Of course, my first question was “Did they make a tape?” Most of the time it is “no” but not today, they did make a tape!
The cassette is going for $16, which is pricey, especially when the CD is $17 (and only $14 on Amazon). I am not sure what to say about that, does that mean the cassette is getting so much respect the record company feels it is nearly as valuable as a CD?
This is cool. But also, the cheaper price is a major factor in collecting tapes – I hope these prices are only a major release of a new album, prices, and not the new norm.
Of the three free preview songs on their Bandcamp, my favorite is “Night Or Day”
Heads up!: At the time of posting this, there are only seven cassettes left.
P.S. Look at what tickets are going for FOR their album-supporting tour, here.
An incredible thing is happening this month. The Cure released a new album, Songs Of A Lost World, and it topped charts of all kinds in the United States.
It’s a pretty wild things for a band of their age to be topping charts with a new album. It should happen way more but it rarely does. Good for The Cure and good for music. We all need to be paying attention more when “way past their prime” bands come out with new stuff.
Anyway, I was pleased to see that The Cure came out with cassette tapes for their, now-acclaimed, new album. You can pre-order them on their website – there is a limited amount so don’t dick around, waiting to buy them.
Growing up I would have never considered myself a Cure fan, but, not too long ago, I saw The Cure play at Shoreline Amphitheater in the South Bay and they were so good, I became a fan.
My fandom is now solidified after watching their live show for the album release:
I was wandering through all the music released today and there was ALMOST nothing in the way of cassette tapes – there was like, seriously, one. So I found a recent one to pass along. The Wiffs “Scratch ‘N’ Sniff”
Hold me to it. Hold me to making a post on every Bandcamp Friday with picks from bands or labels that have cassettes to buy. Here are some interesting ones I found this time:
I was pleasantly surprised to receive new music from People Places Records in the mail the other day. They gave me the tape of Shawn Mativelsky’s new album, Temporal Waves.
Shawn is known for playing the tabla and is at the forefront of bringing the tabla into the electronic music world. Read more about it here.
I can attest it is nice (and sometimes intense) to have on while writing and having a good beer. It’s a great addition to any ambient cassette fan’s collection.
“The album did 118,500 in pure album sales and 128,000 in total activity. That breaks down to 78,000 CDs, 18,000 vinyl LPs, 22,000 paid digital downloads, 9500 in streaming-equivalent albums, and a negligible amount of cassettes.”
A negligible amount? Ha!
The funny thing is that I am happy cassette sales got a mention. I will take a ‘negligible tape sales’ shout-out, any day.
Even the small amount of tape sales at least means there is at least a tape released. Cool (even if I don’t think I will be buying it.
Except there is not (at least one that I can find) a regular version of Rockstar on cassette tape. But there is a version.
I guess it’s sort of a version of this 4 LP Pink Rockstar on Amazon. (This is as good a time as any to give you a heads-up that I am an affiliate of Amazon)
So there is no normal cassette version of Rockstar, but there is a limited edition version floating around out there.
Where do you purchase Dolly’s “Rockstar” cassette?
You would think it would be on here website and it is nowhere to be found.
Sort of bizarre. I am tempted to ask the eBay seller where they got theirs but I am too lazy.
My working theory on this seemingly rare Dolly Parton tape, is that was sent to radio stations as a promo package of some sort, but there isn’t a regular cassette of Rockstar out there to buy.
Guess I will preview some of the music and call it a day for now as I get weirded out listening to Dolly Parton singing Purple Rain:
Okay, good looking out for some Dolly. BTW, one of Dolly’s friends (Willie Nelson) has a lot of cassettes that you might want to check out too.
