Purchase the tape in our e-shoppe!
To be released on 10/21/14! Pro-dubbed C66 on chrome-plus tape.
Green shell with white imprints. 2-Sided 3-Panel J-Card. Download code comes with a 12-minutes bonus track!
Rise up through the cloud line to the mountain crag where Mondo Lava lounge on their cushioned platforms gazing through hooded eyelids down at the world below. The mysterious Davis, CA-based duo of Lazarus “Lazy” B Jones and Carlos Fiancé first surfaced in the underground circuit on one side of a split with Eternal Tapestry in 2012. Despite still being fresh-faced college undergrads at the time, the Mondo boys’ unique strain of [tropicalia] {drone} (video game music)-infused freeform loop hypnosis perfectly complemented the extended jams of seasoned psych shredders E-Taps (whose ensemble included, at the time, Hausu Mountain affiliate Dewey Mahood a.k.a. Spectrum Control). After months of basement 4-track experimentation and significant spiritual research, Mondo Lava returns to society with their massive debut full-length, Parrot Head Cartridge – presented as a stream-of-consciousness tape-hiss manifesto somewhere between a home-dubbed mixtape for a loved one and a particularly illuminating hallucinogenic experience.
The album’s drifting sessions of sun-fried guitar leads and chunky analog beats fade into each other as refracted afterimages of some tropical dream sequence whose ending only the duo themselves have seen. Synth leads hang in the haze as vapor trails of treble over passages of primal congo percussion or boom-bap kicks and vocal samples closer to the hip-hop heritage. Each drum pattern or moaning synth missive fulfills its mesmeric duty by lingering in the mix and spinning back around for a span long enough to settle into an inevitable force of nature. “What will happen next?” “Was that guitar line always there?” “How long can they keep this going?” Mondo Lava achieve trance states time after time by not worrying about these questions. They ride each atmosphere as far as they can take it, gradually accruing static artifacts of their home recording process as their loops compound into additional layers of rhythmic stimuli.
Mondo Lava filters touchstones like Sun Araw, the Donkey Kong Country soundtrack, Caetano Veloso, and The Residents through their analog inventory, intuitively channeling the tones and structures of disparate traditions into a vision of mind-bending performance in the spirit of the underground noise/drone community. “Ghosts in the Gold Mine” evolves from a workout of clanging percussion into a swirling mire of voices garbled beyond human recognition. Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist GS Sultan (who recently released a tape on Mexico City label Umor Rex) drops by to collaborate with his buds on “Sea Walk,” upgrading the Mondo posse to a trio for a few minutes of shared synth revelry. “Shimmering” blasts off over a kinetic kick drum beat into a beach-guitar session rendered brighter with each recursion. By the time Parrot Head Cartridge reaches the conclusion of its epic 66 minute program, the album’s beginning feels so far back in time as to warrant a little catching up. Next time you return, Mondo Lava will have saved you a spot at the top of the mountain.
