Mixtapes

While I love streaming any song on a whim, I also miss listening to the radio for hours, trying to tape a song that I could not get out of my head. I would always miss the first few seconds, the tape would run out, or someone would walk in the room and talk over the recording. It was fun, I promise, and it made the music special. Kind of like how the little bumps and scratches on my vinyl make the songs more mine. But don’t let me get started on records.

I also miss sharing music. The art of mixtapes is lost in a land of shuffles. Mixtapes told a story, and you had to keep your listeners engaged. A mixtape was a challenge to tell a story with a beginning, middle, and end. Did I mention the time limit?

Although my cassettes are long gone, I continue to make my mixtapes. They allow me to deal with my feelings like a kind of meditation, and they serve as a time capsule of who I was.