Forgive me, for I have sinned. It’s been many-a-Cerberus since Catholic Tapes has graced our pages — and how much penance must I pay for making an obviously bad joke? If the punishment is to listen to Wume’s Distance for eternity, I shall most graciously accept it. From the minds of Albert Schatz (Bird Names) and April Camlin (of the Wham City ‘collective’), you’d expect no less than zany, engrossing pop-tinged weirdness. Although your calculations wouldn’t be far off, Wume is also heavy on the carnivalesque madness of 60s and 70s B Cinema with just enough kosmische and kraut to make this one desirable sausage encased in plastic and tape roll. Distance, as cabbage-reeked as it smells, does indeed go to great lengths to be accessible to old and new. It’s a throwback to Germanic touchstones, but Wume’s vision is clearly planted in the future, riffing on modern proto-synthers like Lopatin and Ettinger with some new age twists. But most of all, it’s upbeat and rhythmic. The incorporation of a rhythm section and structure breaks Distance from the pack. There’s nothing sinful about polishing off good music with a bit of pop wax. Wume is catchy, and no matter how many lashings I’ll have to endure for calling it so will never take that away.
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