The cassette culture refers to the practices associated with amateur production and distribution of music and sound art on compact cassette that emerged in the mid-1970s. The cassette was used by fine artists and poets for the independent distribution of new work. This article focuses on the independent music scene associated with the cassette that burgeoned internationally in the second half of the 1970s.
Severed Heads were an Australian electronic music group founded in 1979 as Mr and Mrs No Smoking Sign. The original members were Richard Fielding and Andrew Wright, who were soon joined by Tom Ellard. Fielding and Wright had both left the band by mid-1981 with Ellard remaining the sole consistent member for the rest of the band's existence. Throughout the next decade, several musicians joined Severed Heads' ranks, including Garry Bradbury, Simon Knuckey, Stephen Jones and Paul Deering.
Final is a project of English musician Justin Broadrick, creator of the band Godflesh, which he started when he was 13 years old. Unlike Godflesh, Final is primarily electronic in nature, taking on a space-like, dark ambient sound.
Anything Box is an electronic/synth-pop musical group originally from Paterson, New Jersey, and now based in Long Beach, California. Formed in 1986, they are best known for their 1989 single "Living in Oblivion". They also garnered some attention for releasing an album entirely in MP3 format in 2003. With a current lineup consisting solely of Claude Strilio, the past lineups have included long-time members Dania Morales and Paul Rijnders, as well as Carlos Pacheco, Mike Zacek, Gary Strilio, Dave South and Barry Bunch.
Merzbox is a box set compilation by the Japanese noise musician Merzbow. It consists of 50 CDs spanning Merzbow's career from 1979 to 1997. 30 discs are taken from long out of print releases, while 20 are composed mainly of unreleased material. The box also contains two CD-ROMs, six CD-sized round cards, six round stickers, a poster, a black long-sleeve T-shirt, a medallion, and the Merzbook, all packaged together in a "fetish" black rubber box. It is limited to 1000 numbered copies. A Merzbox Sampler was released in 1997.
Storm Bugs are an English post punk band formed in 1978 in Deptford, London, England, by Philip Sanderson and Steven Ball who had met in the Medway Towns, England. The band have been linked to a number of genres including: cassette culture, industrial music and DIY. Storm Bugs were initially active between 1978 and 1982 and reformed in 2001.
Garry Bradbury was a British-born Australian electronic musician active in Sydney's experimental music scene from 1979 to 2022.
Since the Accident is the fourth studio album released by Australian electronic dance music group Severed Heads, first released in 1983. Released through Ink Records, it was the first major label release by the group. The album's lead single "Dead Eyes Opened" received critical and commercial success, peaking at #16 on the ARIA Charts. Throughout the years following the album's initial release in 1983, the recording has been reissued many times on multiple different formats through a variety of record labels.
Rage Against the Machine is the original demo tape by American rock band Rage Against the Machine, released in December 1991. The 12-track tape was recorded at Sunburst Studio in Los Angeles after drummer Brad Wilk joined the band but before they had played their first live show. When the band began performing live shows they sold the tape for $5, eventually selling approximately 5,000 copies. Shortly thereafter, the band was signed to a record deal with Epic Records on the strength of the demo's success.
City Slab Horror is the fifth studio album by the Australian experimental pop music group Severed Heads. First released in 1985 through Ink Records, it is the second major label album the group has ever released, following the 1983 album Since the Accident. The track "Goodbye Tonsils" was released as a single to promote the album, which met favorable reviews from some critics and no reviews at all from the vast majority of the remaining critics.
Come Visit the Big Bigot is the sixth full length studio album by Australian experimental group Severed Heads, released in 1986. The tracks "Twenty Deadly Diseases" and "Propellor" were both released as singles to help promote the album. The title is a reference to the Big Merino statue in New South Wales; the 1998 Sevcom CD-R release has a photo of it on the cover.
