CASSETTE REVIEW: Hooded Menace “Gloom Bap” (Dig Dug DIY)

                Before we even explore the music on this cassette, I must compliment Dig Dug DIY on being so awesome.  This cassette was packaged with a small satchel that has that Dig Dug DIY logo painted over it several times in a DIY style.  Inside this fabric bag were some odds and ends, including a walking milk carton, the Letter M, a small roll of tape, stickers and a mini-skateboard about the size of my pinky finger.

                The collection of pure randomness that comes with this (and imagining what would come with your order) makes it worthwhile without even beginning the process of realizing, hey, we have music to review here!

                Oh, and a shout out to Dig Dug DIY as well for being named after one of my favorite Atari games.  No joke:  They have an arcade game in the waiting room at my son’s doctor’s office and of the handful of games you can play on it, Dig Dug is one of them.  I never mind waiting for his name to be called and often show up early to his appointments because it’s always set on free play. 

                First note is that this tape is hand painted (DIY, yes) and thus the shade of blue/green that covers the tape itself also manages to cover over the middle part where you can see the actual tape (You know, the part that the plastic part makes cycle and protects) 

                This is kind of funny to me (my first time seeing it) because I can’t tell where I’m at in the tape, which side is rewound, etc.   It’s not a huge deal, but rather something I’ve yet to encounter in the physicality of cassette tapes.

                Hooded Menace as a musical project has beats for days.   They are instrumental and just pure joy to listen to whenever I can.    Certain styles of music don’t translate as well on cassette as they should, the two main ones being metal and hip hop.   These are not quite the typical hip hop beats in that sense.

                Rather, this reminds me of something that might be done by someone like Dan Deacon or someone who was overproduced being stripped down to their basic roots.  It reminds me of what every artist out there who wants to be a producer (You know the guys) should aspire to sound like because this just makes so much more sense.

http://music.digdugdiy.com/album/gloom-bap