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
Matt Harper
‘Staring into Silence’
electro pop
Vince Villafan
‘Go for a Ride’
lo-fi rock/dream pop
Benjamin Graham
‘LAST FALL’
cloud rap/alternative
Jackson Harris
‘Not Happy’
hyperpop/pop
SIDE B
Jordan Prince & MOON MATES
‘Pieces’
lo-fi rock/indie
Richie Pervert
‘Carolina’
new wave
The Florets
‘My Old Man’
indie rock
Boon
‘Somebody Else’
indietronica/cloud rap
I grew up in the time just when cassettes were waning and CDs were growing. And so mix tapes – and not mix CDs – mix tapes were an important part of the friendship and mating rituals of New York adolescents. If you were a girl and I wanted you – to show you I like you, I would make you a 90-minute cassette wherein I would show off my tastes. I would play you a musical theater song next to a hip-hop song next to an oldie next to some pop song you maybe never heard, also subliminally telling you how much I like you with all these songs.
Lin-Manuel Miranda