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Cassette Porn: Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, and 15 Other Works of Art From Our Basement

Back in the days before Napster, when mixtapes were actually tapes and many bootlegs only existed on cassettes, some of us fed our frustrated archivist ambitions with dual-cassette players, photocopiers, scissors and double-stick tape. The first-ever International Cassette Store Day is Saturday (September 7), and although it’s a really dubious holiday, it gave us an excuse to dig deep into some dusty boxes for a few artifacts from a bygone era. Following you’ll see demos, homemade wonders, advance cassettes, some items from the sidewalk stands on Portobello Road or St. Marks Place, and even a few official or semi-official releases — including a bona fide copy of Nirvana’s legendary 1990 “Smart Studios” demo. (All items on loan from the Jem Aswad Museum of Cassette Art)