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ADVENTURES IN HOME TAPING

Adventures In Home Taping: Meet The Bands - Ourselves The Elves!

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Welcome to the latest spotlight on one of the 26 bands/artists that will appear on the POST/POP vs Cassette Culture Collaboration Compilation (PXP006). I aim to have one of these interviews every single day so by the time we release the album at the end of March you will know each band initmately! Next up is OURSELVES THE ELVES, all the way from The Philippines! I’m so pleased to have a band on this album representing SE Asia, and the song in question, “I Wouldn’t Mind” sounds like Rilo Kiley before Jenny Lewis got too big for her boots. This is a good thing. Let’s see what they have to say for themselves…

Who are you? Where are you from? Somewhere exotic? Are there any nice record shops there?

We are Ourselves the Elves and we’ve been playing ever since the three of us met in a college dorm where we lived in when we were freshmen. We’re from the Philippines, where it’s sunny all the time, in the big city of Manila. It’s at the center of the country where anything and everything cool happens all the time so yes, there are some pretty nice record shops. You’d have to dig your way through, passing by a lot of lame record shops, to find them though. Although most of the records you’d get are old and beat up, the new ones probably sell for jacked up prices. If anything, the little bars where the little bands like us play are way cooler.
What genre would you pigeonhole yourself into?

Pop. Or pop/folk. POLK!

What are your non-musical influences?

Films, art, cupcakes, beer, Adventure Time, toasted marshmallows, brunch with our closest friends, people’s girlfriends and people’s boyfriends, nature, offensive jokes, our mommies and daddies, KFC

How did you find out about this collaboration/compilation and what made you send me your songs?

Our guitar player was looking for magazines to send our stuff to, and he came across the r/cassetteculture sub.

You are in a dusty room. Time hangs heavy in the air. Before you is an ancient table, carved from a twisted tree that once stood proudly atop a lost mountain. Upon this great table is a gilded envelope. You open the envelope slowly, knowing that it will give you the answer that you have been waiting for ever since you started this journey. You have lost many friends and gained untold enemies along the way. All for this. This moment. You carefully remove the parchment, feeling the edges until it draws blood. You notice not, as your eyes flicker across the page. Your blind companion, so loyal, even though you traded his eyes for safe passage and a mixtape, brings his ear close to your lips and asks you the question. “What did the letter say?” and your answer is……

“You know what, I forgot.”

Do you listen to tapes yourself? Do you think there’s a future for the format?

We used to, but would still be very much interested if ever we get more access to them in this time and age. Most of our record shops here don’t sell tapes anymore, and the artists we know of who record on tapes can be counted on fingers. To be honest, with the hegemony of the digital format, it’s hard to picture a great future for tapes. I mean, even with CDs nowadays, most people have been less kind. BUT with people like you guys who promote the format, as well as music lovers, collectors, and enthusiasts, the cassette tape will never die. As long as there are people who believe, we can always be optimistic. Hopefully, the number of tapes and the number of people who appreciate them will grow.

What’s the one thing people should know about you before they listen to your track?

That this track was recorded independently at our friend’s house. He had the mic, the computer, the audio interface, and the skills to mix and master. Almost all of our songs were done this way.

Also, it’s the last track from our first EP! http://ourselvestheelves.bandcamp.com/album/itll-be-alright-ep

What’s the one thing people should know after they listen to your track?

That we’re not all that. Most people listen to tracks like these and shove it under the labels ‘indie pop’, ‘cutesy’, ‘twee’ but we don’t want people to think that we’re all that. Since we have a whole bunch of other songs that don’t sound like this track, we’re currently working on being bigger than what people think we’re capable of.

Thank You Ourselves The Elves! Read more of the interviews from bands on the forthcoming CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE album below!

CHARLES STRICKLAND EXPRESS

MORMON GIRLS

REVUE

THIS COLD NIGHT

GIRLS ON THE BEACH & PASTY CLINE

YOU CAN NOW PREORDER “ADVENTURES IN HOME TAPING” BY CLICKING HERE.

