Yes this is the official kick-off and invitation post. This time @vulpes-vulpes has taken the role of ass-kicker in chief to me and @kid-dynamite to get our act together and another CDswap on the road. We have some interested parties and now we have a theme – which as it’s spring, as the pubs are properly open and hey even going to the cinema might be possible again, is NEW. The new, a new… even anew if you want to go Shakepearean. New Orleans, Neu!, new stuff it’s all good. We humbly invite you to join us for this round, in which by compiling twelve tracks on the chosen theme and posting them to two or three compadres, you will receive in return two or three CDs of anonymised musical goodness to rate or slate, while your groupees pass judgement on your efforts.
A full list of those we think want to take part this time round is included in the comments, but as this is the sign-up and kick-off post you are more than welcome to add yourself to the list. If the first paragraph leaves you baffled, full guidance in plain English in the comments too.
The aforementioned new wave pop classic would perhaps be an example of a ‘klaxon’ choice. Deep cuts and obscure classics…
THOSE RULES IN FULL…
1 Sign up by the closing date by just letting us know in the comments to this post. Sign up for CDswap New closes next Friday (20th May), then the Kid will get grouping.
2 We will then pair everyone up with two or three other people – you compile a CD (more later) and post it to two others. So post two out, get two back. You swap your IRL addresses via DMs so no-one except your pairs need know you live at 221 Faker Street.
3.Your CD: one CD only. 12 tracks only. Theme: New. Please rip your files without track or artist names so your partners can listen without prejudice. Artwork is up to you. MP3 tag is a free PC programme that allows you to strip all the artwork and info from your MP3 file.
5 CDs to get to your partners in the mail by the end of June (we will give you a gentle reminder on the blog).
6 You can then let the world know what you thought of the CDs you received in a megapost that we will put up for reviews.
7. CHANGE OF RULES: Don’t post us your track listings and liner notes. It worked perfectly well last time with everyone posting their own listings once all the reviews were in for that group, so we’ll stick with that.
And by way of a gentle pointer if it’s your first swap, we love the obscure, the discovery, the deep cut and the lost classic on the swap. No need to take up one of your 12 precious tracks with, for example, Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag. Synonyms are fine, more than fine, they’ll having you combing your itunes one more time to find that last perfect track.
Any questions in the comments or DM us. Come on in the water’s lovely!
PS to explain; your ‘IRL address’ means your address ‘In Real Life’.
For the sake of clarity, it doesn’t mean that you need be resident in the Emerald Isle or anything like that. Took me a while to work out what it meant.
As opposed to the JF address.
…waiting….
Already signed up…
@vulpes-vulpes @rigid-digit @bamber @retropath2 @StellarX @Eyesteel @metal-mickey @Mike_H @Ron-Cucumber@NigelT @Bogart @SteveT @rigid-digit0 @rigid-digit1 @moseleymoles @rigid-digit2
Any more for any more?
How many times did I sign up?
Finger trouble?
I’m on the list, huzzah! Looking forward to it!
Woop! Woop! Wonderful news.
A quick message to anyone out there considering participating but who has yet to dip a toe in the water – these ‘blind’ CD swaps are tremendous fun. You get to receive compilations from other members, very likely to include tracks you have never heard before – some of which may become future, eternal favourites. Plus you get to compile your own mix and give other the benefit of your own (naturally) peerless musical tastes. If inclined, you can exercise your artistic bent and create a CD cover (or not – no obligation) – and then there is the fun and banter between members when you review ‘blind’ each others’ offerings. What’s not to love? Join in and get a unique insight into just how weird the rest of us are. 😉
Just the right theme, as I was thinking that my selections for this year’s swap should be from 2021 releases only.
I was thinking along similar lines – tracks I’d heard for the first time this year, no matter when they were recorded.
But really, it’s just a prompt and people can go with whatever the word sparks off in their head. If you immediately thought of Duran Duran doing New Moon On Monday, and then thought ‘nah, that’s bit duff, but Blue Monday is a great track’ then go for Blue Monday! It would be good if people can show their workings when they do the reveal of course.
