Mixtapes: Personal Statements or Enemies of Art?

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Still better than this forum dying slowly every day :shrug:

Okay, Liam! (Note well; I did not attain this girl through mixtapes. But she's going to be getting a lot of them :))

1. Twerps - I Don't Mind
2. Broken Social Scene - Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day)
3. Wilco - Heavy Metal Drummer
4. Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You
5. Architecture in Helsinki - Heart it Races
6. Modest Mouse - Float On
7. M83 - Midnight City
8. Destroyer - Chinatown
9. The National - Slow Show
10. Bon Iver - Blood Bank
11. Radiohead - All I Need
12. Arcade Fire - No Cars Go
13. Massive Attack - Exchange

It's pretty entry level. She has a playlist of about 60 songs that she listens to and that's it, but she has good taste. She loved Age of Adz, so it doesn't need to be entry level, but it is because the artists she listens to is pretty narrow.
 
Looks good!

I made a post-punk/80's alternative rock primer playlist for someone a couple of days ago. They liked it! (they already liked post-punk, but wanted to know what angle I was coming in at.) Maybe someone here'll like it.

1) New Order - "Age Of Consent"
2) Sonic Youth - "(I Got A) Catholic Block"
3) Silkworm - "Cotton Girl"
4) Joy Division - "Insight"
5) The Chameleons - "Swamp Thing"
6) The Cure - "A Strange Day"
7) Mission of Burma - "Academy Fight Song"
8) Minutemen - "Do You Want New Wave Or Do You Want The Truth?"
9) The Smiths - "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out"
10) The Comsat Angels - "Our Secret"
 
^ I have to admit, though I think There is a Light is overrated, it's on on of my shortlists. :lol:

Context; my girlfriend is in Paris for six months and I planned on making her ONE mix cd, but it has blown out into six mix cds, haha. Six different moods. Get Psyched, Happy/Calm, Calming/Relaxing, Sad, Sad/Happy(Melancholy),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, -forgive me father for I have sinned, using oxford comma- and NervousEnergy(C).

I finished all the shortlists last night and just tonight may have finished the first mix cd, SAD. I have to give it a listen through first though. The idea behind this one is a playlist she can chuck on when she's feeling really sad. Not upset, but just that emotion when you're okay... you just feel down.

1. Joe Goddard - "All I Know"
2. Thundercat - "Heartbreaks + Setbacks"
3. Interpol - "NYC"
4. Julien Baker - "Sprained Ankle"
5. Something for Kate - "Monsters"
6. Sun Kil Moon - "Duk Koo Kim"
7. Pavement - "Here"
8. Radiohead - "Fake Plastic Trees"
9. Aimee Mann - "Wise Up"
10. Tom Waits - "Lonely"
11. Thom Yorke - "Truth Ray"
12. Justin Timberlake - "Blue Ocean Floor"
13. Miles Davis - "Blue in Green"

I've always wanted to pair Here and Fake Plastic Trees. They're the same song, musically, at least. I'm not convinced on Blue Ocean Floor... it fits the bill... but listening back it may not be *quite* as good as I remembered it being in 2013. And also I've used Blue in Green to finish a playlist before.
 
I doubt it would make my top five from the album. Great song, but I was quite underwhelmed and disappointed when I finally heard it for the first time.
 
^ I have to admit, though I think There is a Light is overrated, it's on on of my shortlists. :lol:

Context; my girlfriend is in Paris for six months and I planned on making her ONE mix cd, but it has blown out into six mix cds, haha. Six different moods. Get Psyched, Happy/Calm, Calming/Relaxing, Sad, Sad/Happy(Melancholy),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, -forgive me father for I have sinned, using oxford comma- and NervousEnergy(C).

I finished all the shortlists last night and just tonight may have finished the first mix cd, SAD. I have to give it a listen through first though. The idea behind this one is a playlist she can chuck on when she's feeling really sad. Not upset, but just that emotion when you're okay... you just feel down.

