Category: Mix Tape Blues
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So It Appears That I’m Living the Dream
Binghamton, 2006. I’m 23, living in a fire-trap basement apartment in the ghetto. I’m that kind of art-poverty broke where I live on black coffee and scrambled eggs and dinner is paid on for on a rotating basis between whichever one of us got paid that week. I’m not sure what I’m going to do…
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I Got To Write For Yacht Rock!
I’ve been a disciple of the webseries Yacht Rock for years (thanks to Matthew, of course). It helped re-awaken my love for smooth music, plus it’s funny as hell and I think that JD Ryznar is super-cute. (I think my love of midwestern guys as firmly been established on this blog). So naturally, when the guys…
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Ahead By a Century
I discovered the Tragically Hip in 2005, when I was working at a tiny sandwich shop in Cobleskill. The owner, who’s name I have long forgotten, would put on In Between Evolution. It was magic. It was like love. I asked her to burn me a copy, because I was so poor from the lousy wages…
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In Praise of Adult Contemporary Radio
I was not a cool kid. While my sisters and peers were in love with Devon Sawa and JTT, I was crushing on Matthew Modine in Cutthroat Island and Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park. While they were listening to Mariah Carey and Blink 182 on Fly 92, I was calling in to B 95.5, the adult contemporary station,…
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Who Says Who The Muse Is?
I got in a Twitter fight the other day with some guy I went to grad school with over who “Rikki” in Steely Dan’s “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” is. Common lore is that it’s a Bard classmate of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, author Rikki Ducornet, who claims to any half-baked rag that will…
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Mix Tape Monday: The (Unrequited) Crush Mix
Welcome Back to Mix Tape Monday, the blog series that celebrates the lost art of mix-tape making. Today is Part II of our “Crush Mix” series, the Unrequited Crush! Now, there are two types of Unrequited Crush Mix. The first is made up entirely of Smiths songs like “Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved…
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True Confessions: Billy Joel Edition
I’ve had more than one person confront me on my deep loathing of Billy Joel since the publication of The Big Rewind and a series of tweets decrying the fact that “Only The Good Die Young” is a serious neg and terrible song in it’s own right. But I value you, dear readers, and so I…
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Mix Tape Monday: Worst Song On A Mix?
Welcome back to Mix Tape Monday, the blog series that doesn’t care that no one owns a boombox anymore. Last week, while setting my radio alarm, I heard Billy Joel’s “Only The Good Die Young.” And it suddenly occurred to me EXACTLY how much of a dick Billy Joel was being to this girl. Virginia…
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Mixtape Monday: The Crush Mix
Welcome back to Mix Tape Monday, the blog series that celebrates all things mix-related. Today we’re talking about the whole reason Mix Tapes were invented–The Crush Mix. You know the drill. You’re so head-over-heels in love with someone that every song you hear reminds you of them. You savor the music that played on the…
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Mix Tape Monday: The Apology Mix
There’s a lot more to making a mix than just throwing a bunch of songs onto a Spotify playlist or a CD. It’s about creating a mood or emphasizing an emotion, playing to a theme or singing what you can’t speak aloud. You don’t make someone a mix unless they’re really important. So I have a…
Libby Cudmore 