Cassette Review // TW & Family "Laondon" (Error Prone Records)

https://errorpronerecords.bandcamp.com/album/laondon

 This begins with a somewhat scary burst of sound and someone simply says "Laodon".   Acoustic guitar notes ease the tension next, as spoken words come out with them, and it feels like a bit of experimental folk.  A more industrial sound now, like machines working, but then these blissed out synth notes come in as I also hear what feels like the typing of keys on a typewriter. Distorted vocals come through with this as well.  That are some static bursts coming through near the end here as well, which feel like car crash screeches.

We drop off into a song next which features percussion but also this sound of a deconstructed acoustic guitar.  I hear a bass line, which feels like an upright bass, and then the guitar notes come out higher pitched and a bit lovely.  This all fades away, as all feelings on this cassette do eventually, but comes back with softer acoustic notes.   Notes- possibly bass- cut through like missiles now and then we're winding down a long stretch of sound.   Tihs song just continues grinding and striking those notes to the point where it almost feels as if vocals are going to return.

A short burst of what sounds like a glass bottle dropping mixed with something else comes just as quickly as it goes.  Into those gentle strums of the acoustic guitar now.  There is some muted destruction behind this, but I like how this cassette presents itself in fragments at times but also can just feel like the world is falling apart around you and you simply cannot stop smiling.  A bit of a whirlwind picks up now, like we're in a storm.  

Still sounding acoustic, but the bass comes in heavier now.  Words can be heard, but I'm not sure what they're saying.  It sounds like the deep voice of a man (though it is likely being manipulated) and then sometimes the higher pitched voice of a child.  We have a nice pattern developing here, as the other acoustics kind of wind up and fade out.   We're climbing the scales as the background hisses.  It sounds almost as if this voice is saying "fork" but I also hear counting "4-3-2" so maybe it's saying "1" in that deep moan.

Onto Side B now, and it comes on with many sounds all at once but it seems to end in this explosion.  It is a lot to hear, even if you're hearing it for the second or third time as there are many components, but then it all just seems to sort of blow up.  A loud, hissing-like noise comes on next followed by acoustic guitars.   There is also a banging in here which is less like a drum and more like a gun shot.  That hissing continues and now there are vocals coming in as well, though I believe with the banging this is the same song it just took a little pause.  

I'm not sure what the vocals say, but it sounds like "I sold my toe to my soul" or something along those lines.  Big, higher pitched acoustic notes come in now and bring those words back with them.  The way I keep hearing that banging though makes me feel like something is happening inside of a snuff film, though there is also this tongue-twister, light-hearted, innocent way about it all at the same time.   The acoustic notes turn to strums and the vocals just sing oh's now, like a chorus.  

The way this hissing persists just makes me feel like it's to enhance the cassette experience.  A bass line comes crawling in now, somewhat like JAWS, somewhat like "Paint It Black".   It's a nice walking bass line which can begin to feel like a cartoon, but then it also just seems to wander around and get lost in the somewhat haunted nature of the sounds coming out with that tape hiss.  

A sort of pained humming comes in now with acoustic strums and then some strange vocals behind it.  This all cuts through and slices in ways which makes it feel like a disjointed folk song.   Some noisy bursts through what I feel like was a short song there.  Then we get into more like haunted howls and that static slip.  In some ways, this also can just feel like we're in space.  Going from this random sense of folk to ending with a 1960's type of sci-fi feel is definitely not a turn I thought we'd take, but this is a cassette that will keep you on your toes every note of the way.