by Mike Pollard

Wooden Wand- “More From the Mountain” Woodsist

With his recent departure from recording with the Vanishing Voice, James Jackson Toth, aka Wooden Wand, has been refining his ever skilled folk song writing and singing. These skills had been around back in the WWVV days, but were covered in layers of tape manipulations, horns, jangling guitars and more. Here Wand sits down with two very powerful and polished tracks. The track “More From the Mountain” is sung with feelings of a foreshadowing moment initially overlooked. The B side “Guru Femmes” is much more upbeat with a barrage of both electric and acoustic guitars. Toth has grown from folk collective leader to this generation’s great song writer? You can decide.

Evenings- “Sea Smoke” Tapeworm Tapes

Technically this record is 7.5 inches wide, and technically it is carved onto the top of a Dean’s ice cream lid. Miles Haney (Wigwam/Tapeworm Tapes) made this lathe record specifically for an east coast tour earlier this spring with Slither. The initial drop of the needle proves to be a jarring experience as this track doesn’t hesitate in filling the vacuous space with deep rumbling and harsh radaresque skrees. I immediately think, “Am I in the grooves yet?” Further listening, and more importantly deeper concentration, reveal a swaying under current of fuzz and breeze; a wall of deprivation to get totally immersed/lost in. I hope Evenings debut LP on Hanson has a locked groove or two!

Bri White/ James Fella- Split Gilgongo

Awww, isn’t that cute, a 7” testament of love. From what I gather reading James’ blog and the inserts to this record, Bri and James are girlfriend/boyfriend and members of Tempe,AZ collective Tent City, but Bri had to move to Portland and they really miss each other. They decide to begin mail collaborations and splits. I’d expect nothing else from the DIY Pro, James (except maybe a Xeroxed zine of love poems). Bri’s side features a mysterious instrument called the pianolin, what I presume to be some sort of a piano + violin contraption. It sounds like that; at times totally beautiful and at others totally cacophonous; like a one girl interpretation of outsider cuties, Belly Boat. James’ side starts off with glorious bursts of radiant clarinet. The initial notes are looped as more and more is added over it. The sounds make me imagine the sun rising over a hillside as the coyotes nap. As that fades, a guitar gently comes into the mix, played over what really sounds like coyote samples, but I think it is James’ light voice. Crackling tapes come into play, creating what sounds like a cleaner version of early Shepherds recordings or maybe just a lonely Tent Citizen.

Wether/Teeth Collection- Split No Horse Shit / Epicene

These are two acts that I don’t know any background info on, so im going solely on the sounds. Wether stamps the start of the record with a dense heavy blast of wavering static. The static floats away and gently reverbed moans rise up out of the blackness. A machine whirr gets louder and then quieter as ambient keyboard tones are unexpectedly added. The presence of the overall atmospheric ambience reminds me a lot of one of my favorite acts, Warmth. I was certainly not expecting this track to have such nice “pretty” sounds. A blast quickly comes in and the side is over all too soon. Teeth Collection’s untitled contribution begins with an ominous quiet rumbling that breaks like a storm. Delayed metal scrapes and heavy bass riffs peek in and out of the quiet. What sounds like paint cans being thrown around a room and a microphone tone bordering on the edge of feedback play the predominant room for the remainder of the track, which gently sneaks away just like the flip side. Two great sides by two artists I need to look a bit more into.

Submissions can be sent to:
Mike Pollard
4812 Fair Elms Ave
Western Springs, IL 60558 USA
Singles can also be sent to the regular Foxy Digitalis PO Box and we can forward them on