Mike Shiflet & Luasa Raelon - Split

It comes to you in a plain brown wrapper, but don't let that uninspiring manilla non-cover put you off. The sounds on this early split tape by Mike Shiflet and fellow Ohioan David Reed/Luasa Raelon are more exciting than a trip to the office supply store. Shiflet's side is a quick succession of short pieces covering a wide variety of moods and ideas. Any one of them could have been expanded to a longer piece, but the brevity works too. Always leave them wanting more, eh? The flip side has Luasa Raelon sounding more Hive-Mind-esque than usual. That opening modular squiggles give way to a full-throated hallelujah roar. Turn it up and soak it in.

Remember the days when an Angelfire URL and Hotmail email account weren't so cheesy? Manilla envelopes, on the other hand, were just as cringey a cover idea in 2002 as they appear to be in 2014.

Mike Shiflet & Luasa Raelon - Split