Ah the mix-tape. Am I still in high school? College? Trying desperately to get the attention of a lovely young lady who barely knows I exist? I know! A mixtape! My unaprralleled knowledge of music will instantly win her over and we’ll live happily ever after. All my fears of rejection will be extinguished even before the auto-reverse mechanism clicks over to the second 45 minutes of aural bliss.
Actually, my ‘mixtape’ fantasy worked once. A tape I made caused two people to fall madly in love and get married. The only problem was that I was not one of them. That’s a story for another time. But a recent release of crazy cool Brazilian music made me rethink the whole DJ thing, but this time in a slightly different light. The record is Gilles Peterson – Brazilika, and I guess if I had grown up in the UK, I might have a better of who Gilles Peterson is and why i should care about his music. It’s amazing to me that there’s a DJ in the UK, over 40 years old, who can release a relevant compilation of music. Would that happen in this country? Anyway, the record is great, introduced me to Azymuth, whose early stuff seems vey much ‘up my alley’, and is a nice listen straight through.
But, of course, I got to thinking – ‘I could do that. Better.’ Of course. So, the thinkg before was starting with an abstract idea of making everything happen all at once – past-present-future all mixed on to one glorious track. Looking back on that post from the past, it’s little wonder I didn’t follow-through on the project. So now, after delighting to the treasures in Mr. Peterson’s vault, I’m thinking of going back to my virtual decks, looking into some of the more obscure corners of my record collection and – mixtape. Something of a glossy sampler to be released through Blogerantz. Maybe some post-production and a fancy bit of art, but still really just a mixtape.
why is this the first i’m hearing of the mixtape story?!? and who was it?! (or did you tell me before and i just wasn’t listening?)
I knew I was going to get it for that. This is from the teen tour days. A counselor and a former ‘camper’ were sitting fireside with me at some reunion, somewhere in upstate New York. I though the guy (his name was Mark) was pretty cool and was playing some freaky music for him. I can’t remember what exactly was on the tape, but I know that Tangerine Dream was in the mix. The girl, whose name I can not remember, seemed very nice, but I didn’t know her too well – she had ceased to be on the tour by the time I started. Anyway, I had no idea what was going, being all of 14 years old and totally clueless at the time. But, as we listened and chatted and laughed (I think just the three of us), some intense connection formed between these two. I didn’t find anything out until later, but Mark told me that was the night that it all began – listening to that music. I have no idea if they’re still married, but I will take some of the credit if they are.
And here they are: Freedom Services
WTF? That’s them? They own a limo company?! Bizarre! How did you find them??
As a durable trio from Brooklyn once sang:
‘Cause life ain’t nothing but a good groove
A good mix tape to put you in the right mood