Mix Tape versus Mix CD: A Eulogy for the Soul of Rock & Roll

I came across this ... this is what i used to do. Wanna post this here as a dedication to my friends who received my tape(s) before:

Ya, I know i am pretty old-school....

Mix Tape versus Mix CD: A Eulogy for the Soul of Rock & Roll
Bex Schwartz

Friends, we are gathered here today to consecrate the official death of a beloved and adored member of our society, an icon, an artifact of such profound and unspoken eloquence that countless months of sleepless nights have passed in pondering its very significance: the Mix Tape. For the Mix CD has slain it; slain it with the sword of ease and convenience, destroyed that which made it great.

Now, there are those who would say the "Mix CD" is but an improved form of the mix tape. The mix tape is dead, they say - long live the "Mix CD." Fie on you who utter such blasphemy! Pay attention, now, to the Mix Tape/Mix CD catechism. Listen and learn:

1. Speed versus love

You claim that your digital so-called "burning" abilities allow you to make the atrocity of a "Mix CD" in mere minutes, thus saving you countless hours of painstaking mix-making labor and hassle. You claim that you can compile your favorite songs and near-instantaneously produce enough copies for all your coworkers to enjoy after lunch. You claim that your "Mix CDs" (pah!) are far more easily enjoyed and consumed. And I reply:

Easier is cheaper. Friendship is dear. To what end speed? To what end convenience? To what end mass duplication? Are you so devoid of human emotion that you cannot envision spending intimate hours with someone you cherish? To make a mix tape properly takes preparation of ritualistic proportion. First, one must seek the elusive cassette tape of the ninety-minute variety, for fie on you who dare to be a sixty-minute man. Second, one must create the most exquisite combination of hallowed songs to fit within the forty-five minute boundary, for no man chance the wrath of cutting off the last verse of a cherished song. And third, one must remain glued to side of the double-sided tape deck for the entire duration, hitting 'pause' at precisely the correct moment, lest moments of 'snow' prevent seamless integration of the chosen and esteemed songs lucky enough to make the final edit. And the final provisions: one must decorate the cassette label and perhaps (perhaps) provide a brief explanation of the weight and significance of every track and transition. Then, and only then, may a supplicant bequeath the sacred symbol to the very fortunate recipient.

This is time spent on love, friends! The four hours it took me to create the perfect mix tape shows you that I care. If it took me ten minutes, maybe I just want to borrow your car.

2. Ease versus taste

And then you mix-CD heretics saith: "I don't even need to own the songs I want someone to hear! I can pull them straight from KaZaa and thus I can give someone 'Question' without buying the whole Old 97s album! Because I really only like that one song but I want this guy to think I'm all alt-country!" And I reply:

The Search is the Destination. Downloading a song is nowhere near as impressive as taping a song off of your mother's original vinyl album. Remember that and extrapolate its true meaning and smear it like holy ointment across your torso. And wading through the other songs on The Troggs Greatest Hits makes you the sort of person who discovers "Love is All Around." There is no other way! Plodding through every used CD store off of Bleecker Street until you find the Men Without Hats album, because you really want "Rhythm of Youth" instead of "Safety Dance" - friends, this is what the army means about building character! Otherwise, you are condemned, doomed to know only "Moondance," never "And it Stoned Me" - "Down Under" and never "Down by the Sea" - "Mexican Radio" and never that other Wall of Voodoo song. The reward depends on the effort!

3. Convenience versus Commitment

The CD infidels say unto me: "A CD can be played anywhere! In your computer, in your stereo, in your discman! Nobody listens to tapes anymore!" And I reply:
Commitment leads to intimacy. Do not underestimate the forced intimacy of the mix tape: the resurrection of a battery-operated tape-playing personal stereo and headphones; the full ninety minutes committed to listening to both sides of a tape without the CD's all-too-tempting 'skip' function.

Consider the duties required of the Mix Tape beneficiary. The Mix Tape must at once be heard, on the car stereo or the Walkman. The Mix Tape must accompany the giftee across town, on household errands and Slurpee runs. The Mix Tape must be cherished on a train across Eastern Europe, on a bus back home, on a power-walk through the park. And the Mix Tape must be appreciated in toto - one must never skip over a song, even if it is by the detestable Mazzy Star. And if you are fortunate, there shall be a favorite song, shared with the Creator of the Mix Tape, and it shall be recognized as a symbol of the blessed union to remain everlasting. Because you worked for it. Would you care as much for someone's latest Mix CD, scrawled-on with permanent marker? Methinks not.

And even after it is forgotten it remains. Ah, the dig through crumbling shoeboxes to retrieve one's favorite mix tapes; the chance encounter at the bottom of the closet. The Mix Tape will be cherished always, even after one has sold all one's Rush albums.

4. Sophistication versus sincerity
And they say unto me: "Stop walking into the twenty-first century backwards! It's the carousel of progress, buddy, and you're about to get bull-dozed. Look, I made my own cover art for this CD and I think it's a perfect reflection of who I am and how well I know how to use Quark." And I reply:

You can't digitize the love. There's nothing like smudged erasable-ink penmanship to pluck at the heartstrings. There's nothing like two cleverly-named sides of a cassette tape. And there's nothing like the little ripples in the song that you wore out by rewinding it over and over and over again in your best friend's Dodge on the way to the Dairy Queen that long, hot summer that you were obsessed with rainbow sprinkles and Ani Difranco.
Do you not cherish your mix tapes? Do your little teensy weensy "portable" compact discs betray the same sentiment and personality as your cassettes? You don't have a car, but if you did, to what you would you listen while driving? And if you do have a car, and if you have installed a CD system - FIE upon you, infidel.

Remember the Mix Tape and keep it holy. Kyrie Elieson, my friends, (the version by Mr. Mister on your "Totally 80s" compilation) - that is what I say unto you. Do not fall into the deep, dark, but dangerously silent pool of ease and luxury afforded by the so-called "Mix CD." Be not led into temptation. In short, my darlings, keep it real. Or else,R.I.P.Mix Tape

Thanks for the memories.

Found the article here