The compilation tape thread...

[Graymalkin]

Obviously by 'tape' I mean 'CD' - but you all knew that.

So, without wishing to get all Nick Hornby, there is a definite art to the compilation tape, and people definitely have their own tricks, tips,preferences and foibles (I'm a bit too fond of multiple endings, myself - I'm like a mixtape Peter Jackson*...).

There are different kinds of compilation, too - are you making it for someone else's tastes, demonstrating what you're into at the time, or just showing off your record collection**? Are you going for a theme, or setting yourself rules***? You can probably tell a lot, were you clever and so inclined, about a person from their compilations.

I've been struggling with a tape myself for the last day or so, which is what's got me to thinkin' about the subject. Needless to say it's for a girl, so a whole new audio minefield opens up...

So, if you've any great ideas, stratagems, song-combos**** or tips feel free to share them. Chat. You know the kind of thing. Why not post a favourite compilation for the rest of us to enjoy or endure?

Here's what I've got so far...

The Arthur Negus Experience, Part 2

1. 'The President's Dead' - Okkervil River
2. 'The Sporting Life' - The Decemberists
3. 'Aloysius, Bluegrass Drummer' - Silver Jews
4. 'Ballad of Bitter Honey' - Eef Barzelay
5. 'Listen To the Band' - Michael Nesmith and the First National Band
6. 'Step Into My Office, Baby' - Belle and Sebastian
7. (Antichrist Television Blues) - Arcade Fire
8. 'Us' - Regina Spektor
9. 'Poor Places' - Wilco
10. 'Du Og Meg' - of Montreal
11. 'Energy' - The Apples in Stereo
12. 'The Opera House' - The Olivia Tremor Control
13. 'You Don't Know Her Name' - Maps
14. 'A Violent Yet Flammable World' - Au Revoir Simone
15. 'Marmalade Fires' - múm
16. 'Mistaken for Strangers' - The National
17. 'Leaders of the Free World' - Elbow
18. 'Only I' - Mull Historical Society
19. 'Razzle Dazzle Rose' - Camera Obscura


Oh, and I'm well aware I'm probably putting far too much thought into all this. Doctor Who fan taking something to a nerdish extreme - surely not...

*Although not in the 'The best thing I'll ever do had Michael J Fox in it, how wrong is that?' sense...

**Or 'downloaded mp3s' for the youngsters...

***Like 'last eighteen months only' or '26 track A-Z tape', kind-of-thing...

****Radiohead's 'Bangers + Mash' into 'Today's Lesson' by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, or Low's 'Hatchet' into Sol Seppy's 'Slo Fuzz', for twin exemplars...

[stanmore]

This is what I did for another forum:-

[quote=Stanmore or TTH as he is known elsewhere]

TTH Tracklisting

1. Woody Guthrie – Hobo’s Lullaby
2. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Up Around The Bend
3. Curtis Mayfield – Underground
4. Lee Perry – Underground
5. Devendra Benhart – Heard Somebody Say
6. Gomez – Get Miles
7. Ian Dury and the Blockheads – The Passing Show
8. Jesus and Mary Chain – My Little Underground
9. The Doors – My Wild Love
10. Iggy Pop – Some Weird Sin
11. The Beat – Too Nice To Talk To
12. Bruce Springsteen – Ol’ Dan Tucker
13. Magazine – Shot By Both Sides
14. George Harrison – The Art of Dying
15. Patti Smith – Redondo Beach
16. I Am Kloot – The Same Deep Water As Me
17. Nina Simone – Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
18. U-Roy – Tom Drunk
19. Prince Buster – Sit Down And Wonder
20. The Beatles – Tomorrow Never Knows
21. Don McLean – Babylon

I was going start this album with “Hello there, and welcome to my CD” but I read it and decided in made me sound like Danny Wallace, who’s a bit of a tit. This is the fourth (general) compilation I have made and the only ever presents are The Beatles, Ian Dury and, bizarrely, Bruce Springsteen. The Beatles have been around all my life and Ian Dury’s passing is what got me into music in the first place. My love of Springsteen has a bit of Stockholm Syndrome about it; constant exposure by my friend Mohammed “Bruce” Imraz has seen me appreciate him a lot – though there are large segments of his career that are plain s*** (yes, I’m looking at you mid-to-late Eighties).

