Tape Loop Orchestra - In A Lonely Place 8.4

                Tape Loop Orchestra tortures these poor samples. Each one positively yearns to be set free. ‘In A Lonely Place’ exemplifies how subtle manipulations can create a greater whole. For these are such simple loops. Over the course of these three tracks Tape Loop Orchestra plays around with these, stretching them, morphing them into something new. Indignant Senility comes somewhat close to what Tape Loop Orchestra is doing. The major difference is Tape Loop Orchestra’s focus is less industrial and more focus on the natural sounds and melodies coming forth. So heavy is the repetition one may be reminded of William Basinski’s work with classical samples. Where William watches decay Tape Loop Orchestra builds up at an infinitesimal scale. 

                 ‘I was born when she kissed me’ opens the album with a dark foreboding sound. The loop barely seems able to get out of this muck. What makes it perfect is how other layers are added gradually lifting the piece up higher and higher. Eventually the darkness is stripped away leaving only the light. Ambient music shines through by the end. ‘I Died When She Left Me’ takes a different approach. Grainer, with a corrosive texture, it destroys itself as it moves onward. After a while the static takes over and the melody disappears into noise. For the epic finale it essentially takes the approaches of both pieces and mashes them together. What results is akin to Zoviet France at its spacey pinnacle. Simultaneously soothing and anxious it creates a weird mood. 

                Tape Loop Orchestra pays their respects to a long-gone art form on ‘In A Lonely Place’.