LINDEN POMEROY & LONESOME BLOOD - MAYBE IT'S OUR JANUARY HEADS
illuminated paths 2017, edition of 15 (?)
"tags: experimental broke machine films drone guitar noise pop" - ILLUMINATED PATHS
one of the best tapes yet from ILLUMINATED PATHS, a stroke of genius for all parties involved, moody moonlit ambient pop ballads, breakdowns and dirges, perhaps cueing off ZELIENOPLE's favored brand of ethereal post rock, echoing LOREN CONNORS and ROY MONTGOMERY post blues inventions, haunting hooks reminiscent of early GROUPER with touches of SIX ORGANS elevated experimental folk trickling into more weirdo zones inhabited by heads like JAKOB OLAUSSON and TUCKER THEODORE, perhaps inspired by higher profile art pop flavors like RADIOHEAD and ROXY MUSIC and TALK TALK, at least that's what my ears hear here and there
JANUARY HEADS is a seamless relay yielding an impressively continuous vibe - a rather clever deceptively simple twist on the "split tape" concept, seeming very much a deeply involved collaboration and yet apparently not - it gels so damn well that i feel there just had to be some degree of call and response, of some intellectual interplay between the two, but even so "collaboration" doesn't fully satisfy - this very much sounds and feels like a singular work manifested by a singular artist - but in practical terms, LONESOME BLOOD's contributions are mostly these immersed atmospheric dronescapes tilting toward TIM HECKER and WINDY & CARL albeit more sunny side down than that might suggest (which is fine by me - you'll find me right at home on "chasm"), to an extent functioning as interludes to POMEROY's more fragile songcraft, but this metaphor breaks down as POMEROY is just as culpable in creating this magnificent haze that persists from start to finish, and in a literal sense i think "interlude" is insufficient suggests diminished importance - some of my most favorite moments on those RADIOHEAD and TALK TALK albums are those crucial moments tucked away between so-called "proper songs" and the same applies here
the first cassette masterpiece of 2017 has arrived - it may be too early yet to hand out a "top ten lock" but chances are slim to none that this -doesn't- makes the cut when the time comes
LIMITED EDITION CASSETTES
