Tape Manipulation artists

[NO PART OF IT]

If this is a thread that I didn't find in my searches, forgive the redundancy.

I don't have the best of memory, but I'd love to find tape work from (most likely) the 80s or before.  If there are some things that have happened since then, my ears are open.  Recently, I've been listening to Kurt Volentine AKA Ian Andrews, there are links at his site and on youtube etc.  And just in general, if there are more things to chew on in the vein of early Severed Heads, please feel free to hip me to it. 

I realize that this could fall into Xenakis territory as well as Ilhan Mimaroglu and etc, but mainly I'm interested in people working with tape and tape loops outside of the context of some maybe more obvious artists who incorporate the method, but aren't necessarily strict tape manipulators, such as Sewer Election or Dog Lady, etc.  and maybe more obviously so than say Delia Derbyshire, who is more known for electronic processing than tape work, I guess.

I love the grainy sound of 80s home recordings, but I'll listen to anything in this vein.  Sterile Garden does some great work here, as well as a friend of mine who goes under "Ilth Zongz", and this one of multiple layers of tape loop "hypnosis" has been a regular for me since it came out:  https://lightenupsounds.bandcamp.com/album/hibernation

[Johann]

I assume your already listening to Dilloway, but figured I'd throw it out there to anyone that may be visiting the forum who is unfamiliar...his album Concealed is a masterpiece.

This album https://www.discogs.com/BP-Kerstmis-1980/release/5543741 released as part of the archival reissue series from UE is excellent, I'm not sure if it's tape or lock grooves, or a mix of both...an excellent listen (maybe a little to "fun" for some of the taste of the forum) but it has some very hypnotic carnival esque feel that makes for a haunting late night listen.

The other person I immediately think of when I think of loops is Joseph Hammer, his album Roadside Travel releases by Art Into Life is stunningly beautiful and will really transport the listener. A lot of his stuff seems to be utilizing AM radio music, and I think his album "I love you, please love me too" released by Pan-Act May be using Fela Kutti samples (but I'm not positive), that's a much woozier album and again may not be of interest to everyone. His stuff with Joe Potts unearth the name Joe & Joe is like recycled reality stacked and amplified (especially the recent CD on Helicopter that Wiese released), it's pure existential terror in the best way possible, not a gentle listen (think DENSE like Romero but less monolithic).

I'd also suggest checking out Darksmith and Hsnds To if you haven't already,  they both manipulate tape at times...for Darksmith "Countdown to Man in the Clouds" is the most obvious use of it at the top of my head. And as for Hands To https://noticerecordings.bandcamp.com/album/scrine-1988 though I really love anything from either of these artist.

Blood Stereo (Dylan Nyoukis and Karen Constance) who runs chocolate monk may also be worth exploring. They often have a tape version and live version on their CD-Rs and they also release a lot of tape based music on their label.

Hope that's a decent start.

[CMSFoundation]

Altar of Flies strongly incorporates reel-to-reel manipulation and "classic" musique concrete techniques into Swedish noise/death industrial contexts. A bunch of his tapes and damn near anything released on vinyl or CD is essential, especially "Female" (LP), "Let New Life Rise in the Face of Death" (CD), "The Violent Blow" (LP), "Rabbit Hole" (LP), "Rörelsen Mellan Rummen" (LP), and "Auditory Hallucinations" (cs).

An older project with a rotating cast, Peach of Immortality featured Tom Smith (of To Live and Shave in LA and a million others) doing primarily live tape-manipulation work in the context of very aggressive and abrasive free improv material (other instruments included tabletop guitar and cello). On "Talking Heads '77," Tom batters some old tapes of backwoods preachers with some very aggressive reel/cassette moves. The 9CD set (!) on Karl Schmidt Verlag is a frighteningly comprehensive and exhaustive document, and you can check it out on Bandcamp. https://tomsmithksv.bandcamp.com/album/ksv-424-acr-x001-surrealismus-paris-prag-rockville-9xcd

This 1960 album is some serious, hard-gnarly tape music, very proto-Schimpfuch. Used to be rare as hell, and Creel Pone booted it a while back, but it looks like a legit (?) reissue finally happened in 2018: https://www.discogs.com/Anestis-Logothetis-H%C3%B6r-spiel-Nekrologlog-1961-Fantasmata-1960/release/12969805

[FiEND]

didn't Eric Lunde do some fripper-tronics style releases? seem to remember him mentioning in interviews.

[Johann]

didn't Eric Lunde do some fripper-tronics style releases? seem to remember him mentioning in interviews.

