Various - Tellus: The Audio Cassette Magazine Anthology, Vol. 1 2xLP
$44.98
Label: Earth Libraries
Release Date: November 20th, 2026
Metallic silver vinyl.
Long before streaming services, podcasts, or even the compact disc, there was Tellus, a radically ambitious publication that imagined recorded sound as an exhibition space. Founded in 1983 in downtown New York, Tellus transformed the humble audio cassette into a magazine, commissioning and publishing new works by musicians, composers, visual artists, poets, writers, choreographers, and performers who were reshaping the boundaries of contemporary art. Each issue invited listeners into a world where no wave, industrial music, spoken word, Fluxus performance, electroacoustic composition, downtown pop, conceptual art, and avant-garde experimentation could coexist on equal footing.
More than forty years later, Earth Libraries proudly presents Tellus: The Audio Cassette Magazine Anthology Vol. 1, the first comprehensive anthology devoted to the groundbreaking publication. The story of Tellus begins, fittingly, at the Rum Runner Bar on Canal Street. There, in 1983, visual artist Joseph Nechvatal, curator Claudia Gould, and composer Carol Parkinson conceived an entirely new kind of publication. Portable cassette players were transforming how people experienced music, and the trio saw an opportunity to use the cassette itself as a curatorial medium - one capable of circulating work that traditional record labels, galleries, and magazines simply couldn't accommodate. Early recordings by Sonic Youth and Liquid Liquid sit alongside works by James Tenney, George Brecht, Takehisa Kosugi, Carol Parkinson, Y Pants, Live Skull, Shelley Hirsch, Lenny Pickett, Paul Dresher, Gregory Whitehead, and dozens of other artists whose work helped define one of the most fertile creative communities of the era.
For Earth Libraries, restoring Tellus represents a continuation of the label's commitment to preserving overlooked musical histories. Working from the original cassette masters, every recording on Tellus: The Audio Cassette Magazine Anthology Vol. 1 has been carefully restored and newly mastered. Housed in deluxe packaging, the release includes a booklet featuring new liner notes by Thurston Moore, original artist biographies, and an 11"×17" reproduction of an original Tellus promotional poster.
Tracklist:
Long before streaming services, podcasts, or even the compact disc, there was Tellus, a radically ambitious publication that imagined recorded sound as an exhibition space. Founded in 1983 in downtown New York, Tellus transformed the humble audio cassette into a magazine, commissioning and publishing new works by musicians, composers, visual artists, poets, writers, choreographers, and performers who were reshaping the boundaries of contemporary art. Each issue invited listeners into a world where no wave, industrial music, spoken word, Fluxus performance, electroacoustic composition, downtown pop, conceptual art, and avant-garde experimentation could coexist on equal footing.
More than forty years later, Earth Libraries proudly presents Tellus: The Audio Cassette Magazine Anthology Vol. 1, the first comprehensive anthology devoted to the groundbreaking publication. The story of Tellus begins, fittingly, at the Rum Runner Bar on Canal Street. There, in 1983, visual artist Joseph Nechvatal, curator Claudia Gould, and composer Carol Parkinson conceived an entirely new kind of publication. Portable cassette players were transforming how people experienced music, and the trio saw an opportunity to use the cassette itself as a curatorial medium - one capable of circulating work that traditional record labels, galleries, and magazines simply couldn't accommodate. Early recordings by Sonic Youth and Liquid Liquid sit alongside works by James Tenney, George Brecht, Takehisa Kosugi, Carol Parkinson, Y Pants, Live Skull, Shelley Hirsch, Lenny Pickett, Paul Dresher, Gregory Whitehead, and dozens of other artists whose work helped define one of the most fertile creative communities of the era.
For Earth Libraries, restoring Tellus represents a continuation of the label's commitment to preserving overlooked musical histories. Working from the original cassette masters, every recording on Tellus: The Audio Cassette Magazine Anthology Vol. 1 has been carefully restored and newly mastered. Housed in deluxe packaging, the release includes a booklet featuring new liner notes by Thurston Moore, original artist biographies, and an 11"×17" reproduction of an original Tellus promotional poster.
Tracklist:
1. Cargo Cult — Plaid City
2. The Scene Is Now — Bugged, Wigged Out
3. Y Pants — Magnetic Attraction
4. Liquid Liquid — Groove To Go
5. John Fekner City Squad — 2-4-5-7-9-11
6. Carol Parkinson — Heavybeat
7. Sonic Youth — Scream
8. Patrick McGrath — Spike Rising
9. Bond Bergland — Moonlight Ride
10. Remko Scha — Katadeedo Daynatadoh
11. Paul Dresher — Pygmy Vocal Music
12. George Brecht — Comb Music (Comb Event)
13. Live Skull — Pulverized By Gratitude
14. Bruce Tovsky — Field
15. Brenda Hutchinson — Wordplay
16. Gregory Whitehead — Eva Can I Stab Bats In A Cave
17. David Linton — Ringo
18. David Rosenbloom — Flowers
19. Saurekeller — Hiroshima
20. Jim Farmer — You Look Lovely In The Moonlight
21. Chain Gang — Night Plantation
22. Angela Babin and Joe Dizney — Work Song
23. Lenny Pickett — Dance Music For 4 Saxophones #3
24. Anita Feldman And Michael Kowalski — Riffle
25. Tron Von Hollywood (with Raina Jane Sherry) — After Shakespeare
26. Bite Like A Kitty — Excerpt from "Same Way"
27. Ron Kuivala — Tl Intends (to enforce its intellectual property rights to the fullest extent permitted by law)
28. James Tenney — Septet For Electric Guitars
29. Shelley Hirsch — #39
30. Takehisa Kosugi — Paraphrases (excerpt)