Lerosa – Dual Nature: Cassette Album on Further Records

Generally, we don’t devote entire posts to single releases here at ISM, but I think this one is exceptional and deserves mention all by itself (even with the crazy backlog of records I need to get to!).

As you most likely know, we have been big supporters of Lerosa since the beginning of this blog. As this is his debut album, it would be a big deal no matter what. But what makes this really interesting is that it was released on a label, Further Records, that prior to this release was digital only, and that this release exists solely on limited edition hand-dubbed cassette tape.

I feel like I’m one of the few people in dance music who still regularly uses cassettes. It was the primary way for me to listen to music in my car up until 2005, when I finally purchased a car with a CD player and no cassette. Not coincidentally, that is when you start seeing mixes of mine appearing online, as they were no longer appearing on cassettes for me to listen to in the ride. I continued to use cassettes to record my interviews, and to do mixdowns to when working on tracks. The record I released by Disco Nihilist was multitracked on a 4-track cassette deck. I know that cassettes have been cool in the indie rock realm for a hot minute, but it’s awesome to see the lo-fi electronic dance music lovers grabbing hold of the format as well. Not that sound quality is an issue here, Further uses vintage Nakamichi tape decks to dub off copies!

I’ve always been a fan of the way cassettes almost force you to listen through entire albums, unlike vinyl and CD where skipping tracks you don’t immediately “get” is very simple. For this reason alone, making a cassette album in 2010 is interesting. Most importantly though, it takes the idea of a performance using the tracks off the table in almost all cases. I’m sure there’s a deejay booth somewhere with a tapedeck in it, but it is certainly very very uncommon. The ability to stretch out and do some things that would not be viable in a commercial product aimed at deejays is something that Leo took great advantage of here.

If you like deep electronic music, Dual Nature is a great album. In fact, the choice of tracks reminds me of what might have passed for a techno artist’s album in the 90s. From electro, through house and techno, and into downtempo and ambient, this album features beautiful, deep, and abstract tunes that all have the perfect character for the slightly hissy format on which it is recorded. At times it sounds almost like a long lost Carl Craig album! Personal favorites include the funky “Dixon Jar”, the slightly discordant “Common Theif”, and the misty “Paved”, but what makes this album great is that all the tracks are good, and they flow together flawlessly. After Juju & Jordash delivered with their album, I guess it should be no surprise that Leo comes correct with a future classic as well.

It seems as though Further Records has another cool project about to drop on cassette, Aybee’s “Ancient Tones”! This is certainly a great start to a cool project, and I must say that I enjoy listening to cassettes almost as much as records. Convenience be damned! When the quality is this high, it doesn’t matter what I have to do to listen to it.