Acid Tapes was originally started by Imaginary Records' Alan Duffy, but was taken over by Steve Lines in 1986. Steve Lines is in the band Stormclouds, and there have been several Stormclouds releases on the label: It's Raining Still, Raindrops, Lost In Space, Psychotronic (also on M&E), The House On The Borderland and Nightmares In The Sky. Psychotronic is fuzzy space-cutie-pop, It's Raining Still is folk-pop with occasional hints of country (plus one track of 60s style psychedelic rock), Raindrops and Lost In Space are both mostly fuzz-pop, with the occasional quieter song, and House On The Borderland is a collection of acoustic demos. The cassette version of Stormclouds' debut album, Nightmares In The Sky, is the most recent release, presenting a mixture of folk, pop, rock and 60s psychedelia.

Other releases I've heard include Retro 1 by The Conspiracy - a compilation of early recordings which features a guest appearance from Mark E Smith; Flashbax Vol 1 by Magic Moments At Twilight Time - again, a retrospective compilation, this features recordings from 1987-1990; and several tapes by My Favourite Martians, one of which is a split one with The Lucid Dream. The Conspiracy's music is mostly 60s/70s influenced pop/rock, but there are also examples of other genres, The Conspiracy don't just stick to one type of music, they have over the years been influenced by very many bands and styles of music. MMATT are spacerock with a dancey/experimental feel, although there is one track on Flashbax Vol 1 which is an exception to that rule - it's a more guitar orientated track which sounds influenced by traditional Spanish guitar music. My Favourite Martians play quite cute indie-pop with occasional hints of 60s psychedelia. One of their tapes, as mentioned earlier is a split tape with The Lucid Dream, who sound quite like mid-eighties indie-pop, but with slight tinges of punk, mainly in the singer's voice. The psychedelic keyboards add a 60s-ish hint to the sound too. The other two MFM tapes are entitled Where No Man Has Gone Before and I Was A Teenage Martian.

There's over a hundred tapes out, I haven't heard them all by any means, but the label covers all the subgenres within the psychedelic music scene. Note the word 'psychedelic' is used very loosely, as some stuff isn't all that psychedelic, such as the more folky/countrified Stormclouds songs.

Some other bands/artists with cassette albums out on Acid Tapes include The Cleaners From Venus, Modern Art, The Hollowmen, The Chemistry Set, James T. Rao, Reefus Moons, Ant Bee, Childe Roland, Alice's Orb, Thee Trouble, The Narc Twins, The Drum Fondu, Joseph Maddalena, Alphane Moon, The Arcanes and Marshmallow Overcoat. There's also a few compilations available. Tapes are generally £3 each, but there are a few exceptions, and the £3 does not include p+p, so for a full list of what's available write to Steve Lines, 28 Churchill Close, Calne, Wilts SN11 8EN.

The latest issue of Try Acid, the Acid Tapes newsletter, is out now. There's stuff on new releases by Stormclouds, Jack Pedler, The Ghost Rockets, The Knurlings, Childe Roland, Alan Bound, James T. Rao, Pandora's Lunchbox, Lodovico Ellena, Astral Weeks and Captain Fantasy, a full list of previous releases, and reviews of stuff not on Acid Tapes. (There appears to be a page missing in my copy of Try Acid #17, so there might be more in it than that). For a copy of the latest newsletter, send an SAE to the Acid Tapes address.

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