Browse by Artist: TAPE

Artist:	TAPE
Title:	Opera Plus
Label:	HAPNA (SWEDEN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	HAPNA 040CD

Opera Plus is a reissue of Tape's 2002 full-length debut Opera (HAPNA 009CD), with three new tracks taken from the original 2002 sessions. Tape are Johan Berthling, Andreas Berthling and Tomas Hallonsten: guitars, laptop, pedals, synthesizers, harmonium, melodica, field recordings, percussion, harmonica, zither, piano, flute, bells, glockenspiel, accordion, trumpet, paper, styrofoam, yongmei. As Stephan Mathieu wrote at the time of this release, "Tape's music lives at the intersection of a 21st century chamber music and an imaginary folklore. Slowly passing by vast yellow rape fields and ancient, abandoned factories, the music on my headphones seems to fit almost too perfectly. The sun and nature are certainly core ingredients of Opera and its slowly floating melodies carry the spirit of travel, not on an aircraft, but submerged in a landscape instead." In the meantime, Tape have distilled their sound with their albums such as Milieu, Rideau, as well as collaborations with Tenniscoats more and more into an organic song-like format. While all of them are excellent, Tape's essence can be found in Opera. Listening to Opera again after almost six years, it proves to be a truly great and timeless album. Now in a digipak with new cover art.

Artist:	TAPE
Title:	Milieu Plus
Label:	HAPNA (SWEDEN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	HAPNA 041CD

Milieu Plus is a reissue of Tape's 2003 second full-length, Milieu (HAPNA 014CD), with four new tracks taken from the original 2003 sessions. When this album first came out, it sounded like nothing else. Seemingly improvised but still so tenderly composed, it took cues from both the most gentle free jazz and Brian Eno's ideas of ambient music, but at the same time leaning against both Swedish folk music and broken pop balladry. Milieu -- together with its forerunner Opera -- became something of a stepping stone for, if not a new kind of pop, at least a new way of approaching it and a new way of seeing what it could achieve. Tape had very little to do with traditional experimental music, they never fitted into jazz and -- although many tried to -- their beautiful songs could not by any means be labelled electronica. Instead it was the genuine gentleness itself of Tape's music that spoke to their soul mates across the world. Milieu opened a door to a musical heart their contemporaries had been trying to reach for a long time. As Andres Lokko describes of this release, "Tape stir up such forgotten feelings, they restore fading pictures we don't really want to share with anyone else. Or in some cases have forgotten they were ever there in the first place. The aching slowness of these melodies awaken reluctant nostalgia; a forced sentimentality. And they do so without the aid of words, only with the purest music; the electricity in the air that surrounds the captured moment." Now in a digipak with new cover art.

Artist:	TAPE
Title:	Revelationes
Label:	HAPNA (SWEDEN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	HAPNA 044CD

This is the eagerly-awaited fifth full-length album from Sweden's Tape. Tape has been around since 2000, making music in between experimentalism, pop and folk. Their first album Opera was released in 2002 by Häpna and in 2003 they did their first Japanese tour. Since then, they have toured the U.S., many European countries, China, Japan and Taiwan. They've toured together with people like Bill Wells, David Grubbs, Tenniscoats, Ass, Efterklang, and many others. This is Revelationes: Register. A. Obstinate. Pyramid-shaped body. A scent of camphor around him. Prefers mashed food to firmer consistencies. Thrives in the evenings. B. Past occupation as deckhand. Odd first look. Rests during daytime if given the opportunity. Kind but has high demands concerning one's friendship even in, to him, less flattering circumstances. C. Tubby and lively, gleeful -- but with sad false bottoms. Carries untreated ballast that rolls when the light is put out, screamed wildly in sleep once. Unexplainable interest in fruit cultivation. Applied working method. Information is written to the environment. Stimuli, atmosphere, delicate movements. A few channels are recorded, these trigger reactions, semi-automatic overdubs, complementary actions from others. Carried-out work seems to define new building structures. Instincts, learned patterns and responses, spontaneous additions and supplements. Two chords are played, then two again, four, they are lust-permuted, four, a metal whistle, a faint howl is cut in, the elements are permuted, permuted, lust-permuted.

Artist:	TAPE
Title:	Luminarium
Label:	IMMUNE
Format:	LP
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	IMMUNE 004LP

"Swedish trio Tape was set up in 2000 by brothers Andreas and Johan Berthling with Tomas Hallonsten. Taking cues both from pop, experimentalism and minimalism their sound has become recognized internationally and is clearly something of its own. Their first album, Opera, was released on the Häpna imprint (which Johan is a co-owner of) in 2002. Working intuitive, all by themselves, they created mini symphonies out of electronic sounds paired with a stunning melodic lyricism. With an array of electronic and acoustic instruments at hand they recorded at a small stone barn on the island of Öland, east of Sweden. 2003 saw the release of Milieu, recorded at the very same barn. These recordings had a more arranged feeling and a clear pop sensibility in some parts. In 2005 they went to Cologne to have Marcus Schmickler produce and record their third album Rideau. This was done in his Piethopraxis studio in Cologne and his involvement left traces; an almost architectonical approach was taken and some of the intimacy that characterized the first two albums were replaced by a harder edge. Luminarium is Tape's fourth album and it was recorded in their Summa studio in Stockholm. The album was released on CD by Häpna in 2008. Immune is proud to release the album on vinyl for the first time."

Artist:	TAPE
Title:	Revelationes
Label:	IMMUNE
Format:	LP
Price:	$16.00
Catalog #:	IMMUNE 015LP

"Revelationes is the 5th studio album from Tape, their first since 2008's Luminarium and the follow-up to their collaboration LP with Bill Wells (Fugue, Immune 008, 2010). The LP is co-released with Häpna in an edition of 1,000 copies worldwide and pressed on high-quality virgin vinyl at RTI with free MP3 download coupon. (CD version also available on Häpna). Tape have been playing their unique blend of pop, experimentalism, and minimalism since 2000; having released four full-length albums and collaborative recordings with Tenniscoats, Bill Wells, and Minamo."

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