Thursday, April 20, 2023

Cassette Review //
David Parker
"Witches' Butter"
(Dirty Clothes Records)


https://david-parker.bandcamp.com/album/witches-butter


"Witches' Butter" begins with distorted guitar drone.   This just creates a sea of distortion with some other sounds ringing through it.   It can feel like the sound of a lightning storm while also at the same time offering up these moments of solitude and relaxation.   As the notes twist and wind through now, they can even begin to feel like they are singing.   The sounds also begin to fade out, to somewhat drift, as if floating through space.

We go into the next song now, which somehow starts off with this sort of twang as if we're walking through the desert or old west.   Yet somehow this song also has a bit of electronics in it, to where it sounds futuristic and I'm very much down with the idea of the future reverting back to the past so we have cowboy robots.  Imagine the android bartender in the old saloon- it'd be so perfect.

Quieter and minimal now, we're off in the distance with a sort of knocking sound, perhaps just a tapping.   The general feeling of this sound is just that low droning where it feels almost like nothing but it's just there, you can really feel it more than hear it, and when your ears adjust back to not having that sound it's a trip as well.

On the flip side we begin with a steady rhythm as these magical guitar chords cut through the tension.   The theme of this side so far is just this sound keeping up that steady drive and the tones around it feeling rather blissed out.  It's almost like Knight Rider and definitely fun to just listen to while you're moving around in any sense of the word "moving".  

As I read about this cassette I realize that the first side has three songs in their original form and then the flip side is those three songs remixed by different artists, so it's interesting how much something like steady beats coming into this sea of distortion can change the overall sound of it.   The second remix has audio clips in it, which definitely helps it stand out from the previous version.  









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