Tapes

*originally posted on "What's Protocol?*

So over the last year (?) or so cassette tapes have been making a comeback, mainly throughout the indie music scene. I’ve been thinking about this a bit lately, trying to understand why the audio format most widely accepted as the WORST ever has had a resurgence, so I did a little internet browsing. Apparently some companies have been putting out tapes due to the elderly population never upgrading to CDs, but that isn’t exactly the demographic I was thinking about.

Another article quotes someone as saying “tapes are great because they have a really nice warm and fuzzy sound.” That “warm fuzzy sound” is the tape hiss that drove audiophiles crazy and assisted people in NOT wanting to listen to them, but I do get what the quoted meant. Tapes just had/have this unique character to them, in both the tangible cassette and their sound quality. Additionally, they posses a sort of nostalgia that has become increasing popular among hipsters and independent music (actually maybe all of music). Anyway, it’s my belief that tapes completely fit the mold of this current shift to nostalgia. Polaroids, fanny packs, retro this and that, cassette tapes…it just makes sense.

Additionally, tapes fit into the DIY (do-it-yourself) state that the music industry has turned towards. Think about it, a garage band or bedroom producer creating music at their house probably can’t afford that great of equipment (or at least that’s the image of it anyway) so if they are working with dated equipment, and have a throwback band/artist image, putting something out on a tape fits right in with their antiquated mold. Another article mentions the fact that many touring bands drive older vans with tape decks, while some of their fans have shitty cars with decks in them as well. So these bands can trade and sell tapes among their peers, which also makes sense.

To be honest, before looking into this at all, I thought this was pretty lame and just another retro gimmick, but after I thought about it I changed my mind and happen to think it’s actually pretty cool. I’m already a big fan of vinyl and have been collecting old (and some new) records for about 2 years, and a do like “retro” things quite a bit (especially sneakers) so I guess I can accept the idea of tapes being put out as well. Now I just need a taper player….

*And you know, speaking of the whole nostalgia thing, I can remember when I used to make radio mixtapes of my favorite songs on the nightly “Hot 9 at 9″ countdown on 98.5KRZ. Those were the days*