Imperfectionistism

IMPERFECTIONISTISM is Tape Lab getting it wrong with the right of way. Recorded live on April 3, 2021 in Efland, North Carolina, the album was the group’s first serious attempt at turning one long day of jamming into a structured full-length release. It is messy by design, ambitious by accident, and proof that flying the plane into the mountain is harder than it sounds.

The session features CD+, 2yng2smpl, and SPNF!N!TY, working with the setup that defined much of Tape Lab’s Spring 2021 sound: Roland R3, Yamaha RM1X, and SoundCanvas at the center of the chaos. The result is a raw, funny, surprisingly intricate album that moves between experimental hip hop, synth-heavy grooves, longform jams, and full Tape Lab theological nonsense.

The title track, “Imperfectionistism,” appears both as a main single and later in an Alternatedit callback, anchoring the album’s central idea: imperfection as process, style, and worldview. CD+ is on fire throughout, building impossibly detailed rhythms and melodies while also carrying nearly all vocals, except for “Cowboy Friend.” His delivery brings a sharp, Zappa-like wit to the album, especially on “Eurotechno Nite” and “Techno Prisoners,” where the character work is powerfully, profoundly vague in the best possible way.

The album also introduces the Nephalem Pastor in “Right Angel,” opening the door to the evangelical satire that echoes through the release. “Wiiablo 3” and “Wholly Boots” are among Tape Lab’s most explicitly anti-evangelical anthems: not meant to offend for sport, but to push back against being told what to believe. The joke is sharp, but the message is sincere. People should believe what they want, not what they are told.

Three extended jammers — “Clear Blue Schuy,” “Jamn Bandits,” and “Neph or Nothin’” — show the depth of SPNF!N!TY’s influence on the Tape Lab sound. Usually holding it down on bass, SPN! steps further into the keys here, adding melodic force and low-end intelligence to some of the album’s most open, exploratory moments.steps further into the keys here, adding melodic force and low-end intelligence to so

There are also classic Tape Lab reprises, especially “Cowboy Friend,” which carries one of the album’s strangest and most heartfelt messages: pick your kids up from school on time, and remember, “It’s not about the kids, start with yourself.”

The cover art is equally unhinged: a wedding photo tied to the leader of a rural Pennsylvania Moonies cult, complete with God, ceremony, and gold-plated AK-47 energy. So whack, obviously.

The IMPERFECTIONISTISM [Imperfectedit] remaster brings the album into Tape Lab’s broader #RELUXREWIND series, refining the original without sanding it flat. Minor additions and FX were added to select tracks, the overall volume was brought down, and several songs were shortened or restructured for listenability. It is still imperfect.