A nice piece in today's Guardian by Sean O'Hagan about the mix tape, always a labour of love from the creator for various modes of consumption: as a chance to show some one new your broad musical taste, a chance to gather various songs under a single theme, as a means of communication with your friends, a way to get ahold of some songs that might otherwise be impossible to acquire, etc.
Lord knows I've got a couple of boxes of cassettes still on hand, for like most people, there are lots and lots of memories associated with these items, not to mention the aforementioned songs that I don't have on a CD anywhere, such as rare b-side single tracks or from various compilation albums that didn't find their way onto a regular issue album. In the grand scheme of things, these couple of boxes don't take up that much space, and while it's not likely I'll ever buy another Walkman in my life (I have no interest really in an Ipod), there are still loads of cassette players out there to do the job, not to mention software that will let one record the rare songs to your computer in digitized form.
Part of the charm of the tapes, especially the non-themed ones, was working on instinct on what song would follow any other song, such as one might hear on a good radio station that would have an eclectic play list, not the predetermined garbage we get from the likes of Clear Channel. If it wasn't done right, as O'Hagan notes, some of these tapes could take an average of 5 hours to compile, by which time one might lose a little patience and rush to complete the job that night.
This article is also a great companion to the book edited by Thurston Moore a couple of years ago entitle Mix Tape: The Art Of Cassette Culture.
The tape above is not mine, just for illustrative purposes only, though my titles would often have a similar title.
SEAN O'HAGAN
THURSTON MOORE
The last tape I made, with inclusion of vinyl material, was a couple of years ago:
Side One:
Nick Cave-Jack The Ripper
Leftfield-Dusted
Cabaret Voltaire-Safety Zone
The Heads-The Damage I've Done
Rage Against The Machine_Guerrilla Radio
Wyclef Jean-Bubblegoose
Mudhoney-Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown
Lyle Lovett-Sonja
Oasis-The Masterplan
The Orb-Toxygene
Side Two:
Crystal Method-Keep Hope Alive
Uncle Tupelo-Sin City
Primal Scream-Keep Your Dreams/Swastika Eyes
Smith & Mighty-No Justice
U2-Staring At The Sun (monster truck mix)
X-Burning House Of Love
That Petrol Emotion-Abandon
Dwight Yoakam-Thinking About Leaving
Alan Jackson-Pop A Top
For posterity, my all time most played tape, entitled Son Of E-Z Listening
Side One:
The Replacements-Swingin' Party
" -Here Comes A Regular
" -Skyway
Rain Parade-Carolyn's Song
" -Sad Eyes Kill
Rainy Day-I'll Keep It With Mine
" -I'll Be Your Mirror
Robbie Robertson-Broken Arrow
Rachel Sweet-New Age
Scritti Politti-Faithless
Squeeze-Black Coffee In Bed
Steve Kilbey-The Empire Mourns Her Son Without Tears
Side two:
Style Council-You're The Best Thing
Jonathan Richman-That Summer Feeling
Velvet Underground-Pale Blue Eyes
The Triffids-Trick Of The Light
School Daze soundtrack-I'm Building Me A Home
This Mortal Coil-Song To The Siren
Magazine-A Song From Under The Floorboards
Marty Willson-Piper-She's King
Tom Verlaine-Dissolve/Reveal
The Church-Disenchanted
Bruce Springsteen-I'm On Fire
Dream Syndicate-Someplace Better Than this
obviously a collection of tracks thar are more laid back.
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