What do the tea tapes say

Maybe about Don Brash and how he might be rolled after the election. Find out the black bag actually contained a radio microphone and the conversation was recorded. Oh no. Police get search warrants to search multiple media outlets. The News of the World. So no tea tapes before election day on Saturday, unless some devious media outlet releases the recording even though they could face legal action oh [email protected].

It does sound like the tapes have now found the ideal home. Cherry Red Records which has also previously issued Meek's sci-fi concept album I Hear a New World are now handling their restoration both with precision and as a labour of love. That's reflected in Wilson's ardent fandom and tech expertise, even as he explains that he initially approached the project with trepidation.

When Cliff made the deal with Cherry Red, they sent kg of tapes down on a lorry. We've now got them stored in a very secure, temperature-controlled location, and I'm working through them at a rate of about tapes a month; I'm about reels in. I've known about the existence of these tapes for years, but never thought I'd touch them. Do lost tapes have a heightened allure in a digital era where we take it for granted that seemingly infinite music is instantly accessible — and "hidden tracks" are obviously trickier to conceal?

We can often develop insatiable appetites for sounds by our favourite acts, whether it's unearthed gems, alternative takes, or even studio chat that would be "bladed" off a conventional release. Back at Western Star, Wilson's meticulous detail has spanned analysing handwritten notes to really distilling the essence of the Tea Chest Tapes themselves. When you record in mono, the track sits across the full width of that tape in the trade, we call it 'full-width mono'. If you then take that full-width mono pre-recorded tape, and tape over it using a stereo machine, well, stereo records in two tracks, a left and a right, within that quarter of an inch — but it leaves a little gap down the middle, like a central reservation, so that the left and right don't merge.

Knowing that cash-strapped Meek would have re-used tapes, Wilson decided to isolate this "little gap" on the tape — and sure enough, discovered further music concealed within. It will be some time before we fully discover what the Tea Chest Tapes contain updates can be heard via Cherry Red's online shows , but that, as Reed points out, is part of their tangible spell: "It's like a proper treasure hunt, where you have to search everywhere, and you really don't know what's there…" Lost tapes are a part of history; the promise of a new world; a glimpse of ghosts in the pop machine.

If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter. And if you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc. You start breaking those relationships up and you watch how it all changes. The international coverage adds to the dozens of New Zealand stories, columns and blogs flooding the media sphere this week.

However, the story shows no sign of losing its legs, with Ambrose's court action and search warrants expected to drag into next week. The election will be held Saturday week.