Jan
30
Mixed Results
Filed Under Music
My friend in Texas makes the best mixes. Mixes full of eclectic, evocative songs. His latest tells the story of the birth of his son as a rock opera. This is good stuff. I don’t speak to my friend very often, but when one of these CDs mysteriously lands on my doorstep, it’s a reunion of sorts. I get a peek at his thoughts, his moods, his life.
A true mix, a good mix, is something other than a collection of favorite songs. A mix tells a story, communicates a message to the listener. A mix is something for other people.
Making mixes is easier than ever, so I’m surprised I don’t see more of these around. (Maybe the fact that I am long out of high school has something to do with it, but I’m not convinced.) In the glam days of the 80s, you had to cue up two tape decks, hit record at the proper moment, pause between tracks, add up minutes (45 per side!), check counters, and on and on. Even after CDs, creating a mix involved several evenings of drinking heavily while listening to random CDs and scratching out notes before inevitably calling an ex-girlfriend. Here’s the point when I praise technology. Since I digitized all my music for my iPod, everything is ready to go. All I need to do is create a new playlist and burn it.
Sure, the quality isn’t great, but I’m no audiophile. This isn’t about distributing music anyway; it’s about telling someone a story. What would be great is if I could create a playlist, upload it to the iTunes music store, and buy copies of the whole mix for my friends to download. Hey, other people could buy it, too.
I doubt artists (or record companies) would go for this. People go to a lot of trouble to make albums. Who am I to cut up their story arc because I think a White Stripes song segues well into a Johnny Cash classic? But there’s also the argument that we are becoming a commodity culture–we already buy songs a la carte. Maybe it’s time to allow new formats like this. Maybe it’ll increase sales by providing a benefit for buying electronic music. It could make some money.
My last mix was entitled Dirty Girls: Songs about mean, troubled, and generally uncivilized women. I think it took me six months of tinkering before I gave up and called it done, but it was fun. At best, I entertained a few friends. At a minimum, I rediscovered a few tracks in my archive without drunk dialing anyone. I have a couple of more ideas on deck:
- Waking up in a Hotel in the Desert Next to Liz Phair
- But Dad, I Don’t Want to be an Astronaut!
- Camaros and Monte Carlos: A Tribute
I’ll let you know how it goes in about eighteen months.
Comments
Leave a Reply
-
Categories
-
Archives
-
My Photos
-
-
