tapes

0bleak

Well-known member
Anyone still bothering with them, as in still getting new stuff from time to time?
I sold most of mine over 30 years ago, but then kind of grudgingly fell back into picking some up again about 15 years ago when some people (besides just the typical noise artists that I don't really care about much) started making them the only format available, but then kind of started picking up more and now somehow have more than back when I sold most of them.
Are they worth the fuss?
Is that rhetorical?
who knows
 

mixed_biscuits

_________________________
Anyone still bothering with them, as in still getting new stuff from time to time?
I sold most of mine over 30 years ago, but then kind of grudgingly fell back into picking some up again about 15 years ago when some people (besides just the typical noise artists that I don't really care about much) started making them the only format available, but then kind of started picking up more and now somehow have more than back when I sold most of them.
Are they worth the fuss?
Is that rhetorical?
who knows
I still have all of my tapes and want to get a proper cassette deck separate for the system. The last tape I bought was:

 

0bleak

Well-known member
Hmm, besides hiss (which shouldn't generally be noticeable if the music isn't quiet/or various kind of noise reductions are used (I generally don't use any kind of noise reduction since I don't want to possibly alter the sound of the music, but I should look more into the options on this particular deck) I wouldn't say there is a distinctive sound to my ears unless the tape is low quality, worn-out, been battered, etc.
 

Murphy

cat malogen
Courtesy of a mate, no idea if they were ever digitised


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Wish my own had been appropriately cared for when I still had the chance. They coalesced into a supermarket carrier bag never to be played again and were continually lost/displaced/destroyed across multiple decades via multiple ‘incidents’

I miss the hiss, the care stereo woowahwobbling before snapping a one of a kind tape itself and even bong spillages. All retro-perspectively angled, granted, yet it’s hard to understate their place - if a gf/lass gave you a personalised tape of cuts = happiest of days
 

Murphy

cat malogen
It’s complicated with tape, started typing and work kicked off agh

An alt/archivist strikes, bit 92-specific but the fact they’ll still play says it all

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Tape as ‘artefact’ partially accounts for the dirge in Hauntology releases. Mostly ultra ltd runs, hand drawn inserts, lot of effort for a bunch of bunk. ¥ I’m so weird all my tapes have special upside down triangle graphix ¥ = grow up

Thighpaulsandra was interviewed about working on his pre-Coil Queen Elizabeth collaboration with JCope. Loads on mimicking the unique experiences and quirks of tape effects working with both digital and analogue, how to elevate digital recordings into more detailed textural masters but I can’t find it .. might’ve been Brainwashed + J Whitney? Point stands. It’s not experimental for the sake of it, more the effects slip in and out discreetly and you can pan for golden morsels while sifting

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Walford massive

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dilbert1

Well-known member
Mostly ultra ltd runs, hand drawn inserts, lot of effort for a bunch of bunk. ¥ I’m so weird all my tapes have special upside down triangle lightning bolt graphix ¥ = grow up

The biggest grandaddy of them all?

Originally limited to 50 copies, this cassette-only release in suitcase was produced in 1980 by Industrial Records. The original "standard" edition was set for 26 cassettes (The information card sheet reads: "23 live performances cassettes and 3 cassettes of recordings made at the studios of Industrial Records Limited") but could be completed with later live cassettes by Industrial Records staff or by the owner himself.

Each set is personalized to the buyer and dated. Each copy is unique with hand-made collages on each of the primary signed information card. Each set also came with three color-copied sheets. One featured an informal shot of the band while another was a collage by Genesis P-Orridge of the proposed "Industrial Records HQ". Copies also contained one full-sized b&w original photo which can be different from a set to another.

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0bleak

Well-known member
I wouldn't be surprised if there was some noise artist/label or some kind of noise adjacent artist/label that has released a bigger cassette box set since those were released a few decades ago.
 

dilbert1

Well-known member
They seemed to be having something of a renaissance around the time I became involved with music

https://pitchfork.com/features/article/9213-cassette-labels/

Speaking of obscure industrial cassette prolificacy, ever familiar with these guys @0bleak from the early ‘10s? Their group Marshstepper was some real botched TG cosplay from what I remember.

Tapes came to dominate Ascetic House's growing discography because they have the quickest turnaround time and are cheapest to produce. According to Aurelius, an Ascetic House tape is generally available within a day or two of being recorded. Despite the group's growing focus on tapes, Aurelis says he has "no real desire to be part of a 'cassette culture.'" "While the format is important to some extent, it's probably the least important aspect of the release in my mind," he said. That's an unsurprising statement considering Aurelius' seemingly anti-capitalist worldview; earlier this year, Ascetic House established a Prisoner Outreach Program wherein they'll send any cassette release to any incarcerated person in the U.S. for free. "The only artists making money are con-artists, and while we may have some shark blood in us, we are definitely not making any money," Aurelius said. "In fact, I'd say the slowest and most painful suicide is committing to life as an artist."

Ascetic House's own visual aesthetic of occultish elegance and repurposed biblical imagery has also been rather crucial to its appeal. "Without mystery, there is little room for imagination, and imagination is the only thing saving free minds in an age where most are trying to kill them off,” Aurelius said, and continued to quote the French poet Stephane Mallarmé: "Everything that is sacred and that wishes to remain so must envelope itself in mystery."

Real spooky stuff!
 

0bleak

Well-known member
Speaking of obscure industrial cassette prolificacy, ever familiar with these guys @0bleak from the early ‘10s? Their group Marshstepper was some real botched TG cosplay from what I remember.


I never bothered with Marshstepper, but I have a few tapes on that label of which these 2 were eventually reissued in other forms on other labels:
Drew McDowall - Haecceity Deluge
OAKE - Live In Marseille

the other one I have is:
https://www.discogs.com/release/7327457-Covered-In-Sand-Live-At-The-Complex - good if you like noisy beats
 

dilbert1

Well-known member
I have some as well. They put out a tape by my friend and I met people from a couple of the acts associated with them, nice people. I'm not huge on industrial/noise stuff but was getting into SPK, Clock DVA, TG etc. around the time acts such as Puce Mary, Pharmakon and Croation Armor were debuting/becoming popular. Perhaps off topic, were/are you a fan of that wave in general or anything in particular from it?
 

dilbert1

Well-known member
Dude from Croation Armor had some interesting ideas at the time about how to sell cassette tapes...

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It was announced on the label's website that the album could only be traded for a recipient's frontal nude self-portrait sent to the author's email from June 22 to July 22, 2014. The limitation was to be set by the amount of orders. It was later announced that 327 people entered the project. According to the author's conception, the recordings should be kept private — as well as the nude photos the recordings were traded for.
Each copy is hand-numbered and signed with a personal thanks to the recipient.


hollowgem Sep 11, 2015
will trade full frontal nudes for this tape. i'm sexy i promise
Reply 43 Helpful
 
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