From near-extinction to retro cool, cassettes make a comeback

It seems incredible at a time whenmost people stream musicorbuy it digitally to see the return of what many thought was a nearly-extinctway to listen to music, but an increasing number of bands in P.E.I. are releasing their demos and albumsthis way.

Award-winning Island musician Emilee Sorreysays she knew she wanted to release her latest album Thick as Thieveson cassette when she saw atape player in her friend's vintage car.

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"Cause you know those people who have those cars parked out front at your show, they'regoing to leave with a tape for sure because that's the one thing they can listen to in their car."

The first tape she ran across was bythe bandAlvvays, whose members also have Island roots. That was a couple of years agoin Toronto, but she sees tapesall the time now.

Keeping pace withCDs

Sorrey wasn't sure how her band'scassette would sell when theyreleased 150 of them a year ago, but she only has about 20 left.

Shesaid part of her decisionwas based oncost a cassette ismuch cheaper than vinyl to produce but Sorreysaidthere'sthe cool factortoo.

You can buy the cassette tape to have the decorative piece or,if you have a cassette player, listen to it.- Ryan Kirkpatrick, Back Alley Discs

"I don't even have a CD player, to be honest."

But she does have a tape player at home.

She plans to release another cassette next yearwhen she puts out another six-song LP.

Ryan Kirkpatrickat Back Alley Discs says he noticed cassettes were back when they started showing upin the P.E.I. punk scene four or five years ago.

All at once, they were available for saleatconcerts. His collection started with local bandUncle's demo releasePrimata, then a Pest Control album and Year of the Rat's Ctrl+Alt+Del all Charlottetown-based bands.

'CDs just aren't really popular'

"In the punk scene it was a way to release music'cause not everyone can afford to put outa seven-inch or 12-inch vinyl, and CDs just aren't really popular nowadays. So cassettes sort of fill that void," said Kirkpatrick.

Local band The Iron Eye are expected toreleasea cassette any day now, and the Halifax band Botflyonly releases on cassettes and vinyl,with no plans to release on CD inthe forseeablefuture, according to Kirkpatrick.

"They just started piling up. Every band would come through town with a few cassettes, and they're never super-expensive and it helps you remember who the band is," saidKirkpatrick.

He argues a$5 cassette is more affordable than a T-shirt and a great memento of the night.

"So you can buy the cassette tape to have the decorative piece or,if you have a cassette player, listen to it."

And it's an inexpensiveway to support the artist too.

"That maybe gives the band a couple of bucks to put towards gas or whateverto get to the next show," Kirkpatrick said.

But what about sound quality?

Sorrey isn't so sure the sound quality on tape isan issue.

"Nobody's brought up the quality," she said.

"I think there's something a little bit nostalgic about that kind of, you know, hum on them and that sound."

I think it's neat that it came back. But there's certain things that definitely won't, like 8-track'snot going to make a comeback.- Ryan Kirkpatrick, Back Alley Discs

Kirkpatrick said bands also uses tapes as advanced promo.

"Lot of bands use cassettes as a pre-cursor before their album comes out," he said.

"So if they're on tour and their album's not out for another couple monthsbut the album is done, they'll put it on cassette, and sell it as a special thing you can buy at their shows."

He said the Hamilton-based band TV Freaks did that a fewyears ago with their second album, and the B.C. bandAhnais currently selling a cassette as a teaser.

Not having a tape player is a problem somepeople run into, but Back Alley is collecting as many as possible to sell second-hand.

Cheaper, quicker than vinyl

Kirkpatrick says producing a tape is usually a lot quicker too. With very few vinyl pressing plants in North America, he said bands can wait six months to a year to get their recording.

"I had a friend's band that they did a seven-inch and by the time it actually came out the band had already broken up."

And the cost is higher too each record costs at least $8, versus a tape that can be made for around $2, according to Kirkpatrick.

Or even cheaper if you go the DIY route in your basement with labels and a Sharpie.That's something Sorrey's seen a lot on P.E.I.

Hercassettes costs almost as much as CDs to produce at around $3.50 each, but she went for added-value pink tapes embossed with the band name to mirror the Thick as ThievesCD design.

'A sub-culture thing'

Kirkpatrick isn't convinced the cassette's resurgenceis going to be as big as vinyl.

"I think it's just a sub-culture thing," nota super-huge comeback.

But for Sorrey, the juryis still out.

"I guess we'll wait and see 'cause I don't know if anyone predicted the vinyl comeback the way that it's happened."

A neat comeback

Major Canadian record labels and well-known bands are now releasing cassettes, includingArcade Fire, Nelly Furtado and Justin Bieber.

Andin case you think this is something onlyhappening in Canada,Eminemis about to re-release his 2000 hitalbum Marshall Mathers LP on cassette.

"I think it's neat that it came back," said Kirkpatrick.

"But there's certain things that definitely won't, like 8-track'snot going to make a comeback."

But U.S. rapper Kendrick Lamarrecently released an album on 8-track. So never say never.