Year: 1995
Original Format: cassette
A lot of work went into these liner notes. Fancy paper, too. Apparently 1995 me didn’t have anything better to do, either.
Continue reading “Oceans and Planes, Side B”Year: 1995
Original Format: cassette
The two images above were separate postcards that I acquired around this time. I didn’t see the affinity at first, but once I did it seemed so obvious. The music here is sort of like that.
Continue reading “Oceans and Planes, Side A”Our Electric Destiny/The tape is a circle
Year: 1995
Original Format: cassette
Our Electric Destiny/A space is made by telephone
Year: 1995
Original Format: cassette
For the most part, the music on these old tapes still sounds really good to me. But probably not as good as it did back then, when I still had those young-person high-frequency receptors. I wonder if this is why over the years I’ve tended to gravitate more toward bass-heavy music. That probably isn’t what A Tribe Called Quest meant by “The Low End Theory,” but it’s a low-end theory, anyway.
Continue reading “Turn the Future On, Pt. 3”Words of Advice/The sun in the morning & the moon at night
Year: 1994
Original Format: cassette
This dates from that weird period right after Kurt Cobain killed himself. I was surprised at how hard it hit me; I liked Nirvana, I had their albums, but they were not a special favorite. In retrospect, this was probably the closest thing my generation had to a Kennedy assassination; I think all of us remember where we were when we heard the news — though as befits our nature, probably vaguely and incorrectly. I remember wandering around the house on Woodruff Ave. wondering what Kurt’s last moments must have been like.
The suicide was not a surprise, exactly; he had tried once before, and even written a song called “I Hate Myself and Want to Die.” But it was still hard to fathom that someone my own age (Kurt was eight months older), who seemingly had everything a person could want in life, would pull his own plug.
Around the same time I had bought the Rykodisc reissue of Young Americans, which was the first time I’d heard a lot of those songs. I was particularly struck by “Win,” the words of which seemed eerily apropos, especially
Someone like you should not be allowed to start any fires
and
Somebody lied, I say it’s hip to be alive.
I always imagined that if Kurt had heard this song at the right time he would have taken the shotgun out of his mouth. It probably isn’t so; the man had problems, and they were bound to catch up with him sooner or later. But I always like to imagine a happy ending.
Continue reading “Turn the Future On, Pt. 2”Words of Advice: Nothing could be something
Year: 1994
Original Format: cassette
1994 was a good year for music (Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain; Teenager of the Year; Stoned and Dethroned; Mellow Gold; etc. etc.), and coincided with my discovery of some great older stuff and first tentative dabbling in hip-hop. The result was a two-cassette magnum opus that is still my favorite of all the mixtapes.
Continue reading “Turn the Future On, Pt. 1”We Lived Among the People
Year: 1992
Original Format: cassette
One Chance Out Between Two Worlds
Year: 1992
Original Format: cassette
For a long time this didn’t really have a name, which is why the title is scribbled on the spine of the cover art in pen. It’s an odd assortment of moods, styles, and running obsessions, and at times wears on my nerves a little. But it has its moments.
Continue reading “The Map Is Not the Territory, Side A”The aphorism “The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom” is oft-quoted and much-loved —including by me, obviously — but almost always taken out of context. When William Blake wrote it he attributed it to Satan, and so it should be taken with a certain amount of irony. The road of excess can lead to the palace of wisdom, sure; but it can also lead to the morgue or prison. In practice it should always be paired with another aphorism: “Your mileage may vary.”
Continue reading “The Road of Excess, Side B”Year: 1993
Original Format: cassette
This mix was made to be listened to on your car stereo, and it still works fairly well for that purpose. I road-tested it on a recent trip to Wells, NV and definitely drove a little faster than I would have otherwise (though still close to the speed limit, which in Nevada is now 80, about as fast as I care to drive anyway). Under the title the tape cover says “Play Extremely Loud,” which is probably not a bad idea.
Continue reading “The Road of Excess, Side A”