4 Years Later Pt. 2

Tapebomb 7: . . .to Keep You Moving from drworm01 on 8tracks Radio.

4 Years Later

Tapebomb 6 & 7 coming soon.

Tapebomb 6: . . .to Get You Moving from drworm01 on 8tracks Radio.

tapebomb 005 - "Lies, Subterfuge, Shady Corruption!"

The mixtape:


Side A:
01. Forrest McCullough - Flight F-I-N-A-L (excerpt 1)
02. The KLF - What Time Is Love (LP Mix)
03. Portishead - Cowboys
04. Tweaker - Tiny Life (Live)
05. Tricky - Tricky Kid
06. Aphex Twin - Afx237 V.7
07. U.N.K.L.E. - Bloodstain
08. Nina Simone - Sinnerman (Felix Da Housecat's Heavenly House Mix)

Side B:
01. The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers - The Eventual Intimate of so Much Nostalgia
02. Onelinedrawing - We Had a Deal
03. Screeching Weasel - I Wanna Be a Homosexual
04. Jeff Buckley - Kick Out The Jams (Live At Columbia Radio Hour)
05. Afghan Whigs - Debonair
06. Hot Water Music - Trusty Chords
07. The Mountain Goats - Letter From Belgium
08. The Presidents of the United States of America - Kick Out the Jams
09. The Union - Green Eyes
10. Sublime - What I Got

Tapes copied-3/15/06

Also done as part of Pittsburgh CD Drop. In addition to the standard tapes, five CDs were made (master and 4 copies) to be dropped around town in various locations. The CDs included all the information here plus two extra tracks appended to side one (Super Furry Animals - Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home) and David Kitt - Song from Hope St. (Brooklyn, NY)) as well as the email address for D-.
This is the first tapebomb to include the word "tapebomb" on it as well as the address for this blog. This is also the sloppiest tape I've made so far. Both the Nina Simone and the Sublime tracks have the endings cut off by the ends of the tape.
The cover image is from a picture I took of a beat up refrigerator. The unedited version is here. The red squigglies are from MS Word because I did a screen grab of the cover and didn't put it together in MS Paint like I normally do.
The title comes from the final episode of Black Books and has nothing to do with the collection.

tapebomb 004 - "Trick-or-Treat/Eldritch Horror"

The mixtape: Covers were various Call of Cthulhu CCG cards stuck in the cases. There was no tracklist or other markings on the cases.

Side A (Trick-or-Treat)

1. The Simpsons Halloween Special 1 - Introduction
2. Nina Simone - I Put a Spell On You
3. Sufjan Stevens - They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From The Dead!! Ahhhh!
4. Rocky Horror Picture Show - Time Warp
5. The Prayers & Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers - Concerning Lessons Learned from the Aliens
6. Jim Venable - Boogie Man
7. Invader Zim - "The Halloweenies!"
8. Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - She Said
9. Groovie Ghoulies - (She's My) Vampire Girl
10. Bobby "Borris" Pickett & the Crypt Kickers - Monster Mash
11. Troubled Hubble - Mean Italian Ducks Pt. II
12. The Simpsons Halloween Special III - "This house has a long history..."
13. Tom Waits - Don't Go Into That Barn
14. John Vanderslice - Continuation
15. The Beatles - Helter Skelter
16. Stark Effect - Bunnyrabbits, Satan, Cheese and Milk

Side B (Eldritch Horror)

1. The Mountain Goats - Star Dusting
2. The Simpsons Halloween Special III - Introduction
3. Philip Glass - The Storm
4. Nine Inch Nails - The Art of Self Destruction, Part One
5. David Bowie - I'm Afraid of Americans (V1)
6. Boards of Canada - Ready Let's Go
7. Massive Attack - Angel
8. Angelo Badalamenti - Red Bats with Teeth
9. Radiohead - Like Spinning Plates
10. Gorillaz - Dracula
11. Tori Amos - Smells Like Teen Spirit
12. Porcupine Tree - Blackest Eyes
13. Clint Mansell -Fear
14. The Unnameable - If I am Mad, it is a Mercy
15. South Park - "Halloween isn't about costumes and candy..."

taped: early November
dropped: 11/17/05
This tape grew out of the Halloween episode of my radio show. It's pretty much what I played on air with a few adjustments here and there.
Drop #1 was given to my sister's friend. He was interested in the tapebomb project so she took the tape to his home and threw it onto the balcony outside his window.
Drops 2-4 were at the various statues at the campuses on Forbes Ave. in Oakland, PA. One went at the feet of Dippy the Diplodocus, one on the Stephen Foster memorial and one in the mouth of Skippy the Panther-the same places I've dropped tapes before. All the tapes looked to be gone when I went back on Saturday-two days later.

tapebomb 003 - "Welcome to College/This Won't Be On the Final"

The mixtape: Covers were various webcomics. Each tape came with a different copy of an online comic strip with the tracklisting written on the back. There were four strips-American Elf, Nothing Nice to Say, Copper and a fourth strip. Possibly a 4-Y Records strip.

