TMT Cerberus 08 Shake yo’ tailfeather

In this ever-expanding musical world, there's a wealth of 7-inches, cassettes, CD-Rs, and objet d'art being released that, due to their limited quantities and adventurous sonics, go unnoticed by the public at large. TMT Cerberus seeks to document the aesthetic of these home recorders and backyard labels. Access the archive here and email us here.

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The Parasails
Skylife [CS]

[El Tule; 2009]

http://eltule.org

By Jspicer

Wherever you find Matt Mondanile, you find an intimate slice of beachside bliss. Chucking aside Ducktails and Real Estate for a moment, Mondanile uncovers a new pseudonym with which to dazzle: The Parasails. As you'd expect, if you've heard an ounce of his music, Skylife carelessly floats down a lazy river lined with palms, rolling riptides, and Marshall Applewhite holding hands with Brian Wilson. Skylife doesn't rely on thickly layered tropical melodies, choosing to instead delve into the astronomy of the nighttime ocean sky, with breezy synth and otherworldly loops — as if Mondanile would cherish the opportunity to view his musically crafted landscape from the heights of a UFO slowly leaving Earth in a never-ending loop. Groundhog's Day for the spaced beach bum in all of us.

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Embarker
Embarker [LP]

[Malleable Records; 2009]

http://www.malleablerecords.com

By Mangoon

The frenetic stop-and-go nature of Michael Barker's first full-length album finds influence in the drum ‘n' bass/drill ‘n' bass methodology of IDM'ers like Squarepusher and Aphex Twin. Leaning towards the harsher ends of the noise spectrum, it emanates a sweaty air of the dance floor, fed through a hyperactive postmodern wrecking machine. It seems reasonable that Barker, with his unrelenting barrage of violently spazzing consumer electronics and harried array of circuits gone wild, might successfully spearhead a whole new genre dubbed “plutonium powered jack hammer ‘n' bass“ if he so chose to. Embarker isn't just all high-octane, energy drink-fueled pummel. He undoubtedly mixes it up, often letting space into the mix and allowing sounds to pulse, wheeze, cough, and sputter. When he allots time to brood, the effects are as worthwhile as the stench of burned rubber seaming off the vinyl (think Wolf Eyes buildup, with its throbbing bass and malaise vocals). “Resident Beardo” throws more elements into the wretched stew, revolving around the leitmotif of a circuit-bent loop, while “Bring Me the Head of JM” is a vitriolic condemnation of cut-up power electronics that takes unrepentantly from the book of William Bennett. Closer “Elizabeth City,” with its backwards synths, washes of digital noise, and intermittent throb, showcases Barker's more cosmic longings. The fact that he allows the album to breathe and gestate in lieu of digital histrionics and electroshock flow prevents the album from becoming too monochromatic, making it an extremely solid noise debut.

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Fragments
Cyanid Tendons [CS]

[Tusco/Embassy; 2009]

http://www.tuscoembassy.com/label.html

By Gabriel Keehn

What a pleasant surprise this is. Fragments is the duo of Jeff Hatfield (a.k.a. Field of Hats, get it?) and Zack Troxell (Relentless Corpse). Prior to this tape I hadn't heard any of their material, and judging by the two guys involved, I was expecting something... well, something not like this. The A-side (“Methylene Blue”) is pure bone-freezing, oxygen-less space, with a hiss of background radiation left over from some long since past big bang overlayed with delicate and distant tones. The track builds a bit towards the end but winds up quitting too quickly. I felt sort of like one of those guys who technically goes into space, but really just barely clears the atmosphere and comes back within 45 minutes. Let me float. The B-side (“Drawbore”) is a much stranger journey; a grinding buzz undercuts the entire track while ancient alien beacons malfunction after being buried in a sand dune or left to barnacle at the bottom of the ocean for thousands of years, only now to activate in a vain attempt to call the fleet of Aztec astronauts home. Definitely gonna keep my eye out for more from this project.

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Seasons (pre-din)/Black Eagle Child
Seasons (pre-din) & Black Eagle Child [2xCD-R]

[Self-Released: 2009]

http://blackeaglechild.com

By Jspicer

Often, split releases offer up a silver platter exposing the differences between the parties involved. Rather than crab cakes to red caviar, the shared 3-inch CD-R release from Black Eagle Child and Season (pre-din) finds the pairing complementary — like an exquisite cheese ball and fine-rosemary flavored crackers for a post-banquet beer crowd. Disc one features the hypnotically soothing blast of guitar effects known as “Covenant with the Clouds” from Black Eagle Child paired with the wandering walkie-talkie static and repetitious acoustic plucks of Season (pre-din) thought, “Falling” -- the rise and subsequent fall of matter in a bright blue atmosphere, a plummet so hard to fathom that fear erodes and calm prevails, a free-fall turning into a successful landing by a babbling brook. Disc two finds more of the same, with Seasons (pre-din)'s recital of wind static and staccato piano (“We Are the Night”) taking over where the first disc gently ended. Black Eagle Child's “Disfigurement Moon Milk” finishes the four-song dream sequence, utilizing a chameleon guitar melody and a similar thread of white static to complete the collaboration. Rather than feeling like two separate thoughts from two artists, these discs act as one continuous idea.

