‘HQ’ is a C58 of two looong sound collages by Dutch duo Recyclebull (Robert Kroos and Frans Friederich). However, rather than a product of lazy editing, the massive sides offer a remarkable internal coherence as thoughtful curating. Side A is “All Heavens”, which pans wide and far with a drone ala Stars of the Lid or Eluvium, a black field upon which the twinkle of bells flash like distant stars, a modest resemblance to the recent, fantastic ‘Space Music’ by Nurse With Wound. This heavy curtain parts on a vivid daydream of field-recorded garden sounds and looping melody akin to the folksy ditties of Town & Country or the string miniatures of Colleen, returning in the final third to a pinhole view of dark, dissonant shades and fractured bits of the previous sounds. On the reverse, “The Quest” distills the sinister colors from before into a fine, sooty swarm, itself breaking on a fantasy of warm synthetic risers, bird calls, and a maiden’s whisper pleading like a Calvino take on Rapunzel. Like the terse backing which reveals itself the stars at noon, this black becomes the concrete, asphalt density of the city, where clattering trucks pass over streets, down hallways, past recitals of some Francophilic piano turned downtempo beat turned warm synthetic flourishes over a light ribbing of metal and wood; like the stage it evokes, the scene changes with a crash and a whimper, a black swan melodrama suited for Cocteau, held in suspense. The coda is a final return from realism with gentle, Bladerunner glints and sways, warm and breathy, which fall upon the production like a sheet. The two sides in conversation rather than contestation, 'HQ' is an exceptional 60 minutes of figureless sound. Beautiful, full color art by Hideyuki Katsumata on labels and heavy J-card. Highly recommended. (Sanity Muffin cassette, $7 HERE)