As mentioned in my recent diary entry on “The Western Buzzer” (#117 on this page, if interested), clicking through the links on that original album page led me to JMY Music on Bandcamp. And there, among other Kevin Drumm items of interest, I found a page for “Lightest Elements.”
What first caught my eye was this very clear comment: “THIS RELEASE IS CASSETTE ONLY – NO DIGITAL.” (OK, you don’t need to yell!) It went on to explain that “Lightest Elements” was made up of a limited edition of 40 cassettes. If you order one, you will receive a cassette that is a random color, is a random length (between 8 minutes and 90 minutes), has one unique part of the entire magnum opus that is “Lightest Elements,” is hand numbered, and has its own unique cover. My immediate thought: I’m in.
Click, click, click, and in a few days, I received cassette number 22. I popped it into my player and here’s what I heard: Side 1 of the tape features noises that sound like a cross between a loose knob being fiddled with on a radio while trying to tune into a station and loose wire ends being manipulated to create electrical static noise. These sounds come and go for 13 minutes, with numerous brief silences along the way. I found it all strangely exciting, probably due to my intrigue with the whole project. Then I wondered about side 2; would there even be anything there? Well, dear reader, I’m happy to report there were 13 more minutes of activity on the tape. It started out with the same side 1 noises, but slightly more vigorous. After a few minutes things got very calm and there was just an occasional pop or click and longish moments of silence. For about the last 2 minutes things return to the sounds of side 1.
Because of the type of person I am, I found this whole experience extraordinarily exhilarating. I love the whole idea of something spread out over 40 cassettes, and the one-of-a-kind nature of it all. Awesome adventure, highly recommended, 5 m’s. And there are still a handful of cassettes from this project left as of this writing; just saying.
Now, since we’ve established there is no digital version of the entire “Lightest Elements” we must contend with the fact that none of us will ever hear the whole thing. I guess there’s some beauty in accepting that. Unless…unless we owners of the pieces of this thing can perhaps form some sort of listening club; who else out there has the other cassettes?