Only the other day I was chatting to a friend who said "books are coming back in fashion"! It's the first time I'd heard this one ... it now sits alongside the comment that I used to hear a few years ago that 'Vinyl' is coming back in fashion and 'cassettes ... do you still play them?'.
I may be an old man who is stuck in his ways but books, records and cassettes never went out of fashion.
I have 2000+ cassettes here at MuhMur HQ. I have been released on cassette, I have released cassettes. I love the K7. Equal to records (or vinyl as it is now called in the 21st Century) is the cassette tape. Thank you Mr. Ottens. Chapeau. So, when I find out that recently there has been two books written on / about cassette releases I had to get hold of them.
"Pause" is a mammoth tome. 350 pages of cassette releases. Artwork of hundreds of cassette releases, all from this century. The book is written in French with an English translation. As well as the hundreds of pictures of cassette releases there are interviews with the folk behind the labels as well as overviews of the labels releases. A great interview with Ron Lessard (of RRRecords) about his starting of the 'Recycled' series. I'm really looking forward to the upcoming book on Ron / Emil Beaulieau that Korm are putting out ... soon. Interviews also with Dylan Nyoukis of Chocolate Monk, Aaron Dilloway of Hanson Records and Mattias Gustafsson, the man behind Hästen & Korset. Also in the book are pieces on Lal Lal Lal, Falt Records, Ultra Eczema, Third Type Tapes and Quagga Curious Sounds. It was good to read about the activities of Héloïse and Olmo, the people who operate ZamZamRec. They used to be based in Bristol many moons ago putting on great gigs in Stokes Croft. I remember they brought MyTrip to the UK. They also performed live as Zohastre, I saw them a couple of times at the Exchange in Bristol, supporting (I think) Consumer Electronics and Sleaford Mods. Always great live. They are now based in the Loire Valley in France. Good to know that they are still active.
There's other labels and interviews too, labels of which I knew nothing but now I'm keen to discover. That's what the book does, and looking at the artwork it's like .... oooh, I didn't know that existed .... and ...... oooh, I've never seen that before, I need it!. That's what the book does. Dieter Müh's cassette release "Live At Gangerviertel" on the great SoundHoles label is on page 90. I was surprised and honoured to be included. https://stoo.noblogs.org/post/2024/03/09/nouvelle-sortie-pause/ gives more information. Grab a copy ... it's essential.
The subtitle of "Tapeworks" is 'Art & Design Of 80's Experimental Electronic Music'. It's a collection of 151 releases from that decade. 90% of which are cassette releases. There is no narrative, no history given behind the releases, just pictures of the art and design. Again, a fascinating book and a great document of the DIY cassette culture, of art in a pre-computerised domain. A small run through of bands / artists included : Ptôse Production, Architects Office, Graf Haufen, SPK, Kanker Kommando, Storm Bugs, Tom Ellard and Sleep Chamber. I would say the list is endless ... but it's 151 releases. Again, essential. The book is pocket-sized (A6) and collected by ReSampled. They are UK based and have an interesting blog : https://resampled.tumblr.com So. Two great books, both essential.
I have already said that I love cassettes. I always have, ever since the days of taping John Peel's radio programmes in the 1970's. The late 1970's and the birth of cassette culture via the classifieds of NME / Sounds and ZigZag magazine. Groups such as The Instant Automatons, The Dogma Cats, The Door & The Window and (of course) the Industrial Records releases of live Throbbing Gristle. In 1979 I started a label called "Don't Dance ... Collide". I put out a couple of cassettes (in 1980), one of my then project E.S.P. Disk-rd. An aponymously titled cassette. And a compilation of Lincoln bands simply called "Don't Dance ... Collide". This featured Collide, E.S.P. Disk-rd and The Exitz. I sold copies for a pound through the classifieds, I think it sold about 12 copies. When I restarted Haemoccult Recordings a couple of years ago I had to release cassettes again. The first is by Grey Park "Think Space Act Local (Volume One)". Sold out at source but still available by sellers via Discogs. Grab a copy and keep the cassette culture going!
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