Don Mandarin "Volume 7" Basics/Basic Time Local Sounds Label Circle Time

Don's cassette tape took me by surprise. Very little info about the artist himself which is a good thing in a way. Artistic manifestos and profiles tend to attract lots of self-inflated ego energy which works counter-productively in terms of ingenuity of the artistc input. 

Before I actually listened to the tape he was kind enough to send me, I listened to bits on YouTube.

The lo-fi hiss of cassette tape added extra quality to this low-key experimental drone act.

There's something beautiful about this material - an obscure sound poetry where little means is turned into haunting soundscape of elusiveness and ghostly apparition of things that might only seem to exist in a verse rather than a typically structured musical piece.

Don's music is a wonderful trip into the depths of the sound without clichees of the academical sound art. It's raw, gritty but at the same time keeps a unique anologue warmth and fuzz with ingenious and effortless take on the 80's cassette culture.