Some artists are there because I like them for a long time but they haven’t gone on a compilation album of mine before. Yes, I know the vast majority of you have never heard the other compilations, but if I met Prince Buster or Ray Manzarek of the Doors or Nina Simone’s ghost and I had to explain to them that I’ve had four opportunities to include their music and had passed on it each time, I’d look a right numpty. In fact, I need to do another CD in order to put The Specials on.
I’ve got a sad absence of stories attached to these songs. Don McLean’s Babylon reminds me of my brother Ivan, and Gomez reminds me of Natalie (though not as much as the Super Furry Animals – she’s a big fan of them – you should have seen her excited little face when we saw them down in London – a picture I can tell you). I Am Kloot – pilfered from Manchester Library – obviously remind me of my 18 months in Manchester, all bleary eyes and sad smiles. The Beat was my soundtrack to becoming a failed trainee teacher.

Unbelievably, neither Natalie nor I have put any Richard Thompson on, considering that he’s been constantly played over the last few weeks. On his CDs, he keeps insisting on singing with other people, you see.

Much of it contains my recent acquisitions. I was wee one night and awoke to find a confirmation from Amazon saying that I’d ordered Patti Smith’s Horses and a couple of Iggy Pop CDs. Of course, I’ve like them for years, but this drunkenness has sparked off some quality time spent with the two of them. Woody Guthrie and U-Roy have been stolen from the library.

I apologise for the sheer amount of death on this album. Thankfully I have included songs about breaking down love affairs (Sit Down And Wonder) and lusting after people in nightclubs to cheer you up a bit.
All love
Tom
[/quote]

Hope she likes it. I like all the songs you've put on, so you'd impress me...

[Beatly]

I just threw together a sort of Nikina Introductory Mixtape. Probably could have done with a bit more thought and effort, or, more likely, several additional volumes, but here we go anyway:

1. The Beatles - Dear Prudence
   
2. The Olivia Tremor Control - Define A Transparent Dream
   
3. of Montreal - Let's Do Everything For The First Time Forever
   
4. Jatin-Lalit - Koi Mil Gaya
   
5. Beats International - Dub Be Good To Me
   
6. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Dam Mast Qalander Mast
   
7. Yoko Ono - Sisters, O Sisters
   
8. Asha Bhosle - Bolo Bolo Kuchh To Bolo
   
9. Outlandish - Aicha
   
10. Panjabi MC - Dhol Jageero Da
    
11. Bis - Eurodisco
    
12. Blur - Sing
    
13. Neutral Milk Hotel - Oh Comely
    
14. Lata Mangeshkar - Chanda Hai Tu Mera Suraj Hai Tu
    
15. The Beatles - Long, Long, Long
    
16. The Gerbils - Grin

They're all songs that have some specific meaning for me. Some of them may sound peculiar, bashed together like that, but they all deserve to be there!

[Beatly]

My sister was in hospital recently and wanted/needed a tape to listen to, so I made one up for her of music I know she likes. It was on an actual tape! This was the tracklisting:

Side one:

1. Awaiting On You All - George Harrison
   
2. To Be Young, Gifted And Black - Nina Simone
   
3. Tears Dry On Their Own - Amy Winehouse
   
4. Saajanji Ghar Aaye - Jatin-Lalit
   
5. The Power Of Orange Knickers - Tori Amos
   
6. Govinda Jaya-Jaya - The London Radha-Krishna Temple
   
7. Hear Me Lord - George Harrison
   
8. Happiness Runs - Mary Hopkin
   
9. '97 Bonnie And Clyde - Tori Amos
   
10. The Lord Loves The One (That Loves The Lord) - George Harrison

Side two:

1. Govinda - The London Radha-Krishna Temple
   
2. Viva Forever - Spice Girls
   
3. The Look Of Love - Dusty Springfield
   
4. Woodstock - Joni Mitchell
   
5. Raga Desi - Ravi Shankar
   
6. It Is "He" (Jai Sri Krishna) - George Harrison
   
7. My Sweet Lord - George Harrison
   
8. Hare Krishna Mahamantra - The London Radha-Krishna Temple

I think I hardly need mention she's Hindu (Hare Krishna to be precise), loves George Harrison, a feminist and a peace-lover, and the fact that she's lesbian is probably fairly clear as well.

