you drown out the crowd by droneroom OUT NOW

It’s probably no surprise to fans of Histamine Tapes, but I love ambient guitar works. Though myself I have attempted to cultivate an ambient bass guitar movement, I still go back to my six string favorites for inspiration, and this one by droneroom is a new one to add to that list. Plain and simple, this is solo guitar improvisations with plenty of reverb washes and loops to scratch that ambient guitar itch. This doesn’t sit in the background this. This piece gets loud at times and chaotic. An interesting take on the theme of love. I went with Blakes suggestion to make the jcards Valentine’s themed. Each jcard is a unique take on pretty uniform theme. I cut up Valentine’s cards to create this collage. Each tape also comes with pieces from a various collection of those Valentine’s we all shared with each other in elementary school.

Recorded at Here There Are No Answers in Las Vegas Nevada

Happy V Day Yall.

https://histaminetapes.bandcamp.com/album/you-drown-out-the-crowd-ht084

Sound_00 + Lefterna Collab 58

Happy Bandcamp Friday friends of Histamine Tapes.

It’s been a pretty funny winter here up in the north country, but after fits and starts a proper winter is upon us with a fresh layer of snow, and subzero temperatures heading into this weekend. If your stranded inside desperate to stay warm this latest collaboration between Boban Ristevski and Toni Dimitrov. This is an excellent work of minimalist sound designs with many of the classic elements of musique concrete. Mysterious field recordings of people possibly rummaging through unknown objects appear to meet somekind of prepared string instrument or synth. Who knows. Sit back, give it a listen and you decide.

https://histaminetapes.bandcamp.com/album/collab-58m-ht083

This is a digital only release and like last year a portion of the proceeds from digital releases will be donated to an environmental charity. Last year your purchases helped to plant 220 trees via One Tree Planted. This year I wanted to do something for water ways. I have become a little obsessed with water since I got a hydrophone, and I thought what better way to honor my recent muse of the Winooski river then through donating to Friends of the Winooski. I became familiar with them because they help organize a day every fall where volunteers clean up the river. They literally have folks walking down down the shores and paddling the entire Winooski river and removing trash. What a tedious task that illustrates your devotion to the planet! I recently found out they are doing so much more, find out here: https://winooskiriver.org/what-we-do Please consider paying a little for Collab 58 to help out.

In other Bandcamp Friday news the 2023 bundle is now up available for purchase! If you snoozed last year you can catch up on all 2022 HT releases in one purchase. Thats 9 tapes of $36 plus shipping. https://histaminetapes.bandcamp.com/album/supine-ht082 I’m hoping to clear stock to make room for this years releases which I am working on right now. Only a couple weeks away until dronerooms album is released. A solo guitar drone Valentine. I’m very excited about the latest from Another Dark December’s album, I’m working on an art zine for it, that I can’t wait to show you all. Keep up to speed on new HT music here: https://histaminetapes.bandcamp.com/album/histamine-tapes-2023

SUPINE by NEW INJURIES Out Now!

It’s the last release of 2022, or is it the first release of 2023. Maybe both? This certainly deserves someone’s end of the year list treatment.

The music of Portland, Oregon producer Mario Rudd has been on rotation pretty heavily at HT HQ since I ran across their music in 2019. If you all like a little Dada with your hip hop this will be right up your alley. Over all this is beat driver music, that draws inspiration from the world of hip hop and techno, yet there is an ambient haze that permeates all of it. Unlike mainstream hip hop the MC is buried in the mix and met with elements of noise with the other familiar elements of electronic music. It’s reminiscent of those projects where it’s a person screaming into a suit case full of pedals, and then there’s beats to it, and so much more. It’s been a fun release to discover.

The jcards we’re equally as fun to work on. There are the more concrete elements of the gastromycetes (puffball) mushroom, made abstract by being removed from all context. Add to that the random blue shapes I cut from a photocopied hymnal from a local Catholic church and you get something superbly simple yet bizarre. As you can tell I’m quite proud of myself.

