A Philadelphia shoegaze act called They Are Gutting a Body of Water has revealed a new mixtape, KOOL FAITH / LOOSIES II, carrying a strong sense of looking back at old memories. The project spans 28 tracks and is set for release on digital platforms on October 16th, with a physical edition arriving on November 20th through ATO Records x Julia’s War. In celebration of the announcement, the group have shared three fresh songs: “kool marder” featuring Cashier, “the rook,” and “free willy.”.
The Mixtape’s Roots
The mixtape pays homage to the cassette tapes and burned CDs that shaped youth listening prior to streaming. Doug Dulgarian, the man at the helm of TAGABOW, recalls picking up those tapes at convenience stores for just a few dollars each.
While he was young, among the most effective ways to take in music involved heading into a convenience store and picking up a thin jewel case CD carrying a mixtape. These tapes were assembled from beloved artists, put together by neighborhood producers building their own tracks or piecing together vocal stems to the correct tempo. The cover art functioned as firework marketing, with graphic design labeled as a passion. That spirit is something he looks back on fondly, though he notes you can still find it alive on SoundCloud and YouTube.
The Guest Vocalists
The album KOOL FAITH / LOOSIES II draws its sound from a wide range of artists working within the indie music world, and the tracklist reflects that collaborative spirit through a series of guest appearances.
- Hotline TNT
- SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE
- RXKNephew
- Horse Jumper of Love
- Greg Mendez
The Singles You Can Stream Now
The three tracks make up the clearest way into the mixtape for listeners wondering what it sounds like. “kool marder” brings Gutting together with Cashier, while “the rook” and “free willy” each stand alone.
The Mixtape’s Format
Dulgarian sees the mixtape as a homemade recording that you usually played alone or handed to someone else. Born later than the era of these tapes, he found them to be collections of other people’s work mixed together. That is how he approached making this one himself.
A Tour to Match the Scale
The band Gutting are also announcing a US tour, which runs next month and includes their biggest shows yet. The dates run from Baltimore to Brooklyn, with stops in Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia.
The Tour Dates
The trip begins in Baltimore on October 29th and ends in Brooklyn on December 10th. The cities visited along the way are Norfolk, Charlottesville, Greenville, Houston, El Paso, Tucson, Los Angeles, Fresno, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Sacramento, Reno, Fort Collins, Lawrence, St. Louis, Chicago, and Columbus, with a closing performance in Philadelphia on December 18th.
The LOTTO Connection
The group TAGABOW put out a mixtape called swanlike (loosies 2020-2023) in 2024, before releasing their most recent studio album, LOTTO, which came out last year and drew critical acclaim.
The Digital Release
The mixtape is currently open for pre-orders, with a physical edition set to arrive on November 20th.
The 28-Track Scope
With 28 tracks, KOOL FAITH / LOOSIES II stands as a sizable undertaking. The album gathers together mashups of songs by Doug Dulgarian’s favorite artists, among them Hotline TNT, SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE, RXKNephew, Horse Jumper of Love, and Greg Mendez.
The singles offer a taste of what the full tape delivers.
See the video the story is built around at Consequence.
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