That’s a big part of the appeal for me, stretching the logic of the rules to the limit to justify a tenuous link to the theme 🙂
Oh well, please include me in the list.
Oh go on then. I enjoyed the first 2 swaps so much, I almost considered joining the 3rd and 4th swaps. Who (k)New?
Just checking my song list…. 33203 items….
I need to see if I have any way of burning a CD here.
yes, that’s my problem – it is so long since I burnt an actual, you know, physical disc, that I have absolutely no idea if my computer (and its operator) will do it. Must investigate and then maybe particpate next time around.
Just about any music-playing app will burn CDs too, but a lot of modern PCs no longer have CD/DVD drives. Hardly any modern laptops do.
The greatest problem I think is burning a CD with no track info, so that the recipient of your swap CD can listen “blind”.
My personal solution is to copy the tracks I want to put on the CD to somewhere else, rename the files to something generic, strip all the tag information from them (watching out for embedded cover art) and then burn copies from the untagged files.
Users of some software will need to watch out that the program doesn’t attempt to re-tag them again.
Nobody ever claimed it would be easy.
You should just be able to right click on the mp3 file and change the ‘Properties’ like title, artist etc. I’m pretty sure this is what I have done in the past – inserting Track 1 as the title and and so on. Another way is to open using Audacity (it’s free if you don’t have it) and export the track as mp3 – it offers a window to change the track name etc. before it saves the track.
Oh, and I recently bought an external CD drive for very little money at all.
mp3tag is a really simple solution.
When I tried it, renaming and stripping properties was a bit of a faff
I think I may have my dirty dozen sorted already.
Shortlist of 15 so far 🙂
You’ll all be relieved to hear that that’s *after* discounting the Muse track that I considered.
My short list is still at 36 – I’ve got 3 discs worth, and 3 running orders.
Time to combine and preen
(I think Goldie Lookin’ Chain’s Newport State Of Mind will not be making the final cut)
I’ve already compiled one mix – and discounted it – for being ‘too familiar’ fayre. Have come up with some supremely tenuous links to shoehorn in new selections, however.
I’d love to know what an Afterworder’s definition of “too familiar” is…. I’m guessing it isn’t “Dancing Queen”.
“But… everyone’s sick of hearing Bog Trundle”
Ha Ha – as long as we err on the ‘Tuvan Throat Chanting’ side of things, we’ll be right.
New Born is a banger though
It is. But also perhaps a bit obvious as you guessed which one I meant 🙂
I also have a couple of other less-well-known tracks with the same connection, so thought I could lose this one.
The theme didn’t appeal initially, but I’ve thought about it and now reckon I can come up with a dozen tunes I can
inflict uponshare with fellow Afterworders.So please consider me as signed up.
Interesting how many AWs use the word “inflict”, and presumably compile CDs while sitting in a cobweb-strewn hilltop castle stroking a cat. In exactly that spirit I might participate one day. But now I can’t be arsed.
Given that the general vibe I get about the music I like is less than welcoming and a fair bit of feedback I have had in previous swaps has been underwhelming, inflict seems perfectly apposite.
I take pride in the wounds my choices deliver…..
Yes please!!
I did “sign-up” earlier, but I guess if I’m not on the list, I ain’t gettin’ in…
Sorry operator error – 2 rigid digits and no Biggles!
Yes please from me too! The search always throws up stuff from my collection I haven’t listened to in ages, and makes for interesting listening even before you get CDs from the others.
I would but I’m not sure anyone would appreciate what would pretty much be a copy of “Now That’s What I Call Music 3”
I’ll play.
Thank you.
quick bump for anyone else who might be on the fence – you have a few days to decide and I’ll be doing the groupings at the end of the week.
I’m in!!
Groups should be out by the end of the weekend, but first can I just confirm if @dkhbrit and @Blue-Boy did turn out to be able to burn CDs in the end? And if so, do they want in?
Thanks Kid – grateful for the offer, but no, I’ll sit this one out.
no worries