Side two of No Tape Outside is nineteen minutes of processed guitar and electronics. It’s relatively pretty as far as ambient listening goes, but there’s nothing immediately engaging about these songs, if you can call them that. Again, these are discrete compositions presented as one unbroken track, so it’s best to sit back and let the whole nineteen minutes play out. It’s definitely worth exploring as there are some rewarding moments, but this side fails to deliver as compelling an experience as the others in the set.
These albums are too darkly intimate and insular to warrant casual listening. They demand attention in a way only great records can. While the mystery and back-story behind these three LPs certainly provides a compelling hook, that’s not what ultimately keeps me coming back. The music here speaks for itself, and it speaks in a voice that is extraordinarily hard to forget. Some have speculated that these records are a hoax crafted by some psych-folk collectors. Others believe they are somehow related to Terry’s Rojvi and Jim Collins’ Music Performed by the High Mass, another set of mysterious psych-folk releases. But whether you buy into the mythology or not, there’s no question that these are some of the most mysterious and enigmatic records you will ever hear.
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