There may not be a more appropriate way to celebrate Cassette Store Day, October 14th, than pressing play on FUTURES Vol. 4, a two-plus hour tape of scratchy, stoic lo-fi and ambient beats from premiere independent label Inner Ocean Records. Based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Inner Ocean’s name reflects both the expanse of mountain, sky and plains which surrounds Calgary, and the well of creativity within ourselves that stirs with the experience of music. 62 tracks by 62 artists, most of them exclusive to the tape, spill across the stereo spread on FUTURES Vol. 4, the latest installment in a running compilation series which continues to look ahead, promoting new sounds and new artists through an old but timeless format. 

Conceived by a handful of record labels in 2013, Cassette Store Day is a growing celebration. It lacks the pull or popularity of Record Store Day, but its intention is different. “CSD is focused on celebrating cassettes rather than supporting shops,” according to cassettestoreday.com. While for many labels today is an occasion to reach into the past and re-release classic albums on tape, for Inner Ocean it’s another opportunity to slide into the future, and the future is chill. 

Almost four years ago, FUTURES Vol. 1 was Inner Ocean’s first compilation. “There was always an element of looking ahead when compiling them,”, says Inner Ocean Records founder Cory Giordano, “whether it be new directions in sound, working with new artists or simply a soundtrack for moving forward in life.” Then, the compilation was a vehicle for Inner Ocean to promote its own artists (the label currently has approximately 25 producers on its roster). Now, the compilation is open to submissions, allowing Inner Ocean to work with more artists and connect with more people in the community.  We counted only three cuts from Inner Ocean artists on FUTURES Vol. 4. This is a testament to Inner Ocean’s reputation, and its ability to help foster the lo-fi community. 

FUTURES Vol. 4 naturally embraces more than just lo-fi. The scratchy, stripped down, instrumental style pioneered by the likes J Dilla and Nujabes is a starting point to expand upon. Jazz tropes, ambient textures and experimental tones saturate the compilation and help to refresh or redirect its movement as it rolls along. Experimentation and boundary busting within the lo-fi lexicon has been the calling card of the FUTURES tapes. Yet regardless of how far a song stretches from familiarity, it is the ambience, the chill, delicately put forth with pads, drum machines and cozy cut samples, that serves as the compilation’s common denominator.

A lo-fi compilation is ideal for Cassette Store Day because as Cory tells us tape cassettes are inherently low fidelity and do not present the full frequency range. “You can get the cassettes loaded with a few different types of tape, each offering their own sound characteristics,” he says. “Though they all have hiss and have that subtle, tape-saturated tone.” Since its inception in 2012, little music leaves Inner Ocean Records unless packaged in at least one physical format. With the cassette format naturally lending itself to lo-fi soundscapes, Inner Ocean’s embrace of the genre has been a fateful marriage of music to material. 

“If listening to vinyl is likened to watching movies shot and projected on gorgeously rich film stock, listening to tapes is like watching 90’s movies on VHS, a little gritty but nostalgic and satisfying,” says Cory. When you can cram 1,000 tunes on one memory stick, there’s great pride and intention to the selection of physical formats. There’s also great expense and labor involved, but for Inner Ocean it’s a labor of love. 

“As nice as it is to be able to stream any song you want at any moment, Cory rhapsodizes, “that immediate access somehow takes away from the magic of music. There’s nothing like throwing down your vinyl collection on some turntables and hanging out with your friends, or tossing a tape into your car and cruising to some chill beats.” 

With such a large compilation, its best to breeze through the entire thing side by side and get totally lost in the lo-fi. But for reference we’ll offer our favorite cut from each side. On tape no. 1, it’s got to be the love song of love songs “Propose To My Drum Machine”  by PRGMAT on Side A, and the oriental and experimental sound of “Breathingfire” by Yunnan on Side B. For tape no. 2 we favor the R&B noire vibe of Jake and Bake’s “Got Myself a Present” on Side A and the wobbly “Flip Da Scrip” by Korey Wade on Side B. 

You can purchase the tape at Inner Ocean's website. If you don’t have a cassette player, you can still scoop up FUTURES Vol. 4 on mp3 to explore this massive compilation. If you like what you hear, stay chooned. We’ll likely feature more extraordinarily chill music from Inner Ocean Records in our new LoFi Sundays column. 

FOLLOW Inner Ocean Records:   Soundcloud   /   Facebook   /   Spotify   /   Instagram