Cassettes: Why?
Read a good article the other day about cassettes...
http://satelliteforentropy.wordpress.com/2010/08/15/whats-in-a-format/
I can't believe some bands are releasing music only on cassette. Why? I don't even have a cassette player anymore.
And floppy discs now too!
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- Why? - Mumps, etc.
- Why? - Mumps, etc.
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Why?
Forget Cassettes
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and
it's real cheap to do and therefore the way forward for some tinytiny labels out there to put out music physically.
Forest Swords puts it like this in a recent interview with Fact
"it just wasn’t viable to do a 7? or anything at that time as nobody had heard of me. I was fine with that. Tonnes of stuff still gets released on cassette when you delve a bit deeper underground, especially in those drone and noise areas. It’s just more practical when you don’t know if releases are going to sell more than 30 copies or whatever."
HORSESHIT.
Releasing on tape is not more practical than CDR. It's just hipster-bullshit.
funny you should say this
because I've had no trouble finding downloads of various cassette only releases via google recently...
Does this mean?
We are subscribing to hipster bullshit - or is that only if you buy it?
Yeah but
anyone who releases cassettes in deliberately small runs isn't afraid of overexposure are they? I mean they don't actually expect more than a couple of hundred people will want to hear it and are probably gratified when the music is being spread worldwide via the internet. Like guntrip said below, i have no trouble finding out of print cassettes online if i search hard enough and i don't feel at all guilty downloading either when there were only 20 copies sold at a show in bumf**k nowhere.
Vinyl only labels are equally stupid.
I agree in a way though.
If you think vinyl is okay then you shouldn't have a problem with cassettes, unless you're a dj.
Horseshit and bullshit
have you been working the stables recently?
that made me lol
and again
top work!
rule of thumb if you assume something is universally done only by 'hipsters' to look 'cool' and they don't really like it
you are being silly and objectively wrong
CDRs are cheaper, more useful
and can be made to look amazing and totally bespoke in ways manufactured cassettes cannot be.
But of course blah blah CDs are over etc whatever.
The only thing a cassette has over a CDR is probably the length of time it'll last.
But at least with the CDR you can take perfect backups.
until the dye fades and you can't read the disk anymore
Yeah but before that happens you can make umpteen perfect copies.
So it's not really an issue.
Yeah
surely it's not cheaper than a CDR? And why only a tape. Surely you're limiting who will want it if it's only released on one (old) format?
disprove
www.acdsleeve.com
http://americantapes.us/oldstuff1.html
so what?
use yer ears
COULD I OFFICIALLY BAN ALL USE OF THE WORD 'HIPSTER' FROM THIS THREAD PLEASE
cheers.
This is actually your most amazing piece of bullshit trolling EVER.
Do we really need format wars on the forum again?
Send your gripes to the musicians. This clearly isn't a case, with such small runs of cassettes, of the demand dictating format is it? It's the musicians perogative, not ours.
apparently the retail price for a tape is £8.50
http://www.puregroove.co.uk/itemview.aspx?item=1464
There's one in Second Layer for like £35
It's some rare fluxus thing tho and not some lame indie music whateverz.
Thread hijack
What are people favourite recent casette-only releases?
mine are:
Ras G - El-Aylien 1
Oscar Mclure - Compost/Compost Remixes
Jeans Wilder - Relics
Xela + others - Air Rings Vol.2
Pita - Mesmer
Daniel Menche - Raw Fall
disclaimer: some of these I have on mp3...
Always hear this argument when people defend old formats.
I still don't understand it. I get that a lot of people listen to music as background music but you can do that equally with tapes or vinyl. Certainly having to turn over a cassette and interrupting the music also takes away from listening to it. My entire music collection is in digital now and I listen to albums straight through. Attention Deficit problems have nothing to do with music formats. Yeah, it's easier to skip song to song with digital music but if that's how the person experiences music, then that's just how they are and it's also equally as easy to let it play straight through without intrusive mechanical necessities. You shouldn't have to force yourself into hearing an entire record and if you do, you probably shouldn't listen to entire records then.
"The fact that most of the music is on cassette has stopped it being chewed up by the consumerism of the internet"
This isn't really true. The niche nature of the music has stopped it being popularised, not the format. Also, this stuff is freely available as mp3s anyway, so most people just listen to it on the computer along with everything else.
Plus, I've seen loads of cassette releases that come with download codes
your argument about the whole 'have to specially listen to it' rather than it just being an anonymous mass of mp3s on your ipod
I think has things the one way round.
I think you're supposing that a cassette only release is somehow 'more about the music in and of itself'.
Actually I believe that when a band releases a cassette what they are saying is that the fetishisation of the object, the casette, is more important than the music itself.
"i believe" being the important of that last sentence.
wrongly i would suggest...
well ok what is a band saying when they release on cassette only exactly?
'up yours Mr Jobs' as the Brighton DJ Daddy would have us believe. 'We're such rebels we refuse to conform to the modern expectations of releasing music in a format that most people can access, we're deliberately using outdated and rubbish sounding technology, just like many of our micro-scene peers do, to show our outstandingly non-conformist individuality?'
What the hell are they saying?
they're saying we have x amount of releases to put out this summer
we could do them all on cdr or we could release some on cassette to vary things up a little since a) that *is* an expectation of our audience...no-one's inventing the wheel in 2010, people have been doing tape releases for years and years, and since b) it's an interesting format whereas the context imforms and aids the content but doesn't override it. musics still the most important thing, but if anyone who listen to pop/rock whatever music thinks there listening just to the music in and of itself, there fooling themselves. What does that concept even mean? surely all music is informed by context...the context of your mood, your life experiences etc...and even the context of the music itself...if you gave a small martian child an Evan Parker they'd probably think it was shit. they'd be wrong.
it just presents different ways of getting you from the context to the context as The_Incapitant points out, ...tapes far more than data-based cdrs emphasis the idea of recordings, and quite literally 'taping' and this compliments say a 30min drone piece really well...
all physical formats are outdated. but no-one is going to go into go into HMV, scream 'WHY ARE YOU STILL SELLING CDS YOU FUCKING HIPSTERS CUNTS. YOU'RE WORSE THAN LAURA MARLING YOU BUNCH OF MASSIVE FUCKING KNOCKERS' are they?
the only issue is that cassettes have been marked off by some as specifically a pretention or affectation based on a very boring set of external prejudices...which maybe in some cases are to do with negative experiences with the format (which is too bad, but unshared some older or contemporaneous people who release on cassette) and in some cases are more to do with a really tiresome imagined idea of hipness that as a concept is only really bought into play by the moaners...no-one else thinks about it when they're enjoyed good music on their lovely cassettes/cdrs/memory sticks/mp3s whatever...
"all physical formats are outdated."
But some are more outdated than others. If you release mp3s or CDs, 99% of people can play them. If you only release a cassette, the percentage is significantly lower.
