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Christopher Bissonnette, Aus, Various
88 Tapes

A Norman Records recommendation (8th January 2009)


Cover art for 88 Tapes by Christopher Bissonnette, Aus, Various Description: edn of 500 on Keshhhhhh records inc loads of fun folks in nice ejector case
Format: CD
Label: Kesh
Price: £6.99  (sorry - sold out)
Cat#: kesh:008
Availability: sorry, but this item is not available / sold out.

Rating: happy
This record left our Phil feeling happy.

88 Tapes is a compilation CD on Keshhhhhh records. 14 tracks in total....and it comes in one of those fancy ejector case package jobs which I like mainly cos they double as weapons if you eject them hard enough. I remember going to the martial arts shops when I was a nipper and getting chinese throwing stars to lob at the garage. Them were the days... That shop is still open weirdly... I'm amazed it's not been shut down being I was barely old enough to dress myself.... Anyway this comp features the likes of Aus, Orla Wren (Expanding), Simon Scott (Televise), Sawako, Random Number, Christopher Bissonnette, Lawrence English, Ateleia, Akira Kosemura, Greg Davis and more. A strong line up I'm sure you'll agree. If you're into all things floaty and drifty, and if you like experimental electronics and ambience/ drone this is going to appeal to you. Some excellent tracks on here. I especially like the Ateleia and Christopher Bissonnette tracks. Well lovely. Heartily recommended!!

Average customer rating: five-stars.png
Based on 2 reviews. (Add yours)

Rating: ecstatic
This record left smithers feeling ecstatic.

I am a bugger for homemade limited editions so when this cd arrived with a splendid ejector case and a cool booklet i was a happy fella. The 14 tracks encompass ambient, electronica, drone, minimalism and glitch so this is A++++qulity item.

Sawako, aus and moskitoo have never sounded so good and Mark Templeton really shows what a brilliant artist he is turning into with an MBV wall of noise that crackles with laptop textures. All 14 tracks are superb and well crafted. Mastering by Taylor Deupree is a seal of quality too making this a brilliant purchase.

Rating: ecstatic
This record left Headphone Commute feeling ecstatic.

Keshhhhhh Recordings is based in Cambridge (England) and is run by Simon Scott (you should know him as the ex-drummer from the shoegaze band, Slowdive). I'm not exactly sure what Simon has in mind for the future of his label, but I must say, he's off to a pretty good start. First of all, he's got Taylor Deupree to master the entire compilation in his 12k studio. That alone should give you a pretty good idea about the intent here. And the roster of artists also tends to speak for itself. The eighteen track collection of ambient vignettes and sound explorations all revolve around a central theme. This theme less of a melodic structure, but rather a concept around a particular selection of recordings recorded by Simon Scott on an audio cassette back in 1988. On the liner notes of the release, Scott elaborates: "In 1988 on another rainy Saturday afternoon, whilst looking for sonic inspiration, I decided to take apart and re-assemble my stereo that had a quarter inch input socket as well as a turntable and tape player/recorder. The result was a fantastic malfunctioning, stuttering and glitching piece of equipment that suddenly realized my ideas of creating new sound. I promptly pressed the record button and let rip on my electric guitar and promised myself to write a song from the results one day. In 2008 the tape was rediscovered purely by chance in a house move and the rediscovery of this TDK inspired me to contact a group of artists and composers who I feel are talented and relevant today. There was just a simple single track sent off via email to inspire them to compose a piece of work for this compilation if they had the urge. They did and I am forever grateful to everyone involved in deconstructing the tape track and creating this album." And what a spectacular group of artists it is! The compilation opens up with an sound sparkling interpretation by Yasuhiko Fukuzono as Aus flowing right into a beautiful vocals of Sanae Yamasaki, [aka Moskitoo - see her excellent album, Drape (12k, 2007)]. We then move into noisy guitar feedback and lo-fi acoustic glitch by Mark Templeton (see his numerous releases and appearances on Anticipate Recordings). The 12k roster continues to propagate this selection with contributions by Keiichi Sugimoto as Fourcolor, Sawako, and one of my favorites, Lawrence English. Besides above mentioned aus, a few more artists from the Japanese label, flau, show up later, like Orla Wren and John McCaffrey as Part Timer. Chicago based Kranky Records enters the circle of Scott's friends with a beautiful heavily reverberated breathy piece by Christopher Bissonnette. Further on a release we see his labelmate, Thomas Meluch contribute a track as BenoƮt Pioulard. We also see an appearance by Akira Kosemura, who previously secured a spot on Airport Symphony - Virtual Terminal, a free deigital companion edition to the Airport Symphony, compiled by the above mentioned prolific Lawrence English and released on Room40 in 2007. A third through the release, Simon Scott finally appears with his own interpretation. A sound artist and a label owner of and/OAR, Dale Lloyd contributes a sonic carpet of luscious frequencies, followed by a ghost-like echoes of gated guitar and vocals by Matt Robson recording as Random Number. Additional appearances include tracks by Greg Davis, Adam Pacione, Ateleia, and Hannu. An excellent roster, don't you think? Meanwhile, Simon Scott prepares for his upcoming solo debut, titled Navigare on none other than Miasmah recordings.

What their label says...

88:tapes     kesh:008

Kesh recordings operate outside of the mainstream and are proud to be a micro label. Run by Simon Scott who once drummed for slowdive on creation records and alongside Brian Eno on their “souvlaki” album. Simon is proud to present a global project that started in his bedroom back in 1988:

*I recently transferred a tape of audio experiments that I did as a kid back in 1988 and the results are rather interesting. This gave me an idea that if I gave 14 of the separate tracks, which range from a simple acoustic pluck to a noise drone of epic proportions, and hand them over to a few friends it would be a creative voyage for all artists involved. There were no rules and total freedom to add any sounds or instruments that each individual artist thought would create a track. Some added field recordings, programmed rhythms, added vocal tracks and others added nothing.
Taylor Deupree has carefully mastered this musical offering at 12k:-
88:tapes kesh:008
 
aus- esnow
moskitoo- xime
mark templeton- felt
fourcolor- fourcolor remix
orla wren- 33 fainting spells
simon scott- 20
Sawako- long long time ago
Dale Lloyd- solar mirage
random number- cassette 8
christopher bissonnette- measuring flutter
Lawrence English- a spectre of lost time
ateleia- along-a-space-diagonal
akira kosemura- old tapes
greg davis- three treasures

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