A unique cooperation with Mat Smith’s Mortality Tables imprint and outsider electronic artist Xqui in context of the now ending cassingle series.
Concept Notes by Mat Smith:
“On March 19th 2020, the company I worked for asked me to work from home with immediate effect. The initial expectation was that this would last no more than two weeks.
Initially, it was novel and liberating: I’d been used to commuting fifty miles to London for nearly twenty years, usually in a suit and tie. In the first days of what became known as ‘lockdown’, we were still very much operating in a world of audio conference calls, and rarely ever used video. That meant I could wear whatever I wanted, and didn’t need to conform to any sort of corporate uniform. I decided it was the perfect opportunity to work my way through my entire t-shirt collection, in the order that they were stacked on the shelf in my wardrobe.
At first, I thought it would be fun to maintain a list of all these t-shirts, in the order that I wore them, and that ongoing list became one of the earliest Mortality Tables Products. It was also a way of measuring an uncertain time – to see how many I could wear before lockdown ended. I figured I’d make it to fourteen, maybe twenty. Instead I worked my way through all 55 t-shirts that I owned at that time, at least twice, and possibly three times. What started out as something fun became a necessary ritual – something methodical and predictable in a world where all certainties had been upended; something I could control. I also recognise that it was a portent of a mental breakdown that I would experience several months later.
As the Mortality Tables project moved from a purely conceptual idea to a more visible state, the idea of collaborating with the superpolar Taïps cassette label emerged. Various potential Products from the Mortality Tables Catalogue were discussed, progressed and discounted, before we finally agreed upon ‘All The T-Shirts I Wore In Lockdown’ as part of their much-loved cassette single release programme. The intentionally serious whimsicality of this Mortality Tables Product was felt to be a logical complement to the overall aesthetic of the series.
The superpolar Taïps cassette single series has included releases from. Hualun, Whettman Chelmets, Chorchill and Adderall Canyonly since it began in 2020. superpolar Taïps have chosen ‘All The T-Shirts I Wore In Lockdown’ to become the 35th and final release in the series.
The narrated list was recorded in June 2023 in the bathroom of the Premier Inn Hub in Shoreditch, London. The list was then re-recorded at my home in Woburn Sands, in the room that I worked from in the initial stages of lockdown, in July 2023. The narration was then handed to anonymous outsider electronic artist Xqui, a regular Mortality Tables collaborator, to develop a sonic response to accompany the narration. His response was completed in July 2023. An instrumental version (‘No Shirts’) was created for the B-side of the cassette.
The concept for the cassette sleeve was developed by Mortality Tables design collaborator Neil Coe (Carta Design). His design uses the illustration of a ubiquitous I Heart NY t-shirt by Jason Laurits (Paste, New York), which Laurits then printed onto an otherwise plain white t-shirt. I bought one of these t-shirts from the Paste store in Chelsea Market, NY in 2018. My t-shirt appears as number eight in the narrated list.”
ABOUT XQUI
“The ‘Hymns’ album is very cool. The atmospheric effects are perfect.” – Vince Clarke.
“A carefully constructed, intelligent and mature work from a musician very much in control of his art… This is full blown hauntology.” – We Are Cult
“Pausing any of these tracks to attend to other things was like breaking a spell.” – Fortitude Magazine “As good as Basinski, and neck and neck with the degenerative sounds of Eno’s best.” – TQ
“In an effort to circumvent our unalterable mortality, we create. We make SOUNDS, ART, WORDS. These things are our INSURANCE against death.”
– Mortality Tables, On Mortality, Immortality & Charles Ives (2022)
E Peritia Ratio: reason from experience.
Nothing happens without context. Every event has a catalyst. There is no such thing as a blank page.
So it goes that each Mortality Tables Product must begin with an outline of an initial creative concept – a thought; a notion; a moment of serious whimsy; a considered reflection on life, memory, love, loss, trauma, death.
We document those ideas, then invite collaborators to respond freely to them.
They may ignore us. They may say no. They may say yes. Whoever we invite to participate shall be unencumbered by restriction, constraint, expectation, convention, limit or judgement.
There are never any right or wrong answers, because there are no questions. There is nothing more than the idea and the response.
