Cassette Review // Mumbles "Hinterpest: a story of wildflowers, buttonweeds and cattle skulls" (Leafdog)

€7 //
Edition of 150 //
https://leafdoglabel.bandcamp.com/album/hinterpest-a-story-of-wildflowers-buttonweeds-and-cattle-skulls //

This begins with the unique sound of strings which feel like the image on the front of the cassette.    It has a jovial feeling to it, like a court jester, and I'm not sure what is used to make these string sounds but there is another set which comes in that could be a violin.    It makes me want to either get up and dance, play D&D or both.   This goes into a song which starts off with a stronger wind but then these strings come right back and it's forceful now- much more dramatic and intense.

I'm hesitant to look up what instruments are being used to create these sounds because I feel like it takes away some of that mystery which music often times lacks these days, but I do enjoy how it sounds like whatever strings are being plucked or strum with a bow are sometimes done when it is rather windy outside.     During the next song the strings are so delicate yet at the same time there is a beat kept with what sounds like a foot stomping on the floor. 

The wind can sound more like waves crashing from the ocean to the shore and notes are played one at a time with ample space given in between.   It's as if the songs from before which kept up such a faster pace are now breaking down and becoming pieces and falling apart.    As the fragments fall to your ears they eventually fade out and bring the first side to an end, which somehow seems fitting because it's that idea of everything being there all at once and then slowly, one by one, leaving.

On the flip side the notes start off a bit faster now, kind of like that "I can tell we are going to be friends" song and then there is a rhythm which accompanies it that makes it feel so much more dramatic, like an old road hymn.    When this song comes to an end the next one begins with notes like water drops falling into a bucket.   There is a scraping of the strings and this one just feels like something out of a scary movie, as I imagine it taking place in that one room we all remember from "Saw".

This is going to sound strange, but there is this moan which comes through now and it's not that it sounds like a cow, per se, but there used to be this old toy which was a box which you could flip upside down and then when you put it right side up it would moo like a cow and I hear that.    Lighter notes now make me forget about the cow and go into a place where there is a court jester... and then that deep moan returns.    Back and forth notes now go from the highs to the lows and it's not just a statement of sound it's an entire mood.

Next up are sounds which feel like they are being transmitted through an old record player and there is a singing with them, just not with any words.    The wind can be heard blowing and this one just felt like a ceremony outside.   Higher pitched notes come in now and I'm feeling like we're going into a different story but there are these drops behind this and a shuffling which just creates such a song like I've never heard before.    The notes really kick in now and are just rocking.    This plays us off until the end and it certainly is nice to go out on that high note.