HowWasTheShow Blog

The Lost Art of the Mix Tape

Maybe it was Glen Hansard of the Frames talking about making a mix tape years ago for a girl in Ireland he'd taken a fancy to (in hopes of getting a little snog, he said) that got me thinking about it. How long has it really been since I assembled a collection of music for someone else, or for myself for that matter?

Too long.

I'm sure more people are making mix CD's than tapes these days. A mix (whatever the media) puts songs in new contexts for you, enables you to share music with others in a far more personal way than Napster. Heaven forbid the RIAA attempt to crack down on mix makers who traffic in small quantities of copyrighted material.

Some months ago I promised to send a sampling of Minnesota Music to my friend Andrew Zincke in London. This past week I finally finished it and got it in the mail. The thing was, I enjoyed the final product so much that I can't stop listening to it myself and have even made a couple extra copies for friends. (I doubt the RIAA will come tearing after me with sirens blaring as most of the music on this CD is not only not from major label artists, as you will see, but artists which might actually be considered "unsigned.")

If anyone who's reading this has recently assembled any great mix tapes along any theme of note, I'd be interested in seeing a song listing.

Here's my mix, aptly titled "Look Ma, No Prince!"

1. Polara - Jet Pack Blues
2. The Soviettes - Bottom's Up Bottomed Out
3. Jonas - God Shagged the Queen
4. The Autumn Leaves - Maria's Hat (my current favorite song!)
5. Friends Like These - Heaven
6. The Beatifics - Sorry Yesterdays
7. Big Ditch Road - Not To Me
8. Luke's Angels - One Small Glimpse
9. Raven - Something's Not Right
10. Dan Israel - Overloaded
11. The Rake's - New Clown in Town
12. Ben Weaver - The Woodpecker Song
13. Work of Saws - The Pious Flats
14. Revolver Modele - Silhouettes
15. Astronaut Wife - Are You For Real?
16. Har Mar Superstar - Power Lunch
17. The Monarques - Who?
18. Mike Gunther - Redemption #4
19. The Replacements - The Ledge
20. The Jayhawks - Waiting for the Sun