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SLAPART.com__new slaptape CASSETTE series___eM, n.kra, v.stevenson, j.carter



PRESS RELEASE (for immediate release)

<P></FONT><A HREF=3D"http://slapart.com/";><FONT
FACE=3D"Times">http://slapart.com</FONT></A></P>

Slapart.Com Announces Four (4) new CASSETTE releases

New series to be titled SLAPTAPE

Let=B9s face it!  The cassette is dead.  So why, you ask, are we starting thi=
s
new series of cassette releases?  Well, we just want to help make sure the
"compact cassette" format goes down with a fight.  Since the early 80s (whe=
n
the evil industry stopped trying to push their inferior 8-track format), th=
e
cassette has done the yeoman=B9s work in laying down the foundation of this
substantial underground experimental music community.  By virtue of its
cost, portability, and ease of reproduction, two entire generations of
artists grew up recording on portastudio 4-tracks and swapping copied tapes
with their friends.  Now, the ubiquity of CD-R technology has almost
instantaneously made the cassette format obsolete.  And with its
disappearance, a whole class of music played with reckless abandon, without
fear of mistakes, played with the knowledge that the tape itself would make
it sound good.  This exuberant early experimentalism has been replaced by a
fascination with the austere, perfectly quiet, dry aesthetic found in
today=B9s digitally-produced and digitally-captured experimental music.  It=B9s
time to look back and see what we missed=8A

LONG LIVE NATURAL TAPE COMPRESSION AND 60-dB DYNAMIC RANGE!

We gave four modern composers the challenge to make the most of this "dying=
"
format, reminding that most importantly=8A TAPES GO HISS!  The results are
stunning.

Each of the four tapes are available (in a limited edition of 25 each) from
our online shop.
<P></FONT><A HREF=3D"http://slapart.com/shop/forsale.html";><FONT
FACE=3D"Times">"http://slapart.com/shop/forsale.html";<</FONT></A></P>

slaptape001_____eM______RETROGRAD

Ambient/glitch musician Michael Bentley (The Foundry, F=E4llt, No Type)
contributes a one-sided 34 minute work based on some old Russian and
Hungarian folk vinyl he found at an Oakland library sale.  The work
is divided into 3 tracks of various lengths, the shortest of which
can be downloaded here (link).  As a whole, the work combines layered
digital processing of samples with elements of slow motion free
improvisation to create a moody reflection on a time and place that
never actually existed.

<P></FONT><A HREF=3D"http://slapart.com/releases/slaptape/slaptape.html";><FON=
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FACE=3D"Times">"=20
http://slapart.com/releases/slaptape/slaptape.html";<</FONT></A></P>

slaptape002_____jeremy carter______AN OMINOUS

In Seattle a significant number of burly-chested woodsmen exploit the
bountiful forests of the American Northwest, but only a few do so to find
that perfect piece of wood to build their instruments with.  Jeremy Carter,
in fact, is so burlesque that he built his piezo-induced giant double bass
to the scale of a 7-FOOT MAN!!!  Our veritable Paul Bunyan presents two
30-minute sides, one comprized of four improvisations contrived with this
bass, and two from a semi-hollow body electric 12-string.

<P></FONT><A HREF=3D"http://slapart.com/releases/slaptape/slaptape.html";><FON=
T
FACE=3D"Times">"=20
http://slapart.com/releases/slaptape/slaptape.html";<</FONT></A></P>

slaptape003_____n.kra______MUDBUGGIN=B9

Go to the table for a steamin=B9 hot plate of Nawlins-style crayfish! Watch a=
s
this dude slices and dices up the prepared guitar. Even comes with a track
influenced by the DJ roots of n.kra (No Type). Track 3 cuts it up NASTY on =
a
found record. The rest of the six compositios on side 1 are based on guitar=
,
as is the single-track improvisation on side 2.

<P></FONT><A HREF=3D"http://slapart.com/releases/slaptape/slaptape.html";><FON=
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FACE=3D"Times">"=20
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slaptape004_____v.stevenson_______COMMENT > NO COMMENT

THE DOCTOR himself (v.stevenson of re*odjectz d*k) dissects a long list of
digital soundfiles only Nyquist himself could decode. One side is
constructed from deliberate accidents, the other uses some live recordings
but bases its structure on a 30-minute audio file retrieved by Norton
Utilities from a severely fragmented hard disk.

<P></FONT><A HREF=3D"http://slapart.com/releases/slaptape/slaptape.html";><FON=
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FACE=3D"Times">"=20
http://slapart.com/releases/slaptape/slaptape.html";<</FONT></A></P>

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