Some time ago I unearthed a plushy Denon cassette tape case containing a few of my old 90’s mixtapes. I named all of them “Stuff Vol. x” for ease of organization. They were mismatched collections of my music of the moment. New or old, it really didn’t matter. I don’t ever recall compiling a themed playlist and I certainly didn’t find any in my old tapes. I didn’t believe in sonic constraints. From those tapes I created Spotify playlists to recreate the contents. You can find these “Mixtape Project” posts here, here, and here.

We music lovers of a certain age romanticize mixtapes. Sure, now we have unlimited access to music and can craft complex 100-track playlists in a wink and a nod because of our massive digital media collections. And that’s considered progress, but it’s removed the scrutiny and intent involved in making a 45- or 60-minute mixtape. Mixtapes were a labor of love.

I made all mine on a Kenwood stack system with a 5-CD changer plus extra tray. A Christmas present from my parents in the year 1991. The repetitive queuing and the corresponding play/record pressing on the tape deck. It would take hours to perfect one of these tapes, never mind the preparation and selection before the recording even began. I even used some of my dad’s records to add a scratchy, retro feel through a couple of vinyl-based recordings. I miss it, so I’m going to resurrect Stuff with a new weekly bl-g series. Each week, I’ll use some variety of prompt to create a new mixtape.

Thus I give you my first new offering, a mixtape of Halloween-inspired favorites new and old (but mostly old). If you’re back in the mixtape business, I’d love to see some of your creations. I’ll post links to fellow mixtapers in the posts. And if you created a Halloween mix of your own, post a link in the comments!

 

Halloween Stuff Vol. 1

 

 

Halloween Stuff Vol. 2