mixtapes have a special place in our lives.  and in our formative years.
a good mixtape can say so much – even more than you can write in a letter or draw in a picture.
well the pictures that i draw at least – and thats mainly because i am an utterly terrible pencil artist.

in 2005, Thurston Moore (guitarist from Sonic Youth and allround awesome musician) authored a book called Mix Tape: The Art of Cassette Culture.  it is a really interesting book – basically a collection of stories and essays and art by musicians and writers and artists centred around the mixtape and cassettes and how they featured in the lives of contributors allowing them to express love and admiration as well as promoting or alerting others to new and/or underground music.

i still have the best two mixtapes that i ever received.
i received one when i was 15 and my best friend sarah was on a 3 month exchange in australia.  i keep that one because i keep everything completely important.  even our old diaries.  she has the book that has the list of all the boys we had kissed.
i received the other when i was about 16 from my boyfriend at the time.  i keep that tape because it was my first mix tape from a boy and quite frankly, its the best.

and a mixtape should be a labor of love too.
it takes time and concentration to select the correct songs for a mix.  and then to arrange them in the correct order so the mood becomes a roller coaster of emotion.  this was even more important when the mixtape was actually a tape.  songs had to be mixed together so accurately to ensure that there was not too much blank tape left on each side or even worse!  a massive faux pas – a track would be cut off by the end of the tape before the song had finished.
with CD’s, DVD’s and mp3 playlists now being used for mixtapes, the non appreciative receiver of said mixtape may skip tracks.  or in a far greater murder of the conceptual art that has been handed to them, select the songs they think they want to hear.  that sends a shudder down my spine.  unless of course, the smart mixtape gifter mixes the “tape” as one track.  which i would do.  to prevent the altering of the path of the music as i had so carefully planned it out.

dont you be forgetting the mixtape rules – 2009 style.

the Mixtape Rules:

1. a theme is a good idea but not necessarily the best place to start.  unless you really want to get a point across.
2. thus a mixtape should have a name – a descriptive name but not too descriptive to give the mood of the mixtape away prioir to listening
3. start with a kicking track – but not THE best track on the mix
4. putting the same artist on twice in a row is just lazy
5. learn to fade or check the whole song.  there is no excuse for a track that cuts off before its time
6. adjust that emotion a notch or two at a time else it becomes too much to handle
7. whilst a mixtape is the taste of the creator, it is for the pleasure of the recipient
8. a mixtape should not be recycled from one person to another
9. mixtape + homemade cover art = more than an expression but a gift

“High Fidelity” is a novel written in 1995 by Nick Hornby in which two of the main characters spend a lot of their lives standing around discussing the aesthetic qualities required of the mixtape.  the book  introduces the concept of the top 5 list – which if you are stuck for the start to a mixtape, a top 5 list of something isnt a bad place to get your inspiration.
it was made into a film which wasnt too bloody bad; 2000’s “High Fidelity” starring John Cusack and Jack Black.

i got a new mixtape today – of the DVD playlist variety.  and i am making my way through it.
which brings me to the last rule;

mixtape rule #10.  when presenting a mixtape, dont ask for the response – wait for it.