Cassette, Drongo Ultra-High Bias Drip-Free Tapes LTD, 2023
Stimulus Overconclusion wastes no time in launching you into an otherwordly space where even familiar textures feel alien and mysterious. Throughout the first side, aquatic percussion loops on tabla or drums are submerged in strange electronic smears and warbly acoustic strings & flutes, suggesting a shapeshifting noise-folk beat tape somewhere in between Jon Hassell’s fourth world explorations and This Heat’s visceral tape experiments. The cassette’s flip side immediately lurches into the title track’s overcompressed drum blasts, an energizing jolt to the system. The penultimate track “Digable Kale” may catch you off-guard with its deadpan vocals, angular basslines and fractured noise rock, which devolves into a menacing psychedelic jam session. Closing the tape on an ominous note, the brief “Terrible Things” is a scrambled transmission of religious spoken word ramblings, underscored by arrpegiating sci-fi synthesizers. I’m left feeling brainwashed by an extraterrestrial cult, and the strange thing is, I don’t mind. (Review by Ash Ingalls, Dec 17, 2024)
Styles: Alien Folk Beat-Tape, Sound Collage, Noise Rock, Progressive Electronic
Vibes: Otherworldly, Ethereal, Mysterious, Tribal, Exploratory, Ritualistic, Surreal, Visceral, Ominous, Suspenseful
Musical Qualities: Percussive, Collage, Noisy, Beats, Atmospheric, Rhythmic, Dynamic
