By Karl Hahn

Originating in the 1970s, ambient music has a massive and diverse catalog.  There are plenty of subgenres and types, but one that stands out to me in particular is “cassette ambient.”

So, what is it?  Although not a widely recognized music genre, the term refers to ambient music that is mainly released on cassette.  Albums generally date from the 1980s to present.

But why cassettes?  What does the audio medium have to do with the sound?  There are a couple of reasons why a category of music can be built on such a thing.  In this case, cassette tapes can add “hiss” (generally unwanted static noise) to a recording, and they usually degrade over time, creating a usually undesirable listening experience.  There are entire industries designed to combat this very thing; Dolby noise reduction, for example.  But, in the case of ambient music, sometimes this “bad” sounding production can add to the atmosphere, create a certain mood or even induce nostalgia.  Low-fidelity production is often a staple of cassette ambient.  It adds a specific kind of warmth to recordings.

Another defining feature of this type of music is that it is meant to be listened to on the actual tape; you sometimes cannot stream it on the internet, or if you can, it is usually not official.  This music is not meant for mass appeal.  Much of it is extremely rare or barely documented on the internet, sometimes with knowledge of releases being limited to a single webpage with no audio to be heard.  There are tapes where you could count on your hands and toes the number of people who have heard them.  To me, this is something really magical.

Now, about the music itself.  Almost everything is either drone or noise, sometimes bordering on non-music or tinged with new age or tribal ambient.  Field recordings are also sometimes integrated in.  Rhythm is often neglected, low fidelity is preferred and structure is usually nonexistent.  It's all about the textures and the mood.  Sometimes it is dizzying, obnoxious and overwhelming and other times calm, sleep inducing, repetitive and euphoric.  There are usually not any instruments outside of glassy or harsh synthesizers, unidentifiable noises and odd production (yes, I feel that production can be an “instrument” sometimes), or lack thereof.  There also seems to be underlying themes of outer space and sci-fi.

This is a very loose music category, of course.  Lots of releases break some of these trends, and many albums that wouldn't necessarily fit in the genre check all the boxes (a lo-fi ambient album released only on CD or streaming, for example).  Hence why it's not well defined and not a generally accepted term, and why it's not technically a genre.  However, I do think there is a kind of feeling with music in this category that is not quite described by any other genre.  It's not exactly lo-fi ambient, and it's a little more than just noise or drone.

Let's take a look at a few examples.  Young Tapes, a New York based label run by Peter Friel, is a perfect example of what I've described so far.  Some of the music is just Friel under different aliases, one being Brett Favre, which the album The Underlying Focus Upon Single Negative Entities In Life Is Testament To The Positivity Of Life, Liberty, And The Pursuit Of Happiness (2008) was released under.  The tape is a beautiful simplistic synthscape, repeating a single dreamy melody.  And I absolutely recommend checking out the rest of the catalog.  A lot of it is nowhere to be found on the internet, unfortunately, so a bit of researching and digging may be necessary.

Another amazing release is Thunderous Slit-Gongs on Islands of Cloud (2009) by the U.K. artist Tuluum Shimmering.  The title pretty much says it all: twinkly chimes, washed out choirs and barely audible hand drums, among other unidentifiable sounds.  On top of that, everything sounds purposely badly equalized and raw.  It has clear influences of tribal ambient.

Minoy, an artist from Tennessee, released In Search of Tarkovsky in 1986.  This tape is creepy, spacey, confusing and all around unsettling.  It sounds like a full on classic alien invasion, complete with UFOs and lasers.  Definitely a bit cheesy, but, hey, it's a fun listen. Unfortunately, it seems like there's only a digital version online, so if you want the full analog tape experience, hiss and all, you gotta find a physical copy yourself.

And of course, cassette ambient simply cannot be discussed without mention of Daniel Lopatin and James Ferraro, both pioneers of vaporwave and progressive electronic.  Much of Lopatin's early work can be classified under cassette ambient, and his 2008 album Ruined Lives is a great example of this.

And Ferraro has an entire label dedicated to his older solo works, many of which also fit into cassette ambient.  Picking a favorite from those is, for me, impossible, so I'll just provide a link to a list of releases, which you may explore on your own if you wish: https://www.discogs.com/label/117246-New-Age-Tapes

(Extra thanks to this Rate Your Music list, which contains a whole bunch of albums that I could get lost in for hours: https://rateyourmusic.com/list/schtraw/cassette-ambient/1/)