This is without getting on to the fact that mp3s/CDs don't degrade like cassettes, and are easily transferable/portable, unlike cassettes.
yes, but a)mp3s and cds rarely come into, ok there are cdr releases, but in this subgenre a hell of a lot of the good stuff (more 'essential' stuff than on the stuff on tape) gets released on vinyl, and b) when you're releasing very small-run things (probably the only time a cdr would be considered) question of what percentage of the population can access this physical format are a bit unrelevant when in the end of the day there are only 50-100 copies or what have you for the world.
as for your last two points, this are both things which make cassettes perhaps even less outdated than cds; they have a element of character to them. As a physical format cds don't have that much difference to mp3s: I can plug my pc into my speakers then play songs from my iTunes and as long as they're 320s or more, not be able to tell much difference from just playing a cd, if i have a tape it's inaccessibilty arguably is a pleasing , and arguably means that like vinyl, they're not subject to the disposibility of mp3s, the physical presence of a tape, means i can't lose that music like i seem to have lost Wiley's Avalanche music from a couple of months ago...i can't forget about it, and i have to make an event, a ritual almost out of listening to it...
You talk about sub-genre tropes
but this is just an affectation, this tendency to release tapes/vinyl etc, a form of contrarianism that perhaps fits the philosophical character of the art. And this is fine, but it serves capricious value only, not functional value. There is never a practical reason to release music on cassette unless you are seeking to utilise the degradation quality of the medium (which even then is largely pissing in the wind in real terms since most people will listen via a ripped digital copy, but by all means the statement and intent is worthy). There are only aesthetic reasons.
Personally I think the notion that cassettes have character and are therefore less outdated than CDs is simply retro-fetishism, akin to seeking out old atari arcade games which serve nostalgic ends and cannot be considered as adequate by current standards.
I do understand where you're coming from when you describe vinyl and tapes as forms of resistance to disposability and as an exercise in ritual celebration. I formerly had more of an inclination to object media, towards record bin searching and the like, which for practical logistical reasons has withered into the more utilitarian cultural habits practised today. Perhaps I ought to bake a frittata and put some candles out when I listen to Emeralds or Actress or whatever tonight. I wonder though, whether the whole practice of tape/vinyl releases is essentially sustained by niche musicians perpetuating the conventionalities of their sub-genre and slightly older music consumers eager to perpetuate any form of bricks'n'mortar corporeality to music fandom?
But how good a videogame is is absolutely not a chronological issue
and obviously many old games are still playable and in many cases better as a game than many newer ones and in many cases better artistically even with more technically limited graphics and loads of people still play them not for (entirely) nostalgic purposes including kids who weren't born when atari was around soooooooooooo maybe not the best analogy?
didn't read rest of post
I'm trying to understand your point
Are you suggesting that games made and released in 2010 aren't generally better than Space Invaders et al?
'Cause if not, you've not offered any reason to suggest the analogy doesn't work.
have you ever even played a videogame?
Yep
You don't actually have a point, do you?
"It's an interesting format...."
let me stop you there.
Interesting why exactly?
THe fm3 buddha machine was an interesting format, tapes are just outmoded and shit-sounding.
I think you should stay out of this.
Not good for your blood pressure.
tell you what. don't stop me there.
read on...to the rest of the sentence where i explain why i think it's an interesting format.
The buddah machine is boring, overprices and not as interesting or useful as an instrument/source sound
as the actual buddhist chant machines it was based on.
and are overpriced toys
coaltalk
I totally agree with this and your previous post
but how do they tally up with that pledge-music thread which seemed to really bother you?
Fair enough, seem to be agreed on the variety, spice and stuff
I thought that pledge thing looked pretty handy as an option, just seems nice to have an idea whether something is gonna be a complete waste of money or not. Would be a shame if music was released according to how much money someone has rather than how many people would like to hear it. But that's all getting a bit off topic.
Mini-discs eh, whatever happened to them?
"The people who put out cassettes are working within their means"
but, as has been said a million times, cassettes aren't the cheapest way of doing things. this arguement just doesn't stand up.
and yes yes "why do I care" etc. because music I'd quite like to hear is being put out exclusively in a shitty shitty format that sounds awful, degrades badly, isn't especially aesthetically pleasing, and is a bugger to use. it's annoying. like that double Jeans Wilder cassette that came out recently, i'd LOVE to give him money for that music but i'm not going to because it's only been released in such a horrible and awkward format. so yeah, his loss, my annoyance.
Someone less whingey will buy it I'm sure
But yeah I get your points and the cost argument is true. Cassette isn't cheaper than CDR BUT I think a fair argument would be that cassette is a different canvas for the music. Cassettes add texture to the recordings and the fact that the cassettes actually age is interesting in of itself. Surely an artist considers this when he chooses the format. Anyway you can digitise a casette when you get it. And seriously if you have a half decent deck or player, a fresh cassette sounds absolutely fine. As for aesthetically pleasing thats down to an artists creativity and imagination. These, for one, are lovely....
http://rootstrata.com/rootblog/?p=3788
" Cassettes add texture to the recordings "
or you could just add texture to the music when recording it. I'd much rather hear the music, not my equipment and any kind of effect trying to be achieved by cassettes like distortion, wow etc if part of the music can be part of the recording. This way you also know better how your release will sound and it's more of an artistic decision that way.
OR
you can accept that recording onto a cassette surrenders the music to the effects of being on tape and gives it a life of its own. Also a completely artistic decision especially when you consider the argument that when a piece of art enters the public awareness, it no longer belongs to you in substance or idea.
OR
maybe we just have different philosophies about recorded music. I guess what you're talking about is in a sense aleatoric music, leave a part of the artistic process to the recording medium. You could certainly add those same aleatoric elements without using tape. My way of looking at recording and formats is that I want it to be as transparent as possible. I don't want to know what kind of format I'm listening to and I want my equipment to reproduce what's been recorded as closely as possible. Definitely once the music has reached the public it is no longer yours. People will listen to it on different speakers then you mixed it on, they'll rip it in low quality, remix it so on. That can't be helped. I can't control that and don't want to either but i'd rather my copy of the music I recorded sound identical to what I envisioned it to sound like when I exported it from my DAW. When releasing music on cassette, you're in a way also trying to control what the masses are hearing by trying to force that aleatoric nature on them and I just think it'd be better to look at format and recording as a means and not an end.
OR DIS has deleted my long reply
but I suppose what you're talking about is aleatoric music in some way. You could argue that all music is in a sense aleatoric because you can't predict how someone will play it back and I agree that once you release music to the masses it is out of your hands and not controllable. I just think that our philosophies on recorded music fundamentally differ in that what I want out of format and recording is for it to be as transparent as possible and stay out of the way. I don't want to be changing sides on a cassette and I want it to sound as how I envisioned it before I export it out of my DAW. It may not sound to other people how I envisioned it,I can't control that and wouldn't want to but at least for myself when I listen to it thats important to me. Everything isn't black and white and even if I can never control how people hear my music or other people can't control how I hear theirs, I'd at least want it to be as close as possible. I'd hate to record something on my cassette player and it sounds great to me then on another cassette player it's at a different speed, which is the case often. In short, my way of thinking is that recording and playback is a means and not an end.
I hate my computer, double post fail.
some people don't have so much of an ego about their music
and false notions of it's perfection maybe....? And embrace the fact that entropy exists in the world...?
It's not so black and white.
