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.
His Name Is Alive is an American experimental rock band/project from Livonia, Michigan. After several self-released cassettes, they debuted on 4AD Records in 1990, starting a long run at the label. Throughout the band's long history, leader Warren Defever has been the only constant member, with a variety of musicians and singers contributing over the years.
Wolf Eyes is an American experimental music group from Detroit, Michigan, formed in 1996 by Nate Young. Currently a duo, Wolf Eyes are a prominent act within contemporary noise music. They have collaborated with a variety of artists from different countries and art forms.
Alastair Galbraith is a New Zealand musician and sound artist from Dunedin.
Maurizio Bianchi is an Italian pioneer of industrial music, originating from Milan.
Richard Youngs is an English musician based in Glasgow since the early 1990s. His catalogue of solo and collaborative work formally begins with Advent, first issued in 1990. He plays many instruments, most commonly choosing the guitar, but he has been known to use other instruments including the shakuhachi, accordion, theremin, dulcimer, a home-made synthesizer and even a motorway bridge. He also released an album which was entirely a cappella.
Freedom From is a record label based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which primarily focuses on the international noise underground genre. The label was founded in 1996 with its first official release by a San Francisco three-piece named Job. Up until early 1998, the labels focus was singularly cassettes, with the most well-known being the infamous Thurston Moore/Beck/Tom Surgal cassette. During the course of its primary existence, FF often released either the first or first widely available release by many bands, including Jason Lescalleet, Hair Police, Sightings, No Doctors, Milovan Srdenovic, Violent Ramp, Reynols and many more. Freedom From was also one of the first entities to book and promote shows nationally for experimental/weird bands from 2001-2004, including the first major tours for bands like Wolf Eyes, Sightings, No Doctors, Hair Police, Mammal, Nautical Almanac and more. Freedom From also helped bring to prominence the last years of the infamous Church venue in Minneapolis, bringing bands like Animal Collective, Coachwhips, Wolf Eyes, Numbers, 25 Suaves, Glass Candy, Chromatics and many more for their first ever shows in the Twin Cities area. Finally, Freedom From is also known for the De Stijl/Freedom From and End Times Festivals, bringing in artists like Tony Conrad, The Boredoms, XBXRX, NNCK, Gang Gang Dance, Zip Code Rapists, Borbetomags, Smegma, Burning Star Core, Devendra Banhart, Arthur Doyle and many more.
Harry Pussy was an American noise rock band from Miami, active from 1992 to 1997. The main members were Bill Orcutt on guitar and vocals and Adris Hoyos on drums and vocals. Other members included Mark Feehan on guitar, later replaced by Dan Hosker. They recorded primarily for the Siltbreeze label.
Vibracathedral Orchestra is an England-based drone ensemble that has been active since 1998.
Alex Neilson is an English drummer, percussionist and singer who is based in Glasgow but grew up in Leeds. He is a founding member and main songwriter of folk-rock group Trembling Bells (2008-2018). He is also known for his continuing collaborations with Alasdair Roberts, Will Oldham and Richard Youngs, and for his work with elusive American singer/songwriter Jandek.
The A Band are a British musical collective formed in Nottingham in the late 1980s. In 2005, The Wire compared the band's importance to that of AMM and SME, and noted their lack of musical training.
Matthew Bower is a British musician, active since the early 1980s, who has done both collaborative and solo work.
Nautical Almanac was a noise music group based in Baltimore, Maryland with a rotating membership fronted by Carly Ptak and Twig Harper.
Wooden Wand is the stage name of singer-songwriter James Jackson Toth, who has recorded under his given name as well as the name WAND. The style of music recorded by Toth and his many incarnations has drawn on a variety of both conventional and experimental folk and rock influences, including psychedelic folk, freak folk and indie. Though he was a significant player in the New Weird America trend of the early to mid-2000s along with Devendra Banhart, Akron/Family, Joanna Newsom, and collaborators The Vanishing Voice, Toth has been difficult to pigeonhole in one genre; recent releases have been identified as acid folk, free jazz, outlaw country, and country-tinged rock. Toth has appeared on labels including Kill Rock Stars, Ecstatic Peace!, Rykodisc, and Young God.
The discography of the experimental music group Psychic TV consists of over 100 full-length albums, over 15 compilation albums and over 30 singles and EPs.
VHF Records is an American record label, known for their extensive work with several major experimental artists. The label is based in the Washington, DC suburb of Fairfax, Va., and it initially focused on indie and experimental bands from that region. The label has since branched out to release innovative and offbeat music from around the world, although Northern Virginia artists are still prominently featured in the catalog. The label was founded by Bill Kellum in 1991, originally to release a single each by his own band, Rake, and that of his friends, Wingtip Sloat. After a handful of releases by both bands, Kellum acquired the US rights to the first releases by UK psychedelic group Flying Saucer Attack including the CD edition of their debut album. Following this, Kellum released an album by Matthew Bower's Skullflower, which in turn led to the release of an LP by Bower and Richard Youngs. Since then, Youngs has released a dozen collaborative albums on the label, including 6 with Simon Wickham-Smith, 3 with Alex Neilson, one from his progressive rock unit Ilk and one with Makoto Kawabata. Kawabata has also released 3 solo albums for the label. Other artists include Vibracathedral Orchestra, Roy Montgomery, Jack Rose, Pelt, and Stephen O'Malley's Æthenor. Matthew Bower released another 2 Skullflower albums on the label, one Total release and several more under his most recent solo alias, Sunroof!.
Howard Stelzer is a composer of electronic music, whose work is made primarily from sounds generated by cassette tapes and tape players. From 1997 until 2012, he ran the independent record label Intransitive Recordings.
Fat Worm of Error is an avant-rock band from Northampton, Massachusetts. They are seen as staples of the underground noise and improvisation scene and have helped to start a regional scene of noise music called Western Mass Noise.They utilize traditional rock instruments as well as homemade electronics and other modified instruments. In their live performances, the singer, Jess Goddard, engages in homemade pageantry with homemade surrealist costumes. The band has toured Europe and North America.
Eastern Rebellion 4 is an album by Eastern Rebellion led by pianist Cedar Walton which was recorded in 1983 and released on the Dutch Timeless label.
Wingtip Sloat is an indie rock trio formed in the Washington, D.C., suburb Falls Church, Virginia. Active throughout the 1990s, the group comprised Patrick Foster on guitar and vocals, Andy Dubuc on bass, and David Bishop on drums. Throughout their initial decade of activity, the group remained committedly DIY, recording and publishing their music themselves while holding down full-time jobs, earning Wingtip Sloat repute as "hardest working band in America."
