Ah. The humble cassette tape. For some it’s been consigned to the history books of defunct formats, for others it’s the medium of choice to provide unique musical artifact keepsakes at reasonable cost without the faff and expense of pressing plants and distribution.
Time for further excursions into the world of ferric oxide and chromium audio. The end of September saw Cassette Store Day in stores across the globe—the biggest event so far with many limited releases from major acts. But let’s not concentrate too much on that—instead here are some recent favorite cassette label releases on the electronic, ambient and techno tip for your ears. There’s quite a focus on London’s Cleaning Tapes who have been ratcheting up some super releases of late—including what looks to be a sure fire solid release from S. Marhaba. Enjoy the music!
Roughlung :: Untitled (Cleaning Tapes)
Dark industrial techy shenanigans in the Andy Stott whomp vein to trouble your neighbors and conjure up hardware ghosts with.
Norwell & S. Olbricht :: Untitled (Cleaning Tapes)
Fabulous warped melodic electronics spun through a haze of twilight warmth.
V/A :: LL.M.01 (Noorden)
Straight out of Cologne, this compilation delivers excellent slices of techno and ambient from a whole host of exciting new talent. Quite a raw Detroit-y edge to a lot of these tracks—all highly recommended. Tape only for now but…surely digital / vinyl soon?
S/T :: D. Tiffany (1080p)
Raw, gritty lo-fi pop electronics infused with melody from this British Columbia producer. Joyous, uplifting and as one Bandcamp user puts it: “The bigness of house – straight out the bedroom.” Either my headphones are broken or some of the mixing of these tracks is panned off-center though. Not that it matters really—guaranteed head bobbing either way.
Memorial :: S.Marhaba (Cleaning Tapes)
Take one listen to this preview track and you’ll be sure to either press play again or hit the ‘buy’ button, most likely both. Amazing stuff:
