i WORK IN A BOOK SHOP IN sTOCKPORT A COUPLE OF DAYS A WEEK. eVERY ONCE IN A WHILE, WHILST WANDERING AROUND TOWN ON MY LUNCH, I LIKE TO WALK UP THE NARROW STREET TO aLL nIGHT flIGHT, THE EXeMPLaRY RECORD SHOP UP THE ROAD, AND ROLL THE DICE ON A TAPE TO LISTEN TO IN MY CAR. toDAY THE DICE LANDED ON AN OLD sst CASSETTE BY nEGATIVLAND.
this wasn’t a complete gamble, I know a little about Negativland and their legacy as audio agitators and original culture jammers, but still, I didn’t really know what the deal was with this tape apart from the fact that it was taken from an old radio show and the design on the case looked pretty cool. Having already agreed to pick up some old tables from a block of flats out in the industrial expanse of Carrington for my wife, this C60 tape seemed like it could come in handy.
Within minutes the stage was set. a man of the cloth by the name of Pastor Dick is trying to raise $180 in pledges to recoup some money that his secretary had nabbed from her purse. People phone in to confess sins. Snippets of sound blast by for a few seconds. Pastor Dick quickly becomes a drunken mess. This goes on for an hour.
In short, it was the Perfect soundtrack for circumnavigating the M60 ring road in torrential rain to go and procure a second-hand nest of tables for my wife with my fuel counter down to zero.
fairly confident I’ll never listen to this tape again, but it was certainly an enjoyable experience.
Roman Candle Magazine 