Cassette Store Day at Yue Space on Oct 14
Remember the days when you could walk around town with a ghetto-blaster on your shoulder letting everyone around you know what impeccable taste you had?! Me neither, but for all you analog lovers out there looking to capture a piece of your youth reformatted to our musical tastes for today, Cassette Store Day (cassettestoreday.com) is upon us!
The annual event celebrating the one and only cassette tape was created in 2013 by a group of record labels based in the UK. Since then, the event has expanded across the world, where labels including Rough Trade in London, Burgers Records in California, Balades Sonores in France, and VSI from Japan have joined in on the fun, hosting events and holding special releases for the occasion.
This year, Beijing-based cassette label Nasty Wizard Recordings (NWR, nastywizardrecordings.bandcamp.com) have decided to take the mantle and bring together China’s gnarliest labels who share their love for the obsolete format. They will be hosting the annual event on Oct 14 at Yue Space with an afternoon market and musical showcase followed by an evening rock-and-roll blowout.
Dann Gaymer and Michael Cupoli of Nasty Wizard Recordings
Speaking to the label – made up of Dann Gaymer, Michael Cupoli, and (*cough*) yours truly – NWR had this to say regarding the need for tapes: "Tapes are one of many obsolete formats. Even CDs now are obsolete. Digital downloading and streaming has taken over physical formats. However, we still like to have a physical object. To actually have a connection to what we are listening to. Tapes are an affordable means to produce a physical object and they’re more portable than vinyl. Also, tape players are readily available on Taobao and electronic markets." Simply put – "For fans, cassettes are fun, easy, and affordable. For bands, cassettes offer a direct and unique connection with their audience."
For the event, NWR, who already have 26 releases under their belt, went through the task of building a catalogue highlighting some of the releases from various labels in China over the years, such as D-Force Records, Pangbianr, Jingweir, OldHeaven, as well as some special Cassette Store Day releases, including a limited edition cassette (and floppy disk!?) release of Noise Arcade’s latest output, plus special reissues of other splits in the label’s catalogue.
When asked about how Cassette Store Day varies in China compared to in the West, Gaymer says, "They have a way of doing things that they have been doing for some time in North America and Europe that involves getting bigger labels and artists on board to do tape releases and then networking with labels, distros, and shops to get tapes out there. We gave this a try and confirmed what we already knew: that the landscape of the Chinese music industry is quite different from that abroad. However, we were able to get together a catalog of releases for the event which has helped us grow more aware of what other people are doing with tapes elsewhere in China and abroad, so this might be the start of the foundation of a distro network."
Electric Lady
So what’s in store for the event this Saturday? Well, quite a bit. Split into two events, the "afternoon event will have a market with 20 vendors displaying and selling all kinds of things. Electronic acts Noise Arcade and Fløøød, who will be releasing tapes that day and will join folk musicians Dan Taylor and Mu Miqu on stage." In the evening, the real ruckus begins as some of the scene's most nefarious characters including Lonely Leary, Electric Lady, Guiguisuisui and Shanghai guests of honor Ugly Girls look to stir up some trouble.
"We’re looking forward to seeing so many old friends and making new ones to celebrate cassettes, music, and the DIY ethos of sharing your creativity."
Cassette Store Day will take place on Oct 14 at Yue Space and is divided into two sides (don't worry, each will last longer than 45 minutes):
Side A (1pm-6pm): Market x Afternoon Showcase feat. Noise Arcade, Fløøød, Dan Taylor, Mu Miqu. RMB 30 door (RMB 20 advance)
Side B (9pm start): Ugly Girls (Shanghai), Lonely Leary, Guiguisuisui, Electric Lady.
RMB 80 door (RMB 60 advance, available during the afternoon market)
Images: Live Beijing Music, Nasty Wizard Recordings
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