Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Living in the moment is underrated, the spur of the idea to capture the seedling fruit that sparks imagination and pursuit is often neglected in favour of the overblown scene of completion, the large arc often overshadowing the burst of introspection that gives way to simplicity and minimalistic craftsmanship.
To seek an opportunity to express one’s thoughts in a manner that many would baulk at the notion of, is to break new ground, even if it was just for yourself, it would be a moment of uniqueness that cannot be recaptured in the tight confines of a studio. As the Dutch trio DeWolff aptly produce in what is surely the most cost effective, and superbly drawn, album of their career. The Tascam Tapes is a series of songs that encapsulates the belief of the freedom of art, the suffrage available when you let everything else go and allow your soul to see the world unhindered by timing schedules and other people’s interference.
Recorded on the road with few interruptions, The Tascam Tapes is an album of surprising adventure and as the simplicity of expression and the proof that imagination costs relatively little is captured in tracks such as Blood Meridian (parts 1 and 2), Made It To 27, Love Is Such A Waste, the excellent Am I Losing My Mind and the album opener of North Pole Blues, what comes across to the listener is the grasping of fun, of remembering what it was like when constraints were just misplaced applications of someone else’s order.
If someone tells you cannot make a diamond out of coal without expense, then the Tascam Tapes is a piece of art that proves them wrong, inspiration comes at a price they say, but for DeWolff it is one that is absolutely priceless. Engaging and raw, an album of discussion and depth, as all good art should be, it towers above the horizon because passion is at its heart.
DeWolff release Tascam Tapes on January 10th via Mascot Records.
Ian D. Hall