Look At These Tapes is a monthly roundup of our favorites in recent cassette artwork and packaging, along with short, stream-of-thought blurbs. Whatever pops into our heads when we look at/hold them. Selections by Jesse DeRosa, Mike Haley, and Scott Scholz.
A Monument Of Me And LoFi - Pharo (HZY MLK)
Art by Etaja
The white cube hovering above a Nero Marquina square makes this cover look like some sort of futuristic app that the ultra-bourgeois use to remodel their kitchens with illegal materials while on vacation. They can flip through different themes and be like "Oh, honey. This 'Pharo' design pairs a solid deer bone backsplash with a light-absorbing material they found in space for countertops. I want it." Click.
Burning Star Core - Statue of Trust 2004-2007 (self released)
Art by C. Spencer Yeh
In old creaky apartment buildings, you can typically identify which resident is coming or going at any given time based on their distinct stair-climbing rhythms. There is inevitably one guy though, who sounds like a giant moose. You've never actually met him, so it's yet to be determined whether he might actually be a giant moose though. These are the songs of his people.
D R - Lovely Weather For Children (Warm Gospel)
Art by Trey Reis
I poured Miracle-Gro into my disk drive and now Minesweeper looks like this. Total win/win because, not only does it look 1000% cooler, I can still beat it because I am very VERY smart.
German Army - Kurgan Hearth (OTA)
Art by Julita Zoe and Tierri Pereira
Portugal's OTA really steps up the beautiful art and design for the first German Army release of 2017. 50 unique covers (all available in a .pdf download), printed on both sides of a nice sepia cardstock, all tell the story of the Indo-European Kurgan Hypothesis visually while the music works the audio angle.
Christa Lee - Welcome to the Fantasy Zone (Bedlam)
Art by DataErase
Other than The Anarchist Cookbook, The Fantasy Zone is the only website bookmarked on my 22 year old PC that still loads. Unfortunately, only the welcome page (pictured here) still works, so you can't sign the guestbook or see any of the really cool gifs it used to offer. A bummer for sure, but I could still gaze on this for days. And will.
Won James Won - Prozrachnik (Baba Vanga)
Art by ZonderZond
If Stephen King had the fashion-forward sense to dress his Langoliers as paisley-come-to-life monsters that slowly stripped away your flesh instead of manic chainsaw-toothed holes in the sky, we'd have had a very different made-for-TV movie, and I for one, would've had completely different reasons to awaken screaming from night terrors.
Vales - Tile (Phinery)
Art by b.lind
Goddamn it, Dave, this pitcher doesn't even make any sense. I mean, how are you supposed to stand it up if it's got this ceramic nipple on the bottom? It's like the exact opposite of those untippable cups for kids. Why would you even buy this at Pottery Barn? You got soda all over the carpet and now we have ants. C'mon Dave. A little forethought is all I'm asking. This is why you can't come over anymore.
Somnoroase Păsărele - TION (obs)
Art by Dr. Nicolae Minovici
obs brings the latest Somnoroase Păsărele jams to Russia, and the cassette edition of TION features a mysterious drawing rendered as the front of a sort of greeting card. But who do you send a card that's either a figure in a sort of prostrate ecstasy or a very cautious autoerotic asphyxiation? Best just keep it, and keep listening....
FIIT - Rat / Venom (Puff Boys)
Art by Zackery Lewis Worcel
I have heard tell of the existence of a shot-for-shot remake of The Shining with only rats as actors (ractors if you will) but have always been somewhat skeptical. After seeing this screenshot, I have hope that the legends are true. If you have a decent VHS rip, HMU!
DJ Voilà - Dumbledogs (Noumenal Loom)
Art by Mathieu Dionne
Board games are very hot right now, and one of the most popular is Dumbledogs. In this multi-player tabletop, players compete as various pups in a quest to see who's a good boy? Huh? Who's a good boy!? You are! You're a good boy! DJ Voilà is my fuzzy buddy of choice. She is a wizard dog with the power to make a small starburst appear inches above her paw, and always has chill weed under her wizard cap. I'm sorry, I'm so high right now and love this drawing.
