i got out of work early today and headed straight home. i retrieve my cassette player and one of the new tapes i received in the mail last night. i become very small in size and fall inside of my phone, it took me 35 minutes to climb out. its 3:02 and i finally step out the door.
as im walking to the local chain grocery store i start listening to WeB by matt lajoie*. an instrumental tape of solo looping guitar imrpov. he uses wah and distortion frequently to convey a meditative heady feeling to the songs. it reminds me of west texas in a way. it also reminds me of several different agricultural labor jobs i have experienced and how it felt to be in the hot sun looking at the same field or treeline for the full duration of the day. i caught myself thinking “heady” many times while on my walk.
i get to the grocery store, the tape is now on its B side. the side is one song titled floor dimension, its a 19 minute thirty three second improvisational loop piece. as im sliding a few goods into my shoulder bag in an empty isle the heaviest part of the song hits and i can feel my heart racing from the adrenaline of petty crime in sync with the rhythmic backing loop of the whole song. i go through self checkout my player turned up on full volume so i couldn’t hear if anyone even tried to tell me i was using the code for apples instead of pine nuts by mistake. i slither out of the store like a 9 year old coming home from a night of trick or treating on 10/31.
when the tape ends im only 6 blocks from home. i switch out Ml for chris cohen’s* overgrown path. the song monad always reminds me of my close friend E from my home state who is a chair maker. i hope he’s doing well. i arrive home, put a pot on to boil some water for pasta, dice an onion and garlic for pesto sauce and, send a text asking when they’re coming home.
until next time
abe
its/it♒️
index*
Matt LaJoie is from van buran maine and now resides in midcoast maine. he has many projects including herb craft, ash and herb, Ml WAH and many many more. you should check out his label Flower Room Records
Chris Cohen is a psych indie rocker from Los Angles California. he’s been in the scene forever and has been making music forever under multiple names. He’s on captured tracks and most likely will be for a long time.
I am Abe