[$3 // Edition of 20 // https://ojcrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/ii]
This is the second time I am listening to Galaxie Deluxe and as such this is the second Galaxie Deluxe cassette as the title is to be thought of as Roman numerals. It seems only fitting that my first time listening to Galaxie Deluxe was back with their first release and my introduction to OJC Recordings.
On the sequel, we begin with electronic loops that have big beats. Through siren-whirrs it can sound 8bit in some ways as well, but there is just a lot of bass. Screeches come through in static. Tones create an organ-like effect, as if out of a song by The Doors, while static blasts fill the background. The tones can seem to drone but never for too long and they sustain patterns and loops. I definitely feel like these songs are the soundtrack to some wonderful video game I played either on the Atari or original Nintendo.
There are more solemn, quieter portions to this side as well, as the last song has that bells/gong feel to it and is not so much relaxing but just all around powerful as the sound is just belted out with those tiny piano sounding keys accompanying it. In some ways it makes me feel like everything is falling apart in slow motion, possibly because those piano notes remind me of something from the Nine Inch Nails song "Hurt".
Of course as the last song on Side A is "Arc pt. 1" and the first song on Side B is "Arc pt. 2" you could say that when we flip the cassette we pick up right where we left off. At one point in time I might have complained about just putting the whole song on one side so it could flow together but I like the fact here that you can get into Side B so easily because it's that continuation in ways.
There are some vocals on this Galaxie Deluxe cassette as well and though they have that home-recorded feel to them the deeper tones that go with them sound like they could be out of one of the darker songs on Nine Inch Nails' "The Fragile" and so yet again I find myself referencing NIN though this doesn't quite have the same overall feel.
Tone drone takes us into beats and slightly muffled vocals. It's kind of like a broken video game, in the way that it has that 8bit tone (or dialtone even maybe) but then there are tones behind it forming patterns in a loop. So this is electronic, sure, but somewhat in a rock way and I also really just don't recall the first Galaxie Deluxe cassette as having vocals though I could be wrong. (You can go back and read the review for yourself and I'll listen to the cassette again later as well)
Hues come through with the chriping of birds and then we have that lonely bass note repeating like a game of Pong somehow. Vocals come through once again, in a spoken word manner, and this begins to become somewhat psychedelic though I cannot think of any other artist to compare it with exactly. My mind wanders to classic rock like Pink Floyd, sure, but that's just not right. Does Spinal Tap count or is that just not to be taken seriously? He's talking about a tiger. Bubbles come through in space whirrs to remind us of the trip.
Strong tones resonate in the way of a church organ. It brings me back to my earlier thoughts of The Doors. As it quiets down and fades out it brings this cassette to a close and I'm not sure I've compared something with both The Doors and NIN before, but it a rather interesting combination to say the least. I remember a lot of Galaxie Deluxe being electronic but not the other details and as such I will be listening to the first cassette and this one back to back for what should be the ultimate experience.
As I feel that fans of Galaxie Deluxe (those who read my first review and enjoyed the first cassette release) will be equally impressed by "II", even if this is your first time experiencing Galaxie Deluxe this cassette is certain to win you over as a fan of good music.
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