Words by Baz Bardoe Photography by Indya Connley   When John Batman negotiated with the Kulin people in 1835 to ‘rent’ some land for what he described as a possible ‘village’ – later to become the city of Melbourne – he noted in his diary with some puzzlement that the Music Swop Shop was already in existence. The Kulin were unable to shed any light on its origins and gradually the city grew up around it until it had an address – Elgin street, Carlton.  Ask anyone – the Music Swop Shop has been there ‘since forever’. The Shop presents a bewildering range of things that make, record and mutate sound. Take for example the Tascam midistudio 688, the last successful iteration of a long lost trajectory of professional cassette based recording. Don’t laugh. It was first produced in 1990 and it is amazing how many hit singles and albums were recorded entirely on cassette. And they are incredibly durable. I recently found the demo that got me my first record deal and it sounds a lot better than the more recent CDRs that don’t even play anymore. This piece of kit takes cassette based recording to the most professional … Continue reading TOYS IN THE ATTIC