable size to the side and leveling out immediately after impact. There are minimal melodic parts added in with the sample of a vocalist that retains that dark and mystic aura the intro created. Bass is served up cold and of a dreary state, moving off the bottom end to create low level bomb drops of energy.

“Aquatic” is break beat experimental music in the name of 2012 and a reminder of the essence brought forth in music this raw and unhinged. Another cycle of atmospheric wash out takes place in this piece and shortly segues into the next section of the song. With a static driven synth line and multiple lines around it, the drums comes back in loose form with a lighter touch then before. Minimal in design, the power of the drum, bass and harmony is still intact and has little limitation to the labyrinth of sounds that one can create themselves when contemplating off it. Son Of A Bricklayer presents music in long waves where transitions only take moment in parts, not in the same sequence of each part. The third and last section of the piece highlights more of a natural piano sound and lowers the presence of the drums considerably. The cycles of the piano lines create a psychedelic drone effect that runs through the mind in infinite patterns.

Andrew Felix takes up 10 minutes on side B and as mentioned before, serves up an entirely different sense of musical direction with his offering “Forsaken Worship”. Unlike Son Of A Bricklayer, Andrew Felix constructed his side with one long musical gesture in mind instead of breaking up the time he had into many pieces connected by bridges. Representing a structure more on the side of Tangerine Dream and their symphonic forays into electronics, Andrew Felix builds the body of “Forsaken Worship” with a really beautiful synth tone. Running through closely spaced notes and a hovering underside of a droned out synth, the music feels like seeing thousands of stars glisten from different heat levels they have. As time passes, the layering becomes more involved and more realized. This song is a perfect example of how extensive the language of modern experimental music is and how many different directions it can go.

You can hear influences on “Forsaken Worship” but there remains a very unique voice in what Andrew Felix stirs up for the final pot. As the synth constantly entangles itself around one another and manages to untangle itself all together, the percussion slowly finds a way in to move the harmony to the top of the mix and present the full state of what this song means. There are no major transitions in this piece, only progressions on the main theme, something that puts me in a very relaxing and calm mood. As percussion fades out, the synth lines that started the piece continue on, leaving no time to wait or expect another transition. At the end, the music becomes stridently spiritual and translucent, showering in an emotional resonance that puts me in the most comfortable mood possible. As I listen to this type of end, I am reminded of how much music means to me and what purpose it has in this world for so many different types of people.

With an emotional dynamic that shifts from dark, hazy and submerging to light, ambient and uplifting, this split cassette presents the full light spectrum in terms of musical composition. It is beautiful when seeing this transition from side to side and from beginning to end of each piece. Son Of A Bricklayer’s “Aquatic” and Andrew Felix’s “Forsaken Worship” is a heavy experience and is a continuation and bridge of modern experimentalism through electronics.

-Erik Otis

Order this tape directly from the label here http://ihadanaccident.tumblr.com/