When the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack was released in 2014, it looked like a clash of media. On the inside was a CD, but the cover looked like a Walkman with a faded vintage cassette tape inside, “Awesome Mix No. 1” chicken-scratched on the label in ‘80s mixtape fashion.

For Hollywood Records, this might have been a way to appeal to audiences’ nostalgia. But the music industry is taking it a step further.

Just last week, Urban Outfitters announced its initiative to begin selling cassette tapes and cassette players for the first time, partnering with major bands like Muse, Foals, Halsey and Run the Jewels to release albums on cassette. In recent years, big-name bands like Death Cab for Cutie and Wilco have increasingly opted to publish their albums on cassette tapes, in addition to more standard formats like vinyl and CD.

While cassette tapes are selling again commercially and classics are getting gobbled up by collectors, it’s unclear whether it’s a new trend or a passing fad. Photo credit: Cole Elsasser

A small cassette tape market is starting up on a national scale, and local cassette connoisseurs are building their vintage collections. Some are skeptical about the future of the trend, but others say cassettes are the new vinyl.

Greg Sutherland, manager of Eugene’s House of Records, is one of those believers. Sutherland started working at the shop in 1986, when records and cassettes were the dominant mediums.

Sutherland cited the portability and cost of tapes as compared to other physical forms of music. Most tapes at House of Records can be purchased for $6 or less, while CDs hover around $15 and LPs go as high as $20 or more.

“The portability of cassettes is just undeniable,” said Sutherland. “And they sound better because they’re not all compressed.”

The tedious process of making the perfect mixtape was a predecessor to the modern act of creating playlists through streaming services. This, along with the involved, ceremonious process of listening to tapes, makes them a valuable format for collectors.

While cassette tapes are selling again commercially and classics are getting gobbled up by collectors, it’s unclear whether it’s a new trend or a passing fad. (Cole Elsasser/Emerald)

“Tapes are really warm,” said Hunter Moore, a music collector and former University of Oregon student, who’s been collecting tapes for most of his life. “They don’t have the clarity of a vinyl record or a CD, but they produce a really deep sound.”

The “warm” sound quality that collectors often defend is due to the difference in formatting.

“There’s no compression on cassettes or vinyl, but on CDs, in order to get it to fit into the digital numbering system, you have to compress the sound,” Sutherland said.

Cassette collectors might advocate for medium’s uncompressed analog format, but any cassette produced today is just a digital file put on a tape.

While cassette tapes are selling again commercially and classics are getting gobbled up by collectors, it’s unclear whether it’s a new trend or a passing fad. Photo credit: Cole Elsasser

“It’s very likely, given the tools that we use to record today, that the sound was already digitized to begin with,” said Chet Udell, an instructor of music technology at the UO. “So even though you’re listening to something on a cassette tape, or even an LP that’s been released recently, you’re still listening to the sound that was already digitized in a computer.”

With modern audio being mastered on a computer, the “digitization” is fully established during the recording and editing process.

“You could transfer to an analog medium but it doesn’t necessarily improve the quality of the sound,” Udell said. “It sort of just adds noise with the extra mechanics.”

As for that warm sound, Udell says a lot of the value might be psychological trickery.

“Listening to music through some kind of antiquated medium like a record player or a cassette deck does sort of provide a color and a nuance to the sound,” Udell said. “But I wouldn’t really call it higher quality. If anything, the quality is somewhat degraded having gone through this extra playback process.”

Technological specifications aside, is there really room for cassettes in a market dominated by vinyl records? For collectors, the answer is yes.

“Everybody’s kind of showered in nostalgia all the time,” Moore said. “I mean, you have the popularity of Lana del Rey and Leon Bridges and all of those artists. I think there’s room for format nostalgia as well.”

For musicians, cassette tapes are an affordable and accessible way to get their music out to the public in a cost-effective fashion with a quick turnover rate.

“The biggest perk – as far as the benefits over running a label that focuses on vinyl – is simply cost,” said Josh Finch, founder of Eugene-based label Flossless Audio.

But despite the romanticism of mixtape culture and the revival of the cassette tape format, some don’t consider tapes to have the longevity of other forms of music.

Todd Milbourn, a UO professor of business and journalism, as well as an owner of a small tape collection, is one of these critics.

“I think it might just be a sort of a flash-in-the-pan revival, because there just isn’t a big enough scale,” Milbourn said. “There just aren’t enough people doing it, so you can’t take advantage of any sort of network effects.”

Though he considers cassette tapes to be just tokens, and not living things, Milbourn holds on to tapes with sentimental value from his youth.

“I’ve got memories that are looped in there, and those are hard to let go,” said Milbourn.

Follow Shelby Chapman on Twitter @ShelbyEm15.

It’s been more than three years since Lana Del Rey first made her shaky debut on Saturday Night Live back in 2012. It’s been a rocky road for her since, but her sparkling allure and star power has shot her to the limelight in just a few years. Since then, Lana has released an EP and three full-length albums, including her latest LP Honeymoon, which dropped Sept. 18.

