Mark Aubert "The Escape Tape"

Listen to/Download The Escape Tape

San Fransisco's Mark Aubert makes mind-melting cassette tape trip-hop, essentially making him the lo-fi equivalent of DJ Shadow or RJD2. There, I said it. I can't be any more blunt than that. And if Mr. Aubert's the type who despises being compared to others, I sincerely apologize. But this is one of the highest compliments I can give.

All those weird, fuzzy-eyed, cotton-mouthed feelings I get when I listen to this album are eerily reminiscent of the first time I ever heard Shadow's Endtroducing way back in high school. Simply put, The Escape Tape easily is the chillest trip hop record I've heard since I was 17. OK, perhaps my (admittedly) limited knowledge of the trip hop's genre's back catalog could be considered a bit of a handicap here. Maybe. Who cares. Whatever. I'm just writing the first thing that that comes to the top of my head. Incidentally, listening to The Escape Tape makes me feel like I'm floating out of the top of my head.

For example, tracks like "Outlook" carefully creep into your consciousness and wrap around your brain like a warm, furry caterpillar. The intimate snaps, crackles and pops of the vinyl draw you in, chimes twinkle brightly in your aural peripherals, while looped string-pad samples build and decay, creating a pulsing sensation like some organic, glowing neon heart beating inside an alien womb. This may be a lot of hyperbole to digest, but this relaxing instrumental music certainly encourages the mind to wander.

I mentioned lo-fi earlier... Yes. But it's that most wonderful kind of low fi. Aubert skillfully mixes all his turntable wizardry via battery operated cassette recorders. Every sound, every sample is ever so slightly distorted...so that if you really crank the volume up high, The Escape Tape has potential to knock you on your ass and cause a bad case of couch-lock. Yes, I know I'm making a lot of references to being stoned, but...uh...yeah. Yep.

The Escape Tape is a fantastic listen, and perfect background music for coming down after a long night of raving, or whatever the hell it is you kids do these days. Dim the lights, smoke a bowl and enjoy. -Matt

Tony Bonanza "Rockabilly People"

Download Tony Bonanza - Rockabilly People

I awoke... and you were there... behind a veil of blue smoke...

Sacramento's Tony Bonanza feels like the man you wind up with in the hot tub after you realize that all your friends have left. Looks like it's just you and... him. The listening-to-your-neighbors'-music-through-the-walls groove of Rockabilly People's opener, "Santa Ana Nicole" arrives as quickly as it leaves, at this point Tony Bonanza's got the hot tub jets working in overtime as the opening synth washes of "Be My Toy" melt through your speakers.

But Bonanza knows when he's coming on too strong and quickly retreats to that air of mysticism that attracted you in the first place with "Lucky Charms." Help me, Tony! I can't navigate your universe alone. Then he holds your hand, as if out of nowhere, firmly, but relaxed (but not), and gives you a tour of all that could have been in "Threw it Away."

Rockabilly People screams for a tape or vinyl release. The beats are mellow and reassuring; the guitars are Pure Guava-era Ween, heavy on the jazz, and heavy synthage rounds out the mix into one big AM radio mushroom trip. What we have here is a pleasant collection of songs caramelized in phaser and drizzled with enough reverb to fill a concert hall. Excellent work, Tony, now drive me home cause I gotta work at 7 in the morning and if I wake up next to one more sweaty Italian with a lazy eye I'm going to have to recommit myself to Christ. -Adam

Listen to "Threw It Away"