Perfection is unobtainable but striving for perfection is an inherent human trait and one that has allowed us a certain level of progress. Choosing inferiority and going to extra trouble to do is just silly though and is obviously about fashion. Just admit that and we will have nothing further to argue about.
totally incorrect
when applied to art/music. Actually pretty flawed if you were talking about other things really.
Any reasoning on why it's incorrect
or do you just disagree with people and have as much of an ego as you claim I do about music to expect your very dissent to speak for itself? When applied to art no, when applied to mastering and making copies yes. Production itself is an art and certainly there is endless room for artistic interpretation of the original signal when recording / mixing and so forth. I think so even more then the average person I'd wager. When you're actually bouncing down to two tracks and transferring it to a format for consumption, I don't see how it's an artistic endeavor or why anyone would want it to be. I'm not arguing for some kind of artistic perfection, just the desire for perfection in duplication of the art.
Releasing a cassette
is the cheapest way of releasing a cassette.
It bothers me for 2 reasons:
1) I was unfortunate enough to be a young music obsessed teenager at the point in the early 90s when vinyl was being aggressively phased out by record shops* and CDs were a novelty I couldn't afford so tapes were my only option. I lived with them for years as my only means of listening to music and they were SHIT. Tape hiss is copable with but that horrible low-end wobble that gets worse and worse isn't. Tapes are horrible. An abomination. It gets my goat that people bitch and moan about mp3s. Yeah they're 'souless' but tapes were just horrible.
2) you, brightonb, like to bitch and moan about the sound quality of mp3s. You are a total idiot if you simultaneoulsy champion tapes.
* this is pre-internet obvs and I did not live anywhere near any independent record shop. Nor as a 14 year old was it practical for me to move house, which I know is the solution you advise for adults in this situation.
Same story with myself.
I grew up with only vinyl and cassettes because it's all I could afford. Cassettes have disgusting dynamic range (think maybe 40 db) because dolby noise reduction compresses it to shit, far worse then the bad compression on modern music releases. Having to rewind is just a pain in the ass. Cassettes probably seem cute and quaint to those raised on digital media but take it for me, when that's all that was available it was shit. Also, mp3's do not sound bad. The reason they sound bad to most is because chances are you're playing them out of earbuds with your ipod or laptop speakers. If you listen to a cd and an mp3 on a DECENT soundsystem, maybe the kind you play your tapes and vinyl out of I guarantee you that removing the placebo effect you'll not hear a difference between average quality vbr mp3's and cd's. Have never read a study where anyone could, especially at higher bitrates.
I ws over the moon when I was able to get rid of and stop buying tapes
They were a pain in the arse.
They stretched, snapped, degraded, got caught in the workings of the tape player, the cases weren't particularly sturdy and rewinding to hear a favoured track wound up degrading that track.
Someone stated further up this thread that they still cost around £8.50 in 'the shops', this made me laugh. Why would you bother paying that for a (dead) format when you could easily get a cd copy, probably for £1.50 more, if not for less?
Releasing tapes is an affectation now (in the same way as releasing on floppies, 8-tracks and the like), a flavour for micro-scenes, part of a certain sub-genres aesthetic and that's fine, as long as there's an honesty about it.
My band put out a cassette-only release
We were saying, "It's 1994 and we have no money."
They're not saying, they're doing.
Stanley Powerlocks - inches and centimeters
you can only find it on tape.
I don't think I could ever hear an argument that could sway me
A casette, even just taken as an object, is one of the most horrible and charmless items around. And on a musical reproduction level it's bottom of the bunch as well. Basically, cassettes are the rat of the format world.
I like rats :(
"I don't think I could ever hear an argument that could sway me"
Cool it's ok if we just skip right to insulting you then?
Anyway 8-track cartridges were objectively the worst consumer audio format. (and I plan to release some one day so there)
Didn't we already do this thread?
and wasn't it mind bogglingly boring the first time round?
A lot of 'noise' artists like cassettes
because after a while the sound degrades which is part of their whole aesthetic...
A lot of 'noise' artists like cassettes
because they aren't aghast at the very idea of somebody doing something that doesn't personally interest them, and they aren't in constant fear of being labelled a 'hipster'
what am I talking about?
The last hipsterphobia thread on the Troniks board was like this thread X 10 but with the cassette/CDr argument reversed.
and fyi
I merked that thread too
Not as funny as the last tape thread.
Wouldn't read again.
Musicians: release exclusively on cassette if you want to make sure I won't buy your music.
Cool another item for the pro list.
P.S. one final thought...
I know this'd been done to death and that probably everything's been said before but I would like to pick up on one thing that's always's irritated the pants off me:
Brightonb you ALWAYS bitch and moan about the sound quality of mp3 files as if they aggressively take a cheese grater to your dainty little ears.
When the appalling sound quality of the cassette format that you defend is raised you like to point out how with expensive tape machines (which no-one owns) and superior magnetic tape (which no-one uses) then the sound can be made bearable.
But, given that under almost all circumstances, tapes DO sound like shit and always have done, do you accept that your hatred of mp3s and acceptance of tapes proves that your listening prejudices and informed by style and fashion prejudice rather than audio quality?
"I like things that go against the general flow of things a little, so tapes are cool with me."
I really find it hard to believe you are in your 30s.
I already commented about this but it's such a giant misconception.
What don't you like about the sound of mp3's? That they perfectly replicate the original signal within the human range of hearing? The information discarded from mp3's is NOT audible. Yes, 15 years ago mp3s sounded atrocious, like any new technology. Psychoacoustics has come so far though and there is the odd problem sample but I have read lots of studies on this. Digital audio is a hobby of mine and there is just no evidence that anyone can tell between cd audio and variable bit rate mp3's. People fool themselves into thinking they sound inferior because their slab on vinyl spinning on a turntable is more visually appealing. The funny thing is things like low pass filters that cut off frequencies above 17k, jitter aka time based errors and lowered dynamic range on lower quality mp3's bring the audio down to about the level of cassettes. Also, how can you say you aren't into the format for fashion when you just went on a rant about how you like things that are rebellious and enjoy shopping in record shops.
Way to entirely miss my point.
If you like it that's fine, but that's still a fashion thing. I'm not ThReAtEnEd by your analog music collecting. This is a forum where people debate things. The debate in question is wether or not tapes are superfluous. If we all just posted about things we liked on here then agreed, it would be boring and masturbatory. If you want to completely change the topic and discuss epistemology I'm willing but perhaps in another thread. At the end of the day I will not change your mind and you will not change mine, that's fine. I also won't walk away from this thread with harsh feelings. I'm just debating for the sake of debate. Using the "everyone has their own opinion" or "don't be threatened" arguments are the poorest, desperate kinds and you may as well concede to mine then if you can't properly defend your stance.
A hobby of yours?
Ladies and gentlemen the voice of authority has spoken.
Many hobbyists
are actually at least as, if not more, knowledgeable about their hobbies than people who work professionally in their hobby area. It's a nerd thing.
