The Art of the Muxtape

I am totally diggin’ on the Muxtape concept. It reminds me of the old days when we would create a mix on two reels of plastic gold and share them with whoever was willing to trade some good tunes. In fact, I’m so goddamn old now that I have a boxes of mix tapes from the old days that have un-played and forgotten mixes still on them. I seriously need to invest in a cassette converter for my pc. Long live the old school…

Back in the day you could create a mix for a girl you were crushin’ on, a mix for a homeboy, a mix for cruisin’ down the boulevard, a booty mix, whatever. It was when people listened to their music instead of inhaled it. You had to time the space between tracks, had to have a good intro, a good outro, etc. No longer can you go to the flea market and buy an underground mix tape like you used to. These days cassettes are for old people and…well, old people.

The mix tape was an art form. It was something that you put a lot care into creating. You titled your mixes and went to great lengths to do so. It is way too goddamn easy these days to make a “mix” on your mp3 player. Who cares? And who is going to hear it besides you? There is no creativity or art that goes into making them. Mixtapes made some artists what they are today. Just ask Skinny Black…

As much as I hate to admit it, we all must change and conform to the new styles or wither away and die as technology sweeps over us like so many plagues from the past, hence, the Muxtape. Though Muxtapes utilize .mp3’s they still have much of the creative spirit that went into creating the mix tapes of old. The mixes are limited in number so you have to be picky about what you mix and also how you order the tracks. It’s fun and it’s a great way to discover music from other people.

I have found tracks on Muxtape mixes from the old days that brought back lots of memories. It makes me think of the old systems we used to play our mixes on; big-ass boom boxes with silver knobs and lots of buttons, 6×9 speakers stacked in the rear window of your ride. Good times.

Anyway, I encourage you to check out the site and check out a few mixes. It is addicting and a lot of fun.

Here are some Muxtapes of note:

http://thebrokenforum.muxtape.com/

http://datadreamer.muxtape.com/

http://forty4.muxtape.com/

http://misgatos.muxtape.com/

http://ezd.muxtape.com/

http://de1.muxtape.com/

http://hiphop.muxtape.com/

http://thrillistcoachella.muxtape.com/

Feel free to comment with any good mixes you find - I am always looking for good tunes.

- peace

Explore posts in the same categories: Musings & Nothings, Rants

Tags: mixes, mixtapes, music, muxtape, nostalgia, old school

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