On the Radio, by Casiotone for the Painfully Alone

On the Radio

by Casiotone for the Painfully Alone

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Vemrill I think about the delicate intimacy Dying Batteries lies down before the viewer so frequently. It's sort of confrontational, tongue in cheek, hard to listen even, though I find myself coming back to it every few months, whether its because a sound in daily life reminded me of skipping in the track or an uncomfortable instance brought me into a similar headspace. Such a lovely record. thank you for sharing, Ashworth. Favorite track: Dying Batteries.

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1.	Casiotone for the Painfully Alone in a Yellow T-Shirt 02:48
2.	Casiotone for the Painfully Alone in a Green Cotton Sweater 02:43
3.	Oh, The Cars! (Half Ghost) 03:40	buy track
4.	Tonight Was a Disaster 02:39
5.	Oh, Contessa! 03:58
6.	Number Ten 02:13
7.	Dying Batteries 00:58

about

While digging through an old box of CD-Rs, I came across an unlabeled disc that had begun to oxidize with age. On it, I found this somewhat damaged live radio session that I estimate was recorded sometime in 2000 or 2001. I don't have any specific memories of the session, but it was most likely recorded at UC Berkeley's college station, KALX (any reference to the specific station is suspiciously absent from the recording, but at the time, I lived just a few miles down the road from the campus). The DJ or engineer must have burnt the CD directly from the board & handed it to me that day. I'm pretty sure I never listened to it until now, fourteen years later.

To be honest, I found this thing pretty hard to listen to. Sure, the damaged CD-R causes some annoying skipping & the performances are especially raw & uncomfortable, but it's my between-song commentary & tentative singing voice that truly caused me to cringe. I'm sure I was pretty nervous about being on the radio, but I was pretty much always nervous in those days. The memories of my awkward, fidgety & depressed early 20's have come rushing back to me, leaving me feeling awkward, fidgety & depressed all over again.

Most of my live recordings from this era of Casiotone for the Painfully Alone existed on cassette tapes that I lost in an apartment fire a few years back. As much as it pains me to listen back to this recording, I'm grateful it exists. Here is Casiotone for the Painfully Alone as a noise band: an unhappy dude afraid of his own voice & his own songs, blasting shrill, battery-powered keyboards, hand-held tape recorders, contact mics & preset beats through blown out practice amps turned all the way up. Listen at your own risk.

Owen Ashworth

credits

released May 28, 2015

Owen Ashworth: electronics & vocals

Polaroid by Kyle Field

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Casiotone for the Painfully Alone Chicago, Illinois

cftpa.org

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