2018 was a landmark year for Duplication.ca. We opened a new printing plant, we introduced etching on cassettes, and released a slew of awesome products like the Maltese Cross package. In other words: work, work work. Fortunately we had a non-stop barrage of amazing music going through the production plant to keep us going! We're so thankful for these awesome cassette, CD, and lathe orders we've received through out the year. Our clients are so talented and creative that we can't help but gush about it.
So, with no further ado, here are some of our fav cassettes of 2018!
"My body is a temple but I treat it like my neighbour's house," the opening line to Worst New Music, showcases Coping Skills' talent for being clever and hitting maybe a little bit too close to home. This cassette is a self-aware product of the internet age, posturing about the necessity to posture both online and offline. Yet it doesn't fit into en vogue musical stylings-- no electronic instruments, no bare bones minimalist R&B. Simply put, not Pitchfork-approved. Thus, Worst New Music.
An album that wastes no time getting down to the future funk. Within seconds you'll understand the vibe of Undine Media. Sure, right now it's late December and we're bracing ourselves for the blistering cold winds of January, but you pop in this tape, close your eyes, you're in a red convertible driving by the beaches of Riverwave's native Paraguay. Borrowing elements from French house and vaporwave, Riverwave's lo-fi beats are buried under LFOs, muffled like a best kept secret, until the beat is too infectious that it busts out of your speaker system.
Ashly's pick (sales rep, Berlin) Lifeless Dark - "Who Will be the Victims?" (Bandcamp)
The toughest cassette of the year. You may have an idea in your head about Boston punk, but leave that Oi! mentality at the door, this cassette is T-H-R-A-S-H. Beginning with "Terminal Phase," reminds me of the opening credits of some 80s horror VHS deemed too trashy to be canon. Then, like a gunshot, you get to the good stuff. Lo-fi, greasy, HEAVY, and dangerous.
While revered by many, vaporwave is at its core a simple genre. It often consists of sampling some 80s easy listening, slowing it down to oblivion, and slapping some retro corporate pastiche on the J-card. With that being said, when this approach is done correctly and with care, the results can be phenomenal. MYSTIC QUEST (named after the Super Nintendo game) is a prime example of using 80s/90s relics and stripping it down to its core. Ghostly voices travelling through FM dials, a striking criticism of the music industry and capitalist interests. The A-side closes with a rendition of Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U," stretching it out until it resembles a church organ, soaking in irony when considering her outspoken politics and infamous Saturday Night Live appearance. Technically this cassette is a rerelease, originally appearing in 2014, but I consider it timeless.
Fae's pick (production, Montreal) Steve Hauschildt - "Dissolvi" (Bandcamp)
Hauschildt's first cassette release since the Emeralds days, if you're familiar with his brand of ambient-electronic music then you won't be disappointed. For newcomers, Steve Hauschildt uses vintage synthesizers and bouncing arpeggios to link the digital computing world to ours. His music is a map of vector lines and parameters, exposing our world as a simulacrum, with breadboards and chips underneath the earth and grass. It may sound scary, but it's actually quite soothing, especially when paired with a guest appearance by Juliana Barwick.
We can't wait to see what you all have in store for 2019! Don't forget that our boxing week sale is still going on, ending on December 31st at 11:59PM EST.
