Will Your Playlist Fit On A Cassette Tape?

Or will you have to use a few tapes along the way...

So, along with the vinyl records, it seems that the cassettes are coming back too. You may pose as many questions why that would happen, but nostalgia might not be the only right answer. 

Initially, cassettes were the perfect portable method for, what is the key listening medium these days - playlists. Well, the cassette players cannot compare to the portability of our mobile devices, and they hummed and hissed along the way. Yet, you were bound to make your own playlist your own way, limited only by the running time of the tape.

So, why would the cassette tapes come back? Maybe because your mobile device batteries run out and you can’t recharge it anywhere. Particularly, if you are, like Neil Yong, on the beach. With the cassette player, you just need to have a handful of batteries on hand…

Or, it could be that you have a physical record of your playlist, you intend it as a gift, or you still love to watch that worn-out copy of John Cusack’s film version of ‘High Fidelity.’

Still, there is one question you would need to have an answer to - will your playlist fit on a single cassette tape, or would you have to use a few of them?

Goat - Queen of the Underground

Goat is a Swedish psychedelic collective, that is in love with their masks and some acid-laced grooves on the borderline between the Sixties and Seventies. So it is no surprise that they are naming their latest album ‘Headsoup.’ Perfectly wishing the timeline of cassette tapes. ‘Queen of the Underground’ is a taster of what is to come and very much cassette-ready.

Maston - Souvenir

A perfect title for a cassette tape this one, but also in coming up with some light summery grooves, anywhere between Belle & Sebastian and Stereolab. Actually, like a combo of the two. A great combination between Paris-dwelling Frank Maston and the Swiss band L’Eclair.

Teleman - Sweet Morning

Need something to start that cassette tape playlist with? Why not with this pop-ish ditty from Teleman titled ‘Sweet Morning.’ With a penchant for the art side of pop, it is all skippy rhythms and ringing guitars. Tape perfect.

Langkamer - Humdinger 

A lot goes under the banner of alt-country these days, but UK’s Langkamer perfectly fits under the genre, if you add the term rock to that alt-country tag. The Allman Brothers are deep in their hearts based on this ‘Humdinger.’ And if you can plug that cassette player into your car system, this one will work a charm.

Jack Name & Aoife Nessa Frances - Watching the Willows Burn

The title sounds a bit scary, but behind it is a gentle, humming tune that lies, as they put it, “a study in secret song and ancient ritual.” Whatever, a brilliant tune with some equally brilliant harmonies along you can create your own secret ritual. While the cassette plays, of course.