Cassette Culture Podcast

The stories of the global underground movement that shaped experimental music and culture, told by the artists that were there…

For two decades 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.

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Snatch Tapes

Snatch Tapes & The Storm Bugs

A hard to imagine London of derelict warehouses and ruined public buildings birthed the short, intense life of Snatch Tapes, the late-70s cassette label founded by Philip Sanderson of Storm Bugs. Launched in 1979, Snatch Tapes became a focal point…

Under the Westway: 1979 Portobello Punks

Emerging from the squats, free gigs and improvised studios of late-70’s Portobello Road, F*ck Off Records operated at the volatile intersection of hippie idealism and punk DIY. Active between 1979 and 1982, the label released copied-to-order cassettes alongside a small…

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A rare artefact from the Snatch Tapes archive, Colour Buffer (tch 222) is the third release under Philip Sanderson's Ice Yacht alias, issued in a limited edition of 20 copies in 2021. Sanderson, best known as a founding member of Storm Bugs and the creator of Snatch Tapes, deploys tape delay, shortwave radio, a VCS3 emulation and a hacked Yamaha CS-15 to produce five tracks of serious-minded electronic music that defies easy categorisation. We open the package and play a short extract from the cassette, a document of one of the UK cassette underground's most enduring and inventive figures, still operating entirely on his own terms four decades on. Listen to the full Snatch Tapes & The Storm Bugs episode here: https://youtu.be/UXKkl0BjxOQ?si=I02RzBsOUdJfWtOk ==== WWW: https://www.cassetteculturepodcast.com/ APPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cassette-culture/id1780079136?mt=2&ls=1 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/0T3DlOy6YV8rhgAxQmDhjO?si=501028dceeca4b92 POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/4374tdpg SUPPORTERS Help us keep Cassette Culture alive! This podcast is enabled by generous supporters who contribute toward the costs of researching, producing and publishing each episode. You can become one of them at: https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/subscribe
Ice Yacht "Colour Buffer" Snatch Tapes, Limited Edition (2021) | Cassette Culture Podcast
The strange, uncompromising world of Alien Brains, the project led by Nigel Jacklin that helped define the outer edges of the early 1980s DIY cassette underground. Emerging from a school science lab, inspired by John Cage and nurtured by the fledgling cassette network, Alien Brains rejected conventional song structures in favour of pure spontaneity, raw improvisation and a deliberate embrace of failure as an artistic possibility. 01:26-02:11 A2 “Blatantly Nihilist” 02:12-2:42 Tapes In The Mail 02:43-3:34 Mark Automaton, Deleted Records 03:35-04:00 Alien Brains Concert In the Chemistry Lab 04:01-05:48 “Untitled" Menial Disorders 05:49-07:50 Throbbing Gristle At Oundle School 07:51-11:25 Cosey Fanni Tutti & Chris Carter 11:26-14:38 Richard Rupenus, The New Blockaders 14:38-17:41 Live At The Basement 17:42-18:08 Philip Sanderson, Storm Bugs/Snatch Tapes 18:09-19:27 “Song” Nigel Jacklin, Snatch 3, Snatch Tapes 19:28-20:45 Centro Iberico Performance 20:46-21:53 Excerpt “British Interiors”, 21:54-23:04 Hanging Out In Rough Trade 23:05-23:51 “Der Blaunk Tepes” 23:52-26:14 Bendle, The Door And The Window 26:15-26:42 “And It’s There” Verdenskang 26:43-27:53 The End Of Alien Brains 27:54-29:30 Credits The DIY cassette scene of 1979, with its “it's easy, cheap, go and do it” ethos, provided the perfect outlet for these early recordings. Mark Lancaster of The Instant Automatons and Deleted Records recalls encountering Nigel, playing an early gig with him at his school, and releasing the first Alien Brains cassette “Menial Disorders”. The story takes a notorious turn into the heart of the British public school system. As head of the Rock Society at Oundle School, Nigel invites Throbbing Gristle and Monte Cazazza to perform in the main hall, a collision of avant-garde industrial noise and traditional boarding school culture. We find a recording of Cosey Fanni Tutti sharing her memories of the shock induced by the performance - to teachers and pupils alike. For some it was an outrage; for others, a transformative experience. The concert recordings were released by Industrial Records on VHS and cassette tape. Richard Rupenus of the New Blockaders recalls finding Deleted Records via an advert in the DIY Corner column of the music paper Sounds, ordering the first Alien Brains release and eventually joining the group. He describes the strange, semi-chaotic Alien Brains performance at The Basement in Newcastle in 1982, where the band added another layer to the experience by introducing pungent smells into the venue’s heating system. Philip Sanderson of Storm Bugs and Snatch Tapes, recalls habits in the pre-internet era when people simply turned up at your house if they’d found your address on a tape insert. He remembers Nigel arriving at his place and joining in impromptu recording sessions that turned everyday spaces and objects – old school buildings, gas pipes, scraping furniture – into sound sources, a UK parallel to the kind of improvised noise later associated with acts like The New Blockaders. By the 1985, it was over. A final performance at the Architectural Association — a mess of equipment, wires and confusion for someone's degree show — Nigel takes a taxi home and that was the end of Alien Brains. Hosted by Martin Franklin.  