>> Magnetic Bungalow (Radio) Show
Lord Litter: At The Gates Of Hell, 1991 Experimental Rarity

I'm not a cassette fetishist - I just see the medium cassette as the perfect alternative to a *all dictating* reality. We had it in the 80s with a music industry that dictated absolutely every step of the process of recording and releasing sound. We have it now with a digitized world that turns planet earth into a cold, lifeless digitized sphere.

The *cassette culture* makes an obvious comeback. The Cassette Culture started as a worldwide scene of active networking artists long before the days of internet. The center medium was the music cassette because it was a perfect alternative to the all dictating vinyl releasing music busines.

When in 1979 the first Tascam 4-track Portastudio enabled musicians all over the world to produce in total freedom at home, when and what_ever they wanted, a new ara of real independent production started.

Soon a worldwide scene came alive with musicians, releases, magazines, concerts, festivals, tours, radioshows, distribution and more. The central aim was not becomming known and *making it* - the aim was to create, communicate, come together and in general offer *something different*.

As it later turned out there were several big scenes that were not connected. The scene in India, the scene in Afrika, the scene in Mexico - and more - and the scene from *industrialized* countries. I'm using the expression *industrialized* caus I miss a better word. The sepration of those scenes needs to be examined.

From 2000 to 2010, when finally home computers and the internet seemed to enable everyone to become creative and distribute the days of the *cassette culture* took a break.

Ca. 2010 suddenly new, young people started to release music on music cassettes and discovered the expression *cassette culture* for themelves.

They started to realise that one can't touch a file, that the lifeless, compressed sound of a file kills the feeling and atmosphere they wanted in their music. They realised that endless streaming playlists turns individual artists into a meaningless mass, that imperfection (tape hiss) adds uniqueness to their music ... and many more aspects which now define a new area of *cassette culture*.

Cassette Culture just entered a new phase and is still (yes!) changing the world. I even dare saying that the cassette culture already entered the World Cultural Heritage. The good thing is that for various reasons it can't sell out - just for the way it is, it is more or less guaranteed that it will never become mainstream. Here are some links with info about the new and the classic phase. And - yes ... more to come.

Lord Litter (march 2018)

>>> Cassette Culture - new phase

>> The Evolution of Cassette Culture - 02 Feb, 2017
https://www.thefourohfive.com/music/article/the-evolution-of-cassette-culture-148

>> Cassette Culture - 2016
Explaining the renewed interest in this retro format
http://humanhuman.com/articles/cassette-culture-renewed-interest-explained

>> The Hiss is Back: The Growing Resurgence of Cassette Culture
http://performermag.com/band-management/music-promotion/the-hiss-is-back-the-growing-resurgence-of-cassette-culture/

>> Cassette Culture in Central Java - 5.18.15 by Sean Stellfox
http://www.tabsout.com/?p=9434

PS ... and yes there is a critical article forthcomming because today's cassette culture sure suffers from todays general sickness of culture.

CASSETTE CULTURE
.. and here I go again .... LL... february 2018....

I started my underground life in the 1980s as a member of the so called *cassette culture*. A true alternative worldwide networking movement long before the days of internet. I was active in prodcucing music, distributing music, radioshows, newsletters and more.

Ca. 2000 the days of cassette culture seemed over. Computers and internet seemed to offer a new freedom. I kept undergroundin' with with the spirit I took from those cassette culture days, presenting people who wanted just a bit more than *making it*!

Recently it became obvious that the digitalisation did'nt bring freedom but too much of insignificance of the individuality on many levels - such as personality, sound, presentation - well basicly every aspect that defines *uniqueness*.

Recently I was asked for an interview about the original *cassette culture* days for Germany's one lasting radiostation that presents real culture. In this context I made a research on *cassette culture* 2018 .. to find that again as the true alternative to a world that slowly turns into a cold lifeless digitized sphere a alive cassette culture offers a true alternative.

So again I'll start spreading the word. As a start here are two places to start you're very own journey into a true alternative - I think it is important to just give a few selected doors, instead of drowning in zillions of irritating links, which is the normality today.. :

Putting the Net Over Networking
good/brief article about the origial cassette culture
http://www.moorestevie.com/press/mythos.html

Tabs Out
The *whole* update world of cassette culture!
Podcast, News, Features, A-Z cassette label listing and more - a total must if you want to get a healthy dose of what is going on today - very much recommended.
http://www.tabsout.com/

Bedroom Cassette Masters - incredible project!

Eclectic selections of lo-fi vintage electronica produced in bedrooms around the globe between 1980- 89. Each downloadable volume of Bedroom Cassette Masters comes with an extensive PDF guide to the artists, the gear and the era + printable j-card cassette inlay.
https://bedroomcassettemasters.bandcamp.com/

Looking For America Collection

To describe the activities of Rob Ellen with a few words is completely impossible. Broadcaster / Promoter / houseconcerts / releasing compilations .. and all inbetween. The genre is Roots (though I dont like this specification much because it sounds cornered and Rob Ellen defenitely isn'nt!) His new compilation is meant as a connection / meeting point of european artists with the american scene it's not meant to be *sold* it's a communication tool - so get in touch and discover .. some of this here really blows my mind!
https://medicineshowrecords.bandcamp.com/releases

... basicly I love the future, science fiction, new technological developments .. I can't wait. Since I was a child. Well, things changed. When I saw things to come at a report from the CES 2018 and combined that with the endless greed of today's transnational corporations, I know what will happen first. I'm afraid it will not be the glorious *We live because we want to evolve our mind* the basis of Gene Roddenberry's vision in Star Trek ... no.. it will be a *my profit first for whatever price* ... such a shame...

http://www.Tape-Mag.com

Tape-Mag.com is a Non-Profit Online-Archive & Information-Database for Audio-Tape-Culture (Cassettes/Tapes/Reels) and 20th Century Art- & Music-related Small-Press Publications / Magazine-Culture

- Mid 70's to late 90's Industrial / Experimental / Free Improvisation / Post- Punk / New Wave, Minimal / Synth /Ambient and further musical directions of the DIY-Cassette-Culture.