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Joe Breitenbach
Sing It From The Mountain Top [CS]

[905 Tapes; 2009]

http://www.905tapes.com

By Gabriel Keehn

Truly epic. Joe Breitenbach (who also works as Methadrone and Gallows) has put together what is probably the most impressive release I've heard so far this year. Strange droning pulses open in a void, with distorted wind instruments (harmonica, accordion?) weaving their way in, creating a profound and otherworldly orchestra of looping AV room bliss. Deep, lumbering metallic echoes pulse slowly through the scene, surveying everything that's going on before climbing over the hills of gentle electronic tickle in the distance. Bells ring, calling us out to the morning's ceremonies (whatever those might be) before morphing into surrealistic caricatures of tones. I wish I had the space to go through the entire tape, but I don't and describing it wouldn't really do much good anyway. Suffice it to say that Breitenbach has crafted 92 minutes of sound without a single second falling flat. I think the word “craft” is important here, as each of the seven tracks is clearly and beautifully the product of a loving, careful hand. Nothing is overstated, nothing is boring, and everything is utterly riveting and calibrated perfectly. If you wind up buying only one tape this year, this is the best bang for your buck I can imagine.

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Andrew Cedermark
Two EPs [2xCS]

[Self-Released; 2009]

http://www.myspace.com/witchelms

By Jspicer

Cedermark, a former member of Titus Andronicus, unleashes a furry of pop-generated guitar fuzz and foggy production throughout the run of Two EPs. The ambitious double cassette release begins with tape one, Animal Time (Family Time), which finds Cedermark toying around with spacious guitar melodies that hearken to the darker side of shoegaze and spatial folk. It's the days of Ride and Lush mixing with the bodily fluids of the My Morning Jacket's production philosophy. Of course, you're going to stare at your shoes if you're trapped in the dark recesses of a silo — how else will your eyes adjust? Animal Time (Family Time) succeeds in spite of its rather meek pop experimentation. The collection's second tape, Witch Elms' Secret Assid Fuckdrum, finds Cedermark slowly inching into more experimental territory, but when compared to the first tape, it feels a bit forced. Of his own admission, Witch Elms' is more half-thoughts and missteps than realized talent. Though it may not prove as strong or as accessible as the double cassette's first half, it does signal the beginning of a new phase in Cedermark's recording career, one that will be worth watching as his confidence grows to match his skill.

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Ducktails / Julian Lynch
Split [7-inch]

[Underwater Peoples; 2009]

http://underwaterpeoples.com

By Mangoon

If you've ever wondered what lizards, monster trucks, deer hunting videos, square dances, BMX races, and women with weird oral contraptions have in common, you might want to ask Richard Law, whose video for Ducktails' Parasailing (which is featured on a supplemental DVD included in each copy of the latest record from Underwater Peoples) combines these seemingly unrelated visual elements and overlays them with half-recognized patterns and naturalistic arrays of shapes and colors. There's a cosmic peep show quality to it all, like peering through the fabric of the matrix into another realm and coming to some heavy gnosis of the cyclical nature of life and death. Law's video reinstates the already hypnagogic nature of Matt Mondanile's (Ducktails) track; as an arpeggiating synth line ascends and descends, the dreamlike phrase creates spirals in your brain before Mondanile casts out undulating, almost harp-like guitar that stir up ripples in the primordial pool. The track gradually gains wind beneath its wings before fading away into a half-remembered memory. On the flipside, Julian Lynch's 7-inch debut is equally spellbinding. “Garden 2” (whose Law directed video features little kids popping wheelies in slow motion) showcases Lynch's weaving of falsetto caterwaul and dubby bass lines and fades out with a sultry sax line. “Topi” starts out with a stab at Tuvin throat singing before lurching out into a wobbly post Beefheart stomp. As if all that wasn't enough, there's a bonus video for Ducktails' “Dreamfreeforest,” whose sonic and visual elements compete over whose textures are grainier.

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:take:/White Lichens
Split Series Volume 1[10-inch]

[Three: Four; 2009]

http://www.three-four.net

By Jspicer

Newly christened label Three: Four introduces its ambitious series of 10-inch splits with the joint guitar drones of :take: and White/Lichens. Frenchman Jérôme Boutinot, a.k.a. :take:, engulfs the A-side with two differing guitar compositions — both displaying the beauty and majesty still left in the stringed instrument. “Paysage Avec Fer” drapes an ominous, throbbing drone over scattered notes of guitar, creating a 70s Star Trek vibe, as Kirk and his crew land on the surface of an alien planet and their gauges are reading off-the-chart levels of life as they inch close and closer to the dwelling of the living. “Joie de Résistance” is far more traditional, with gentle strokes and slides reminiscent of mid-90s Loren Connors, the difference being Boutinot fills up space with sweeping notes and plucked chords whereas Connors chooses to swallow notes in favor of showcasing silence. The B-side is all White/Lichens, a trio formed by Lichens (Robert A.A. Lowe) and White/Light (Jeremy Lemos and Matt Clark). Both entities have found success with a string of spotlighted albums, but their combined talents produce a track as gnarly as it is breathtaking. “Tonight's the Night” (not to be confused with the Neil Young classic) is an immovable wall of harsh distortion that builds itself up, brick by brick, never to be broken by the light of day. Should one ever need proof of the many splendors to be coaxed from six electric strings, Three: Four has built a fine example.

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