INFERNO Tape

[momatt]

Do not own any official BoC tapes. So I had to snag this. Thanks for the heads up.

This the only official Boards of Canada cassette tape properly released!
[not including rare Japanese promos]

Out of curiosity for anyone who already received their tape, do you know what formulation the tapes are using (Type I Ferric, Type II Chrome, etc.) ?

As far as I know, chrome tape is not manufactured any more. So all new tapes are Type I Ferric.

[burst__of__indigo]

After no tracking updates, it arrived today. Will WARP replace mine that arrived in a cracked to hell case? The cardboard case doesn't show damage but the whole thing was either beneath a lot of pinpoint weight or it was packaged cracked. I'll wait.

That sucks, the cases are definitely a bit low quality. If you really wanted to replace the case (and Warp won't) you could snag one of these - they're much better quality.

https://www.duplication.com/cb-027.html

[Altruizine]

Also a pretty big fan of the tactile experience of it. Like, I don't NEED to have any of my music on any kind of physical media at all. The main thing I like about tapes is the physical experience of them. They way they look on the shelf, their size and form factor, the way it feels to handle them/load them into a player and mash the button down, the persistent inconvenience of having to seek tracks without skipping... there's something about it that puts me in a good place emotionally. Feels real. I'm sure it's all nostalgia-related or something!

There really is something to them, although I don't really own cassettes or a player but I've started craving them. It feels like a more intimate connection with the music and a way to get away from the internet, electronic screens and such. That gives them relevance and additional value in this day and age. Plus they're more portable than any other physical media.

I guess there are now legal adults roaming about who were born with iPhones in hand so you could conduct an experiment and see how they rate the experience. See if it's all nostalgia. There you go Buzzfeed, time to find some teens and have them theatrically overreact to Walkmans and pretend to struggle inserting the tapes for clicks. I bet that video literally already exists...

[The Other]

Do not own any official BoC tapes. So I had to snag this. Thanks for the heads up.

This the only official Boards of Canada cassette tape properly released!
[not including rare Japanese promos]

Precisely. I made some bootlegs for fun back in the day. Mixes of a bunch of their tracks spanning across their catalogue. Again just for shits and giggles. So again… my first “official” tape.

[Cupz]

Not getting one because I don't have the setup, but I definitely see the appeal and bet it sounds marvelous. Something about cassette tape that makes snares sounds extra snappy.

[The Other]

Do not own any official BoC tapes. So I had to snag this. Thanks for the heads up.

This the only official Boards of Canada cassette tape properly released!
[not including rare Japanese promos]

Precisely. I made some bootlegs for fun back in the day. Mixes of a bunch of their tracks spanning across their catalogue. Again just for shits and giggles. So again… my first “official” tape.

I guess bootleg wouldn’t be the proper term to use. I never sold them. It was fun little experiment for my own enjoyment

[Mexicola]

Those that attended the Winspit events all those years ago know we used cassettes and I've been back in love with them every since. I have CDs, and vinyl too and play all three formats. Each carries it own positives and drawbacks.

[dana]

My cassette is half the volume of my other cassettes, which are from the 70s,80s - i'm not sure whats going on here.

[chromaphase]

As far as I know, chrome tape is not manufactured any more. So all new tapes are Type I Ferric.

Yeah I wonder who all still manufactures tape these days and where Warp might be getting them. Chrome tapes can sound amazing and I wouldn't put it past BOC to go with that formulation if anyone still made it. There are plenty of ferric tapes that sound excellent, however. I do remember though when Aphex Twin released the Collapse EP in 2018 they were selling a version of the album on Type II Chrome cassette.

[AuHr]

Partly novelty and nostalgia, true. Also the only format I've ever disassembled and fixed when necessary to save from the trash. Mostly, I'd say it's for the real or imaginary thicker/solid feel of the sound out of the speakers, somehow connected to pressure, friction, smoothness. Linear. I was going to say to honor analog instruments but this album isn't the analog example to bring that up. I hold onto old tapes and enjoy making tapes but it is occasional, not really a conscious hobby or preference. Been recording the cleaner Old Tunes, etc. I taped Boards and Autechre live during NTS Warp30. I might go ahead and tape my Boards collection A to Z and build a shelf with totems, bookends, etc. But they do have a finite shelf-life and decay awaiting them, I know. I like what Mike or Marcus said once about having prized unique tapes of the strangest things they could find on the airwaves and playing those back to friends.

[AuHr]

Found it text searching bocpages' continuous interview file and it was the very last hit on "cassette", Marcus in a 2018 pitchfork interview on MHTRTC: "That was the seed for the whole project. In those days, everyone used to have drawers full of unique cassettes with old snippets from radio and TV, it’s kind of a lost thing now, sadly."

[Waterbagel]

this thread prompted me to order one and a CD, just for good measure

[AuHr]

My cassette is half the volume of my other cassettes, which are from the 70s,80s - i'm not sure whats going on here.

That's too bad, I haven't got to hear mine yet. So is there any unwanted hiss or degraded sound after you adjust your volume?

[akirako]

Partly novelty and nostalgia, true. Also the only format I've ever disassembled and fixed when necessary to save from the trash. Mostly, I'd say it's for the real or imaginary thicker/solid feel of the sound out of the speakers, somehow connected to pressure, friction, smoothness. Linear. I was going to say to honor analog instruments but this album isn't the analog example to bring that up. I hold onto old tapes and enjoy making tapes but it is occasional, not really a conscious hobby or preference. Been recording the cleaner Old Tunes, etc. I taped Boards and Autechre live during NTS Warp30. I might go ahead and tape my Boards collection A to Z and build a shelf with totems, bookends, etc. But they do have a finite shelf-life and decay awaiting them, I know. I like what Mike or Marcus said once about having prized unique tapes of the strangest things they could find on the airwaves and playing those back to friends.

For me personally tape has become a thing because vinyl has got very expensive to produce in small runs, and a lot of people don't seem to think CDs are a cool artifact to own, so a lot of underground bands have turned to cassette as their only way of putting out stuff in physical.