[Max Marble]

I've made a bunch of mix tapes, and more recently quite a few mix CDs as well. They're so much fun. I have something like 20 mix tapes I made in the '90s, some content of which I'm deeply embarrassed about now; nevertheless I can't bring myself to throw them out, even though I no longer have a cassette deck.

I used to number them (Mix 1, Mix 2, etc.) but now I name each mix instead, usually by title of one of the songs (Watching the Wheels) but not always (Happy Fun Mix).

Maybe that'll be a good summer project for me to undertake. Write down the songs that were on those old cassettes and compile those songs onto CDs. (A lot of the songs I only have in mixtape format, as I borrowed CDs from friends over the years to create said mixes.)

I'll post some song lists here soon. Great thread!

[Graymalkin]

In light of tomorrow's trip to see I LIKE TRAINS*, and as a result of my friend's lack of warning, I found myself required to make an emergency mixtape this evening - an odd experience doing it without due consideration and forethought.

I actually felt slightly pressured - I really must sort out my priorities in life!

Any-the-way, I threw this together in a panic - feel free to recreate or lambast as you so desire...

I LIKE POP

01. 'Let's Fall Back In Love' - Slow Club
02. 'Can You Tell' - Ra Ra Riot
03. 'Dimmer' - Bishop Allen
04. 'Over My Shoulder' - I Am Kloot
05. 'Aloysius, Bluegrass Drummer' - Silver Jews**
06. 'You Can't Hurry Love' - The Concretes***
07. 'Westfall' - Okkervil River
08. 'Annie Waits' - Ben Folds
09. 'The Age Of Revolution' - The Duckworth Lewis Method
10. 'The Eiffel Tower And The BT Tower' - The Voluntary Butler Scheme
11. 'Dirty Harry (Schtung Chinese New Year Remix)' - Gorillaz
12. 'Bruises' - Chairlift
13. 'Marmalade Fires' - múm
14. 'Actor Out Of Work' - St Vincent
15. 'Half Asleep' - School Of Seven Bells
16. 'Lust For Life' - Girls***
17. 'A Question Of Trust' - Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring
18. 'This Love Is F*cking Right!' - The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
19. 'Anne Elephant' - Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
20. 'Oxygen' - Willy Mason
21. 'Superhero Songwriters' - Malcolm Middleton

...will be interested to hear tomorrow night if there's any coherence at all there!

*That's how it's written now. Don't ask me, I preferred iLiKETRAiNS...

**Required by law to be on every 'going to a gig' mixtape...

***Not the songs you're probably thinking of...

[Graymalkin]

Spent a good three-and-a-half hours messing about and modifying an older mixtape yesterday, and I could have spent a lot longer doodling - and all because I'd looked at Toast's CD burner for the first time (ever!) and noticed there were cross-fading options on it. I fear iTunes has just lost it's burning privileges...

So, the resultant tape is reproduced in track-list form below - due to literally a couple of requests you can also download it (in zip form), should you feel life doesn't present enough challenges and wish to be mocked for your musical taste by all who pass by the open window of your boudoir. If anyone risks it, hope they enjoy it. Feel more than free to post appropriate abuse here.

Downloading music, eh? It'll never catch on...

DOWNLOAD MIXTAPE HERE

untitled playlist #3

01 TIM HARDIN black sheep boy
02 GOLDFRAPP little bird
03 GREAT NORTHERN snakes
04 BISHOP ALLEN dimmer
05 ANDREW BIRD fake palindromes
06 SHE & HIM why do you let me stay here?
07 THE VOLUNTARY BUTLER SCHEME tabasco sole
08 THE STROKES juicebox
09 BERNARD BUTLER not alone
10 GET WELL SOON you/aurora/you/seaside
11 DEAR READER release me
12 STRANGELOVE she’s everywhere
13 SCOTT WALKER the old man’s back again (dedicated to the neo-stalinist regime)
14 ISOBEL CAMPBELL & MARK LANEGAN come on over (turn me on)
15 LUCKY SOUL lips are unhappy
16 CAMERA OBSCURA french navy
17 DEAD MAN’S BONES in the room where you sleep
18 EDWARD SHARPE & THE MAGNETIC ZEROS 40 day dream
19 SILVER JEWS aloysius, bluegrass drummer
20 OKKERVIL RIVER last love song for now
21 JULIAN PLENTI skyscraper
22 I LIKE TRAINS sea of regrets

december ’09

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