Do you lot fancy another round of “baffle the others” by doing a CD swapfest? How about it, CD-swap experts?
It’s not as if the monthly arrival of Mojo and Uncnut issues doesn’t empty my wallet as fast as I can refill it, but the stuff I’ve discoved from our CD swaps out-baffles even the wackiest of the monthlies’ cover CDs.
Whadja rekun?
I’m up for another round of wallet emptying CD swappage
I am up for being beguiled bejesus.
Just the ticket. I’m in.
Crikey! I still have a Cd drive just about…
Is my old partner in crime @kid-dynamite still up for it otherwise it’s a solo mission. Let’s see what happens.
yeah, I can do it! I don’t think I have my former spreadsheet anymore, so there may well end up being repeat matches but if people are alright with that I’m happy to go ahead
Yup.
Count me keen.
(BTW, I think I’m still waiting for your cd breakdown from the last run.)
Holy Shit! Really? Gimme a little while, I’ll dig it out and PM it across. Soz about that.
Yep, count me in!
Yes please.
Fire up the Quattro! Warp Factor nine, Mr. Sulu!
Set the controls for the heart of the sun! Hey Ho, let’s go!
Yeah why not.
@kid-dynamite
Go for it kiddo! Don’t worry about avoiding previous pair-ups, we are all perfectly capable of finding 12 tracks we’ve never used before on any swap CD. How about you roll the dice, cast the yarrow stalks, whatever, and come up with the theme?
We will confer been so long I’ve forgotten whose turn it is to choose!
I am in! Really enjoyed the last two both in terms of the cds I received and the enormous project that I allowed creating mine to become!!
I have an old laptop I use for ripping CDs, so it’s just possible I might be able to burn songs as well. I’ve have done this before, but I am curious to join in the jollities this time.
Just realised – post-Brexit, I think there’s a standard 17 euro charge on any package crossing the channel or the North Sea. Or a meringue?
Not mentioned on the Royal Mail website. Dunno what the charges are in the opposite direction.
Noticed this, however.
“You will need to complete a customs declaration (CN22) for any gifts and goods worth less than £270 sent abroad. Items sent without a customs declaration (CN22) or an incorrectly or partially completed declaration may be delayed or returned to sender. Items containing Personal Correspondence do not require a CN22.”
https://www.postoffice.co.uk/mail/customs-forms/CN22-form-guide
re. packages to the UK
17 euros is indeed the standard charge. You also have to use a proper parcel (minimum height 30mm). (Envelopes are only allowed for personal correspondence, and it has to be open for inspection. And yes, I’ve asked: CDs don’t count.)
That’s the reason I’ve posted my entry in the last swap via Dropbox.
I think Dropbox or WeTransfer (my preferred option) are quite possibly the way to go with this next swap. Saves quite a bit of hassle and expense.
Thanks, Fatima – I think WeTransfer would be my option. Did you make up a CD cover cutout template with images and text when you last took part?
I think WeTransfer is the easiest option nowadays.
To disguise the track info I made one 80min. mp3 – like this: https://www.mixcloud.com/fatimaXberg/
And it’ll be easy to include a cover JPEG (or PDF if you want to be professional).
With this generous coaching, I wonder if other, previously-cautious, AWers might be tempted in?
Fake news / Project Fear, take your pick.
Leaving the EU has clearly eliminated red tape.
Incidentally, anyone else noticed that those free CDs on Uncut and Mojo are increasingly by a specific artist with their proper recordings on them?
Something I could never understand the artists’ “people” / Record Labels not doing in the first place.
My idea, again.
I’m so far behind, I’m ahead!
The »free« MOJO CDs are only included in the UK edition since last year. The price for European buyers went up 1 euro as a result.
Luckily if you order your copy from a UK magazine distributor online (not the official MOJO store) the price incl. postage is still several euros below the newsstand price on mainland Europe.
Include me in. I’ll fire up the vintage CD burner an see if I can find a blank audio CD-R.
