Launched just last year by a group of UK cassette label owners including Steven Rose of Sexbeat Records, Matt Flag of Suplex Cassettes, and Jen Long of Kissability, Cassette Store Day is raising its game this year, September 27, with a ton more releases and a US branch run by American cassette aficionados Burger Records.
In the run up to the big day, this Saturday, we’re asking some of our favourite Cassette Store Day artists to tell us about their favourite cassettes and explain what cassettes mean to them. First up is Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett.
Cassette Store Day Pop Quiz #1
What’s the first cassette you owned?
Ugly Kid Joe – America’s Least Wanted. Favourite tracks were Mr Record Man and Everything About You.
What was the last cassette you bought?
Bonnie Prince Billy.
What’s your favourite cassette ever?
Janet Jackson – Together Again.
What’s the best cassette artwork you’ve ever seen?
Midnight Oil – Red Sails In The Sunset.
What’s the best mix cassette you ever gave/received?
Nick Williamson made a mixtape for me and my bro. It was the only music we owned and we played it to death. It had EMF, Unbelievable. Jimi, Voodoo Child. Guns N’ Roses, November Rain. Nirvana, Lithium. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Give It Away. Spiderbait, Calypso. Killing In The Name Of…
Why are cassettes awesome?
They are the same shape as a packet of cigarettes but cheaper and better for you.
What release are you most looking forward to this store cassette day?
UV Race – Greatest Hits.
See more from our Cassette Store Day takeover.
You might like
American Football: The One With The Feelings
Many moons — The Midwest emo architects transformed a college experiment into a coming-of-age soundtrack. 25 years on, their latest iteration sees them bottle the same magic for the ups and downs of middle life.
Written by: Tracy Kawalik
London’s largest indoor skatepark to be demolished for padel courts
Better Extreme — The Barking skatepark’s fate follows that of similar indoor spaces in recent years, with operators GLL citing falling visitor numbers as the reason behind the decision.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Youthful joy & end-of-era poignancy at a London school prom
Leavers — For several years, Lewis Khan documented young people as they celebrated the last of their school days and the completion of their exams. The series is now collated in a new self-published photobook and short film.
Written by: Zoe Whitfield
A major Nan Goldin exhibition is coming to London
You Never Did Anything Wrong — Opening at the Hayward Gallery in November, the show will debut a new film from the artist and activist, alongside a slate of recent work.
Written by: Jack Dennison-Thompson
Joe James: “I will never be absent in my children’s lives because I know it doesn’t feel nice”
Hard Feelings — As the silky MC prepares to release his debut album ‘The Ends Never Ends’, he joins our column on fatherhood and masculinity to discuss leaving his childhood home at 16, the manosphere and his risk-embracing approach to life.
Written by: Robert Kazandjian
Sepia splashed memories of Britain’s ’90s squatting and free party scene
Bygones — Moving into a Hackney squat at the age of 19, Tom Hunter spent years living on London’s edges, while documenting the vibrant, creative community and culture that it enabled. Huck’s art director Sam White chats to him about the freedom that existed, the collectivism and what’s been lost over the decades since.
Written by: Samuel White