Bad Mood Guy is the seventh studio album by the Australian experimental group Severed Heads, first released in 1987. Upon its initial release, the album met positive reviews with critics, one in particular referring to it as "punishing pop with crunching rhythms". The album's lead single "Hot With Fleas" did well on independent radio stations, peaking at #4 on Rockpool's dance charts during the week of 31 December 1987. In 2002, after an attempt at making a version 2 of the album which was aborted due to the master DAT tape being irreparably damaged, Tom Ellard made a new version available on CD-R on his SevCom label, which substituted demo and live versions of some tracks and added extra material. This version is what Tom made available on the official Severed Heads Bandcamp page. In 2023, the UK label Futurismo, Inc. released a remastered version of the album on two different pressings of 2LP set containing a 12-page "Bad Mood Booklet" styled after the zines Ellard would publish and sell via mail order in the mid-late 80s to augment the albums. They also released it on CD in a standard Digipak with a foldout insert reproducing parts of the booklet. All these versions had artwork redone by Ellard.
Rotund for Success is a studio album by the Australian electronic music group Severed Heads, released in 1989. Three singles were released from the album: "Greater Reward", "All Saints Day" and "Big Car", the first two reaching the top 30 on Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart. Much like the rest of the band's discography, the album has been issued many times in several formats through a variety of labels.
Cuisine (With Piscatorial) is the ninth studio album released by Australian electronic music group Severed Heads, issued in 1991. The album's lead single, "Twister", was released a year later.
Clean is the second full-length studio album by the experimental Australian group Severed Heads, released in 1981 through Dogfood Productions and Terse Tapes, two labels that the band themselves operated. Originally released on vinyl and cassette formats, both of which contained unique artwork and were released in small quantities, the vinyl in particular only being released as an edition of 400. Ellard reissued it on CD-R in 2005 on his own Sevcom label, with the order shuffled, the song "Food City" removed, and bonus tracks. In 2020, the album was reissued on LP by Dark Entries in its original form, with a second LP featuring 14 bonus songs, five of which had never been released before, culled from live performances, the Side 3 cassette and a Clean demo tape that only resurfaced in 2019. It was also made available digitally on Bandcamp.
Haul Ass is the eleventh studio album by Australian electronic music group Severed Heads. After Tom Ellard's relationship soured with Nettwerk and Volition Records, he decided to release Haul Ass independently through his then newly formed Sevcom imprint, making Haul Ass the first independently released Severed Heads album since 1982's Blubberknife. The album was burned on CD-R discs, while the artwork for the jewel cases were home printed with the use of a computer printer. Two editions were made, the "standard edition", which had prominently red and grey artwork, and the "special edition", which included two extra tracks not included on the standard edition. The special edition was limited to only 1000 copies. Tom Ellard has described the album as "dark". The entire album was recorded with software called Session 8, the precursor of Pro Tools.
Under Gail Succubus is the twentieth studio album by Severed Heads, twelfth if you don't count the Op and Music Server series of albums. Released in 2006, the double disc recording was released in two editions: The standard edition, packaged in a DVD case with transparent artwork, and the metal box edition, which was packaged in a tin box. Ellard later expressed regret for the metal box edition, for it would usually come in damaged in some way during mail order delivery. The album itself is a double disc set, the second disc, sometimes referred to as Over Barbara Island, would later be issued as its own separate album on iTunes.
"Dead Eyes Opened" is a song by the experimental Australian group Severed Heads, originally released on their 1983 album Since the Accident. Upon its initial release as a 12-inch record single in 1984, the track received critical success. A remixed version released in October 1994 achieved commercial success in Australia, peaking at #16 on the ARIA Charts.
80's Cheesecake is a solo album produced and written by Tom Ellard of Severed Heads. It was released in 1982 as a C60 cassette tape through his own Terse Tapes label. According to Ellard, the album, along with his previous one, Snappy Carrion (1982), were recorded out of interest in making pop music. It is a precursor of Severed Heads' shift in sound, from their early industrialised sound to the more accessible electronic styles of their later recordings. Tracks from this cassette appeared on the Severed Heads' compilation album Clifford Darling, Please Don't Live in the Past (1985).
Metallic B.O. is a compilation album by American band the Long Ryders, released in 1989. It was assembled after the Long Ryders disbanded in 1987 by their fan club as an authorized C90 audio cassette release. It contains previously unreleased live recordings and studio outtakes, interspersed with snippets of radio dialogue and music between the actual tracks. The 90 minute tape was subsequently edited down to 75 minutes for CD reissue by Overground Records in 1990, and later by Prima Records in 2000.
