I already wrote a little bit about AOT here, and this is another one. I don't really know enough about this tape to say anything useful, but luckily Stream Angel, who appears on side two (and also here), kindly agreed to share his thoughts:
I'd say that covers it, although Manna still sounds great to me, and I've never been into the space fags. This tape came with a booklet of AOT's surreal collages, which I've scanned and included with the download.
For many years, I always liked the idea that if Aleister Crowley was truly the Great Beast then logically there would also be a Little Beast, and that was probably Lonnie Donegan. Only now have I discovered that the Little Beast shown on the cover is actually Bobby Thompson, a stand-up comedian from Sunderland with whom AOT had a minor obsession, tapes of whom can be heard on some of their material. The title of the booklet, The Great Waster is also a play on the work of Mr. Thompson. So there you go.
It's been at least twenty (if not thirty?) years since I've listened to that tape. Sometimes when I dig out stuff from the underground cassette days, a lot that sounded great to me back in the old days sounds shite to me now, but not so with this.
Manna is not bad, though actually did sound a lot better back in the days when me, Jude & Koatep were smoking lots of dope. All these hypnotic loops (made on a Wem Copycat machine) sounded great when I was stoned, but I'm not a dope smoker any more, and listening to it now doesn't do much for me. Still, it's a good example of sound collage, though it feels a bit directionless. It's still head & shoulders though above the plethora of pointless noise cassettes that flooded the scene in the following decade. At least you can tell that AOT are trying to do something interesting, and have put some effort into it.
Jock Medal, Hard Medal is great. For me, it sounds as good as any early Nurse With Wound album (even more impressive considering that AOT had next to no equipment). The first twenty minutes of it are exceptional, though I think it meanders a bit after that. I've no idea what I would have contributed to that track, other than there's a repeated sample (after about twenty minutes) of someone saying I'm ninety-two, and I'm full of shit and that came from a recording made by me.
I'd say that covers it, although Manna still sounds great to me, and I've never been into the space fags. This tape came with a booklet of AOT's surreal collages, which I've scanned and included with the download.
For many years, I always liked the idea that if Aleister Crowley was truly the Great Beast then logically there would also be a Little Beast, and that was probably Lonnie Donegan. Only now have I discovered that the Little Beast shown on the cover is actually Bobby Thompson, a stand-up comedian from Sunderland with whom AOT had a minor obsession, tapes of whom can be heard on some of their material. The title of the booklet, The Great Waster is also a play on the work of Mr. Thompson. So there you go.
Tracks:
1 - Manna
2 - Jock Medal, Hard Medal
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