I'm not totally sure what you mean by fripper-tronics in the context of what I've heard of his work. But Lunde definitely incorporates tape heavily in his early releases, but I think his interest is more Burroughsian than anything else. I've read interviews where he talks about how the recording medium imprints specific data into recordings.

Peach of Immortality and Tom Smith are absolutely essential recommendations as is Schimpluf and Altar of Flies!

The Swedish comp Introverted Formula is also excellent!

[FiEND]

didn't Eric Lunde do some fripper-tronics style releases? seem to remember him mentioning in interviews.

I'm not totally sure what you mean by fripper-tronics in the context of what I've heard of his work. But Lunde definitely incorporates tape heavily in his early releases, but I think his interest is more Burroughsian than anything else. I've read interviews where he talks about how the recording medium imprints specific data into recordings.

the idea was to put a tape loop through 2 machines that one is recording to the other while the loop degrades and changes. the erase head is removed as well so it layers and changes. a set it and forget it kind of idea. the machine plays itself.

sorry for over simplification but i believe its discussed in SI #1?

EDIT:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frippertronics

[Andrew McIntosh]

Anne Gillis?

[NO PART OF IT]

I assume your already listening to Dilloway, but figured I'd throw it out there to anyone that may be visiting the forum who is unfamiliar...his album Concealed is a masterpiece.

This album https://www.discogs.com/BP-Kerstmis-1980/release/5543741 released as part of the archival reissue series from UE is excellent, I'm not sure if it's tape or lock grooves, or a mix of both...an excellent listen (maybe a little to "fun" for some of the taste of the forum) but it has some very hypnotic carnival esque feel that makes for a haunting late night listen.

The other person I immediately think of when I think of loops is Joseph Hammer, his album Roadside Travel releases by Art Into Life is stunningly beautiful and will really transport the listener. A lot of his stuff seems to be utilizing AM radio music, and I think his album "I love you, please love me too" released by Pan-Act May be using Fela Kutti samples (but I'm not positive), that's a much woozier album and again may not be of interest to everyone. His stuff with Joe Potts unearth the name Joe & Joe is like recycled reality stacked and amplified (especially the recent CD on Helicopter that Wiese released), it's pure existential terror in the best way possible, not a gentle listen (think DENSE like Romero but less monolithic).

I'd also suggest checking out Darksmith and Hsnds To if you haven't already,  they both manipulate tape at times...for Darksmith "Countdown to Man in the Clouds" is the most obvious use of it at the top of my head. And as for Hands To https://noticerecordings.bandcamp.com/album/scrine-1988 though I really love anything from either of these artist.

Blood Stereo (Dylan Nyoukis and Karen Constance) who runs chocolate monk may also be worth exploring. They often have a tape version and live version on their CD-Rs and they also release a lot of tape based music on their label.

Hope that's a decent start.

I'm familiar with basically everything mentioned except for that "Kerstmis" release, need to check that out!   I didn't know J. Hammer did tape work.  I saw a set of his with Crumer, and come to think of it, I might recall a reel or two in there.  That set definitely is in my top 5 best ever, for the record.  I always thought he was an analog hardware guy, not a tape guy, but only by ear am I guessing this.  Points of Friction is one of my favorite projects.  That said, I've never heard the "Joe & Joe" project.  Thanks!  

Altar of Flies strongly incorporates reel-to-reel manipulation and "classic" musique concrete techniques into Swedish noise/death industrial contexts. A bunch of his tapes and damn near anything released on vinyl or CD is essential, especially "Female" (LP), "Let New Life Rise in the Face of Death" (CD), "The Violent Blow" (LP), "Rabbit Hole" (LP), "Rörelsen Mellan Rummen" (LP), and "Auditory Hallucinations" (cs).

An older project with a rotating cast, Peach of Immortality featured Tom Smith (of To Live and Shave in LA and a million others) doing primarily live tape-manipulation work in the context of very aggressive and abrasive free improv material (other instruments included tabletop guitar and cello). On "Talking Heads '77," Tom batters some old tapes of backwoods preachers with some very aggressive reel/cassette moves. The 9CD set (!) on Karl Schmidt Verlag is a frighteningly comprehensive and exhaustive document, and you can check it out on Bandcamp. https://tomsmithksv.bandcamp.com/album/ksv-424-acr-x001-surrealismus-paris-prag-rockville-9xcd

This 1960 album is some serious, hard-gnarly tape music, very proto-Schimpfuch. Used to be rare as hell, and Creel Pone booted it a while back, but it looks like a legit (?) reissue finally happened in 2018: https://www.discogs.com/Anestis-Logothetis-H%C3%B6r-spiel-Nekrologlog-1961-Fantasmata-1960/release/12969805

I need more Altar of Flies!  I didn't know that tape was so prominent.  Sometimes when I listen, I hear what I think might be modular synthesis of source material, but maybe more people use tape than I thought.     Great suggestions!   I'm going to listen to that Greek guy now!  

