mr. bernard personally handed me this tape last year when i worked a show with him. i really like the design of the tape. it's homemade looking but well done. the overall aesthetic was pretty hep. i like the way it looks. it's pretty punk rock the way the tape is labeled with a piece of tape. side A is called warm inside on a cold day and side B is called cold inside on a warm day. sonically there are some really cool ambient textures on here. the playing, songwriting, and the vision are all great. what's cool, is there are some ambient bits that roll along and the songs kinda pop out of there and then something else comes up that kinda bridges it until the next song happens. the overall effect is really pleasing. it sounds like you have some really good friends in the next room playing this really cool kinda chill music for themselves, and you are overhearing it. the use of space on here is very hep. sometimes i kinda felt like the levels might be a little low and that nailing them on there would give another layer of compression and would also bring the apparent noise floor down a couple db, but the way it is is pretty hep….there's my beloved tape noise. so, however it was made, i'm all for it. music like this where you can still see the brushstrokes as it were, is really appealing. a couple of really great lines from the songs that stuck out are "you don't have to keep it to yourself, but you can." and also "he who dies with the most toys, leaves the biggest mess." the songs, recording, poetry, playing…the whole thing is great. i also like how you can hear other things going on. at one point i think i heard a bird outside. it's very refreshing to hear music like this. what's badass about lo-fi, is that when things sound really clear, that gives a whole other perspective. so there's another layer of interest in there. there are some stunningly beautiful moments on this tape.