I didn't intend for argumentum ad verecundiam
it's just that I went to school for music production and feel that I have a better understanding of music production and formats then the average person. This isn't to say you aren't knowledgeable on the subject, of course I have no idea but brightonb's simplified, unscientific viewpoint about the sound quality of mp3's just shows that he's read a thing or two about it and just goes along with popular myths on the subject from a generation bored and spoiled by convenient digital audio. I'd never expect anyone to take my word on it based on it being an expertise of mine (I said hobby to avoid this very thing) but I'd urge anyone interested to go out and see for themselves. Conduct double blind comparisons with audio, read papers, educate yourself because saying that mp3's are lower quality then tapes is just not true. I can have opinions and they can be disregarded but I can't change physics mate.
Previously pro/high-end hi-fi cassette decks
can be got dirt cheap 2nd hand if you keep an eye out.
Just clean the heads and you're good.
Tapes sound GOOD ENOUGH FOR SOME PURPOSES much like mp3 or cd.
simples
its for overly precious bellends who get a hard on for their early 90s childhoods.
early 90s, http://www.philipjeck.com/images/jeck_2581_filtered.jpg?
I love the disintegration Loops
but come on... Anyone who releases their samples slowly breaking down over the course of hours and claims it's a tribute to September 11th has to qualify for the overly precious bellend section of that comment...
ah yes the early 90's
no wait the Punk and Home Taping scenes of the 70's/80's where the groundwork was laid for whatever boring music you listened today to even exist at all all thanks to CASSETTE TAPESSSSSSSSSS
and?
Tapes were useful once upon a time because they were cheap and they were plentiful. Now, they're an affectation.
breaking: drowned in sound still threatened by imaginary cool people
:')
nail on head right there^
^ Thisx9000
CuZ TaPEs R LiEk S00OooO000 INdIE
because vinyl is expensive and cds just seem depressing
I love cassettes...
...been buying loads recently - got quite a nice collection going. Mostly drone/ambient/electronic stuff. It's a brilliantly tactile format, very satisfying to handle, and some of the artwork and packaging is wonderful. There are a lot of tiny cassette-only labels popping up and I think that's a totally healthy way to foster a scene and create an identity for the music. Some of the stress/abuse in this thread just shows how threatened people get when people do things that don't conform to their way of thinking. Like brightonb says, variety is a good thing - don't worry guys, cds and mp3s aren't going anywhere!
Basically I buy and listen to cassettes because it's something I enjoy - a different kind of enjoyment than I derive from cd/vinyl/mp3, all of which I also listen to.
Good article on tapes to counter some of the negativity in this thread:
http://www.factmag.com/2010/07/26/cassette-playa-in-praise-of-tapes/
"Some of the stress/abuse in this thread just shows how threatened people get when people do things that don't conform to their way of thinking"
lolz
lolz
a.) Tape is not progress
b.) You are in denial, it's not retro
dude, you're trying to compare
people getting irritated about music they want to hear being released on obscure and functionless formats to your weird and tedious fetish for thinking that only music deemed "progressive" is worth listening to. they're not even vaguely comparable things.
what even are you talking about?
get this, right - people like music because they personally and emotionally relate to it on some level. gasp! they generally don't like it because they think it sounds "retro".
your point above is total garbage. i'm a hypocrite because i listen to new indie pop bands that sound like indie pop bands from the 1980s, yet i abhor cassettes? really? it couldn't just be because i like that kind of music?
THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH WHAT YOU SAID
"shame they don't practice this when it comes to the actual music..listening to jangly indie music is just as retro as playing the stuff on cassettes"
GOD SHUT UP
People who like cassette releases: Wake up and stop being morons.
It's just ridiculous. I have a couple of cassette releases. They don't get listened to because I have one cassette player and it's not convenient.
I grew up with cassettes only and they're a menace: the speeds of each machine vary, they get chewed and sometimes just decide to make the music sound like it's underwater.
I COULD convert a cassette to MP3 but it takes too much effort.
We released a bunch of demos on a cassette once for a laugh.
It was free obviously and at a gig. All 10 were taken. I like to think they've never been played, assuming they haven't all already ended up in bins somewhere.
If it had mattered I'd have made it available on MP3, though.
but if you were into tape releases you'd make sure you have a set up to listen to them
could even dig out an old walkman and you wouldn't even need to convert them to mp3s.
All those bad qualities can be part of the charm, probably like the music equivalent of the lomo camera craze, people like imperfections, I imagine it suits the type of music released on them quite well
CD's hold no appeal for me anymore, they just seem like bits of junk you get with magazines, and cdrs are even worse because I just think I could have burnt this myself, tapes just seem more like a proper release, cheap to release but not too cheap as they have to be made in batches, where as cdrs can be infinitly reproduced which makes them less worth to me, (could be wrong but dont cdrs also have a short shelf life (like cassettes), because they arent properly burnt in pits like a proper cd but a dye that changes colour when written on that will degrade over time)
Another thing about tapes is they encourage you to listen to something in its entirety, I know you can do that with mp3s or cds but with me my mind is always on what the next song I should skip to should be, that is discouraged on the cassette format and so makes it easy to really get into something.
Havent read the thread so ive probably just repeated what other people have said, but yeah if people dont like cassettes then dont buy them.
(ive not actually bought a cassette in years)
I don't HAVE an old walkman.
I didn't decide to lie to you when I said I only had one cassette player. I haven't owned a walkman since about 1987. It was a cheap one and while I like it I didn't like the fact it only had fast forward and that when it ran low on batteries the music SLOOOOWWEDD DOWWNNNN.
So by the time I wasn't a poor student again I was able to afford to buy the amazing device that is a recording mini-disc portable player. MDs are great, by the way. Better than cassettes in every way but I don't advocate a Mini-Disc label either because it's also an irritatingly awkward format.
If you want to put stuff on cassette really that's fine: but you should provide the MP3s. You should do this if you release on vinyl too. It's just a courtesy to people.
I like to own a physical release. It's good. It's why I don't buy MP3 albums even though I never really play the CDs I have and why I record my vinyl to WAV files and so rarely play that too.
yeah but you could easily get an old walkman if you wanted to play tapes but you dont which is fine
I just meant to those who are intereted in them its not really a problem at all so your inconvinient comment didnt make sense, inconvinient for people with no interest in tapes isnt really a problem
I don't know about 'easily'.
I guess I could spend my hard earned money on a second hand device that could be about to collapse. Can you buy those new any more?
Unfortunately you're now tying two things together that don't have to go: An interest in someone's music and an interest in tapes and if the former demands you become the latter that's not really very good, in my view.
Cassette decks, especially second hand ones can be absolute garbage and a deck that's garbage could then destroy the tape you're playing in it or at least damage it.
I feel the same when bands only release on CD/mp3s
You cant always get what you want
This argument only works if you choose totally miss the point.
Clearly it's time for releases on 8-Tracks.
Though your argument essentially boils down to the fact you'd rather not have MP3s or CDs, which means you'd rather no digital music mediums existed, which is hard to see as anything other wilful absurdity.
im glad digital formats exist
I just dont like it when I want to buy an album there being no vinyl version
I'm not arguing against vinyl
I'm arguing against there being only a vinyl version with no MP3s available.
I'm not arguing against tapes, I'm arguing against tape-only releases AND I'm arguing against anyone who thinks the cassette represents a format that is better than digital formats; I am perfectly willing to accept a good vinyl copy of an album is a great thing. I have two records (a Times New Viking and Icky Thump by White Stripes) where the vinyl production is far better than the CD and I was happy to record those to MP3 as a result.
