black tape for a blue girl – The Rope 25

25th anniversary 2 CD edition.

25 years after the first release, Projekt celebrates this momentous anniversary with "The Rope 25", a 2-CD set including "The Rope" re-mastered and a bonus disc of current Projekt artists' reinterpretations of the material.
Eight-page lyrics booklet included.

Sam writes:
The Rope was recorded on a borrowed Fostek cassette porta-studio when I was a college student in Southern California. All the electronics were performed on my Korg Poly61. A Moog Realistic Concertmate MG-1 was used for the leads on "Memory, Uncaring Friend" and "The Few Remaining Threads." The reason I did not use the Moog on more songs was that it was in Florida at my parent's house. Those Moog parts were added near the end, when I was back home in Florida for the summer to record Oscar's vocals." I have the recollection that "Memory" came together in about three hours; music, lyrics and everything; Allan's drums and guitar were recorded in his garage in an afternoon, each with a single microphone. Oscar's vocals were recorded in his living room, while his baby daughter slept (and occasionally cried) upstairs. The Rope was mixed in three hours. Yeah, three hours! Now I spend 20 - 40 hours mixing just one song. I had no idea that I was rushing things! The song "Within These Walls" begins with a sample of drums from the Attrition song "Mind Drop," so it's interesting to have Attrition returning the favor with their cover of "Memory" on Disc 2. The Rope was originally released on vinyl, later on cassette and then CD. The original 2-track 1/4" masters were sent to Canada to get baked and transferred to digital. "Memory, Uncaring Friend" was re-mastered by Al Ursini at Studio Chicago. The rest of the album was mastered here at my studio. Of course there are limitations because the album was recorded on 4-track; often all the music was mashed down to one track, to make room for the vocals and instruments. Re-mastering is a chance to make the album sound a bit more modern as far as the levels go. Yet, as many fans tell me The Rope is their favorite album, I did not do anything to drastically alter the sound. I stayed faithful to the original and cleaned things up, eqed some of the sounds to make them more present, and - just like the listener - re-experienced Black Tape For A Blue Girl of 25 years ago.

CD1 Recorded in the spring and summer of 1986.
Mixed at Hollywood Sync.

"and you hide your pain, knowing the answers are all the same"