- courtesy of Surefire Agency
- Brian Shimkovitz
World Music Festival: Chicago wraps up this weekend, with loads of terrific shows happening all over the city. Oddly, one of the most exciting international music events occurring this weekend isn’t a part of the festival: on Friday night Evanston native Brian Shimkovitz, best known as the man behind the blog and label called Awesome Tapes From Africa, will DJ at Smart Bar from his voluminous collection of African music cassettes. In the 80s most countries in Africa began using tapes as the primary format for commercial music—they were cheap, portable, and easily manufactured—and since launching in 2006 Shimkovitz’s blog has posted hundreds of cassette releases as free mp3s. Three years ago he took his obsession more seriously and launched the label, working out deals with the artists whose music he’s issued on CD, vinyl, and digital formats.
Why do you use tapes when you DJ? Why not go digital?
The tapes are degrading, but I try to rotate the various tapes I bring to play, which helps keep the sets from becoming too similar to one another. It’s sad to see some tapes eventually become unplayable, but anything less than playing the original cassettes wouldn’t be as fun or sound as good.
I assume your collecting began with a trip or two to Africa—can you tell me where and when you first visited and how the obsession played out?
Lars Gullin, 1954/56 Vol. 9/Summertime (Dragon)About Group, Start & Complete (Domino)Sofia Gubaidulina, Offertorium (Deutsche Grammophon)Lou Donaldson, The Natural Soul (Blue Note)Tindersticks, Across Six Leap Years (Lucky Dog/City Slang)
