TAPE CULTURE
How to read a mixtape someone made for you
Track one was never their favorite song. How to read the running order of a mixtape someone made for you, starting with the handshake opener.
TAPE CULTURE
TAPE CULTURE
The math you did in your head before you dubbed a mixtape
You did track-time addition on the album sleeve so side one wouldn't chop your favorite song's chorus off at the ninety-minute mark.
TAPE CULTURE
The label-maker font said more than the song list did
The Brother P-Touch PT-65 turned mixtape labels into a social code, and your handwriting or your printer said which kind of effort you meant.
TAPE CULTURE
Appetite for Destruction: the cassette that changed its face
Some early Appetite for Destruction cassettes still hid the banned Robert Williams cover before Geffen swapped in the cross and skulls.
TAPE CULTURE
High-speed dubbing and the tape it wrecked in four minutes
The high speed dubbing button on your boombox saved lunch periods and wrecked cymbals. Here is why every fast copy sounded like a sock.
TAPE CULTURE
Maxell XLII vs TDK SA: what the bias switch really did
The Normal/CrO2/Metal switch nobody touched was the whole game. Here is why XLII and SA sound different and why your mixtapes got muddy.