It has just been confirmed that the second ever Cassette Store Day is happening worldwide on September 27th 2014. Last year was big but that was before I had a record label. Now I have one, and I do lovely ltd edition tapes for the best bands around, I am going to make sure POST/POP gets involved. I intend to have a few events around this date, with gigs, meet-ups and multiple tape releases, all in celebration of cassettes!
I know the idea of having 1 day to celebrate tapes has been known to irk some tape labels (“every day is cassette store day to us man….”) but I always think it’s better that people talk about tapes for one day a year than zero days a year. This event is a way to put your label in the spotlight, which can be hard every other day of the year, as we are dealing with an old format in ltd quantities. This is the day when all that hard work you do the entire year can be appreciated by people who might not neccessarily come across it on a rainy tuesday in February. In conclusion I (and POST/POP) think CSD is a very very good thing and fully support the event and people who put it together.
This is the official word from the lovely CSD people:
Open up your Filofax, take out a pen, and save the date because Saturday September 27th 2014 marks the return of Cassette Store Day to your lives!
Following on from last year’s (unexpected) runaway success, the event will now be split between the US and UK/EU to ensure that audio cassette fans on both sides of the Atlantic get to snap up some great releases from musicians, new and old alike.
In the UK/EU Kissability and Suplex Cassettes will return to run things, and in the US, Burger Records in LA will co-ordinate the day from their end. Stores wishing to stock releases or put on an event will be able to sign up for free between June 30th and August 15th at cassettestoreday.com where there will be downloadable guides for how to get involved.
Labels wishing to release a cassette on the day can also sign up from June 30th- August 15th at the same place for a small admin fee for of £10/£10. Anyone outside these territories is welcome to sign up using the UK site.
Jen Long of Kissability said, “When planning this year we really tried to keep cassette labels and fans at the heart of the event. Last year grew far bigger than we had expected so we are thrilled to have Burger involved to help us cover the US side.”
Burger Records said, “Burger Records loves tapes! We’ve built our foundation on the forgotten format and have been preaching the merits of warm analog cassette culture for years. We’re honored to be ambassadors of Cassette Store Day 2014 in the good ol USA! We plan to bring some of our favorite labels to the table and invite everyone to the party and partake in the fun phenomena of releasing top shelf music on cassette tapes in pop culture today!”
Last year’s Cassette Store Day was a huge success with stores participating in over eighty cities worldwide and releases from the likes of The Flaming Lips, At The Drive In, and Deerhunter.
“The Tape Cassette—-
Is the best bet yet
as the go-to medium
for medium-rare
—-or well-done
on-the-spot
playback
or record.” – Van Dyke Parks
“Cassette is a cool medium to listen to music on. Warm and fat. Good bottom end. Yeah!” – Bobby Gillespie
So if you are a label that make tapes and want to collab, let me know! jedshepherd@gmail.com or @jedshepherd is prob best.
Thanks,
Jed
POST/POP 