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Moshe · 05.20.2007, 03:17 AM

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...ainment/Music/

TALE OF THE TAPES

NADJA SAYEJ
May 19, 2007

Sure, iPods are convenient. But a local music impresario is trying to bring back the lost arts of album packaging and snail mail - with cassettes. The Wintage Record Subscription Service, the work of 29-year-old Kevin Crump, was created to help promote Toronto's burgeoning noise and experimental scene to a larger audience.
Mr. Crump hand-decorates cassette tapes for each release, which features a big-name act (like Michael Snow or Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore) on side A, and a new Toronto act (like Gastric Female Reflex) on side B. He drenches the tapes with silver and green spray paint, then bundles them in construction paper for packaging and closes them with Velcro. All the packaging is crafted on Mr. Crump's kitchen table at home. "It's not just about the product," he says of the service (available through http://www.artmetropole.com for $200 a year). "Each package is a piece of art in itself."
And the cassette format demands some dedication from listeners too. "Most people don't have tape decks," Mr. Crump says. "They're pissed off because they have to go to a pawn shop and get one. I like it how they have to put in the extra effort, rather than just plugging in and playing like everything else."
Next up for Mr. Crump is Chapter Quarterly, where novels by local writers are mailed out a chunk at a time (one text is "psychedelic sci-fi," he says, and others fall into the film noir and mystery genres). Both new Wintage releases will have us awaiting our letter carrier, instead of checking our e-mail inboxes, for a change.

05.20.2007, 03:17 AM	#2
Moshe Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 5,866	http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...ainment/Music/ TALE OF THE TAPES NADJA SAYEJ May 19, 2007 Sure, iPods are convenient. But a local music impresario is trying to bring back the lost arts of album packaging and snail mail - with cassettes. The Wintage Record Subscription Service, the work of 29-year-old Kevin Crump, was created to help promote Toronto's burgeoning noise and experimental scene to a larger audience. Mr. Crump hand-decorates cassette tapes for each release, which features a big-name act (like Michael Snow or Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore) on side A, and a new Toronto act (like Gastric Female Reflex) on side B. He drenches the tapes with silver and green spray paint, then bundles them in construction paper for packaging and closes them with Velcro. All the packaging is crafted on Mr. Crump's kitchen table at home. "It's not just about the product," he says of the service (available through http://www.artmetropole.com for $200 a year). "Each package is a piece of art in itself." And the cassette format demands some dedication from listeners too. "Most people don't have tape decks," Mr. Crump says. "They're pissed off because they have to go to a pawn shop and get one. I like it how they have to put in the extra effort, rather than just plugging in and playing like everything else." Next up for Mr. Crump is Chapter Quarterly, where novels by local writers are mailed out a chunk at a time (one text is "psychedelic sci-fi," he says, and others fall into the film noir and mystery genres). Both new Wintage releases will have us awaiting our letter carrier, instead of checking our e-mail inboxes, for a change.
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