Project Mixtape

Want a sneak peek at the next Project: Mixtape?

Project: Mixtape is a series of posts about the philosophy and execution of mixtapes from Conditional Axe that I’ll be continuing here. Watch this space for links to new posts and TinyTape mixes. Want me to make you an awesome mixtape? Email me (J.Stolarcyk[at]gmail.com).

Making a CD for someone is cool, or filling up a jump drive with music, or beaming a song straight into their brains via nano-powered Song Guns, but it’s not a mixtape. Sharing music in any format is a soul-affirming experience, but there’s something about the effort involved in crafting the perfect mixtape and producing the actual tape – a much more labor-intensive process than making a CD.

The mixtape is a block of wood and the playlist is a lathe that you’re using to turn out the elegant ups, downs and flourishes of the emotional journey that you’re sending l’objet d’amour on (or, at least, like, hoping to send them on).

Using a lathe isn’t easy. There’s a reason you have to sign that waiver on the first day of wood shop.

A good mixtape is a like a kiss you experience with your ears. Some of it should be new and exciting, but part of it needs to be timeless and familiar.