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