Cassette Review // Yes Selma "Bliss Of Rumik" (20/20 Records)

 

$8 //

Edition of 50 //

https://chadbeattie.bandcamp.com/album/bliss-of-rumik //

This cassette begins with a slow, deep drone.   A louder, higher sound joins in and it somehow creates this loud bellowing noise.    What I can only think of as magic synth drone comes in next, kind of like the key in the Masters of the Universe movie, but it's got this very layered drone feeling to it.   The vibe here is calming.   Maybe we're lost at sea, but we're okay with it.    That magic begins to grow though and evolve from the drone into what sounds like but likely isn't a sax.   It also can feel like it's taking us into a kung fu film now, which I enjoy.   Then it all kicks in heavily dramatic, like "Psycho".  

As we journey into the next song there is a bit more of that back and forth note sound with the drone building slowly behind it.   Sounds come in like strings, almost pulling like an accordion, and then an even louder sound takes over which makes me think of video games, specifically something from the old Atari 2600 days.   There is a distinct ringing but it also just feels on some level like we're Pac-Man, going around eating pellets.   The sound all rises up together to form at the end of the song somewhat like a butterfly.

We go into somewhat higher pitched tones now to begin the third song.   There is an almost "Flight of the Bumblebee" way about this song as it floats through the air.   On some levels this can also just feel like a synth overture, a rather classical sounding song.   It really just feels like something you would hear inside an independent movie.   I know I've been watching a lot more of them lately thanks mainly to Hulu, but I think as a general feeling of movies most people have seen this has that "Safety Not Guaranteed" vibe to it and who doesn't love Aubrey Plaza?

On the flip side we start with this trill which becomes louder and hypnotic.    These deep keys build this one up now and just begins to drive like "Knight Rider".    This song definitely is the closest to a rock song so far and it has a "Phantom of the Opera" way about it as well, where it just feels like as someone is playing it they are also slowly going mad.    This song somehow comes to a screeching halt and I feel like we have just gone off of the tracks.

Isolated synth tones now bring in keys with them which begin to make me think of "Donnie Darko" on this next song.   A constant clicking and some synths added in now make this one just go from a dark place to the brink of insanity.   I still feel like it could be on the soundtrack to an independent movie, but that movie would have to somehow be even darker than "Donnie Darko" and I'm not sure if the world is prepared for that.  In some ways, I also feel like this- both the song and film in my mind- involve the circus.  

Synth comes through in swirls now, just furthering my belief we are on some kind of wild rollercoaster ride.   It feels like we're being hypnotized and for some reason that takes me back to the G.I. Joe character Crystal Ball, who I haven't thought a lot about since I was a kid.   A little bit cloudy now, we seem to be hitting some light static.  We're just floating along.   This is a good song to put on to relax with because you can just close your eyes and let your mind go where the music takes you, though I do fully believe that if you were in the right setting this entire cassette could take you on quite the trip.