Fans of the Tabs Out cassette podcast will instantly recognize Mike Haley and Dave Doyen as the twosome behind that hilarious and often mind-bending ode to magnetized strips of plastic, coloured shells and Norelco cases. Not coincidentally, these guys are also fans of old Nintendo games, specifically Punch Out!!, from which their latest cassette as Roped Off obtains its theme. Both of these gentlemen are also purveyors of some of the finest synthesizer mayhem going these days, Haley flying solo as Wether and Doyen going it on his own under the Vales moniker.
On this tape, the pair duke it out in a lackadaisical battle of electron slinging and laser beam bending, peppered with sound bites obtained from one of the classic fighting games of decades past. "This is a Story of True Victory" finds Doyen and Haley bouncing around in a world once inhabited by Captain N the Game Master (Remember him?), aiming their light guns at various 8-bit baddies while trying to maintain control of their respective music-making devices. On "But the Road is Long..." the two tape-heads enter a boss battle from which they can't escape. Long, drawn out textures warp their way into electrified swatches of noise that emulate the dying cries of an exploding sprite.
Fittingly, the cassette reaches its end to the Punch Out!! closing theme music, a bright red ribbon tied around the nostalgic gift that this pair of wizards have created for gamers and synth lovers alike.
(Hausu Mountain)On this tape, the pair duke it out in a lackadaisical battle of electron slinging and laser beam bending, peppered with sound bites obtained from one of the classic fighting games of decades past. "This is a Story of True Victory" finds Doyen and Haley bouncing around in a world once inhabited by Captain N the Game Master (Remember him?), aiming their light guns at various 8-bit baddies while trying to maintain control of their respective music-making devices. On "But the Road is Long..." the two tape-heads enter a boss battle from which they can't escape. Long, drawn out textures warp their way into electrified swatches of noise that emulate the dying cries of an exploding sprite.
Fittingly, the cassette reaches its end to the Punch Out!! closing theme music, a bright red ribbon tied around the nostalgic gift that this pair of wizards have created for gamers and synth lovers alike.