Long before streaming services, podcasts, or even the compact disc, there was Tellus—a radically ambitious publication that imagined recorded sound as an exhibition space. Founded in 1983 in downtown New York, Tellus transformed the humble audio cassette into a magazine, commissioning and publishing new works by musicians, composers, visual artists, poets, writers, choreographers, and performers who were reshaping the boundaries of contemporary art. Each issue invited listeners into a world where no wave, industrial music, spoken word, Fluxus performance, electroacoustic composition, downtown pop, conceptual art, and avant-garde experimentation could coexist on equal footing.

More than forty years later, Earth Libraries proudly presents Tellus: The Audio Cassette Magazine Anthology, Vol. 1, the first comprehensive anthology devoted to the groundbreaking publication. Due on November 20, 2026, the thirty-track collection has been newly mastered from the original Tellus cassette masters, marking the first time these recordings have been officially available on streaming services in their original form. Earth Libraries further celebrates Tellus' enduring legacy with a limited-edition deluxe double LP, created in close collaboration with Tellus founders Joseph Nechvatal, Carol Parkinson, and Claudia Gould. The first Tellus compilation in more than twenty years—and the most comprehensive anthology ever assembled—the collection spans 30 newly mastered recordings across two metallic silver vinyl LPs, tracing the publication's remarkable journey through experimental music, sound art, spoken word, and downtown New York culture. Housed in deluxe packaging, the release includes a booklet featuring new liner notes by Thurston Moore, original artist biographies, and an 11" × 17" reproduction of an original Tellus promotional poster. More than a collector's edition, the anthology stands as both an archival document and an invitation for a new generation of listeners to discover one of the most visionary publishing projects in experimental music history, carrying Tellus' spirit of fearless artistic exploration into the future.

The story of Tellus begins, fittingly, at the Rum Runner Bar on Canal Street. There, in 1983, visual artist Joseph Nechvatal, curator Claudia Gould, and composer Carol Parkinson conceived an entirely new kind of publication. Portable cassette players were transforming how people experienced music, and the trio saw an opportunity to use the cassette itself as a curatorial medium—one capable of circulating work that traditional record labels, galleries, and magazines simply couldn't accommodate. Early recordings by Sonic Youth and Liquid Liquid sit alongside works by James Tenney, George Brecht, Takehisa Kosugi, Carol Parkinson, Y Pants, Live Skull, Shelley Hirsch, Lenny Pickett, Paul Dresher, Gregory Whitehead, and dozens of other artists whose work helped define one of the most fertile creative communities of the era.

Tellus: The Audio Cassette Magazine Anthology, Vol. 1 is a living archive—a collection that captures a moment when artists reimagined not only what music could sound like, but how it could be published, shared, and experienced. Through this anthology, Earth Libraries invites a new generation of listeners into one of the most visionary and influential experiments in independent publishing, ensuring that Tellus' spirit of curiosity, nonconformity, and creative freedom continues to resonate for decades to come. Artists featured on the anthology, Tellus founders, and key figures involved in the project are available for interviews. Press also has access to an extensive archive of materials, including rare photographs, original artwork, scans of Tellus cassettes and ephemera, and other historical assets. A private screening link to the documentary is available upon request, along with additional materials and archival content to support coverage.