I've been contemplating starting/finishing off some mixtapes (read: cds with playlists on) for various friends for weeks, months and years now. Now, though, I have encountered an enemy who I had always believed to be an ally; the internet. Oh yeah, I love last.fm like the little brother I never had but combine it with the spectacular service provided by Spotify and, to a less stellar extent, myspace and you might find yourself in a bit of a pickle next time you're compiling a fresh mix. Its a deflating feeling to give someone a cd and their inital reaction being 'I've heard this one... and this one...', all of a sudden you feel your music research gene being deprived of oxygen. You have FAILED. Noone wants a mix with The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song on it anymore.
Album tracks would seem to be the order of the day but if you're trying to show someone something they might not have heard before then you want the immediacy of a single, right? Maybe. Perhaps a remix will give you a fresh new take on something but with Hype Machine being in there with all the hot tips you could ever want and last.fm's similar artists you might find your options narrowed. Where do you go from there? DiS founder Sean Adams has hit the nail on the head, where can we go in our own leisure pursuit, let alone in proffering a new direction to anyone else's? Who knew that listening to music had to be so effing organised? Must we all show off each week with our last.fm charts? Can't we all just get along?
If everyone can get access to, and is being recommended, everything then what's the point in recommending anything ourselves? Where will it end? There's an endless stream (!) to consume (nasty but appropriate) and the majority of people I know seem to have their pcs, macs or whatever bloated with more music than they can, or want to, even, ever listen to. So where will my little gift fit in there? Will they languish on a shelf with all the other CDs and vinyl noone cares for anymore, gathering dust as the art within withers and disintegrates?
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last.fm's recommendation chart is all well and good but its an algorithm and no substitute for the personal touch from a friend. You'll never take a moment to pause and appreciate last.fm suggesting you listen to The Microphones because you like Mount Eerie. I guess I mean that technology won't replace that human angle in mixtapes where people are doing it not because they have to but because they wanted to. Like mixtapes for lovers. Sometimes its actually a great thing if you put tracks on the mix that incidentally the lover knows. Its reassuring.
ReplyDeleteI find that all the mix CD's anyone has ever made me I really do treasure, and the songs come to remind you of the person that gave them to you. Special.
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