Cassette Review // Futureslum "Pretty Flowers in the Garden" (Already Dead Tapes)

$6 //
Edition of 100 //
https://alreadydeadtapes.bandcamp.com/album/pretty-flowers-in-the-garden //

"Pretty Flowers in the Garden" begins with deep bass beats and light scratches contrasting them.   As this feels quieter, perhaps more minimal, the second song brings on these futuristic beats which are much louder and closer to hip-hop.  Although this could just be one song changing, I'm not sure if there are multiple songs because there aren't a lot of pauses in between the differences between that instrumental hip-hop and now we go into more of a "Pole Position" vibe with some drag.

Into a full drum kit type of beat now we're closer to that electronic hip-hop and it's speeding up, making me want to do whatever I'm doing ten times faster as well.   The beats hit now rapid fire and this is just pulse pounding.  I'm reminded of "Run Lola Run" now.  The bass drops out and comes through in slower shots.    Machine gun style bass now with that distortion has us on the brink of glitch but not quite yet there as this could just as easily be industrial.   Electronic sprawls come through and then everything hits a really high note.

Beats drop in a big way now with strings in between them.   There is an opera/classical way about this.   We're stretching out across space in a drone now.   Then the beats come back knocking.   As the beats become larger and expand, the cymbals crash and for a moment it feels like a symphony.   We return now, in wavy swirls, with steady beats.   Rapid fire like ping pong now, this one is getting hectic.   Deep beats drop now and expand like droplets of water into puddles.

On the flip side we open up with steady beats which almost sound as if they are haunted, as if we are running away from something.    And this all drops off into a huge explosion before becoming slightly sharp on the ears.   The bass drops in now and we're slowly building back up.   Steady distorted beats now set the tone and it's a groove.   An audio clip is being sampled in- briefly- and it is the first voice we hear during this entire cassette.   The channels are changing now as beeps come through like voicemail.

A little bit harsh, the song begins to fade minimal as well.   Tones come shining through now and if you've been listening to this cassette as a story- feeling the theme from sound to sound- then you will know that this is the moment of triumph.    As much as I've been trained by this cassette to hear those electronics, this particular sound now just feels like distorted guitar notes going out in waves.    We're minimal now, dark sludge type of sounds that can be heard off in the distance.   It all just sort of fades away to end.