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Publication: The Depaulia, DePaul University, Chicago IL.
Go to any indie show in Chicago and you'll see them, sitting casually on the merch table next to vinyl records, CDs and band shirts. They usually cost about five dollars, significantly cheaper than CDs and vinyl, and more and more bands seem to be releasing them.
It's old news that vinyl records have been having resurgence in the last few years but it appears that the cassette tape is also having its own comeback.
Chicago indie record label Notes and Bolts has released a few of its releases on tape alongside it's vinyl 7";s. Lillerne Tapes, another indie label, has released all its music solely on cassette tapes.
Lillerne Tapes founder Gabe Holcombe originally collected and catalogued mixtapes, bootlegs, and zines in 2000. Eventually he started to release his own music as well as the music of his friends in small editions resulting in the project becoming a label in 2007.
"To me, the appeal is both economic and aesthetic," said Holbcombe. "I like how cassette tapes sound, I like how they look in their cases, and in general, I find them to be a nice object and means of musical distribution. They certainly are cheaper than records or CDs to produce, and I can release many more cassettes for my money than any other physical music format."
So far Lillerne Tapes has been successful with some of its releases selling out completely. Its most recent release Gel Set, a music project of native Chicago synth songstress Laura Callier, had a recent release party at the Empty Bottle.
Cassette tapes - like vinyl - never really left completely. They survived well into the late 90's with many independent bands...