Yum!
Today I’ve been doing one of my favorite things: making a mix-tape. Of course, I’m not using any tape in this process, but somehow saying “mix cd” feels awkward. Much like saying “dump Coke” and “poop shoulder” – those are also awkward to say.
Anyway, crafting a playlist for a pal is one of my great joys. I don’t have much free time these days, what with my stupid ol’ grown-up lifestyle, but I used to make mix-tapes for people at the drop of a hat. The most casual of relationships could be an excuse.
“What are you doing, Job?”
“Making a mix-tape.”
“For who?”
“A guy from the bakery.”
“What guy?”
“…The baker.”
“Oh. You’re friends with the baker? The old dude? Isn’t he, like, half deaf?”
“Is he? I dunno. I only just met him yesterday. Well, I mean, I saw him. Baking... things. I didn’t really talk to him. But there was music playing in his bakery – some Sarah Vaughn – so I thought I’d make him a mix of cool jazz and vocalists and maybe even throw in some early French cabaret…”
And so it goes.
A good mix-tape isn’t just an assortment of rad songs, though they’re the meat of it. I’m of the opinion that truly neat-o mixes are bound together by little, sonic amuse-bouches; snippets of odd, silly, or even spooky clips. A line from a movie, an excerpted musical flourish, an individual sound effect even – all these things work.
Also – and I’m starting to wish I had instructed you in the beginning of this blog to imagine these words being said by Julia Child, because I love the idea of her giving insights into making mix-tapes… Tell you what, from now on, just imagine her voice as you read, okay?
Wonderful!
Anyhow, one thing I like to include in mix-tapes are novelty songs. By this I mean songs that I don’t necessarily think the listener will love, per se, but marvel at. They might be horrid tunes, or hilarious ones, or maybe just something designed to confound the listener. My dear friend Carrie, for instance, has received many mix-tapes from me, and I always include at least one song from a musician I know she thinks she hates, all in my devoted* attempt to get her to open her heart to the artist.
What follows now is a compilation of tunes or acts that I’ve used in mix-tapes, not for their catchiness, intelligence or beauty, but simply because they add a certain je ne sais quoi. (That’s French for total, home-style radness.)
*desperate
Relevant Tags
Mixes (2), Mixtapes (2), Julia Child (1), Carrie Hawthorne (8), Laura Nyro (3), Hulk Hogan (2), Athens Boys Choir (1), Anna Oxygen (1), The Blow (1), Crash Worship (1), Jungle Book (2), Disney (6), French Music (7), Margaret Leng Tan (1), Julie Brown (4), April Stevens (1), Conet Project (2), Goblin (1), Mrs. Miller (2)Comments
Cool. I'm waiting for mine to be hand delivered in the near future (or you can send it by mail, "if you want to").
julia child = mrs garrett in that pic