I have listened to this cassette tape whilst cooking dinner, riding my bike, at work, going to sleep, sitting on the couch, standing on the front porch, grocery shopping, emptying the cat box, and taking a shower. And I have decided that Red Bird Messenger is a thoroughly maniacal musical work, strangely patience-testing, and even more strangely addicting, which in my opinion is kind of sadistic. Both sides of music are built around otherwise marginally accessibly melodic material at their core, but by the end of side A, you’re going to think you’ve gone completely insane, and man is it strangely meditative and intoxicating sort of insane. Metaphorical bird-noises arranged in little melodies, multiplied and looped to infinity. And then once you get to the beginning of side B, which has this kind of Celtic army march vibe to it, you might feel like you’re back to normal… until you realize the Celtic army march thing has been repeating for about a half hour. And then you’ll go insane (again). To be fair, both sides do have their own internal developments, slight shifts etc. as things lope along. But this is extreme minimalism. I am not sure what compelled whoever it is that is behind this stuff to put me through this kind of torture day after day, but I’m almost through this review so I think I can… handle. No. I cannot handle it. It’s kind of like that game Flappy Bird, you know? I COULD just delete it…. Just one more go. Eyes wide, nostrils flared. Just give in.
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