San Fransisco's Water Borders are by no means a new thing, their recent ep on Hungry For Power, along with some much deserved attention from 20JFG and Fact magazine, has made them somewhat of a household name, if you r house full of introverted neo-goths.Their wonderfully terrifying video for the Akko remix has been strewn about the web for the past few months, as well.Good, good stuff.This tape was released in 2010, just before their ep, and contains three lengthy songs, or movements, rather.The first being "Ararat " ", a dark and rather brooding tune, full of swelling synths, both analog and digital, and deep, baritone vocal passages.This song hardly resembles anything beat driven, or new wave, having little to no percussion at all.It slowly crawls through a handful of key changes and tempos, and keeps it's gloomy swagger, without a single thump.Water Borders is one of those rare acts, who don't rely on clicks and clacks to create something completely moving.Instead they fall back on dense, low end keyboard rhythms, or pulses, like the synth bass, and use them to make driving, beat-less rhythms.Their music is organic and artificial all at once, like a liveing, breathing, machine.This clever dirge, along with layers of dreamy synths, and carefully crafted arpeggios, make up most of Drippings music.
The most memorable song, and definitely the most full-bodied and driving of the three, is the last track."The Man With Fish In His Hands", comes off as some sort of busted Xiu Xiu scraps, playing from the bottom of an old well.The vocals come courtesy of Lynette of Bestial Mouths, and her scratchy squealing voice makes for an interesting contrast, up against WB's stern, deep moans.They mostly take turns spitting their venom, but at one point they overlap each other's tortured vocals, and it's purely black magic.This song is the only one of the three that features percussion, and they really give to you here.Swarms of tattered snare cracks and other various clicks and thuds are brought on harshly.There's no subtle head nodding, that's for sure.The staggering beats carry their wild voices and crushing synth patterns perfectly, as things just seem to grow and expand as the seconds pass, until everything drops out, leaving only a muffled whirring sound, tucked beneath what appears to be a very haunting, continuous choir chant.Completely enthralling, and full of wrong turns, this tape is fantastic, and anyone who's unfamiliar with Water Borders should get on it, asap.
Edition of 100.Get a copy from Skrot Up.
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