2022 Exchange

2020 * 2021 * 2022 * Music Exchange Guidelines

Our 2022 Exchange is coming soon. Here’s the tentative playlist:

01: January: Cornelius F. Van Stafrin III – Specimen of Sentience

(discogs.com/artist/1856749-Cornelius-F-Van-Stafrin-III)

While we might have received this a little late, all things considered, our January release is by none other than Cornelius F. Van Stafrin III, who delivered one of my favorite releases of 2021, and has upped the game this year with 20 minutes of new compositions, that came packaged with a plant! Cornelius is always producing incredible work, and the sounds on the tape are nothing short of what you would expect: beautiful, textured drones that evoke time and place very vividly. And excellent start to the 2022 line-up!

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02: February: Lob Instagon

(instagon.bandcamp.com)

A mainstay of experimental music and art for a number of years, LOB has recorded and released an incredible body of work, and we are lucky to have him in our group. This is a limited edition CD (that members of our group ALSO get to enjoy), and contains some incredible work, as you would expect from the rest of their output. Always a pleasure to get a new Instagon album in the mail.

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03: March: Max Julian Eastman

(tribetapes.bandcamp.com)

This unusual piece for our exchange group comes from Tribe Tapes guru Max Eastman, who has been experimenting with 5″ lathe cut records for a while now. For this release, inside a plastic bag in an original photograph and a record, where you need to cut out the center hole in order to listen to it. (I used a penknife, and the record plays very well, now.)

Probably one of the most unique items to have arrived in our exchange group, these loops and grooves are “playable at any speed,” giving the listener a few options for playback and enjoyment. This is an excellent item in general, and a perfect item for our group.

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04: April: Le Petit Sac

(petitsac.bandcamp.com)

This Easter-themed release from Le Petit Sac has everything you’ve come to expect from their output, including squealing electronics, wormy vocals, and they combine in the perfect blend of lo-fi weirdness and modern-age performance. Always a pleasure to enjoy new releases from the Sac, and this one is something special. Make sure to put this one on next year, around Easter, to let the neighbors know how you feel.

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05: May: Fiver’s Stereo – Chasing Water DVD

(jaypeele.bandcamp.com)

A first for our group, our May release this year is a 40+ minute music video, where we get to enjoy the nature visuals, electronic meets field recordings music, and a whole lot of grooves and bloops, as we get to know a little more about why Fiver’s Stereo might be enjoying that precious, precious water.

I might have also had a hand in designing the packaging. This is not only a great continuation of the work that Fiver’s Stereo has been doing in our group the last few years, but a wonderful evolution of it, as well. I urge you all to sit down and watch this, instead of one of those lame drama’s you’ve been binging instead.

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06: June: My Burning Bush – be still

(hearmyburningbush.bandcamp.com)

Another installment in the releases that My Burning Bush has been producing, partially for our exchange group. If you’ve heard these before, then you know what to expect: My Burning Bush explores drones and soundscapes that often put the listener into a very different kind of mindset, one that works as a good pallet cleanser for people who are needing something to wipe their mind clean.

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07: July: formaldehydra – wilderness

(formaldehydra.bandcamp.com)

Another excellent release by Formaldehydra, that clocks in at just over 20 minutes. A combination of drones, cut-ups, field recordings and other noise making devices, this 3″ CD features an excellent dose of much needed joy from this Florida experimental maverick. I often say this, but there isn’t a release by Dylan yet that I didn’t like.

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