Strange Rules

Trawling the Internet the other week, follow link upon link etc I found the UK based cassette label Strange Rules. A new name on me. (I'll just say that whilst doing this trawling I also found a picture of my "bedroom" in Hulme 1984...just the room with a 400 Blows poster...why on earth any one would want to post that I have no idea...still - strange world). Anyway, back to Strange Rules. They have a couple of cassette releases for sale and the name Royal Tropical Institute intrigued me. Good name, don't know why, but...good name. The "blurb" mentions "archival club industrial, a dreary look at European minimalism". My ears were twitching as fast as my finger over the paypal button so I bought a copy, and went for the Curative Measures cassette as well. This cassette offered death industrial and power electronics (for which some times I am a sucker for). Again Curative Measures are a new name on me.
Slightly feel short-changed. The cassettes were four pound each and an additional three pounds p+p. £11 all in. The Royal Tropical Institute is a C10 - a poorly duplicated C10 too. The sound is interesting - a rhythmic loop accompanied by "flute" sounding keyboards and a bit of "synthing", but it is too damn short. The tracks (one a side) have a beginning but no end - the tape runs out after five minutes. No where on the Strange Days site does it mention that the £4 tape is a C10. I would like to hear more Royal Tropical Institute, but more than this cassette can offer.
Curative Measures offer a slice of HNW, Power Electronics and (I suppose) Death Industrial. They have a sound that doesn't really do anything for me. It is badly duplicated..very murky. Slightly longer than a C10 - "An Unconventional Method Of Circumcision" is a C30! Again a track a side where the tape runs out before the noise does. Poor, very poor.

Two tapes certainly not worth the money. To make up for this I played Soldergeist's "Terror" CD (on Pure) very loud!

Pictures.
1: Royal Tropical Institute.
2: Curative Measures.