Cassette Review // Max Moon "The Grand Howl" (Hand'Solo Records)
Between the name Max Moon and the title "The Grand Howl" I think this cassette lands somewhere between professional wrestling (which Max Moon was such a fun wrestler to look at) and Allen Ginsberg (as I am reminded of his most known poem "Howl"). Going in with this notion is not too far from how this cassette actually sounds, as it has that grit and darkness of the daily grind of a professional wrestler but also can make me think of back when The Beats were a movement, something I truly miss and feel only is kept in existence now by hip hop.
There are three different types of songs on here, with the first song- "Depth Perception"- being of the under a minute, sort of interlude type of sound variety. "GHOST" and "Little Do They Know" are both songs in the more traditional sense, while we then go into "Someday" which has slower, dreamy sounds with screwed vocals. This continues throughout the cassette, with songs, bits and pieces and it makes for a nice overall story.
Musically this cassette has a way about it that isn't like other similar sounds but if I had to describe it with references I'm thinking somewhere between clipping. and A Tribe Called Quest. This can feel rather intense and dramatic at times, but then on a song like "Little Do They Know" there are horns in a way which reminds me of Us3 but in that jazz meets skramz way as well. "Rendezvous" has a slower way about it with what makes me think of electronic glitching to some extent, all while discussing "Birth of the Cool".
For that one example of how this whole cassette sounds, I'd pick "DEAD END$" as a good song to start with even though it comes in about halfway through. It also reminds me the most of clipping. on here. "The Flaw Machine" really brings out those thoughts of The Beats while "The Long Haul" has a riff that cuts through like a chainsaw. As we get to the end and hear "Mornings with O" (which is a sweet ode from father to son) there are these piano jazz vibes which just make me think of that specific type of hip hop as well.
As much as this cassette opens with a song that declares "This town's all rock no roll", on "Little Do They Know" there is also the lines: "the Invisible Man / You can't see me", which I feel is a nod to John Cena and brings about the whole wrestling idea from the name Max Moon. There are also two different references that I picked up on to Joni Mitchell on here, just to give you that range of where this whole mindset lands.
On the flip side of this cassette are two different remixes- for "Next Time" and "DEAD END$"- as well as instrumentals, which is something I've always found to be so important from these Hand'Solo Records releases. So once again not only are you getting this great piece of music and art, but also something special just for having a cassette collection as well as a digital library. This very well might be one of the ways in which we keep The Beats alive and I'm here for it.
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