As I have shown many times before, Dalton and I would make each other CD’s of new music we were listening to and wanted the other to hear. I kept all of these, even though I have all of the contents digitally because, well… they are just cool.
For this last installment I wanted to show 2 sets of CD’s that showed more evolution of Dalton’s CD’s craftmanship. They went from utilitarian to masterpieces.
“NINternet – NIN Songs Found On The Internet”
This was a pioneering (for the time) collection of NIN songs that Dalton no doubt spent hours and hours downloading (back then no easy feat) from various sources. Lots of remixes and live tracks.
This was a prized collection and an early one as evidenced by the actual and not slim line CD case. When Dalton really got rolling on making CD’s the cheaper slim line cases were a go to but for a rare few that got the full size CD case treatment.
Another relic of this era of Dalton craftmanship was his Scuzzi drive. I was never really quite sure what in fact it was, but it was responsible for him being able to make CD’s at all, so was given religious status. He even used it as a nickname for a bit as is evidenced by the innards of the NINternet CD.
It was on a lot of his CD’s for a while.
This CD was an instant classic with me (a guy without a Scuzzi drive and who couldn’t even make his own CD’s) and these tracks were awesome. Dalton dug deeper though and eventually made another.
“NINternet – NIN Songs Found On The Internet Vol. 2”
You can see that his cover making skills got a bump. NIN logo stretched into the spine but recessed. Back cover was pretty close to the original.
The inside though is where you could see that he was mastering his craft.
Song list and custom label and this time there was an inner to the booklet and a tray liner photo too! Nice work Dalton.
Nine Inch Nails was a mutual favorite for us. I am reminded of that scene in “City Slickers” where the guy claimed to know the perfect Ben and Jerry’s ice cream to pair with any meal. We were forever adding a sprinkling of NIN to our mix tapes and CD’s and selecting the best one to fit was an artform in itself.
For the final stop in the “Traipsing Through The Archives” series, I give you…
“Nine Inch Nails – Rusty Nails”
This CD went to hell and back. It really took a beating. As you can see there was a criminally bad repair job and the case hinge itself is broken so it falls apart when you open it. The music on this CD is a DJ mix, meaning that there are no cuts and songs flow into each other. Pretty mind blowing at the time for me and of course I loved it.
There was even a tray photo.
Here is a 4 hour version you can check out. Sheesh.
I pulled my “Rusty Nails” CD out one day when Dalton came over and he laughed at it’s condition. He took it from me and opened it and of course the CD fell clattering to the floor. Pretty sure I shrieked. He told me to relax, he would make me another. A few weeks later as promised, he delivered a newly burned copy.
I can’t remember exactly how long between copies, but it was cool that he had saved all the cover images and was able to faithfully recreate it. This time though he upgraded the CD to have a custom label that included a nod to The Jim Rose Circus whom we had seen open with Marilyn Manson when we saw NIN live in Madison.
This CD has of course now been converted to digital and isn’t banged around in my car anymore. Ah the modern age. BUT… it’s still a really cool relic and a great example of the time and care that Dalton put into making CD’s.
It was a labor of love and he made me many many over the years. Glad I was able to showcase a few.
Thanks Dalton !
The Aural Retentive 