Hey humanoids, what a year for the cassette tape, right? I mean, does it get any trendier? I'm no great philosopher (or even a mathematician) but by my estimation, aside from the trendiness, there are three reasons tapes exist in the year 2015.
A) they're cheap to produce. This makes it really easy for DIY punk and hardcore bands to get stuff out quickly, rather than wait on vinyl pressings that won't come out until after the band has broken up. B) old-school-minded rap fans love them because we love anything about rap that's archaic because we are stuck in the past. (But, I might add, not for lack of reason.) C) they're perfect for the bedroom producer, one-man band, zine-making weirdo types who want to create something--often times a mixtape or an annoyingly long noise composition--that's inexpensive and more aesthetically pleasing to the eyes than the dreaded CD-R.
Anyway, here's a list of my favorite tapes from the past 12 months. A narrowed, blurb-y edition should arrive any day now, but for the moment it's literally just a list.
UPDATE: You can now read the feature over at Tuff Gnarl.
Blank Bodies - Demo (Self-Released)
Cal & the Calories - Greatest Asses (Lumpy)
Chain Hex - Bleeder b/w Don't Follow (Neighborhood Watch)
Chain Hex - Demo (Neighborhood Watch)
Chain Hex - Promo (Neighborhood Watch)
Chain Hex - Self-Titled (Neighborhood Watch)
Concealed Blade - Tour Tape 2015 (Self-Released)
Corrective Measures - Demo (Mosher's Delight)
Dregs - Demo (Muscle Horse)
Facility Men - Demo/Futility Men (Black Dots)
Firewalker - Demo (Failure)
G.L.O.S.S. - Demo (Not Normal)
Grand Invincible - Menace Mode (Megakut)
ISS - Self-Titled (Loki, 2015)
Kaleidoscope - Demo (2015)
Lightbulb & DJ Eons One - Lightbulb vs. The Crate Goblins (Megakut)
Love Canal - Enter the Love Canal (Black Dots)
Mad Existence - Demo (Ten Feet Tall)
Mommy - Demo (Electric Assault)
Mozart - The Tick (Self-Released)
MurkSauce - Unleaded:The Prelims (Megakut)
Niégalo Todo - Absurdo Escepticismo Superficial (Self-Released)
Night Shank - Demo (Self-Released)
Silent Lunch - Self-Titled (Self-Released)
Sonic Order - Demo (Self-Released)
The Valenteens - Fuzzed Out Tone For the Painfully Alone (Hip Kid)
Total Dicks - Demo (High Fashion Industries)
True Vision - Demo (Mind Rot)
Utah Jazz - Ivory Wave (Black Dots)
UV-TV - Demo (High Fashion Industries)
Various Artists - Bughouse Mix, vol. 1 (Not Normal)
Various Artists - Lumpy Mix, vol. 2 (Lumpy)
Vexx - Live (Perennial)
Video Duct - Anti Human Hate (High Fashion Industries)
Worse - Demo (Self-Released)
Click here to read my previous Best of 2015 coverage.
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