Josh Burke - Imagination (Housecraft CS)

Perhaps better known as Sky Limousine, Josh Burke is a synth maestro out of Chicago who as far as I can tell also runs Avocado Jungle cassettes. This being my first exposure to the man other than endless hearsay is criminal, I know, but it's not like ANY Housecraft release has ever been a bad place to start...

The tape's nice and subtle too, in the grand tradition of Housecraft sound exploring. Warm synths drift beneath tape hiss, gliding along under the weight of sometimes as little as one tone in a manner not unlike the ultra spacious new age excursions of Dolphins into the Future. Similar recording approach too it sounds, opting for the kind of "pretty as recorded cruddy" sound that Skaters love. Alot of this stuff sounds like it's actually quite light and fluffy stuff, but it also sounds like all of that fluff is being played about three floors below you, so all you get is the skeleton of the sounds.

It's no secret that I'm a total sucker for this type of thing, and Burke presents a solid 20 minutes of it here, just long enough to get you hooked before cutting it off and leaving you hanging. Some of the numbers trickle along lightly, with mini melodies interweaving with dainty aplomb, sometimes so gently that it sounds like one of those little baby mobiles that plays cheapo 8-bit lullabies above your head. Wonder if sleeping to that for the baby--before those melodies are so ground into you that you can't separate the song from the feelings it evokes--is like this for any so inclined adult. Maybe if I listen to it enough it'll become as safe and recognizeable as those... or maybe not... there are enough quick jaunts into slippery psychedelica here that are cut off before they hardly begin, immediately being replaced by equally glazed affairs. With nothing in focus throughout, you'll just have to keep squinting. Just watch out for those crow's feet... a lovely Sunday arm-stretcher, this one will have you prepped for uberslow liftoff. Quite beautiful, and still available as far as I can tell.