the ramones first album demos 1975

How these recordings have come to light is miracle of the times, given that it was probably only ever on a cassette in the first place. This set of demos by The Ramones recorded in 1975 was to eventually become their first album.
As raw and lo-fi as it is those chainsaw guitars and snotty vocals are all in place some two years before their debut album is released. Some of the songs sound a bit slower or even in different keys but within those couple of years and CBGB's later they would be tighter and faster and make one of the most important albums of the the 1970's and inspire a new era in rock and roll.
Here's the track listing with the time each track begins -

1. I Don't Wanna Go Down To The Basement Demo 00:00
2. 53rd & 3rd Demo 02:27
3. I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend Demo 04:50
4. Judy Is A Punk Demo 06:39
5. Loudmouth Demo 08:20
6. Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue Demo 10:40
7. I Can't Be Demo 12:22
8. Today Your Love Tomorrow The World Demo 14:18
9. I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You Demo 16:29
10. I Don't Wanna Be Learned I Don't Wanna Be Tamed Demo 18:22
11. You Gonna Kill That Girl Demo 19:25
12. What's Your Name Demo 22:09
13. Chainsaw Demo 24:58
14. You Should Never Open That Door Demo 26:54

burger records

California's 'Burger Records' must be the ultimate one-stop in low fi productions. They've got around 200 hundred bands releasing albums and ep's on cassette tape, which they claim are high quality, and they're adding to this massive by releasing a tape a day through out January 2013. Although they do add that may be a tentative schedule... er well good luck guys.
For those not lucky enough to own a clapped out tape deck or a mangled Walkman, they also do downloads, vinyl and cd.
It's a mind bending production line of diverse bands.

Here's their sampler

And here's one of their bands on video. The strange androgynous and hypnotic over driven sounds of The Garden.

rewind tape

One of the least expected revivals over the last few years has been how some artists have been releasing their music on cassette tape once more. The most desirable seem to be ones that are duplicated in real time on Metal or Chrome although they're not compatible with the old Walkman tape player.
To quote a spokesman for the Mark Levinson brand (synonymous with high end audio performance and design).
"Audio cassette, in spite of its limitations, seems to retain more of the soul of the original recording than CD."

Now to add further disorientation to which century we're actually hearing or seeing the production of our music, Video Horror Show is a label that only releases VHS tapes featuring music which have lo-fi visual effects. Rather like watching a mangled video through the TV.
So now in a era when hi-res digital music and images are everywhere it's completely understandable the search for more tactile textures and effects to give the audio/visual work more character. Something which the old technology had in abundance but its obvious the quality of the end result has to have credibility. In other words if it's well thought out and artistically interesting then it's going to work. Some raggy sound attached to degraded visuals is not going to be any better on VHS or DVD, cassette or CD/MP3.

These guys at VHS! (Video Horror Show) do know what they're doing with the collage of images on video and how it works with the music. The track is by Psychic Teens and suitably called "Tape" with a style and vibe like early 80's Joy Division.
The whole thing is packaged in an old style VHS case and recorded onto a white VHS tape (!) and includes a download coupon as well. It is limited to 75 COPIES!! Which may well be the amount of folk who still have a video player to put the thing in. Fortunately we don't need one to see it.
Check the Video Horror Show web site out here