Cassette Review // Ambigere, PowerPlant "Ambigere​/​/​PowerPlant Tour 2019 Split" (MooseHaus Records)

https://moosehaus.bandcamp.com/album/ambigere-powerplant-tour-2019-split

Ambigere begins this with a rapid firing of beats which bring in a sound like steam and this just feels like a train though there are also distorted vocals within it.   Loud notes screech through.   It also feels as if some music, such as circus music, is buried in the background of this all as well.  I can hear that melody.   The static grows louder and much more intense now.  The loud, sharpness is back there still and it feels like we're squealing off the tracks.

While that static is still here, there are electronics coming through as if someone is turning knobs trying to build a Frankenstein monster in a thunderstorm.   Everything gets quiet really fast and people can be heard talking in the background.  It makes me feel like this was recorded live and someone at the show is talking to someone else, which people like to do these days but really shouldn't do.  We go to shows to hear the artists create their music not listen to you talk about your weekend plans with your classmates.

Anyway, the distortion is back in now.   As this all builds and then comes back down, it ends with applause, showing that it was indeed live.   While people cheer and clap, someone can clearly be heard yelling "Fuck yeah, buddy!"  As far as live touches go with music this was one of my favorites because it's just so distinct and enthusiastic.

On the flip side, PowerPlant begins with a great deal of percussion.    Engines rev up and down and this just feels like it's hectic because of the pacing of the drums.   There are other sounds mixed within this, but all I can really hear is the percussion at the front of it, banging away.   Woodwinds, which feel like a sax, come blaring through with notes that feel like horns in a car horn way.

There is almost this tribal rhythm in here and then it all slows down.   Those sax notes come out sparingly.  The drums trill.   Cymbals slightly crash.   Tones come through like cries in the background and the percussion is once again banging.   The sound can feel as if it is slowing down, becoming eerie, but the rapid percussion just lifts it right back up.   It can just feel like there's this wave in the background, rocking back and forth, and then the percussion is just so chaotic with it as well.  

The sax comes blaring through, the drums are wild and we just have this free jazz noise type of element going on here.   It feels like it's such a wild ride because of this percussion but it's not quite the same harsh noise as we heard on the first side from Ambigere.  I enjoy how different things can feel so heavy but have such different elements.