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CROWLEY, Aleister. David Tibet / Current 93.

The Original Master Tape From Which The LP "The Hastings Archive" Was Produced, in its Protective Box, Decorated etc. by David Tibet.

NP (England): David Tibet / Current 93 in association with the Final Church of the Noddy Apocalypse, ND (1983). A metal spool of "Ampex Precision Magnetic Tape" with Crowley voice recordings on it, housed in the original thick cardboard box. Tape spool 10 1/2 inches in diameter, box 11 inches square. This is the tape from which the 33rpm record with a selection of readings by Crowley, released as "The Hastings Archives" was made. The tape was recorded in 1983, but the record itself was not released until 1986 when it appeared in two issues: one limited to 31 hand-numbered copies reserved for complimentary presentation to associates of The Church Of The Noddy Apocalypse; and the other limited to 418 hand-numbered copies 'for public purchase'. "The Hastings Archive" was significant as it was the first significant release of the spoken word recordings made by Aleister Crowley in a number of sessions between 1936 and 1942, mostly at HMV in London, where they were recorded on metal "transcription disks" (they were not, as is often wrongly suggested, recorded on "wax cylinder" dating from "1910-1914"). Side I of the record had Crowley declaiming two of the Enochian calls or incantations first explored in the work of John Dee: The Call Of The First Aethyr (in the Enochian language); The Call Of The First Aethyr (in English); The Call Of The Second Aethyr (Enochian); The Call Of The Second Aethyr (English). Side II had Crowley reading his poems: La Gitana; The Pentagram; One Sovereign For Woman; The Poet; At Sea; Fingernails; The Titanic; Hymn to the American People on the Anniversary of their Independence; Collects From The Gnostic Mass; Vive La France. Prior to the pressing of "The Hastings Archive" only two Crowley voice recordings had been publicly released, "Pentagram" and "La Gitana" which were on the "A side" of a 45rpm record: "The Voice of Aleister Crowley ... [with] Chakra performing "Scarlet Woman" that Kenneth Grant published under the Forum Group Agency / Marabo label in 1975 (there were also some single-sided small vinyl disks of Crowley reading these and other poems, but they were not commerically released). It is probably fair to say that "The Hastings Archive" is the - generally unacknowledged - source of all subsequent releases of Crowley audio materials

Asked for his memories of the production of "The Hastings Archive" David wrote: "I was recording (with Steven Stapleton, of Nurse With Wound) the first side (“Maldoror Is Dead”) of NATURE UNVEILED—the first C93 album—at the same time I made these transfers. We were recording at Roundhouse studios in Chalk Farm, London… I was OverMoon as Roundhouse were then the house-studio for Uriah Heep, one of my favourite bands EVER, and also Motörhead—I attended all of Motörhead’s first concerts, when there were perhaps 20 people in the audience, and even helped them move their equipment before- and after-concert. Lemmy was so sweet and funny, and signed so many things for me—alas, now all lost in the Abysses That Swallow Squats’ Possessions.
I had been in sporadic contact about releasing The Hastings Archives with both John Symonds and Kenneth Grant at the time, as well as Gerald Yorke—who was the SWEETEST, KINDEST, man! At that time I was a member of what became known as “The Typhonian OTO”. Both Kenneth and John had approved of my release of the AC recordings. But their approval was suddenly shaky. Both John and Kenneth said there were “copyright issues” with my mooted release of the recordings.
Oddly enough, I encountered both John Symonds and his son Thomas at a German Language class at the University Of London’s “NightSchool” a very few years after my The Hastings Archives was released. I resigned from “The Typhonian OTO” soon after, for many reasons, and also decided that Crow would approve of my “Release What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Score” Then I moved to Iceland, and became a Coptic Parse. And then, still, anyway... Love from David Tibet, Hastings 19 IX 202" Both the box and the metal spool of the tape have been decorated / inscribed by David Tibet. The spool has "The Hastings Archives 'AC' 66,6" written on it in felt tip in David's large flowing handwriting. He has signed the inside cover of the box, and underneath his signature has written in decorative script: "The Hastings Archive Aleister Crowley / To Mega Therion / 666." The front cover of the box has the logo of Roundhouse Recording Studios, London, and has the details of the artist, producer, engineer, tracks, etc. etc. filled in by hand. There is also a tantalising handwritten note to the effect that the tracks are "followed by the following subliminal message ... Nik (the sound engineer, Nik Rogers) laughing in the background, .." etc. While the box is darkened and shows some wear, it is still in solid, VG+ condition, and seems to have done its job well of preserving the spool. Obviously a unique artefact of Aleister Crowley / Current 93 / David Tibet history.