As Tape Pieces Vol. 2 begins with the track “Distances”, a synth pad with a sustained major chord can be heard, with looping white noise in front of it. Soon, a bass drum being hit hard, then softly a few times, and then repeating this pattern comes in. The major-chord pad fades in with another chord that has a sharper release that can be heard repeating itself. A bell-tone plays twice, and then a smooth bass playing a series of notes repeatedly plays. The chords swell. Then, all drops out except for the white noise of the tape hiss and the repeating bass, and then that too ends, as well as the track.
“Static Wheels” begins with a repeating chord that drops out briefly toward the end of each repetition. A two-note bass line comes in, also repeating. A second bass line comes in, which is just a repeating sustained tone, and then some synth strings play a repeating phrase. Distorted noise is then heard on the edge of the mix, distinct from the static of the tape hiss. All cuts out except for the noise, the bass line, and the strings, the strings playing a sustained harmony. There is a percussive noise with a delay effect on it that repeats. Then, the sound of synthesized wind noise plays. Another sustained chord comes in in the form of a simple pad, and the rest of the sound mostly cuts out. The bass line returns, so do the strings, and noise plays in a subtle manner. The music drops out except for a sustained pad, the bass, and some noise. The bass then drops out. The noise reaches a bit of a crescendo, and then cuts. The strings are the only thing left, and they fade out.
“Every Count” begins with a bass note on delay, which plays first unfiltered, and then subtly filtered. A synth patch plays a minor-key melody in the background, which is not a tape loop like a lot of the other parts of this album have been. A high-pitched, simple, percussive melody plays repeatedly, and a sustained synth comes in. The parts fade out except for the bass line and a swelling chord, and the synth patch returns to playing its melody. The percussive melody returns. A distorted, resonant synth plays a note repeatedly, which comes in and fades out with the rest of the music, except for the percussive melody, which also ceases after a bit, and the song ends.
“Kettle Cove” starts with a percussive, melodic loop with a pad behind it playing a slow melody. A synthesized brass patch comes in and plays a long, pensive-sounding melody, and a synth pad swells behind the rest of the music. The brass patch melody develops quite a bit. A distorted instrument plays a slow melody with the rest of the music, then ceases. The music stops, but with a lot of reverb carrying on the sound for a bit, ending this release.
(https://micahfrank.bandcamp.com/album/tape-pieces-vol-2, Name Your Price for digital, $8 for cassette)
