Fantastic Magic, "Witch Choir" & Thousands, "Skinless//Boneless"

I was recently sent something like 9 tapes from the mondo generous head of Abandon Ship Records, and since then my face hasn't quit melting into drippy little flesh puddles. Unfortunately, as some of you know, I got about 30 other tapes and cds all at the same time, so I've been struggling to play catch up, and will continue to do so well into next month. That said, I need to write something about this cavalcade of cassette tapes that have wound up in my possession, and so, for the next few weeks you can look forward to further installments of my Abandon Ship Records mini-reviews. In this week's update: Fantastic Magic's "Witch Choir", and Thousands' "Skinless//Boneless".

Fantastic Magic, "Witch Choir" C25

Abandon Ship Records, 2007

Described by the label as "a magical trip on a pegasus through a field of LSD" and "three young wizards journey through the island forest," Fantastic Magic's "Witch Choir" is a twenty-five minute cassette spun odyssey, glimsping all-too-briefly into a brilliant world of acoustic neo-psychedelia, free-noise skree, jazz interludes, gamelan & jugband percussion, and warped ethereal folk-singing. Did I say ethereal? Huffing this stuff is heavenly! Neither of "Witch Choir"'s sides are marked, so I've got no idea which is A or B, and that's a shame because there are some really enjoyable tunes on this tape, each full of their own magic moments. Likewise, there is no mention made of the people involved in Fantastic Magic, which is also too bad, though I assume they're probably associated with other Abandon Ship Records-related bands, maybe some members of Thousands or at least (VxPxC). In any case, my thanks go out to those anonymous 'three young wizards', because when my ears prick up to listen "Witch Choir" makes my head light as a feather. Highly Recommended!

Thousands, "Skinless//Boneless" C60
Abandon Ship Records, 2007

Thousands are an East L.A. based collective of free-improvising freaks whose mandate is melt your face and grind your body into a formless pulp. Featuring members of (VxPxC), Fantastic Ego, and countless other groups, Thousands have a few releases circulating out there, but this is there first for Abandon Ship. And what a first it is! "Skinless//Boneless" is another A-class cassette of soul-elevating//crushing neo-psychdelia from the crew at Abandon Ship Records. As if the title of the tape wasn't a dead give away, the cassette has a Skinless side and a Boneless side. The Boneless side is a formless free-jam monstrosity, and the Skinless side is a long ego-disolving dronescape. On their Myspace page, Thousands align themselves in the Double Leopards/Skaters camp of modern mind-melting psychedelia, and while that's more than cool with me, it should be pointed out that where Double Leopards and The Skaters make a point of obscuring exactly what instruments make what sound (or mimicking the sound of one instrument with another), Thousands utilize a more conventional sense of talented musicality. In other words, I clearly hear a bass, guitar, percussion, etc. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this, I just thought it would be worth noting these while Thousands can drone, they can also really play their instruments. If you've got any ears left, this one's a keeper.