WM-EX35

featured on Caught by the River

WM-EX35 is my audio reimagining of a Sony WM-EX116 walkman, produced under the guise of claro correcto, for Obsolete Sounds, a sound project by Cities and Memory. Video filmed in the Scottish Borders.

WM-EX35 captures my nostalgia for personal stereos and uses sections of the original recording to convey the mechanical action of switching between tracks, coupled with the lo-fi quality of mix tapes; intentional flaws retained to reflect chewed sections of re-spooled tape, the overhearing of snatched conversations and the faint inkling of leaked music emanating from the ears of others.

The Sony WM-EX35 was just one of the many Walkmans kicking around during my teens and well into my 20’s and I never went anywhere without one.  I liked observing the synchronicities in the world around me, as they played out in time to the music.  To me it almost felt cinematic, which is what I wanted to portray in the musical elements of the piece. These were created using photographed images of cassette tapes that have been converted to synthesised sounds.  A nod to the 80’s and early 90’s, when digital synthesisers and the popularity of the Walkman were prevalent.  These sounds were manipulated, chopped and looped in order to a produce dreamy and slightly surreal soundscapes, influenced by my love both then and now, of the TV series of the 90’s, Twin Peaks.  This is enhanced further by the random samples taken from an old cassette I was given, featuring an array of subjects explaining their route out of a maze and a slowed and reverberating field recording of street performers busking in Venice, 2019.   

Walkmans encapsulate much coveting of my brothers personal stereos that had better graphic equalisers and a bass boost.  These were features of many a Christmas longing.  The inclusion of a part sample of my late mum’s voice watching Gremlins on Christmas Day, is an homage to her dedication in making those 36 weekly payments to Freemans catalogue all those years ago and making one of my 1980’s Christmases. 

Massive thanks to Stuart Fowkes at Cities and Memory for the opportunity.