Unique Releases Planned for Cassette Store Day

Saturday marks the second International Cassette Store Day and both Blue Arrow Records and Music Saves will participate by breaking out some pretty neat tapes. With the high cost of releasing an album on vinyl and the declining appeal of CDs, cassettes have risen in popularity throughout the DIY music scene. 

“Cassette Store Day started in the UK because it’s so expensive to release an album on vinyl over there; everything is more expensive over there,” says Blue Arrow Records manager Brittany Hudak. “It’s really sort of mimicking Record Store Day, which we do every year; this is just recognizing the format of the cassette.”

Blue Arrow will have a wide selection of rare and unusual cassette tapes out for perusing, many of them dating back to the ’70s and ’80s. Cassettes recently released by local bands GoldMINES and Shit-Box Jimmy will also be available. Shale Satans are set to perform a couple of acoustic numbers and a DJ set at 4 p.m., with their cassette EP “Get Weird” available for purchase.

Music Saves is marking the day by releasing a cassette from four local bands: Vanity Crash, the Chromes, Golden Streets of Paradise and Frigid Touch. It will feature covers of the Velvet Underground’s “White Light White Heat,” the Jags’ “Back of My Hand” and the Doors’ “Strange Days.” The cassette is a limited edition, with only 100 available (for free) on Saturday.

“A cassette inspires a sort of nostalgia,” says Hudak. “Reminds you of your childhood, or maybe, your adulthood.”

Blue Arrow Records is located at 16001 Waterloo Road in Cleveland; Music Saves is situated just a hop and a skip down the way at 15801 Waterloo Road in Cleveland.