Mixes. (Heh, did you think it would be my beloved Minneapolis?! Or mammal for Chaos?)
Got your tape and it changed my mind
Heard your voice in between the lines
….
Now I’m falling in love too fast
With you or the songs you chose
….
I can hear you singing to me in my sleep
I can hear you singing to me in my sleepI’ve been living in your cassette
It’s the modern equivalent
Singing up to a Capulet
On a balcony in your mind– Semisonic, Singing in My Sleep
I love making and receiving mixes. It used to be mix tapes, but these days it’s mix cds. For me, mixes are incredibly evocative – they can instantly transport me back in time. I’m not alone in that. In the book Liner Notes, author Emily Franklin says of protagonist Laney that “each mix tape brings her back to a specific time in her life” and that she herself “use[s] music as a kind of time-travel device whereby I choose songs sometimes just to think about the times that go with them.”
Here are some mix tapes from 10 years ago. I made the the top one so I had something fun to listen to in the car. Probably the most memorable song on it is “I’m Ugly and I Don’t Know Why” by Butt Trumpet. 🙂 The next two tapes were from a guy I dated. The first one was named after two of his fish, while the second one was named after his musical influences during that later part of the mix tape making process! The final tape was a friend for my birthday in (I think) 1992. I remember two songs particularly from this tape – “Pretty as You Feel” by Jefferson Airplane and “I Wanna Be an Engineer” by Pete Seeger.
Onto mix cds. The most interesting thing about mix cds is that, although I had made mix cds for people, until I started blogging I had never received a mix cd from anyone! Boy, has that ever changed and I am very happy about it because mixes also serve as musical cross-pollination for me – not only can I share what I’m listening to with others, I get to hear music new to me.
From the top left, the Project Spectrum May Mix from the Crafty Modster, the Soul Gardening Mix from soul gardener TB, the Meow Mix from MrsPao, and Cats in the Garden from TB.
Again from the top left, the B-List Compilation Mix: Songs to Blog By (compiled by TB, but featuring favorites from an assortment of bloggers), Needle Tunes from Just a Knit Wit, and Eileen’s Mix/Just Silly Stuff from Eileen.
Notice anything missing from these pictures? No Chaos! He was completely disinterested in the mixes and chose to lie on top of his litterbox instead. He had this message for y’all:
“Yeah, baby, you look look totally scrumptious.”
If I ever do something with some old AUssie records I have (yep vinyl), expect another mix!
But I gotta do that thing with them first….
Love the sculptures in the park.
That is one massive litter box, good thing Sock isn’t here she’d be jealous! hehe
Chaos looks like he is planning something evil, beware.
I’ll do a mix exchange with you! I think mixed CDs are one of the best reflections of a person and one of the best gift you can give/get.
I love Semisonic! Guess I need to play with mixes now….
maybe a mix swap would be fun….as long as the copywrite police don’t find out, I suppose.
You know, I keep meaning to put together a mix for you, but I haven’t yet 🙁 We really need to get our entire collection ripped, but that is a scary proposition, LOL!
Chaos really picks his spots to woo from, doesn’t he? 😉 I am so bad with music! My sister used to play the pop music so loud it would make the windows shake. In ‘rebellion,’ I grew up favoring classical, bluegrass and jazz – which, coincidentally, make her cringe. We used to have radio wars in our shared bedroom (which was small), her with Madonna, Prince and White Lion and me with Joplin, Mozart and the late night radio hours on NPR. Ahh.. good times, eh?
Fun! I miss my mixed tapes. My tape player died on me, but they are still sitting up there in my closet. At least I’ve got a growing collection of mix CD’s now!
I love receiving and making mix CDs and tapes 🙂
I think theres something great about mix tapes. They took so long to make, when you got one as a giftie from someone, you knew they liked you 🙂
I can’t tell you here (in a public forum) but I have a “history” with members of Semisonic that I’ll share with you some time 😉
“Man – I wish I had potty that big”…message from Tigger
Too funny! No black blob in the picture – I thought I clicked to the wrong blog.
I don’t have a CD burner 🙁 Lucky for those who don’t like music from the ’80’s!
I’m involved in a mix CD swap on swap bot where we make a CD of our top 12 songs and send them out to 5 different people. I’m excited to see what I end up with.
Mixes make the world go round.
Oh Chaos- certainly you can find better places to hang out- or are you worried Chris might try to use the facilities?
The mixes guys have given me (all 2 of them) have been not my thing, but I do enjoy making mixes for myself. I totally agree with music taking you back in time. If I listen to an “old” CD it takes be back to when I first got it. aaah, nostalgia
Is Chaos shy when it comes to using the facilities?
I always like seeing what other people choose.
Yeah, Chaos looks like he’s plotting.
Awww, Chaos looks cute when he’s leering!
Chaos does leer better than most.
I just found a mixed tape from the early 80’s my best friend made and gave it back to her. (we were roommates. It’s a toss up whether she left it or I stole it) It really takes you back. She said she could remember everything she was doing & thinking when she was recording it.
I remember making mixed tapes that included songs taped off the radio. I’d wait forever for that perfect song to come on, poised over the record button, only to have the radio get staticky (is that a word?) at that perfect moment. Aaaaahhhhh! So frustrating. Miked CDs just don’t have the personality that tapes do.
Congrats on your blogger freedom.
oh the memories, I used to make mix tapes all the times as a teenager. and I haven’t made cds in years! but you’re right, I love how they can transport us to exactly where we were…
Well a cat’s gotta…… do what a cat’s gotta do.
Even if it means to be non present for pictures while having to take a dump, right.
My sister puts together the best 80’s mixed CD’s. I don’t know how she remembers (let alone finds) those obscure, one-hit wonders.
Chaos is hilarious – love the little peep of pink tongue on black!
My friend Beth and I were just talking about the magic of mixes this weekend. Which reminds me – we should do our swap soon!
I’d be sleeping with one eye open after that last bib incident.
music is my favorite mind & mood-altering substance! and old mixes are perfect time capsules (capulets? heh! that’s a great line). i have a few old mix tapes, too, and some mix CDs i love to drag out and inflict on spouse now and again.
one of these days that house panther is going to catch on and start eating bibs. don’t say you weren’t warned.