Honeymoon is exactly the album you expect from Del Rey. It sounds like something from the Golden Age of Hollywood – slow, bittersweet, and magnificent. Her crooning vocals drip over slow piano ballads; a sea of orchestral string music serves as the backdrop for her soaring voice. The album’s clear musical direction allows Del Rey to shine with her smoky, theatrical voice. Nowhere is she so quintessentially Lana in her image and persona, and nowhere has the term “sadcore” been used so accurately.

Those who loved her earlier hits will be pleased to know that much of the album is reminiscent of her older hip-hop style. “Freak” and “Art Deco” sound like more composed, tighter cuts from Born to Die. The underlying jazzy, ironic tones of older songs like “Gods and Monsters” or “Born to Die” that Del Rey was so well-renowned for just a few years ago are still present here. But the glimmering ballads are where Del Rey really shines. “Terrence Loves You” is simply breathtaking, with tragic, biting lyrics and a bittersweet tone. It has all the grandeur of “Young and Beautiful” with a more entranced vibe.

Yet Del Rey sounds jaded and, frankly, rather bored on Honeymoon. “High on the Beach” is a clear example of her active disinterest and dismissal of her fortune. She sounds as if she can barely muster the energy just to convey that she wants to be left alone. She’s too composed, too careful, too aware of that sad, glamorous golden-girl demeanor that she carries everywhere. Del Rey has become burdened by the carefully curated image of old Hollywood glamour that she once worked so hard to create and put forth.

The fame Del Rey once so desperately longed for on Born to Die has been achieved, and now she just wishes to fill time. She’s lost interest in her own image and presence, and it’s difficult for the listener to not do the same. And that’s the problem with Honeymoon: the messy composition and fire that defined her prior hits on Born to Die, Paradise, and Ultraviolence are absent from the album. Those flaws, though heavily criticized, are what made each album so raw and intriguing. The ambiguity, lust and hopelessness that made each previous work so listenable is now absent.

Yet Honeymoon still sounds grand, cinematic and remarkably beautiful at times. It’s the kind of album that immediately creates a dramatic atmosphere that demands attention and slows down time. And while Del Rey may not be as much of a hot mess as she was, her music is no less captivating.

Follow Shelby Chapman on Twitter @ShelbyEm15

Robert DeLong and Coleman Hell played a stellar show that allowed for stadium-rock charisma within HiFi Music Hall on a rainy Monday night on Nov. 24.

Canadian musician Coleman Hell serenades the audience with his soulful voice Photo credit: Meerah Powell

Canadian musician Coleman Hell started the night with several cuts from his self-titled EP. What can probably best be described as “folktronica”, Hell finished his set confidently, as he played his mega-alternative, folk-pop-rock hit “2 Heads.”

After his set, Hell discreetly met with fans near the merchandise table, being from a small town in Canada, he mentioned how exciting it was to see the United States to such an extensive degree.

Multi-instrumentalist DeLong plays drums during a song Photo credit: Meerah Powell

The audience, of all ages, surprisingly, was comprised of high schoolers out late on a Monday night mixed with older Baby Boomers with their elementary school aged kids in tow. College students, it seemed, were of the less-represented demographics. Despite the age range, they were united in their collective facial paint decorations that mimicked DeLong’s signature orange lightning streaks; thanks to a couple of stagehands that painted faces for free before the set.

Robert DeLong sings passionately as his own image is broadcasted behind him live Photo credit: Meerah Powell

Robert DeLong was introduced to the stage by a firestorm of disjointed graphics and ironic internet iconography that flashed across a large custom LED screen. The screen sat behind an array of various instruments, both classical and unorthodox. Everything from a couple drum kits, guitars, and keyboards; to maracas, soundboards, and even a Wii remote straight from 2009 that was wired to alter DeLong’s voice and chords. Further, to set the tone, Seal’s “Kiss from a Rose” created a strong (if not jarring) presence and blatant ambiance that was impossible to ignore.

DeLong’s stage setup consists of various synthesizers, drum machines and two drum sets Photo credit: Meerah Powell

In a sense, the set was a mix between an EDM show and a stadium rock concert. There were plenty of deep house tracks, but they were riddled with extensive drum and guitar solos. The audience was mesmerized by DeLong’s flair and multi-talent. He constantly changed the pace and tone, keeping the crowd on their toes and wanting more.

Because frankly, DeLong isn’t just a musician; he’s a performance artist. As a one-man show, he ran back and forth between drum sets and keyboards, altering his voice and the chords with frequency and use of his integral Wii remote.

Some of his stellar performances came from his better known hits, including his latest single “Don’t Wait Up” and older cuts including “Long Way Down”. Both have received heavy airplay on the local alternative radio station, and the crowd vibed strongly to the heavier alt-rock tracks.

It’s always great to see artists interact with their fans, and after the show Hell and DeLong milled around the venue to take pictures and talk to eager fans. Down-to-earth and soaking in the moment, the pair complemented each other perfectly.

Listen to Robert DeLong’s “Don’t Wait Up” below.

Follow Shelby Chapman on Twitter @ShelbyEm15