"Now, 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". [Rob Gordon, High Fidelity (2000)] I am admittedly obsessed with the film High Fidelity and reference it whenever and wherever I can. It is my 'Lebowski', to be sure.
High Fidelity was released during the last gasp of the 'mixed tape', just one of the many reasons I adore it so. Watching Rob Gordon pontificate on the making of a good 'mixed CD' just wouldn't be the same.
I was pretty obsessive about making mixed tapes growing up, as the cassette format posed many challenges that no longer exist. Do you add that last song at the end to avoid dead air, even though you know it will cut off in the middle? I always did. I even had special short songs that I would recycle for this purpose, usually of the Sebadoh or Cub variety. This was particularly helpful when the cassette player had the 'auto-flip' function. Does anyone else miss the sound of the 'tone' at the beggining of a cassette? The youth of today just don't know what they missed. Let's take a moment and remember.
Is it mixed tape or mix tape? I've always said mixed tape and the urban dictionary concurs, clearly it's never wrong. I loved making mixed tapes growing up and was pretty compulsive about it, but that is for another post. What about the times when you are super lazy and you just want someone to make the mix for you? Soundtracks! Fill your iPod with a bunch of random soundtracks and voila, no shuffle required! It's a beautiful thing. My last post was about favourite music movies and of course there will be several duplicates on my list. The Last Waltz, High Fidelity, Almost Famous, Empire Records, Purple Rain, Grease, The Doors, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Velvet Goldmine, Rocky Horror Picture Show, This is Spinal Tap... I could go on and on. However, a lot of my faves come from non-music based movies. There is nothing better than watching a movie for the first time and hearing a perfect obscure song, just in the background...yeah, it's the little things. Garden State, Juno, Dazed and Confused, The Big Lebowski, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, (500) Days of Summer, Singles, Adventureland, Reality Bites, Pulp Fiction...again, tip of the iceberg my friends. Let's pause a moment and enjoy the delightful wonder that is Zach Braff, The Only Living Boy in New York.
I was pretty obsessive about making mixed tapes growing up, as the cassette format posed many challenges that no longer exist. Do you add that last song at the end to avoid dead air, even though you know it will cut off in the middle? I always did. I even had special short songs that I would recycle for this purpose, usually of the Sebadoh or Cub variety. This was particularly helpful when the cassette player had the 'auto-flip' function. Does anyone else miss the sound of the 'tone' at the beggining of a cassette? The youth of today just don't know what they missed. Let's take a moment and remember.
