Cassette Review // Erin Demastes "Thing Music" (Eh? Records)

http://www.publiceyesore.com/ehcat.php?eh=116 //

What begins with sounds like something being dragged up and down the stairs turns into that wakka wakka wakka of Pac-Man before strings are heard being plucked.  That dragging stays throughout while the wakka wakka is replaced by the string plucks, but they trade off as well.   It feels as if the dragging sound acts as a beat as the strings just go all out and like a country song almost.   Everything becomes scattered chaos as we reach the end.

Quieter now, we feel the drone of doom as frequencies can be twisted and turn.  There is this hollow static behind it as well, somewhat like a haunted machine.   A sound like insects comes into the background and then those sort of distorted blasts like we're touching electricity.   The engine seems to sort of fade out in little bursts as we dive into the next song with mystical seas and what sounds like horses running.

Metal can be heard being hit together and then tones come through one at a time but it sounds like the hum of the same note on a keyboard.   The sounds of drum machine claps feel like they're coming in now but it also could just be a spark trying to ignite.   The scraping and tone all come together in one sound before they reach their end and we enter a different type of scraping with some windy distortion behind it.   This feels like we're stuck in a hole and are trying to claw our way out.

Higher pitched tones come in now which are somewhere between beeping, a harmonica and a baby.  Tones play in succession and squeak through as that feeling of clawing our way out remains behind it all.   The sounds behind the tones feels like an engine starting up now, but the feeling that this isn't a harmonica but rather some kind of whistle or possibly accordion just makes me feel like I'm not sure exactly what it is but it feels somewhat like car horns failing in traffic as well.  

On the flip side we open up with this sound of static repeating in a loop.  There is a slight drone behind it but this just creates a bit of a groove as well.   The sound of static electricity comes in and this one begins to feel like we are dealing with some kind of electronic monster- as if lightning were to come to life in the form of a kaiju.   It feels as if we're going up and down or rocking back and forth but then there is this primal growling behind it as well, which makes me think of that monster consuming its victims.  

A trill now echoes throughout a large room.   This gets louder, more distorted, and then there is a metal ringing of sorts before a glass-like tone enters quietly.   Frequency changes create one sort of sound while there are metal scraping sounds and this feels more than anything else like a distress signal- a call for help.  This all comes to a head as it reaches the end and in a strong way I feel like this was the last sound you hear on purpose because the S.O.S. didn't make it and you are, in fact, lost.