someone who's doing some things
I’m always amazed by how much ‘stuff’ I manage to collect and then have to clear out. I seem to be in a perpetual state of getting rid of stuff, and constantly wonder why I bought or acquired this, that, or the other.
I always try not to buy stuff when I think I don’t need it, but even so I’m always getting rid of things and wondering why I ended up with them in the first place!
How does that work then?
Today was the London to Brighton Vintage Car Rally. I love watching these ancient vehicles on their way to Brighton. Every year I decide to make a real effort to watch as much of the rally as I can and every year something gets in the way. Usually staying in bed longer.
Today I managed to see more of it than I have for the last 3 years which was great, but even so I didn’t see as much as I’d like to. Maybe next year.
You might be seeing a few more like this over the coming days and weeks. Just fun really.
This is what I’ve been using to retrieve my old songs from often crumbling cassettes. Sadly it too is somewhat past it’s best and I’m not sure how much longer it will last.
I’m considering getting an old cassette 8 track. Probably not immediately, but in a while I think.
If you’re interested in old multitrack stuff then here’s a few more posts on the subject.
It was last weekend and I missed it completely. Which is a real shame for me. So, to make it up to myself I thought I’d post a few of my favourite cassette pictures.
Thinking about cassettes for me has to include a tape 4-track, or in this case, 8-track. A beautiful and highly functional piece of hardware.
I haven’t seen one of these in ages, but in unearthing loads of old cassettes you can find some real treasures. This is a TDK Metal tape with an aluminum body. A great find, and I think they were pretty expensive when they first came out.
I wonder what else I’ll discover?
SFX was a cassette magazine from the 80s. I remember it well and thought it was really innovative back in the day
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Since I started going back over my old tapes and retrieving them I’ve been thinking about the process of recording to tape, or if not to tape in a linear way and not wholly sequenced.
I liked that way of doing things in the past. There was more room for error and because of that more room for inspired accidents. I miss that. You just don’t get that so much with sequencing.
So I am giving serious consideration to tape again. I might even consider getting a tape 8 track at some point!
I checked the tapedeck site to see if they had one of these in the list of cassettes and they don’t, so I sent them some photos.
I have 3 of these Teac cassettes and I can remember that when I bought them that they were pretty hard to get hold of back then. Now, well I doubt that there would be many of them around any more.
I’ve only got one of the blue ones and the other two are black and not in as good condition.
Beautiful though isn’t it?
When I was about 11 or maybe 12 I really desperately wanted a tape recorder, and for Christmas I got one. It was a fergusson and it looked like this. I found it again at a very weird museum a few weeks ago. It took me right back. I used to use it for recording…
I’ve been exploring some of my tiny modular devices. Above you can see. I posted this picture a while ago on Instagram. It was a fun thing to play around with, and I think that these devices go very well together. I can see myself doing a lot more little sessions like this. I’ve been…
I’m a fan of Deerful’s music so it was good news when she announced a cassette release. It’s a really nice EP too and very well put togeher.
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I’ve mentioned before that I’m currently going through a process of moving all my old cassettes to digital. It will take a long, long, long, time. I assure you.
But part of the process is listening to music I haven’t heard in years. Mostly things I’ve recorded myself, some great, some terrible, some embarrassing, and all enjoyable in one way or another.
It is a good reminder of why I love music, why I love the creative process. A reminder that software and hardware are just tools for doing something creative and should be looked at as that.
I think it can be really easy to get lost in tools you’re using to the point where you focus so much on what the tool can do and can’t do that you forget what it is you’re trying to achieve. That’s the danger and listening to my old stuff made with simple hardware and usually no software at all made me realise that perhaps I need to think long and hard about where my music is going, or more importantly the fact that it isn’t going anywhere at the moment.
It’s that time again, beginning the process of listening to the Wire’s top albums of 2022
I already have this album, I got it when it first came out, but when I heard that Steve Jansen was selling off the last remaining stock and signing them I thought I ought to buy it again. It’s always lovely to have a signed copy of things and this album especially so. I hope…
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I spent a very pleasant hour recently in the Poetry Library at the Southbank centre. I’ve been a member of the Poetry Library almost since it first opened, and it is truly a national treasure.
It is such a peaceful place, such a great place to sit and read poetry (of course) and discover new writing.
When I worked full time in London I used to make a lot more use of it, but now I only get to pop in every now and then. Even so, it is a joy to visit it every now and then. I hope to get to use it more.
A collection of poetry, After Rain by Charlotte Ansell. Which is utterly lovely.
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Here’s a map to show you where it is. I’d certainly recommend it as a great place to visit
I found this tape the other day when I was clearing out old cassettes (a job that’s going to take me a while I think).
I’d forgotten I even had this, so it is great to listen to Laurie Anderson as I’ve been a fan for many years now, and interesting to hear her talk about her work in the present tense from so long ago.
A thought about Laurie Anderson after listening to ‘heart of a dog’ again
I’ve been wanting to see this film for ages now so when it came up at the Tate Modern I was really pleased. But when I got there the added bonus was she was there too. Which was amazing. She gave a little talk at the beginning and then answered questions at the end. It…
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I am Ashley Elsdon 