ABOUT SUPERPOLAR TAÏPS superpolar Taïps is a small cassette and net label focusing on experimental pop music released on limited edition albums, EPs and singles. It is run by independent artist bleed Air and based in Cologne.
Its roster comprises artists from all over the world, spawning from continental Europe to the UK, US and further towards Asia.
In addition to the cassette single series, releases such as the albums by Guido Möbius, five Bubble criteria and Modelbau received decent attention from acclaimed music media.
superpolar Taïps is not for profit.
superpolar Taïps label for experimental pop music superpolar.org
credits
released November 3, 2023
Produced and mixed by Xqui, July 2023 Narration: Mat Smith Design: Neil Coe Illustration used with kind permission of Jason Laurits & Paste pastetshirts.com
All proceeds from this release will be paid to the CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) and Kölner Tafel charities. www.thecalmzone.net tafel.koeln
The 35th (and final) superpolar Taïps cassette single release SPT49 (as part of the respective series started in 2020).
For the Cassingle Series, Ball Geographie contributes two tracks from an abandoned 90ies project which were rearranged and recorded especially for the superpolar Taïps label.
Originally, they were part of a two-hour prog-rock musical dealing with the cultural history of communication technology. At the time, the project (working title: »Okay Danke Tschüss«) fell through due to the cost of two symphony orchestras, a mixed choir, and the Remake of various historical instruments. All demo versions and scores for the revue – including songs for Talking Drum, “Rohrpost” (pneumatic tube postal service) and Telex – are considered lost.
However, on the occasion of the Cassingle Series, Ball Geographie has now reconstructed two pieces with the help of old diary notes and conversations with sound engineers at the time.
“Hotline” is dedicated to telephony, “Weltempfanger” to radio. In both tracks Ball Geographie was able to draw on his private audio archive, acoustic finds as well as musical support from guest musicians. For example, “Hotline” features spoken word avant-gardist Frelini Caroka and “Weltempfanger” features Sarah Kardamon on prepared mbira, glockenspiel and xylophone.
Für die Cassingle-Serie steuert Ball Geographie zwei Stücke eines aufgegebenen Projekts aus den 90er Jahren bei, die eigens für das superpolar-Label neu arrangiert und aufgenommen wurden.
Ursprünglich waren sie Teil eines zweistündigen Progrock-Musicals, das sich mit der Kulturgeschichte der Kommunikationstechnik befasst. Das Projekt mit dem Arbeitstitel »Okay Danke Tschüss« scheiterte damals an den Kosten für zwei Symphonieorchester, einen gemischten Chor und die Anfertigung verschiedener historischer Instrumente. Alle Demoversionen und Partituren für die Revue – darunter Songs zu Buschtrommeln, Rohrpost und Telex – gelten als verschollen.
Anlässlich der Cassingles-Serie hat Ball Geographie nun jedoch zwei Stücke nach alten Tagbuchnotizen und nach Gesprächen mit den damaligen Toningenieuren zunächst weitgehend rekonstruiert und dann neu arrangiert.
»Hotline« widmet sich der Telefonie, »Weltempfanger« dem Radio. In beiden Tracks konnte Ball Geographie auf sein privates Audioarchiv, akustische Fundstücke sowie musikalische Unterstützung von Gastmusikerin zurückgreifen. So ist auf »Hotline« etwa die Spoken-Word-Avantgardistin Frelini Caroka und auf »Weltempfanger« Sarah Kardamon an präparierter Mbira, Glockenspiel und Xylophon zu hören.
Multidisciplinary artist Andreas Gogol first caught our attention with his stunning vocal performances on Guido Möbius‘s album ‘Gebirge’ (Karaoke Kalk, 2009), even if he had been present in the experimental music scene way longer, for example with his album ‘Gorymaaz’, released on A-Musik in 2005.
On this cassette single, Gogol appears under the YOCKO O.NE feat. prinz-ip moniker, offering two quite diverse tracks:
On O.H.E. [action], Gogol takes his funky, dadaesque vocals one step further by bending time and space and chopping things up while it seems as if at the same time a weird entertainer looses control over his organ and its rhythm machine. A feast for the ears.
R.I.FF. [minox], on the other hand, points more to the other facet of agogol: That of the experimental filmmaker, who here perhaps contributes part of a soundtrack to a neo-noir style film he has not yet released. Supposedly you never heard an accordion that dark.
