I fucking love mixtapes, and I regularly make them and give them to friends and loved-ones. I'm not part of the (wanky) iPod generation yet, I listen to minidiscs which are perfect for mixes, and have about ten mixes on the go in my MD stack, which are updated acording to my whims and when I hear a new song that makes me flip.
I'm a bit like you, Mathlete, in that I try not to use singles. I've grown out of this a bit in recent years, as I used to like making tapes that were just b-sides or really obscure songs, but I've since realised that people might like some of these songs, so I'll sneak on a good single, especially if it hasn't been beaten to death by the radio and tv yet. I like using random covers and songs used in adverts as a way of getting attention from an audience, I like being asked 'who's this band? I know this...', but that feeling probably says a lot about the psychologies of people that make mixtapes, doesn't it? And, Math - ...is usually pretty fun to listen to... shouldn't this be priority number one?  Especially if you are trying to get this person to like you?
I make lots of mixes for my SO. She's a soppy beggar, and likes lots of quirky love-songs and nasty-heaviness with a groinal edge to it. I usually do it by picking songs that really remind me of her, new or old, as well as stuff that I know she hasn't heard yet but I think she'll really like. I guess that's the benefit of really knowing someone before making them a tape though. I think that if I didn't know the person so well, I'd play it a little safer. I make mix CDs for work to escape the tyrrany of local commercial radio, and I have to be careful not to have anything too challenging on there, but also to not make it too boring and filled with slow-paced acoustic laments or twee electro.
I think, like Jack fear and Nick Hornby in High Fidelity say, there is a definite art to making a mix-tape. Start strong, get stronger and stronger still, then bring it back, chill it out. Maybe make the listener forget what they were listening to, or the intensity of the early tracks, then come back with the most up-beat, manic tune you have to either make the listener jump or laugh (or both). I'm a bit rock-centric so I alway like to make the 'wake-up' song as heavy and nasty as possible, it's great fun after a long acoustic interlude. And I always end on an oldie, like 'Fly me to the Moon' (Peggy Lee's version is my favourite), or 'The Joker'.
My favourite MD at the moment goes like this:
1) McClusky - To Hell with Good Intentions
2) Red nice Guy - cosmo (a local band to me, search myspace for them, they rock)
3) 65daysofstatic - 65 doesn't understand you
4) Finch - Worms of the earth
5) Bright eyes - first day of my life (don't moan, my SO loves it)
6) (no idea what the band's name is) Four Colour Love song
7) Biffy Clyro - Buddy Holly 9this is a cover from a Kerrang Cd. everyone should own this song, but I don't know where else you can find it)
8) Tool - Hooker with a penis
9) Guillemots - made up love song #43
10) adem - ringing in my ear
11) Such great heights acoustic cover
12) 80's matchbox b-line disaster - mister mental
13) The used and My chemical romance - under pressure
14) Test Icicles - Biggest Mistake
15) Weezer - Suzanne
16) Saul Williams - List of Demands
17) Peggy Lee - Fly me to the moon
Hmmm, might have to listen to it now... |
