3/9/07, 5:14 pm EST

Assignment Eight Finalist: Timothy Anderl on DIY Cassette Culture

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Note: This is not an official Rolling Stone article. What follows is a submission to the “I’m From Rolling Stone” writing competition.

DIY Cassette Culture

by Timothy Anderl
Age: 30

Long before Chumbawumba were “Tubthumping,” in frat houses nationwide, they were one of many artists championing do-it-yourself (D.I.Y.) cassette culture.

“During the 80s and early 90s, the band released several cassette-only releases. It was their big eff you in response to the MTV video boom and over-produced pop of the 80s,” Dan Rizer, cassette collector and Together Tapes label figurehead said. “With the multi-track recorder making home recording possible, and duplication being rather inexpensive, underground labels like Agit Prop and artists like Throbbing Gristle dealt primarily in this medium.”

In the mid-90s, the D.I.Y.-minded resurrected cassettes. It wasn’t uncommon for bedroom-run, independent labels specializing riot girl, emo, and even indie-pop releases to deliver their music via cassette. According to Mark Kaiser of Omnibus Records, the label responsible for the Shins’ earliest efforts, if The O.C.’s Seth Cohen had made an Ebullition catalog purchase in the 90s (via snail mail ofcourse), it may have arrived in a cassette case with photocopied liner notes.

In the era of music downloading, one would expect the practice to become extinct. While labels might maintain a dedication to the collectors of specialized vinyl records, they’ve abandoned the tape collector. Thankfully the “noise scene,” in which artists like Rizer’s Yes, Collapse thrive, has resurrected cassette culture. Part static art piece, part music, a purchase from American Tapes could arrive with the cassette partially swallowed by a hand painted, mutilated can. The latest in blistering squall from the Epicene Sound Replica label’s AntennaeBoy comes in its own biohazard bag.

While some might argue that they are catering to a very limited audience and can hardly be considered a “pop-culture” trend, don’t tell that to Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore. Dan Rizer admitted, “I’ve sold (Moore) all of the sculpted, spray painted, silk-screened, and individually-numbered cassettes that I’ve released.”