Good old Ralph Records used to hold garage sales from time to time in San Francisco to offer defective merchandise, promotional items, new products, etc. to fans of The Residents, Snakefinger, and the other various acts who appeared on the label. On December 5th, 1988, Goff, Kaswan, and Silverman made a pilgrimage to one such sale, then returned to the Taped Rugs studio in Oakland to listen to their new Ralph acquisitions and create some new recordings of their own.

The dark and playful influences of Ralph Records can be heard in the three recordings from the session presented here. While these recordings are heavy with guitar, a variety of instruments are showcased, as well as a biofeedback generator and several oddly-played phonograph records. Kaswan’s cello and Silverman’s guitar particularly shine up this collection of shadowy atmospheres. The session was recorded on the Taped Rugs Frippertronics-style tape loop system. The pieces presented here are:

1) Ralphingism

2) The Census Vile

3) Residents Of The Bubble

These recordings comprised the entire Side A of the Herd Of The Ether Space cassette, “3 Of A Mind,” released by Taped Rugs in 1989.

THE AUDIO COMPONENT OF THIS PODCAST HAS BEEN REMOVED TO ALLOW MORE EPISODES IN THIS SERIES TO BE POSTED. IT IS NOW AVAILABLE AT THE LINK BELOW:

http://www.archive.org/details/HOTESTapeLoopImprovisationsVol20