ADVENTURES IN HOME TAPING

Choose Your Own Adventure (PXP006): Meet The Bands - This Cold Night

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Welcome to the fourth spotlight on one of the 26 bands/artists that will appear on the POST/POP vs Cassette Culture Collaboration Compilation (PXP006). I aim to have one of these interviews every single day so by the time we release the album at the end of March you will know each band initmately! Next up is Chase Morledge AKA This Cold Night. He also designed the j-card we are using for the album so he is a man of many talents! The track in question is ‘Yelva’ and it’s like a soundtrack to a dream you half remember, but for some reason it’s imagery stays with you all day. Here we go…

 

Hello! You are one of the 26 bands chosen for the POST/POP X CassetteCulture compilation. Congrats and thank you for letting me use your song. Just so everyone can know a little about you, who are you?

My name is Chase Morledge. I am the solo artist responsible for This Cold Night.

Where are you from? Somewhere exotic? Are there any nice record shops there?

I am from Austin, Tx-a.k.a. the oasis in the shithole that is Texas. There is a nice assortment of record shops in Austin. My favorite shop here is “End of An Ear.”

What genre would you pigeonhole yourself into? Y’know, if I had a gun to your head! (There’s a slim chance that in the future I may have to point a gun to your head due to sleepwalking)

Assigning oneself a genre is always a difficult task. I suppose I would fall most neatly under the Darkwave category.

I’m bored of bands telling the world what their musical influences are SO, what are your non-musical influences? (people, movies, art etc)

My music is influenced by the balance of beautiful and terrible human acts in this chaotic world. I also take influence from dystopian films and novels. I love Baudelaire’s Flowers of Evil. I love Edgar Degas’s L’Absinthe. I also take influence from unknown and unrecognized art/artists. I, especially, take influence from found-usually discarded-objects. For example, a single child’s shoe found in the wilderness. How and why was it left there? Where is the child now? What has happened?

 

How did you find out about this collaboration/compilation and what made you send me your songs?

I am a frequent lurker on /r/cassetteculture and learned about the compilation there.

Frankly, the reason I threw some tracks at this compilation was to try to get my name out there. I just started this project and I am looking for ways to share my music without completely seeming like a douche. I also am a huge fan of the sound of tape and am quite curious as to how one of my tracks will be enhanced by the digital to analog conversion.

You are in a dusty room. Time hangs heavy in the air. Before you is an ancient table, carved from a twisted tree that once stood proudly atop a lost mountain. Upon this great table is a gilded envelope. You open the envelope slowly, knowing that it will give you the answer that you have been waiting for ever since you started this journey. You have lost many friends and gained untold enemies along the way. All for this. This moment. You carefully remove the parchment, feeling the edges until it draws blood. You notice not, as your eyes flicker across the page. Your blind companion, so loyal, even though you traded his eyes for safe passage and a mixtape, brings his ear close to your lips and asks you the question. “What did the letter say?” and your answer is……

Fuck, I forgot my reading glasses.

(A long silence followed by deep sobbing)

 

Do you listen to tapes yourself? Do you think there’s a future for the format?

Yes and yes. The future of tape, in my opinion, is relatively bright. There is certainly a growing renewed interest in the format and I don’t see that stopping anytime soon. Of course, the format will never reach mainstream culture, but who would want it to? Fuck them. They would only commercialize such an individualized and wholesome format.

What’s the one thing people should know about you before they listen to your track?

Nothing. Have no expectations, you will only be disapointed.

What’s the one thing people should know after they listen to your track?

That I’m lonely and desperate and they should add me on Facebook and talk to me. https://www.facebook.com/fa380f3h0a3fa

 

Thanks Chase! Read more interviews with the bands featured on the upcoming POST/POP release below:

CHARLES STRICKLAND EXPRESS
MORMON GIRLS
REVUE

Jed

 

ADVENTURES IN HOME TAPING

Choose Your Own Adventure (PXP006): Meet The Bands – REVUE!

