Early Experiments in Recording, Vol.1 (1976-2021)
My piece ‘Degung’ from 2016, the first piece of electroacoustic music I ever made, features on the Early Experiments in Recording, Vol.1 (1976-2021) compliation by Otis Jordan for Hood Faire Records. It’s a celebratory collection of early recordings by experimental artists from across the UK and Europe.
Limited to 200 copies on vinyl, these 21 tracks were recorded between 1976 and 2021, using DIY home recording equipment from dictaphones to early laptop microphones. Almost all of these now-celebrated musicians were teenagers at the time.
For most, these were the very first recordings they made. For others, these were their earliest tracks to survive the ravages of tech — disintegrating tapes, lost floppy disks, stolen gear and damaged hard drives.
Some of these sonic diary entries remain warped and worn with the crackles and hiss of age, but all of them are new to our ears. It's essential listening for those interested in the work of these artists, the origins of art, and shifts in DIY possibilities and aesthetics over the past five decades.
