radio free midwich

wired for sound part 20: julian bradley – oto/t01

Julian Bradley – oTo/T01

Julian Bradley – oTo/T01

Not sure what you are looking at?  Here’s a primer: an account of the oTo tape project can be read here, it is mentioned again at Bang the Bore here (and elaborated on in part two here), thoughts on my erratic bromance with Julian are here, and an evaluation of his recent endeavours here.

Once you’ve digested that little lot it will become obvious that the mysterious glow emanating from this post is the light of historical significance.  What you are seeing is literally (a scan of) the very first oTo tape: number 1 of 50 of T01.  Click the link below the scan to hear its contents in glorious 320kbpsmp3orama.

I was inspired to dig this out after reading a review of Alan Splet’s wonderful soundtrack to Eraserhead in the October, ‘Halloween Special’, issue of Hiroshima Yeah!  Didn’t I once compare Julian’s oTo tape to Splet’s sound design?  I did:

24 minutes of geological lo-tek. Guitars, tape loops, document a sound heard deep under the earth, or deep inside your head. Alan Splet meets Vibracathedral Orchestra. Tick the ‘other’ box and leave the comments blank.

From the original oTo sub-site at fencing flatworm recordings.  Pretentious, probably, but accurate in my humble opinion and Julian was flattered by the comparison (obviously still is as he has used this description on his discography page).

So I lit a candle and headed down the greasy, treacherous, stone steps to the vault underneath RFM Towers.  After tossing the place I eventually found it hidden behind my copy of Unaussprechlichen Kulten by Friedrich von Junzt (a dog eared translation, not the German original – alas) and whilst among the grimoires I noticed the rest of the oTo tapes looking smart in a regimented row upon a high shelf.  I was asked recently if I planned a digital afterlife for oTo and, in short, my answer was ‘no’.  Perhaps enough of my finite and irreplaceable life has been sunk in this direction already, but favourites and oddities may surface here occasionally…