Caruso

Caruso

Kitten

General Manager

North Carolina’s Caruso, aka Matt DeBellis, presents his third full-length, originally recorded in 2003 and the second LP reissue under the General Manager imprint. Unlike the array of loops, found audio, and wall-of-sound aesthetics of 2011’s Pink Cloud, Kitten plays lighter, dancier, and goes far beyond the accessible into the infectious.  This LP sees DeBellis making actual *songs* out of the disjointed pop fragments that appear on his first two singles—2001’s “Titles Are For Babies” from UK label Crustaceans and Reptiles, and 2003’s “You Heard Me” from another UK label, Pickled Egg. Kitten’s sonic connection with the UK is immediately clear on first listen; the guitar tones and thick layers of reverb reference numerous bands from London labels Creation and Too Pure, both seminal fixtures of the 90s English alternative scene.  This reissue was re-mastered for vinyl by British producer and sound engineer, Guy Fixsen, of My Bloody Valentine, Moonshake, and Slowdive fame. Much like Moonshake’s music, these songs hinge on highly-danceable hooks and lush landscapes of electric guitar. The beats harken back to early 00s drum machine freeware, Hammerhead, replete with the ubiquitous TR-808, TR-909, and standard samples like “Funky Drummer.” But beyond the carefully constructed pop scaffolding, Kitten’s undiscovered gems truly take shape with DeBellis’ soft, crooning harmonies. Lyrically, the album is an unapologetic ode to gay love. DeBellis’ vocals bring a nuanced intimacy to the record that‘s equal parts nascent sexual power and vulnerability. On “Anyone There?” he quips, “He’s so fucking hip, but what does he...

Caruso

Pnk Cloud

General Manager

Originally a 2011 digital release, Pnk Cloud is the first of two LP reissues on the General Manager label from Durham, North Carolina’s Caruso, aka Matt DeBellis. Here, his love for the abstract edge of the shoegaze spectrum (noise, loops, washes of sound) culminates. DeBellis’ music is known for its genre fluidity. Regarding his second single, “You Heard Me,” Maarten Schiethart of Pennyblackmusic described him as “a chameleon...one moment he pleases the electronic Mille Plateaux community and then swiftly pursues in a fashion that will make Twisted Nerve fans' "ears drip with indie ooze.” Heavily inspired by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma’s 2010 ambient drone masterpiece, Love is a Stream, DeBellis‘ album mixes sonic textures with a wide array of found sounds and melancholic piano melodies. On “Side 1,” Bending guitar loops weave through (actual) call-and-response phone recordings from DeBellis’ stint at an American Airlines call center: ”I’m in Satan’s kingdom right now / And how can I help you get back up from there, sir?” Eventually, the guitar loops devolve into drones and morph slowly into a white-noise-enveloped vocal cacophony. Departing from these varied sound collages, “Side 2” is a long, engaging and hypnotic piece that incorporates layered guitar drones with unedited street noise and voices of passersby during the 2010 “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear” in Washington, D.C. Pnk Cloud was mastered for vinyl by Warren Defever, whose own music and production mirrors this recording’s sonically playful editorial approach.