Comments on: Mini Review: Mix Tape by Thurston Moore

By: Breakfast Links: Ants, Mixtape Stories & Rating Wives

Breakfast Links: Ants, Mixtape Stories & Rating Wives — Thu, 15 May 2008 11:25:38 +0000

[...] the ants don’t get the cassette decks down there. Cause we here at #commetns love our Mix Tapes. No muxtapes, yet, though. Still, we fully, fully approve of this site, Cassette From My Ex. Seems [...]

By: felix

felix — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 18:28:44 +0000

Nice! Yeah, I’m that old too. :) Although I admit to only being a little bit into Sonic Youth (except the Ciccone Youth album, which is pretty stunningly awesome).

I see, though, you were using those tracks as sort of gateway tracks… this first track is free, subsequent tracks require good taste! ;)

By: Garrison

Garrison — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 18:25:42 +0000

Great post! I found you via the Pipes site as I’m currently researching for a new project. Being a life long Sonic Youth fan since 1982 (yes, I’m that old!), I couldn’t resist reading it.

I’ve put those ‘weak’ tracks on tapes for a girl but it was always as a way of getting her into the cool stuff, and you know what, it always worked!

By: felix

felix — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:47:30 +0000

Michael, let’s talk! :) Let me know what you think of the book if you get it, it’s pretty great.

Poyla, you should definitely scan the best of the best in. I want to see it, dammit!

Ronin, yeah, mixaloo seems interesting, although, it’s a little questionable selling your playlists to your friends… I mean, it kinda misses the point of the mixtape.

By: ronin

ronin — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:09:55 +0000

You mixed tape masters might want to keep an eye on this site:

http://mixaloo.com/

By: Poyla

Poyla — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 03:32:45 +0000

Wow this is great! I must have made a thousand mix tapes in my day and I still have a lot of them. They consist of everything from home made live metal songs to full mixer mixed opuses that played seamlessly the whole side.
I remember making “live” mix tapes where I would write each song down and listen to the songs one at a time to find a proper order. Sometimes it would be on vinyl and sometimes on other cassette tapes, so I had to make sure I did not put 2 vinyl songs back to back as I only had one record player and 2 tape decks at the time. I made mixes for every occasion, skateboarding and skiing (mostly punk and techno), falling asleep, driving, chilling, dancing, anything. Great post. I am sure I can find some to scan as I usual did artwork on the tape itself and the inserts. (white out was a favorite mix tape cassette medium cause most of the cheap bulk blank tapes were black)

By: Matthew R Walker

Matthew R Walker — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 16:50:51 +0000

Hey there! The book sounds amazing and I am going to try and hunt it down. I am with you regarding Thurston Moore’s comments, that there is a “true love” of music implicit in making tapes, CDs or in some forms of file sharing. Music is so intensely personal and formative to our identities that the desire to share is a natural outpouring of this. When I discover a musical gem my first instinct is to always share it with others so they can experience it as well

This is something that the RIAA doesn’t seem to get ( and why the have filed & won a lawsuit against a single mom in Minnesota who shared some songs online). Thankfully some artists (like Moore) see the value and inevitability in sharing music. I am therefore thrilled to bits at what Radiohead is doing (see my latest blog post) and how their love of music and respect for fans has resulted in them offering their latest album via a “pay what you want to” format through their website.

Anyways, I enjoyed your posting. I would be totally into exploring mixed tape culture further in a blog format, as the great care and thoughtfulness that goes into making and packaging a personalized compilation is in my mind a valid art form in and of itself. If you or anyone you know is interested in collaborating on something of this nature I would be happy to discuss further. Cheers!