Missing - Granite City Blues (Force Neurotic)
2017 debut tape from this J. Peterson project. I've been hunting this one down for a while, as it was only limited to 25 copies, and I finally got lucky.
JP is one of my favorite field recording, tape, and sound collage artists. The collection released on Ad Human of the JP solo works a few years back really left an impression on me.
Granite City Blues is fairly simple and crude, as this was recorded live straight to a 1-channel tape. Only recording equipment used was a tape recorder, tape loops, pitch speed, a boombox, and acoustic reverb.
However, despite the very limited tools utilized, some great sounds are conjured.
The first track has a lot of sounds that I think are either directly or loosely related to water. If they are not, these are the type of images painted in my head. It sounds like an ecosystem recording at a pond or lake. I think I heard rain pattering on pots or pans and toads croaking. Who knows what else is lurking in the background?
I get further sucked in and hypnotized the longer the tape goes on. Track 2 in particular has this rusty mechanical rhythm to it that is mesmerizing. Not industrial by any means. Closer to an old cabin water pump or a simple mechanical device with a frequent cadence. No idea what it is, but it put me in a great zone.
Side B is one long 20-minute track and the strongest of the release. Insects chittering, cars passing, running water, and tape motor hum used to create a droning tone? This one definitely puts me into a focused and mesmerized zone. I feel like I'm there in the recording.
The soundtrack to relaxing in a cabin along the beautiful lakes of Maine? Maybe. It's not as nature documentary-esque as I'm describing it, but it definitely basks in a murky, algae-covered version of environmental recordings. Weird and enjoyable tape. I listened to it twice in a row.