I didnt say you were arguing against vinyl
I was just saying that I feel the same annoyance when something is cd only as you would if its cassette only and that you cant always get things the way you want. Probably no one thinks cassettes are superior but many would think they are well suited to certain releases
generally speaking
people aren't putting out their power electronics album or whatever to be courteous
wow personally inconvenient for DIS forum poster TheoGB?
SHUT DOWN ALL TAPE LABELS NOW!
:D
I didn't tell anyone to stop. But it's just a ridiculous format.
nah, the best thing is the pure load of shit most people involved come out with
the OP never returns
Well, I'm not the OP, but I am the author of the article posted at the top there, cheers to the OP and everyone else for doing my ego a bunch of no good by giving my blog nearly twice as many hits in the one day. Cool to see heaps of different perspectives.
Some of the point has been missed. Maybe, suspend the cassttes vs all other formats thing, suspend the idea of sound quality, personal likes and dislikes... Can anyone give me a valid, hopefully inarguable (if such a thing exists) reason why an artist would release on cassette only? Can anyone tell me why, if an artist really wanted to get their music out there and heard by whoever took an interest in it, they'd limit the available options to one of the least appealing formats? I'd like to be able to understand under which circumstances that becomes the best option for an artist.
I can see a lot of good points for and against the favouring of cassettes, I can't see any good points not to include other options. :/
either they cant afford to do it on all formats so opt for the one they find most appealing within their budget
Or they actually want it to be less accessable
WHY DOES ANYBODY DO ANYTHING
music isn't about amassing the greatest amount of followers for some people?
aesthetic/artistic sensibilities often override convenience?
a degree of exclusivity incubates a more loyal group?
tape is the cheapest format that forces someone to listen to the whole thing in sequence?
some artists utilise the idiosyncrasies of the format itself?
for some people its not the least appealing format?
WHO CARES
I think the exclusiviity/incubating is a good point
The internet has made everything so accessable which is great but it can also turn little undergrond scenes into indie cliches overnight which must be annoying for those originally involved once everyones moved onto the next thing, cassettes seem like a good way of keeping things small, yeah a lot will end up on the internet but it will always be a bit of an obstacle
Literally none of the 100s of noise artists i know think that way or care much about that
and many of them put out tapes because they're old and were happily doing stuff on tape before we were all born while they were busy inventing diy/independent/experimental music as it exists today and if it ain't broke don't fix it. Others have moved to CDrs or online for the various pragmatic reasons already covered. The scene exists in reality, not as a reaction to the percieved opinion of outsiders so people do whatever they feel like and it's not a big deal.
because they like cassettes and want to make a cassette for people who like cassettes
sup dawg, I herd you like cassettes, so I put an cassette in your cassette so you can cassette while you cassette
*rubs eyes*
...shakes head...
*rubs eyes*
keeps shaking........................................................
can you record that?
I'll put it out on a ltd edition 20 spraypainted C-01 cassettes
"I can't believe some bands are releasing music only on cassette. Why? I don't even have a cassette player anymore."
It may amaze you to learn than the world doesn't operate according to what consumer goods you personally do or don't own.
Anyone who expresses any surprise or confusion that people still release music on tape
is inexcusably ignorant about music generally and evidently doesn't actually like or have any real interest in music and it's strange that they would be posting on a music forum.
This is separate from whether or not one things releasing music on tape is a good idea.
Anyone who expresses any surprise or confusion that people still release music on tape
Doesn't answer any of my questions.
If questioning something so that one can be informed and understand is ignorance in your book, then the only thing I'm confused about is your attitude.
To me, ignorance is having the opportunity to learn something and not taking it.
I think you have this confused with the thread in which I post informative answers to Satellite4Entropy's burning philosophical questions.
this one is "Cementimental posts OTT hyperbole and overt trolling that people somehow take seriously in yet another boring cassette handwringing thread"
Read my post again, love. Read it real slow so it sinks in, as I already made quite clear what I was confused about. Your original post made your attitude clear to me - exemplifying it again wasn't necessary, but I guess you obviously need the repetition.
but i hadn't knowingly read any of your posts in the first place
and not sure why you imagine i was replying to them
Personally, all formats are dead to me except
having the band capture their music in a variety of jam jars that I can open and listen to at my own leisure.
this would be the best format
seashells might work tooo. ^_^
or metal spheres
like in The Man who Fell to Earth
Guys calm down
The music your talking about being released on cassette is probably some lame indie that you shouldn't bother listening to anyway
you're i mean
-_-;
Incorrect.
I've bought some incredible avant garde/improv stuff on tape. It's not just confined to 'indie' and never has been - people have been putting out stuff on tape regularly for years. Personally I like the way it 'feels' like I'm playing a physical product more. The actual action of putting a tape in a machine and not really being able to skip makes me pay attention to the music more.
Just look at bands like Wolf Eyes, Emeralds, Pocahaunted, tonnes of bands and musicians featured in Wire, etc. all releasing on cassette. It's niche to some people but within certain communities it's always been the norm for whatever reason.
are there any labels who put out tapes of preaching to the choir?
because they might be interested in releasing your post
[pretty much all music people here listen to]: Why?
Furthermore
"All posts in this thread: Why?"
HughDoVoodoo said it perfectly here.
Tapes are pointless, the low quality doesn't add to the sound like vinyl or old vintage desks. It's shit, finding a track you fancy listening to shit, rewinding them is shit and then when they get mashed up is shit.
Tapes are for cunts.
MUCH LIKE
your posts
Touche
I think it was more a public vent than a post. I feel better now...*phew*
vintage desks
http://www.vintageretro.co.uk/index.php?category_id=33
You can't compare...
cassette to vinyl because companies are still making good qulaity record players - ones that transfer music to MP3 etc - and THE ONLY PLACE I WILL BE ABLE TO HEAR THIS HORSESHIT WILL BE IN MY DAD'S CAR.
Basically, if you start a label you shouldn't be trying to fuck your bands over with music on cassettes. You knew the fucking risks the day you woke up and thought "oh, daddio, I'm starting a label with Jeffrey."
Go and watch Honey I Shrunk The Kids.
*on VHS
but I bet you're too young to know how...
to get the tracking right on that son'bitch :)
seriously planning
starting a VHS label
I loved writing
VHS labels. The stickers. Yeah. That was nice. And on cassettes. But I never made them look as cool as other people did. Always bodged up my writing.
Those are the kind of labels i like.
Yes a label with nice labels ^_^
I'm imagining something a bit like be kind rewind! haha
It'll be a bit like that
but instead of an entertaining no-budget remake of a popular song it'll be 120 minutes of a short loop from the titles to Men Behaving Badly with a wall noise soundtrack or whatever.
a popular song!? >_>
popular MOVIE
if you released something like the dvd-r OPN did on VHS
it would be amazing. perfect format for it...bit of trippy visuals and some nice dolphin-mating music, lovely...