Anne Gillis?

Looks promising, will look into it!  

EDIT:  As for Lunde, I got to spend time with some of his early tapes at WZRD, and I'd love to hear more.  I'd love to hear definitive work by this artist that stands apart from conceptual work.  Granted, his grainy field recordings are great, but as with John Duncan, the conceptual work makes me respect the artist more, but the actual execution of thrillingly structured sounds is what makes me return to the audio.  People who did "Frippertronics" outside of Fripp & Eno would be of interest, although I do know the basics, such as "I Am Sitting In A Room" and so forth... 

[WhiteWarlock]

If this is a thread that I didn't find in my searches, forgive the redundancy.

I don't have the best of memory, but I'd love to find tape work from (most likely) the 80s or before.  If there are some things that have happened since then, my ears are open.  Recently, I've been listening to Kurt Volentine AKA Ian Andrews, there are links at his site and on youtube etc.  And just in general, if there are more things to chew on in the vein of early Severed Heads, please feel free to hip me to it.  

I realize that this could fall into Xenakis territory as well as Ilhan Mimaroglu and etc, but mainly I'm interested in people working with tape and tape loops outside of the context of some maybe more obvious artists who incorporate the method, but aren't necessarily strict tape manipulators, such as Sewer Election or Dog Lady, etc.  and maybe more obviously so than say Delia Derbyshire, who is more known for electronic processing than tape work, I guess.

I love the grainy sound of 80s home recordings, but I'll listen to anything in this vein.  Sterile Garden does some great work here, as well as a friend of mine who goes under "Ilth Zongz", and this one of multiple layers of tape loop "hypnosis" has been a regular for me since it came out:  https://lightenupsounds.bandcamp.com/album/hibernation

Eye have some of "Infamous" tape manipulation 1/4" masters from my old mentor circa 1963-1980s...
Chicago Underground Experimental Scene...
Eye learned/practiced oldschool tape splicing&manipulation methods from him over the years...
He bestowed upon me his gear & boxes of tape.
Let me dig into the archives plus attempt record some more tapes on ye olde Teak Reel to Reel.
Play tag sometime here or over at NW...
We have met before...
Eye Personally have long history/obsession with tape manipulation techniques.
BTW you may want researching the Phonogene & Morphagene for personal "tapeless" usage. (ask AO about it)
Wiedersehen
WW

[Soloman Tump]

http://www.radio-on-berlin.com/?p=8666&

Some of Dai Coelacanth's shows are played on Radio-ON Berlin.  Spliced tape manipulation of spoken word, field recordings , overdubs and sound collage.  Mostly vocals but old radio sounds, noise, etc all in there.  

[sadneck]

That Creep of Paris cdr on Choco Monk is some ripe tape loops/manipulation.

[Duncan]

This is a really hard question to answer seeing as 95% of any experimental or noise artists you might happen to come across are likely to use tape in some form.  After a certain point this kind of sound and technique, while perhaps noticeable, is just a component of the artist's overall method rather than a primary focus.  I'd say this was the case for a lot of artists mentioned so far, even if a lot of what they do includes tape to a wide extent.  This is before getting into the territory of albums recorded by artists at a time when no other options besides hacking tape up were available.  Those old Schimpfluch etc records are tape cuts a go go.  But to consider them 'tape artists'?

If you're talking about a more committed use of that medium then there are a lot of people who could be named, but maybe this stuff falls more into the camp of the more obvious artists/uses that you are trying to avoid?  I don't know.

