“By making everything available and downloadable then everything seems to become equal. But while an equality of access appears to be a good thing, in reality they are simply perceived as equally disposable.”
Jack Sargeant on the Frameworks mailing list, June 2008
What does it mean when everything becomes available for free? What impact does it have on “value”, not necesarely monetary value, but social and cultural value? Is the massafication of online information, as Jack Sargeant seems to suggest, leading to the fade-out of cultural difference – and remember, in contrast to what the Web 2.0 entrepreneurs seem to assume, we seek difference, not similarity? Now that we are being literally and figuratively diverted all over the Net, floating in a sea of noise, how do we find meaning and identity? What about music lovers and collectors, for example, who spend, or used to spend, huge amounts of intense energy seeking out rare music, trying to find the scarce in the world of physical cultural artefacts? The process of collecting and searching, diggin deep in the crates in record stores, on second hand marketplaces and after concerts, looking for and exchanging exclusive or out-of-print records or obscure bootlegs… all of that made sense, caus there is/was a sense of value and community, a way to meet people with similarly interesting tastes and ideas, while discovering other ‘treasures’. What does all of this mean in an all-digital world? Of course, Ebay and other online global marketplaces are crowded with music fetisjists, and some people even make a living selling rare records online. But what is the value of collecting when you can find all you desire via online retailshops or open sharing networks such as Soulseek, when even obscure audio tapes and records are being digitalised and made available via blogs or forums, be it “awesome tapes form Africa”, “diamonds form the Greek Underground”, “Homemade Lofi Psychedelic music”, Latin music from Puerto Rico, obscure singles of bands and musicians such as Stereolab, Shellac or John Fahey, or historical treasures, such as the bootlegs of The Theater of Eternal Music (also known as The Dream Syndicate, featuring La Monte Young, John Cale, Tony Conrad and Angus MacLise), the rare recordings that Godflesh and Loop made together, or the lost connection between the Sun City Girls and the Velvet Underground. The list is endless. You can easily get lost in the abundance of freely available music (like Chris Anderson wrote: “Every abundance creates a new scarcity”). Maybe that’s one of the reason the cassette culture survived and is still (or once again) alive and kicking, as I wrote before. Back to the aura of the original, the look & feel of all things analog (authenticity)? Back to the personal touch, with custom handmade tapes (sometimes taped over old stuff) and sleeves (personalisation)? back to a sense of belonging (community)? Whatever… tapes do offer an alternative for those who are put off by the ubiquity and harsh aesthetics often associated with digital technology and prefer the hands-on qualities of rudimentary analog equipment. It’s also one of the chosen mediums for the publication of musical snapshots, fragments of an ever evolving process of experimentation.
However, for those of you who aren’t in touch with this culture, and still want to discover the music on these tapes – some of the most exciting stuff these days is spread around on this format, believe it or not – there’s always a chance you might find stuff online. For example, I did a test and looked for some Belgian tape-music I like. Here is some of it. Keep in mind that all of this is made available on the net without permission and was not supposed to be listened to via some digital apparatus, but via a cassette player. If you like it, please check out the labels and musicians, although they’re obviously not in it for the money, they do need all the support they can get. Buy their stuff or invite them over for a show, you won’t regret it. And btw: you are missing out on some pretty amazing artwork.
Ignatz
Without any doubt one of the most talented songsmiths around, one of those people who’s able to craft a perfectly proportioned sensibility through his music, blemished and gracefull, of the moment and for all time. Grown up on a diet of lo-fi pop, ancient blues and the ‘Smithsonian Anthology Of Folk’, Bram Devens labels himself, not without irony, as a “lo-fi fascist”. Armed with nothing but a couple of seedy guitars, cheap synths, an archaic tape recorder and some effects, he creates disjointed sound scraps, mounted from a haze of improvised melodic figures and dark noise shadows. Both wayward and enchanting, intimate and alienating, romantic and poignant, his rich art-brut compositions explore the dark corners of the musical spectrum, where beauty arises out of intuition and confrontation. His music was published via (K-RAA-K)3, bread and animals, Celebrate Psi Phenomenon, Imvated and New Age Cassettes (this one under the moniker ‘Miles Devens’). A new release has just been released by Scumbag, a new record should be coming out on (K-RAA-K)3 in a few months. Ignatz also plays with Silvester Anfang and other on-off projects.
Ignatz – they are quiet as mice (Bennifer Editions, 2007. SOLD OUT).
Found via Experimental etc.
Ignatz – I Will Soothe My Eye To Feast It (Imvated, 2006. SOLD OUT).
Found via Experimental etc.
Orphan Fairytale
Thurston Moore hailed Orphan Fairytale, alias Eva van Deuren, as one of the most exciting live acts he has recently experienced, and right he is. She’s not only a delight to experience on stage, her music also sounds glorious, like nothing you have heard before. Using a set of organic sounding primitive keyboards and toy instruments, she shifts between fractured, whimsical melodies and brooding drones, resulting in an alienating, hypnotic universe that reminds me, in a way, of the movie ‘Night of the Hunter’ – a “nightmarish sort of Mother Goose tale” as director Charles Laughton once called it, like distorted childhood memories, lullabies that are as soothing as they are unsettling. “Looping casio keyboards inhaling magic dust and blowing it out into bright dancing psychbubbles.” Her work has been released via labels such as Sloow Tapes, bread and animals, Release the bats. You’re about to hear more of her. Other projects include Maskesmachine, Frozen Corpse and Hardline Elephants.
Orphan Fairytale – Twilight Time (Sloow Tapes, 2006. SOLD OUT).
Found via Bone Mallow.
Silvester Anfang
“Silvester Anfang is the flagship of the budding Funeral Folk empire. These primitive explorations are a near-perfect dichotomy of gloom and fun. And that is how it should be. That is what the phrase ‘Funeral Folk’ implies. It’s death, with a sense of humor. In the end, Silvester Anfang are more interested in drinking beers and having fun than they are in mourning some lost souls. Be that as it may, this is serious music in that it is dense and it is damn good” (Brad Rose). Call it “Pagan Belgopsych”, “post-krautrock”, “non-musical offertories”, “Sunburned Hand of the Man gone Rosemary’s Baby” or “Animal Collective with a burning cross”… the thing is that Silvester Anfang, who started out just a few years ago, is really working towards having their own idiom, much faster than anyone could have expected. Also check out the work of the individual members. Releases popped up on Funeral Folk, Eclipse, Sloow Tapes, (K-RAA-K)3, Meu Dia De Morte, digitalis industries, 23 productions, and other labels. Just released: a split 7″ with Burial Hex on Aurora Borialis.
Silvester Anfang – Spontane Opnames I: Anti-Metal Politie-Interventie (Meu Dia De Morte, 2007).
Found via Deleted Scenes, Forgotten Dreams.
Silvester Anfang – Het Orkest Van Scheuten En Speugen (Sloow Tapes, 2006. SOLD OUT).
Found via We Have No Zen.
You may also want to look for tapes (and other formats) by Benjamin Franklin, Buffle, Hellvete, Bear Bones Lay Low and a bunch of other Belgian delights. Also check out the compilation Graag Traag on Sloow Tapes.
image above: Orphan Fairytale by Rachel Agnew