I have a bunch of old VHS tapes I don't want
most of them have anime on them.
if you can collect them from Camden they're YOURS.
nb, some of them are "limited edition" "Millennium" tapes that had 200 minutes instead of 180. WHAT A GIMMICK.
tempted but already have SO MANY
and no actual sign of my getting on with this project any time soon :)
really?
i've just remembered loads of them have episodes of Babylon 5 on as well. STILL not tempted?
Oh those poor BANDS ;_;
being forced to release their music on tape by unscrupulous HIPSTERS>_<#...
yeah that's not what happens.
Bet I bet
they would love to sit down and rub pumpkin seeds over your bald head and tell you it's the future.
That does happen!
Ah the classic "I don't own a very cheap and still easily avaliable piece of equipment therefore this entire format DOES NOT EXIST outside of HIPSTERSSSSSS >____<# defence.
Calvin Johnson was selling mixtapes at the gig I went to
I didn't buy any and it didn't make me cross.
THE END
let's take off the hipster tinted glasses and look at this rationally shall we
disadvantage of cassettes:
-------------------------
Not cheaper to produce than CDRs
Sound is terrible
No harder than CDs to rip into digital format
Utterly dead and ugly format
Tangled cassette tape
Crushed cassette tapes
Overall lack of durability
The 13 or so minutes more that a cassette can record with will almost never be used
CDs can be played on anything, not just a CD player e.g. a PC which brings us to the final point
No one has a fucking cassette player unless they bought it for the one advantage which is..
advantage:
Massive fucking indie points.
JUST ADMIT IT'S ALL FOR SHOW YOU CUNTS
^ Should be the last post to this thread ^
Case closed.
"If we can hit that bullseye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards. Checkmate."
But it's objectively not 'all for show' in the real world outside of peoples congnitive dissonance-based emotional projections so
no
> the above post reads
> I am doing my best to backwards rationalize that the reason I like cassettes is because of some quality they have over other formats, and not just because I think they are cool. Which is obviously the real reason because that's the only reason there is, but shush, I wont let myself know that.
no it doesn't, that's not how sarcasm works sorry, nice try tho.
.
Even if it is because people think its cool theres got to be a reason people think that and those reasons are those that have been discussed, thinking something is cool just means you like it, dont see how liking something can be seen as bad
there's absolutely nothing wrong with saying they're cool
that's kind of what I meant by "just admit it you fucks". But don't come at me like OH HURR DURR THEY ACTUALLY HAVE ALL THESE FUNCTIONAL ADVANTAGES just because you can't bring yourself to admit they're cool and that's why you like them. (not you personally obviously)
almost nobody is arguing that they have functional advantages, just refuting peoples' exaggerated notions of their drawbacks
And it's possible to find something aesthetically pleasing without thinking it's 'cool'
yeah but things dont just become cool for no reason
And the reasons are the same as those discussed: a mixture of audio aesthetic, connotations, obscurity, finite number of phyical releases etc. People dont just think I want cassettes because I want to be cool
so we're agreed that cassettes are 100% style over substance then?
dont think style over substance is an applicable concept
The style is the substance for people who do like them.
For the types of music typically released on tapes the quality isnt a sacrifice and may even enhance the listening, just need music to suit its format
"The style is the substance for people who do like them"
Umm, does that mean you are saying that this is merely an aesthetic choice rather than one met by any technical merits?
Isn't that what style over substance means?
Aren't you eliptically agreeing with Ryu?
..
disadvantage of your posts:
Terrible
Miss the point in all imaginable ways
Assumes the disadvantages of cassettes matter or have not been considered by those releasing cassettes
Upset at something really trivial
Bog standard internet rage over totally imagined 'hipsters' doing things for 'indie points'
advantage:
I get to spew mean spirited comebacks and sarcasm all over this silly thread and alienate and offend people who are probably perfectly nice and agree with me on many subjects
disadvantage of that post ^
I didn't read it
advantage:
you didn't read it.
This is basically what I wanted to say but I was in to much of rage.
I had to go on a an pilgrimage to Tibet and back where I spent 20 years studying meditation
under the guidance of my master to be able to articulate it into words without derailing into rage
Because tapes are cool you mongmouths
Only someone with serious learning difficulties would complain about them as a format.
Cassingle
cheers
Dinner?
It's all about
wax cylinder now...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10171206
OP repost thread here and get back to us:
http://chondriticsound.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=24
Hahahahahahahahaha
Why is it that I can manage to contain my rage at any number of social injustices at home and abroad, swallow my dissapointment and anger about almost all things that don't effect me, but the very mention of some clueless Nathan-Barley-esque Twunt with his 'C90s' that are 'so retro' listening to bands-you've-never-heard-of on cassette only release just makes my blood boil?
Why can't I just leave it?
Why am I incapable of just sighing, shaking my head, saying 'ok you bunch of useless tools, you can borrow my pencil to respool your horribly mangled tape back into your crappy bit of plastic if you want to'?
because you think your own opinions should apply to other people?
Because your an amoral unimaginative moron and don't actually like music?
And didn't read the thread and enjoy making posts which invite insulting replies and dismissal.
unimaginative is unfair sorry because you didn't totally imagine an imaginary problem to be upset by and a nonexistant enemy to rail against.
how have i misspelt "you're" twice in one thread? -_-;
rhetorical question thanks.
You're reading the thread on a 12" black and white CRT from 1954?
;-)
Yes but it's 'ironic' so it's cool
urgh also "you didn't" = "you did"
I need to slow down.-_-; Apologies for low quality posts!
"Apologies for low quality posts!"
Yeah, we'd noticed.
CONGRATULATIONS ON GETTING THE JOKE
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
what kind of post was that?
a low quality post correcting low quality post
Is this going to go on for much longer?
I need to wait until I get home before I can fully contribute.
I'll keep it warm for you
God this thread is cringeworthy
- Some bands in certain genres have and always will release stuff on tape. I don't know why people find this really hard to understand. If you look at the noise and drone scenes there's a massive tradition of releasing on cassette, even before the tape's resurgance in the past few months. These sell because fans of these genres actually buy them and enjoy consuming the music like that for whatever reason
- Some bands will release stuff on cassette to be cool/contrary/'different'/'underground'. More than likely they'll be stuck with a bunch of them because their fans think it's a fucking stupid idea
- World continues to turn
I've abandoned about 20 posts in this thread.
you should post them all in one giant post
:D
I dunno, they all either involved pointing out how repetitive these threads were, which itself would have been dripping with irony, or making accusations of moronic ludditity (is that even a word?).
Plus I don't want to get into another argument with brightonb. It's like masturbating with sandpaper.
The most amazing analogy ever.
Amazed nobody took the bait on floppy disk releases tho
Political Necroshemalebob did an amazing one, it was packaged in a CD sized sleeve with artwork of an enlarged floppy disk with the art/info on the label,.. but rather than a CD it contained an actual floppy disk identical to the one depicted on the sleeve ^_^
punchline
i don't have a computer with a floppy drive so have never listened -_-;
make of this what you will:
From their mailout:
"Of Montreal release "False Priest" on Cassette w/ digital download via Joyful Noise
You heard correctly - our humble label will be releasing the new album from of Montreal on cassette w/ MP3 & FLAC download!
