The protagonist in Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity gives us a short list of specific mixtape etiquitte practices. With Summer fully swinging now, I have been on some mixtape composing kicks, making my second one in less than 24 hours. The process is one of appreciation, creativity, and encyclopedic knowledge. With enough practice you can get your innovation on in a musical deca-dance.
Anyways, Hornby has some pretty basic rules, no artist can have back-to-back songs, you can mix white and black music (isn’t most pop/rock black music by default? I know what Hornby’s getting at, but in these mashup times we get Biggie rapping to Tiny Dancer and this generation likes it that way.) Anyways, after this intense period in front of my stereo here are my mixtape rules.
1. Not only do I think you can’t put a single artist back-to-back on a tape, I don’t think one should have an artist featured twice on any single mix. But I have one exception to this rule. John Darnielle’s group The Mountain Goats are a personal favorite of mine and he has so many damn songs that I find it pretty much essential to include one song on each side of most my tapes. Darnielle writes and records so many songs (15 albums, 18 EPs and countless live bootlegs) that two Mountain Goats fans can discuss their favorites without any overlap whatsoever. Do it with any other artist (short of some freaky prolific Jandek-like recluse) and you have some explaining to do.
2. Always try to mix up mood/tempo. People need moments of quiet reflection juxtaposed with rock out/cock out instances.
3.Familiar songs are of course allowed, it helps pull a skeptical listener in with a trustworthy track, but it’s much more exciting to introduce the recipient to something now.
4. There are certain artists that just won’t wind up on a mixtape, especially if I make you a first time mixtape. Many of these artists I love or once loved when I was 13, but their very presence could destroy the delicate balance that is mixtape culture. Some of my restricted artists: Atom & His Package, Blink 182, Green Day, Rage Against The Machine. I still love Atom very much, but he is poison to most virgin ears.
5. You better have a kickass closer for both sides of your tape. Consider yourself warned.
6. In terms of how to read a tape, some Literary Criticism Techniques: Mixtapes always have authorial intent, so pay attention to what your tape’s architect is trying to say. They should be thoroughly analyzed and interpreted by the recipient. Lyrics ALWAYS have meaning. If I just wanted to throw a collection of songs that sounded really good together, I wouldn’t have spent 4+ hours on it. Learn what there is to be learned.