Thursday, May 10, 2018

Cassette Review:
Kupkă
"Altered States"
(VERYDEEPRECORDS)


€7 //
Edition of 35 //
https://verydeeprec.bandcamp.com/album/altered-states //
🎧 //

Waves come crashing through.   There is an ambient feel to it as well, but it is intense right from the start.   Beeps come in like sonar and there are laser shots fired which make me think we are in space and *not* just because I've been reading Captain Marvel comic books lately.  (Cheap plug)   There is a drifting through space feel as well, even though these lasers seem to be shooting at something.    It grows quieter now and fades out.

Synth comes through somewhere between Makeup and Vanity Set and Yves Malone but it still feels like we are in space.   It's synth bass really.    The sequences of beeping can even begin to resemble a droid such as R2D2.   I'd tell you I'm not just saying that because I'm writing this on Star Wars Day but then you might be able to figure out how long it takes me from writing a review to posting it.

As the pace picks up the electronics becomes more scattered, more chaotic.   I get the sense that we are playing this game and the music starts at a certain tempo but the more time that passes the more the tempo increases and so we're getting into the later rounds- the more difficult parts- as the pace has definitely picked up.    This just feels so cool though, relaxing but hectic at the same time.

We get a little more distant now, some mechanics in here as well.  It's a cross between something happening with a car engine and a field recording of a crowded conversation.   Synth lasers reappear and this has a somewhat desolate space feel to it again.   Synth whirrs come through in waves now as frequencies join them.    Quieter now, electronics crackle through and this has a feeling like electronic insects to it which is cool.  I've always thought of the largest insects (and the robotic ones) as being from space.

Electronic looping now makes me think we're in the jungle like Stallone, Rambo style.   This brings us to the end of Side A and I feel like we were on this other planet- we floated there somehow- we met some insects which may or may not have been friendly and we had to get out of there quick at the end.   So far, we've painted a fairly good picture for a movie and it makes me feel like I know who could do the score for my stop motion short should I ever get around to finally making it.

Static drone comes through with synths like shooting stars.   It sounds like the beginning of a movie in some ways too, like when that first audio part comes on loud.   A steady bass drum beat brings out these electronic frequencies which build now and just feel like sonar in a much more chaotic sense.   These beeps slow down to where they come out as somewhere between mice squeals and cats meowing.    They go back and forth and it makes for an interesting sound as well here.

The pace hasn't really changed, but it is getting louder now.   Glitching comes in like static shock.    We transform now into something which feels a little bit more like "Alias".    As this all comes to a head and then stops, the next track has these trippy vocals coming out of it to start.    A different type of synth tones comes out now- a more fun version, somewhat like a video game but not entirely.    It does feel like something you could hear on Cartoon Network though. 

Tones come out next which could be X-Files but they also feel as if we are on the verge of some big breakthrough in science.    This switches over to tones which make me feel like we are waking up and not just because there are birds in them as well.    In ends in this way as well and to some extent once we reach the end there is a lot of clarity.   If you simply flip it back over and press play then the whole experience seems to start again.  It's a day- maybe longer- on a loop.   But it's something which you should be listening to for your own dreams and reality.






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