Needless to say, we at JNR are huge of Montreal fans. Few modern bands have provided such a consistent stream of artistically ground-breaking yet remarkably accessible records. From the 1996 Elephant 6 debut "Cherry Peel", to the breakthrough "Sunlandic Twins" to the instant classic "Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?"- of Montreal is one of the most important bands making music today. For their 10th album, "False Priest", Kevin Barnes teamed up with Grammy-nominated producer Jon Brion (Kanye West, Fiona Apple), turned up the bass, brought back the organic instruments, and created a self-professed masterpiece.
September 14th will see the release of "False Priest" on cassette alongside Polyvinyl's releases of the LP, CD, and other "non-traditional" formats.
The cassette edition of "False Priest" is limited to 500 hand-numbered copies. The artwork features a 12-panel booklet containing paintings and re-interpretations of paintings by David Barnes, Nina Barnes, and Kevin Barnes. The tape is pressed on a badass red cassette, matching the artwork. High-quality MP3s and FLAC audio are included.
ORDER!
Order the cassette (w/ MP3 & FLAC download) for $10 here:
http://www.joyfulnoiserecordings.com/catalog/jnr65
DOWNLOADS!
Download the song "Coquet Coquette" here:
http://www.joyfulnoiserecordings.com/mp3/jnr65.mp3
Check out the artwork for the cassette booklet here:
http://www.joyfulnoiserecordings.com/press/jnr65.zip
funtimes!
ORDER!
Order the cassette (w/ MP3 & FLAC download) for $10 here:
http://www.joyfulnoiserecordings.com/catalog/jnr65
cease the drumroll
text remixes are the future - pdf will be the format for the discerning blades edge blog hype.
Del Shannon - Runaway (Potemkjin Village Remix)
Download (in 2 seconds flat):
http://www.sendspace.com/file/je2rj5
I like how the profile page for 'Why?' comes up at the bottom.
I think that the arguments in favour of a cassette revival would have more impact if they were faxed in.
That is all.
Fax is soooo 80s
Morse Code....---...-..---..---.
..-. ..- -.-. -.- / .- .-.. .-.. / -.-- .----. .- .-.. .-..
Surely there is insane amount of indie points in faxes?
Texts are just not as cool. Lets all get fax machines.
I own a cassette.
Never played it.
I'd do it all again.
Gone are the days when music was released as a score.
you kids with your recorded music.Notation is far more indie.
Can we all still be friends? lolol
No. No we can't.
Eventually one day when all the traditional dividing lines of nationality and religion are seen as irrelevant and disregarded, the last great war will be the 'cassettes: why?' war.
From their base in Camden the TapeHeads will roll out, wreaking havoc across the land as they garrotte their enemies with magnetic tape. The enemies of the Tapeheads, the Digities and the Vinyl-Warriors, will band together and strike back and for years the skies will be black with the smoke of charred and smouldering corpses.
I fear for my people.
Our digital hardrives will be rendered useless by the TapeHeads magnetic qualities.
Fear not.
Once we've pardoned and granted sanctuary within our ranks to the 'we listen to drone/noise stuff on tape and therefore actually welcome the degredation of sound quality as part of the audio experience' brigade* there will only be a few die-hard 'we listen to jangly guitar music on tape because it's well cool and will give us loads of indie points and how retro are we and aren't we just showing it to the man?' militia left. These will quickly be disposed of. Their asymetrical haircuts and resultant lack of depth perception due to fringe interference will mean that they are not a force to be reckoned with on the field of battle.
*There will be some hard-liners in our ranks who will grumble at this compromise, obviously.
potd
Has anyone checked if The World's still fucking turning?
IMPORTANT REMINDER
The various times this same 'discussion' has happened on Harsh Noise/Power Electronics boards, the arguments are exactly the same but the opposite way around. ie the people releasing cassettes, vinyl and real pressed CDs are artistically valid, serious and have integrity wheras those releasing CDrs and MP3s are derided as shallow ignorant 'hipsters' just doing noise to be 'cool' or as a fad they will drop for something else.
THE GRASS IS ALWAYS HIPPER ON THE OTHER SIDE
eat it
www.sendspace.com/file/je2rj5
yeah but what would people who are into noise
know about anything
I think it's probably best to just let this thread die
but I also don't have a clue what you're on about regarding 'hipness', that wasn't what the topic was really about. Clearly attributions of artistic validity and integrity don't have anything to do with format unless you're a moron, no matter which side of that debate you're on. Cassettes are a wilfully less practical medium than cheaper/more durable alternatives available and therefore represent an aesthetic decision (whether that's tactility or contrarianism) rather than a functional decision (aside from entropy).
[Delete thread]
I think it is the opposite for noise/drone though...
When you're choosing a format that will degrade over time as a deliberate part of the audio aesthetic then totally fair enough.
When you're choosing a format that will degrade over time, that sounds like shit and that is functionally obselete, just to earn some indie points then you are a bell-end of enormous proportions.
you should've said that at the start of the thread - it's mostly noise/drone we're talking about though isn't it?
apart from suppossedly 'post-noise' hynagogic people, very little music is *actually* released on cassettes is it?
i'd be interested to hear what the records that are pissing everyone off so much are...
huh you'd be surprised.
We had some clueless Shoreditch indie schmindy types jagging on here the other day with their cassette o' tunes.
Well..
be safe in the knowledge that when we release a compilation or something, it won't EVER be on Cassette! http://www.dontpaniconline.com/magazine/music/london
I don't think anyone is thinking about this stuff enough
Even though I'm on the side against tapes
just wanted to point out something about CDR's. I'm actually not a fan of CDR's because they too degrade over time. Not in the same way as cassettes, there can be no gradual degradation in sound quality with digital music aside from skipping when data is obscured by scratches but since the data in cdr's is in liquid instead of being stamped into aluminum, after about 5 years the data is usually lost. Less time in extreme temperatures or sunlight. I still think CDR's are more viable then cassettes because you can make copies that won't lose quality generation to generation or just rip it in lossless plus they have the ability to sound MUCH better but just wanted to say that for the sake of fairness.
As President-elect of The Side Against Tapes
can I just say that that is the kind of wishy-washy backsliding that's gonna cost us this war!
it was a trojan horse.
I was going to sneak into their camp with the argument, wait until their defences were down then unspool all of their cassettes and mummify them with the tape.
This thread
makes my head hurt.
I have a cassette player and I listen to cassettes all the time
I just listened to about 7 albums on cassette in the car on the way back from Scotland. If people release stuff on cassette, it always gets listened to by me. "I don't have a cassette player!" is NOT a good enough reason to think it's a bad format. Obviously there are a million and one reasons that it's an inferior format to mp3, but just don't say it's because you haven't got a way of playing it.
It's just a format, i think you'd have to be a bit of a sad act to get so worked up about it. I'm not going to pander to pathetic anti-hipster hipsters when I release music, and I'm not going to choose CD-R over cassette when I LIKE cassettes more just to appear 'down to earth' or 'non-hipster'.
Get a grip.
