Tracey Trance Quartet/Shep And Me - Split CS - Faux Pas
Astute pairing from Faux Pas, the through lines being the Walkman-fidelity and harmonizer vocals on both sides. Shep And Me is new on me despite having seen the name on any number of releases. Distant, dreamy recordings with enough grime to keep it interesting. The tracks here are definitely songs, which earns them (him?) a lot of points in my book. The Tracey Trance side is listed as the work of a quartet and is a pleasant variation of his usual output. Although the overall tone and melodies are familiar from other releases, the group setting loosens up and widens the sound of the tape. In one of my favorite parts, the mood is more gentle than I've heard from Tracey Trance before, similar to the song "Fountain" on his Night-People tape. Another reason why this tape works is that the other instruments often content themselves with doubling the main melodies, which reinforces them in a nice way. Nice new territory in the Tracey Trance universe, hope he returns to this mode again in the future.
$6