i know, i know...you're reading the title of this cassette and thinking...cool,yet another chillwave/hypnagogic/beach themed release... at least that's what i thought. but given NNA Tapes great track record thus far (caboladies, oneohtrix point never, harmonizer, three legged race, hubble, hobo cubes, etc etc) i figured i had to at least give it a try.
ken seeno may be better known for being a member of the now defunct Baltimore band Ponytail. as you also may know another former Ponytail member, Dustin Wong, recently released his own solo record (it's really good too, on Thrill Jockey Records, go get it!) that stylistcally isn't that far off from this, but much different in execution. whereas Wong's LP is more about guitar loops, pedals etc, Seeno takes a different route and focuses almost solely on keyboards and field recordings (yes, there are some frogs, waves, etc in the background). and although up til now i haven't really made a great case for this tape....it's really quite incredible. think of Umberto only instead of horror film imagery replace it with beautiful landscapes. (i say this because last evening while listening to the tape my wife actually asked me if it was Umberto) some of the keyboard tones and melodies are similar and both the Umberto record and this Seeno tape have the same sorta chilled out movement in their songs. things are always changing, but not so fast. Seeno stays on the zone out/chill side of things, but always keeps it interesting. i mean my wife liked it, and she usually is not so fond of my love of drone music (but she wins because she is always willing to try, and it helps her sleep occasionally).
NNA Tapes refer to this release as "Landscape Electronics" and i like that description a lot. see for yourself and give it a listen here.
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