- early 50's to late 90's Sound Art / Sound Poetry / Text-Sound-Compositions / Poesie Sonore / Verbosonics / Lingual Music / Music Concrete / Audio Art plus related printed Mail-Art / Concrete Poetry / Visual Poetry / Lettrisme / Fluxus

Here you are able to browse and research thousands of releases, find further information about the Artists, the Organisations, Press & Label-People behind the scene and/or the published Small Print / Magazines, Information-sheets and Artists-Manifests that all defined a very exciting culture and era. Most of the releases listed here were only released in very limited amount and are hard to find these days but they had without any doubt their important role in the development of contemporary audio & sound-art and music-history. These protagonists of a DIY (Do-It-Yourself)-Culture-Movement in which everybody can be an artist, label, distributor and press-editor or organisation deserves a comprehensive overview in a broader context with all its connections and a framework. With this Database the collected, provided and connected Information can become knowledge. Knowledge that Media in Internet-Age can hardly supply with the current Information Overload.

For various reasons I finally stopped spreading any Facebook links/addresses
Please don't feel offended if you are there but Facebook, only caring for profit, gave so much power to hate spreading, life destroying forces ... I simply can't support that anymore. Every click on Facebook supports this system.

The exhibition will take place in Linz, Austria for three weeks in spring 2018 with concerts, and lectures meant to look back as well as opening new perspectives to people interested in art and culture. An exhibition about a medium, and music from the 80s and early 90s also asking and discussing questions of the now and the future.

Curated by Wolfgang "Fadi" Dorninger who ran the Die Ind label, was member of the groups Monochrome Bleu, and Josef K. Noyce and still plays music and runs a label. Get to know what it means to communciate and create way beyond the poor 140 character tweet and you might find a way to escape the world dominated by algorithms - there is always an alternative!

https://wemakeit.com/projects/cassette-culture-node-linz?locale=en

Germany after the election: If you are black, jewish, gay, muslim .. or a freedom,open mind loving person like me, be carful if you come to Germany these days, 13% of the Germans voted the Nazi party AfD, they are in the parliament now...a Nazi party in Germany unfortunately has a very special meaning.

Unfortunately I'm VERY serious and I don't see any possible changes in comming years because reasons for all this stay untouched - or do you really think they ever will stop selling weapons for profit?

Ever wondered how the REAL 1980s / 1990s international underground sounded / looked / smelled / felt / tasted?? How it all worked before the internet......what are they doing today? ........................... incl. yours truly!

august 2017
    How is Life in Berlin?

... since many of you ask questions like "Hope all is well in Berlin" .. or.. "I hope summer is treating you nicely!" .. or..

I think I have to give a general statement....

I always have been a good mooded, positive minded guy .. like "let's go - let's do it - we're gonna make it!"

This is becomming very hard in recent times - seems it will become impossible soon. Don't wanna burden something on you .. but ..

This summer for the first time in Berlin we got a definite hint about the change of climate..days with endless rain..parts of the city drowning. Drowned rats came out of the sewers. In 1972 the Club of Rome developed a projection about what could happen if the world would keep on being addicted to endless growth. Not well covered but part of it was the climate change.

Germany and the rest of Europe is overcrowded with people who had to flee their homecountries because a *normal* life became impossible there. Millions more are waiting to come. In 1990 the BBC broadcasted a movie entitled "The March" which told exactly this story .. a main statement was "We are so poor because you are so rich".

Warnings about what could be a possible future had been plenty .. noone ever really reacted - now this is our reality.

Sorry to burden this on you ... but this comes to my mind reading "Hope all is well in Berlin".

LL

july 2017
    Where everybody is going

Not so long ago being a alternative musician meant that one went a true alternative way in creation and distribution. Whatever style the musician created, the basic idea was to be not with a so called mainstream that basicly dictated the rules of everything.

Since the so called digital revolution a impression is arising that the alternative musician is living in some kind of paradise. Professional homerecording equipement became a normality and via the internet the whole world can be reached for promotion and distribution.

If one explores this new system it pretty soon becomes obvious that main parts are just a new variation of the so called mainstream, owned by a quite small number of people, dictating the rules of everything and - yes - exploiting everybody taking part.

I very often hear musicians complaining about Spotify and yet "everybody" goes there. Everybody knows about the dubious World of Facebook and yet "everybody" goes there.

I often hear arguments like:"Yes I know but everybody goes there these days."

I completely stopped to spread bad and negative feelings (the whole world is dominated by these at the moment) so I stopped talking about all these obviously doubtful ways I see all over - not wanting to put the blame on anyone.

But it leaves me completely speechless that all these alternative people out there are not looking for alternatives (or better: build an own alternative) ...like sheep they all go *where everybody goes* ...this is very, very sad for someone comming from a generation that defined "alternative" very different and extremely dangerous for generations to come.

I dont want to say "Do this or do that" (everybody should have an own free and independent mind) but I definitely want to say "Don't go where everybody is going - there is always an alternative!"

Vive La Difference!
Lord Litter