Mixed Tapes 'n Tapes

I am nearly finished with Rob Sheffield's excellent memoir Love Is a Mixed Tape and am reminded of what a lost art the mixed tape, now mixed CD actually is. In celebration of Sheffield's book, Good (a magazine for do-gooders) is asking its readers (not sure if I qualify yet) to make mixed tapes (or CD's) for their pages. While many have submitted online track lists, I am opting to create my own mix to send via the snail mail.

I've been contemplating a mix featuring satanic songs for awhile now. Ever since Clap Your Hands Say Yeah released Some Loud Thunder featuring "Satan Said Dance", I have had this idea for a devilish mix. As I toyed around the idea, I realized that this is a difficult task for someone who owns no death metal (unless you count Caustic Resin), so I decided to split the mix with songs about God/Jesus/angels of which I have plenty.

Then, along came some dude named Tod who made a "Of God and the Devil" mix. The jerk beat me to the punch. (God I hate the internets!) My only recourse was to return to my original idea of creating the first mixed tape of satanic songs that includes absolutely no death metal or Ozzie Osbourne (solo or Black Sabbath material). It's been a challenge, but I think it's been worth it.

Right now there is only a list of songs totaling just over an hour on my iTunes, but I have plans to expand. First, I plan to create some killer packaging with the title "The Devil Made Me Do It...Dance That Is". Second, I will provide two formats, yes two! The good editors at Good will receive both a mixed CD and cassette tape. Third, since the tape has more space than the CD, it will include hidden tracks to be named later.

All this effort should afford me 2 of my fifteen minutes of fame. (I already earned one minute in the mid-nineties for a letter to the editor published in the free newsertainment mag in Columbus, The Other Paper complaining about fat kids crowd-surfing at a They Might Be Giants show and a second minute for dancing at a legal "rave" on the eleven o'clock news.) This fame will allow me to spread the word about the comoprozac franchise to the masses...or at least a few do-gooders who like to read/buy over-priced magazines about consuming less. Whatever.

"The track list?" you're wondering. Well, I can't reveal all the details yet. I can promise that the CYHSY track will make the cut, and there will be a special appearance by a certain devil in a fiddle match down south, but that's all I'm saying right now. Like I stated before, it's still in the works.

In related news...At the suggestion of a friend, I am cataloging our music collection. I've made it through the first binder (The Afghan Whigs to Bob Dylan), and we're already past the 200 mark. Is that ridiculous? I figure that I will inquire about insuring my collection, because you just don't replace the money and time I've spent with this music. I'll leave periodic updates of my progress (on both projects) in future posts.