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Welcome to the third spotlight on one of the 26 bands/artists that will appear on the POST/POP vs Cassette Culture Collaboration Compilation (PXP006). I aim to have one of these interviews every single day so by the time we release the album at the end of March you will know each band initmately! Next up is REVUE! who is less a band more a hip-hop/spoken word superstar in the making. The track on the album is ‘Public Service Announcement’ and it unpick the stitching of hip-hop and leaves an open wound for us to stick our fingers into. Here she is!

Where are you from? Somewhere exotic? Are there any nice record shops there?

My name is Revue, and I am currently residing in Ogden Utah. There are a few good spots to pick up music out in these parts.

What genre would you pigeonhole yourself into? Y’know, if I had a gun to your head! (There’s a slim chance that in the future I may have to point a gun to your head due to sleepwalking)

I’d say that I would go in the Spoken Word Poetry genre.

I’m bored of bands telling the world what their musical influences are SO, what are your non-musical influences? (people, movies, art etc)

Mostly, my non musical influences come from life experiences and books because I read a lot. I also observe a lot and study when I can.

How did you find out about this collaboration/compilation and what made you send me your songs?

I found out by seeing the post on the r/cassetteculture subreddit. At the most, somebody would like my work, and at the least they wouldn’t, so I decided to go ahead and send something just to see what happened. I figured it couldn’t hurt, right?

You are in a dusty room. Time hangs heavy in the air. Before you is an ancient table, carved from a twisted tree that once stood proudly atop a lost mountain. Upon this great table is a gilded envelope. You open the envelope slowly, knowing that it will give you the answer that you have been waiting for ever since you started this journey. You have lost many friends and gained untold enemies along the way. All for this. This moment. You carefully remove the parchment, feeling the edges until it draws blood. You notice not, as your eyes flicker across the page. Your blind companion, so loyal, even though you traded his eyes for safe passage and a mixtape, brings his ear close to your lips and asks you the question. “What did the letter say?” and your answer is……

“It says, ‘Word on the street is that ancient platypuses spoke to the water and asked James if the checkerboard is going to get up past 7 o’clock. Plaid sweaters everywhere danced and said what the hell is wrong with you pulling my thread like that. What are you trying to do, stab my immortality!? GTFOH with that bullshit!”

And at the bottom of the letter it says the following:

“Is it true?’ ”

Do you listen to tapes yourself? Do you think there’s a future for the format?

I just barely got into listening to tapes again. I started purchasing them recently because some of my favorite artists have made special edition packages of albums and are releasing limited batches of music that were previously unheard, or that won’t be printed again. If the artist is that good, I’ll scoop it up if the price is right. It’s tough for me to say whether or not there is a future for the format. I think it’s too soon to tell whether or not tapes will enjoy the same longevity that vinyl has had over the years. All I can do is throw my hat in the ring and see what happens.

What’s the one thing people should know about you before they listen to your track?

Everything I write is meant to be a conversation piece, meaning I invite people to talk about the topics and pull them apart. I want people to break down and analyze the “who”,”what”, “when”, “where”, “why”, “how” and “which-es” found in them, so feel free to spark some conversation on it.

What’s the one thing people should know after they listen to your track?

Download the rest of my work at my bandcamp page : http://revue1.bandcamp.com/. Physicals coming soon.

Thanks Revue! Read more of the interviews from the bands on the Choose Your Own Adventure album below:
ADVENTURES IN HOME TAPING

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE (PXP006): MEET THE BANDS ~ Mormon Girls!

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Welcome to the second spotlight on one of the 26 bands/artists that will appear on the POST/POP vs Cassette Culture Collaboration Compilation (PXP006). I aim to have one of these interviews every single day so by the time we release the album at the end of March you will know each band initmately! Next up is MORMON GIRLS. POST/POP is really representing Canada recently, as we are also releasing a tape for Kestrels in March. The song in question is ‘City Lights Scream’ and I picked it out of many great songs they have. Here’s the interview…

 

Hello! You are one of the 26 bands chosen for the POST/POP X CassetteCulture compilation. Congrats and thank you for letting me use your song. Just so everyone can know a little about you, who are you?

