First of three new tapes from Gift Tapes:


MILLION MISTS - ORIGINAL MOTION - GIFT TAPES $7
First up is Million Mists, the solo project of Jamie Potter(half of Brother Raven, ex of Bonus). A couple tracks in standard New Age Kraut mode aside, Original Motion is that rare thing in today's tape scene -- an eclectic and interesting collection of synthesizer music that's full of surprises and weird passages. Side B alone is worth of the price of entry. For all the aping of the Harmonia/Cluster sound going on right now, this is the first place I've heard someone so successfully tap into the power of some of those recordings, the way the repetition creates its own hypnotic gravity. And its thankfully done without the full regalia of rhythm boxes and electric piano and all those signifiers. The other nice aspect of some of these tracks is the subtle sense of menace that flows beneath them, and in that I hear a little Boards of Canada. (Are Boards of Canada, by the way, the elephant in the room? I've read dozens of reviews of synth stuff without their mention. Geogaddi is still a great album, right?). Hearing this tape, and seeing the kind of stuff Jamie and Rene Hell and Matt Carlson are up to here in Portland makes me happy that this whole synth revival thing is heading into new, werid, interesting territory. Let's all listen deep and demand more.

The art for this tape, and all three in this batch, was done by Brenna Murphy. It's totally zonked and beguiling -- this is some of my favorite tape art of all time. She also made three short videos to accompany each tape.

Million Mists - Slangaer from Brenna Murphy on Vimeo.