Thursday October 26 * 7pm * RSVP
Join us for a conversation between Marc Masters and Jeff Krulik about Marc's new book High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape. Followed by Q&A and performances by Canandaigua and Nice Breeze. Books will be available at a discount ($15, vs $20 cover price). Ticket proceeds will benefit Rhizome / no donation required to RSVP.
The cassette tape was a revolution. Cheap, portable, and reusable, this small plastic rectangle changed music history. Make your own tapes! Trade them with friends! Tape over the ones you don't like! The cassette tape upended pop culture, creating movements and uniting communities. In "High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape" (UNC Press, Oct 3, 2023), Marc Masters charts the journey from the invention of the cassette in the early 1960s to its Walkman-led domination in the 1980s, from decline at the hands of compact discs to resurgence among independent music-makers. And he reveals how for so many, tapes meant freedom–to create, to invent, to connect.
In "High Bias," we meet tape artists who thrive underground; concert tapers who trade bootlegs; mixtape makers who send messages with cassettes; tape hunters who rescue forgotten sounds; and today's labels who reject streaming and sell music on cassette. Throughout, "High Bias" celebrates the cassette tape as dangerous, vital, and revolutionary.
Marc Masters is a music journalist whose work has appeared in the Washington Post, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, The Wire, and Bandcamp Daily. He is author of No Wave.
"An affectionate ode . . . Masters constructs a lively and detailed case for the cassette as a vital driver of cultural creation. This charming history is sure to please anyone nostalgic for the mixtapes of yesteryear."—Publishers Weekly
"A thoroughly enjoyable romp . . . With energy, insight, and wit, Masters provides a welcome examination of an often overlooked cultural turning point."—Kirkus Reviews (STARRED review)
"Tapeheads rejoice! Marc Masters has crafted a joyous but detailed history of the cassette, as quirky and personal as the mixtapes you used to make!"—Patton Oswalt, comedian and actor
"In this deliciously deep dive that spans from the birth of hip-hop to Deadhead show tapers to the Japanese underground, Masters reveals why cassettes continues to endure, deftly illuminating earlier analog eras and the very digital now."—Jessica Hopper, author of The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic and Night Moves
"Who knew that the oft-disparaged cassette was responsible for literally bringing the world together? Marc Masters knew, and he does an astounding job tying endless threads into a story that is entertaining, surprising, and ultimately inspiring, showing us all how the cassette tape changed the culture time and time again."—Tom Scharpling, author and host of The Best Show with Tom Scharpling
Nice Breeze - Yanked from the gnarled drool of the Fall and Swell Maps, the uncooked candor of Half Japanese and Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments, the sandpapered fragmentations of early Pavement and Silver Jews, and the ghosts of many heroic basement bands still haunting the magnets of discarded four-track recorders. The result is an ever-changing, beautifully-deteriorating sound capable of primitive slobber, muscle-moving fire, and profound Ashbery-worthy poetics, often all within the span of one chopped verse. Let’s call it Nice Breeze.
Canandaigua - weirdo folk tunes handmade in Washington, DC. Helmed by Raul Zahir De Leon, Formerly of Stamen & Pistils, Radel Esca, and Dead Artists.