Trev’s Virtual Cassette Library 320
Hello there, listeners. It’s me. Trevor.
You’ve pressed play on another Virtual Cassette Library. Twelve tracks. Two sides. A little plastic ghost that flips itself at the halfway mark, like a polite pancake.
If you make music, or you run a label, or you simply own a shed full of strange noises and would like them filed somewhere warm, send your links or Bandcamp codes to trevlad@gmail.com. I read every one. Promise. I read them with both eyes and, on special occasions, a third one.
The shows stay free for the first week, wandering about with their shoelaces undone. After that they slip quietly into the hands of my Mixcloud subscribers, who currently have over eleven hundred other episodes waiting for them whenever the mood strikes, which in my experience is usually Tuesdays, or during eclipses, or when the kettle boils. Subscribers also receive the expanding series of three-hour adventures titled Veil Frequencies, which is less a mixtape and more a long walk through a curtain that may be sentient.
Now. Each of these episodes is a two-part outing, just like the classic cassette. Unlike mixtapes or playlists, these two sides are curated as proper DJ sets, six tracks segued into one continuous mix, stitched together so carefully you can barely see the thread. Unless you look.
I hope you enjoy the adventure. Mind the flip.
A sentence that will not finish, then time asked to smile and, for once, agreeing.
Side A never changes to stop, opens doors until a room becomes a corridor, remixes Melody Day until it is handed back still humming, sits in the unfurnished space between, tunes a beautiful place out in the country from a congregation you were invited to, and arrives late to a videotape whose chorus has already been recorded. Side B launches Big Face like a boat, files a sensual woman under mercenary, wants you with the band waiting outside, cruises a street that only exists after the streetlights give up, interviews little fluffy clouds in a West Country accent, and puts a smile on a DJ’s face before keeping the change.
Overall mood: Warm, slightly nostalgic, and gently unfinished — full of souvenirs, velvet ropes left on the floor, and last pages that knew they were last. Perfect for dusk drives, rooms that decide to be corridors, or sitting still while the next spool still waits
Side A
Mood mist: a sentence that will not finish, doors agreeing to open, a day remixed until it smiles, a gap you can sit in, a beautiful place that may be a field recording of a sermon, a tape that knows it is the last song.
00:02:18 The Books – It Never Changes To Stop
https://books.bandcamp.com/track/it-never-changes-to-stop
Album: Lost and Safe. Label: Temporary Residence Ltd.
It never changes to stop. Lost and safe, which is a strange pair of instructions. The sample keeps walking. Temporary Residence lets it.
00:06:20 Maston with L’éclair – The Doors Are Opening
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDgvTx1NIbQ
Album: Souvenir. Label: Calico Discos
The doors are opening. A souvenir from a room that has decided to be a corridor. Calico Discos holding the handle.
00:09:21 Caribou – Melody Day (Four Tet Remix)
https://caribouband.bandcamp.com/track/melody-day-four-tet-remix
Album: Melody Day.
Melody Day, Four Tet’s hands on the hem. The day lengthened, then folded, then handed back still humming.
00:13:53 Zero 7 – The Space Between
https://zero7.bandcamp.com/track/the-space-between-1
Album: When It Falls (Special Edition). Label: Chrysalis Records
The space between. When it falls, this is what it falls into. Chrysalis leaving the gap unfurnished.
00:19:25 Boards of Canada – Amo Bishop Roden
https://boardsofcanada.bandcamp.com/track/amo-bishop-roden
Album: In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country. Label: Warp Records
Amo Bishop Roden. A beautiful place out in the country, broadcast from a congregation you were invited to.
00:25:10 Radiohead – Videotape
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF83_PR2EsA
Album: In Rainbows.
Videotape. In Rainbows, last page. The chorus you were meant to sing along to has already been recorded. You are late, and that is the point.
Side B
Mood mist: a face launched like a boat, a woman filed under mercenary, a want with the band removed, a cruise that only runs after dark, clouds interviewed and found to be little, time asked to smile and, for once, agreeing.
00:30:32 Plaid & Bob Jaroc – The Launching Of Big Face
https://plaid.bandcamp.com/track/the-launching-of-big-face
Album: Greedy Baby. Label: Warp Records
The launching of Big Face. Greedy Baby sending a portrait out to sea. Warp counting down from a number that isn’t a number.
00:34:36 The Herbaliser – The Sensual Woman
https://theherbaliser.bandcamp.com/track/the-sensual-woman-1
Album: Very Mercenary. Label: Ninja Tune
The sensual woman. Very mercenary, which is to say the groove has a price and has already been paid. Ninja Tune leaving the velvet rope on the floor.
00:37:32 Marvin Gaye – I Want You (Acapella)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wbfh30z1_u8
Album: I Want You (Expanded Deluxe Edition) Label: Universal Music Group
I want you, and nothing else in the room. The band has been asked to wait outside. The want remains.
00:42:14 DāM-FunK – Night Kruise
https://soundcloud.com/dam-funk/night-kruise
Album: Architecture III. Label: Glydezone Recordings
Night kruise. Architecture for a street that only exists after the streetlights give up. Glydezone keeping the tank full.
00:46:08 The Orb – Little Fluffy Clouds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNfjpmvbQG0
Album: The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld. Label: Big Life
Little fluffy clouds. Rickie Lee talking to the sky, the sky talking back in a West Country accent. Ultraworld, first postcard.
00:49:30 Khruangbin & Felix Dickinson – Time (You and I) (Put a Smile on DJ’s Face Mix)
https://khruangbin.bandcamp.com/track/time-you-and-i-put-a-smile-on-djs-face-mix
Album: Mordechai Remixes. Label: Dead Oceans
Time, you and I. The mix that was asked to put a smile on a DJ’s face, and did, and then kept the change. Dead Oceans closing the case.
This has been The Virtual Cassette Library, episode 320.
Travel safely between the frequencies.
I’ll meet you on the other side of the next spool.
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