Anyway, here is a list with some repeats of prior mentions:

Posset (almost always based on some kind of cassette or dictaphone work out, plenty of transport button action)
Jason Zeh (maybe not so much a 'manipulator' all the time but definitely a nailed on and outwardly declared 'tape artist')
Jerome Noetinger (reel to reel master)
Valerio Tricoli (same)
Shredded Nerve (all that early stuff is pure decaying tape loop scum)
Aaron Dilloway (probably the most fitting? what can you say)
Joseph Hammer (bring him up again because his work is definitely and explicitly centered on the constant use of long tape loops)
Aki Onda (walkman virtuoso)
Cody Brandt (anything this guy does tends to be pretty heavy in tape editing and fuckery)
Evil Moisture (combined with a lot of home made electronics of course, but always that mangle tape sound in the mix)

[NO PART OF IT]

This is a really hard question to answer seeing as 95% of any experimental or noise artists you might happen to come across are likely to use tape in some form.  After a certain point this kind of sound and technique, while perhaps noticeable, is just a component of the artist's overall method rather than a primary focus.  I'd say this was the case for a lot of artists mentioned so far, even if a lot of what they do includes tape to a wide extent.  This is before getting into the territory of albums recorded by artists at a time when no other options besides hacking tape up were available.  Those old Schimpfluch etc records are tape cuts a go go.  But to consider them 'tape artists'?

If you're talking about a more committed use of that medium then there are a lot of people who could be named, but maybe this stuff falls more into the camp of the more obvious artists/uses that you are trying to avoid?  I don't know.

Anyway, here is a list with some repeats of prior mentions:

Posset (almost always based on some kind of cassette or dictaphone work out, plenty of transport button action)
Jason Zeh (maybe not so much a 'manipulator' all the time but definitely a nailed on and outwardly declared 'tape artist')
Jerome Noetinger (reel to reel master)
Valerio Tricoli (same)
Shredded Nerve (all that early stuff is pure decaying tape loop scum)
Aaron Dilloway (probably the most fitting? what can you say)
Joseph Hammer (bring him up again because his work is definitely and explicitly centered on the constant use of long tape loops)
Aki Onda (walkman virtuoso)
Cody Brandt (anything this guy does tends to be pretty heavy in tape editing and fuckery)
Evil Moisture (combined with a lot of home made electronics of course, but always that mangle tape sound in the mix)

that Anestis Logothetis release was great by the way, CMS!
 
If 95% of the noise world were preoccupied with tape, it is news to me.  
You're mentioning some artists I don't know about and of course many I do, but while I was certain someone would respond this way, I still think it's pretty easy to tell what I'm looking for.  "Pure Decaying Loop Scum" would be nice, and to me, just because someone recorded to tape doesn't mean that they're focused on tape manipulation.  For instance, "Disintegration Loops" by Basinski is definitely up there, although he's not strictly dedicated to tape as a medium.  I've heard a number of people use tape warble and whatnot, but I'm looking for the results of a sort of dedicated craft of cutting and splicing tape, with specific emphasis on tape as a medium for creating audio.  I think it's a distinctive sound.  For example, Orchid Spangiaphora is a sound collage artist, but it's clear through listening that he is manipulating tape, and if there is a release of his that is more emphatic on that tape sound, I'd like to know, rather than digging up every single sound collage artist that ever existed prior to 1990 or whatever.  Thank you, though, I'll be checking this stuff out as much as I can over the coming weeks.  

Listening to this now, by the way.  Enjoying it so far.  Joe & Joe was pretty good too... 

[Zeno Marx]

Have you heard the trilogy of P16.D4 - Distruct,  Mixed Band Philanthropist - The Impossible Humane, and  Nurse With Wound - The Sylvie And Babs Hi-Fi Companion?  Also maybe  Bladder Flask - One Day I Was So Sad That The Corners Of My Mouth Met & Everybody Thought I Was Whistling.

[Duncan]

My reply reads way more facetiously than intended. It was more thinking out loud (or on a computer) about the topic as I'd spent a lot of the day pondering it on and off. It was a tougher question to answer than I first thought it would be which makes it a question well worth asking.

When I talk about '95% of artists using tape' that's obviously quite hyperbolic and not something that could be accurately measured. I just see it a lot personally in the music I listen to and happen to see live.

But I do think that prolific use of tape can fall into a number of camps: focussing on the possibilities of the machines or simply the sound quality of the tape or even just the portability of the format as much as the manipulatable aspects of the material i.e. cutting, splicing and physically moving it around the heads. Things get further muddied when you consider whether an artist commits specifically to any of these methods or it's just a part of what they do. But I enjoy working out the differences and crossover.

What you are talking about is definitely a recognisable and identifiable sound though and I may back and add some more suggestions as they come to me. Lots of Chocolate Monk releases - especially of the last few years - have this kind of thing in spades and sound great. Highly recommend checking out any of Bob Delsaulniers projects on that note. So good.

Glad Noetinger is working for you. I haven't heard this one but saw him perform live recently with a Revox and a couple of loops. Utterly insane. Using the thing as a sound making device far beyond anything i'd ever seen before. Got something like a 5 minute standing ovation! One of the best performances of experimental music I've ever seen.