Every year I swear off tapes, and this year, with the increasing trend for cassette releases to be shoved very high inside their label / curators colon that you can’t play them in your machine without flinging shit throughout it (look at the £16 45 minute Raime mix for reference – you know none of the artists are getting paid for that either), it looks like it’s finally curbing.
That said there are still those who will always prefer releasing – and in a lot of cases are even better suited to – the tape format. You can’t ignore those labels and artists consistently dropping quality originals (at decent prices) that we should be supporting. Famous Moon King new release Light Travels in Straight Lines is one that springs to mind, released a few days ago and essential listening.
And when it comes to the cassette mix game there’s one label that’s absolutely killing it, the Brassfoot co-curated NCA. In the climate of Spotify, Mixcloud and every man and his dog having a podcast and online radio show it can be hard to justify spending money on mixes. But when they do stand out from this overcrowded space you know there something special.
The first three offerings on NCA were partially mixed 50 minute affairs with Brassfoot on one side and Japan based J M S Kosah on the other that flew out too quick. Proper lo-fi styled dirty machine music for the most part mixed in with bits of jazz and even porno samples tying together originals, unique mixes and edits. Late last year the fourth instalment was handed over to Ashtrejinkens of LA and Tokyo based Ko Saito to handle and last month came the equally raw offering from Black Void Smith.
Don’t know anything about Black Void Smith or the majority of heat on here. I can tell you that Holograms & Hypnosis is trippy as all hell on both sides, brilliantly gritty and raw in it’s synths and drums, and definitely sounds best on tape. Pick it up, and dig in to it.
Can’t believe there’s still some left, last seen at Juno, Norman Records and a few others for around 7 quid.