released October 2, 2023

Some reviews of "Groove"

MYTHICAL CREATURES - GROOVE (cassette by Old Gold)

Old God is a label that has been around for quite some time now but was in hibernation for quite some time. I remember the label as a place for improvisations within a rocky context, by the likes of Jad Fair, Eugene Chadbourne and Gang Wizard. This is the first new release and by the two guys who run the label, Ben Young and Marshall Avett. The ninety-minute cassette comes with a fine, old-style Xeroxed collage fanzine. Collages as in not a lot of information, as in none at all. No names, instruments, recording dates etc are mentioned, but hearing the twenty-one pieces (ranging from one to seven minutes) I envisaged a room full of instruments and objects, along with microphones and rainbow coloured pedals on the floor and two men playing all of them, whatever the mood brings them. It is all instrumental, as far as I can judge; microphones are used to
amplify the objects and feed them through delay pedals. As the title implies, rhythm plays quite a role here, but do not mistake this groove for a dance groove. There is a more ritual aspect to the music, which reminded at times of early zoviet*france. But Mythical Creatures can also create a groove that is reminiscent of the best fierce post-punk traditions, sitting next to more tranquil moments (such as 'Cover Me', which places the guitar and spacious electronics) and on the other side getting all bit noisy in 'Primal Funk', a wild and chaotic affair. It is, all in all, varied affair, and given the length of this release that is a pretty good thing. I enjoyed this wild party of percussive improvisations, spacious drones, carefully deconstructing objects and more to be most entertaining. Hopefully, this is the end of hibernation for them and the label. (FdW)
Frans De Ward, Vital Weekly No. 1247, 8/25/20

MYTHICAL CREATURES Groove CS (OLD GOLD) The Old Gold label has been around for a while, pre-Blastitude even, having started in “like 1994.” They’ve had an interesting roster, with some kinda Pavementy bands on one hand, but also more experimental/eclectic sounds on the other, including releases from the great Atlanta-area 90s free jazz collective that spawned groups like Gold Sparkle Band and Charlie Parker (the band not the man). Now it’s 2019 and Old Gold is still making moves, with this new cassette release by a project called Mythical Creatures, definitely on the experimental side of the Old Gold spectrum. A good 10 minutes in and I’m still not sure what I’m listening to, whether it’s a group of people making sound together in real time, or if it’s all solo tape/weirdness collage/overdub madness by a single person, possibly by the Old Gold label proprietor Ben Young himself. I almost think it all could’ve been generated as extremely obtuse and/or processed live duo or even trio improvisations… oh hey, I guess if I actually opened the scrappy J-card (more like J-paper) insert, I would’ve seen the credits, which say “Mythical Creatures are Ben Young & Marshall Avett,” so it’s been a duo all along, although guests do appear on 7 of the 21 tracks, most frequently (Chips & Beer editor/publisher!) Stewart Voegtlin, who is on 4 of the 7 tracks. That’s right, I said 21 tracks, and none of them seem to be all that short either… this is a long, dense, experimental, and immersive cassette release.
Larry “Fuzzo” Dolman, Blastitude No. 11, Nov. 1, 2020