VGO-001 Gregorian George-In And Outside The Aluminum Box C-60

Factsheet Five: A barrage of tape loops, strange noises, multi-tracking, synths and other manipulations.
The whole has a dreamy quality which makes it good listening.

VGO-002 Gregorian George-In Phaze Shift Reality C-60*

VGO-003 Gregorian George-The Aluminum Bible C-60*

*H-23: A repetition of text and/or instrumentation takes over in what might be likened to a discordant, less academic equivalent of Philip Glass Einstein on the Beach and Steve Reich's Different Trains.

*Sound Choice: Looped voices and sampled sounds that remind me of McCarthy era paranoia about the Red Peril, nicely done and not so harsh that it'll break your ears. I like the clarity on the many voices and the broadly shifting panoramas of sound. Gregorian George would serve as a fine intro to all wishing to expand their musical perspective beyond Easy Listening horizons.

*ND: Electronic pulses and hypnotic tracks some accompanied by streaming prose. Soundtracks to late night films.

*Steve Stapleton: It was refreshing to hear it after some of the shit that comes through my letter box-I loved it, not heard anything like it-I'm totally hypnotized in parts.

VGO-004 Steve Buchanan-Hanna Reitsch (The Worlds 1st Jet Pilot) C-60

Option: Buchanan is slottable into the the avant-garde category, though he's got better command of the vocabulary then most artists working in similar territory. If you heard the heady mix of Can-ish raving over a clock drumbeat, mid-period Soft Machine improv and Zappa abandon of Coyote Rappin' you'd think you had the composer pegged, until you heard the ten Cybernetic Primal Therapy excerpts, which resemble 463 people each reading a page of Thomas Pynchon's V simultaneously while McClintic Sphere's natters in the background, or until you heard the Hendrix/Magma workout called Freedom.

File 13: If you like Last Exit and Machine Gun, give this a listen.


VGO-005 Andreon & Paladino-AEOLYCA C-45

Factsheet Five: Ambient gothic-inspired music with an enduring, timeless quality not unlike the music of ENO, Moebius and Roedelius in some of their offerings (especially the album After The Heat). A lovely release that exudes a stately dignity while still managing to be warm and welcoming.

ND: A wonderful tape of beautiful soundscapes and atmospheres created by these two artists, some of the sounds are created by an Aeolian sculpture, that when blown by the wind produces sounds. Very effective work. Recommended.


VGO-006 X-Ray Pop-Zazzy Music C-60

File 13: Zazzy Music starts off with pleasant but almost blasé female vocals sung in French and very basic synth parts and occasional guitar, but towards the end of side 1 they begin to throw in some surprises, with an alien rockabilly number that sounds almost like Suicide. On side 2 there is along drone piece, one with jumpy synths ala-D.A.F. and one that consists of lazy summer strumming and singing.

Factsheet Five: Naturally all vocals are in French, but the bouncy music is pretty well international. It ranges from almost pure bubble-gum to stuff hardened by an infusion of rock energy. Quite effervescent.

ND: A cassette of songs from this French group who have a special place in my heart. Soft experimental pop and their own unique sound.

VGO-007 Dead Goldfish Ensemble-Eye To Eye C-60

File 13: This consists of four compositions by England's D.G.E., I.C. and IE are pleasant minimalism on a small scale, Glass-like compositions, with a greater life and buoyancy, Hartwell takes the electronics through a range of timbres that make these two pieces pleasing to the ear. ID is similar, but uses strictly xylophone/marimba and string sounds. IF goes for subtle ambiance.

ND: Pleasant electronic excursions from this British group. Pretty and repetitive, or pretty repetitive, take your pick.

Option: A really intriguing kind of hypnosis can set in if you listen to this long enough. The feel is not unlike a more subtle Music With Changing Parts meaning, you see, that The D.G.E. don't clank like early Glass, tending more toward whirring and clicking. A well crafted musical machinist's fantasy.

VGO-008 Gregorian George-Aluminum Jungle C-60

ND: Reminds me of a soundtrack to some strange Italian film where you doze off time to time only to be waken when some strange sound forces you to open your eyes to see where, if anywhere, the film is headed. A strange and beautiful cassette.

VGO-009 Abner Malaty-The Untitled Hour C-60

File 13: Very Visual electronic music, with the sounds of ticking clocks, buzzing planes, and dripping water. Spacey synths abound, but smooth, rich passages are counterbalanced by harsher, louder ones.There are layers to the music, but there's a lot of room left to breath. Everything is clear and distinct, perfect to sit back and listen to, as you open both your mind and imagination. Very Enjoyable.

Factsheet Five: Though it possesses a distinct environment, this is no "ambient" recording. The music is detailed, percussive, and confusing, like some warped clockwork engine. Abner Malaty's work defies easy encapsulation, but is amazing to listen to. Excellent quality cassette, which seems to be the hallmark of VGO Tapes.

VGO-010 Usward-Dimension 12 Manifestations C-60

Factsheet Five: After listening to an entire tape of echoed high pitched loops, slow bass notes, and funky acoustic guitar ditties, one is apt to get the image of what it would be like if the Grateful Dead and Nurse With Wound were to do a jam session

ND: Manifestations which have buried, blurred text within a spooky, collaged and often times lucid sound shells. Stuff for psychedelic dreams, or to play at your sisters next acid party.

