CCPS 2.0 is Live!

After a few months of hard work and sticktoitiveness, the CCPS is back and slightly improved. This old blogger-based site will be decommissioned in the coming months as content is migrated over to our fancy new website at calgarycassettes.org.

The new site is way more searchable, way more linked, and... just the beginning. We're going to be adding in new features, including our much dreamed of gig poster archive.

Huge thanks to Tom Atkinson and Aaron Booth for their help with migrating posts - we've brought over just under half of the content from this site as of this date. Phew! If you want to volunteer to help migrate content - or create new content (like adding in artist details), email us at info@calgarycassettes.org.

Gatekrashör - Revenge At Midnight (2016)

It was a bit of a surprise and a treat to snag a copy of this Gatekrashör tape at the last record collectors' show. This was produced just for 2016's Metal Fest, and since we weren't there, we didn't think we'd ever stumble across a copy. The tape gods bless'd us tho!

This tape is a treat - it's a leap forward from their first tape, and definitely hints at the stuff that Matt Ries has gone on to do with Traveler. Their original ethos of keeping it unpolished is, well, not tarnished but... shined up a bit? 

Grab the download from the Gatekrashör bandcamp.

Riot City - Live In Newcastle 04.05.23 (2023)

There's this weird thing going on with Calgary metal bands (specifically, those in the more traditional end of the metal spectrum) having their albums released on European labels. Riot City have a couple of LPs under their belts, both on Greece's No Remorse Records... but we opted for this live tape, recorded on the first night of their European tour at  Little Buildings in Newcastle, UK. It's a pretty great recording and the set is a lot of fun (including some very Canadian stage banter, eh?).

We gotta go track down Riot City's LPs... but you can get this limited edition tape from the Little Buildings bandcamp.

Telstar Drugs - Unknown Tape

This is a tape we picked up at one of the record collectors shows last year... it had been sitting on our desk waiting for more info - but we couldn't find anything, so we'll make something up (as usual). We were told this is a Telstar Drugs tape, which checks out - two of the tracks on the A side also show up on a 2014 cassette of theirs (the B side is random bits of noise that sound disturbingly like a failing cassette player), but there's no indication that this is an official release. We're also not sure if this came out before or after their move to Montreal... so we're just going to send you towards the download.

Shrinking Violet - Shrinking Violet (1998)

Thanks to John Hadley for passing us a copy of this tape from Shrinking Violet, a band he played in at one point (though not on this tape, from what we understand). We're not familiar with this band, but some helpful person has posted a bio to archive.org (of all places):

Lisa German (vox, gtr) and Brad Pharis (bs) began playing music together in high school, inspired by the sound of grunge and punk rock. They founded the original incarnation of Shrinking Violet and before long had graduated from playing high school talent shows to opening for bigger acts from the nearby city of Calgary...  Shrinking Violet captured the grand prize in the first-ever Java Sharks Independent Band Challenge, beating 26 other bands and winning among other things, a VW van, and recording time. These sessions led to the release of the "What Matters Most" EP, featuring Jared Schimnosky on guitar and Rob Shawcross on drums... the departure of Schimnosky and Shawcross led Shrinking Violet to take a bit of hiatus, but the band returned, re-vitalized with new additions John Hadley (gtr) and Chris Potter (drms). 

We're assuming this is an early tape of theirs... and we're trying not to make too much of that bitmappy cover art. 

Get it here. 

Leather Jacuzzi - Rumours 2 (2023)

While this year's Sled Island didn't bring the SIDS reunion we've been dreaming of, it did bring back Leather Jacuzzi - who had a new tape in tow. This is another spastic blast of semi-ironic garage punk, anchored by a bunch of folks who know there way around this stuff - and featuring the hi-larious lyrics and delivery of Sarah Ford.

This was a limited edition tape, but you can grab the download over on the Leather Jacuzzi bandcamp.

Silly Bike - Silly Bike (2023)

In amongst the resurgence of Calgary hardcore are a bunch of young kids - both in the pit at shows and on stage. We first saw Silly Bike at MomentsFest in Siksika last summer - they're loud and crude, and this tape kicks off with a good indication of where things are going with the track "Very Horny." It's kind of juvenile - but given their age, maybe that's okay?

We're not sure where you can get this other than one of Silly Bike's shows - maybe hit them up on Instagram?

Urethane - Urethane (2023)

There's been an amazing resurgence of hardcore bands in Calgary over the past year, a bunch of them centered around the Half Rabid label. Driven by an amazingly precise drummer and fronted by a singer who has at least a bit of Iggy Pop in him (or at least a penchant for getting accidentally bloodied at shows), Urethane rages hard. This tape is a good one. 

Get the download from the Urethane bandcamp.

Ariel Ulysses - A Song For A Rainy Day (2020)

We believe this cassette is a 2023 release of an album Ariel Ulysses put out in mid-2020, in the exciting, early days of the pandemic. We'd picked up the digital download back then, so we're pleased to have a physical copy of this quiet, introspective release which blends softly strummed guitars, electronics and field recordings. The result is somewhere between ambient and dream pop, and it's highly compelling.

Get the tape from Ariel Ulysses' bandcamp.

Cheer - Time and Space (2018)

We're late to the party with Cheer, and we're kind of sad that it took us so long to get clued in. Fronted by Rus Rendell (also of Brain Bent), Cheer mine a pretty great nugget of rock that melds equal parts psychedelia and prog that we quite like. Time and Space is a four part journey that kicks off with the anthemic Part I, heads into Jeff Buckley-ish territory for Part II, gets sludgy for Part III, and emerges with a blistering rocket for Part IV. It's a great ride throughout.

Get it via the Cheer bandcamp.