Theme music "This Is Concrete" by The Happy Citizen. IN THIS EPISODE THANKS We have benefited from the extensive knowledge of Richard Rupenus for many elements in this episode. Including sourcing of the recording of the message left by Nigel on the Industrial Records telephone answering machine in 1980. VOICES Martin Franklin Mark Lancaster Philip Sanderson Bendle Cosey Fanni Tutti & Chris Carter, recorded at Rough Trade East in conversation with Luke Turner of The Quietus. Nigel Jacklin, read by Robert Hayes. Richard Rupenus, read by Tim Nice. MUSIC Alien Brains, "Blatantly Nihilist" (Fashionable Trousers 1980) Alien Brains "Menial Disorders" (Deleted Records 1980) "The Preparation For The Corruption Ov Oundle Public School " Nigel Jacklin answer machine message, 23 Drifts to Guestling (Iham Productions) Throbbing Gristle at Oundle School (Industrial Records, VHS) Alien Brains "Live at the Basement "(Aeon/VLZ Productions) "Song" Nigel Jacklin, Snatch 3 (Snatch Tapes) Alien Brains "British Interiors" (self-released) Alien Brains "Der Blaunk Tepes" (self-released)  Verdansgang "And It's There"  (ADN Tapes) ==== WWW: https://www.cassetteculturepodcast.com/ APPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cassette-culture/id1780079136?mt=2&ls=1 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/0T3DlOy6YV8rhgAxQmDhjO?si=501028dceeca4b92 POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/4374tdpg SUPPORTERS Help us keep Cassette Culture alive! This podcast is enabled by generous supporters who contribute toward the costs of researching, producing and publishing each episode. You can become one of them at: https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/subscribe
No Words, No Titles, No Meaning - The World Of Alien Brains
It's a happy day in the Cassette Culture studio when we get a new envelope from the USA, bringing a new issue of the CopyThis zine! This video features an unboxing asmr experience as we open the package and explore the latest in self publishing from Blake Wertz. We examine the new zines, comparing them to previous issues and appreciating the diy spirit of these cool mags. ==== WWW: https://www.cassetteculturepodcast.com/ APPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cassette-culture/id1780079136?mt=2&ls=1 POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/4374tdpg
Independent Zines: New Artists From The Underground #zines #cassette #indie
It's a happy day in the Cassette Culture studio when we get a new envelope from the USA, bringing a new issue of the CopyThis zine! This video features an unboxing asmr experience as we open the package and explore the latest in self publishing from Blake Wertz. We examine the new zines, comparing them to previous issues and appreciating the diy spirit of these cool mags. ==== WWW: https://www.cassetteculturepodcast.com/ APPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cassette-culture/id1780079136?mt=2&ls=1 POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/4374tdpg
Copy This Cassette New Issue #cassette #musicreview #zine
It's a happy day in the Cassette Culture studio when we get a new envelope from the USA, bringing a new issue of the CopyThis zine! This video features an unboxing asmr experience as we open the package and explore the latest in self publishing from Blake Wertz. We examine the new zines, comparing them to previous issues and appreciating the diy spirit of these cool mags. Listen to our podcast conversation with "Copy This" editor, Blake Werts: https://youtu.be/OoS1LRr9gfY?si=Jr6u_VTqn2rxPTli ==== WWW: https://www.cassetteculturepodcast.com/ APPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cassette-culture/id1780079136?mt=2&ls=1 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/0T3DlOy6YV8rhgAxQmDhjO?si=501028dceeca4b92 POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/4374tdpg SUPPORTERS Help us keep Cassette Culture alive! This podcast is enabled by generous supporters who contribute toward the costs of researching, producing and publishing each episode. You can become one of them at: https://cassetteculturepodcast.bandcamp.com/subscribe
Copy This Cassette #5 Out Now | Cassette Culture Podcast
We dive into a collection of original publicity material and a rare booklet for the Stormbug's Electronics EP in this episode. You'll see close-up views of the printed pages, offering a glimpse into the promotional content from back in the day. This video also includes graphics for "Cassette Culture" and links to find us online. ==== WWW: https://www.cassetteculturepodcast.com/ APPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cassette-culture/id1780079136?mt=2&ls=1 POCKET CASTS: https://pca.st/4374tdpg
Old School Print Distro - Snatch Tapes #cassette #1980s #cassetteculture