Good day, listeners… or should I say, travellers of the tape. Trevor here. You’ve pressed play on another Virtual Cassette Library. Twelve-track virtual cassettes that flips themselves at the halfway mark.
If you make music, or run a label, and fancy a place in the library, send your links or Bandcamp codes to trevlad@gmail.com. I read every one. Promise.
The shows remain free for the first week, then slip quietly into the hands of my Mixcloud subscribers, who currently have over eleven hundred other episodes waiting for them whenever the mood strikes. Subscribers also receive the expanding series of 3-hour adventures titled Veil Frequencies.
Now imagine each episode as a colossal rotating stage — a great mechanical blooming lotus. You, the audience only ever glimpse a sliver of it at a time. Every artist is allotted the exact time it takes them to perform their piece. Then they rotate out of view, and the next act glides in. The stage spins at whatever speed the track demands. The names of the artists and labels I’ll mention before each set — or “side,” as the cassette alchemists call them. Six little incantations per set, plus a general mist of what mood to expect. Now the stage begins to turn.
Moss collecting light before the record exists, then tour days that travel only as far as their own shadow. Side A gathers moss on a lotus that has not officially opened, parks Sol in the cat’s window, breaks Kerala dawn against industrial dusk, coils organisms above the weather, circumnavigates on a borrowed lighthouse, and smears 1982 until the hair still looks like a forecast. Side B lives in the umbra that remembers what cast it, opens water with no coastline drawn on it, retires speech for the evening, keeps a 2012 hold tone wearing pearls, jams Golden Acres until the punchline clocks out, and packs IDM for a journey only a shadow completes. Overall mood: Contemplative, prismatic, and quietly migratory — full of exclusive October light, borrowed signals, and harbour lamps left on anyway. Perfect for dusk listening, hold music that never connects, or sitting still while the next spool still waits.
Shout out to my new subscriber Vivid Stars Forgotten. One more subscriber and we hit the Mixcloud minimum for a payout — the kind that keeps the channel’s lights on after dark. If you’ve been hovering at the door, this is the hour to step in.
Good day, listeners… or should I say, travellers of the tape. Trevor here. You’ve pressed play on another fragile spool of the Virtual Cassette Library. Episode 286. Twelve-track virtual cassettes that flips themselves at the halfway mark.
If you make music, or run a label, and fancy a place in the library, send your links or Bandcamp codes to trevlad@gmail.com. I read every one. Promise. Tips and subscriptions keep the reels turning. Every little helps the library stay open after dark. A tender, slightly wondrous ambient journey through closed-eye geometries, night markets, living systems, and working-class fanfares. Side A rearranges itself behind the eyelids, then drifts through Toronto lanterns, cello architecture, space-IDM bloom, pre-language fingertips, and a well of the world. Side B opens with Ramsgate vocal collage and gentle signs, holds the line, raises a fanfare for the working man, conjures pagan stones among the Weaver Hills, and ends with a star-song demo from the cliff top. Overall mood: Warm, curious, and quietly celebratory — mixing intimate care, city-night haze, and nostalgic industrial glow. Perfect for late evenings, headphones, or sitting still while things change behind closed eyes.
The shows remain free for the first week, then slip quietly into the hands of my Mixcloud subscribers, who currently have 1,117 other episodes waiting for them whenever the mood strikes. Subscribers receive the expanding series of 3-hour adventures titled Veil Frequencies. They also get the ever-growing advance version of the forthcoming compilation Quiet Figures.
The tape unspools its visions.