Side A (Welcome to College)

1. The New Pornographers - The Laws Have Changed
2. Fountains of Wayne - Survival Car
3. Imperial Teen - Million $ Man
4. Troubled Hubble - Ear, Nose & Throat
5. Atom & His Package - Anarchy Means I Litter
6. They Might Be Giants - Why Does the Sun Shine? (The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas) (Live)
7. Nina Simone - Brown-Eye Handsome Man
8. The Magnetic Fields - When My Boy Walks Down the Street
9. The Pixies - Debaser
10. Radiohead - Just
11. The Smashing Pumpkins - Muzzle
12. Feeder - Buck Rogers
13. Blackalicious - Passion
14. The Mountain Goats - No Children
15. Dropkick Murphys - Boys on the Docks (Murphys' Pub Version)

Side B (This Won't Be On the Final)

1. Pete Yorn - For Nancy
2. The Promise Ring - Get On the Floor
3. Michael Franti & Spearhead - We Don't Stop
4. Gomez - Waster
5. Moby - Feeling So Real
6. Bad Religion - Hooray for Me...
7. The Weakerthans - Plea From a Cat Named Virtue
8. Beck - Milk & Honey
9. Hedwig & the Angry Inch - Tear Me Down
10. Guided By Voices - Glad Girls
11. Mike Doughty - Sunken Eyed Girl
12. Junkie XL - Saturday Teenage Kick

taped and dropped at the beginning of the University of Pittsburgh's 2005 Fall semester. Intended as an upbeat mix to welcome kids to college which required multiple revisions of the side B title initially conceived as "Everything Counts Now." That and other potential titles seemed too negative and intimidating for a "Welcome" tape.
The drops were largely undramatic. I gave a copy to my cousin who was starting college at Pitt. He literally didn't know what to do with it. The digital age has hit hard folks-the kid didn't have a single analog device in his room, not even a television set. There might have been a radio built into his alarm clock (with digital display). Otherwise everything was listened to and viewed through the computer. If he's listened to the tape at all I'd be very surprised. More than likely it's been thrown out or handed off to another resident of the dorm who saw it and asked what was on it.
The second copy went to a kid who stuck his head into my cousin's dorm room while I was there. He was wandering the building saying hi to everyone just to get to know folks. Nice kid. I ran into him again later and he asked me what the deal with passing out the tapes was. I gave him a brief rundown of tapebomb. He probably listened to it.
Third copy went in Skippy the Panther's mouth, fourth went into a newspaper kiosk that has copies of the local alt weekly.

tapebomb 002 - Drop 4

Drop point 4: The Mall at Robinson, Robinson, PA
Placed the tape on the DDR machine in the arcade at the mall. I tried to play a game (set the tape on the machine and "forget" to take it with me as I leave) but it wouldn't take my quarters. The slot was all jammed up. That tape might end up being there for weeks.
I did not end up downtown today so I couldn't check on the other two tapes. I'm assuming they're gone by now.
- 7/11/05

tapebomb 002 - Drop 1, 2 & 3

Drop point 1: Sheetz. Corner of Rt. 60 and Campbell's Run Road, Robinson, PA.
Drop point 2: Mouth of Skippy the Panther at the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.
Drop point 3: Feet of Steven Foster memorial, Pittsburgh, PA.
Pretty undramatic. Gave the first tape to some kids smoking outside the Sheetz. Just said, "Any of you want a tape?" handed it off and said, "Have fun." Then drove off to do my show.
After the show went to 7-11 for a Slurpee (celebrate 7-11 day!). Ended up driving behind a cop all the way up to the 7-11 and then followed him in. I was all nervous and had trouble getting the lid on the cup (I'm not good around authority). He probably thought I was high... or stupid. I'd put my money on stupid. After he left I walked to Skippy and put the tape in his mouth again. Then I walked over to the weird Steven Foster statue and set the tape among all the musical instruments carved there. No drama, nothing to warrant all the nervousness I always feel doing this. I'll swing by later today to buy a comic book and see if the tapes are still there and also drop the last tape at the DDR machine at the mall.
I should note one weird thing. I print the covers off at Kinko's. I make the original at home and then copy it at the store. Because I've got $8 on one of their stupid cards that I'll never use up. Automation sucks! Anyway, I started copying the covers and the first copy comes out on yellow paper. The copier was full of yellow paper. I figure fine, it'll make that one cover look neat and I move over to the next machine. I cut up the yellow cover and set it next to the original so I can print two to a page. This one comes out green! So now I've got 1 yellow cover, 2 green covers and the master copy. I switch to a different tray on the copier and that one prints on white paper. But that wasn't the default tray. I had to do that special. Kinko's set the default paper to yellow and green respectively. They did that to screw people who had something important to print. C'mon people, basic customer service. Don't make me dread having to use your store. But who's their competition? You'll take what Kinko's gives you.
People are jerks.
- 7/11/05

tapebomb 002 - "Fair Use Day"

The mixtape:

