Cassette Store Day 2015

Overview

With the rise of the mp3 and the gathering of the cloud, the concept of physically owning your music has gradually begun to disappear. Yet for many music lovers, the tactile nature of analogue media still holds a powerful nostalgia. How else do you explain last year's record-breaking vinyl sales?

But while the record may have experienced a bit of a resurgence as of late, what about the humble audio cassette? Well, it turns out there may be a market for that too. Inspired by the success of Record Store Day, Cassette Store Day is a celebration of all things magnetic tape and plastic. Its third iteration is set for October 17 — and for the first time, the southern hemisphere is getting in on the action.

Australian label Rice Is Nice and New Zealanders Arch Hill Recordings will join Germany’s Mansions & Millions, America’s Burger Records and original UK founders Suplex Cassettes, Kissability, and Sexbeat in organising the 2015 edition, an international party marked by a slew of events, sales and releases. Last year saw such big name artists as Karen O and There Might Be Giants drop tapes for the occasion, among more than 300 others.

Of course, not everyone is so enamoured with these chunky slabs of plastic. Last year Tone Deaf penned an article titled ‘Why International Cassette Store Day is Stupid’, arguing that the event is simply nostalgia taken too far. And look, the killjoys may have a point. Although vinyl fans insist that records sound ‘warmer,’ it’s a lot harder to make that argument for the compact cassette. Still, anything that gets people supporting local music stores is okay by us. Besides, who doesn’t secretly want an actual mixtape from their crush?

CASSETTE STORE DAY AUSTRALIAN RELEASES

Courtney Barnett — Sometimes I Sit And Think And Sometimes I Just Sit
Summer Flake — Time Rolls By EP
Bloods — Work It Out
Ocean Party — Light Weight
Step-Panther — Strange But Nice
Dollar Bar — Paddington Workers Club
Dollar Bar — Hot Ones
Red Riders — Drown In Colour Demos
The Finks — Lucklaster
Fraser A. Gorman — Slow Gum
Ouch My Face — Bunyip
Raindrop — Crowded Brain EP
Rice Is Nice Records — Vol. 3 Mixtape (various artists)
Ft. Blank Realm (unreleased), Black Zeros, Tired Lion, Lowtide, The Living Eyes, Pearls, Love of Diagrams, Day Ravies, Us The Band, Zeahorse, White Dog, Weak Boys
Wonrowe Vision — Triple Cassette
Mortification — Scrolls Of The Megaloth Double Cassette
Barrow-man — Dog Tales
Betty & Oswald — King Of Bohemia
Tutu and the Bodyrockets — The Ballad of Bonnie Bigfish
Hills Hoist / Piqué — Cool Change / Kitty

Image: Dollar Photo Club.