27
May
A good friend at my job organizes a company-wide “mix swap.” Participants sign up and are placed in a group of several other colleagues. We all make mix CDs. And, on the due date, we swap our mixes with those in our group. It’s a beautiful idea, in theory. You get to discover new music, you share your tastes with coworkers whom you may not have met in your daily wanderings about, you receive items in your mailbox that aren’t spreadsheets, etc.
Of course, in practice, the ordeal is far more stressful and soul-wrenching than I had ever expected.
My first crack at mix swap participation was an unmitigated disaster. With a recommended theme of “love” (Valentine’s day was our due date), my entry was an over-thought mess of skippable tracks, some of which were loosely related to the theme. Most weren’t related at all. One was clearly about being too old to be friends with girls whom you’d rather bone. There were some classics but, for the most part, they were buried beneath layers of hey-check-out-this-shit-that-I-hope-you’ve-never-heard-before and please-be-impressed-with-my-superior-musical-taste. It was chock full of songs with which I had only a passing familiarity. It was wholly forgettable. And I spent HOURS on it.
What the hell happened? In my mix-making heyday, this stuff came easy. I’d grab a cassette and load it up with songs I’d listened to a billion times, and I’d give it to a friend who already knew everything about me. On my first foray into mix-making in adulthood, however, I obviously made a point to appear “with it” for people with whom my relationship is purely professional. I mean, would things have been so bad had I loaded the mix up with Braid and Christie Front Drive, the basis for so many mixes past? Would my coworkers think any less of me if I used the project as a means to indulge nostalgia and unearth some classic Built to Spill and Chisel? Who knows. Surely, it would have been more genuine and enjoyable for me had I gone that route. But does that mean that’s what I’ll be doing for our next mix (due June 20)?
Hell no. In fact, this one is already shaping up to be an unlistenable shitstorm. So far, it contains a remix of a Lykke Li track which is far inferior to any album cut she has (but those are obviously off limits as anyone with an internet connection has already heard them). Then, there’s a Fleetwood Mac song. An 80s-era Fleetwood Mac. There’s a Feelies song (one of those bands you’re supposed to like but don’t). There’s a Los Shakers song (who??). There’s an unreleased Yeasayer song that I painstakingly ripped from a video of a live performance as the track isn’t even properly recorded yet. And hey, what Galaxie 500 song is on there? I couldn’t tell you, but there is one. And so on.
I’m not looking to hyper-intellectualize the art of mix-making or the purpose of creating one at all. I’m just saying that mixes of old had a clear message: “I hope we can listen to these songs while we’re making out in my car or in your dorm room while your roommate is at class because I like you and we should probably get star tattoos together.” But, as a 30 year old, swapping mixes with faceless, ultra-hip co-workers, the message gets a little weird. “Here’s some killer Excel accompaniment, and sure, I’ve heard of MGMT.” Or “groove to this whilst prepping for your big meeting, dear 20-something and if you need any more obscure 80s britpop, you know where to find it!” And, obviously, “PLEASE BELIEVE ME, I KNOW A TON ABOUT MUSIC, and am definitely cool. We should probably make out in my car.”
So, in the spirit of making a mix that recalls a time I’d actually make a mix, I’ve created the first IIF? Muxtape. It’s entitled, “Sincere as a Statue: 1996-2001.” It could have been 5 hours long. Instead, it’s 40 minutes. Enjoy. Don’t judge.
Tracklist:
Jimmy Eat World, “What Would I Say to You Now?”
Christie Front Drive, “Radio”
Braid, “Forever Got Shorter”
Damien Jurado, “Ocean Shores ’87″
Built to Spill, “Car”
American Football, “The One With the Tambourine”
Jejune, “Early Stars”
Modest Mouse, “Polar Opposites”
Mock Orange, “Window Shopping”
The Get Up Kids, “Off the Wagon”
Texas is the Reason, “Back and to the Left”
The Promise Ring, “Between Pacific Coasts”
Comments
4 Responses to “The Pressure of the Professional Mix Tape”
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I think your mix tape sounds great. It sounds like the problem isn’t your music so much as your coworkers. Maybe I’m just getting old, as 30 is only a few months away for me, but I get that curmudgeonly feeling that kids these days don’t know anything about music.
Also, there was a girl on Yelp for a little while who did this whole mixtape swap thing and she posts them on her site. Some pretty decent stuff: http://mixtapesbringsmiles.blogspot.com/
That Muxtape site seems pretty cool. I think I’m going to have to create an account and make my own mixes now.
I think I made this tape before! Really awesome songs for sure. Though, if you really want to show off how cool you are and how much you know, change the Jimmy Eat World song’s title to “What I Would Say to You Now” (switch the “I” and “Would”). I just double-checked the 7″ to make sure.
I’m also willing to bet that if you gave a tape/CD like this to a 20-year-old, he/she would be blown away. For Christ’s sake, he/she was probably 10 or 12-years-old when most of these songs came out! Scary.
Ah, fuck it. Nostalgia IS drunk, after all. Too drunk to get song titles correct.
Great link, Marcello. Thanks for that.
As far as that feeling you have, I should be fair and say that I don’t think my extensive knowledge of the Christie Front Drive catalog is any proof that *I* know anything about music. I’m just saying that my connection to those songs made it easy to throw together a 120min cassette and hand it to someone I met months back at a shitty basement show. Now, it’s a struggle between my general lack of interest in music and my massive uphill battle with being 30 and becoming obsolete in the eyes of far hipper youngsters.
I was you once, dear youngsters! Don’t forget it!