Rotate the Completor: R.T.C-E.P
Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2011 12:57 am

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Hello, last time I posted about this guy (NZ's finest outsider musician) it got such an overwhelming response I thought I'd let you know about the latest release of his that he has just put out...




A few months back I was told about a new release from Rotate the Completor from a fan who had ordered ‘Completed Rotations of the…’ from the man himself by sending as recommended a self addressed envelope containing a blank 90 minute audio cassette tape to R.T.C’s Tauranga P.O Box number. Upon its return contained within the package was a press release for the follow up – titled, ‘The Completed Rotations.’. A copy of this can be seen in the photos section of the Rotate the Completor Fan Page.

Excited about the prospect of a follow up to one of the strangest debut albums I have ever heard and eager to hear some new material having been a little less than two years since first receiving a copy of ‘Completed Rotations of the…’ I immediately sent a tape of my own to P.O Box 2000, Tauranga, New Zealand (His only known contact detail if you wish to write to him). A month or so after doing so I received my return package (and first reply!) however due to having been out of the country for the past month I have only just been able to fully investigate the contents of this.

Addressed to Fan Ingham, a pun on my name – Stan, the package contained a booklet called ‘Rotate the Comdeors: Comedic Rotations of the…’ . This is a small comic charting a stand up comedy performance by a series of crudely drawn pictures of a long haired, goateed comedian who is presumably meant to be Rotate the Comedor/Completor (though as the hair is drawn very long it makes me curious to know when this was drawn as no date is marked. For when I met him his hair was shaved very close to the skin and even looked to be thinning!) annotated all in type written lower case letters (except for the cover title) with a mixture of disturbing/humorous/silly observations on himself and life in general. Contradicting my original belief that he was an idiot savant here he proves himself to be quite a sharp, insightful but highly misanthropic, neurotic type with possible personality disorders.

Personal favourites include:

“if one meditates for a long time, it is possible to open up the 3rd eye…leaving you with an all knowing glow of inner peace. However if one masturbates for only a very short while they will definitly open the japs eye…leaving you with a ball blowing white flow and thinner piece.”

“supposedly girls are becoming more sexually adventurous at a younger age…but I would disagree, why just ask yourself what is slag when it is spelled backwards.”

“growing up, girls want horses, boys want horse dicks. Grown woman are paid to have sex with horses, men pay to watch these ladies having bestial intercourse. Is the horse therefore the truly dominant species?”

“I don’t like sex, the first time I was ever naked and inside a vagina I had a bad experience…I was born”

As a fan it’s really quite remarkable to read this because up until this point apart from the admittedly dodgy analysis I had done upon meeting Rotate the Completor many moons ago we really have no idea still as to who he is even though his album is available world wide. But reading this I can see his intelligence, depression, laziness, hatred, passion, flaws all through this booklet and even if comedic licence is to be ignored it still paints a picture of an artist very unique in his way of thinking if not a tad mentally disturbed. If you write to Rotate the Completor or order his music off him directly then I would highly recommend requesting a copy of ‘Comedic Rotations of the...’ as it seems to offer more insight into his psyche than his music allows due to the lo-fi nature of it.

Which leads me to the next item of my package, one cassette tape titled R.T.C-E.P on the index of the inlay card, the cover as seen in the pictures section of the Fan Page is a photo copy of a rather dark, abstract (crayon?) drawn picture of a closed gate, with a road leading up a hill. The back of the inlay card continues his apparent distaste for song titles by continuing the tradition of not naming any of the 6 songs contained on this E.P. They are instead numbered as such; 1.)a , 2.)b, 3.) c etc. Only one direction is provided for listening to this work – ‘listen outside’.

R.T.C-E.P you may be wondering but what has happened ‘The Completed Rotations.’? Good question and one that I cannot fully answer but if the press release to ‘The Completed Rotations.’ is fully analysed it seems to give a very vague indication as to when it would actually be released citing that it’s release date would be ‘within time’ and more tellingly these lines from the very end of the press release “and so he stowed. till which time. the demand grows. then he will release. the completed rotations. his masterpiece…” Being that he sent me a copy of the press release with R.T.C-E.P one can presume he is still not ready to release ‘his masterpiece’ to his fans yet but I will send another tape to him just to be certain.

But getting back to R.T.C-E.P. For this release but hopefully not forever Rotate the Completor has ceased operating as a one man band, playing for the most part un-assisted except for a finger slide on some songs and possible reverb an intriguing and dare I say more mature version of the folk/delta blues that ‘Completed Rotations of the…’ ended on with song 11.) . The songs here are incredibly stripped back and sound very pained and lugubrious in parts. Refreshingly without the clamour of the drums his lyrics to some degree can be deciphered – and seem to relate to trying to leave but being unable to which would help to explain the album covers winding road and closed gate. His voice while still containing an endearing wavering quality but sounds more seasoned and at times highly aggressive. Musically the songs seem to verge on a bluesy style but played in a highly idiosyncratic style unlike anything else that has come before it. The first couple of songs seem like natural progressions on from ‘Completed Rotations of the..’ (though I presume this is the unofficial 3rd release) but it is as the E.P nears its end that it really impresses with some magical and very frail songs. Song 6.)f must rank as the finest crafted song I’ve heard in a long while.

This tape continues to grow on me with each listen, the songs while technically perhaps less adventurous than on ‘Completed Rotations of the…’ have a beauty and emotional resonance that is incredibly addictive and over powering (especially when listened to outside, however don’t try this in the northern hemisphere if you want to avoid frostbite, wait till your summer rolls around!). I thoroughly recommend ordering a copy yourself via the P.O Box number but as I’m a good friend I have posted two of my favourite songs on the Fan Page (Love the slide guitar!) for your listening pleasure. Let us know what you think…

RE: Rotate the Completor: R.T.C-E.P
Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 11:05 pm

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