Vree Tapes

About

Vree Tapes was an independent cassette-based record label that operated during the early 1980s, emerging during a formative period for underground and experimental music distribution. The label's catalog reflects a commitment to DIY ethics and alternative formats, with releases primarily issued on cassette—a medium that democratized music production and distribution for independent artists and experimental musicians of the era. The label's output included work by artists such as RONC, whose prolific presence in the Vree Tapes catalog (represented by three sequential releases in 1981) suggests a close creative partnership. Beyond audio releases, Vree Tapes produced supplementary materials, including the publication "Vree Tapes Overviews," indicating a broader curatorial and editorial vision. The provocative title "If you dont like it wipe it!" exemplifies the label's irreverent stance toward both content and the impermanence inherent to cassette media. Though modest in documented output, Vree Tapes represents the grassroots experimental and industrial music infrastructure of the early 1980s underground, embodying the era's ethos of artistic independence and accessible, low-cost production methods.