IdleRich “Blank” cassette swap

This started so badly, my cassette deck falling at the first hurdle- that is, in making a tape. After eighteen years service (bought with my first ever grant cheque from Richer Sounds in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne), it finally gave up the ghost immediately I pressed the button with the red circle, first record cued up and ready to go.

So, my contribution became a one away CD- all data immediately erased- and meant that in order to play the tape compiled by Rich, I had to dig around in various boxes searching for my old cassette walkman. Which I failed to locate. Instead, I have been listening to it on a dictaphone which uses full size tapes (rather than the mini-ones that I used to tape Morecombe and Wise with and then listen to under the pillow at night).

However, it is possible that the poor audio reproduction qualities of the battery hungry Sony TCM-84V may not be a bad thing. This is because Rich’s tape seems to mine a seam of obscurities where the dust and accumulated resins present on the physical artefact actually enhance the overall listening experience.

This is of course, pure conjecture, as I have not researched or Googled any of the artists presented herein. That seemed wrong. I only briefly glanced at the track list, having read a nice note from the man himself. I only recognised a couple of names, Morricone being one. I think. I don’t have the bit of paper in front of me.

Overall, this excellent tape places me in a woozy state of mind, slightly concerned for the creators of the music, who it would seem, are trying to create classic pop/rock songs but somehow failing to due to some sort of mental derangement. Good.


Press play.

“Hello there, hello there…” a Pinky and Perky impersonator states over 1960s surf music, with added electronic overdubs. A bass throb punched in by a drunk. Frighteningly fast Morse Code signals- a panicked message from the future (or past).

This is followed by what sounds like library music with a French lounge God doing his best to get the girls. I wish I understood French. I’d love to see the TV programme this (may) come(s) from- all smart suits and Gitannes. It would, no doubt have a classic ‘Bad Trip’ episode.

[I may as well mention this now. I know next to nothing about 1) library music (beyond a Vibert compiled ‘Nuggets’ compilation and from memories of that, I’d put a fair bit of the music here into the genre. I've wanted to know more, but other things -reggae- have always got in the way), or 2) the rest of the stuff on the tape. So I, as with the above comments and those that follow, could be way off and/or hugely offensive. I’m listening in the dark here.]

An interlude with layers of effects. This time a ghost sings along with a looped bass/ piano/ drum trio funking it up in European fashion.

A Flute! Spaghetti Western guitars! A Triangle! Axelrod sounding? Nice.

Then the Clangers bang pots inna Konono No. 1 style. Is it any surprise that Rich started a thread on Dissensus about Psychedelic music? No.

An orchestra tunes up. A Tuba. Chanting. More overdubs- crowd noise, surf guitar, guttural utterances, construction site banging, blowing through a straw into a glasss of water. Church bells. A baby cries. A Rewind. You can still dance to it. A pretty remarkable feat.

Wonky deep soul. Men are bastards. But hey, come on in! I’m in a spin! I want your love.

The electronic wiggle thread reappears, this time over kosmiche wah-wahing, aided by a jazz drummer, feeling free. Scat singing! It works! Must be exhausting searching all this stuff out.

Rich loves that distorted bass sound too. I bet that break’s been sampled to fuck. I’m rocking in my chair. Woo Hoo!

By now, I’m fairly ashamed of my meagre CD- a lack of ‘WTF?’ obscurities; rather a Radio6 show without the talking. Apart from ‘The Penis Song’. At least it wasn’t all reggae.

A vocal number comes and goes. I was writing the above. A vain attempt to cover my back.

A change of pace. A couple of Disco/Funk numbers. Like wot DFA copied.

Bit of a skronk out at the end of the next one.

Fuck it, bung it all in. See what comes out. As long as the drummer keeps us on track. Which (s)he does. Jaunty horror business. The whipcrack a tad threatening.

A late night drive in a Citroen DS. Away from the city. Still got the F. Some Mellow Candle ‘wooing’ for emphasis. They escaped. But only just. Phew.

