A Closer Listen
While listening to the 90-minute Collapsing Tape, one is reminded of just how delightfully weird Bristol’s Collapsing Drums label is. The tape ~ a C90, just like an old-fashioned, ecletric mixtape – is the label’s 5th anniversary release, and is filled with outliers who in this context become inliers. Consider for example the closing piece, the Por Favor remix of DJ Marcelle‘s “A Difficult Fridge for Cheese,” which was an unusual piece in its initial incarnation, and is even more abstract here. It’s very difficult to dance to, but perhaps inversion is the point, and an old-fashioned melody arises in the background toward the end, along with a hedge trimmer. Or Han‘s “Communion Wafers,” which sounds not at all like church, but is more like a fragment from a disjointed dream.
The whole thing starts like a video game, with Luke Sanger‘s “Road to Somewhere” an angular counterpart to Talking Heads’ “Road to Nowhere.” This road may be going somewhere, but we’re not sure where or how. At the end, the plug is pulled, making space for the next leg of the journey, which one might call exploratory surgery. Propan‘s shaker and rising trills are followed by Elaine Mitchener‘s vivid onomatopoeia and Dan Johnson‘s reverberant chimes and echoey snares.
Sculpture is one of the most immediately recognizable names, the duo normally accompanied by zoetrope vinyl and strobe light videos. One can still feel such things in the flapper repetitions of “Portal Customer,” which twists and turns and doubles back like Ouroboros. This is preceded by Valentina Magaletti & Fanny Chiarello, who title their selection “Migraine,” more for those who don’t normally listen to experimental music than for those who do; and turntablist-vocalist duo Miriam Rezaei & Dali de St. Paul, whose “A Love Affair” rises to an epic collapse, pretty perfect for a Collapsing Tape. The duo is also known to perform with Magaletti; this is a tight-knit group. The tracks blend beautifully, though it’s a bumpy ride, like a wagon train over rocks.
The album’s phantasmagorical art is a perfect reflection of the music within. Collage quintet Ex Agent shares a squalling spoken word piece from New Assumptions, the last album to be released on Collapsing Drums before this cassette. “…And The Way She Shakes His Fist At Them” begins in violent fashion, then moves to organic melody, reveling in drastic contrast. BIPED shares “Rarity Rarity,” a piece that isn’t on Property, justifying the spoken word title. The fact that there are more artists here than there are releases on the label speaks encouragingly of the label’s future. From improvised jazz to conversational rap, all daring artists are welcome.
The label’s tagline is “experiments in sound, rupture and repair.” One can hear their ethos on display, as many of this tape’s tracks feel abraded, stitched or spliced, and together they form an elaborate patchwork. Solo trumpet topples into sine wave; machines sputter and melt. At times, honoring the label’s name, the sonic field seems to be collapsing, only to find its footing again. As Rebecca Lennon intones, “there are lots of mouths in this place.” These tracks were not made to be popular; they were made to expand the realm of possibility. (Richard Allen)
Thu Nov 27 00:01:14 GMT 2025