The Lost Art of the Mix Tape
There are many reasons to make a music mix tape. To win the love of someone, to make a soundtrack for a long road trip, to help a friend going through a rough patch. Mix tapes require cassettes or CDs, something today’s youth view in the same realm as pay phones, typewriters and Tang. Streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music offer millions of songs just a click away. They’re doing what mix tapes used to do — introducing us to new music. But algorithms will never know us the way our friends do.
Mix tapes aren’t just a compilation of music but a baring of your soul. Done properly, a mix tape is like writing poetry. It reveals your deepest longings and vulnerabilities, the soft spots inside your heart. A mix tape is an MRI of your unconscious. It’s a portrait of who you are and how you view the world. It’s a way to connect with another person and communicate deep feelings through music.
Creating a mix tape takes hours of sweat and toil. You pore over each song compiling the perfect balance of melody, rhythm and lyrical content. A well-crafted mix tape steers clear of the obvious. If including a Jeff Buckley song, skip “Hallelujah” for something more obscure like “Satisfied Mind.” If opting for Dylan, forgo his early catalogue and choose a later gem like “Not Dark Yet.”
