cassette released on Space Slave Editions


SIDE A :::

1. Wen XYZ
2. Grave Digger
3. Dead All Ready
4. Touch
5. Traffic Management
6. Soap for Two
7. Micro Gale Talodactye


SIDE B :::

1. U
2. Banana Peeling
3. Cucumber Coffee
4. Infinite Diet
5. Amigo Mellon
6. Somebody Else in the House
7. Peg Leg's Wrecked Car

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REVIEW BY WEED TEMPLE:

Floridian loop magician Jeffry Astin, founder of the Housecraft label, has made a name for himself in the dusted lo-fi underground with his solo project Xiphiidae, in which the endlessly looping and repeating psych folk experimentations reached an almost Skaters-like levels of intensity and trancelike suspension. With his new project Digital Natives, Astin still bases his work on power of looping, but here the sources of inspiration change dramatically: instead of tribal drumming and droning minimalism the tracks here are based on 70’s and 80’s sweaty funk and dreamy synth pop ballads. Digital Natives takes the most “hooky”, bouncing moments and repeats them in most pleasing ways.

The change of genres as a source of work is not the only thing separating Digital Natives from Jeffry’s earlier projects; the tracks here are also shorter - while with Xiphiidae’s albums Astin could lock himself in a groove for 10, 15, even 20 minutes with little or no variation (making it one of the most “hardcore” minimalist projects in the entire scene), the tracks on Blow Your Brain Out tend to last from 3 to 5 minutes, a pretty regular, song-like length. The music of Digital Natives is thus far more accessible and fun - lazy porn grooves intermingle with heartfelt, immediately likeable electronic beauty in a series of miniatures that serve as small windows into the world of looping bliss. Astin understands the borders between “still interesting” and “getting boring already” and cuts the tracks short just at the right moment - the entire cassette is a compilation of such moments, perfectly chiseled gems of mutant pop crafted purely for listening pleasure. Great album for zoning out to the best moments of your half-remembered (hypnagogic, you know) favorite songs, looped for a few minutes. Works great, both sober and stoned. Recommended!


REVIEW BY JUSTIN SPICER:

Jeffry Astin begins to separate himself from his Xiphiidae identity with his recent output as Digital Natives. After releasing Let Three Be Light on his own Housecraft with the promise of “many alignments,” Blow Your Brain Out adjusts the lumbar with the force of a burly Swedish masseuse. “Dead All Ready” has a crooked spine, jutting flashy 70s lounge at its base, before contouring into a 80s slow jam. “Soap for Two” walks with a pimp’s gait; cocksure and proud, before slipping on the variety show Tropicalia of “Micro Gale Talodactye.” Despite relying on repeated loops, Blow Your Brain Out is so rich with inspiration, it avoids a Sisyphean fate. Astin may riff on the same theme, but the tape never runs out of variations.