Accidental Guest Recordings: Kwaidan, Screen Vinyl Image, and Others. Soon.

Hello world! Before I get back to blogging as usual, I wanted to announce something super exciting and fantastic, which is my new label. Sean (of Fan Death Records) and I have been hard at work on our new cassette label, Accidental Guest Recordings. I will be making label-related announcements here from time to time, but for better information, here's how to contact us: 


Shoot us an email at accidentalguest@gmail.com
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Here's the basic briefing on what's happening in the upcoming months (and boy do we have stuff in the works). Thanks to Sean for writing these awesome reviews!

Very Soon: 

AG-01: Kwaidan - Kwaidan (Cassette) 

There's something unsettling about this live recording from Chicago trio Kwaidan, that few bands can put to tape. This recording challenges the listener, builds up tension and breaks it over and over again. The backbone of this work is not consistency of sound, rather, it is the attack of cymbals and drums that explode to the forefront, only to disappear, bringing to mind the beauty that would take place if Loren Connors played in Taj Mahal Travellers. While it's easy to work like this to leave too much aural space to the listener, Kwaidan breathtakingly uses each second of these 36 minutes to fill every possible gap without overcrowding any sound. Some toil for years to create a work as consistent as this recording, but Kwaidan does it effortlessly. That in itself makes this cassette uncanny, ethereal, and a true experimental rarity.

Soon: 

AG-02: Screen Vinyl Image - Strange Behavior (Cassette) 

Strange Behavior is the second full length from guitar/synth duo Screen Vinyl Image. While release such as the Rude 66 split 7' and the Siberian Eclipse 7" released earlier in 2011 hinted on a tigther, more aggressive sound, Strange Behavior is the full realization and the next chapter for SVI. Songs such as "We Don't Belong" and "Revival" come at you face first and expose influences ranging from 80's cold wave to post-punk.

While the previous full length, Interceptors, depended more on mood and vibe, Strange Behavior relies on the push and pull of the songs. Songs like "Station 4" and "Rx" while very aggressive, sound as though they were made to be played at 2am in a smokey, dark dance club, recalling the best of Eleven Pond and early-era New Order.

The easy road for many might be to underscore their shoegaze tendencies. Strange Behavior steps away from those roots and comes off more as the post-punk/synth masterpiece Jake and Kim Reid have been plugging at for 4 years now. It isn't a stretch to call this LP Screen Vinyl Image's finest moment. From the mechanically dense daze of "Stay Asleep" to the pop sweetness of "Night Trip," Strange Behavior moves and provokes the listener in a way few records can.

Night Trip, Screen Vinyl Image Official Video 

TBA: 

AG-03: FNU Ronnies - TBA (Cassette)