Hello you. It is my absolutely pleasure to announce that I’m appearing as ‘special guest’ on the latest episode of the Cosmic Tape Music Club Podcast with my awesome new friends The Galaxy Electric!
Better known as Jacqueline and Augustus, the US-based duo combine an obsession with early experimental music with a bit of a knack for creating swirly psychedelic electronic space age synth pop of their own; with album titles such as Music For Teleportation and Everything Is Light And Sound offering big clues as to the kind of sonic magic they trade in. They’re also absolutely delightful company!
Over the course of an hour we talk tape loops, accidents and errors, growing up with weird sounds, Radiophonics and the Delia movie, Mystery Science Theatre, David Hasselhoff… It’s get PRETTY nerdy, as you can well. imagine. This is the video interview, but to be honest you’d be doing me a favour by listening to the audio version instead which can be found here. It’s exactly the same content, but without my blurry silhouetted head and endless gesticulating hands that suddenly seem absolutely massive for some reason. Perhaps it’s a perspective thing? Whichever medium you go for, if nerding out about electronic music is your thing, then this series will be very much in your wheelhouse. Dive right in and then go nab yourself some Galaxy Electric vinyl or perhaps one of their highly covetable mugs that would be so perfect for a cup of British tea.
And then just to completely maximise my exposure this month, I’m also chuffed to bits to have a double page spread in this month’s edition of The Wire, discussing the wonderful world of contemporary artists that use tape as a key part of their creative practice, in support of the legendary Aaron Dilloway – a tape loop tinkerer of much repute himself, of course.
Obviously any piece on contemporary explorers in tape can’t really begin without William Basinski, with whom I was lucky enough to go on tour back in 2015 (seems like a very long time ago now, doesn’t it?) and the wonderful Beatriz Ferreyra. But the real joy was discovering so much new music while writing it, such as the work of Australia’s Alexandra Spence and Marsha Fisher from the US. I received quite a few pointers from members of a Facebook group that I’ve subsequently been ejected from (long story), but two of those members were Jacqueline and Augustus, so really my short tenure on those pages proved to be quite fruitful. My only regret was not being able to include George Raynor-Law’s superb Cantonese Tapework, a copy of which was handed to me at the IKLECTIK Experimental Music Fair and that I’ve been blasting ever since. If only I’d come across it a couple of weeks earlier!
IKLECTIKA was incredible, of course, just like we all predicted. So lovely to make new friends, bump into old ones and pick up a bunch of exciting new releases from adventurous new labels. Combine it with the previous weekend’s performances by Tasos Stamou and Left Hand Cuts Off The Right at Cafe Oto and things almost move into the realm of feeling normal again. Fingers crossed it continues. All this weird music is so much more fun when we can all share it together, right?
Robin The Fog 