This week saw The Dirty Projectors release their album Bitte Orca on a long defunct format, the cassette. At first I thought this was an odd choice, but on reflection I think that it is the format of choice for anyone wanting to buy the album. Not only do you get a cool retro collectable (for only £6.99 in my local record shop) but you get a code to get all the tracks as a digital download.
This got me thinking about the much maligned format. When other portable formats came along the tape was abandoned pretty quickly. It didn’t have the sound quality or ease of use benefits of the CD and it didn’t have the tactile pleasures of vinyl. So it died a death. And nobody seemed very sorry.
But in many ways it was the most significant format, in mine and others of my generations, lives in terms of defining the music that we listened to. Firstly it was a format that encouraged you to listen to an album properly. Finding specific tracks was difficult (and fast-forwarding used up batteries and took time) so I used to listen to an album side after side. With a great album I really got to know it inside out. In many cases it is the albums I had on cassette 15 to 20 years ago that I am still listening to (in all their digital glory) now. Surfer Rosa, Bandwagonesque, The Frenz Experiment and most of the Talking Heads catalogue were Walkman favourites, and they are still favourites now.
It was also the first real wave of music piracy. “Home taping is killing music” was the claim. It didn’t. What it did do, through the taping of the charts, the John Peel show and my friends LPs introduce me to a wealth of music. It turned me into the collector I am today and introduced me to music that I may never have stumbled upon on my own.
It was also the format that made music portable. With the invention of the Walkman we were suddenly able to hear music on the movie without needing to carry a massive boombox on your shoulder. The nations hearing hasn’t been the same since but it sure made4 boring journeys and walks more fun. With a TDK AD90 (my blank tape of choice) I could have two fuill length albums on the go. Side A, Soul Rotation by The Dead Milkmen and Side B, Pigeonhole by The New Fast Automatic Daffodils (not everything was destined to be a classic).
Before digital recording on a PC or Mac made home music production an affordable reality the cassette was the only way that an aspiring musician could get their music recorded. I imagine that a very high percentage of artists made their break by submit6ting a home recorded demo to a record label. In the case of lo-fi genius Robert Pollard the cassette was an essential medium. Many tracks that made their way onto Guided By Voices albums were recorded on the boombox at home. Why waste money on a studio? Some artists, such as Eugene Chadbourne and The Frogs, released more self-produced cassettes than official albums. It was the way a cult artist could get their music heard before the internet was an option.
I can’t see the cassette making a comeback. The disadvantages are great, and who has a cassette player anymore? But I believe it is a format that deserves a little bit more nostalgic respect.
By Dorian Rogers, May 2009
Related Posts
