Cassette Review // Distance Dealer "Mind Dawns" (Blackjack Illuminist Records)

 

€7 // Edition of 15 // https://blackjackilluministrecords.bandcamp.com/album/mind-dawns

When "Mind Dawns" first begins there are these sort of gothic beats which make me think of The Prodigy.   As it kicks in, sounds in that synthwave / darkwave genre can come out, ranging from Joy Division and The Cure to Depeche Mode and Oingo Boingo.  While this can feel like it has a dance and trance way about it, the music can at the same time feel quite haunted and hollow.  Though it has that certain sound about it, as noted with other artist comparisons, Distance Dealer just adds this other element to this music which really makes it move.

Sometimes there are just these dark twists and turns, but then it can also become electronic where it feels like more "Bladerunner" than "The Crow", though both can be heard on the cassette.  "Waved Aside" is a good example of how this can feel more like a dance than doom and gloom, but yet it can also just stick to those core sounds.    Drum machines can make this feel rather dreamy and it can just feel like it's on a wave length all its own.  

The vocals can also get somewhat fast paced, such as when asking "Will we be all right" in a dystopian manner on "Body/Frame".  This also takes us into a much darker synth-based song with big percussion called "Mourned & Dead".    With an "or" instead of an "&", "Bloom Or Doom" comes off with these xylophone type notes and just an overall feel of a huge ballad.    As we get into "A Lack Of What?" we switch up the sound of destruction to one of moving synth tones, somewhat like "Stranger Things".

Regardless of whatever mood this cassette might set for you- and it tends to stay in a darker realm overall- the fact remains that it can be fast paced and that makes me want to move.  Whether it be driving fast at night or just going for a run, this is that type of cassette which you can press play and then whatever you're doing goes by a lot faster because before you know it the music stops and it's time to start it up all over again.