I’m totally chuffed to say that we’re taking part in the very first International Cassette Store Day. Is it a gimmick? Yes! Do people still play cassettes? No, not really, you could sell probably sell blank cassettes and never be found out! But they’re still great are they? Yes. Yes they are. Yes. Yes they are. This is not a problem with copy and paste. Tapes are great, yes they are.
Imagine you were one of One Direction. At the moment so confused with the hormones and the copious amounts of new tattoo ink in yer bloodstream. Push FFWD to 80. Once you hit 80+ years, memory failing, getting stiff, hip broken, teeth missing, memory failing, needing to pee five times a night and memory like a … what’s the word for a really fine collander? Your children want something to sell to pay your nursing home fees. Somehow you remember. I’m Harry bloody Styles! I was massive for doing something. Then you start looking for the memorabilia you have…
Not to be confused with One Direction, the Black International folk have been coming in to VoxBox since we opened. I’m really chuffed to have them on board for our 1st Cassette Store Day. They’re normally REALLY LOUD but strip down to an acoustic LOUD too. New single, Gilded Palace oot on cassette tape, 7 inch vinyl, and probably download too. They’re playing at 1600. Expect something like this but with party poppers:
Sending a Scottish lad to art school does not lead to Eric Clapton. It leads to an odd brilliance of arty punky stuff.
THE TAPES
We’ll have lots of CASSETTE STORE DAY tapes, but first may I interest you in these?
Randolph’s Leap -Brilliant! That’s not the title. I love the band and it’s brilliant that they are putting out something. We have 6 copies of a super limited run of 20 of their new EP. Twenty! Twenty copies! That’s the equivalent of U2 doing something like 100 cassettes. The fan to cassette ratio that is. Get a tape ASAP.
Adam Stafford EP Millions must work forever. Sold out Record Store Day cassette just found again in among some stuff. x1
An Inaugral Address -Gerry Loves Records, 16 track compilation label sampler. FREE to tape fans.
The Just Joans Live at the Wee Red Bar. They dropped in a few copies of their tape. It sounds like a bit like this:
Any PAWS Tigerlily demo tapes left from after the Mono and Banshee Gigs will be on sale. Basically, go to the gigs to be sure!
The Son(s) -Leviathan. Great debut by the nicest chap you could meet.
Oh, also Randolph’s Leap’s RSD tape. There’s a couple left. It contains the song ‘Crisps’.
A few other odds and sodds I’ve picked up by Garden of Elks, The Black Tambourines, The Perverts, Zaklante/Hazetomb, Roadside Picnic. (?. I know)
As far as official tapes, these have finally arrived.
JJ Doom Key to the KUFFS (Lex)
DRENGE (Infectious)
V/A Collective Hiss (Faux Discx)
Mum Smilewound (Blood and Biscuits)
Efterklang Tripper (Blood and Biscuits)
Dolfinz Pagan Dating (Tye Die Tapes)
Molly Nilsson The Travels (Night People)
Animal Collective Sung Tongs (FatCat)
His Clancyness “Covering Up” (FatCat)
Guided By Voices English Little League (Fire/Bad Paintings)
Xiu Xiu Women as Lovers (Bad Paintings)
The Fair Ohs JAMS VOLUME #2 (Supplex)
The Proper Ornaments Demos (Supplex)
Bright Light Bright Light-Make Me Believe In Hope (Self Raising Records) —->Gold tape!
Let’s Wrestle -Demos (Supplex)
Fear Of Men -Early Fragments
Loom, The Wytches, Polterghost -Sampler (Hate Hate Hate Records)
Potty Mouth The Spins (Marshall Teller Records)
Los Campesinos Live double album (Kissability)
Volcano Choir -Repave (Jagjaguwar)
Deerhunter -Monomania
Casket Girls -Coming from the USA -May be late.
Ambrosia(@) -Cordially Yours (Bomb Shop) -2 track including drone version of Anne Briggs’ “Go Your Way”
Rough Fields -You as You (Bomb Shop) – 2 track
Fierce County -Woodsman EP (Bomb Shop) -4 tracks of modern folk
Rough Fields -The hHarbour Wall (Bomb Shop) -Experimental electronic folk music
Pairs -Summer Sweat (Bomb Shop) -14 tracks thrashy Shanghai duo
God Bows to Math (Bomb Shop) Self titled album. New Zealand trio. Noisy rock music.
Sous Section 5 -Sonsuz (Bomb Shop) endless loop cassette EP (only 50 worldwide)
Mason Clinic -Prisoners (Bomb Shop) Fuzzy guitars and bittersweet melodies. Maybe New Zealand’s best band.
Preslav Literary School/Will Gresson, Analepsis/The Last Tram, split cassette (Bomb Shop)
Phew! More to come.
CHEWED TAPE RAMBLINGS
For a few years now small labels have been putting out music on cassettes. There are only a Tony Iommi handful of companies that still make tapes in the UK. Why have they been doing this? Why keep making tapes when CD-Rs are so cheap and easy to make? That question is probably the answer. CD-Rs are really shit. Vinyl is very expensive to make, especially for a short run of singles. Tapes are cheap.
Old technology is actually new technology to young people too.
They are also usually really limited. A young band may make 50 tapes of a release.
Like the band? Buy the tape! For a start, small bands get paid little for a gig. Buying tapes help bands.
Buying tapes from bands who you think might just make it is great. It helps the band. Tell yer mates about them.
The Flaming Lips putting out a tape limited to 100 worldwide is crazy. I collect records and tapes and have a shop. If we managed to get one and if I was a BIG fan what should I do?
So, like Record Store Day, some tapes are way too limited, but please remember that the day is about cassette tapes, not artists or even record shops really (How many still sell tapes?). The larger bands can create more media interest, but it’s not about the media and other stuff as much as the grass roots bands that have been grafting and making art for these years. I’ve said it. Art. These items really are, at their best, Art, and at their worst a triumph of unemployment over brainpower.
The artwork is often mindbreaking and often with individually hand-written labels and inserts. Sometimes the packaging is better than the music.
Is it a fad for status seeking retro walkman people? Yes, it is. Is it for you too?
Simply answer this question; Do you like tapes?
VoxBox is 2 years and 4 months old and we are due a party. It’s also my birthday on Saturday. There’s a party at our place all day. Food, balloons, cake and other things. Party poppers? Yes. Them too. And tapes. Lots of tapes.