Tiny Mix Tapes

Important Records imprint Cassauna vies for equal importance, releases tapes by Ashley Paul and Juan Carlos Vasquez

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Cassauna has stayed hidden too long in the ever-paramount shadows of Important Records. The cassette imprint was started by Important in 2011 and has already released an incredibly prime roster of recordings by the likes of Maurizio Bianchi, Pauline Oliveros, and Arnold Dreyblatt. Why should the parent take all the credit? I mean, with their gorgeous silk-screened packaging and incredibly limited quantity, it seems like Cassauna has a fighting chance in the race to significance.

Now there are two more arguments for Cassauna’s critical standing. The first comes from London-based sound artist Juan Carlos Vasquez. His Collages take an unlikely approach to electroacoustic performance and recording — each piece is a digital re-imagining of original performances of famous works by the likes of Bach, Mussorgsky, and Chopin. Vasquez is so damn important that some folks down at Resonance FM decided to make a documentary about him: check that out July 25.

Second up is White Night from Brooklyn-based composer Ashley Paul, a follow-up to last year’s Line the Clouds LP. Paul made these recordings over the course of a year in Boston, Brooklyn, Orlando, and London. Adding to its already overflowing importance, White Night features performances from Eli Keszler and Greg Kelley.

Both tapes are still available and are essentially, crucially, and critically important.

Revisit Ashley Paul’s delirious “Line the Clouds” below:

Collages tracklist:

01. Collage 1 (After M. Mussorgsky)
02. Collage 2 (After L.v. Beethoven)
03. Collage 3 (After E. Ysaye)
04. Collage 4 “Landscape”
05. Collage 5 “The Acrobat” (After E. Satie)
06. Collage 6 (After J.S. Bach)
07. Collage 7 (After F. Chopin)
08. Collage 8 (After J.S. Bach)
09. Collage 9 (After J.L. Borges)

White Night tracklist:

01. dragon
02. i’m finding you
03. august 10
04. white night
05. goodbyes
06. run the wall

• Juan Carlos Vasquez: http://www.jcvasquez.com
• Ashley Paul: http://www.ashleypaul.net
• Cassauna: http://importantrecords.com/cassauna