Pink Floyd teams up with We Are Rewind to put the great gig in the sky into your pocket

Is this the ultimate piece of music merch? Pink Floyd fanatics can now enjoy the remastered version of The Dark Side of the Moon on a dedicated Floyd-branded version of We Are Rewind’s WE-001 cult cassette player

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We Are Rewind X Pink Floyd Edition
We Are Rewind X Pink Floyd Edition of the WE-001 cassette player
(Image credit: We Are Rewind)

All credit to We Are Rewind for taking the cult of the cassette to new and unexpected places. Not content with being amongst the first manufacturers to get back into the format back in 2022, the French company has continued to keep the compact cassette in the hearts and minds of analogue fetishists with a slew of limited editions, including the colourful Edith WE-001 and the Curtis GB-001 boombox.

The dark side of the WE-001 Pink Floyd edition

The dark side of the WE-001 Pink Floyd edition

(Image credit: We Are Rewind)

Now there’s yet another edition of the WE-001, only this time the company has tapped into the motherlode of sonic creativity by teaming up with none other than Pink Floyd. This collaboration steps right back into the 70s with graphics inspired by The Dark Side of the Moon, the 1973 album that has already been honoured with its own turntable courtesy of Pro-Ject Audio Systems as well as countless reissues (and even a Pentagram-designed box set).

The Dark Side of the Moon Turntable by Pro-Ject Audio Systems

The Dark Side of the Moon Turntable by Pro-Ject Audio Systems

(Image credit: Pro-Ject Audio Systems)

Pink Floyd completists will now have to dig deep once more, because accompanying the Pink Floyd X We Are Rewind cassette player is an exclusive new release of the album on tape – the only way you can get the 50th anniversary remaster in this format, to be precise. Back in the day, Dark Side sold impressively well on cassette, making up a substantial chunk of the album’s 50 million sales.

The Dark Side of the Moon cassette player by We Are Rewind

The Dark Side of the Moon cassette player by We Are Rewind

(Image credit: We Are Rewind)

This edition of the WE-001 has all the goodness of the regular model – Bluetooth 5.1 as well as a wired headphone jack, built-in rechargeable battery, recording ability via line-in and an (optional) belt clip.

But aren’t the icons of audiophile quality space rock a little above the wow and flutter of the analogue cassette deck? According to Pink Floyd’s venerable drummer Nick Mason, definitely not. ‘I still have enormous affection for the cassette,’ Mason says, ‘It really was a major breakthrough - not only with the Sony Walkman but with some of the more up-market recorders. I still have my Nakamichi on the shelf and look forward to testing it with the new The Dark Side of the Moon cassette.’

The Dark Side of the Moon 50th Anniversary box set by Pentagram

The Dark Side of the Moon 50th Anniversary box set by Pentagram

(Image credit: Pentagram)

For We Are Rewind’s founder and CEO Romain Boudruche, the tie-in is a perfect one. ‘To call The Dark Side of the Moon a classic album is an understatement. In many ways, it set the tone for what an album experience should be as a continuous piece of sonic art but also used state-of-the-art production techniques and sounds which make it a true musical experience,’ Boudruche says, ‘We're happy that We Are Rewind can play a part in helping preserve the physical album experience.’

We Are Rewind X Pink Floyd Edition comes with a cassette of the remastered The Dark Side of the Moon

We Are Rewind X Pink Floyd Edition comes with a cassette of the remastered The Dark Side of the Moon

(Image credit: We Are Rewind)

In this age of retro-tech and intentional disruption, the last word goes to Mason. ‘Am I correct in assuming that the next major issue will be The Dark Side of the Moon in a large package consisting of the album divided up into 78 RPM discs?’, he asks. Our money is on a wax cylinder edition for the album’s centenary.

We Are Rewind X Pink Floyd WE-001, €179 / £159 / $199, WeAreRewind.com, @WeAreRewind

Jonathan Bell

Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.