
Thee Oh Sees’ year-long effort to put their albums on 8-track box sets - benbreen
https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/7/21110785/5seven-8-track-tapes-thee-oh-sees-music
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Yhippa
> For buyers, these releases may be more of a way to show that they love the
> band than something they actually want to listen to. A study in 2016 found
> that about half of the people who buy vinyl records don’t even listen to
> them. With streaming and downloads being the way that most people consume
> music now, a tangible album you can hold in your hand is more of an avatar
> or trophy for being a fan of an artist. In this case, knowing each tape was
> handmade, cut, and dubbed to fit the album length brings back the not-so-
> long-forgotten art of physical media and the work the went into it.

I regret buying a bunch of vinyl over the past few years. I tried because I
really like the collectible aspect of it but the space and weight adds up fast
and it's nowhere near as convenient as digital. I found I'd just stream over
Bluetooth to the same receiver I hooked the record player to because I got
lazy.

I might have considered getting something like this for a band I really liked
but I know it would end up piling up.

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liquidify
8 track was a terrible format. Why would anyone spend any effort at all
creating anything for them.

~~~
tnolet
Coolness factor, marketing, standing-out, creative itch, nostalgia, retro
vibe.

All the regular reasons creative people create things.

~~~
allovernow
And total lack of technical understanding.

This is just shallow appropriation of nerd culture. The same nerd culture that
still faces ridicule like it has for decades.

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madengr
The multi tracks were great for certain applications. I had a 2-XL as a kid,
and it worked great for that.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2-XL](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2-XL)

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notananthem
Welfare Records in Boston has been releasing (new recorded) 8 tracks for bands
for ages, since the 90's I think. I had a few of their releases to play on a
garage sale 8 track deck.

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klez
Nice video about the format

[https://youtube.com/watch?v=XLZS0Sj9-1U](https://youtube.com/watch?v=XLZS0Sj9-1U)

Actually I would suggest the channel to anyone interested in old, obsolete and
just plain odd media formats.

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jakedata
Makes me a bit nostalgic but I don't miss the CLACK! in the middle of a song
as the head repositions to the next set of tracks. I still have a crate of
tapes somewhere up in the garage.

~~~
chiph
I still listen for the clunk in the middle of Rush's _YYZ_.

Polygram apparently just shoveled it onto the tape, as Discogs lists _The
Camera Eye_ as also spanning tracks.

[https://www.discogs.com/Rush-Moving-
Pictures/release/4304213](https://www.discogs.com/Rush-Moving-
Pictures/release/4304213)

