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Music Tapes For Clouds And Tornadoes

This LP comes with a fold-out poster on which there are instructions on how to "Build Your Own Pop-Up Construction to Hold your Music Tapes Recording" (namely the CD you're encouraged to make of the downloadable versions of the songs), with part of the poster itself intended to be cut out and used in said Construction. The list of additional supplies the would-be hobbyist will need is: "one small acorn; a warm iron; scissors; a piece of stiff paper; glue". Among the instuctions is: "Draw a tiny musical note on your acorn". It's so very twee, as, to some extent, is the music, but it's also decidedly weird. Tweird, perhaps.

My belated discovery of the "Elephant 6" artists' work about fifteen years ago did not extend to The Music Tapes. Only last year did I happen to stray into their eccentric world. Music Tapes For Clouds And Tornadoes is unusual with respect to both its instrumentation and recording. The musical saw and the banjo are most prominent among the former. About the latter, the sleevenotes mention recording equipment including a '40s wire recorder; a '60s 4-track tape recorder, "a Hi-8 video camera, cassette recorder and computer".

How is the music? An acquired taste. One has to be in the right frame of mind. Julian Koster's vocals, it's safe to say, are untouched by auto-tune. It can get irritating. Much of it seems fragile and about ready to fall apart, but then things unexpectedly come together for moments of real beauty & joy. 'Majesty' is the highlight for me, a gem of a song. I'm also very fond of 'The Minister of Longitude' and 'Cumulonimbus (Magnetic Tape for Clouds)'.

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