This morning I walked out to my car only to find that my CD player had been stolen. I wasn’t so upset about the stereo itself; every morning up until now I was pleasantly surprised to find it still there. Frankly, I’m far more upset about the mix CD that was in it. The one that a guy I was dating made for me a few summers ago. The one that I stupidly didn’t put on my iTunes. If only I’d taken it—that one—out the thief would have left it, too. Whoever stole the CD player didn’t much like my taste in music. He (I’m assuming it was a ‘he’) had gone through the rest of my CDs and left them on the seat.
It’s too bad I wasn’t listening to one of those yesterday, because the mix ‘he’ took was irreplaceable. It featured Animal Collective, Wilco, Portishead, Jeff Buckley and other bands/artists that were far too cool for me to even recognize. I’m considering writing the Boy of Summer Past to ask if he still has the file, but we haven’t spoken in two years and that might be a little… awkward.
So, Scanners, what’s the best mix anyone ever made you? And do you still have it?
I started a mixtape club in my hometown so I’ve gotten a number of great mixes these last couple of years. Probably one of the best that I’ve gotten outside of that, though, is a mix that an acquaintance on the west coast sent me a few years back. The music was all great (Tom Waits, Beastie Boys, etc…) but the best part was that she bothered to make it and send it at all. It’s like the best letter you can ever get in the mail.
Apollo
commented on
Jun 30 09
at
11:27 am
About a year or so ago, my car was broken into and the entire contents of my CD collection was taken. (Don’t ask me why I was using the trunk of my car as a storage unit for my CDs.) I didn’t care about most of the CDs. I hadn’t listened to them in years. But then there were all the mix CDs my husband had made me over the course of our courtship…the ones that introduced me to Pulp, Annie, The Dandy Warhols, and others. Those are the ones I miss the most because, every time I replayed them, I discovered something new to like.
stephanerd
commented on
Jun 30 09
at
11:30 am
One of my bffs made a tape for my birthday one year, probably only about 5 or so years ago. I still had a cassette player in my car then (79 VW bus) and sadly I still do now, though the car is much less cool (an early 90s mom-style minivan). The tape starts with “You Don’t Know How Young You Are” by the 13th Floor Elevators and the hits just keep on coming, including an awesome Pere Ubu dance party song, the Gremlins theme, and “Albee Square Mall” by Biz Markee. Best mix tape ever!
Colleen Kane
commented on
Jun 30 09
at
11:57 am
My favorite mix tape ever was the one my punk rock boyfriend made for me when we were both in college. I was more of a new-wave chick and he wanted to give me a little taste of his world. It had songs by the Misfits, The Dead Kennedy’s, TSOL, The Birthday Party, Nick Cave, The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, Black Flag… awesome. I still have the tape somewhere in a box or drawer, but I don’t have anything to play it on!
melissa
commented on
Jun 30 09
at
12:37 pm
my boyfriend gave me a mix cd right before we began dating, that i still love. it started out with regina spektor and moved on to animal collective, the unicorns, and the velvet underground. win.
m0006m
commented on
Jun 30 09
at
2:10 pm
Probably the mix tape I got from my ex (way back when he genuinely liked me and I was still in high school). It started off with NIN and somehow mixed together Tori Amos, Ben Folds Five, and Placebo (among others) and sound amazing. Plus he did a wicked photoshop job with the label. Ahh.. young love.
I also throughly enjoyed the random paper bag of mixed tapes I found with friends on a park bench in 1996-ish (mostly oldies and a few pop hits from the mid-late ’80s). Oh, and there was the mix tape of Tori Amos songs that I got in like 1994 or something from a total stranger (a friend of a friend I never met) that had a pretty hand drawn label on it and was responsible for introducing me to Tori Amos.
I do agree with Apollo though — the best part was that these were made at all!
jct
commented on
Jun 30 09
at
7:38 pm
I very much enjoy making mixes for others; however, I often make them for myself, too. I keep a legal pad handy that I continually use to make notes of potential songs that can be lumped together according to theme, sentiment or occasion; I also spend a good deal of time making sure the flow of songs works well…I know, sort of obsessive. For instance, I’m a sucker for sad songs. Among my favorite mixes is one I created that’s a playlist of various lamentations from Tom Waits (”I Hope That I Don’t Fall in Love With You”), Johnny Cash (singing “I See a Darkness”), Dar Williams’ cover of Springsteen’s “Highway Patrolman”, Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright”, Velvet Underground’s “Pale Blue Eyes” (of course), and various Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen songs, among others (side note: I count Rufus Wainwright’s cover of “Chelsea Hotel” among the saddest, most soulful tunes I’ve ever heard. It’s a beauty — check it out). It’s a great playlist for a certain mood. Putting mixes together is a very cathartic and personal activity — and it’s almost as fun as listening to the end results.
Dino
commented on
Jul 01 09
at
12:33 am
Oh no I’m so sorry
My favourite mixtape (which I recently backed up in three locations after a near-loss hehe) was made by an ex-friend / ex-something. The tape is called Dan, the Album. It was a friend of mine who I never got together with because we were never single at the same time, but we always had a strange connection. Then last time I was single, he acquired this semi-abusive demon woman and was conned into proposing to her, and she’s blacklisted me from his life. So all I have of my friend is this amazing, incredible mix tape. Still makes me sad to hear it but I love the songs so much. Corny, I know.
jenny
commented on
Jul 04 09
at
3:06 am
