great piece in Tape Op on Peter King

[tragwag]

excellent article, loved reading it. and if you see this, congrats on the coverage Pete!

https://tapeop.com/interviews/bonus/peter-king-and-his-one-vinyl/

[Discomo]

He's a nice guy, but the quality of his cuts is not very good. Why don't they mention in the article his records are low fi?
I don't have a problem with low fi, but just mention it.

[piaptk]

Is this a new article or the one from years ago?

[piaptk]

Also, as far as lo-Fi goes... for TWO DECADES, Peter King made the best sounding (and really ONLY) records that anybody could buy in qtys as low as 20 for a price low enough that any band could use them as merch. “Lo-fi” is a subjective term... if fidelity is all someone cares about from vinyl, then they won’t like them. But given the enormous number of Crosley turntables sold every year, it’s obvious that vinyl has a lot of OTHER appeals outside of fidelity. And it is impossible to understate the contributions Peter made to that side of the record industry.

[socialroots]

All hail to the King! Just had to mention that!

[Discomo]

Also, as far as lo-Fi goes... for TWO DECADES, Peter King made the best sounding (and really ONLY) records that anybody could buy in qtys as low as 20 for a price low enough that any band could use them as merch. “Lo-fi” is a subjective term... if fidelity is all someone cares about from vinyl, then they won’t like them. But given the enormous number of Crosley turntables sold every year, it’s obvious that vinyl has a lot of OTHER appeals outside of fidelity. And it is impossible to understate the contributions Peter made to that side of the record industry.

Sure. No doubt he's contributed to the music 'biz'. In that perspective great. But why is it always so difficult in the cuttersworld to mention a word like lo-fi? No need to give an explanation for the 'why' of lo-fi, because it sounds as an excuse. No need! Its either lo-fi or hi-fi. Without an opinion attached. But just mention it's lo-fi or hi-fi. And I don't think its very hard to distinguish hi from lo-fi.

[jjwharris]

I caught up with him this year - truly lovely, helpful guy and incredibly intuitive.

There are a couple of videos from a local radio station about Peter being released and I can tell you the guy can cut some pretty incredible stuff given the correct source material (isn't it always the way?) Consistency in his runs can be a bit hit and miss, but for a guy who can barely see and due to the nature of embossing I think that's almost to be expected. The guy is and has done an incredible job.

There's also going to be an interview with him going into an exhibition next year...I can try get a copy if anyone is interested.

[fredbissnette]

ive got a king record that a friend had made in the 90s and its very good i use it as a comparison disc to try to get my own work to sound as good, its not easy to make good sounding embossed records but when you get it right its like an alchemist marvelling at his work.

king is the godfather of diy in my opinion

[SONARC]

Hi there tragwag!

I'm not sure how I missed this post a few months back, but as a TapeOp subscriber, I was also a bit puzzled, as the article seems to only exist online, and not in the physical copy. The online issue says it is from Issue #130; MAR/APR 2019, but the physical copy of #130 is dated APR/MAY 2019. I think I've possibly been missing a whole alternative dimension of the magazine that only exists online! [Okay, now I do see at the end of the Jeff Bhasker interview on page 24: "Bonus Content Online!" Hm, I wonder how many years have gone by before I finally noticed that!]

At any rate, yes, it's a well-done article, and to me, it provided just a wee bit bit more insight as to how he does what he does, the way he does it, which is something I have not always heard a lot of in some other lathe-cutters' work. Not to dis *anyone* in the field - I've heard various signature techniques from different cutters, and as someone who has wrestled with various aspects of the process for a few years now, I have nothing but total respect for anyone's efforts in this medium. That said, I personally hold Peter's work in high regard, having several of his earlier records, most of which came from an old pal in Minneapolis, who ran an alt-noise label called Freedom From. Admittedly, I didn't get what the whole lathe thing was about at the time, but eventually I came to feel prety lucky to have acquired so many of those artifacts back in the day. Re-visiting them in the present day, they definitely set a high standard that I also hope to be able to come anywhere near in my own projects.

I have to agree that "lo-fi" is indeed a subjective term; honestly, I kind of feel the same about "hi-fi", for that matter, which just means that some of us are bound to have different opinions about a lot of this. That's fine with me. I'm not looking for a lot of science to back up my opinion or anyone else's; I just go with what the thing makes me feel. I get that eveyone's mileage is likely to vary at some point. When I was growing up, I didn't realize that a lot of those old records boasting "HIGH FIDELITY" were in fact, mono. And a lot of them were actually pretty lo-fi sounding, to my ears, anyway. I liken it somewhat to the whole record grading syndrome, which is another story, and not a very pretty one. Suffice it to say that I have my own issues with the Goldmine system, to put it mildly.

Hey fredbissnette, if you see this, can you tell me which King record you use as a comparison disc?

excellent article, loved reading it. and if you see this, congrats on the coverage Pete!

https://tapeop.com/interviews/bonus/peter-king-and-his-one-vinyl/

[fredbissnette]

its a steb sly record its a techno jam and it sounds great very even balanced and no fading in sound it has a lead in groove and lead out its a 10''

[SONARC]

I hadn't seen that one before, but thanks for the info - it's definitely on my want list now!

its a steb sly record its a techno jam and it sounds great very even balanced and no fading in sound it has a lead in groove and lead out its a 10''