I've been thinking about the mixtape lately, and then this morning on NPR, they mentioned how the Sony Walkman has ceased production, signalling the end of the mixtape. For years, the mixtape has served as a personal introduction, a catalog sampler, and of course, the first step in seduction (remember how Michael from The Office was quick to offer Holly a mixtape for her commute?)
The best mixtapes weren't just about the songs chosen, but the sequencing. I still have sketches I drew of lists of songs, with arrows drawn to rearrange the order until I got it JUST RIGHT. Sometimes you'd work with grades of dynamics, sometimes you'd want to jump from one extreme to another for contrast. Truly a labor of love...
The last "mixtape" I made was a few years back (and I guess it was actually a 'mixdisc' CD compilation). It was for a much younger fellow employee whose love of ska I wanted to expand, with detours into the Beach Boys, Bjork and Judee Sill. Though the media was different, the concept and execution was pretty much the same: the handmade inlay card listing the songs, the care for getting the song order just right, the mix of popular with obscure...as long as people continue to share music, the mixtape will live on in new forms.
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