well, it’s taken some doing, but i’m finally ready. (martin even beat me to the punch, as his tape is already published.)
there were very few rules that i established for this, but they did help shape what the final product is. first, the tracks had to be able to fit on an actual cassette tape. i gave myself some latitude here- the cassette would be a 100 minute one, rather than the more common 60 or 90, but since 100 minute tapes were at one point widely available, this is still fair play. this rule means that the length of the tracks was somewhat constrained. one track does clock in at just under 11 minutes, but other tracks- notably militia’s “final statement” and swans’ “the sound” came off the list because of time restrictions.
the second rule, in the interests of variety, was that no one could appear twice. so coil and current 93, who could have made up the entire tape by themselves, appear once each. this worked to the disadvantage of a few of artists (swans, brighter death now, the moon lay hidden beneath a cloud) where i couldn’t simply point to one track that meant more to me than the others.
the third rule, which is more like a raison d’etre than a proper rule, was that every track had to be one that i believed was representative of me, or that related to a specific period or experience in my life. as a result, most of the tracks are older, because i have had the time to “bond” with them. in five years, this might be a different list.
this last rule helped me make some difficult decisions. for instance, haus arafna are on the list rather than spk’s “despair” not because i love the track any more, but because i thought that having haus arafna said something more about me than it’s better known competitor.
all that said, while i’m happy with the list, it’s far from complete. as i type this, i’m still editing in my head, thinking of things that i wish were on there. forget five years. in five minutes this might be a different list. (i’m still trying to find a way to fit scott walker’s “farmer in the city” or young gods’ “si tu gardes” on there...)
one note: the death in june track i’m referring to is technically a kapo track and the specific version is on the world serpent compilation “terra serpentes”.
thanks to those of you who sent me your "tapes".
this is me, in music.
laibach :: die liebe
foetus :: butterfly potion
haus arafna :: paranoia
dive :: dead or alive
screamin' jay hawkins :: i put a spell on you
dead kennedys :: moon over marin
novy svet :: en possession de te
cindytalk :: snowkiss
eyeless in gaza :: voice from the tracks
death in june :: only europa knows
severed heads :: guests
legendary pink dots :: casting the runes
scorn :: dreamspace
coil :: ostia
clock dva :: velvet realm
sigillum s :: nella miseria
einsturzende neubauten :: zerstoerte zelle
contrastate :: perhaps it comes out of the black sea
current 93 :: alone
joy division :: atmosphere