Reviews for [RL65]
Katrina Stonehart "Singles Club #8"

• Depression Chamber
  This is a very different taste of Katrina Stonehart from the regular fantastic dips of the projects music than I am used to. This is not a bad thing; it just proves how varied the mind of Drew G (aka Katrina Stonehart) is and how creative these variations can be. For the most part the beginning sounds unlike anything I’ve heard offered from Katrina Stonehart (this tape is a little older than it should be for me to have it on here, sorry Drew + Mike Rok Lok), it’s a more electronic beat oriented type of piece than I am used to. Still orchestrated in a lo fidelity manner, but overall a very awesome dip into something way out of the ordinary for what I had expected. Then again Katrina Stonehart is a very experimental project, although most of the time I am really expecting an experimental guitar approach rather than a drone ambient beat oriented offering. Do not get me wrong there is still guitar playing and vocals that sound very distant and somewhat distressed. Either way it’s a very good start to the cassingle, and it it obviously worthy enough to have side A all on its own. Lovely. Side B is a more traditional Katrina, the kind that I am used to. A somber vocal echo bleaches through a guitar that’s strummed idly and placed in a pocket of reverb. The first portion on this is very melancholy, somewhat bleak and saddened. A little dampened maybe. The second track is a more straightforward pop tune. The guitar is very bubblegrunge, and the vocals are considerably brighter. Neither song is very tight, not that it’s a bad thing as it connects both pieces with a very collapsing feel. I think the best thing about Katrina Stonehart’s whole output is that most of the songs, tapes, albums, are all very plain and there. The vocals, guitars, synths, drum machines have nothing to hide. It has a lo fidelity sheen, but it’s placed there as a tool rather than as a cover-up. I am unsure if right now I can compare sides because I think they are radically different to compare and contrast in that sort of way. I do enjoy both, and I think the variance is just so fucking useful on cassingles that it makes the whole Katrina catalog seem complete. It is a connecting piece for me (although I’m still missing a few of them). Rok Lok did the world a favor by putting this one out. An edition of 50 makes them a little valuable, but the music makes it a must own piece.