1993 saw the release of six more cassettes and a growing number of connections with other members of the home-taping underground, a major institution in unconventional music circles in the mid 1980's which had fallen into stagnation by the early 1990's. By the beginning of 1994, E.F. was a cornerstone in a rebirth in the cassette scene, along with such labels as Chocolate Monk, Betley Welcomes Careful Drivers, Union Pole and the myriad of blossoming hard-noise imprints. Within a two-year period E.F. released 150 cassettes by artists the world over, attracted the attention not only of the relevant zines, but of local papers and mainstream art and music publications.

Most of the dub and distribution work for E.F. was done by Hagstrom - he produced and sent out several thousand cassettes, mostly at his own expense. On one memorable Saturday Hagstrom spent 19 hours straight dubbing cassettes with five tape decks. This madness took its toll and by July of 1996, with EF#175 on the verge of release, Hagstrom elected to quit and thus put E.F. to rest. Vance desired to continue the label in a small way by releasing the odd 8-track cartridge, but the only release to come of this was a compilation of cutting-edge electronica from Minneapolis, which was released in January 1997. Vance and Hagstrom continued to release music on vinyl and CD using the SunShip Records name.

But finally the cassette bug bit again, and in February 1998 E.F. was brought back to life in a much more limited capacity, with far fewer releases in smaller editions and with special packages. The first new release reflects the spirit of "The Poor, The Sick and The Ignorant" - a 60-minute self-deprecatingly entitled compilation featuring the current projects and bands of Hagstrom and Vance...