NEWS

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You might be wondering what the hell is happening with Cakes and Tapes. We have been away for so long, we put out our last release eight months ago and it seems like we vanished, but we didn’t. (Again, “we” could be replaced with “I”, since, you know, there’s only one person running the label for now.)

We will resume our mail order later this month and all our back orders will be dealt with until the end of April. If you’re waiting for your cassette for months you’re obviously getting a reward for being too patient with us – we probably don’t deserve it but we do appreciate it. Expect new releases on Fall ’13 – we’ll be back in September with at least one new EP and we’ll work harder than ever during the next summer so we can catch up with reality and put a shitload of stuff out in the remainder of the year like we should. Until then, wish me luck with life in general and my master’s thesis in particular.

-D

Cakes and Tapes turns 2, sets up yet another party

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Last year we had soon-to-be-released-on-C&T a Jigsaw performing in front of an almost packed auditorium at Aveiro’s finest venue, Mercado Negro. To celebrate our second anniversary, Cakes and Tapes again teams up with Mercado Negro and invites Portuguese singer-songwriter Mandrax Icon, who has released his debut album, Mary Climbed the Ladder for the Sun both on Cakes and Tapes (33 cassettes) and his own imprint Nostril Records (limited to 300 vinyl records). Listen to the album below and be there next Friday, September 14th. The concert will take place at the gorgeous Red Room (it looks like this) in Mercado Negro (Rua João Mendonça, 17 – right in front of the town’s main canal) and the entrance is FREE. And, last but not the least, there will also be a bolachas.org-infused DJ set by the trio YARR! to keep the party going until late night. I heard they’ll be spinning plenty of The Smiths tunes.

CAKES AND TAPES’ 2nd ANNIVERSARY PARTY
ASSOCIAÇÃO CULTURAL MERCADO NEGRO
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14TH 2012
SALA VERMELHA (RED ROOM), FREE ENTRANCE, 11pm

MANDRAX ICON (concert folk, blues)
YARR! (dj set indie pop/rock)

Inspired by folk/delta blues from the 20′s-30′s, Mary Climbed the Ladder for the Sun, MANDRAX ICON‘s debut album is a pocket full of fingerpicking, strong lyrics and nostalgic landscapes.

YARR! is a trio of freshwater pirates who happen to ride rapids instead of waves, in a world where rivers run from the sea up to the mountains and the calm actually comes before the storm.

We would like to thank Associação Cultural Mercado Negro and its partners, as well as bolachas.org and partypoker for making this happen. See you there. It’s free, there’s no excuse.

CTT026 & 027: Mandrax Icon and Meridians

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Again, for those who don’t get the newsletter… here are our (probably) last releases for 2012. If you want to buy both, email us at cakestapes at gmail dot come and we’ll arrange something cheaper for you. Deal?
CTT026, Mandrax Icon, Mary Climbed the Ladder for the Sun [C43, long play]

Inspired by folk/delta blues from the 20′s-30′s, Mary Climbed the Ladder for the Sun is a pocketful of fingerpicking, strong lyrics and nostalgic landscapes. Being his first album, it works as a timeline of what Mandrax Icon has been since he was just an idea six years ago. Old and new songs are logically connected into a beautiful album. But beware these songs: Mandrax Icon delivers feelings of all kind until you surrender.

Buy Vinyl (send Nostril Records an email!)
-x-
CTT027, Meridians, Meridians [C43, long play]

Meridians is Julie Napolin (Citay) and Trevor Healy (Cakes of Light). Their open-form ballads are alternately driving and hypnotic, exploring the overtones, dissonances, and consonances created by voice, electronics, and guitars. Julie currently plays solo under the Meridians moniker, performing live with tape drones and guitarists such as David First (Notekillers) and Tom Carter (Charalambides).

The unreleased tracks in the Meridians self-titled LP set were co-written and recorded in 2008-2009 by Julie and Trevor. It was recorded with Tim Green (The Fucking Champs/Nation of Ulysses) in San Francisco. There are echoes of British folk, minimalism and the more cinematic strains of krautrock as the two combine intricate electric and 12-string guitar melodies over pulsing loops of flute, violin, found objects and oscillators.

Meridians is an album that conjures a multitude of influences – post-rock, folk, a bit of krautrock and even some shoegaze – to deliver a pop object thoroughly elaborate where no sound, no melody is left to chance. - Bodyspace

CTT024 & 025: Plastic Flowers & James Apollo

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and… we’re back! Roughly one month since we’ve released Plane Ticket‘s Under the Quiet Sky we have two new releases ready for you.

First there’s an old friend visiting: Plastic Flowers has just released his follow-up to the acclaimed debut EP Meltdown. And he does it again on our C&T, this time on an extremely limited (33 copies!) pea-colored cassette edition. Check some pics and grab your tapes – or the free digital files – on our Bandcamp! Natural Conspiracy is already a best-seller among cassettes on BC and there’s just around 15 tapes left for now, you know what to do.

James Apollo has the gift of songwriting. Frequently compared to Tom Waits – at least concerning the atmosphere created on his songs – Apollo reaches for the top with his brand new EP, Little War, Little Less, which was recorded with fellow master of song Damien Jurado in an old barn on the Washington state. Limited to 100 white cassettes! Watch “Two by Two” below and more videos checking the bandcamp page.

CTT023: Plane Ticket, “Under the Quiet Sky”

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Our last April release is Plane Ticket‘s debut EP Under the Quiet Sky. Four straight-to-the-point adult-oriented indie rock songs in the vein of The National or The Twilight Sad, available for free streaming on our Bandcamp page, where you can also buy one of the 50 cassettes available, which include 2 bonus live tracks not available anywhere else. Also, head to the band’s own page to download the EP for free.