Winebox are up to No. 5 in their exquisitely assembled cassettes. Ultra prized and limited, previous releases have included ‘The Hunter Gracchus, Vampire Blues and a 3 cassette monster containing Tom Carter and Matt Valentine. This cassette, by the north of England’s Whole Voyald and Infinite Light stands upright, constructed from an old wine box and painted in a wash of antique jade. The tape is fastened with a simple elastic band as two small nails penetrate each hole. The information is simply stamped in soft black upon the cracked wood. The tape is sprayed with matt, light grey/ blue, like a birds egg in it’s salvaged wooden nest.

This is desperately sad music that crawls via wails and subtle guitar. Sometimes cringingly off-key, at others so beautifully perfect one could cry. Vocal delivery is a mix of Panda Bear (Young Prayer) and Jeff Buckley’s meandering howls. The guitar plucks in sweet tones that bob like driftwood. For over 10 minutes this aching ode washes through the speakers. Quiet. Then suddenly guitars open to peaking heights; like stumbling in on your favourite band as the lead takes centre stage to jam an elongated chorus to the sky. The mood is raised and the scene pitched in juxtaposition to the previous intimacy. This is brought to a sudden terminal as the tape clicks to a halt.

The B side opens with a similar vocal/guitar interaction to that which begun the first. Slightly more up-tempo and dense, this offers some gorgeous playing, thick with buzz and lo-fi grain. Both vocals and guitar seem to play at varying distances from a low quality mic, which gives a sense of space and analogue beauty. At times the vocals become a little distracting as one tries to drift with the sublime, wavering guitar. The final moments of the tape once again shift to a sprawling rock-out, middle eight, head swerving improv that compels and dumbfounds in equal measure. A canopy of hollering vocals hover like white light upon smoke. Things begin to crack then all involved make sense again. This is truly a beguiling listen that is almost spot on, then drifts out of time comfort and space. Once again Infinite Light has confounded me, yet I still want more. I want to make sense of this. 7/10 -- Peter Taylor (20 January, 2010)