London-based mixtape label Fanfare launches with artist-designed cassettes

This week (February 25), the London-based mixtape label Fanfare launched at Printed Matter’s Virtual Art Book Fair, with a series of releases compiled by artists Cali DeWitt, Luke Overin, and Eddie Langham. The limited edition mixtapes arrive on cassette tape, complete with artwork designed by the respective artist.

The tapes themselves represent a variety of genres, ranging from Overin’s ambient Peninsula – which revolves around a fictional journey across Great Britain during the Solar Eclipse of 1999 – to the harsh disco of Langham’s The Leather Apron Gave Me Fits, illustrated with AI-generated portraits of the artist. 

The aptly-titled Wet Jazz, by Cali DeWitt, is described as a “salute to the music of the Pacific Ocean”, featuring: “a combination of sharks and sandpipers and jellyfish and seals and dolphins and sea slugs and screeching bros all of whom tap the source in unison.”

Fanfare is founded by Ben Goulder, of the former art publishing company Snöar Press. “After feeling jaded with publishing art books for a while, I wanted to start something that felt more inclusive,” Goulder explains in a statement. “Fanfare allows me to work outside of the constraints of the visual arts and collaborate with essentially anyone I’d like to.”

“I feel fortunate to kick things off with Cali, Luke, and Eddie. I met Cali years ago in New York and it has been amazing to see his career go from strength to strength. Luke is an old friend who I have continually collaborated with over the years, and Eddie is someone who continues to inspire me in the time that I have known them.”

Fanfare’s mixtapes can be found here, via Printed Matter’s Virtual Art Book Fair.