Sacramento, CA's mysterious Carter Mullin released his album in an insanely-limited run of 15 copies. Each one of them is completely DIY - from the cover, which is ornamented with a squid-like object drawn with a pencil with something that looks like lipstick. The CD-R, which is not labeled in any way, is housed inside an envelope made of toilet paper. On the other side of the package there is a handwritten project and album name: "Reedbeds - G'Morning Gomorrah". Inside the package, together with the CD-R, is a neatly written piece of paper saying which copy this is (mine was 9 out of 15), and the time of recording.
G’Morning Gomorrah, together being about 50 minutes long, is a sort of a “fundraiser” album, released to collect money to record another, “proper” Reedbeds album. And what a fundraiser it is! The six untitled tracks oscillate between pastoral lo-fi guitar improvisations (with field recordings) in the style of Jewelled Antler roster (especially Loren Chasse) or the slow jams of Thoughts on Air and slowly evolving synthesizer-based drone pieces in the style of early Jeff Witscher (think Marble Sky at its most dronish). The fourth track gives a slightly creepy rendition of musique concrete with old song samples mangled beyond recognition, reduced to a set of droning ghost choirs, suddenly coming into existence and fading just as abrubtly. The last, longest track embodies the albums “ear to the ground” approach, enveloping the gentle synth notes with quiet hum, like a quiet wind going through the forest.
Reedbeds’ album, although extremely limited and not as “official” as other releases offers a relaxing journey through a variety of aesthetics and might be an interesting (if extremely obscure) link between the guitar-based improvisational ambience and the synth drone scene.
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