For four years now, a YouTube channel named the 'Italian Tapes Archive' has been diligently uploading a tape daily, with a simple yet unique mission: to preserve and share Italy's self-published music from the heyday of cassette tapes. The channel's criteria for selection are simple. The format must be cassette, the country of origin Italy, and the production has to be self-publisher.
These terms might seem unorthodox to some, but they reflect a certain level of authenticity that has eroded in an era of digitized, auto-tuned, and overproduced music. By focusing on cassettes, the channel provides a glimpse into a rawer, unfiltered version of Italy's music culture, untouched by commercial success or production gloss.
At its core, the channel celebrates the natural beauty of amateur production. There's something inherently captivating about music produced out of sheer passion outside of professional studios, distributed in small editions with hand-crafted artworks, and often sold at concerts. While some musicians may bristle at the term "amateur," the Italian Tapes Archive views it as a badge of honour.
The Italian Tapes Archive is more than just a YouTube channel - it's a musical time capsule. Founded by Andrea Righi, the channel came to life as a response to a heartbreaking reality. Much of the music from the 90s, created by musicians no longer in possession of their work, risked being lost to the annals of time. The word 'archive' was chosen specifically for this reason. It symbolizes the project's aspiration to be a long-lasting reservoir of forgotten musical treasures.
The curator of this fascinating project initially had a more restrictive definition for the material to be featured. Instead of private and unreleased recordings, he decided to go for self-productions with some form of edition and distribution: artwork, title and track titles, numbered copies, diffusion to friends, small radios, concert banquets, and mail orders. However, this would have excluded precious material, such as the early works of The Tapes, which, although today have a moderate following among fans of the genre, were conceived, in the early 80s, as totally private recordings and remained in a drawer for years. For this reason, the curator has adopted a more flexible and less schematic approach, which also evaluates the intrinsic interest of the single production beyond the selection criteria.
Rather than limiting itself to a traditional website format, the Italian Tapes Archive chose the accessible platform of YouTube. This decision not only lessened the effort required for maintenance but also broadened its potential audience. The music featured on the channel comes from various sources. Contributions from dedicated users form a significant part, with some becoming long-term collaborators in this endeavour. Additionally, the curator’s personal collection plays a major role, along with tracks sourced from Soulseek and vk.com.
Italian Tapes Archive represents a sincere effort to preserve and celebrate a musical expression that might otherwise be lost. It's a beautiful reminder of the power and charm of music in its simple, most genuine form, a monument to the unpolished gems of Italian music from an era gone by. Here's to hoping it continues to find, save, and share these hidden pieces of Italy's musical heritage for years to come.
To truly understand the journey of the Italian Tapes Archive, I reached out to its founder, Andrea Righi. Andrea was more than willing to share insights about his project. Find our Q&A below:
We often see vinyl and CD collections, but cassettes are uncommon. Why do you give this importance to cassettes, and how do you think they influence the listening experience?
If we put aside the emotional value that I attribute to cassettes, what interests me the most is not so much the support as self-production. Throughout the 80s and 90s, up until the diffusion of recorders, "cassette" was often synonymous with "self-production". The possibility of taking care of each phase of creating an album on his own and in a cheap way, even up to its distribution, has guaranteed unique freedom of expression and creativity. In the world of self-production, everyone has a voice: the squats, the artists who make unlistenable music, the Catholic, right-wing and far-right bands, the bizarre or ironic projects, the famous "pirating", the serial improvisers, i.e. the record freaks of whatever they're playing. It's not always precisely "good music", but you will find precious jewels if you look closely.
The Archive has industrial/noise, extreme metal and various musical oddities. Can you remember the moment or experience that made you fall in love with these genres?
More than a moment is an entire period of my life. I spent entire days of my childhood in my uncle's studio. My uncle had a huge collection of tapes, of which I don't think even one was original. He had them duplicated in a well-known shop in Imola, but he personalized the covers himself, each different from the next. That's where my passion for the tape was born, for eccentric objects and oddities in general.
What's the most unusual or bizarre tape you've ever discovered in your Archive, and what makes it so unique?
One reason I am passionate about this project is the spirit of initiative, the vigorous proactive drive, and the candid ingenuity that distinguished many of the productions, especially those from the 80s and 90s. Among the various things of a similar tenor, I particularly remember Food for Dogs, a grindcore compilation beyond the borders of the charity initiative, whose creators proposed to "feed a dog for two or three days" with the proceeds of each cassette sold.
Have you ever found a weird or creepy tape that you hesitate to add to the Archive?
No, I've never hesitated to publish anything. Youtube sets the bar of what is not allowed well below any moral doubt of mine. Usually, however, it is enough to censor the titles and fill the covers with black patches.
Can you share a funny or memorable story that happened to you while searching for these obscure tapes?
More than once, I've found private audio of various artists or collectors, recorded more or less by mistake.
You have a YouTube channel where you propose music from your Archive. What's your favourite comment or interaction with a user so far?
A user asked me if I had a Paypal account because he wanted to make a donation, I replied "Give me some nice rare files instead".
What would be your 'beginner's guide' of cassette tapes in your collection for someone completely new to the music you feature in the Archive? Propose one for each macro-genre (metal, noise, dark ambient...).
As far as the Metal / Prog-Rock area is concerned, I recommend Dunwich - The Dunwich Horror (1987) I would say excellent listening even for non-metalheads.
On the Dark Ambient side, it is impossible to name just one - I have to name at least three. Starting with the first work of Ain Soph, the wonderful I (1984):
Continuing with the first and only work signed by LAShTAL, Thoum Aesh Neith (1986), from the créme of the Florentine dark scene:
Finally, any of Claudio Dondo's works - I suggest Ruines Order - The Dream Door (1992):
If, on the other hand, we move on to the difficult territories of Noise / Power Electonics and the like, it is impossible not to mention Marco Corbelli. However, I recommend what is perhaps not one of its classics, Kranium - I The Blood (1995):
Then, for New Wave / Dark Wave I say Clima, the very danceable tape of the same name from 1995:
And then there are the Colloquio, which we could insert in the imaginary category Songwriters, listen to their Il Giardino delle Lacrime (1993):
Finally, also for punk I want to mention two atypical products with two women singing.
Pedago Party - L'Arte della Rivoluzione (1983)Contropotere - E' Arrivato Ah Pook (1986)
Come on, I'll stop here for this time.
How do you see the evolution of the Italian Tapes Archive? A label, a book, or maybe an exhibition?
I want to publish some tapes in Italian Tapes Archive in the self-production spirit I told you about earlier. Yeah, I always say that… but then I never do it.