Monday, May 7, 2018

Cassette Review:
I am just a pupil
"The White Album"
(Crash Symbols)


$6 //
Edition of 100 //
https://crashsymbols.bandcamp.com/album/the-white-album //

An audio clip about how only one in seven families in the Soviet Union owns an automobile.   Pianos accompany this before it turns into this patriotic feel and this is turning into a history lesson.   And now somehow we get into what I assume is a YouTube video of some kid making fun of Olive Garden.  Imagine if I could make YouTube videos as reviews and just say "This is terrible.  This tastes terrible.  The salad is terrible.  The breadsticks are terrible".   And then the kid says to go to a good place like Burger King.   Yeah, this is parody right?  But YouTube reviewers are the worst.   Right now the only reason why I think people should do YouTube reviews is as parody.

Now someone talking about dreadlocks.    This is where Brian the Dog from "Family Guy" would pipe in with "Is it just me or is rap music getting lazy?"    There are laser synths coming through behind this audio clip though, so that's something.   I'm not sure what this guy is doing with his dreadlocks but I'm glad I don't have a visual on it.    The voice is manipulated alongside clanks and bangs.   It's getting rather glitch like when Conky 2000 warms up on Pee Wee's Playhouse.

Someone is talking about being a college student now.   He says you get a degree and student loan debt.  He believes if you can't get a job in VCR repair within six months you should be able to get your money back.  Oh, if only.   Now he's saying we have DVDs and digital and a VCR repair degree is useless but you can't get your money back.   This also takes us into our first song which is this short melody of electronics.   It feels like it could have some guitars in it now, in a fun party rock way as someone goes "Hey! Hey! Hey!"   Still, audio clips are spliced in though.

"I've been watching you for a really long time and I love you".   That's just creepy.   "If I take off your duct tape do you promise not to scream?"   Yeah, this is the greatest love story ever, yeah?   "Sometimes technology can hurt you but not as much as it can help you".  Yeah, that's what they thought and then Terminator happened.    Now a mother is yelling at her wild kid while comedic type music plays in the background.    The kid keeps saying "Goddamn pigs" and I feel like the little brat needs to be sent to military school.    Isn't it funny how quickly we can judge someone for something so simple?

The flip side begins with a lot of bings and I'm pretty certain one of the voices getting so excited about them is Regis.    The next audio clip sounds like it is about some new age bullshit and there are soft pianos behind it.   I feel like I am just a pupil is making music behind these audio clips at times and also manipulating the words, so it's kind of like found music samples being turned into songs of a sort by the artist.   It's definitely unlike anything I've heard before but it is a social commentary in the larger aspect of it and in a visual sense this would be close to something you could see on "The Daily Show" or "Talk Soup" (If that still exists.  If not, Joel McHale has a show on Netflix now which I hear is similar to "The Soup")

As "Crystals" ends on this "Wow" I had to laugh out loud.   This goes into one of those video games like "Call of Duty".   Oh man.  I can't imagine being a teenager now and having to interact with other teenagers (And older people) while playing video games.   I liked losing in the comfort of my own room.  I remember this one wrestling game I'd play in season mode and no matter what I did I always lost at the same part- it was programmed that way- and it frustrated the hell out of me.   Many PS2 remotes were thrown.   This is a sound collage at its core but I like the idea that my neighbors might think I'm having a hardcore gaming session in my place.

There are some elements closer to music now- less talking and more breaking down of the minimal electronics.    And now some guy is getting high for our entertainment.   Yup.  We're into "Whippits" now and this has got a groove to it.   Now we're hearing about Hillary Gump though, which feels like we're going onto the next track.   And Shane McMahon's theme song makes a brief appearance.   The thought of Hillary having Snapchat is cringe, but everyone who hates Donald Trump seems to forget how much of a choice we really had in this past election with HIllary.   It was like, "Would you rather eat horse shit or dog shit?", which is why a two party system doesn't work, but hey, let's not get too political here okay?

At first, I wasn't sure how to feel about this cassette.  It's not really songs and it seems like anyone could take a bunch of audio samples like this and string them together to form a statement such as this cassette makes.   But the thing is, a lot of the best sounds feel so simple and easy to recreate.   The best type of drone is something which cannot be made by simply holding down your finger on a keyboard.   I think the simplicity in this really adds to it- because it's not overcomplicated in its message or delivery- and while I haven't heard other express their beliefs in a similar way I wouldn't mind if this caught on as a genre.  (I know, I know, now someone will link me to how this has a tag on Bandcamp already)









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