Cassette Review // Tim Kaiser "Voltage" (Damien Records)

$8 //
Edition of 50 //
https://damienrecords666.bandcamp.com/album/voltage //

Hollow tones like electronics bring about this rhythm which eventually feels like falling.   A series of beeps now, like morse code.   It perhaps could be a distress signal, if only I knew what it meant.    Frequencies begin to change now and the knocking comes in like footsteps walking down that long and empty hallway.    The beeping continues.    The tones begin to swirl in melodic hues now. 

The next song comes on sounding like a trap, a clap and the furthest reaches of space are being sucked into it.    A deep synth takes us into Transformers sounds and then it becomes this scraping, almost like an electronic raking.     It grows quieter now, more minimal, and then it just becomes that deep synth drone.   It picks back up with the crack of the electronic whip.

After some slight wind whooshing we're back into that world of Transformers.   This all quiets and the next song comes in with a very minimal squealing.   That drone behind it is like a lightsaber but it's so quiet, so set in the background.    Piano keys now are echoed by synth tones, creating a fun number.    In some ways, it feels like a game of Pong at a jazz show.    A crackling now begins a build and those footsteps return.    This takes us into frequencies which feel like an alien transmission and only rightfully so given what else we've heard so far.

Bigger synth steps now.   A ringing like a pinball error.  The synth crawls through on its belly now as glass tones make their way in like something out of Dr. Seuss.   This grows much darker now, haunted even.    The footsteps appear to be walking away as Side A comes to an end.

On the flip side we begin with what I can only describe as ambient traffic and then a tone ticks back and forth like the ever-winding down of the clock.  A sonar ring comes behind this all now.    It's windy and I feel like vocals are behind this, all chopped up and spit out in the wrong order.   Deeper it goes, to that darker place.   There is a scraping now, as it feels like it might take off.   It's amazing how all of these sounds have remained throughout the song and been built upon.


The sonar bell rings alone and it rings for thee.


What sounds almost like a whistle brings us into the sound of faded memories.   It feels like glass bottles being played as well, a little bit of Jay Peele in that sense.    There is a feeling of percussion in here as well, as it fades out and the next song begins to fade in like "Knight Rider".    Though it can feel lost and desolate, there is this comfort in what feel like windchimes, as they make it feel like home.    Static waves crash through, shaking the speakers.    These bells can almost sound like pots and pans and this almost feels like one long song on Side B as it just sort of stops.