Happy 2013! And More...

If there's one thing I'm starting to realise about opening a blog... it's that I'm not much of a blogger. Contrary to what you'd imagine from there only being 1 release on the label so far and a few blog posts more patchily put out than Facebook and Twitter updates, there's actually been a lot going on in the world of Passive Aggressive! However, I'm always in limbo over whether it's the type of news label followers need to know to be aware we're still alive, or it should be kept quiet. A lot of my ideas are secretive by their very nature, and if I admitted what I have planned constantly, I would be taking away from a lot of the potential credibility for when they land. I don't like leaving the whole thing lying, however, so I figured yeah, maybe some followers would like a *clue* of what's going on.

As a producer and also label owner, my mind is all over the place musically! A month ago, I finally made a solid announcement about the next release, "25 Minutes Of Trance Classics", and this is hopefully going to be the first of a few big steps Passive Aggressive takes this year! It's a compilation, featuring C.T.A.N, Bliss (who previously remixed for Denkitribe), Transpire (who previously released the I.N.T E.P), and a collaboration featuring a former member of the band New Post Colonials. Currently, the whole thing is in the process of being mastered, which always takes a considerable chunk of time, but I *am* targeting a release for May at the very latest, and some solid soundclips to follow shortly before. I can be very indecisive when it comes to ideas, and find in the space of half a year I become totally indifferent to what I previously wanted to do, but 25 Minutes is definitely staying, no two ways about it. In the meantime, I've been working on a number of other projects, gradually bouncing between them, some leaning more towards EDM, some future Passive Aggressive releases, and some further experimentation. I'm not going to specifically announce what those projects are of course (hehehe), because that would take away all the mystery, you know, but I'll at least confirm that the 3rd Passive Aggressive release is going to be something very special, and something you should particularly be looking out for if you're following us so far. Very special indeed.

I can also at least admit that there will possibly be a new division of Passive Aggressive set up for EDM projects. Whether they will be digital, vinyl or even CD releases, however, is difficult to say. I would love to put them out physically, but of course, the physical age is dying out at a time when putting out 100 vinyls to be sold alone is quite a challenge. Though personally, as much as I made my debut digitally, I'm not into the idea of purely digital-only releases, and do my best not to limit myself and my work to them... so, time will tell. For this reason, it's possible Passive Aggressive Tapes may no longer have the end tag of *Tapes* anymore. To be honest, I think this is an important move. One misconception I don't want people to have, is that Passive Aggressive's focus is more on the format than the music, because it isn't.

Besides this, I've also got to give a shout out to Smit 'N' Voodoo for their artwork for the cover of "25 Minutes Of Trance Classics". It's stunning, and viewable right here.



And of course, a few small reminders. Don't forget that our debut E.P., "Broken" by C.T.A.N is still very much out there. If you still haven't got hold of it, or you're new and want to know what it's all about, check out Stashed Goods and Apop Records to get hold of the remaining copies. Many thanks to Animal PSI, too, for mentioning us back in June.

Also bear in mind where you can find us in this cray technological age:

Soundcloud ("Broken" clips can still be found there as well as a free downloadable freebie from Transpire)

Facebook

Twitter

See you in May!

Big Update

Right, I should have done this some time ago, I was naughty and neglected the blog. But, if you weren't aware already from a number of other places... it landed earlier this month!

Our first release, the E.P. "Broken" by C.T.A.N is out now as a limited run of 100 copies only on fancy green cassettes (see above). Five tracks taking influences from noise, dark ambient, drone and breakbeat with a touch of lo-fi from C.T.A.N. On one hand, copies are available from Stashed Goods (which is down until the end of August as of now, but keep watching) and Apop Records. However, you're also welcome to grab one straight from us. Send PayPal payments to passmusic@hotmail.co.uk, or email there for any enquiries. It's £3.99 + £2.00 postage in the UK, or £4.00 postage overseas. Check below for some new clips if you're curious (aye, the ones below got taken down, because everyone deserves higher quality):









So, other than this, what's occurring in the world of Passive Aggressive? Our second release is well underway, maybe it'd be a tad cheeky to say "clips available soon", but you can expect news to appear over the next few months. P.A. also now has a Tumblr which should be coming in handy here and there, our Facebook page has a few updates and the odd passive aggressive status, and the Soundcloud above is also worth checking. Basically, look around periodically, because good things are undoubtedly on the way. And to those of you that have quietly been following, many thanks!

That's just about all for now, have a sweet evening!

Even More Progress!

It's a little bit shocking looking back and seeing that 3 months have passed since the P.A. Tapes blog was last updated, but not exactly surprising either.

