Advances in technology heralded the end of the mixtape, the most intimate and personal of musical mementos. But is it making a comeback?
Like some sort of minimalist muggins who watches too many TV property shows, I recently embarked on a “decluttering” mission.
One thing I couldn’t bring myself to declutter (OK, throw out – let’s stop dressing it up with poncey buzzwords) were my old mixtapes. I’ll probably never play them again. Indeed, I’ve barely got the means to do so – my last remaining cassette deck nearly got decluttered too. But just rummaging through them sent me tumbling down a retro rabbit hole.
There were tapes made for summers, Christmases, road trips, festivals and dirty weekends. Tapes I made for old flames, with special emphasis on meaningful lyrics that I hoped would do some of the hard work on my behalf. “I’ve made you a tape”, after all, was once a key weapon in a young blade’s seduction armoury. There were tapes made for me, to woo, educate or entertain. Inlay cards referenced long-forgotten in-jokes. There were even a few tapes from friends who’ve since passed away. Gazing at them was emotional enough. Playing them would’ve sent me full snotty blub-face.
Read the full article by Michael Hogan at the Telegraph here
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