Antihistamine 2022 and beyond!

Happy Bandcamp Friday! I’m sitting here in my living room getting comfy. I’m sipping tea while listening to the latest from Joakim Blattman on Dinzu artefacts, and in general feeling super grateful for this moment to reflect on such a stellar year in music.

I’m stoked to highlight that moment with the latest Antihistamine synth free compilation. This is one is clearly a masterpiece. I chose the theme of water this year, since I have become very much obsessed with recordings of water. Especially hydrophone, so much that I had to get my own. It was my hope to get a lot of that in this years Antihistamine, but honestly I was just excited to inspire folks to make music that they felt connoted water, and oh my did they deliver. There are lots of field recordings of rain, rivers, and ocean waves, but also guitar lines that swell like those waves, and accordion that flows through out a piece and many droners that make you feel like your floating. In many ways all music is like water in someway. Sound is inherently liquid, while being something else entirely.

I hope you all give it a listen and enjoy it as much as I do. Bonus it is also HT’s 80th release. That feels like a really fun mile stone!

https://histaminetapes.bandcamp.com/album/antihistamine-2022-ht080

As with previous net label releases Antihistamine will raise funds for One Tree Planted who vow to plant one tree for every dollar donated. I have already given them $150 this year, and I would love to give them a nice Christmas Bonus.

Now for the tapes. It’s that time of year when I need to make room for next years tapes, and I haven’t cleared much space this year. So I have dropped the price on all cassettes to $6. I’m also open to trades, so if you see something you like and want to send me your tape I’d love to make that happen.

As much as this post seems to conclude that the year is over (what is time anyway?), that is not the case. There is still one more tape release left for 2022 and its from Portland Hip Hop artist NEW INJURIES. I know seeing the words hip hop in association with HT seems somehow not right, and you would mostly be correct in that assumption, I promise you this is still in line with the aesthetic of the label. Mario makes beat music that leans more ambient and experimental, and after hearing Make Techno Black Again I was hooked and immediately wanted to put that kind of music on tape. Serendipitously Mario took an interest in HT and I’m excited to share what he’s been working on.

Here’s some of his previous work:

https://newinjuries.bandcamp.com/album/make-techno-black-again-release

And here is a teaser of the new album

https://histaminetapes.bandcamp.com/track/new-injuries-hold-yer-tase-bro

Welcome to the Fall release schedule

Dearest Friends of Histamine Tapes

Its Epic Games Friday!!! errh I mean Bandcamp Friday!!!!

I have two fun new things for you all and an exciting way for you to enjoy them.

First off is the release of Gondola by Diskless. It completes the journey that began with Dive’s descent into the abyss of the ocean, and takes you up into the clouds. I won’t mince words hear, this is a challenging release. My first listen through left me feeling like I just emerged from an encounter with psychedelics. This album demands and deserves your undivided attention. I recommend taking some time to be by yourself, and get completely immersed in this.

histaminetapes.bandcamp.com/album/gondola-ht073

Speaking of immersion: my first document of the Winooski river using the Immersion Sturgeon hyrdrophone by Crank Sturgeon is up now for your listening pleasure. Initially constructed as a tongue and cheek response to Daniel Ek’s (Spotify Lord) call for more content if artist want to get paid. What I present to you is two long form pure field recordings of the river. What I presented to the digital distributors was the same recordings hacked up into minute long pieces.

histaminetapes.bandcamp.com/album/y-ht075

Like all digital only releases of 2022 money raised from this album will be donated to One Tree Planted
onetreeplanted.org

I also want to keep you all in the loop about what’s coming up for Histamine Tapes.

