Which 8 current gems will make it on this Hip Cassette round-up? Plug that rusty tape player in, press play and make sure you keep notes…

by Christos Doukakis

SIDE A

Emmrose

‘Waitlisted’

electro pop

The New Division

‘Stateside’

synth-pop/’wave’

Edwin Rosen

‘Verschwende deine Zeit’

new wave/’wave’

Great Barrier

‘EPHEMERA’

indietronica/bedroom pop

SIDE B

Juhan Ongbrian

‘Home Home Home’

instrumental hip-hop/vaporwave

Ryan Montbleau

‘Off to the Races’

alt-americana

The City

‘I’m Too Kind’

alternative rock

The Zolas

‘Yung Dicaprio’

indie rock/alternative

I got a new 4-track cassette recorder a year or so after high school. For a while I would just stare at it thinking, how am I going to do this if I don’t play guitar or keyboards? How am I going to write and record a song if I don’t know how to play any instruments? I mean, I played the violin, but I didn’t know anything about how to work a 4-track.

Petra Haden