So, there have been a lot of small hold-ups between then and now. Forms not being sent to the right place, busy personal life, weeks of recording at the plant itself... but after all this time, I finally got hold of the test press! You've most likely seen me talk about this on the Facebook page, if not here's the beautiful picture of what arrived in the post and gave me a huge surprise/sense of realism finally dropping a few days ago.



You'd assume that it's a turqoise colour from that picture, but it's actually more of a dark green shade. Either way, I'm happy to say the quality was excellent, practically as smooth as when I listened to the tunes in their WAV forms. It goes to show that tapes have more potential than people seem to think nowadays (speaking of which, expect a huge rant towards tape haters possibly coming later on).

So, what's going to happen from here? Now that everything's approved, I'd guess within the next 1-2 months the copies will finally be coming through... and then it's all about selling them. In the meantime, I've been thinking far ahead in terms of the future of P.A. Tapes and my own music. Believe it or not, but a lot of time passes when a release is being produced, the current projects I have in mind expand on the work you'll be hearing on "Broken" in huge ways! However, being a big forward thinker when it comes to ambitions... I have a tendency to change my mind a lot. As irritating as this is, I can at least say one thing - there are definitely 3 more tapes in the works now which will almost definitely be happening.

Basically, keep watching. We'll definitely be informing you when "Broken" is out, and there's plenty more where it's coming from. I think that's everything covered. :) I'd also like to add, if any Soundcloud followers come across this... thanks to all of you for following P.A. and spreading the hype! There's a lot of diversity in the types of people who've followed the label, which says a lot about the appeal of our sounds. It's really interesting seeing everyone from industrial rock to 2-step taking notice!

Progress!

Well, they say hard work pays off... and in the last few days, that seems to have been the case for Passive Aggressive. As you might have seen our Facebook page, mastering and all the other bits and pieces are now done and everything's been sent off on its way to be pressed. Hopefully I'll be getting the test press on the 7th March, that was the day I requested but obviously holding no guarantees. Besides, the best things always need time, so time to get it all sounding right is fine in my book... or tape. Whatever.

So, the mastering process has been a tough one, but it's excellent to see the debut out there. People to thank are Mali, who kindly mastered each of the tunes, and you might remember from a few years ago as hardcore breaks producer "Mellow Dee" (he owned a small online breakbeat hardcore/jungle revival label called Ruff Cue Recordings). He's currently planning some 2-step/drum n bass productions which are obviously a different world, but worth checking out. Also Null, my good friend behind the artwork, and also the one who saved me when I was having a small crisis over who would even do the artwork, haha! You can expect some more of his work on Passive Aggressive in the future, and there's also the techno/rock fusion EP we released late last year as Transpire now available on iTunes, Spotify and other places which is worth a buy ;).



So going back to that question of the future, well, I can say tapes 2 and 3 are now in production. Keep checking here, Facebook or Soundcloud for more info on "Broken"'s release and more.

P.A. Tapes.

Here's another small update, the artwork for the cover of Broken has finally been done! Thanks to Null for designing this, the shell design will follow soon.

Also, for those who haven't stumbled across the Soundcloud page yet, here are a few clips:

Welcome to the blog for Passive Aggressive Tapes, however you found it. From now on, this is pretty much going to be the hub of where everything about this label is placed.

So, for those who don't really get it, what is P.A. Tapes and what is it trying to do putting out cassettes in the 2010's? Passive Aggressive is one of many quiet noise/experimental labels out to make a small impact, it was a label started by me mid last year when I became interested in putting out some experimental tunes I'd done on a physical format. Tapes are cheap, collectible and one way or another a satisfying physical object, and after learning about the plethora of other labels out there doing the same thing it seemed an interesting move to take.

To all of you who found P.A. Tapes through Soundcloud or Facebook in the last few months, thanks for sticking around and enjoying what's been done. The release that's been mentioned and available to listen to over that time is "Broken" by C.T.A.N, for those wondering about what's happened to it - it's still very much alive. After some delays due to time commitments and re-working the tunes to be suitable for release, you can expect it to be out by March or April.

So in other news, future plans for this label? Well, I'm a pretty forward thinking person, I can definitely say Passive Aggressive most likely won't be dead for a while. Without giving away too much, you can definitely expect a second C.T.A.N tape to be following the first.

For anyone who's missed out yet or only just found P.A., here are some links that might interest you:
http://soundcloud.com/passive-aggressive-tapes
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Passive-Aggressive-Tapes/177390309018859

Have a nice day and don't buy too much brostep :)