from the liner notes -

These songs were recorded live to a 1940's Webster Wire Recorder. Wire recorders were originally invented in the late 1800's and recorded sound to a hair-thin strand of stainless steel wire. This was the predecessor to magnetic tape as a recording medium. The wire is extremely fragile and fickle, and the machine itself adds certain audio elements to the recording; pitch shifts, bleed over from previous recordings on the reused wire, a clanking sound from the cylinders turning, tonal colorings and distortions, etc. These elements very much color and contribute to the recordings. Therefore this record is considered a "collaboration" between the artists and this antiquated machine.

The images provided here are from my copy of the alt.vinyl release.