We are Mormon Girls. Tyson Wiebe (bass/vocals), Dave Banman (guitar), Jon Vornbrock (drums), and I’m Mick Hayward (vocals/guitar)

 

Where are you from? Somewhere exotic? Are there any nice record shops there?

Mick (MH): We are from Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada — Not so exciting. Farms and feedlots… there’s a river! Dave was born in Mexico. That’s definitely more exotic than Lethbridge.

As for record shops, we have one and lucky for us it’s really great — Blueprint Entertainment. Mike, who runs the joint is crazy supportive of our local scene and he gets in some wicked listens.

Tyson (TW): Plus, Adrian and Ryan (from our favorite band, Advertisement) both work there.

 

What genre would you pigeonhole yourself into? Y’know, if I had a gun to your head! (There’s a slim chance that in the future I may have to point a gun to your head due to sleepwalking)

MH: Gun to my head, eh? We were described as ‘Nu-Gaze’ in a recent review because of the shoegaze element, but there’s an indie rock and post hardcore influence that is there too. ‘Pigeonhole,’ however, makes me think of generic genre type so… alternative.

TW: Can’t believe you said “eh”. Stop stereotyping our country! If it were 2003 we’d get lumped in with emo. I’d say we are indie rock though.

 

I’m bored of bands telling the world what their musical influences are SO, what are your non-musical influences? (people, movies, art etc)

MH: Music is a huge influence obviously, but for me personally when I write non-musical influences are just as important. I’m super into film and reading (Kerouac, Burroughs, Vonnegut. The weird stuff.) I find myself writing songs that have been influenced by a feeling I got watching a movie or reading a book more often than when I listen to music. I thought of the band name at 4A.M. after a night of drinking, so I guess drinking too?

TW: I’m a big comic nerd so that influences me subconsciously I’m sure. Comic artists/writers that inspire me: Rick Remender, Andy Diggle, Steve Dillon, Robert Kirkman, Jock, Ryan Ottey, Warren Ellis, Matt Fraction, Brian Michael Bendis, Neil Gaiman, Scott Snyder, Grant Morrison and, of course, Alan Moore.

 

How did you find out about this collaboration/compilation and what made you send me your songs?

MH: Tyson works in a library and I work at a bank during the day, so the downtime is full of emails back and forth about ideas and things we find on the internet. He is definitely the more productive one and finds great blogs and opportunities.

TW: Norwegian Blue just re-emerged as a cassette/vinyl only label last summer. I found a bunch of like-minded individuals in the /r/cassetteculture thread. When an opportunity to contribute became available, I jumped on it!

 

You are in a dusty room. Time hangs heavy in the air. Before you is an ancient table, carved from a twisted tree that once stood proudly atop a lost mountain. Upon this great table is a gilded envelope. You open the envelope slowly, knowing that it will give you the answer that you have been waiting for ever since you started this journey. You have lost many friends and gained untold enemies along the way. All for this. This moment. You carefully remove the parchment, feeling the edges until it draws blood. You notice not, as your eyes flicker across the page. Your blind companion, so loyal, even though you traded his eyes for safe passage and a mixtape, brings his ear close to your lips and asks you the question. “What did the letter say?” and your answer is……

MH: It said nothing. There was a sketch of an eyeless man on the paper.

TW: “42”

 

Do you listen to tapes yourself? Do you think there’s a future for the format?

MH: Honestly, I’m just starting to again. When I was a kid I nearly wore out a couple of my Dad’s that I stole from him. Beastie Boys - License to Ill, Green Day - Dookie and Nirvana – Unplugged were the hard hitters for me. The resurgence of vinyl is definitely one I have fully embraced and now that cassettes have some steam again it’s a great way to hear independent bands for a reasonable price. Price-point aside, it sounds pretty sweet. I don’t think it will go as far as vinyl has again with major label distribution, but it should become a viable and more widely used format of independent music.

