Mike Shiflet is one of those dudes who really embodies the term 'experimental' musician. After living in Columbus, Ohio he moved to Japan for a while. He now lives in Columbus again, though, while in Japan, he recorded a 21 minute long track by dangling microphones by his feet while walking down a logging road, then used a fan to blow the strings of an acoustic guitar. Like I said, this guy is experimental.
That's probably what threw me off when I first went to listen to Cycles. What I was expecting was minimal laptop drone, maybe with some percussion or something thrown in. What I got was a full force psychedelic meltdown. A lot of bands these days have been described as "psychedelic surf," and I feel like if Mike wasn't already a well-known and respected artist and lived in California, he would probably fit in with these guys.
The tape makes me actually feel summer heat, perhaps a bit uncomfortable. I can feel the sweat dripping down my skin. The mosquitoes buzzing, the earth is humming and my stoner friend Duane is strumming a guitar and laughing about some mushrooms. The A side of this tape sounds like that for 11 1/2 minutes (just long enough to throw you into a trance) and then abruptly ends its mildly disturbing, mildly relaxing summer dream. The B side sounds similar, but played in reverse through a broken boom box. Pretty much the best way to spend 23 minutes in the winter; dreaming of the summer. It's available for six bucks, which is a pretty fair price. Grip it before it's gone.
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