00:03:39 Soundshift – When I Close My Eyes Things Change Eyelids close and the air rearranges itself. Soundshift – When I Close My Eyes Things Change. Colours fold inward, surfaces soften, and new geometries rise in the dark behind the lids. 00:07:48 Drones Over Dufferin – Night Market Night market stalls glow under Toronto streetlamps. Drones Over Dufferin – Night Market. Ambient currents drift between lanterns and late-hour voices, each tone shaped by the city’s quiet corners. 00:10:41 arc rae – I See You Cello and voice fragments reassemble into living architecture. arc rae – I See You. Improvised performances become collaged motifs, generative textures and tactile beats discovering their own shape in real time. 00:12:47 Andy Wiseman – Thrust Thrust carries seventeen space-IDM voices into one amorphous bloom of earcandy. Andy Wiseman – Thrust. Composition after composition opens in phantasmic sequence, each reason to listen arriving already luminous. 00:19:45 Guest Bartender Deborah Toyota – Fingertips Fingertips brush the first possible encounter with sound. Guest Bartender Deborah Toyota – Fingertips. Tenderness and experiment meet as lullaby, ambient composition and care, music made to accompany a listener before language. 00:22:50 Green-House – Well of the World A well of the world opens in joyous layered synthesis. Green-House – Well of the World. Melody and harmonics helix together. Kaleidoscopic guitar, bubbling synths and orchestral radiance mimic larger living systems, droplets magnifying Yosemite and Inyo into auditory microcosms of wonder.
The cassette reaches its midpoint and turns.
00:29:59 Lone Bison – Vocal Collage Voices sampled and sung form a collage beside the Ramsgate sea. Lone Bison – Vocal Collage. Hydrasynth textures pack into concise songs, wonky piano loops and groove-based jams rising from park recordings and garage-rock guitar. 00:33:53 Mea Poulpa – Signs Gentle rhythms and textured samples settle into signs. Mea Poulpa – Signs. Slow tempos, subtle electronics and acoustic guitar create relaxing soundscapes for concentration and meditation. 00:36:02 luxury elite – thank you for holding Hold music stretches into open waiting space. luxury elite – thank you for holding. Soft tones remain on the line, glowing in patient presence. 00:37:16 Warrington Runcorn New Town Development Plan – Fanfare for the Working Man A fanfare rises for the working man among late-seventies chimneys. Warrington Runcorn New Town Development Plan – Fanfare for the Working Man. Prophet synths and reverb celebrate coal, chemicals and cars. Industry glows in nostalgic electronica looking forty years forward. 00:38:05 Geology Disco – Distant Point Distant points appear among Weaver Hills and dark woods. Geology Disco – Distant Point. Harmonium, accordion, woodwinds, guitar and percussion mix with electronics and field recordings. Monolithic stones and ancient caves conjure pagan memory in Wootton under Wever. 00:45:12 Mike Dickinson – Bonus Track – Song of The Stars (Demo) The Iron Man reaches the cliff top while stars begin their song. Mike Dickinson – Bonus Track – Song of The Stars (Demo). Microkorg, Maschine, Odyssey and Minilogue voices soundtrack the outsider who saves the world, Mrs Moore’s desk-climbing dragon still vivid in the telling.
The visions complete their circle. The oxide continues its quiet journey until the end of the spool.
Also in the works: the next compilation, Quiet Figures, release date 26 September. Uncover the narratives whispered by the silent, ever-present figures that shadow us, through compositions that unravel their hidden mysteries. Does that stir anything? Send entries to trevlad@gmail.com Include artist name, track name, and a link to other work. Deadline: 24 September.
This has been The Virtual Cassette Library, episode 286. Travel safely between the tracks. I’ll meet you on the other side of the next spool.
Good day, listeners… or should I say, travellers of the tape. Trevor here. You’ve pressed play on another fragile spool of the Virtual Cassette Library. Episode 279. Twelve-track virtual cassettes that flips themselves at the halfway mark.
If you make music, or run a label, and fancy a place in the library, send your links or Bandcamp codes to trevlad@gmail.com. I read every one. Promise. Tips and subscriptions keep the reels turning. Every little helps the library stay open after dark.
I’m trying something new by not introducing the artists, but instead incorporating their work into an incantation of sorts. The shows remain free for the first week, then slip quietly into the hands of my Mixcloud subscribers, who currently have 1,108 other episodes waiting for them whenever the mood strikes. Subscribers receive the expanding series of 3-hour adventures titled Veil Frequencies. They also get the ever-growing advance version of the forthcoming compilation Quiet Figures.
The tape unspools its visions.
