Petals

Have just spent a pleasant while listening to the latest release from Petals. "Preconcerted", a C20 (at a guess) cassette on the Hairdryer Excommunication label. Rather like the aforementioned FRKSE I have come late to the sound of Petals judging by their entries on the Discogs site. Duncan Harrison did recommend them to me ages ago, but I have never done a thing about it, then two wonderful cassette releases arrive from the wonderfully named label Hairdryer Excommunication.
Petals are (or is) the solo project of Kevin J Sanders, an anarchist type living in Huddersfield. (Big "A" or little "a")? He is also the proprietor of Hairdryer Excommunication.

"Preconcerted" contains two untitled pieces. Side A is a raw recording of a Hammond keyboard sounding like a church organ drone - perhaps Kevin has sampled a church organ, several layers of sound surround the drone before electricity is added, synthesizers, oscillators and thriplers swell the sound to produce an all consuming pulse which distorts to an end. Excellent stuff - I must add here that the tape comes packaged within an old library book of slides entitled "Extraction, Conservation And Pollution". The slides have exciting pictures with titles like: Shallow Open Cast Mining Exposes Iron Bearing Strata. Corby. Northamptonshire and Air And Sea Pollution By Coastal Industrial Plant. Workington. Cumberland. There's 24 of them and if I had a slide projector I would show them with side A as soundtrack.
The untitled piece on side B is a ten minute slice of turntable DaDaism, with a slice of cassette trickery. Loops made with old 78's played at various speeds with the dusty stylus and indispensable vinyl crackle. A:M:K, Severed Heads and Smegma all brought into mind before a collage of found sound on old tapes is brought into the mix, spoken word, classical piano and Petals own drone.

Two sides of Petals sound, beautifully packaged and presented. I do not know how many of these tapes are around, but please take a look at the Hairdryer Excommunication website; www.hairdryerexcommunication.wordpress.com There are downloads on there as well as a full Petals discography and an excellent "Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape" blog written by Kevin himself.
In with this release was a cassette by Dead Wood&Phantom Heron Seas....that's me made up then!

Pictures.
1: Hairdryer Excommunication sew on patch.
2,3,4+5: "Preconcerted" cassette.