Well it seems CDswap is a thing once more. As is customary when we’ve been wakened from our slumbers by someone kicking the CDswap batcave door, for those unfamiliar with this time-honoured ritual from the Age of Objects here are the rules of engagement:
1 Sign up by the closing date by just letting us know in the comments to this post.
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 addresses via DMs so no-one except your pairs need know you live at 10 Downing Street @nondom25
3 Your CD: one CD only. 12 tracks only. Theme: to be confirmed. 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.
4 DM us your track listing. DON’T POST IT ON THE SITE.
5 CDs to get to your partners in the mail by xxxty of y (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. Posting of reviews by zzzty of z.
7 We will post track listings and watch the recriminations/accolades fly.
8. Of course you, as people are offering guidance on above, can post a virtual CD to people via dropbox, wetransfer etc. The crucial thing is that you can strip out the title, artist, album, artwork etc from your tracks so they are anonymous. Not sure how that would be possible with streaming at all, so you will still need an mp3 of your track however ‘obtained’.
@moseleymoles
You say “DM us your track listing”. Who is “us”? You and Vulpes?
Personally I loathe MP3s, but there you go.
Just assemble the wavs you want ripped from your chosen CDs using EAC (free) or similar, then use Audacity (free) or similar to put them end-to-end in your chosen sequence and export them from there as a single wav file – that way all of the metadata (artists, track names etc) will be lost, and they will just be anonymous sections within one large anonymous track. Copy the thing over to wetransfer (free) and send the link from there to your swapchums. Seemples.
Anyone who gets the big file can then either play it as it is on their device of choice, or use a free burner to create a physical CD with which they can flummox their pals. If you use Audacity you can even re-insert the breaks between the tracks (assuming the music is sufficiently normal to let you figure out where the breaks fall!).
Heck, if anyone is without a burner, I’ll happily burn them a disc and post it to them if necessary. I’ve got stacks of blanks here.
WAV files don’t carry metadata, so a bunch of files named Track 01, Track 02 should do it – no need to stitch them all together first.
And another call to avoid making wavs from mp3 files.
Good call!
Heh. That’s a bit of a coincidence, haven’t logged on here for ages (hello everyone!) and then I happen to wander back in just as a CDSwap gets announced.
Yep, count me in please.
Welcome back @deviant808 , not that anyone really leaves.
something something you can check out any time you like something something 🙂
Thanks, will attempt to come up with something interesting to say at some point!
I enjoy the process of compiling these things, so count me in
Count me in too, cheers!
Good idea Foxy!
Count me in and I’ll get myself up to speed with “We Transfer”.
I’m up for this.
Yeah definitely count me in
I’ve always fancied doing this but because I live in a fairly remote and obscure part of the Middle East, posting things out is always expensive from here and very very unreliable.
The Wetransfer solves all that for me
For incoming CDs to me I’ve also got shop and ship accounts most places now so if anyone would prefer to send physical discs that’s good too. Either suits me
The unboxing experience of the physical artifact trounces the opening of a zip file in terms of real world pleasure, every time!
Looking at the customs label, checking out the sender’s details if there are any, seeing if the ‘value’ of the contents has been craftily understated to avoid tax or pilfering, peeling off the cellotape and ripping open the bubble-pack or the cardboard envelope, pulling out the treasure within and seeing the home-made artwork, anticipating the sound of the first track to make it out into acoustic existence, and the delighted puzzlement of hearing Tuvaluan throat-singing beats in an EDM style for the very first time! Marvellous.
It’s true that seeing it there and pulling the (preferably recycled) padded envelope out of the mailbox and carrying it into your (wo)mancave is an excitement that easily beats the downloading and opening of a zipfile.
However, homemade artwork can be just as beautiful when it’s digital and will often look better on a screen than in 5″x5″ inkjet print on a bit of paper.
The physical handling aspect of having a CD is rarely all that great, IMO. That’s the prime reason why vinyl has resurged, after all.
Listening in hi-fi to a collection of lossless digital files while perusing someone’s lovingly-crafted cover art on your screen is not entirely to be sniffed at.
Oh totally agree. Just there’s probably a less than 50/50 chance of anything arriving if I post it out from Fujairah!
I’m in. Never done it before but if wetransfer is an option I’d like to play.