 I visited this coffee shop a few days ago. Located near the UGM area with eye-catching architecture, this coffee shop manages to pull dozens of customers. From a casual coffee-shop flea to a group of highly ambitious college students who spend hours and hours at the same spot trying to finish their assignments. Different corners filled with different kinds of people with different selections of beverages. A common view you'll encounter in the midst of Jogja's coffee shop fever.Â
This time, I found it hard to put away my eyes from this bunch of "vintage styled" folks. They all wear various retro styled outfits like vintage coach jackets, vintage leather boots, retro basketball caps, worn-looked leather accessories, etc. But I noticed this one thing they all had in common. A cassette tape player aka."Walkman" with tangling cable and big sized headphones with stacks of old cassettes.
Seriously? What decade is this? The 90s? 80s? What's wrong with these folks? They all have smartphones and internet access. There's a big chance that they own some music streaming apps or any other kind of digital platform music player. Those digital platforms definitely have a way much better audio quality, lightweight, unlimited libraries of songs, and even lyrics to every song they play. Why do they choose an outdated yet complicated device only to play some album you can download online? Is it the vintage vibe? Are you guys trying to bring back your parent's glory days of youth? Or is there something I've missed about current music trends? I'm getting curious and intrigued even more after I witness this re-emergence of 80s to early 00s music on current pop music charts. There's even thousands of old music dedicated playlists in one platform alone.
The Tape's Vintage Vibe
Driven by my curiosity and amazements, I went back home and immediately browse through my dad's storage of his old stuff. Just like what I remembered, his old Panasonic Mini Tape Player-Recorder is still there. Looking back at me from the bottom of the drawer, begging for salvation. I plug in some double A batteries and "voila!". The motors are running, indicator lights are on, but sadly I didn't own any proper cassette tape to test
I decided to buy 2 first issued record tapes from a flea market priced at 10.000 rupiah each. A classic and legendary album from Chrisye's semi-disco era titled "Sendiri" and Dewa 19's fourth album "Pandawa Lima" that reached the highest record selling during Ari Lasso's era (yes i'm a big fan of Dewa).
Anyways, I sat in my favorite corner and started to play the "Sendiri" album. The record played normally with few acceptable flaws like muffled sound in some parts and static noise. Not so high-fidelity audio and that's what I expect from a 30 years old flea market second hand cassette tape. After a couple minutes, I started to get used to this audio quality and started to sing along. I open the cassette case and take the insert paper. As I enjoyed the tape and read the lyrics and the credits, I started to feel this nostalgic-ish moment. I imagine myself as a teenager in the 80s coming out from a record store, just strolling around the city listening to my new cassette through my car audio. Drowned in this addictive nostalgia moments, I eventually realized that I've sat for hours listening to the same "Sendiri'' cassette tape and probably already flipped the tape over and over again.
I'm impressed by this old technology. I could really portray what it feels like to be a teenager during those times. At least from what they listened to and how it feels. But is this what people are actually looking for? Pointless nostalgia from memories that they don't even experience?
Retro This Retro That
Reminiscing old music's history by listening and enjoying cassette tapes like how they used to be could be a very interesting thing to do. Especially if you got someone old enough to portray you a glimpse of what it feels like to be at those times. But more than just some seasoned nostalgic movements or so, this old-school music trend already started to bloom among the youth somewhere in 2010 throughout Japan. There were some notable retro-culture movements in Japan. Youths are slowly toning down their pace and looked back at what they've missed through time. Amplified by the growing technology in terms of music, 70s-80s Urban City Pop genre starts to bloom again. A gate for youths to explore some of the high end music from the past. This emergence of digital music streaming platforms amplifies this comeback and soon-to-be a global fenomena not only in Japan. Digital platforms like Spotify, Soundcloud, Apple Music etc. allows people to access larger and larger music options globally. This triggers a wider aspect of retro culture.
This comeback of old-school music influenced the shiftings in current popular culture. Suddenly everyone's crazy for vintage stuff. The 30 years old fashion trend is a thing now. Thrift stores pops out everywhere, and the social media provides new business opportunities.
Following this old-school trend, people demands a deeper and dedicated sensation. This is where the cassette tape fenomena kicks in. The flawless modern audio quality from digital devices didn't fulfill people's demand for true retro styled sensation. Imperfections like noises, muffled sound, risky maintenance, and the tape flipping requirements, brings an identic feels. It feels like you've traveled back in time.
Even the current modern music industry tries to bring back this old method. Latest releases from newborn artists are starting to be produced in physical forms like cassette tape and vinyl records. Not just the recordings, but the music itself also imitates the 70s-80s popular genre like soft rock, disco, funk, doo-woop, gospel, and psychedelic rock. We can see examples from the Indonesian music scene like Diskoria, Leilamanino, Goodnight Electric to name a few. Even the legendary Fariz Rm, a star from the 80s-90s era, gains back his fame because of the demands of this current retro-culture.
The Legacy and Unifications
Who'd expect this complicated technology could be brought back to live? Or maybe they were never dead entirely? Lou Ottens, the inventor of this technology passed away recently. He left us a wonderful invention. Allows access for anyone to enjoy the art of capturing and replaying memories in the form of sounds. This 50+- years old technology had its ups and downs. But I'm sure that a legacy will always find their way to be remembered. Just like this reappearance of cassette tape culture.
Music didn't just capture the music itself. Music is a cultural manifestation that never fails to capture moments. It's a mesmerizing opportunity to witness people start to listen to music older than them. From this new trend, you can see a rare view where 3 generations could actually sing along to the same song. It unites music taste, fashion, even language stylistics from different generations. Old stories always found their way to be unlocked through mutual interest amongst generations. Those stories could be inherited and forever live on. At least the story of a cassette tape.
