[$7 // Edition of 25 // https://illuminatedpaths.bandcamp.com/album/cold-clouds-x-citrus-glaze-x-jordan-anderson]
One of the most difficult things about reviewing a three way split on cassette is it is hard to tell when one artist ends and another begins. Though at least these three artists are not trading off on songs because that would just be the end of me. It is worth noting though that if you thought this was going to be easy your first time through you were mistaken. Cold Clouds begins the cassette on Side A with a number of tracks and then there is one long, ten minute song from Citrus Glaze. Between Cold Clouds, Citrus Glaze and Illuminated Paths someone thought it was a good idea to have increments of time pass between tracks to make you think that Cold Clouds was done and you'd be onto Citrus Glaze when you're really not. Luckily, since I've become quite fond of Cold Clouds' self-titled cassette I can know what to listen for (and perhaps not listen for) with them.
We begin with dreamy hues but there is also darkness in them. It's eerie and haunted, minimal and then goes slightly into some of that magic key sound from the live action MOTU movie. As I listen to the songs of Cold Clouds on here all I can feel is torn between two places. Either this is going to be rather relaxing or it's going to take me into a horror movie which, depending upon the movie, could be the opposite of relaxing. It is not lost on me that Cold Clouds comes out in fragments of sorts, shorter songs strung together in a way which has you wondering where Cold Clouds ends and Citrus Glaze begins, but don't worry-- it gets easier the second time you listen to it through.
Citrus Glaze begins with "Vroom" around the time that what comes out is noted by me as being FNL beeps with these sort of words being spoken though it just seems to be sound. It actually sounds like someone is saying one word over and over like, "Rep rep / rep" but I still don't think it is something which can be spelled so easily. This also brings about some organ ambient drone keys, which I originally thought was the beginning of Citrus Glaze, but the way that these two pieces are included on the same side together by two different artists but blend so well is just an overall compliment to this cassette. Also, "Vroom" is one of the tracks you can stream for free on the Illuminated Paths Bandcamp page if you should need further guidance.
And then we have Jordan Anderson who has Side B all to himself, no mistaking where he starts and ends. I know that Jordan Anderson has his own cassette now on Illuminated Paths so I am going to be looking into that after hearing this. Through sounds of the ambient come what appears to be the warping of a record. The tempo increases with beats but then slows back down again almost to a drone. At first there are some hues within the drone but then it turns into video game keys followed by straight up church organs. Unlike the Cold Clouds piece before this at least I know that for the most part this can be considered relaxing because it doesn't seem at all as if it is going to push me over the edge. Perhaps it is designed to take the edge off after the Cold Clouds numbers. I'm not sure.
All I know is that Illuminated Paths made the right decision in putting these three artists together on this cassette. I know sometimes artists can have albums that are 40 minutes or so and they seemingly get paired together on a C90 and, well, I'd be lying if I said I had never done that as youth (Because growing up my first car had a tape deck, so I'd constantly put CDs onto cassette) and my pairings were mostly random though I'd usually still end up with a punk band on each side or maybe a punk band on one side and a ska band on the other. In any case, whether or not these three artists were aware of it going in or not these three distinct pieces seem to be working in complete harmony and you really cannot ask for much more than that.
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