From Cologne, Germany hails the Strategic Tape Reserve, a small independent label releasing tapes of the experimental kind. Unfortunately, the website hasn't been updated in a long time (it ends with release #34), while before me are numbered LBL5 and #60. So there isn't a lot of easily accessible information to write from, but each release on Bandcamp has a little extra info, and many of their prior releases have sold out already. So they're definitely doing a good thing there in Cologne.
The first tape I'm playing is Origin Stories by Patrick Dique and Jordan Christoff. Housed in a screaming purple pinkish cover, the A-side holds one long track entitled "Source". And at the first play, I was really puzzled by it. The 'swoosh-rate' is very high, and constant arpeggiators are filling in each opening in the sound spectrum. The use of delays is almost excessive, and there is hardly any moment of rest. Yes, some of the layers are pretty open, but there is always the pressure of a certain rush. Like when you listen to Phillip Glass while you were expecting Cage's 4"33' ...
The reverse side of the tape has two shorter compositions entitled "Turbo-Pause" and "Altitude". "Turbo-Pause" continues in the same way of "Source", meaning a constant pressure by the layers that could have been more in the background. But the second part of that track shows us a bit more experimental approach. There are still many arpeggiators, but that seems to be a choice within their sound. The 12 minute "Altitude" which closes the release is much more relaxed and ambient in its origin. The background clears up, and instead of the synthetic arps, it's more a loop-based piece with nice synth sounds and well-placed effects. My favourite on this tape for sure.
PJS is labelled a drone/new-age project, but there isn't too much drone in there, if I'm honest. New Age probably, synth for sure, experimental yes, but not drone.
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