When I received this latest cassette from Adaadat, I was taken right back to my childhood and the story cassettes that used to come from Marshall Cavendish. You could buy them from the newsagents, and there would be a book and cassette combo that could keep an easily amused child quiet for ages. The duo Story Teller, made up of writer and broadcaster Bruce McClure and sound manipulator Bjørn Hatleskog, have taken the visual identity of this charming and outmoded idea and updated it with one of Bruce’s vivid but disconcerting tales.
I am not going in to any further detail as the various twists in the story need the listener to be unprepared, but what I will say is that it is compelling. I found myself wishing it were longer, and hoping that maybe in the future some loose ends or history may be uncovered. The gentle sound manipulation of Bjørn’s is an essential part of the story though, and I don’t think it would work as well without the drones ebbing and flowing throughout the narration. The backing never overwhelms, but it somehow describes the places in which the activity takes place, desrcibing interesting textures, the soft bellow of foghorns, even a static emergency alarm drawing attention to the unfolding drama.
This is well worth investigation, and for somebody who hasn’t listened to a story cassette for so long, this was a real treat. I wonder why more stories don’t have some sort of sound collage for atmosphere? Story Teller may just have stumbled across something really special.-Mr Olivetti-
