February 8, 2014:
I need to re-do all that stuff from the “Soul Coughing” tape. I’ve just been listening to the sped-up “Candy-O,” my current project in progress, and it sounds so much better at the right speed! The variation turned out to be 6%, which is pretty damned significant.
But having listened to it at slogging speed, I’ve gotta say that Soul Coughing did some interesting music (though I did not need to have “True Dreams of Wichita” on the tape twice). I don’t think it’s something I’ll play often, but it’s interesting and I expect I’ll play it sometimes once it’s up to speed.
As for Side 2, I already had They Might Be Giants’ “Flood,” so I didn’t need all those tracks, but the rest is mostly cool stuff. But… one mix album, or separate fragments? Hmm.
Oh, and I discovered I had a cassette of Emmy Lou Harris’ “Luxury Liner.” Except I also had it on CD, so that’s already on my computer. The cassette went straight into the scrap box.
Hey, did I tell you guys about the Robin Trower thing? Not a big deal, really.
Several years ago, though, I ripped all my CDs to Chloe’s hard drive, and when I got Beth I cloned that copy, and that’s been my primary music source for awhile.
At least, I thought it was all. But then I wanted to play Robin Trower’s “Bridge of Sighs,” and I was sure I had it on CD, but it wasn’t on my computer, and it wasn’t in the CD carousels, so… I was very confused, but I had o conclude that no, I didn’t have it after all. Maybe, I thought, I’d loaned it to someone and never got it back? It was a mystery.
Well, earlier this week, when I was sorting out the CDs and CD cases, there it was: “Bridge of Sighs.” I still have no idea where it was hiding for six or seven years, but there it was, so I ripped it to Beth, and am pleased to have it back.
February 9, 2014:
“Candy-O,” by the Cars, is now done. There’s some good stuff on there, but I’m reminded now that the Cars didn’t really have a huge variety of sound, which is probably why I only ever got two of their albums, and never got “Candy-O” on CD.
February 9, 2014:
“Walkabout,” by Julia Ecklar, has joined my MP3 collection.
For those unfamiliar with Julia’s music, she’s a filk singer, and this tape was recorded live at a couple of SF conventions in 1988 and 1990. Songs are based on various SF works, such as Ender’s Game, Anne McCaffrey’s Pern, Stephen King’s Firestarter, etc.
Most of it is pretty good stuff. “Daddy’s Little Girl” in particular does Firestarter justice, I’d say.
There are a couple of humorous pieces — “He’s Dead, Jim,” and “I Hate Little Firelizards,” and “Born Again Trek” — but it’s mostly serious.
When I heard Julia sing back in the day I thought she was probably good enough to have made a career of music. Listening to this tape now, well, maybe not, but it’s still very enjoyable.
February 9, 2014:
I’ve redone the Soul Coughing stuff at the corrected speed, and divvied it up into the three source albums. About two-thirds of it actually came from “Ruby Vroom,” and two songs apiece from “Irresistible Bliss” and “El Oso.”
I still haven’t redone Side 2, with music by others. I’ll get to it eventually.
Meanwhile, though, I did Pete Townshend’s “Empty Glass.” Which I was pretty disappointed with when I first bought it, but you can’t return an album because the rest of it isn’t as good as the single you heard on the radio.
It’s actually better than I remembered, but I’m still not crazy about it.
And I counted — there may still be others lurking in odd corners, but so far I count seventy-eight cassette tapes in my possession. At least two (“Tusk” and “Luxury Liner”) duplicate CDs I’d already ripped, and therefore went straight into the disposal box. Three more (and half of another) have been ripped to MP3, leaving seventy-two and
a half — but many of those aren’t music.
Hell, some may be blank.
Others are things like audio letters from eccentric friends, old radio shows, etc.
So I don’t know how much I have to do here. We’ll see.