TW: Yes and yes! My most recent purchase is Tears For Fears - Songs From the Big Chair. Bought it for $.50 at the thrift shop! Cassettes will always be around because people love the human touch of the format. People like Bart Records/Revolution Winter in Calgary, Alberta; Ritual Tapes in Louisiana; Fleeting Youth and Graveyard Orbit from Texas; and now, POST/POP from London, won’t let this format go down without a fight.

As the t-shirt from Bart Records says, “Hometaping is Saving Music.

 

What’s the one thing people should know about you before they listen to your track?

MH: I wrote “City Lights Scream” when I was 17. It’s probably the first ‘good’ song I wrote and it has gone through some weird stages to make it to the final version. It’s nice to take the older songs I wrote as a solo artist and bring it to the guys to make it a Mormon Girls song by adding their parts and style. Now we are starting to have consistency with the new songs we are writing. It’s great.

TW: Mickey and I recorded an acoustic version of this song in my living room, circa 2009-ish. We were drinking heavily and he kept stomping the floor and shaking the mike. We have a copy of that somewhere.

 

What’s the one thing people should know after they listen to your track?

MH: We have more! Our EP “The Farm Sessions” is out on a random selection of coloured cassettes that can be purchased at www.norwegianblue.bigcartel.com and it has 5 tracks including “City Lights Scream.” We’re also working on new material! A new track, “Bears II,” will be available in April on a compilation we are putting out with Norwegian Blue Records, which is Tyson’s brainchild.

TW: After we recorded the acoustic version of City Lights, I turned it into an indietronic remix and auto-tuned the hell out of Mick’s voice. We have a copy of that somewhere too.

 

 

Thank you Mormon girls! Below are the other interviews from the bands on the compilation. Have a read and get ready for the March release!

 

CHARLES STRICKLAND EXPRESS

 

Jed

 

ADVENTURES IN HOME TAPING

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE (PXP006): MEET THE BANDS ~ CHARLES STRICKLAND EXPRESS

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Welcome to the first spotlight on one of the 26 bands/artists that will appear on the POST/POP vs Cassette Culture Collaboration Compilation (PXP006). I aim to have one of these interviews every single day so by the time we release the album at the end of March you will know each band initmately! First up is CHARLES STRICKLAND EXPRESS. The song in question is quite simply - and I don’t say this lightly - one of the greatest songs I’ve ever heard about the trials and tribulations of a modern day musician. It’s called ‘Ballad of the Virtual Musician’ and I think it’s going to be important!

 

Hello! You are one of the 26 bands chosen for the POST/POP X /R/CassetteCulture Compilation. Congrats and thank you for letting me use your song. Just so everyone can know a little about you, who are you?

My name is Charles Strickland and I’m a character from a wonderful book called ‘The Moon and Sixpence’ by Somerset Maugham.

 

Where are you from? Somewhere exotic? Are there any nice record shops there?
Yes, a very exotic Scottish city called Dundee. And yes it is home to possibly THE most legendary Scottish independent record shop of all time, it’s called ‘Grouchos’ and it has been here forever.

 

What genre would you pigeonhole yourself into? Y’know, if I had a gun to your head! (There’s a slim chance that in the future I may have to point a gun to your head due to sleepwalking)
Pop (gun).

 

I’m bored of bands telling the world what their musical influences are SO, what are your non-musical influences? (people, movies, art etc)
Ram Dass, Black Cat White Cat and most Powell/Pressburger movies. Antoni Tapies, Somerset Maugham, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and some books most notably: ‘Catcher in the Rye’, ‘Steppenwolf’, ‘Generation X’, ‘On The Road’ and too many more of each to mention.

 

How did you find out about this collaboration/compilation and what made you send me your songs?
A long time lurker on r/cassetteculture and ‘Neztok’ follower on Twitter. There was something about the big hearted energy of this project that got to me and compelled me to contact you.

