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PO: HAVE A NICE LIFE - DEATHCONSCIOUSNESS RE-ISSUE


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5 hours ago, jonrawks said:

I'd argue that it's a trend in the way that vinyl is a trend.  There's been a very active cassette scene for quite a long time and it's not really going away anymore than vinyl is.  Quite a few artists I like do primarily CS releases and were doing so way before this recent boom.   I won't argue that there are plenty of releases cashing in on the tape trend, but I wouldn't call this one of them.

To each their own, for sure.  I'm not looking to change anyone's mind if they're already into cassettes, but to me they just channel the whole Beanie Babies™ mentality far more than vinyl does.  The fact that any ambitious hipster can take the weekend to set up shop on their kitchen table and throw some glitter onto colored cassette shells and call it a limited release / run of 30 tapes is just something I can't wrap my head around, as an enthusiast of music and collector of its mediums.  I guess someone could argue that they enjoy the "sound signature" and hiss of tapes, but to me that's on par with overhearing the guy at Urban Outfitters proclaim his love for vinyl's pops and imperfections because it's so, like, you know, analog and natural.  If cassettes perhaps offered an advantage in sound or benefit outside of compatibility with vehicles that lack Bluetooth or a CD / USB deck, I'd probably be all for them.  I do suppose Juan's post caters to their advantage of availability over vinyl; I'll buy into that.  But outside of that, I'd argue that they're even less practical than LPs when you consider that they require to be rewound, sound considerably worse than any other medium, and physically deteriorate faster than any other format.

 

As far as cassettes being a recent trend or not... I certainly feel that they have seen a much bigger boom in the last 3-4 years, give or take, when pressing plants have begun to back up and vinyl sales have soared – two factors that are no-doubt related.  Of course there are plenty of artists who've always released their albums on cassette alongside CDs and vinyl, but I feel like a lot of "newer" bands are tossing in the cassette option to appeal to collectors.  It's why every Converge album has seen a reliable CD and vinyl press dating back to the late 90s, but only their last album (from 2012) saw a cassette release.  It's becoming an "in" thing, in my books; not that tapes ever officially died, but I guess it'd be accurate to call it a resurgence of sorts.  To add to that, a lot of the newer cassette runs seem to be out of 50, or 100, or 200... and have some extra attention given to the packaging, more often than not.  Video game soundtracks made to resemble game cartridges or health bars from the game they're based off of.  Vaporware cassette shells that are made of neon blue plastic with glitter, to match the unique A E S T H E T I C of the cover art.  I get that tapes have been colored in the past, but to me it just feels like there's a far greater emphasis on the look, exclusivity, and physical collectibility of them than ever before.  Obviously the same can be said for today's vinyl trend compared to the vinyl market 20 years ago, but that just goes back to the end of the last paragraph where I'd argue about the practicality of it all.

 

tl;dr: more power to anyone into cassettes, but I guess I don't see the point.  If an artist you enjoy exclusively releases music on tape, then your hands are tied and I understand where you're coming from.  But aside from anyone who's stuck driving with a tape deck, loves the sound of tape hiss, or gets off on manually rewinding tapes... it's a little lost on me, and for that reason I'm inclined to feel like it just boils down to collectibility.  Not that there's anything at all wrong with that – that's a big part of the "fun" with vinyl over chasing CDs and digital libraries.  But everything tapes do, vinyl, MP3s, and CDs do better.  Whether you're looking for the tangible, physical component to owning your music or want the portability for road trips, or need something comparable to a Walkman while you're on the go... I just truly struggle to see their place in the market.

 

But I am but one person with one opinion, and I encourage no one to take this post too seriously.  Just wanted to voice my thoughts and invite anyone to pitch the appeal of tapes, if they have some reasoning that I haven't addressed above.

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I have tonnes of cassettes mostly because they are the sole physical edition of a release. For me it's all about a general distaste for not having a physical backup of a digital file and my sound system actually can record tapes and vinyl to CD. As far as the resurgence goes I think bands like to do tapes for two main reasons the first of which both Jhulud and Derek have both identified as the continual back up of vinyl pressing plants, the other reason is the ability to do smaller runs. To professionally produce CDs or even CD-Rs proves very expensive for bands when they only want 200 or so copies because they know that's all they can sell.

 

As far as HANL goes this could easily have been put out on CD or vinyl instead with a thousand or so units and still sell out at a profit but Glowing Windows Recordings is essentially a small one man label ran by Thom from planning for burial as a weekend warrior. The label itself so far is exclusively a cassette only label. Thom releases cassettes of his own regularly and last year he produced over 52 hours of improvised one of a kind drone pieces on his destroyed cassette series  (of which I bought three) and has often talked about how he likes cassettes and CDs as undervalued mediums.

I get why people hate them but for me if its the only physical version I'm gonna grab it because paying for a digital file still feels alien.

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30 minutes ago, redroom said:

You can download the digital album for free from bandcamp. 

In some cases you can but I'm speaking in general terms. Most of the bands who release cassettes ask for like $2-4 for a download and $5 for a cassette with a download. To me I'd rather have the physical thing too.

for those wanting those tracks but don't wanna play with cassettes etc though:

https://musicruinslives.bandcamp.com/album/voids

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On 1/11/2017 at 8:40 PM, jonrawks said:

I'd argue that it's a trend in the way that vinyl is a trend.  There's been a very active cassette scene for quite a long time and it's not really going away anymore than vinyl is.  Quite a few artists I like do primarily CS releases and were doing so way before this recent boom.   I won't argue that there are plenty of releases cashing in on the tape trend, but I wouldn't call this one of them.

100% agree

You don't have to rewind (tape decks have this function called 'autoreverse')  and my 1984 Onkyo is a DOUBLE as well. 

 

Quality can vary, yes. But it's not always as bad as the reputation.

If Aidan Baker, Aaron Turner and Faith Coloccia are doing them with most releases now -- and with the special artwork/photography/'artistic' aesthetic packaging, that has to say something. Maybe they're just all nostalgic, too.

 

edit:  It supports these indie bands we love in order to keep them going. And when I die, if the cassettes go to the thrift store, so be it.

 

Edited by drds89
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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

So I found my copy of the  'Have A Nice Life vs. You' cassette tape demo. This was way back when the band was more like Tenacious D.  

The discogs listing is missing the names of 2 tracks (I filled them in)

I uploaded one of the missing track here:

I am also selling it on ebay. Not sure if I am allowed to post the link. 

 

 

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  • 1 month later...
29 minutes ago, aron4174 said:

Not vinyl, but something that I'm sure a few here will be interested in...

First HANL show in over 8 years.

http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?eventId=7386335&pl=mideastnew&dispatch=loadSelectionData

For those on the west coast - They're also playing A Strange Day fest in Olympia, WA

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12 hours ago, coolio said:

I bought a pair of tickets to the boston show and now I can't go. Anyone here want to do a trade? Qc3qZj2.jpg

Hey I'm currently on vacation but would love these, been on the hunt for a pair. Idk what type of trade, but I can pay for em. I can PM you my phone number or email if you want. I live in Philly and wanna make a weekend of it with my wife. 

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On 5/20/2017 at 11:38 PM, coolio said:

I bought a pair of tickets to the boston show and now I can't go. Anyone here want to do a trade? Qc3qZj2.jpg

Sent you another message about this, hope to hear back about it. Really 100% interested. And if anyone else does too, looking for three total. Wanted to grab these two from Coolio and I have a lead on another that depends on me getting the first two. 

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