26 April 2016

RECOMMENDATION #106 - SISTER GROTTO & BRAEYDEN JAE

SISTER GROTTO & BRAEYDEN JAE - BORN TO LOSE/BORN TO LEAVE
antiquated future 2015, edition of 200

"Long-form ambient works from Denver minimalist artist Sister Grotto and Salt Lake City's Braeyden Jae. Guitars, tape sounds, bass tones, plenty of pedals. Slow soft-gaze. Hypnotic heartbreak." - ANTIQUATED FUTURE

i was late to the party - it happens - this has been on my "stuff i need to recommend" list for a while now, even though it has been well received around the enlightened blogosphere, here's my take -- i've heard most of all there is from both artists, so while i wouldn't say it's an absolutely sure thing, frankly i'd be flat out flabbergasted if BORN TO LOSE/BORN TO LEAVE is not the absolute best from both artists - for me it's kinda not even close, and i really dig longform JAE, particularly GUTTED (what an ace that is), but wow this is next level stuff - JAE and SISTER GROTTO go together like bread and butter on this tape, it's amazing - i like a collaboration that fully realizes an ideal fusion of two different worlds and BTL/BTL is one of the best of that sort - a longing affair with SG's elegant guitar motifs gently unfolding over lush melancholic tones that stretch on, slowly reaching righteous plateaus enveloped in JAE's blissful clouds of delay, seared by fuzz at the fringes, hushed shoegazing ambient drone parallel to folks like WINDY & CARL, GROUPER and SECRET PYRAMID, brushed with grainy textures in and out of an environ of worn tape artifacts, set against a subdued STARS OF THE LID backdrop with a vibe that kinda recalls some of OJERUM's longform work - no doubt this tape would have made my year end top ten had i got to it a few weeks earlier

highest possible recommendation



200 copies is a good amount, but one day they will all be gone

and should you pick up this tape, if you haven't already, you might as well snag the freshly reissued TUCKER THEODORE's TO MAKE THE SUN HURT cassette while you're at it - that's one of my all time favorite tapes for sure, in the same druggy outsider loner folk wheelhouse as MARK ALEXANDER MCINTYRE, JAKOB OLAUSSON and TERRORS