Drum machines and synths left to run. Good timing, My brain could do with time to consolidate.

Turn Over. Press Play.

Intros and outros are important, especially on tapes. (Better on tapes- you get four goes). On side two, we’re invited to the circus to see the Indian rubber boy, fat ladies, sword swallowers and snake charmers, amongst other things. Some acts multi-task others eat animals alive. A sense of Nick Cave overtaken by Ju-ju.

Some 1960s optimistic beat- pop. Seems a bit straight up after side one. The band members probably wore Winklepickers. Which- to me- are more interesting than the music playing:

“They [Winklepickers] attained some notoriety, when they first appeared, as a result of being worn in gang fights (sometimes by both sexes) though it seems that contemporary newspaper reports of such clashes were, as ever, sensationalised flights of the imagination on the part of bored journalists with nothing better to write about. In fact, although the Winklepicker looks lethal, it would be far more likely for damage to be caused to the delicately pointed shoe than to the opponent in any serious kicking incident…” (Wikipedia).

We get back on track. Someone’s having fun putting their voice through a barrage of effects. I hope it’s a love song, though I can’t tell. What was that Pink Floyd song that Ween copied? Something to do with weasels in a cave? Anyway, the vocal multi-tracking at the end of this song is like that.

More effect laden vocals, this time combined with electronica rather than a hammond. ‘Synth-pop’ would be too fluffy a term. Add some Krautrock. I wonder if Rich will like the ISAN tune I included on his comp? The singer here sounds a bit like Mark Gardener in the chorus. I’ve still got the Ride demo somewhere. On cassette, natch.

The next one could well be created by 1960s Haight-Ashbury types before going all Butthole Surfers covering ‘Hurdy Gurdy Man’ for a few bars. Is the tape player warbling? Wow? Flutter? Probably meant to sound like that. A brief piano outro? Crazy hippies.

A sax plays the ‘I want your soul’ melody from Aphex’s ‘Come to Daddy’. Or is it ‘I’m a man, yes I am, yes I am’? Don’t know who sung that. Anyway, the enjoyable drums/hammond/guitar combination continues.

Any attempt to guess the nation of origin of this one could well make me look like a racist twunt. The mystical Far East meets Dixieland jazz. That crass enough for you?

Do the Mashed Potato*! Inna echo chamber.
*No, that’s not the right dance- it should be the one where you put your hands on opposite knees and stuff.

Crikey, sexy girl wants to dance with me. Can’t say no.

Dr Bizarre likes his synths, but laughs evilly.

Then The Adventure Game meets Fat Boy Slim (sorry). Add vocoder.

Tape ends.


I’m exhausted doing all that.

So, a wicked cassette from areas of music I have at best a passing knowledge of and I didn’t know a single song in the entire 90 minutes. I don’t feel the need to dig much deeper with this sort of stuff, but that is in no way to demean of diminish the quality- I dread to think the amount of time Rich has spent trawling through dusty record shops searching out these gems. I’m just glad I now own a tape that I can use to quench a thirst I didn’t know I had, as and when required.

I believe Rich deejays, and if this is the sort of music he plays out, I’d heartily recommend an evening in his company.

Lots of love,

Matt B

Benny B's Garage Mixes

It was with some trepidation I opened the first package in this round of the Dissensus tape swap and noted that it was all Garage! Two mixes back to back, one 1997-98, the other from 2001-2003. Blimey - house music! It’s been so long! Soundtrack to my youth in a lot of ways… many a misspent night was spent bopping away googly-eyed to repetitive beats, from my late teens to my late 20s really. Going back earlier, I can remember listening to what was probably the first house music shows in London, Jazzy M (on errmmm… LWR?) and hearing the acid house on pirates. Early Trax singles found their way out to Ilford and used to nestle alongside Nu Groove, with Soul II Soul and Just Ice in my record boxes. These days however, house music has been washed out of life, alongside clubs, drugs and dancing sadly. None of the latter have gone completely but all are lot less frequent than they used to be. House music in the last few years has most regularly been heard as annoying, distant thump through floors and walls, prompting mucho bitching on my part if it happens to be my flat.

