Cassette Culture & DIY Music
25 episodes listed below
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The stories of the global underground movement that shaped experimental music and culture, told by the artists that were there… For two decades during the '80's and '90's, the international mail system fostered a network of underground artists, exchanging cassette tapes of music and homemade artwork – all under the radar of mainstream media. Taking the DIY message of Punk as a jumping off point, we travel through the network to find the creators of the fanzines, the music, the labels and events.
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A grounded look at cassette exchange, radio access, and the networks that kept underground music moving.
Cassette Culture treats the cassette less as a format than as a loose network, moving music between fans, radio, and the mail. It follows Steve Gears' cassette-label work, Richard Talbot's route into Marconi Union with Jamie Crossley, and Tom Gibbs' launch of Infinite Expanse in…
This episode explores the underground cassette culture of the 80s and 90s, featuring stories from artists like Sandy Nice and Rob Maycock about global networks, DIY distribution, and radio shows.
This episode explores the origins of post-punk projects Third Mind, Fourth Dimension, and Grim Humour through the experiences of Gary Levermore and Richo Johnson in 1980s Canterbury.
The host explores an envelope from Sandy containing erotic artwork and materials related to the Cassette Culture music project.
This episode explores the DIY publishing world of UK post-punk fanzine writers who were also musicians, featuring interviews with Martin Bose of Attrition and Alan Ryder of Adventures in Reality.
This episode explores the origins and impact of the Wild Planet music column in 1983, which documented the growing underground cassette scene and electronic music revolution.
This episode explores the history of Snatch Tapes, an experimental music label founded by Philip Sanderson in 1979 that focused on electronic and circuit-bent sounds within the underground tape scene.
This episode follows a journey to meet Jonathan Barnett, co-founder of the UK Cassette Underground in 1978, exploring the punk scene around Portobello and Ladbroke Grove.
This episode features an interview with Justin Mitchell, founder of Cold Spring Records, discussing the label's role in industrial and dark electronic music from the 1980s cassette era to today, including releases from artists like Psychic TV and Coil.
This episode features a follow-up interview with Mark Automaton discussing the 1980 deleted Funtime compilation, a cassette collection of over 30 tracks from the booming cassette network, including insights on its creation and the bands involved.
This episode features an interview with Daniel Plunkett about his ND fanzine and label, focusing on the 1990s contact exchange document and friendship books that connected artists globally through mail correspondence.
This episode explores the story of Colin Potter and Integrated Circuit Records within the 1970s European electronic music wave, connecting it to influences like the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and Doctor Who.
This episode explores the 40-year evolution of Dave Kirby's experimental noise project Satori, tracing its origins in the 1980s UK cassette scene and its development into a sustained artistic career.
This episode explores the origins of UK cassette culture in the late 1970s punk era, featuring insights from artists like Mark Lancaster about the DIY ethos and regional music scenes.
The host shares that the British Library contacted them to archive their podcast for preservation as part of collecting post-punk culture materials like fanzines.
This episode explores the 1979 DIY revolution in music, where punk-inspired artists and label founders created independent networks by controlling their means of production.
This episode explores the role of underground fanzines in connecting artists and documenting lost music, featuring an interview with Franz de Waard, creator of the Vital fanzine and Korn Plastics label.
This interim episode of Cassette Culture previews season two interviews with experimental music figures and introduces a conversation with Geert-jan Hobijn, founder of the Styleplot label from an Amsterdam squat.
The host unboxes a package from Steve Gears containing rare cassettes and related materials, expressing excitement over receiving physical media in the digital age.
This is a curated half-hour music mix featuring tracks from recent cassette releases reviewed in issue three of the zine Copy This Cassette, accompanying an interview episode about cassette culture.
This episode of Cassette Culture features hosts interviewing Blake Werts, publisher of the Copy This Cassette fanzine, discussing independent cassette publishing and Jerry Kranitz's book revival.
This episode explores the 1980s UK independent music scene, focusing on psychedelic underground connections through cassette culture and featuring interviews with Richard Allen of Freakbeat/Delirium Records and Michael Dogg of Club Dog/Planet Dog Records.
This episode explores the 1980s underground cassette network, tracking down Steve Geers, a key connector who exchanged music and flyers via mail, and how he entered the scene through the Premonitions compilation.
This episode explores the underground cassette culture of the 1980s and 1990s, where artists used the mail system to exchange tapes and flyers globally, inspired by punk's DIY ethos.
This episode explores the 1980s-90s cassette culture where artists exchanged original music tapes through the mail system, creating a global DIY network.
Exploration of the 1980s-90s underground cassette network and its experimental music artists.