Experimental/ambient electronic soundscapes from folks associated the D4MT crowd.

Our take: This split cassette comes to us via the D4MT Labs camp, but it’s the furthest thing from hardcore punk I’ve heard from this crew, taking the 70s German influences we heard on Straw Man Army’s interlude tracks and their HMS cassette and going even further down the rabbit hole. Both X-20 and Night Toy remind me of the most out-there 70s German Kosmiche ("Cosmic”) music, including the early albums from Cluster, Klaus Schulze, and Tangerine Dream. It sounds like Night Toy relies solely on synthesizers, and rather than rhythmically-oriented, song-based music, their shifting soundscape approach and ability to wrench surprising textures from their instruments reminds me as much of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop as anything else. X-20 is a little more organic and earthy-sounding, with acoustic drums, field recordings, and horns evoking an alien landscape rather than the vastness of empty space that Night Toy brings to mind. With each group filling up a 20-minute side of the cassette, there’s a lot of music here, but it’s not really a zone-out type of thing because its always changing and moving in a way that holds your attention. Sonically, this tape is pretty far from Sorry State’s usual world, but it comes from our community and carries its spirit, and I doubt I’m the only punk who will really enjoy it.

• Label: self-released
• Format Type: cassette
• Year: 2024