A Monument Of Me And LoFi - Pharo (HZY MLK)
Art by Etaja
The white cube hovering above a Nero Marquina square makes this cover look like some sort of futuristic app that the ultra-bourgeois use to remodel their kitchens with illegal materials while on vacation. They can flip through different themes and be like "Oh, honey. This 'Pharo' design pairs a solid deer bone backsplash with a light-absorbing material they found in space for countertops. I want it." Click.
Burning Star Core - Statue of Trust 2004-2007 (self released)
Art by C. Spencer Yeh
In old creaky apartment buildings, you can typically identify which resident is coming or going at any given time based on their distinct stair-climbing rhythms. There is inevitably one guy though, who sounds like a giant moose. You've never actually met him, so it's yet to be determined whether he might actually be a giant moose though. These are the songs of his people.
D R - Lovely Weather For Children (Warm Gospel)
Art by Trey Reis
I poured Miracle-Gro into my disk drive and now Minesweeper looks like this. Total win/win because, not only does it look 1000% cooler, I can still beat it because I am very VERY smart.
German Army - Kurgan Hearth (OTA)
Art by Julita Zoe and Tierri Pereira
Portugal's OTA really steps up the beautiful art and design for the first German Army release of 2017. 50 unique covers (all available in a .pdf download), printed on both sides of a nice sepia cardstock, all tell the story of the Indo-European Kurgan Hypothesis visually while the music works the audio angle.
Christa Lee - Welcome to the Fantasy Zone (Bedlam)
Art by DataErase
Other than The Anarchist Cookbook, The Fantasy Zone is the only website bookmarked on my 22 year old PC that still loads. Unfortunately, only the welcome page (pictured here) still works, so you can't sign the guestbook or see any of the really cool gifs it used to offer. A bummer for sure, but I could still gaze on this for days. And will.
Won James Won - Prozrachnik (Baba Vanga)
Art by ZonderZond
If Stephen King had the fashion-forward sense to dress his Langoliers as paisley-come-to-life monsters that slowly stripped away your flesh instead of manic chainsaw-toothed holes in the sky, we'd have had a very different made-for-TV movie, and I for one, would've had completely different reasons to awaken screaming from night terrors.
Vales - Tile (Phinery)
Art by b.lind
Goddamn it, Dave, this pitcher doesn't even make any sense. I mean, how are you supposed to stand it up if it's got this ceramic nipple on the bottom? It's like the exact opposite of those untippable cups for kids. Why would you even buy this at Pottery Barn? You got soda all over the carpet and now we have ants. C'mon Dave. A little forethought is all I'm asking. This is why you can't come over anymore.
Somnoroase Păsărele - TION (obs)
Art by Dr. Nicolae Minovici
obs brings the latest Somnoroase Păsărele jams to Russia, and the cassette edition of TION features a mysterious drawing rendered as the front of a sort of greeting card. But who do you send a card that's either a figure in a sort of prostrate ecstasy or a very cautious autoerotic asphyxiation? Best just keep it, and keep listening....
FIIT - Rat / Venom (Puff Boys)
Art by Zackery Lewis Worcel
I have heard tell of the existence of a shot-for-shot remake of The Shining with only rats as actors (ractors if you will) but have always been somewhat skeptical. After seeing this screenshot, I have hope that the legends are true. If you have a decent VHS rip, HMU!
DJ Voilà - Dumbledogs (Noumenal Loom)
Art by Mathieu Dionne
Board games are very hot right now, and one of the most popular is Dumbledogs. In this multi-player tabletop, players compete as various pups in a quest to see who's a good boy? Huh? Who's a good boy!? You are! You're a good boy! DJ Voilà is my fuzzy buddy of choice. She is a wizard dog with the power to make a small starburst appear inches above her paw, and always has chill weed under her wizard cap. I'm sorry, I'm so high right now and love this drawing.