In 1975, Sony unveiled the first home video-cassette recorder and created a new market.

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After the 1999 release of her debut solo disc, "Imaginaryland, " bassist Mike Watt gave Ms. Haden a multitrack cassette recorder.

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The two met through skateboarding and made their first recordings in 2005 with a cassette recorder they set up under a mini (skateboarding) ramp.

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For example, the mangle and dance hall admissions were added in the 1950s, the cassette recorder and dried mashed potato went in during the 1970s, while muffins and fruit smoothies joined the basket at the start of this century.

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Interesting to me were people like Brian, a guitarist from age 6, who spent his summers in his basement writing songs and recording them on a Radio Shack cassette tape recorder.

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That's more the approach of Merrill Garbus, whose solo project is spelled tUnE-yArDs. (Hey, you won't forget her name, right?) Her 2009 album BiRd-BrAiNs began life as a DIY cassette release, assembled with a handheld voice recorder the "note to self" kind and free audio-editing software.

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