Organ Tapes - 唱着那无人问津的歌谣

Worldwide Unlimited - LP
UK, 2022
mumble pop / indie / Downtempo

Excellent washed-out mumble pop navigating the sino-British verse by Tim Zha, aka Organ Tapes. Released on DJ Python's Worldwide Unlimited, long sold out, Organ Tapes' first release in the physical world has to be one of the most consistent records in its field.

I've already discussed in great length the crucial importance as tutelar figures of Dean Blunt & associates for both mainstream and underground scenes of the first half of the 2020's. That doesn't mean that I consider that everything released by Dean Blunt or Inga Coppeland is gold and that the rest are just water-down imitations. Nor am I saying that Dean Blunt is the only innovator. I'd argue that he freed many artists from a couple of industry standards regarding format and genres, especially by encouraging a more frontal and easy relationship between underground music and mainstream aesthetics.

Organ Tapes, is a great example of a brilliant alumni of the Blunt/Ferraro school who does his own thing. Though blatantly under the influence of DB, he succesfully fostered his own lore of deterritorialized vocoder-driven mumble pop. Partly because he masters the aesthetic codes of this seemingly désabusée wave of nonchalant internet pop, but mostly because he is good at writing bewitching melodies.

The 17-tracks long LP is never tiresome, and none of the relatively short songs feels like a filler. Most importantly - for me at least, who care so much about the LP format - 唱着那无人问津的歌谣 is extremely consistent : it offers a slightly desolated yet warm urban landscape, full of discreet clipping and tiny glitches that decorate with taste Organ Tapes' pocket ballads - without feeling gimmicky - and eventually gives a true taste of the zeitgeist like only very few records do. (NM/NM)

Tracklist

1. Eventually He Will Come Into My Life
2. How You Will
3. Line (W. Glasear)
4. Acid & Wine (Bludgeon)
5. Here And Now (W. Cns Glo)
6. Brink
7. Heaven Can Wait
8. Submission
9. I.d
10. Earbed
11. Never Had
12. The Rope
13. 忘了一切 (W. Munni)
14. Demise (W. Severin Glance)
15. Passin Through
16. Pluto
    
17. Voter