On July Fourth, 1987, the United States Congress was in the middle of a long investigation of various illegal activities conducted by the Reagan Administration. The American public was being treated to a host of dark revelations about its government. US agents had sold weapons to the Iranian government for promises that American hostages held in Iran would be freed. Money received from this arms sale illegally circumvented the oversight of the US Congress and was funneled to pay the costs of an undeclared US war with the Sandinista Communists in Central America. The Iranians had used the weapons that they had received in the deal to fight the Iraqis, who at the time were considered allies of the United States.

Meanwhile, back in Oakland California, another gathering of Herd Of The Ether Space was taking place. The participants: Goff, Kaswan, Sands, and Silverman. Like the previous July Fourth sessions, this one was recorded through the Taped Rugs Frippertronics-style tape loop system. That day the members of HOTES were mourning the loss of one of their heroes, Snakefinger (Philip Lithman), who had died of a heart attack three days previous. Guitars, guitars, and more guitars meshed with the sounds of gibbons, drum machines, and voices projected through guitar pick-ups.

Recordings from this sonic gathering were released on the Taped Rugs cassette, “Declaration,” in 1989 (see the previous podcast for more about “Declaration.”) Here Taped Rugs presents two pieces from the cassette:

1 “Snakefinger RIP” (recorded 7/4/87)
2 “Full Force Of The Tidal Wave” (contains HOTES recordings from 7/4/86 mixed with HOTES recordings from 7/4/87)

THE AUDIO COMPONENT OF THIS PODCAST HAS BEEN REMOVED. IT IS NOW AVAILABLE AT THE LINK BELOW:

http://www.archive.org/details/HOTESTapeLoopImprovisationsVol6