Please Enjoy

Between about 2006 and 2014 I occasionally took part in organised CD-R music swaps. A total of anywhere between, say, fifty and a hundred participants would be more or less randomly assigned into groups of five or six. Everyone in each group would make a mix CD and post it out to their fellow group-members. In one of the first such swaps I was a part of, in spring ‘07, someone did a little light hacking to access the full list of swappers and anonymously sent them all the same mix.

My copy of this CD is shown above. “PLEASE ENJOY” was written on the disc, which came in a square envelope with a close-up of a tree-trunk – a redwood? – on one side, and my address on the other. On the flap of the envelope was the stamp, a San Francisco postmark, and another handwritten “PLEASE ENJOY”. Some recipients were upset that their addresses had been so easily obtained without their permission. As for myself, I was happy enough to receive another CD: I did quite enjoy it and played it a good many times.

No track-list was included with it, but one was circulated shortly afterwards. All the music was new to me so I wouldn’t have recognised anything on it otherwise. The fifteen selections included trip-hop, electronica, downtempo & adjacent genres. Among the artists featured were Bonobo, Matthew Herbert, Plaid and The Cinematic Orchestra. I’m not sure if the disc still plays (it’s been a while since I tried it), but I remain grateful to the anonymous benefactor who sent it.