Side A
Volcanic snow dogs race across a mountain ridge under shifting digital skies. Innis Chonnel & Loris S. Sarid – Volcan Snow Dogs. Ship-to-shore light pours over butterfly towers and shaman shoes. Moshi moves through deep-breathing valleys where digital synth motifs drift in soft waves. Wood-workshop percussion rises with new-age swells and bit-crushed vocal haunts, carrying the entire 12th Isle landscape forward in continuous playful motion.
Dawn breaks across layered South Indian folk tones and electronic drums. Sunken Cages – Darantee (with Kuza). Dark synths and industrial textures open into wide deconstructed fields. Kuza’s voice rises as a ghostly aria through the glowing circuitry, the whole surface expanding in resynthesized global club light.
Distant piano figures stretch across a cinematic horizon of dense electronics and layered guitar. Simon Heartfield – Ultimate Creature. Fractured voices drift through insistent percussion and powerful rhythms. The landscape unfolds in patient continuous transformation, every layer of time gathering into one vast evolving field.
Broken synths and scratched CDs release soft electrical pulses across a tired piano from Cornwall. Dave Clarkson – The Age of Static. Warped tapes and power surges open into unexpected luminous forms. The entire space fills with the quiet magic of imperfect signals moving in steady chance patterns.
Growth expands outward from within a single luminous centre. f5point6 – Endogenesis. Jazz roots, Detroit techno currents and ambient electronica rise together in visual colour. Plugins generate intricate patterns that drift like sand across an endless desert or calm water along a deep lake shore, the whole sequence suspended in continuous immersive motion.
Small fires glow in warm intimate circles across a Polish winter landscape. Jeff Gburek + Eryk Nowacki – Enter the Spiral. Organic tones unfold in unhurried flow. The session opens as a continuous spiral of soft ambiance, each sound tending the fire in quiet shared light.
The cassette reaches its midpoint and turns.
Side B
Deep water at the bottom of Lake Mead holds a long continuous recording. Nosferatupac – Capitalism Only Works If It Completely Strips You Of Any Sense Of Dignity Or Self Worth. The lake floor opens into dense submerged textures that keep expanding in slow underwater currents.
Minimal circuits pulse across a wide open field of four instruments. Alex Ringess – State Of Emergency. Corrupted signals, escape trajectories and crystal-clear frequencies rise in continuous sequence. Heat waves and collective cognitive fields stretch outward in steady luminous patterns.
A soft voice holds the line in endless floating space. luxury elite – please stay on the line. The tone remains open and continuous, the entire channel glowing in quiet sustained presence.
Waves move through a cosmic ocean of harmonium, space sounds, guitar, gong, singing bowls, ocean drum, chimes, bass, cello, drums and percussion. Monks Pond – Waves in the Cosmic Ocean. Every instrument expands into the same vast watery light, the whole surface rolling forward in continuous cosmic motion.
Surface tension holds quirky emotive harmonies across twenty years of detailed glitch. Planet Boelex – Surface tension. Small luminous details rise and settle in steady mildly glitched waves, the entire field recommended for headphones in continuous close listening.
Aerospace corridors open across late-seventies industrial horizons of Warrington, Widnes and Runcorn. Warrington Runcorn New Town Development Plan – Bonus: Aerospace. Prophet synths and gallons of reverb carry the landscape in continuous nostalgic electronica. Workers and industry glow in soft infinite decay, the whole new-town field expanding in quiet forward light.
The visions complete their circle. The oxide continues its quiet journey until the end of the spool.
Also in the works: the next compilation, Quiet Figures, release date 26 September. Uncover the narratives whispered by the silent, ever-present figures that shadow us, through compositions that unravel their hidden mysteries. Does that stir anything? Send entries to trevlad@gmail.com Include artist name, track name, and a link to other work. Deadline: 24 September.
This has been Trev’s Virtual Cassette Library, episode 279. Travel safely between the tracks. I’ll meet you on the other side of the next spool.
