Comments on: The Lost Art of the Mixtape

By: Brammi

Brammi — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 03:15:25 +0000

Mixed CDs are a whole new art form. Now we can choose from any song in history to suit a feeling, an occasion, a roadtrip, etc.

No longer do we have to ‘catch’ the song as it hits the top 40 station.

No longer will one song randomly follow another. Tracks can be artfully arranged for maximum impact.

Maybe the best part? You can make tons of copies with no sacrifice to sound quality.

I’ve sent entire stacks of identical mix CDs to friends up and down the west coast, hand-delivered as one friend visits another. It’s so rare that we can all get together at once, but we can all enjoy the same music together!

And no, dumping your entire folder of music on a thumb drive doesn’t count. There’s no love there, no artful collage of songs, no laser-etched permanence.

ALL HAIL THE MIX CD!

By: Helenann

Helenann — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:46:14 +0000

My favortite had songs from, “The Last of the Mohicans,” on it…it was perfect for writing my Masters thesis to, so I named it, “The Wes Studi Mix.”

By: Leah

Leah — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:48:09 +0000

I still make mixed tapes (and I’m 22)! And cds, sometimes, if I’m lazy. And the thing is, years later, I still have people saying “I found that mixed tape you made me… I forgot how much I loved it…” Oh, the mixed tape. There’s nothing better.

By: vegebrarian

vegebrarian — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:53:28 +0000

I still make mix cds all the time, but there is something infinitely better about mix tapes…still have notebooks from high school and college where I made lists of potential tracks…cds and tapes spread out around me on the floor. You have to me more alert to stop the tape at the right spot and you really listen to it while it’s being created. I used to like to make tapes with number names like ‘Cloud 9′ and then each song on the tape would be track 9 from a different album. I love project playlist because searching through other people’s playlists is like eavesdropping on thousands of mix tapes.

By: PartiallyDeflected

PartiallyDeflected — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:33:43 +0000

Ah yes, fitting songs onto the 45 minute sides of a C-90 tape – that last song often being chosen mostly because of its length. I’d make tapes mostly to listen to in my car tape player.
I still have a Pavlovian response to certain songs, When I hear them I expect them to be followed by the song that came after them on the tape.

By: ricky

ricky — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:31:19 +0000

my fave mix tape was from before they called them that. right after they came out with radios with cassette recorders in them (way before they actually sold musical tapes and before 8 track)i recorded songs off of the radio.

i had a cassette that was nothing but the song There’s got to be a Morning After from The Posideon Adventure. i used to play it when i did the dishes and drove my mom nuts.

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:18:14 +0000

Great post. There’s this fairly new blog along a common thread, centered on mix CDS: sundaymixing.blogspot.com.

By: greg

greg — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:52:24 +0000

..gotta agree with megan… the mix tape and the advent of writable CD’s gave birth to the mix CD…. even now, I know people who’s kids or students have been given a mix drive (jump drive or thumb drive).. but, yeah, mix tapes were awesome and only the truly gifted or love lorn could make a really good mix tape

By: Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:48:59 +0000

I had tons of mixed tapes. I would tape songs from the radio and even off MTV! They were dubbed “Missy’s Greatest Hits”. For a while, they were one of my most prized possessions!

By: VM

VM — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:45:22 +0000

“Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” has some wonderful bits about mixtapes (well, mixCDs actually), including the inadvertent pre-romancing of Norah who rescues and listens to the CDs Nick’s ex has been throwing away.