Go find your boombox or warm up the deck in your 1992 Honda Civic because a new cassette is available for pre-order on Deep Tapes! Gross Bite, the collaboration between New York-based composer Nathan Wheeler and Paris-based sound artist kikiilimikilii, are releasing a two-sided cassette EP titled Yod that will be shipping out soon. The first 25 to lay down a whopping $6.00 will get a free booklet containing original collage-style artwork (see above) and what looks to be a story called The Terrible Vigil of Walter Price! Without reading it, and only seeing the titles of the songs, here’s what I think it’s about:
Walter Price is none other than the Gold Lemurian, the only person on the planet who can communicate with the lemurs of Madagascar. After traveling to the island nation with his beautiful wife Ruby, Walter discovers his power and unlocks all the secrets of the elusive lemur. Soon enough, the lemurs find out about Walter’s ability and turn on him, ripping his body to pieces and throwing the parts into the Sea of Orichalcum, a mystical body of water that only lemurs know about, as an offering to their God, Yod. When Ruby can’t find Walter, she holds a vigil to no avail.
Yes, that sounds about right. But enough conjecture. kikiilimikilii is part of the French art group Collectif Tralala, an organization that, among other things, performs and releases pieces that encourage the exploration of sound. Wheeler is an accomplished performer and improviser with a background as a classical musician. Together, they’ve put together their “thumps, swirls, hums, fuzzes, groans, beats, drones, buzzes, and clangs” to produce the five tracks documenting the terrible fate of Walter and his now lonely lover Ruby.
Yod tracklisting:
01. Ruby
02. Gold Lemurian, Mvt 1
03. Gold Lemurian, Mvt 2
04. Gold Lemurian, Mvt 3
05. Sea of Orichalcum
• Deep Tapes: http://deeptapes.com
• Collectif Tralala: http://collectif-tralala.com
• Nathan Wheeler: http://www.nathanwheelermusic.com