Staff writer Tom Laskin wraps up the year in local music, noting that most releases are being distributed on cassette, "a format that encourages minuscule editions of obscure product." Though Rapscallion, Last Crack, Killdozer, Sotavento and Free Hot Lunch! released new material "on well-known independent labels," Laskin writes, most local recordings this year were self-produced, and only four were on CD. A notable example is Honor Among Thieves' United Mind Workers, which Laskin says proves "it's possible to make quality recordings without corporate support." Among others 1990 releases: Common Faces' Common Faces; Ken Lonnquist's Reasons; Stuart Stotts' Come to the Well; Marques Bovre & the Evil Twins' Medicine; and Art Paul Schlosser's This Tape Is Dangerous. And about to become obsolete.
Local music on cusp of CD era
From Isthmus' archives, Dec. 28, 1990