October will see the return of Jo Bled. They’ve got something very epic cooked up for us. Two longform pieces for prepared gong. I had no idea what to expect from these, and what I found is they are way dronier that I could have imagined. This fits very nicely in the HT oeuvre. Get a taste here: https://histaminetapes.bandcamp.com/track/breath-work-excerpt

October will also see the release of the annual Antihistamine No Synth Compilation. If your interested in taking part reach out to me a histaminetapes@histaminetapes

The year will end with a release from one of Igloo Martian’s projects (there has been a change it will no longer be the Howdy’s Hem album I previously promoed) and a tape from Portland Oregon’s Ambient Hip Hop act NEW INJURIES. Teaser of that album coming soon. newinjuries.bandcamp.com

Last but certainly not least is the first in a long time Histamine Tapes Discount Code! Take 20% off all HT merch with code labor22 This code is valid through Monday at 11:59 pm (so expect another email Monday morning)

Memoria by Heavy Cloud

The multitalented music creator and curator Ryan Hooper has new album under his Heavy Cloud moniker.

Memoria is a vessel to aid memory recall and recital. A space where dreams and memories excavate and reanimate the past. A place where the present becomes vulnerable to decay and being forgotten.

A journey through loopholes and mirrors; an attempt to remember via a collage of sounds deconstructed and constructed from synths, samples, loops, vinyl and field recordings.

Salvaged diary scraps and lost passages scattered across time. Sound waves heard through open windows of histories, listening to moments shared by the heart.

Money raised from this album will be donated to One Tree Planted
onetreeplanted.org

https://histaminetapes.bandcamp.com/album/memoria-ht074

Syndications of Nu​-​Jazz Environmentalism (HT072) by Subversive Intentions

My 2019 Histamine Tapes release Not The Motion Picture Soundtrack to the Anthropocene and its follow up What Traveling Through Water Feels Like. Were both very intense labors of love about the extremely depressing topic of anthropogenic climate change.
First of the series was the result of 3 years of recording and very sporadic mixing. The second was the result of much shorter time span, of very intense recording and processing. Both recording/editing sessions produced more than I wanted to use for either album. The end result of all of that is this new digital only album.

I failed to get it together in time before release date, but I will have a physical bundle I will be offering with this as soon as I get home from vacation. The bundle will be the first I have made available some tapes that I have released with Lurker Bias, Cavern Brew, Flophouse and Forever Escaping Boredom. Stay tuned for that in the coming few days.

Bandcamp Juneteenth Fundraiser

By now you are all undoubtedly aware that today is Bandcamp’s annual Juneteenth Fundraiser. Bandcamp is donating their revenue share for this one day to the NAACP Legal Defence Fund: www.naacpldf.org
For this special occasion I have assembled a special bundle. Its like the spring bundle, only you get 5 tapes instead of 4, and its only an extra $4! If you have been sleeping on Histamine Tapes 2022 releases this is the sale for you! Get all five HT cassettes from 2022 for $28!

Click the Summer 2022 Bundle in the link below to purchase.
histaminetapes.bandcamp.com/album/rafra-chissant-ht071

rafraîchissant by Alexander Adams Out Now!

Back in 2016 when I began searching for labels to release my own music Alexander Adams was one of the first folks to even respond to me. He graciously released my album on his label Lurker Bias https://lurkerbias.bandcamp.com/album/tachal-dhal which helped to inform my own decision to start Histamine Tapes. Its very much a pleasure to return the favor all these later with rafraîchissant

This is an album that can be both brutal and refreshing. There are moments in these long form drones that feel challenging to the normal ambient listener, but then it opens up and even an brief melody appears. It is as adventurous as it is playful. Adams is clearly having fun here. I feel like you all will as well.

Pick up a tape here:

https://histaminetapes.bandcamp.com/album/rafra-chissant-ht071

I had a blast crafting these jcards from books on diy home repair, and a cook book. There isn’t a single one that I feel lukewarm about.

In Stasis by DAFAKE

Out Now from French sound artist DAFAKE, their latest release In Stasis. This is a great release for those folks that loved the Carlos Ferreira album HT released last year. Ambient guitar work meets tape loops and diy prepared box to craft soundscapes that explore hypnagogic states. This is certainly a release that warrants that relaxed, headphones on kind of deep listening.

Like all net label releases in 2022 proceeds from album downloads will go to One Tree Planted.

https://onetreeplanted.org/