On Mixtapes
So I was out last night and my buddy John and I started waxing poetic about mixtapes. Not mix CDs. Making a CD for someone is cool, or filling up a jump drive with music, or beaming a song straight into their brains via nano-powered Song Guns, but it’s not a mixtape. Sharing music in any format is a soul-affirming experience, but there’s something about the effort involved in crafting the perfect mixtape and producing the actual tape - a much more labor-intensive process than making a CD.
We did an impromptu survey and - shockingly - none of the girls in our group had ever received a mixtape from a boy. So now we have a project: we’re each going to craft a mixtape for about five of our coworkers and also probably for the waitress. This is going to mean dusting off the dual-deck tape recorder and buying some blank tapes for the first time in years, but I think it’ll be a fun diversion. And I’ll probably blog some more about the mixtaping as it’s going on or after it’s done - one of the two.
So, Single Reader, tell me about the last mixtape you received/gave. What was on it?
6 comments
I got a mix tape in 8th grade…well, sort of. A boy who had a crush on me made me a recording of him playing the guitar and singing “Babe” by Styx and somehow inserted my name into it. All these years later, I still have it at my Mom’s house in a box with other junior high and high school knick knacks.
God, I can’t remember the last mix tape I made…but it’s been a long time. I was BIG into mixtapes for most of my twenties. Making them, giving them, getting them…and of course, most all of my mixtapes had a romantic attachment along with it.
I did also get into mix CDs, and I get how it’s not quite the same, but it sorta is…also I’d never make a mixtape in this day and age cause all my music is digital, baby.
(you should link to Alert Nerd on the blogroll, brah. It’s a good site.)
I think the last one I had made was for my eventual, and now ex, wife, nigh on over ten years ago.
I’ve gotta say, I admire that you’re doing this. A few months ago a friend and I were discussing how much more mix-tapes mattered to you than mix CD’s, sinc eyou actually had to plunk your ass down in front of the ol’ dual-deck for 120 minutes to get it done.
I’ve also got to say, that I don’t think I’ve ever made a mix CD or playlist as good as some of those mix tapes I had made back in the day. There’s just something much more organic about actually listening to the songs as they record and letting the vibe dictate the next song. Dammit, now I have to go to Goodwill tomorrow and see if they have a tape deck for cheap.
Oh yeah, thanks for the blogroll add!
I made a mixtape of showtunes for a guy I liked who was a musical theatre fan. Then was actually shocked he turned out to be gay.
Last mix tape I made was about 14 years ago for an ex-girlfriend who I still loved but who had broken up with me and moved to Texas. We were trying that “still be friends” thing and she had asked me to send a tape of stuff that I was currently listening to. Stuff like Gigolo Aunt’s “Cope,” Poster Children’s “Boyfriend” and Kitchens Of Distinction’s “4 Men” all found their way onto it.
Real subtle.
By the way, as you imbark on this project are you watching HIGH FIDELITY?
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