1. Joe Goddard - "All I Know"
2. Thundercat - "Heartbreaks + Setbacks"
3. Interpol - "NYC"
4. Julien Baker - "Sprained Ankle"
5. Something for Kate - "Monsters"
6. Sun Kil Moon - "Duk Koo Kim"
7. Pavement - "Here"
8. Radiohead - "Fake Plastic Trees"
9. Aimee Mann - "Wise Up"
10. Tom Waits - "Lonely"
11. Thom Yorke - "Truth Ray"
12. Justin Timberlake - "Blue Ocean Floor"
13. Miles Davis - "Blue in Green"

I've always wanted to pair Here and Fake Plastic Trees. They're the same song, musically, at least. I'm not convinced on Blue Ocean Floor... it fits the bill... but listening back it may not be *quite* as good as I remembered it being in 2013. And also I've used Blue in Green to finish a playlist before.

A couple of tweaks and I'm done with this one. Added Antler's Palace in between Fake Plastic Trees and Wise Up, and swapped out Blue in Green for Flaming Lips' The Impulse.
 
Now working on the ~calm~ playlist. My shortlist for it revealed I had two ideas; half were calmer songs by rock bands etc, the other half were actual ambient/relaxing songs. So I've tried to combine the two, starting with calm rock/indie rock, then slowly working its way into more ambient sounds. I've broken my rule by including more than one song by Eno (and with three Passengers songs it's more like six:eek:) but I like it. Still need to do a listen through - for example Slug works BEAUTIFULLY out of Nightlands but it strays from calm towards the end - but I like this. I've used Discreet Music to fall asleep so often it is by far my most played song on iTunes.

1. Nick Drake - Northern Sky
2. Nas - Stay
3. Bruce Springsteen - Meeting Across the River
4. Massive Attack - Be Thankful for What You've Got
5. Lou Reed - Walk on the Wild Side
6. Nightlands - So Far So Long
7. Passengers - Slug
8. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - We No Who U R
9. Broken Social Scene - Anthems for a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl
10. Pink Floyd - A Pillow of Winds
11. Kurt Vile - Too Hard
12. Tame Impala - Alter Ego
13. Passengers - Your Blue Room
14. Radiohead - Kid A
15. Aphex Twin - Flim
16. Brian Eno - Zawinul/Lava
17. Passengers - Beach Sequence
18. Jon Hopkins - Immunity
19. Brian Eno - Becalmed
20. Brian Eno - Discreet Music
 
I finally stepped into this thread. I've easily made hundreds of mixtapes/cd's over the years. I first started making tapes when I was teenager in the late 1980's. I had bought a decent stereo system with a dual cassette player. Then I added a cd player to it and really went to town. Eventually, by the early 1990's, I put tapes together for friends or girls I liked. I'd find out what band or songs they liked and then put in stuff that I liked. By 1995, I bought a nice Sony mini system which made making the tapes even easier. I made so many tapes that I killed my tape player. By then, cassette tapes were nearly extinct. I graduated to burning mix cd's. I'm actually down to my last blank cd. Do I buy more or retire from cd's and go digital? :wink:

Anyway, mixtapes can definitely be a personal statement. A statement about me or the person I've made the mix for.

Sure, I''d change things up, but usually I would start off with some uptempo stuff. I'd keep things high energy for a number of songs, slow it down in the middle, and then gradually speed things up towards a big finish at the end.

Putting together mixes is easily one of my favorite hobbies.

Thanks for reading this small glimpse of something personal from MrPryck.
 
Wow we have a similar story. I was that guy for all my friends too.

But I went digital years ago. Couldn't even tell you where my CD player is. Soundcloud (and probably others) is your friend.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference
 
Wow we have a similar story. I was that guy for all my friends too.

But I went digital years ago. Couldn't even tell you where my CD player is. Soundcloud (and probably others) is your friend.

:up:

I actually still use my cd player in my car. :wink:
 
I finally stepped into this thread. I've easily made hundreds of mixtapes/cd's over the years. I first started making tapes when I was teenager in the late 1980's. I had bought a decent stereo system with a dual cassette player. Then I added a cd player to it and really went to town. Eventually, by the early 1990's, I put tapes together for friends or girls I liked. I'd find out what band or songs they liked and then put in stuff that I liked. By 1995, I bought a nice Sony mini system which made making the tapes even easier. I made so many tapes that I killed my tape player. By then, cassette tapes were nearly extinct. I graduated to burning mix cd's. I'm actually down to my last blank cd. Do I buy more or retire from cd's and go digital? :wink:



Anyway, mixtapes can definitely be a personal statement. A statement about me or the person I've made the mix for.



