Alien Tape - s/t
(Another Planet Records 2006, CDR)
Alien Tape - s/t
(Another Planet Records 2006, CDR)
From Aural Innovations #35 (January 2007)
Alien Tape is a collaboration between Australian Andrew McIntosh and U.S. based Richard Wixner. Apparently, the two of them met through Aural Innovations! The music on Alien Tape's self-titled debut is heavy on atmosphere. Strange extraterrestrial tones chirp and bleep amidst spacey ambient washes and sloshing waves of cosmic static. On the opening track, Sub Ether Radio, mutated voices drift in and out of the mix as well. Another piece, the shimmering Metallic Haze is based around a spacey, Eastern style drone. Yet another, Priests of Uranus, a particular favorite of mine, features stormy, oceanic sounds, mutated chants and throbbing electronics. The duo even throws in a bit of loungy sequencing on the appropriately titled Lunar Wine Bar. The end result is something kind of retro sounding, like those experimental electronic movie scores of the 50's and 60's, but with a definitely modern twist as well. Each piece is subtly different from the others, but as a whole, the album takes you on a sometimes relaxing and often eerie space voyage that sounds, well, like something you might find frozen in ice on a distant planet, captured for posterity on an ancient reel of alien tape.
For more information you can visit the Another Planet Records web site at: http://www.anotherplanetrecords.com.
Email at: rwix@anotherplanerecords.com or wormfood@alphalink.com.au.
Reviewed by Jeff Fitzgerald