Side A

1. Negativland - Downloading
2. i, cactus - bamboo cactus
3. norelpref - On Meaning On
4. Jimes - Robot Porno
5. The Mountain Goats - The Sign (10/23/02)
6. Minmae - German Girl

Side B

1. The Kleptones - See
2. Lords of the Rhymes - Lords of the Rhymes (Sauron's Flying V Mix)
3. The Kleptones - Break
4. The Kleptones - Listen
5. dj BC and the Beastles - Tripper Trouble
6. Osymyso - Intro-Inspection

Tapes copied-7/8/05

tapebomb 001 - Drop 3 & 4

Drop point 3: Mouth of Skippy the Panther at the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.
Drop point 4: Bus stop across from the Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh, PA.
I finished my radio show and went to the 7-11 near campus to get a Slurpee and some chips. It was 4 in the morning. The place was closed. The 7-11 was closed. I took a walk to see where I could drop the last two tapes.
I knew I wanted to drop one by Skippy, the statue of the U of Pitt's mascot. No one was around so I had to time to look at it and consider where I was going to put the tape. I wondered if I could make it stay in his mouth.
It did! I've never wished for a digital camera more than at that moment. It looked so perfect, like he was biting down on the tape or waiting like a crocodile for someone to try to snatch it from his jaws. And you couldn't see it unless you were looking at it head-on. It was perfect. It probably sat there all day.
I thought about putting the last tape on Dippy the Diplodocus in front of the Carneigie Museum. As I walked over I saw the statue of Steven Foster. He's sitting there while a black hilbilly with a guitar sits at his feet staring lovingly up at him. Apparently people put a sock on the black guy's feet every winter as a prank. It is a messed-up statue. It would have been the perfect place to drop the tape. Only there was a security guard sitting just a few yards off. I'm pretty sure he was asleep but I didn't want to risk it.
So I gave Dippy and Mr. Foster a pass and went over to the Cathedral of Learning. It was all locked up and I looked for a place nearby to drop the tape where it'd be more likely to be picked up than thrown out. I settled on the bus stop shell just because I wanted to get home. I set the tape in the window. You could see it if you looked for it, but otherwise it probably escaped notice for most of the morning.
At this point I have no idea what happened to any of the tapes. I left no details on them, not even a tracklist. There's nothing that would lead people back to this site, which would make it all the more interesting if they managed to find their way here.
I just bought a 10-pack of 60-minute tapes for the next two drops. I'm thinking July 11th, Fair Use Day for the next one. Probably the same spots too.
- 6/27/05

tapebomb 001 - Drop 2

Drop point 2: The Mall at Robinson, Robinson, PA
The local mall here is actually called "The Mall." Aren't these people supposed to make stuff up?
I haven't been to the mall in months. There used to be a Dance Dance Revolution machine in the food court and I figured it'd be the perfect place to drop a tape. Either just set it on the machine for someone to take or just give it to one of the kids playing the game.
Only the DDR machine wasn't there. The space was walled off with a giant "Coming Soon" placard that malls use to try ever so hard to make you care, though you won't. So I wandered the mall looking for another space to drop it.
I went into FYE, the crappy mall music store. A sales person accosted me almost the minute I came through the door. Do I look that scary? I asked if they had Troubled Hubble. They did. I looked at it then left. I think I'm going to drop the next tape there (July 11th, Fair Use Day) but not this time.
Wonder as I wandered. Waldenbooks is now Borders Express. Hot Topic is still the only place in the mall selling vinyl. I went down to the other end of the mall, the Dawn of the Dead end, and looked for a computer terminal.
The Mall is a modern mall. They have little internet stations set up all over the place so you can check your email or look up the location of stores in the mall. They use a touch-screen with a crappy interface that doesn't work and gives you virtually no useful information. It's great. It's everything you'd expect from a shopping mall. I thought about dropping the tape on one of the couches for someone to just find, but decided I wanted to set it next to one of those internet kiosks. Specifically the one across from the Vans store.
I don't like Vans. Read Naomi Klein's No Logo to get full details of why Vans suck. They're Nike without the bad PR. Literally.
There's a kiosk right in front of the Vans store. As I'm walking towards it there's a mall cop (with a big, wide-brimmed hat. Why the big hat?) walking towards me, rubbing something off his shirt. So I walk past all the way to the end of the mall (an extra 30 yards or so), turn around and come back. Now somebody's using the kiosk. I'd be happy to just give the guy the tape, but this is supposed to be anonymous so I go into the store.
There's no one there but the clerks. Now, the clerks are friendly and cute, which is why they were hired, and immediately ask if I need help. I just want to look at the decks in the back and say I'm just browsing.
A few minutes later, I leave, sit at the kiosk, look for an arcade, leave the tape and walk away.
I did find an arcade in the mall. That's where the DDR machine got moved. I'll drop a tape there sometime. Right now I've dropped two tapes. I'm saving one for myself which leaves two more. I'm thinking the WYEP studios and the fountain at Gateway Center.
- 6/25/05