B Sides To Die For: Bringing The Mix Tape Back

October 26, 2009 by Jackie
Filed under Featured

Digital music downloads, i-Tunes, mp3 files, 20 years ago such language would have fallen on deaf ears. Welcome to the new music industry, where audiophiles can click ’n’ download data in mere minutes, drag that data into neat little virtual folders, and transfer it all to a portable listening device with a 10,000 song capacity. With a boundless catalogue of music at our fingertips, technology has given listeners free reign to discover new genres, artists and discographies throughout the ages. But does the immediacy and convenience of digital downloads affect the actual absorption of the music?

Hearing and listening, the difference between the two is palpable. In your lifetime, you will hear an endless barrage of Billboard hits, one-hit wonders and catchy endorsement songs for The Gap. But count the times you’ve stopped, adjusted your oversized headphones and listened. That thump-thump-thumping in the center of your chest when you discover that song, that album, that band that is the soundtrack to your life. The words and music suddenly have meaning, have a message. You are all but positive that message is meant solely for you. Almost immediately you want to share this wonderful feeling. And if you are true to your hipster roots, there is only one thing to do: document your findings. Compile all of the personal mementos of music you’ve found and pass it on to another. In short, make a mix tape.

Author/producer/ and music pioneer, Thurston Moore has penned, “In the future, when social scientists study the mix tape phenomenon, they will conclude – in fancy language – that the mix tape was a form of ‘speech’ particular to the late twentieth century, soon to be replaced by the play list.” However, a play list cannot convey the same message as a mix tape. From developing a theme and a track list, to the execution of every minute-by-minute recording, the mix tape is a medium like no other. The tangibility of the mix tape speaks volumes. Now, your average naysayer may naysay, “But, Jackie, cassettes have fallen into the black hole of technological obsolescence. Why not just burn yourself a nice compact disc?” Not a terrible idea, but, in my opinion, a mix CD simply cannot capture the same emotion of the audiocassette. Mix tapes, in their very nature are stories looped around a central theme; chapters that, from track to track, take the listener on a journey down the beaten path of the tape’s creator. The design of the cassette is to listen-start to finish-without skipping any pages of the proverbial story. And like any story, it has a beginning, a middle and an end, with just enough of that nostalgic analog hiss in between.

A mix tape has become, in short, the story heard ‘round the hipster campfire. It’s shared by many and appreciated for what it is: an exchange of ideas, a meeting of the minds, and of course, the chance to impress your friends with your vast musical knowledge. And as the fictional indie icon, Rob Gordon of High Fidelity argues, “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 let’s discuss the makings of a good mix. Presuming you have the essential equipment, i.e.: A stereo system with CD and tape deck function and blank cassettes, the next step is the decision of what to include on the tape. The message of mix tapes changes with regards to circumstance and recipient. However, one thing should remain a constant: an overarching theme that ties it all together. I’ve given many mix tapes over the years, ranging in themes from “I Love You But This is One Fucking Complicated Mess” and “Music as Medicine: Please, Stop Snorting Crack,” to an academically acclaimed mix tape documenting the sounds of “Essentials in Women’s Studies.” In all of these mix tapes, the common denominator is a theme, a concrete idea that keeps your emotions in check and your choices of song at optimum potential.

As for your song choices, the instrumentation and the lyrics are the two key components. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different genres or styles, so long as flow and continuity aren’t compromised. The transition from track-to-track should seem almost effortless. It basically boils down to revealing a message blended in each track, one that you believe could be inferred by the intended listener, literal or metaphorical, subtle references or blatant admissions. You could also consider point-of-view, or perspective when choosing tracks. Using lyrics as a first-person narrative can get tiresome. Try choosing a few songs that involve your theme in a roundabout way, ones that don’t necessarily imply you as the speaker of the lyrics, but a passerby merely observing the situation from a distance. It’s a difficult thing to explain, but an astute listener just knows how to use lyrical wordplay to his or her advantage. Leaving the listeners with enough variations of material to strike intrigue but not so much as to bombard them with your eclecticism, will have them transfixed to the tape deck.

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When given the opportunity to publish my penchant for mix tapes on Hipsters Eat for Free, I thought, what better an occasion such as this, to share a timely mix for all those embracing the stronghold of digitally downloaded music? Since I can’t conceivably dub mix tapes for all of you listeners out there, I offer you the opportunity to do so yourself. With this in mind, I have made a cross-technological track list of sorts. By all means, download these songs, listen and enjoy, but consider the possibilities of surrender to the aesthetic and the allure of the mix tape…especially when the mix is an epic sci-fi/horror battle between robots and zombies. Side A, Robots. Side B, Zombies (as in, b-movies… Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

Just remember, a mix tape is, in short, an audibly formatted chronicle of life’s little ups and downs. It’s the soundtrack to your life. It’s the mundane and the insane. It’s a drama. It’s a horror. It’s a romantic fucking comedy. And it’s yours to share, to absorb, to interpret. So with that said, I present to you, Robots vs. Zombies: a Hipster Halloween Mix.