Throughout most of the 1980’s, the Taped Rugs Frippertronic-style tape loop system provided a major source of context and continuity for all of the acts on the Taped Rugs label: -ING, Disism, Herd Of The Ether Space, and Goff III’s solo endeavors. Some things started to change in 1989, however, and Taped Rugs Studio began hosting recording sessions that left the loops behind. By the early 1990’s, the system had actually burned itself out.

The Herd Of The Ether Space cassette: “Hardware Murals,” released in 1989, was the first tape on the label (#21 in the Taped Rugs Catalog) that included no tape loops in any of its 90 sonically-twisted minutes. Goff constructed “Hardware Murals” by running several tape recordings through a no-frills mixer into a stereo cassette deck. No effects, no panning, no changes of any kind were made to these recordings as they were blended together. In fact, the right and left stereo channels are completely distinct from one another, creating a unique listening experience.

Core members: Gibson, Goff, Kaswan, Sands, and Silverman made up the cast for this revolutionary presentation. The following five sessions (dates/personnel) made up the source material for the cassette:

5/7/89 (Goff/Kaswan)
5/28/89 (Goff/Sands)
6/30/89 (Goff/Silverman)
8/12/89 (Goff/Kaswan/Silverman)
8/20/89 (Gibson/Goff/Silverman)

Electronic instruments, oddly-played phonograph records, acoustic guitars, cello, modified keyboards, toys, percussion of various sorts, and, for the first time in the Herd’s history, the voices of some of its members, all come and go in various configurations throughout the tape. The presentation juxtaposes moods, atmospheres, words, ideas, and textures, creating both comfortable collages and disturbing dissonances. The experimental nature of this tape produced mixed reviews from the Herd’s listeners. A review in “Factsheet Five” stated:

“It’s a mix of found sounds...wandering somewhat aimlessly from style to style...A sprawling attempt at experimentalism.”

“Hardware Murals” marks a point of transition for Herd Of The Ether Space as the group prepared to move into the 1990’s. After “Hardware Murals” was released, no other HOTES cassettes were produced that contained tape loop improvisations that stood alone and were not blended with other recordings. “Hardware Murals” was also the first of several Taped Rugs Productions to be co-released by ECTO Tapes of Oklahoma City. The pieces from the cassette presented here are:

1 Lintball Sweater

2 All Of Shakespeare Twice

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/HardwareMurals