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1. Introduction by Matt Manning • You’re All I Need To Get By – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
2. Introduction by Alec Wilson • Meme in the Mirror – Gyrotron
3. Introduction by James Mountain • Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd
4. Introduction by Vikky Orfanos • Fire – Nina Kraviz
5. Introduction by Harry Heyworth • Florence (Ft. Kwes) – Loyle Carner
6. Introduction by Cuba Laughlin-Nimarota • Gimme Chocolate – BabyMetal
7. Introduction by Aidan Tai-Jones • HeyYa – OutKast
8. Introduction by Han Nguyen • Inspector Norse – Todd Terje

 

analog music is more meaningful

mixtape
ˈmɪksteɪp/
noun
a compilation of favourite pieces of music, typically by many different artists, recorded on to tape or another medium, and personalised by an individual.

Mixtapes work to curate a message, with the process of developing a mixtape existing as an inherently connected process. It holds a unique place in the media landscape as a way of subverting the dominant capitalist landscape; their very presence as a copied tape works to undermine any commercial agendas that go beyond independent music production, existing as a way of sharing music purely for the sake of sharing, and compiling music through which to channel expression. This is a notion affirmed by musical academic David Rando, as he refers to the mixtape as a ‘heterotopic space capable of constellating music from disparate times and places into configurations that long to disorder the given forms of capitalist music’ (Rando, 2016).

This has led it to hold a particularly important place in media history. The mixtape has historically been a way of distributing the prohibited. The act of copying something to tape, or burning it to CD has become symbolic of this; synonymous with sharing, and affecting people and change. Innate within the mixtape is the expectation of emotional connection, be it personal or political.

‘To me, making a tape is like writing a letter—there’s a lot of erasing and rethinking and starting again. A good compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do. You’ve got to kick off with a corker, to hold the attention… and then you’ve got to up it a notch, or cool it a notch …oh, there are loads of rules.’  – Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity

A mixtape demands attention and planning; and such an intensive process of creation inherently endows the mixtape with meaning.

This meaning can be seen beyond the personal messages represented within this piece, as philosophy academic Jared Ball frames the mixtape within its broader social context, describing it as ‘part of a powerful underground mass press and source of cultural expression’ (Ball, 2007). The mixtape was truly established during the 1970s, as disc-jockeys utilised the medium as a form of communication that circumvented traditional mass media. Thus, the potential of mixtapes, as Ball asserts, enables them to be categorised as ‘resistance media,’ and consequently, a source of ‘emancipatory journalism.’ (Ball, 2007)

The mixtape I created focusses on the personal significance of mixtapes, as it centres on the individual, their connection to their chosen and its meaning to them. The personal introductions recorded for this project were intended to illustrate the tangible connection intrinsic to the mixtape medium; each dedication was unique and separate from the next, each with their own particular significance to the speaker. The choice to include 8 tracks in the Dedications Mixtape is an allusion to the 8-track, which arguably permitted the creation of the first mixtapes as audio media became more accessible to the average consumer. While the project exists in a tangible disc format with printed cover, the digital submission presented here is testament to the limitations of creating mixtapes within the online environment, as there are no popular sites that allow the combination of commercial music, independent recordings, and personal audio into one playlist; i.e. a mixtape. Online, although playlists exist, the concept of a personalised mixtape fails to subsist.

 

Reference List

Ball, J 2007, ‘FreeMix Radio – The Original Mixtape Radio Show: A Case Study in Mixtape “Radio” and Emancipatory Journalism,’ Journal of Black Studies, vol. 39, no. 4, p. 614-634, accessed 23 March 2017, SAGE Journals.

Cummings, A 2013, Democracy of Sounds: Music Piracy and the Remaking of the American Copyright in the Twentieth Century, Oxford University Press, UK.

Hornby, N 1995, High Fidelity, Victor Gollancz Ltd, UK.

Moore, T 2004, Mix Tape: The Art of Cassette Culture, University of Michigan, USA.

Rando, D 2016, ‘The Mixtape as Wishtape: Heterotopia, Translation, and Nostalgia,’ Hope and Wish Image in Music Technology, p. 65-90, accessed 25 March 2017, SpringerLink.   

Yochin, C & Biddinger, M 2008, ‘It kind of gives you that vintage feel’: vinyl records and the trope of death, University of Michigan, USA.