...why don't I just make you a tape...
I miss the mix-tape era. Maybe I was a young impressionable eighth grader, or I've simply over romanticized the process of making a mix-tape, but there was a certain emotion, this tangible amount of yourself that you left as a hidden track when you made a tape for someone.
Unlike CDs, tape requires that the timing of musical selections be precise-- No one wants a tape with half a song at the end. Similarly, tiresome amounts of empty space on a mix-tape can ruin someones Tuesday and/or their opinion of you.
When CD burners and Photoshop hit the scene it suddenly became the "goal" to recreate store bought music but I feel that personal sentiments get lost in translation. That was MY handwriting on the tape sleeve, and I used to propel sleeve writing to new heights. I got such poor marks in penmanship all throughout grade school, but when I sat down to write the liner notes to the tape I made for that cute girl in homeroom, I could've gotten a job at Hallmark.
Perhaps the most significant element of the mix-tapeing process was ones ability to convey any number of messages, secret or blatant, to any number of people. If I had to make a tape based on how Im feeling right now it would probably look like this--
01. Jon Brion - "Elephant Parade" (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind OST)
02. The Decemberists - "Clementine" (Castaways and Cutouts)
03. Nick Drake - "Northern Sky" (Bryter Layter)
04. Coldplay - "Green Eyes" (A Rush of Blood to the Head)
05. Joseph Arthur - "Honey and the Moon" (Redemption's Son)
06. Ryan Adams - "Goodnight Hollywood Blvd." (Gold)
07. The Decemberists - "Bridges & Balloons" (BIS)
08. Iron & Wine - "Such Great Heights" (Garden State OST)
09. Death Cab for Cutie - "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" (Plans)
10. The Shins - "Those to Come" (Chutes Too Narrow)
11. Stars - "The Aspidistra Flies" (The Comeback)
12. Iron & Wine - "Sea & the Rhythm" (The Sea and the Rhythm)
13. Radiohead - "Motion Picture Soundtrack" (Kid A)
14. Sufjan Stevens - "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." (...Illinois)
15. the Microphones - "I Felt Your Shape" (The Glow, Pt. 2)
16. Bob Dylan - "One More Cup of Coffee" (Motion Picture Soundtrack)
cheers...
bw
Unlike CDs, tape requires that the timing of musical selections be precise-- No one wants a tape with half a song at the end. Similarly, tiresome amounts of empty space on a mix-tape can ruin someones Tuesday and/or their opinion of you.
When CD burners and Photoshop hit the scene it suddenly became the "goal" to recreate store bought music but I feel that personal sentiments get lost in translation. That was MY handwriting on the tape sleeve, and I used to propel sleeve writing to new heights. I got such poor marks in penmanship all throughout grade school, but when I sat down to write the liner notes to the tape I made for that cute girl in homeroom, I could've gotten a job at Hallmark.
Perhaps the most significant element of the mix-tapeing process was ones ability to convey any number of messages, secret or blatant, to any number of people. If I had to make a tape based on how Im feeling right now it would probably look like this--
01. Jon Brion - "Elephant Parade" (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind OST)
02. The Decemberists - "Clementine" (Castaways and Cutouts)
03. Nick Drake - "Northern Sky" (Bryter Layter)
04. Coldplay - "Green Eyes" (A Rush of Blood to the Head)
05. Joseph Arthur - "Honey and the Moon" (Redemption's Son)
06. Ryan Adams - "Goodnight Hollywood Blvd." (Gold)
07. The Decemberists - "Bridges & Balloons" (BIS)
08. Iron & Wine - "Such Great Heights" (Garden State OST)
09. Death Cab for Cutie - "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" (Plans)
10. The Shins - "Those to Come" (Chutes Too Narrow)
11. Stars - "The Aspidistra Flies" (The Comeback)
12. Iron & Wine - "Sea & the Rhythm" (The Sea and the Rhythm)
13. Radiohead - "Motion Picture Soundtrack" (Kid A)
14. Sufjan Stevens - "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." (...Illinois)
15. the Microphones - "I Felt Your Shape" (The Glow, Pt. 2)
16. Bob Dylan - "One More Cup of Coffee" (Motion Picture Soundtrack)
cheers...
bw