Tired Tape Machine is multi-instrumentalist, Peter Lindhagen from Stockholm. Appropriately enough, given his chosen stage name, this debut album is released on cassette as well as the more 21st century format of digital download.
With its qualities of quiet and lyricism it is understandable why Swedish director Mikel Cee Karlsson chose part of Lindhagen's music for his film Hallsningar fran Skogen- (Greetings from the Woods) a documentary about daily lives of ordinary folk from a small village in a Swedish forest. The soundtrack also includes artists like Peter Broderick and Tape.
Aside from the somewhat predictable elements of Nordic aloofness and folky charm there is also an edge of eccentricity and experimentation that prevent this being just another slice of anonymous background music.
Lindhagen juxtaposes an organic analogue sound (mostly piano and acoustic guitar) with broader splashes of orchestrated pop and elements of post-rock.
The title track conjures up the mood of a leisurely country stroll while with On A Train there's a greater sense of speed and gathering momentum while the cinematic sweep of From A Great Distance' suggests a more expansive terrain.
|
There is never a sense of straying too far from familiar paths , however, the tone is too reflective for that. The piano chords of Life is a Joke are gently shaken by the intrusion of electric guitar but calmness prevails.
Yet on the final two tracks - The Tired Tape Machine Waltz & Ghosts In the Machine -the outside world intrudes as the reassuring melodies are interrupted by a harsh abstract noise. The effect of these disturbances is to entirely change the carefree nature of the tunes to something more ominous.
It is as if Lindhagen wants to remind listeners that however light the mood, darker forces are always present.
A warning for next time you walk in the woods.
|