VGO-011 Surreal Dreams Purge Nihilist Nightmares (International Compilation) C-90

File 13: A handy collection of international music ranging from electronic to industrial to surrealistic folk. VGO is shaping up into a fine label, with this tape being the best bet for purchase yet.

The Single Eye: A fine compilation featuring works by Proof of Utah, Illusion of Safety, Gregorian George, Dead Goldfish Ensemble among others. Quite varied as far as style goes as it contains everything from humorous songs to dense musique concret soundscapes. 23 tracks of quality. Recommended.

Option: This tape's not bad, how about Proof of Utah's, Toolless Cave Girl, (with it's UK 70's Prog opening and John Cale-ish vocal?), or Abner Malaty's, Clinched Television Technique, (sort of a duet between the Residents and a teapot). Could be you might go for Illusion of Safety, (whose Open Sea drifts ominously through Alien Planetscapes, Skullflower, and Outer Limits soundtrack, Generally this is the most consistent of the experimental music compilations I've seen yet.

ND: 18 groups and 23 cuts make up this tape of mostly VGO artists. Fairly diverse and always interesting, some nice ambient cuts as well.

VGO-012 Plastic Eye Miracle/The Bill Jones Show-Tunnel O' Spirits/Where's Ghoulardi? Split C-60

VGO-013 Gregorian George-A Question Of Brain Cell Mutation C-60

H23: This continues Greg's tradition of releasing wonderfully complex surreal tapes. Recorded in the early morning hours of the summer and autumn of 89, his songs incorporate a variety of electronic sounds, effects, processed spoken voice, etc.. The 11 tracks here span the range of sonic surreality, from ambient sleep sequences to chaotic multi-dimensional memory clusters, usually more toward the chaos end.

VGO-014 Vidna Obmana-Near The Flogging Landscape C-60

H23: Electronics, loops, tapes, and acoustic treatments are used to create perfect, slow moving masses of post-musical sound. By "post-musical", I mean the melodies are there, the percussive beats are there, referencing a sort of rhythm. But the sounds transcend music in the traditional sense to become pure, shifting ambiance. This work functions parallel to, but not in conjunction with, some of the more honest examples of new age music.

Factsheet Five: Marvelous electronic music embodying Brian Eno's ambient aesthetic, the dense, subtle wash of sound can function either actively or passively, depending on your brainset. Not only are these aural passages composed of fascinating multi-layered textures, but the cumulative effect is not entirely unlike those positive environmental vibes so aggressively marketed by crappy new age synth-meisters. Excellent quality cassette.

ND: Moving, quieting, soul piercing. Thoughtful and powerful with concise repetition of subtle changes of force and mood.

Option: If you wondered why Brian Eno didn't make a Music For Airports Vol. 2, wonder no longer. Our friend Vidna has devised eight pieces with very similar parameters: slow washes of synth chords, drifting piano, very ambient. What renders this fresh and vibrant is an occasional eastern harmonic or polyphony (12-tone, or what sounds like it) that has been worked into the fabric so that you might miss it had you not been listening to it.

VGO-015 23-Inside Clouds C-45

File 13: Inside Clouds is a tape of quiet, transitory intangibles, the tape starts out with a deep, solemn ambiance. Low synthesizer tones dominate, while higher notes fidget on top. The drones later bow out and dancing, sparkling synths take over. Side two has more introspective images which bleed into one another, with some delicate guitar emerging midway through. Good music for moongazing, as wispy clouds drift lazily across the nocturnal sky.

Factsheet Five: Somewhat ponderous experimental electronic music. Most of this seems based on waves of static that roll across the audio landscape, punctuated by a surface melody. Much repetition is used throughout, with pieces blending into one another, giving it very hypnotic, lulling effect.

ND: Simple, soft electronic ambiance. Side B has a long slow pulsing rhythm connecting various explorations of guitar and keyboards, well executed.

VGO-016 Klimperei-Gris-Nez C-45

ND: Features 22 short works composed and performed by Christophe Petchanatz and Francoice Lefebvre. Effective and at times playful use of piano which enhances the work. Other acoustic sounds are heard which makes for pleasant and thoughtful listening

Factsheet Five: A very nice tape. A sort of modern folk music, lots of acoustic instruments and pleasant vocals, which sounds somewhat other worldly, as if passed through some sort of a time warp on the way here. Very clean, crisp, music for relaxing.

File 13: Klimperei are a French duo who take a very introspective approach to their music, treading very gingerly with their compositions. Piano is present in almost every piece here, but guitar, synthesizer, recorder, and even voice come into play over the course of the tape. Oscillations is a short, almost tentative work for piano, while Lumiere, Les Petites Couettes and Les Yeux Fermes have a small ensemble, almost Penguin Cafe Orchestra-type feel. La Soupente has pretty, flowing piano that yields a babbling brook flavor, while Les Glaces Au Chocolat brings to mind a music box or player piano. Low key, but nicely done.

Option: Two lengthy 11-part suites which somehow or other manage to incorporate Eric Satiee-sque romanticism, jazz, French Prog rock, and minimalism. Debts to Etron Fou Leloublan are paid via odd titles like 13,000 Dead Chickens.