High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape

This accessible primer unravels past and present uses and misuses of cassettes. . . . Masters builds a generous lineage, where it is clear that as much as 'sounds realign magnetic particles on a tape . . . the tape realigns your brain.'"-The Wire

An excellent and truly exciting book . . . [Masters] outlines the story of how the cassette came to be the dominant recording medium on a global scale during the 1980s and into the mid-1990s, and by doing so shows how essential cassettes were to so many musical movements that they would have been impossible without the tapes that, as he points out, are so easy and satisfying to hold in your hand."-Brooklyn Rail

Knowingly written from the perspective of an entangled enthusiast rather than a distanced observer, [High Bias] carries an awareness that an objective history of the impact of a piece of technology isn't possible, all we can do is collect the stories we tell through it. . . . High Bias is a material history, but it's also a folk history."-The Quietus

"Masters, whose work often goes far below the surface of all things sonic . . . offers a fascinating look at the shifting role of cassettes over the years-and some of the fascinating ways in which people have used them."-InsideHook

Masters brings together a fascinating technical history of the creation, limits, and virtues of the cassette tape."-Dusted

A wonderful book, whose title is derived from the term for tape quality."-The Goo