Hospital Productions’ tape compilations always feel like they are hiding something from the listener, some buried strand of mystery connecting each piece of music. This particular four-cassette-gem’s title reference to Machiavelli makes this explicit , pointing out some complex act of duplicity that will be revealed within, each artist having a hand in crafting something devious.
Alessadro Cortini’s tape is the first of the four and it slowly transforms apocalyptic rumble and hurricane-electronics into distorted recordings of rain and water; natural forces twisted into daggers of sound. Kevin Drumm throws down 30+ minutes of subtly shifting drone that feels like exploring the empty landscape left behind after Cortini’s storm, harking back to his glorious sister albums Imperial Distortion and Imperial Horizon. Lussuria’s contribution is more obviously a follow-up to his excellent Scarlet Locust of These Columns; ethereal and gauzy ambiance creating a walk through moon-lit castle corridors hunting for ghosts more personal than paranormal. The final tape is a collaboration between Regis and Prurient, with barely-discernible vocals stabbing through veils of fuzz and distortion, held aloft with buried throbs of bass. It sounds distinctly similar to the start of Cortini’s tape, looping everything back around for another chance to read subjective meaning into things that may have none.
More about: Alessandro Cortini, Kevin Drumm, Lussuria, Prurient, Regis
