Audiopile Review: Newest release on the Discreet sub-label Förlag För Fri Musik, a team-up between Gothenburg lynchpin Blod and prolific Canadian sound artist Shadow Pattern, the latter a notable figure in the Ontario experimental underground and head honcho of the Hamilton Tapes imprint. Shadow Pattern’s uncompromising experimental approach, somewhat akin to the midwestern cellar dwellers that could be found on imprints like Hanson and American Tapes during the mid 00s, is a spot-on match for the deconstructed folk blooze ritual of Blod, who is no stranger to uneasy listening. The tape exchange seems to be a one-way, with Shadow Pattern blurring Blod’s fragile piano or churning his simplistic acoustic guitar through his murky industrial processes. But some sublime moments do appear amidst the tangled tape and home-fi static, a simplistic vocal refrain or haunted piano melody will emerge from the thick atmosphere, offering a station of melancholic respite. This is gonna be a no-brainer for anyone already heavily invested in the Discreet/Förlag universe, though you might wanna act quick—this one’s pressed in an edition of 300 of which we have only a handful. Housed in repurposed sleeves with screenprinted covers, and includes insert, each copy somewhat unique.

Collaborative clatter on Gothenburg’s adored Förlag För Fri Musik label via Blod and Shadow Pattern. A transatlantic meeting yielding an intimate set of throughly lonely yet charming home recordings of detached lo-fi folk and curdled amateur concrete in typical FFFM style. TIP! (Mint / New – 1 per person)

Another transatlantic collaborative project on Förlag För Fri Musik, this time Blod teams up with Shadow Pattern from Canada. A seemingly impossible match that somehow works like a charm, the lo-fi folk of Gustaf Dicksson beautifully tangled up with the brutish concrete music of Nathan Ivanco.

Recorded in the the winter of 2024 in Gothenburg, Sweden and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Mixed and arranged by Nathan Ivanco, mastered by Aaron Hutchison.