LA/NYC based label, Dais Records, has teamed up with product-design studio, Retrospekt, for the release of a limited edition, CP-81 tape player, with its own compilation. The collection, DAIS223, includes new music from High Vis, Spice, Choir Boy, RIKI, Drew McDowall, Helm, Tor Lundvall, VR Sex, Cold Showers, ADULT., SRSQ, Body of Light, and more. Keep reading below for further information.
Stream/order DAIS223 here.
Ryan Martin (Dais Records) 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 fellow co-founder, Gibby 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.”
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.
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 DAIS223.
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.”
Dais in-house creative designer Nathaniel Young reimagined the CP-81’s standard presentation for both player and packaging. The white Dais edition of the cassette player comes packaged in a white box with black text, plus a set of white Dais headphones and the DAIS223 compilation tape. The device features all of the core cassette player functions, Play, Fast-Forward, Rewind, Record and is packaged with adjustable Dais headphones. The Dais x Retrospekt tape player is limited to 1000 units – tape is not sold separately and is in stores today, just in time for the holidays.
Features Include:
Play, fast-forward, rewind, record
Microphone jack
Headphones jack
Type-C USB power supply
Battery operable
Contents Include:
Portable cassette player
DAIS223 Cassette Tape
2x AA batteries
Dais adjustable headphones
User guide
DAIS223 tracklisting:
Side A:
High Vis – Forgot To Grow
High-Functioning Flesh – Down To Sense
Riki – SAS (For Those Who Speak And Spake)
Private World – Through The Distance
Body of Light – Out of Season (Demo Instrumental)
Helm – Evil Ceramics
Choir Boy – Happy to Be Bad With You (Demo)
Tor Lundvall – Black Fly Day
CoH – Vow a Vow
Spice – I Don’t Want To Die In NY (Remix)
Side B:
VR SEX – Runway Runaway (Demo)
Xeno & Oaklander – Hoplite (Demo)
Tempers – Camino Del Sol (Antena Cover)
Cold Showers – Sliver (Inner City Remix)
AURAGRAPH – No Control
ADULT. – Few Warnings Are Important (2003)
Drew McDowall – Animals Will Sing
SRSQ – Phantasmata
Cold Gawd – Gin (At The Mountain)
More from Dais Records:
Founded by long-time friends Gibby Miller and Ryan Martin in 2007, Dais Records has grown into a thriving, versatile institution, as innovative as it is influential. The label champions a diverse and dynamic cross-section of sounds, spanning post-punk, synth-pop, alternative rock, experimental techno, psychedelic noise, shoegaze, darkwave, ambient, industrial, and various indefinable shades between.
Now in its 16th year, Dais continues to gather momentum and widen its vision, tracing veins between young and old, past and future. Their discography reads like a highlight reel of moody modern punk, alternative, and electronic auteurs mixed with the best of the experimental legends, threading rich musical origins with contemporary, cutting-edge artists. True to its name, Dais acts as a raised platform, lifting artists of vision to a higher vantage point.
More from Retrospekt:
Retrospekt is a highly-specialized workshop and product design studio in Milwaukee, Wisconsin committed to the exploration, restoration and curation of retro technology. They started their foray into the world of retro tech by supplying Polaroid with refurbished and restored vintage instant cameras and now offer a full line of vintage camera models in addition to developing official Polaroid camera collaborations with both national and international brands, such as Mattel, Sanrio and FENDI.
Since 2008, they have pursued vintage electronics and the delight of analog technology, breathing new life into cameras, portable cassette players, classic gaming consoles and other retro tech oddities. Over the last decade, their team has saved over 300,000 devices with a comprehensive refurbishment process that faithfully restores each item to perform like it did the day it was originally manufactured.
In an increasingly fast-paced world, it can be easy for digital convenience to become digital overload. Retrospekt hopes the items they offer will provide people an opportunity to slow down, step back and enjoy a more tactile and intentional experience.
This collaboration was made possible by bighouse, a Los Angeles-based brand specializing in unique products and collaborations, experiences and partnerships.