Sure, I''d change things up, but usually I would start off with some uptempo stuff. I'd keep things high energy for a number of songs, slow it down in the middle, and then gradually speed things up towards a big finish at the end.



Putting together mixes is easily one of my favorite hobbies.



Thanks for reading this small glimpse of something personal from MrPryck.


??????????
 
Third mixtape finished. This is the Get Psyched mix. Yes, Bon Jovi suck arse, but we're both huge HIMYM fans and it's only the first 11 or 12 seconds so it's a good joke.

1. Bon Jovi - You Give Love a Bad Name (cut & fade)
2. Q-Tip, Busta Rhymes - Thank You (ft. Lil Wayne & Kanye West)
3. Flying Lotus - Do the Astral Plane
4. David Bowie - Speed of Life
5. Iggy Pop - Success
6. Dan Deacon - When I Was Done Dying
7. M83 - Raconte-Moi Une Histoire
8. MGMT - Kids
9. Passion Pit - Sleepyhead
10. Alpine - Damn Baby
11. Destroyer - Dream Lover
12. Okkervil River - Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe
13. Paul Dempsey - We'll Never Work in This Town Again
14. Rolling Stones - Sympathy for the Devil
15. The Who - Baba O'Riley
16. The Beatles - Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey
17. Coldplay - Every Teardrop is a Waterfall
18. Flaming Lips - Race for the Prize
19. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth
20. Kanye West - Waves (ft. Chris Brown & Kid Cudi)
21. Big Boi - Shine Blockas (ft. Gucci Mane)
22. Meat Loaf - All Revved Up With No Place to Go

:rockon:
 
Fourth is done now I think. This is for anxious/nervous energy.

1. Radiohead - Treefingers
2. Jon Hopkins - Open Eye Signal
3. Bonobo - Cirrus
4. Chromatics - Hands in the Dark
5. Destroyer - Archer on the Beach
6. Grizzly Bear - Southern Point
7. Los Campesinos! - Cemetery Gaits
8. TV on the Radio - Wolf Like Me
9. Outkast - Da Art of Storytellin pt. 1
10. Bran Van 3000 - Drinking in LA
11. Flying Lotus - Galaxy in Janaki
12. Radiohead - Kid A
13. U2 - Acrobat
14. David Bowie - Lazarus
15. Torres - Strange Hellos
16. Father John Misty - The Ideal Husband
17. The Beatles - While My Guitar Gently Weeps
18. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Push the Sky Away
 
Given my girlfriend's birthday was on May 24 and it's now June 7, I need to stop agonising over this bullshit and get it done :lol:

this is the "happy/content" playlist.

1. The Beatles - Here Comes the Sun
2. Wilco - Shot in the Arm
3. U2 - Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
4. Beach House - Sparks
5. Alpine - Lovers
6. De La Soul - Eye Know
7. Kendrick Lamar - Rigamortis
8. Spoon - They Want My Soul
9. Broken Social Scene - Art House Director
10. Arctic Monkeys - That's Where You're Wrong
11. Rolling Stones - Tumbling Dice
12. Okkervil River - Pink-Slips
13. The Tallest Man on Earth - 1904
14. Beck - Debra
15. Coldplay - Strawberry Swing
16. Blur - The Universal
17. Sufjan Stevens - Heirloom
18. Crowded House - When You Come
19. Pearl Jam - Elderly Woman Behind a Counter in a Small Town
20. Bob Seger - Travellin' Man
21. Nick Drake - From the Morning
22. Haunt - Love Song
 
And just like that, I think I've completed the sixth and final one as well. Melancholy. I was struggling with it the other night but rejigged it and now it's sweet. Micheline-"Heroes" is a bit how ya garn but occasionally songs that whip your neck in playlists go alright. (Plus Kozelek namechecks Bowie in the last minute of Micheline.) I hate using opening/closing tracks in those positions, but 13th Floor is such a lovely closing song and with the soft piano intro it actually flows quite nicely out of Gagging Order. And it ends the mix on a slightly uplifting note. They're all circular, yknow.

