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Location recordings by East Midlands tape recording clubs 1959 - 1978

A selection of vintage amateur field recordings from three East Midlands tape clubs: The Derby Tape Recording Club, The Leicester Tape Recording Club and The Nottingham Co-operative Tape Recording Club.

Many of these recordings were made in the days when recording on location entailed lugging a heavy and cumbersome full-size reel to reel recorder out and about with you. Outdoor recordings were often impractical but sometimes being part of a club – pooling resources and sharing knowledge, made things a little bit easier. The appearance of affordable portable battery recorders in the early 60’s granted tape enthusiasts unprecedented freedom as to what and where they could record – a freedom which most tape club members exploited to the full. Some of these recordings were made on organised outings as part of the tape club’s programme of activities; others were made independently by individual members. This selection represents just a fraction of the recordings contained within the archives. The variety and imagination displayed here is a testament to the pioneering spirit of a dedicated group of amateurs; our forebears in the pursuit of recorded sound.

Thanks to all former tape club members, in particular; Bill and Marjory Howard, Ernie Flecknoe, Brian Hayhoe, John & Lorna Buckler, John Moule, Bruce Goodwin, Dennis Blackmore and Patrick Everest.

Radiophonic Creation Day

June 4th is Radiophonic Creation Day! - from midnight to midnight the 24-hour programme of radio art will be aired in an international broadcast on 24 radio stations around the world. It will also be streamed live on the festival website.

‘Histoires Contaminées’ - a radio piece originally produced for CKUT during a residency at PRIM in Montreal has been selected for broadcast and will be aired between 6am and 7pm GMT. See the link below for the webstream and more details:

www.shakerattleroll.org

Entr'acte label night at Milton Keynes Gallery

Scratch Nights: Sound Art - Entr'acte label showcase

Mark Vernon presents a live radiophonic mix of voice, sounds and improvised music using electronic toys, white noise, amplified objects and field recordings.

With Adam Asnan; Jacques Beloeil;
Theo Burt/Tim Wright; EVOL (video)

Milton Keynes Gallery, 17th March 2011 6.30pm - 9.00pm

http://www.mkgallery.org/events/2011_03_17/sound_art/

A Small Party of Pressure

Soft Zoo is the debut album by A Small Party Of Pressure (Justin Wiggan, Mark Vernon, Anders Gjerde, Hild Sofie Tafjord and Lois Laplace) out now on Birmingham’s First Fold Records in a limited edition of only 100 copies. They have been exchanging samples, sounds and partially completed compositions by mail and online over a period of four years defining and refining the unconscious thoughts that have resulted in the phonic map now called Soft Zoo. They still have never met in person.

Music by the zone for the zone…

“… Soft Zoo consists of 14 tracks that combine live instrumentation and field recordings to produce something resembling musique concrete or a soundtrack to a non-existent film. Pianos, xylophones, electronics, guitars, horns, bells and all manner of bric-a-brac mingle with the sounds of scratching, scraping, rustling, hair cutting, clock winding, growling and the air being let out of tires resulting in an aural mosaic that is provocative, moderately unsettling and, thankfully, never boring. There might be an intended narrative here but for maximum effect it would be best to rely on the trippy film being projected on the inside of your eyelids. ASPOP are not the first outfit to dabble in musical brain-movies and listening to Soft Zoo I’m occasionally reminded of long forgotten Godspeed side project Set Fire to Flames. A more apt comparison might be the constructivist collages of Joseph Cornell for each piece on Soft Zoo is like a box filled with ornaments, curiosities, memories and seemingly irrational juxtapositions from which emanate some enchanting spells”.

Karim Vickery, Halcyon.

Christmas Rewind

Listen to a nostalgic journey through Christmas's past as we trawl through the archives of found recordings, Christmas messages, carol concerts and audio Christmas cards from distant relatives. << Christmas Rewind << was a six-channel sound installation created for the band stand in Barrow Park, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria in December 2010 and was commisioned by the Octopus Collective. This is a stereo version of the installation audio. Listen on the player below or download from here: http://www.archive.org/details/ChristmasRewind