Dais Records, the LA/NYC based label representing sonically expressive, and visually dynamic artists, is proud to announce that they have teamed up with analog innovators and product-design studio, Retrospekt. The legacy and lineage of Dais dovetails naturally with the mission statement of Retrospekt: “Reviving retro tech for a new generation.” The fruit of their first collaboration is a chic, white, rose-adorned, limited-edition release of Retrospekt’s CP-81 portable cassette player containing an exclusive 19-track compilation cassette of unreleased material from the label’s roster, titled C23.
Dais co-founders Gibby Miller and Ryan Martin both came of age in the cassette era and remain champions of “the sacred nature of the analog object.” The medium’s customizable, affordable, and portable nature empowered generations of subcultures to document and disseminate their creations. Although the compact disc dominated much of the 1990s, tapes never went away. Martin is adamant about the format’s enduring potency: “Cassettes aren’t nostalgic, they’re relevant. Making a mix tape for a friend or love interest is a talismanic offering. It’s a reaching out, a sharing of discovery.” For Miller, too, cassette culture was seismic; he continues to see singular strengths in the limitations of older technologies: “Having a device solely dedicated to music may seem unique to a person today, but there’s also a purity in it. The ritual of hitting play. Feeling the hum of the machine. Flipping at the end of the side. Tapes changed everything for me.”
Retrospekt co-founders Adam and Kori Fuerst share a similar ethos. Although they initially started the company refurbishing vintage cameras, it has since expanded into tape players, radios, headphones, typewriters, Game Boys and beyond. Their passion for physicality, aesthetics and direct connection mirrors that of Miller and Martin: “These vintage machines aren’t obsolete – they still provide pleasure and enjoyment,” says Adam. “More and more people today realize this, and they want to have an organic, intentional experience without their metadata being tracked by some corporation.”
Features Include:
Play, fast-forward, rewind, record
Microphone jack
Headphones jack
Type-C USB power supply
Battery operable
Contents Include:
Portable cassette player
C23 Cassette Tape
2x AA batteries
Dais adjustable headphones
User guide
The compilation title C23 alludes to the catalog number (DAIS223), the current year, and is a nod to the iconic UK indie tape collection C86, famously included with a 1986 issue of New Musical Express (NME). C23 includes unheard tracks from High Vis, High-Functioning Flesh, RIKI, Private World, Helm, Tor Lundvall, CoH, AURAGRAPH, ADULT., Drew McDowall, SRSQ, Cold Gawd, remixes from SPICE and Cold Showers plus demos from Body of Light, Choir Boy, VR Sex and Xeno & Oaklander. You can hear a sampler of the compilation here.
The Dais x Retrospekt tape player is limited to 1000 units – tape is not sold separately and will be in stores just in time for the holidays, December 8, 2023. You can pre-order here.