Also, try Glosoli>17yo Girl yourself. That's a fucking inspired transition.

1. Tom Waits - The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)
2. Courtney Barnett - Anonymous Club
3. U2 - Running to Stand Still
4. Paul Colman Trio - Lullaby
5. Sun Kil Moon - Micheline
6. David Bowie - "Heroes"
7. Spoon - Do You
8. Alpine - Jellyfish
9. Passion Pit - Swimming in the Flood
10. Sigur Ros - Glosoli
11. Broken Social Scene - Anthems for a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl
12. Bloc Party - So Here We Are
13. LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends
14. Fleetwood Mac - Dreams
15. Wilco - Misunderstood
16. Teho Teardo & Blixa Bargeld - A Quiet Life (thanks, LJT...)
17. Coldplay - Trouble
18. Nick Drake - Place to Be
19. Radiohead - Gagging Order
20. Outkast - 13th Floor/Growing Old

How does everyone else make their playlists? Mine are always the same - I think of a loose theme, go through my entire iTunes library, throwing tracks that I think would fit into a playlist shortlist. Then I go through the shortlist and cull it down again to whatever length of time I'm using. Then I choose a song that would work as an opener and then order the tracks after that thinking what transitions would work between songs. Then once I've done all that I have to give it a listen-through, because sometimes a transition might work but the flow might be off.
 
First playlists I've made for Em since the above ones. She wants to get more into hip-hop, so I made two mix CDs, with their titles taken after De La Soul references. I'm sure you'll be able to see / get why...

Intro to hip-hop vol.1 - "Rap 'n' Bullsh#!"
1. OutKast – You May Die
2. A Tribe Called Quest – We The People….
3. DJ Shadow – The Number Song
4. Mos Def – Mathematics
5. OutKast – Gasoline Dreams (ft. Khujo)
6. Pusha T – Pain (ft. Future)
7. Big Boi – Lookin 4 Ya (ft. André 3000 & Sleepy Brown)
8. ScHoolboy Q – Groovy Tony / Eddie Kane (ft. Jadakiss)
9. OutKast – B.O.B.
10. CupcakKe – Cartoons
11. Run the Jewels – Banana Clipper (ft. Big Boi)
12. N.W.A. – Real Niggaz Don’t Die
13. Danny Brown – Ain’t it Funny
14. ASAP Rocky – Fuckin Problems (ft. 2 Chainz, Drake & Kendrick Lamar)
15. Flying Lotus – Never Catch Me (ft. Kendrick Lamar)
16. Dr Dre – Still D.R.E. (ft. Snoop Dogg)
17. Tyler the Creator – Yonkers
18. Kendrick Lamar – Backseat Freestyle
19. Jay Z & Kanye West – Niggas in Paris
20. Kendrick Lamar – The Blacker the Berry

Intro to hip-hop vol.2 - "Daisy Age"
1. A Tribe Called Quest – Excursions
2. Pete Rock & CL Smooth – Carmel City
3. Danny Brown – Grown Up
4. De La Soul – A Rollerskating Jam Named ‘Saturdays’
5. Tyler, the Creator – Pothole (ft. Jaden Smith)
6. Mos Def – Ms Fat Booty
7. Madvillain – Accordion
8. Biggie – Get Money (ft. Lil Kim)
9. Big Boi – Reset (ft. Khujo & Cee-Lo)
10. Kanye West – White Dress
11. Cunninglynguists – Stars Shine Brightest (ft. Rick Warren)
12. 50 Cent – 21 Questions (ft. Nate Dogg)
13. 2Pac – Thugz Mansion (ft. Anthony Hamilton)
14. Kendrick Lamar – How Much a Dollar Cost
15. Black Thought – Thank You (ft. KIRBY)
16. De La Soul – Pass the Plugs
17. GZA – B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth) (ft. Killah Priest)
18. Chance the Rapper – Same Drugs
 
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