 

You are in a dusty room. Time hangs heavy in the air. Before you is an ancient table, carved from a twisted tree that once stood proudly atop a lost mountain. Upon this great table is a gilded envelope. You open the envelope slowly, knowing that it will give you the answer that you have been waiting for ever since you started this journey. You have lost many friends and gained untold enemies along the way. All for this. This moment. You carefully remove the parchment, feeling the edges until it draws blood. You notice not, as your eyes flicker across the page. Your blind companion, so loyal, even though you traded his eyes for safe passage and a mixtape, brings his ear close to your lips and asks you the question. “What did the letter say?” and your answer is……

Your mission on earth is to awaken from the illusion of separateness. God, Guru and Self are One.

 

Do you listen to tapes yourself? Do you think there’s a future for the format?
Yes, I have a large suitcase full of tapes that go way back. Everything from early 2 track recordings to the 4 track experiments of later periods. I love digging about in them and finding hidden gems I’d forgotten existed. Self indulgent I know but I also have several tapes purchased new this year from cassette labels.

I think the cassette resurgence is about a lot of different things, but to me the main one is about the re-materialization of recorded music. People need something that has aura, intimacy and a ritual element.
We are only just beginning to realize how diluted the power of music has become in the ipod age.

 

What’s the one thing people should know about you before they listen to your track?

That I’m probably old enough to be their father.

What’s the one thing people should know after they listen to your track?

That I hope their fathers are as cool as I am.

 

 

Thank you Mr Strickland. Stay tuned for another spotlight interview with one of the bands from Choose Your Own Adventure album, every single day!

Jed

 

ADVENTURES IN HOME TAPING

Choose Your Own Adventure X /r/cassetteculture - and the 26 winners are…

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If you have read this… http://postpoprecords.wordpress.com/2014/01/13/choose-your-own-adventure-a-collaboration-with-reddits-rcassetteculture-pxp006-26-band-compilation-album/

you will know that I recently ran a competition in collaboration with Reddit’s /r/cassetteculture to find 26 bands to feature on our joint album. The album is named ‘CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE’ for the reasons described in the above post.

It’s going to be a fantastic little tape compilation album with many unique styles, lots of different genres, spouts of genius and flashes of insanity. The tape will feature a unique short story to read while you are listening to the tape. If you read at a regular pace, it should soundtrack the story very nicely! There will be lots of lovely extras I will throw into the tape too, like stickers and maps and other things and will be limited to 50 tapes only. I realise that seems crazy for an album with 26 different artists on it, so I will see what demand is like and adjust accordingly. I’m happy with 50 though!

So the bands who will feature on the album are…. (Band Names on the right and this is in no particular order…)

Song For A Romantic Comedy -Token Lightning Foundation

Ballad of the Virtual Musician - Charles Strickland Express

Fanfare for the retired clown - Chris Ridire

Jean Jacket Blues - Girls on the Beach

Eventually America -Tremolo Ghosts

The Curtain - Pasty Cline

Breakfast With The Astronauts REDUX - Don’t Forget Your Dinosaur

Soul Stealer’s End - Night Steve

onyx -Geodesics

MYSTIC - AMULETS

Public Service Announcement - Revue

93 Lumina -Jump The Blinds

Yelva - This Cold Night

Alto Sax 3 - Suburban Coconuts

I Believe in Ghosts - Happy Hill

Lookin for Hell - Shitstorm

Rooms - Queen Bee Dream

Cutting Room Floor - Plastic Indians

Visiting My Brain - Happy Front

I Am The Moss - Tam Tam The Sandwich Man & The Magical Sugar Cookies

I Wouldn’t Mind - Ourselves the Elves

Ride - Masta Q

Autumn - Matthew Bedoya

Breaking Bikes AKA If Ignorance Is Bliss Then Why Am I So Unhappy? - High Adventure

City Lights Scream - Mormon Girls

No One Wants to Know - The Nomarks

I will update this post on almost a daily basis with bios and photos and more info on all of these bands. I will also try to do little interviews with them all so you know what you are getting into before you listen to the tape.

I plan to release it at the end of March and like all the other POST/POP releases will also be part of the British Library’s Archive where one tape will from each release will be placed for future generations.

This truly is a brilliant adventure for me and I hope you all join me!