RE: I am a hipster
cool story bro
I see what you did there
but it doesn't hold up. Shouldn't need to be said again that CDR is more convenient, sounds better, cheaper so on, in others words it has benefits that aren't aesthetic whereas with cassettes many people go out of their way to buy additional stereo equipment and cassettes for no tangible improvements so while it sounds like you're not one of them, indeed it's not unreasonable to assume that many are just buying cassettes for cred. I know people anywways that do. I don't think anyone goes out and buys cd's to be anti-hipster. If you go out to buy music of any kind, the option you will be faced the most anywhere in the western world is compact discs. Nobody is going out of their way to obtain digital music. They're either not thinking about it and buying the easiest available format or they're buying it for sound quality sake. I agree that not owning a cassette player is not a valid reason for cassettes sucking though and I know myself at least moreso had a problem with claims of cassettes superiority to compact discs in regards to sound then anything else. Furthermore, I don't think anyone is getting worked up over this. It's just a debate. Wish there were more on these boards because other ones consisting of I like this band then everyone else saying they suck is something based on opinions which just boils down to bitchy elitism.
people who buy cassettes for 'cred'
can fuck off. I just like tapes, is all. Honestly the format i listen to the most, cause my car is cassette-ready and if you buy on vinyl you can just put it onto cassette for the car.
I dunno why people would specifically buy tapes for cred though (though yeah, i'm sure it happens, i'm just a bit naive i think). In record shops, I'm more likely to buy tapes by artists I've never heard before cause they're cheaper than other formats, plus it's often pretty interesting stuff so worth a gamble. maybe not so much these days seeing as lots of people release that way. but at the end of the day, if it's on tape, it's on tape- i prefer to release my music that way as i said just cause i personally prefer tapes to CD-R.
I don't think people buy cd to be anti-hipster, i just think it's a shame that a lot of people obviously avoid cassette releases just because they're on cassette, which to me stinks of deliberately avoiding something because it's 'cool', in an attempt to rise above the 'cool' and thus make themselves more 'cool'. It's just typical pathetic snobbery.
I don't buy tapes because of previous reasons stated.
Just can't get past the sound quality / various inconveniences of them like I said but as you said though, I'm sure there are people that don't buy tapes to avoid being labelled a hipster though. When it came down to it, if there was a release I actually had to have and it wasn't available in any other format then I wouldn't avoid it just because it's on cassette though this has never happened and provided I owned a cassette player. I know what you mean, I'm moreso questioning things being released only on cassette, not so much buying cassette releases. It would be silly to boycott music you're interested in because it's only cassette.
yeah i totally agree
can understand completely why people wouldn't like cassette releases. just don't think people should boycott artists just because they choose to release on the format.
I don't think anyone has mentioned boycotting artists.
It's more a matter of "i won't buy that release unless its on a format more I can/will use", than "he's released a tape, the cunt, and i'm never going to buy any more of his stuff".
If that choice of not wanting a particular format constitutes a boycott, then I've been boycotting wax cylinders, the 8-track, the minidisc, the usb stick, vinyl, VHS, Laserdisc and cassettes for quite some time.
no
there have been quite a few people saying how much they hate artists who release cassettes- nothing to do with music, just because they release cassettes. It goes in with all the "hipster bullshit" tag.
In fact I just said above that I understand completely why people wouldn't want cassette releases! At no point did I say that not wanting a cassette release= boycotting artists.
What a thread. Think I've read it twice now.
It makes me think about being 10, and bursting into tears halfway into a five hour car journey because my walkman had chewed up my Backstreet Boys tape and I couldn't afford to get another one.
Cassettes are OK! No more, no less!
Pretty cool article!
Like lots of things in life, some people will have good and others will have stupid reasons to do it.
Ah...i loved the quote: THE GRASS IS ALWAYS HIPPER ON THE OTHER SIDE...so true!
Also, I don't have anything against tapes - if i see something cool on Oxfam that I don't have, and it costs 10p on tape, I'll buy it. I'd buy a CD-R at a gig. I'd buy vinyl. I'd buy a tape. I don't care. It's all good.
And even though cassettes are the format is listen to the least, and buy the least often, whenever i had to buy a new hi-fi I always made sure it played tapes - i like leaving that option open.
Answer: 'Cos they make my Skoda sound like a hypnogogic love waggon
xploder ftw
:'D
Dude in my fifth grade class had a Lil Wayne cassette.
What an ahead-of-his time hipster.
haha amazing thread
can't believe it's gone on so long, I'm putting out our record labels' first release as a tshirt, I can't decide if this is more hipster/authentic than cassettes? Can someone let me know please
http://soundcloud.com/separatedbymotorways/sets/brink-of-the-clouds
meant this
http://artishardrecords.tumblr.com/post/968177414/t-shirt-revealed-available-for-pre-order
Go for it dude.
I say get really into it and stop posting.
Dude you're totally right
People posting in this thread, getting all worked up and spewing hyperbole, they're cretins right? Yeah.
Have you considered having a wank?
It might relieve some of that pent up frustration
1,2,3,4 outraged replies already
successful troll is successful for the one millionth time. stop replying to him ffs.
make that 5 replies, didn't see Briansocialscene
make it 7 now if you include mine
FUCK, how will I sleep at night?!?
"to sum up, i'll deprive the bands you love of money (even if i hate them) so long you make attention seeking threads like this. seriously, i'll start blogs myself, burn CDRs and sell them at gigs, spam Dancing Jesus - basically, via the messiest, crafiest, long term means necessary, i'll fuck your music up."
That's not taking music seriously? Your post is extremely attention seeking. Nice try though.
YEah but we've both replied to him, so he wins
:( sad times.
He wins the battle
for attention by making ridiculous assertions with an abundance of confidence but the not being a douche war was lost by him long ago.
I just bought one
off this band
http://www.myspace.com/nervessevren
advantages:
severely strong (potentially layable) indie factor
dirt cheap
i can easily listen to it
i can get a downloadable version at the drop of a hat
it sounds good
disadvantages:
nada
"potentially layable"???
Please tell me this doesn't mean what I think it does: that you have the idea of some hollow eyed young lady going "wow, he listens to music via an obselete medium, I must pleasure him with my body"...
hollow eyed and deaf
Half of those things aren't advantages over the alternative
indeed, all less so then the alternative and a severely strong indie factor is just silly. What does that even mean? I for one have no problem with tape releases though when a high quality download is an alternative or provided with it.
can't wait for the resurgence of wax cylinders
piano rolls, too.
cross-bump
http://drownedinsound.com/community/boards/music/4262047
Ctrl+F, #Alopecia'
FAIL
I've had more problems with CD-Rs than with tapes.
CD-Rs: got a few that got dirty/ scratched and now don't play proper; tracks skipping; sometimes teh CD player takes a while to read them and get started (i got a shitty player)
TAPES: can't remember the last time I had a problem with a cassette tape.
Tapes getting tangled up? Nah, can't remember the last time this happened. Have been very happy with all my recent tape purchases.
I think the tapephobes do make it sound worse than it really is!!!
Meanwhile in reality Hal McGee re-releasing back catalog on cassette
http://www.halmcgee.com/
more cassette education
http://www.doncampau.com/livingarchive.htm
Appropriately enough, that site is virtually unreadable
because of a perverse insistence on the use of <font face="Maiandra GD" size="2">.