Side A 00:00:00 Innis Chonnel & Loris S. Sarid – Volcan Snow Dogs Volcanic snow dogs race across a mountain ridge under shifting digital skies. Innis Chonnel & Loris S. Sarid – Volcan Snow Dogs. Ship-to-shore light pours over butterfly towers and shaman shoes. Moshi moves through deep-breathing valleys where digital synth motifs drift in soft waves. Wood-workshop percussion rises with new-age swells and bit-crushed vocal haunts, carrying the entire 12th Isle landscape forward in continuous playful motion. 00:09:13 Sunken Cages – Darantee (with Kuza) Dawn breaks across layered South Indian folk tones and electronic drums. Sunken Cages – Darantee (with Kuza). Dark synths and industrial textures open into wide deconstructed fields. Kuza’s voice rises as a ghostly aria through the glowing circuitry, the whole surface expanding in resynthesized global club light. 00:12:18 Simon Heartfield – Ultimate Creature Distant piano figures stretch across a cinematic horizon of dense electronics and layered guitar. Simon Heartfield – Ultimate Creature. Fractured voices drift through insistent percussion and powerful rhythms. The landscape unfolds in patient continuous transformation, every layer of time gathering into one vast evolving field. 00:16:46 Dave Clarkson – The Age of Static Broken synths and scratched CDs release soft electrical pulses across a tired piano from Cornwall. Dave Clarkson – The Age of Static. Warped tapes and power surges open into unexpected luminous forms. The entire space fills with the quiet magic of imperfect signals moving in steady chance patterns. 00:23:15 f5point6 – Endogenesis Growth expands outward from within a single luminous centre. f5point6 – Endogenesis. Jazz roots, Detroit techno currents and ambient electronica rise together in visual colour. Plugins generate intricate patterns that drift like sand across an endless desert or calm water along a deep lake shore, the whole sequence suspended in continuous immersive motion. 00:26:51 Jeff Gburek + Eryk Nowacki – Enter the Spiral Small fires glow in warm intimate circles across a Polish winter landscape. Jeff Gburek + Eryk Nowacki – Enter the Spiral. Organic tones unfold in unhurried flow. The session opens as a continuous spiral of soft ambiance, each sound tending the fire in quiet shared light. Side B 00:33:35 Nosferatupac – Capitalism Only Works If It Completely Strips You Of Any Sense Of Dignity Or Self Worth Deep water at the bottom of Lake Mead holds a long continuous recording. Nosferatupac – Capitalism Only Works If It Completely Strips You Of Any Sense Of Dignity Or Self Worth. The lake floor opens into dense submerged textures that keep expanding in slow underwater currents. 00:35:19 Alex Ringess – State Of Emergency Minimal circuits pulse across a wide open field of four instruments. Alex Ringess – State Of Emergency. Corrupted signals, escape trajectories and crystal-clear frequencies rise in continuous sequence. Heat waves and collective cognitive fields stretch outward in steady luminous patterns. 00:40:07 luxury elite – please stay on the line A soft voice holds the line in endless floating space. luxury elite – please stay on the line. The tone remains open and continuous, the entire channel glowing in quiet sustained presence. 00:40:37 Monks Pond – Waves in the Cosmic Ocean Waves move through a cosmic ocean of harmonium, space sounds, guitar, gong, singing bowls, ocean drum, chimes, bass, cello, drums and percussion. Monks Pond – Waves in the Cosmic Ocean. Every instrument expands into the same vast watery light, the whole surface rolling forward in continuous cosmic motion. 00:45:22 Planet Boelex – Surface tension Surface tension holds quirky emotive harmonies across twenty years of detailed glitch. Planet Boelex – Surface tension. Small luminous details rise and settle in steady mildly glitched waves, the entire field recommended for headphones in continuous close listening. 00:49:09 Warrington Runcorn New Town Development Plan – Bonus: Aerospace Aerospace corridors open across late-seventies industrial horizons of Warrington, Widnes and Runcorn. Warrington Runcorn New Town Development Plan – Bonus: Aerospace. Prophet synths and gallons of reverb carry the landscape in continuous nostalgic electronica. Workers and industry glow in soft infinite decay, the whole new-town field expanding in quiet forward light.