I love music and I love sharing the music I love. Its to the point I ship them to New Orleans, Dallas, LA. Wherever. You can do so much to a mix tape. Fall in love, break up, cruising music, bang your head/throw horns, introduce new artist and find new artist, come up with album themes, or simply compile tunes you love and want to jam. I use to put as many tracks as possible within the time given. Now days I put a solid 39-42 minutes worth of music on cassette or cd. Its the right amount to make them want more but also enough to make them not forget how amazing track 2 is. When making a mix tape be sure to give it a name- The Last of the Summer or Flat Broke Disease. Maybe add the date to it so when your kids come across it 14 years from now they will know what you were listening to in 2011. Probably way better than the crap they are listening to.
I know not all my friends have their heads buried in music like I do. I feel it is my duty to send them great stuff. Back in 2008, I became friends with Allison. Right off the bat I handed her two mix cds. I can tell you that I am currently putting together copies of Allison XI & XII. Every odd record album has to have a Rilo Kiley/Jenny Lewis song as track 2. No clue why but it just happened. I cannot tell you all the music I have passed on to her. She is suppose to be sending me them all back so I can re-burn them, they are scratched up and she no longer has the playlists. Send them Lemon.
Recently I posted on my facebook "I have a lot of blank cds, looking to swap mixes with someone." My friend Lizzie answered first. She just moved to LA so its cool finding stuff in the mail every once in awhile instead of dialing the person up and saying "Hey, meet me at Starbucks Thursday and we can swap mixes." The first mixes Lizzie and I exchanged were straight up here is what I am enjoying right now and I think you might dig. I never looked at presentation being a big deal. Lizzie sent me the two records folded up in pages turn out of a magazine. She wrote the track listings on the pages. Though it was hard to read the play list it was still a cool way to ship the cds. I think the first round I just wrote them on the back of the cd case, maybe not even that. Next round we decided to exchange break up mix cds AND mix tapes. For this part I chose to put as many tracks as possible on the cd then convert it to tape. Cd was 80 minutes long while the tape clocked in at 60 minutes. I think for her the cd was shorter than the cassette so she threw a few extra tracks on it. Here is the thing readers, I have a running break up playlist on my itunes so this was easy for me. I collected my tracks and started mixing them around. We text back & forth about how are neighbors and friends probably thought we were depressed emo kids because we would listen to the mixes over and over making corrections before shipping off the final product. My mix ran eighty minutes with 18 tracks. You listen to these songs and you picture the person who was attached to the songs. The mix I put together had a nice flow to it. First few tracks dealt with you wanted to get back with the person, do what ever you can to make it right. How you miss the person. Then you have to face yourself, do what every you can to forget her, but for some reason stuff pops up that remind you of that person. Next step is onto getting over that person, I can do this, need to wash my hands of the problem. You moved on but she still lingers. You bump into her friend, you see a car and you think it might be her. Who knows. Then its finding someone new that might possibly make you forget the ex. Then its full on I'm over you. Most of my long break up playlist is Tom Petty & Ryan Adams. It was very tough not to flood the mix with those two artist. When it was all said and done I packed mine up- naming the cd "I Played Your Song, I Got The Melody All Wrong" and the tape "It's Almost Over & It's Almost Gone." Both of which are Ryan Adams lyrics. On the card I sent I wrote this AMAZING quote from High Fidelity-
What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?
- Rob Gordon
I jotted down the track listings on the back of the card and wrote a small note. I wish I had time/room to write out why I picked each track but for some reason I chose not to. A card and a sheet of stickers along with cassette & album were sent off. I received her mix cassette & cd a few days later. A sheet of tablet paper was folded up with the theme "Barbed Wire Hearts" written on the front. I read the short note first, told me to listen to the cassette first. The tape was wrapped in a long sheet of brown paper bag. I still cannot get it back the right way. There is something about tapes and records that sounds so pure. I listened to it as I drove around one nite. The tracks were killer. I love her mix tape and cd. Each track had a line that I thought "I felt like that."
You can do whatever you want with a mix tape, tell someone how much you care, you can break up with someone using one, you can remember friends, family, places with them. Or you can just have a solid mix of tracks you enjoy and you enjoy sharing. If you want a mix tape/cd, let me know I like putting them together.
My break up mix tape- Artist- Track
"I Played Your Song, I Got The Melody All Wrong"
The Avett Brothers- If It's The Beaches
Rhett Miller- Come Around
Wilco- Say You Miss Me
Whiskeytown- Everything I Do
The Felice Brothers- Marie
Wilco- Hate It Here
Dan Auerbach- My Last Mistake
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals- Sweet Illusions*
Sam Amidon- Fall On My Knees
Rainbow- Since You've Been Gone
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers- Don't Come Around Here No More
Bob Dylan- Most of the Time
Whiskeytown- Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart Tonight
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers- Change the Locks
Bob Dylan- I Don't Believe You
Josh T. Pearson- Drive Her Out
Ryan Adams- Hotel Chelsea Nights**
The Black Keys- Next Girl
* = cd title came from this track
** = cassette title came from this track
R.R.
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