Anyway, as it’s a mix, I’m not going to do a track by track breakdown. I’m going to more write about my reactions and pull out a few tunes which stood out to me. I decided to listen to this tape while doing simple tasks like the washing up and cooking. Stuff where I like my brain to wander off. I must confess for the opening couple of songs on first listen I wasn’t feeling it – but gradually I began to warm up, as dormant parts of my brain came back on line. In a way, it felt like what I was doing was retraining my ears. Instead of looking for the various indefinable whatever-they-ares I normally go for, I felt I was tuning into something much simpler, and listening for something very different. Simple structures - drumsbeat/hi-hat, bass, various samples and mid tones sounds and stabs – and in these structures, the pleasures seemed to come out of tuning into the way these elements interplayed, listening for both the pleasures of repetition and the slight variations in tone and texture. I also found myself listening just to sound in itself a lot more, just simple noises that got me going. For instance, I particularly liked the bass sound on “Mr Maniac” by Genaside II - deep and resonant but still a bit cheap sounding and tinny, as if made by flatulent Metal Mickey. Another example of this is “Bad Boy” on Side 2 – loads of different sounds bouncing off each other – rolling bass, bruk up ragga samples, alongside other tones, stabs and clicks. Great tune. I may be getting weirdly overanalytical here (consequences of listening to dance music at home and writing about it maybe?) but it reminds me of dub – not so much how it sounds, but in the interplay of parts.

Another aspect for me was very much connotation – the connections and memories summoned up by these simple textures. I know that I like that bass soundd because of a couple of old UK house/hardcore records I used to know (I keep thinking Unique 3 but am not sure if this is right.). As I stood there, with my hands deep in suds, other pleasures came to mind. Not so much memories of clubbing, but synthaesthic impressions – dim red light, dry ice, just moving, spacing out, certain little fantasies I used to have while dancing. “Deep Inspiration” by Double 99 was a a particularly good example of this – just the simple keyboard riff reminded me of the idea/concept/impression of clubbing in NY the Paradise Garage. Not that I’ve ever been but I imbibed a ton of style magazine articles, pirate radio interviews and fragments of clubland history that this groove summons to mind.

On the subject of connotations, I will admit this cuts both ways. The four four beat in particular has negative connotations for me – years of hearing it, muffled, through next door neighbours wall etc meant, at moments, I'd have an adverse reaction. I almost felt I had to distract myself by listening to other elements in the mix. I’m sure this is also consequence of listening to the mixes on my crappy cheap stereo in the kitchen – I’m sure these beats aren’t meant to be just meant to be heard, but felt instead. A couple of tracks I found a bit boring for this reason – not enough extra going on - I think it might’ve been the Wesley J & Shimano ones?

Some other tracks that stood out for me – both the tracks by G.O.D. , they seemed to me heavier, with more of a jungle/ragga feel coming in. Lots of snapping kick drums and again farty UK basslines again. I liked “Lickle Rolla” as well for the breakbeaty feel and the ringtone bassline.

Alrighty, to sum up then - I’d say I enjoyed the mix the most, when I imagined myself dancing and let myself go into my impressions and memories of clubbing. There’s an edge of nostalgia for that stuff with me, the scent of sweat and amyl nitrate. Also, the more I listened to it, the more I like it – it’s not just about retuned ears here, there’s something hypnotic going on. Giving in to the repetition. Musically, I seem to lean towards the UK/ragga/jungle axis, which is unsurprising given my affection for reggae. I’m not sure if I’m the target audience for this kind of mix anymore but I really enjoyed it, and it’s been really interesting to reengage and think about the music in a way I never used to, though without the bursts of weekend hedonism, I can’t imagine getting fully back into it. Overall, then top stuff, and thanks a million.

DannyL