{"product_id":"wanda-group-a-slab-about-being-held-captive-lp","title":"Wanda Group - A Slab About Being Held Captive","description":"\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=675394551\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/artwork=none\/transparent=true\/\" seamless\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/nnatapes.bandcamp.com\/album\/a-slab-about-being-held-captive\"\u003e'A SLAB ABOUT BEING HELD CAPTIVE' by WANDA GROUP\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cp\u003eWashed up on the shores of Brighton UK, we find “A Slab About Being Held Captive” laying there quietly in the sand. This soaking enigma is the latest creation of Louis Johnstone, following up an influx of recent vinyl on Opal Tapes, Notown, Where To Now?, and Svetlana Industries. Since their debut release “Bass Urine” on NNA in 2011, Wanda and the girls have matured to a new point of refinement, sinking deeper into the careful organization of disconcerting sounds. “A Slab” truly is a seasick collage, with a pervading aqueous essence flowing throughout the two side-long pieces, carrying along with it fragments of field and domestic recordings and sample clutter. Syrupy waves of sound meld into one another with cinematic pacing, forming a gelatinous backdrop for hard cut interjections of concréte style sample manipulation, lending themselves to an air of confusing tension. As the liquid bath abruptly turns to slate, a group of gulls squawk at a bubble filled with muffled porno moans as they glide by. Body sounds and animal conversations are drowned out by the mechanical purrs of an industrial assembly line, sputtering and choking their last breaths as they struggle to stay afloat. Maddening tones seem to permeate from within, sizzling their way through the stereo field like two magnets dancing, drilling through the headspace. This hypnotic phenomena forces the mind inward, reducing it to a skull full of opiate brain mush and half-cooked soggy memories. These collections of moments may fall shamelessly into near-nothingness at any given time, eventually refilling themselves with sound in a cyclical rising and falling, perhaps acting as an abstract reflection on mental states of indifference, alienation, or just general life terror and bleakness. Wanda’s ability to maintain compositional fluidity throughout such a dynamic range of materials is reinforced by an original sense of movement and pacing, and the ability to form a creative symbiosis between cold sterility and organic warmth. Although ultimately, it’s probably best left to the artist’s own words:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“WANDA GROUP IS OR COULD BE OR WANTS TO BE A GROUP\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIT IS NOT\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI SHOULD BE BUT I AM AFRAID IT NEVER BECAME ONE\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEITHER DUE TO A LACK OF FRIENDSHIP, KINDNESS OR POUNDING HUMAN REGRET ?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWHO KNOWS ?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWANDA GROUP TRIES TO MAKE EARTH MUSIC\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHIS COULD BE INSIDE OR ABOVE OR RIGHT ON THE LAND\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI THINK THAT YOU SHOULD LOOK AT CONCRETE OR MOUNTAINS TO TRY AND MOVE YOURSELF\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eART GALLERIES WORK BUT SOMETIMES I THINK PEOPLE NEED TO LOOK AT THE STUFF THAT IS GROUND OR SHOVED RIGHT INTO THE EARTH OR HAS BECOME THE EARTH\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eALL IS ONE SORT OF THING ETC\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWANDA GROUP DOES TRY TO LOVE IN A MASSIVE WAY\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIT IS ALL VERY SERIOUS AT POINTS AND SOMETIMES I NEEDS TO BE\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWANDA GROUP REALLY SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO FUCKING SPEAK OR TYPE (MAYBE ONLY EXIST IN A STATUE ?)”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMastered and cut by Lupo at Calyx Mastering in Berlin, Germany.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eComes with free mp3 download coupon.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #00cccc;\"\u003eNon-USA Customers:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e For all orders of 5 cassettes or more, or vinyl + cassette combination orders, please \u003ca href=\"mailto:nnatapes@gmail.com\"\u003econtact us\u003c\/a\u003e before ordering for a precise shipping rate.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"NNA Tapes","offers":[{"title":"12\" LP (With Digital Download)","offer_id":45567658328287,"sku":null,"price":9.75,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital Download (WAV)","offer_id":45567658262751,"sku":null,"price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital Download (320 MP3)","offer_id":45567658361055,"sku":null,"price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/9256\/8543\/files\/NNA068.jpg?v=1714759439","url":"https:\/\/shop.northern-spy.com\/products\/wanda-group-a-slab-about-being-held-captive-lp","provider":"Northern Spy Label Group","version":"1.0","type":"link"}