It was 40 years ago this month that I released Islands on cassette, back when I was in college in Florida. 1985→2025 ! It's very appropriate that November is when all formats of this remixed reissue become available. Back when I was 20, I never would have imagined this release would still be listened to so far into the future… nor that it would sound so good!
Get your limited edition LP, Cassette + MiniDisc at the Blacktape Bandcamp. This deluxe release was sponsored by 140 amazing supporters at Kickstarter.
Oh, "What is Islands?" you ask? It's the electronic, minimalist, synthwave album I created right before I started Black Tape For A Blue Girl. Oscar sings on two tracks and Lara (violinist on The Rope) is on a bunch of them. 40 years! Can you believe it?! So much has happened in that time. Thank you for caring about the music I created all those years ago!
Islands is Name-Your-Price at Bandcamp; it includes "Disc 4" that's not at Spotify or the other streaming sites.
Islands press information:
Genres: Electronic, Minimal Wave, Synthwave, Minimal Synth.
For Fans Of: Philip Glass, early-70s Kraftwerk, mid-70s Tangerine Dream.
This is the 40th anniversary edition of Black Tape For A Blue Girl founder Sam Rosenthal's early electronic cassette. Pulsing minimal synths emerge from this time capsule of the era's vintage sound. Released in 1985, Rosenthal's 8th album was the first to include tracks sung by future BlackTape vocalist Oscar Herrera as well as contributions from other guest musicians. Rosenthal remixed Islands from new transfers of the original ¼-inch 4-track tapes. "I was 19 when I recorded this,” he reflects, “releasing it around my 20th birthday. Nearly 40 years later, what surprises me is how good the recordings sound considering it was recorded with two synths and some shoddy microphones through a cheap Radio Shack mixer to the 4-track. They sound great in this new mix. It was nice to come back to it and enjoy what past-Sam envisioned."