Goodparley (Oli Richards) is a formerly Cardiff now London (UK) based musician. His sounds are largely based around improvised ambient guitar loops and textures, manipulated in real-time using various modulating effects to create inherently experimental soundscapes.
Shreddies is the alias and solo project of Welsh musician, Josh Dickins. He also runs the cassette label New Haven Tapes.
Label maker and SPT COO bleed Air said,”This is Experimental Pop at its best.”
“While ‘Soundtrack for a Hummingbird’ with its gentle melodies indeed feels like pop, ‘Marine Blue’ shows the more experimental side of the two musicians and producers, from whom we will certainly hear more in the future,” SPT Marketing Assistant Robin Barnick added.
“‘Carapace’ and ‘Oneiric Amplitude’ (Side B, bonus track) are tracks composed entirely from my voice. Here, I’m exploring themes of the subconscious, namely the dream state and its ability to communicate vital shifts within our healing before our conscious mind becomes aware of them”, says Megan Mitchell.
She composes unsettling, ethereal music under the alias Cruel Diagonals. A jazz and classically trained vocalist, Mitchell performs and creates in numerous capacities.
Cruel Diagonals is an outlet for destructive sample processing, vocal exploration, and a palette for inter-media contemplations and applications. Influenced by early experimental filmmakers such as Maya Deren and Kenneth Anger, Cruel Diagonals has been described in cinematic terms, evoking moods and montages of an eerie, surrealist timbre. Warped field recordings and layered vocals incite a beckoning to a phantasmagorical, metallic-tinged state of existence.
I first came across modus pony’s music on a split tape released by Cologne’s Strategic Tape Reserve. His genre-spanning, intricate guitar/bass/synth arrangements immediately stood out (of course next to the artist behind VLK, whom we’ll welcome soon as part of this cassingle series too). Because of its complexity, “Systemmetry/2Systemmetry” could be perceived as a concept album condensed to two times 2.5 minutes. However, this time, the multi-instrumentalist reveals even more of his experimental side – bubbling analogue synths compete with free jazz guitar scales and it’s not clear who’s gonna win this gentle battle. Btw: Does your tape have auto-reverse? This is the opportunity to use it. moduS ponY resides in California, USA. – bleed Air
German Army is a two piece (DT and GT) from the San Gabriel Valley, California, USA. Raised on Sydney Possuelo and Paulo Freire, their catalog seeks to critique US imperialism and nationalism.
Their frequent and consistently outstanding releases have established them as one of the most present groups in the international tape scene in recent years, not to mention their many side projects.
qualchan. is a native american multi-disciplinary artist residing deep in the heart of cascadia. they describe their work as a reimagining of americana filtered through the tropes of new age, focusing primarily on living through the anthropocene. they call this wave now age, & are the only member of this school. they have released through Strategic Tape Reserve, Hotham Sound, No Problema Tapes and many others.
The number of his entries on discogs is 49 – in reality there are innumerable and probably half of them are cassettes or other obscure formats such as a (CD-sized 5″) vinyl single called “See Dee”. To keep it short: Harald Sack Ziegler – or simply “Sack” – is a lo-fi experimental trash pop/punk legend. He is by no means just a solo artist, as he has already worked with musicians like E*Rock (Sack & E*Rock), FS Blumm (Sack & Blumm), Mouse on Mars and many more. Harald studied orchestral music and is a master of French horn, guitar, drums and toy instruments – but rarely uses them as inventors usually intended.
With Ahornschraube (“maple screw”) and Blechriff (“brass riff”), Harald provides two tracks which have his main instrument – the French horn – at the centre, albeit heavily processed and sometimes literally chopped up. And, as always, to listen with pleasure.
The original thought behind the music of Tiger Village was to make music that is missing a core component of composition, as if an artificial or alien intelligence tried to mimic human music but the results were skewed. Much of this is achieved by blurring the concepts of tempo, rhythm and time signature. Over the years of the project the processes Tiger Village uses have changed, but the concept of blurring the lines of composition always remains.
Tiger Village is Tim Thornton. He lives in Cleveland, Ohio, USA and runs the Suite 309 label (suite309.bandcamp.com).
