Championship Vinyl.
posted May 7, 2008, 10:09 am | Log In To Post Comments | 
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Tags: high fidelity, mixed tapes
So in the spirit of Rob Gordon, I sometimes lay up at night constructing the perfect mixed tape in my head. I hope I am not alone in this music geekdom...thinking through every transition and the overall mood and imagining the person listening to it and wondering if they will feel all the things I felt when I made it or when I test listen it for the three to five times necessary to be sure it is just the right combination of songs for the person,the moment and the emotion. I have made literally hundreds. I have made them for my wife,for co-workers,ex-girlfriends,people I only know in letters or the internet, one rare occasion for a complete stranger on her request at having heard one I had made someone else. The technology changed and we all create playlists and burn cds now but there is something about getting all Nick Hornsby (although I prefer Cusack's movie) and making an actual mixed tape from vinyl (or whatever source) and passing it on to someone to try to share that musical experience.
"Now, the making of a good compilation tape is a very subtle art. Many do's and don'ts. First of all you're using someone else's poetry to express how you feel. This is a delicate thing."
So tripping over to the other High Fidelity obsession, the Top Five list. Give me your Top Five reasons for making a mixed tape. No rules on this one. Any reason. Maybe ones that you have actually made and why. Whatever. Mine?
TOP FIVE
5. I just met this girl and I want to impress her with my 'depth' and share some songs that I think in some subtle way suggest how much I think we would fit together in a more than 'friendly' way without being so obvious that she thinks I am just trying to get laid. [edit. Not something I still do...I'm a married man.]
4. I am trying to self-define. I want to say something about myself but without saying anything at all. I want the songs to say it for me. It is kind of like saying, it's not what I'm like but what I like that's important.
3. It's Wednesday. Don't need a better reason. Oh yeah...and it's raining.
2. I am trying to share the pure musical genius of some underappreciated artists,time in musical history, or genre. Going for the best tracks without any over-obvious choices...(b-sides,bootlegs and rarities especially appreciated.)
1. Like a love note. The one I make for my wife or my best friend or that girl that I stare at longingly when all of my friends go out but I can't bring myself to say anything so I think maybe I can make the music talk for me. Actually, my wife was all three of those to me. Crafting this kind of mix is very,very delicate as it is so easy to get cloying and sentimental. No one wants a bunch of syrup poured in their ear. It's not a Hallmark card.I made my wife mixes that she still listens to all the time now that stood up to time and a couple of years of forgetting to put the toliet seat down. In fact, if I ever gave her reason to boot me she would keep the music I made her...I am pretty sure of that.
I left off the 'break up' mixes. That can be dangerous stalking type territory. So your turn?
Comments:
For my car, especially when I know I'm gonna hit traffic on the morning commute.
For a friend, or someone I want to impress.
So I can get rid of stuff that's cluttering my computer (but is potentially good enough that I don't wanna get rid of it)
That's generally the top 3. I also like to make mixes to look back on and see how that music defined my year/age.
posted on May 8, 2008, 1:47 am
