Ginjoha

A big shout-out to Ginjoha for sending us their entire discography all the way from Hokuto, Japan! These tapes traveled 7,000 miles to get here, and we can't wait to bust them out over the airwaves. Reviews to come...

Thanks!

I just wanted to take a moment to say thanks to all the great labels and musicians who have been sending us tapes and writing us letters! It is very touching to see so many likeminded folks all show their support for college radio. Keep fighting the good fight!

Tidal/Holographic Arts - Split

England’s very own Tidal (who gobbled up spots #2 and #3 on the KZSU Cassettes 2010 countdown) teams up with Holographic Arts to bring us a new double-tape concept collaboration in which both artists deliver the goods on one side of a tape and then switch sides and remix each other's work on the other side.

It's an interesting move, and it really shines on this release--it seems that these artists are really compatible with each other. On one side we get Tidal’s signature warm washes of fuzzed out bliss, and other the other Holographic Arts serves up gooey disorienting tendrils of sound that are just barely tethered down by subtle DnB lines. My favorite tracks are the remixes of course--two great looooooong star-studded tracks that fall somewhere in between the 1992 U.S. Olympic Men's basketball team and this on the Epic Scale. Which is to say that it rules, of course.

This is the 25th (has it really been that long?) release from the superb label Sweat Lodge Guru. This one is tearing up the KZSU charts as we speak.

Dog Daze Tapes

In what appears to be a final measure to firmly establish itself as the Cassette Capital of the World, Portland, Oregon has just recently given birth to yet another rad label: Dog Daze Tapes. (It's worth clicking on the link just to see the killer 8-bit dog animation they have going on there.) They have currently put out a nice trinity of tapes*** and have plans for lots more:

1. Marnie Stern - "Demo"
2. Excepter - "Maze of Death"
3.Watersports - "Natural History"


Is that the Marnie Stern you say? As in the one with the chicken-scratch acupuncture guitar-playing style who has a kissing booth at all her live shows? Yes it is. These recordings consist of gnarly garage jams that were belted out way back in 2006, and are only seeing the light now. Live it, love it. Because lets be real. Who doesn't like Marnie Stern?


The Excepter tape is a great live recording of the band performing at Death by Audio ( you know, the wicked underground warehouse/venue in Brooklyn, New York). Even live they're got a very dark, futuristic sound with tons of chilling electronic beats and harsh haunted house imagery. Brings Galena and Pregnant Spore to mind. Safely on the experimental end of the spectrum.

The Watersports tape is totally dopestyle, and is a double album of sorts, consisting of a c62 and a c52 both housed lovingly in a hinged case. In case you're not in the loop, Watersports is the same guys that play in Blues Control. This release is a best-of collection in theory, and it is a great compilation of live jams as well as a ton of out-of-print stuff you won't be able to find anywhere else. Great "watery" textures and fantastic percussive elements.


***It is also worth mentioning that all tapes come with an MP3 "dogload" (for the squares)

Field Studies Tapes Interview

The Chicago A.V. Club sits down to chat with Eric Hanss, the creator of Field Studies, about his views on the future of the cassette tape industry and the impossible allure of their "subcultural durability." Fascinating! It is not too often that we get to see the faces behind these small, limited-run labels, so this is a real treat. Be sure to check out the A.V. Club interview below, as well as the handful of other microlabel interviews uploaded on their YouTube account:

Lunar Miasma - Arrival

Lunar Miasma is back at it again. This synth mastermind from Athens, Greece is alarmingly prolific (didn't he just come out with Gone like, last week?) and he cranks out a ton of great spacey stuff. This latest release sees him developing a more refined and textured sound that adds a variety of great percussive elements, foundsound samples, and chimes to his signature mesmerizing blasts of synthesizer. This release comes to us courtesy of the good folks at Field Studies, a start-up cassette label run by Eric Hanss, the program director of the Chicago community station WHPK. Support fellow non-profit radio stations! And great music!

KZSU Presents: Frühling Fest 2011

Daughters of the Sun
Nora and the Brights
The Lickets

Should be a killer time!