Double Cassette
Mysterious European alchemists iRiAi Verlag and TRii Compiler unite as Alepher for a impressively substantial collection of woozy, quixotica electronics. First released by Stroom last year, the sheer volume of music made it seem unlikely it would ever graduate to the physical form, but Tax Free have anted up with this double cassette edition that somehow makes the project seem all that more overwhelming - a load of tracks on a screen is one thing, but two hours of liminal zone excursions, deconstructed electro and wonked IDM alterna-pop (wait until the vocals kick in on Side D) jammed on to two tapes is another altogether. The pair form the ideal hive mind, and when you're effortlessly in sync, why feel a need to be succinct? If the ideas are flowing, don't press the brakes, accelerating into the kind of bent sideways sound that recalls the shadowlands of Werkbund, Black Dog Productions' collective eclecticism, and the other world disorientation of that recently uncovered Julien Grossmann LP. Given its idiosyncrasies, you could perhaps even see this as a central European take on the inner city private world sonics of the Jolly Disc crew. However you choose to interpret it, while separately these two rarely miss a beat, together they're nothing short of formidable. Without question a statement work.
FFO: Werkbund, Black Dog Productions, Julien Grossman, Enchante, Special Occasion
