On Tape

Rip It Up, Issue 88, 1 November 1984, Page 40

On Tape

Strange Language Jigsaw Breakfast ($6, Industrial) Alice Tik and Viv Acious are two British women who recently visited Aotearoa. They seem to have the same reference points as Marie and the Atom, without the immediate impact of said band, live anyway. Recorded on a Portastudio, they use a variety of instruments (sparingly) guitar, synth, sax, clarinet and both have very good voices which are used. Eight songs in total, each a woman’s experience of day-to-day living in a man's world ‘Daydream Nightmare Litany’ (scary), 'Juggle' (how to keep sane i 5...), 'Walk A Crooked Line’, ‘So You Lost Thought?! There is satire, naturally enough, in Tea For Two (version)’ and ‘Sloppy Romance! Repeated listenings only make this tape sound better and it’s interesting how two women on the other side of the world can say the same things as New Zealand women do. Various Artists Seven In One Blow ($7 Industrial) An acoustic compilation, Seven In One Blow features seven exponents of folk; Siren, Mike Harding, Nexus, Kathryn Tate, Colin Spear, Wayne Gillespie and Acoustic Confusion. While I’m not a great folk fan there are some impressive tracks, notably "Women

Are Smarter' (Siren), Kathryn Tate’s two songs IGo Go Go’ and ‘Women At Sea’ and Colin Spear’s instrumentals. The women on this tape really stand out while expressing admirable sentiments, the men sound as if they should be travelling through Midwest America with Gordon Lightfoot. Whatever, it’s nice to hear folk alive and shuffling in good ol’ New Zild. Fiona Rae Psykke / Hexenhaus (Rites, $5) Massacre (Rites, $5) Two tapes from Finland! Wow, I’ve never heard of Psykke before, but are they ever hot, a powerful, brooding sound incorporating pounding drums, well used synth and very strong vocals. This is like Finland’s answer to Children's Hour, it’s that good. Flip the tape over and Hexenhaus aim for a similar .approach but don’t quite cut it. Never mind worth it for Psykke alone. Massacre, who have a cassette to themselves, go for a more straightforward punk sound. They're young and raw with a more mid-tempo feel than many Finnish groups but don't come up to the quality of some of their countrymen (Riisteyt, Terveet Kadet) although they are quite appealing support the international scene. Neil Cartwright

No Idea. Wotsoever (TVvisted Tapes) ($7. PO Box 1297, Christchurch) Somehow this tape has managed to avoid being reviewed, but it’s far too good to be missed. What you get is 11 songs, fast and catchy and topped off with intelligent, convincing lyrics. Well worthwhile and with the demise of Southern Front and laziness of Flesh D-Vice No Idea look set to lead the field but watch out, Five Year Mission, Compos Mentis and Armatrak are hot on their heels. NC