Unspooled How the cassette made music shareable

Drew (communication, Saginaw Valley State Univ.) elevates the cassette from a hissy substandard audio format to a principle medium of underground communication in the age of digital interaction. In the introduction, aptly titled "Love, Theft, and Audiotape," the author explains how he came to the cassette via a "study of college students' rituals of compiling and gifting recorded music" (p. 4). Drew interrogates the cassette's sociological relevance as a controversial medium for taping that raised the ire of the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), which branded the cassette as a format for piracy. This persecution prompted the cassette as a clandestine medium for free expression, home recording, and independence from commercialism and corporate ownership. A CD was a product, but a cassette functioned as an object d'art. Drew's evidence valorizes the mixtape as a system expressing love, presaging messy low-fi formats as warm, crafted, personal artifacts. He refers to it as "a storied symbol of loving communion through shared recordings" (p. 151). The author tackles critics who perceive the cassette revival as a pointless resurrection of a dated technology, arguing adroitly that the cassette's own idiosyncratic identity makes it a unique, irreplaceable medium. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. --Stuart Lenig, Columbia State Community College

Drew (communication, Saginaw Valley State Univ.; Karaoke Nights: An Ethnographic Rhapsody) explores the creation, use, and pop-culture context of the cassette tape, beginning with its use as a medium for recording music in the indie rock scene. Do-it-yourself recording on cassettes allowed for a small batch release of songs, useful for debut artists who lacked the capital to produce a full vinyl album; some artists created a limited-edition cassette first, followed by a vinyl release later, if their songs proved popular. Drew traces the power of the mixtape through grunge, the indie scene, Calvin Johnson's creation of K Records, and hip-hop, where it served as a major tool for the discovery of new artists. As cassettes transformed home audio recordings, the record industry attempted to pass legislation that would prevent piracy, Drew writes, with parallels to today's conversations about streaming and royalties. Drew acknowledges that the cassette's history is predominately filled with white men, but any readers who has ever received or created a mixtape will appreciate this narrative. VERDICT A solid blend of history and nostalgia about cassette tapes that's perfect for Gen Xers and older readers.--Tina Panik